At that moment, Nobita pulled out the pistol he always carried, cursing under his breath, "This blasted thing—I must take you out, lest you harm anyone else."

Normally, I would intervene to stop Nobita’s recklessness, but this time, I remained silent. Perhaps it was because the bizarre orb of light instilled fear in me as well, fostering a desire to destroy it.

"Bang! Bang!" A few shots rang out as Nobita emptied the magazine of his pistol.

Several flashes of fire streaked from where we stood toward the white mass of light in the center of the plaza. Every single shot hit the bullseye, yet not a single spark flew back.

In truth, none of us expected those bullets to have any effect on the light sphere; it was merely an act of venting frustration.

Click, click. The empty pistol made a sound of jamming, clearly out of ammunition.

It was then I patted Nobita’s shoulder and said, "Let's go, I, the Devil, need to get out of this damned place ASAP."

Nobita nodded, shoving the empty gun back into his belt, and asked, "Where is the exit?"

Just as I was about to answer, Long Jia cut in, saying, "Wait!"

It was then I saw the sphere emitting the ghastly pale light slowly begin to dim, fading further and further until it completely lost its luster.

Then, beneath the dense curtain of rain, we saw the object for what it truly was: a black, oval-shaped mass, slowly descending.

As it fell, it emitted an intensely unpleasant metallic screech, much like radio interference.

The frequency of this sound was so high it felt capable of shattering one's skull, wave after wave assaulting our eardrums.

Instantly, a wave of dizziness washed over me. Though my stomach was empty, it churned violently, bringing on an overwhelming urge to vomit.

Fortunately, the noise didn't last long; soon, the surroundings returned to silence.

However, the few of us were left stunned, feeling as though the things before our eyes lacked substance, our heads spinning as if the world had turned upside down.

I sank onto the ground with a sigh of exhaustion, clutching my forehead and gasping for air. Blood from my nose dripped onto my upper lip, washed away by the rain, diluting into a thin stream flowing across the ground.

The others reacted much like I did. We remained like that for about half an hour before my senses slowly began to clear, but the moment I tried to stand, my legs felt weak.

Moreover, my nostrils felt painfully dry, as if I hadn't had water for days, and my mouth was filled with a strong, acrid, metallic taste.

Beside me, Nobita retched several times, nearly bringing up bile. Hearing his dry heaves made me feel wretched inside.

The two girls were weaker than us, collapsing onto the ground without regard for appearances, merely focusing on drawing breath while the rain lashed down.

After a long recovery, Nobita finally managed to stand by leaning on a nearby stone bench, wiping the remnants of vomit from his mouth, and said to me, "Xia... Xiao Chuan, I almost threw up... threw up my bile. Do you think... do you think I’ll get thinner?"

I had no time for jokes. Leaning on a nearby chair, I staggered back to my feet.

My first concern was Liang Qian’s condition.

So, I made my way to her. Seeing her lying on the ground with her eyes tightly shut, her expression one of profound distress.

I struggled to help her up and deliberately pinched the pressure point between her nose and upper lip.

She suddenly sucked in a breath and finally woke up.

I asked how she was, but she just shook her head silently, her face paler than paper.

With a pang of concern, I gently smoothed the hair from her forehead and lifted her onto my back.

Nobita shouldered Long Jia too. This woman, who pursued the history of ancient witchcraft, not only failed to gain any useful knowledge but was now incapable of even staying conscious.

Both Nobita and I felt our legs tremble, but if we didn't leave now, and that sound resonated again, there was no question—we would perish right here.

So, I guided Nobita, staggering toward the exit.

As we left, I couldn't resist looking back one last time at the center of the plaza.

The black oval object was gone. All that remained on the yellow sand was a small black speck—it seemed the thing had retracted into the ground.

Now, I felt a certain relief that I hadn't fully excavated the object earlier; otherwise, I might already be dead.

The two of us men, burdened with two girls, walked toward the street under the pouring rain.

It was nearing dusk. The four of us resembled homeless vagrants walking down the deserted avenue.

After only a few steps, Nobita set Long Jia down, panting heavily, "I don't think I can make it. I can't catch my breath."

Seeing the odd look on his face and his lips unnaturally pale, I asked him what was wrong.

Nobita clutched the lower part of his chest and said, "I have this persistent feeling that the sound just now shattered something inside my belly."

I thought, Surely it’s not that dramatic? I put Liang Qian down too and moved next to Nobita, placing a hand on his stomach.

The moment I touched him, my heart sank halfway. Because it wasn't just internal organs that were damaged; his ribs had been completely shattered.

His chest felt soft to the touch now, as if devoid of bone structure.

I remembered that Nobita had been shielding us when the sound wave struck, meaning he must have sustained the worst injuries.

Yet, I had only heard of sound waves shattering glass—shattering human bones was something new to me.

Nobita’s ribs were broken into several pieces. He shouldn't have been moving vigorously; carrying Long Jia just now might have caused bone fragments to fall into his chest cavity. If he moved again, even the Great Celestial Immortal couldn't save him.

Although Nobita didn't fear death, he hesitated to touch himself, likely sensing the severity of his wounds.

He looked at me expectantly, seeking an answer.

I felt that telling him the truth now would be too much for him to bear. So, despite my mind going utterly blank, I forced a smile and said, "It's nothing serious, just means no strenuous activity. We'll find a house by the street to shelter from the rain, and we'll keep moving once the storm stops tomorrow."

Nobita believed me more readily, genuinely thinking he was fine, and struggled to push himself up from the ground.

But the instant he moved, he let out a whoosh and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

I was terrified, my face turning white, and I cursed, "Why the hell did you move! Your ribs are all broken!"

Nobita grimaced through the pain, forcing a laugh, "It’s just a few broken bones... what’s there to be scared of..."