With one hand gripping the bone of the Five Evil Gods and the other holding the saw-toothed knife, Hu Ma sidestepped a few paces, searching for a suitable position, firmly planting his feet.
The arrangents made around the valley earlier had not yet been dismantled. As long as he found the right spot, should anything change in the valley, he could assu his Death Transformation, act as a suppression object, and imdiately establish another altar.
Once prepared, he finally looked towards the dark mine entrance, holding his breath.
The others were in a similar state. Those at Cutting Craftsn had long retreated so fifty yards away, huddling together, staring with terrified eyes at the black, gaping mine.
Zhou Datong stayed by Hu Ma’s side, gripping a Tai Sui Blade in each hand—the kind miners usually used for cutting flesh.
Zhao Zhu and Zhou Liang were positioned on either side. One held a wooden stick, and the other clutched a nine-section whip. This whip had been left behind by a disciple of Old Master Sun, and Zhou Liang had casually taken it.
Even Calculation seed to be taking things seriously this ti. He was usually very timid and would flee at the first sign of trouble, but he stayed, perhaps because he cared too much about what was in the mine.
Despite his knees trembling, he removed his robe, then pulled down his pants—only halfway—and drew out a long object tightly wrapped in gray cloth from his waistband.
Unwrapping the outermost gray cloth revealed a flag with a black border. It was crumpled from being wrapped for so long, yet he held it like a treasure, hugging it to his chest, his head lowered as if seeking reassurance from it. On it were patterns of the Eight Trigrams and so inscription about a founder.
Seeing Calculation’s actions, Hu Ma couldn’t help but let out a soft "Eh?" and glance sideways at him, even though the allure of whatever was in the mine was strong. That old fellow had co to the mine with hardly any luggage; all his food and drink had been shared by them, not to ntion any tools. Unexpectedly, he actually had sothing on him, but its hiding place was truly unpleasant to behold.
But now wasn’t the ti for questions. They all simply widened their eyes, focusing completely on the darkness within the mine.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
The sounds from inside grew closer and closer to the mine entrance.
Everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats. Though they stood their ground, their upper bodies leaned unconsciously away from the entrance, as if pushed by an invisible force.
A WHOOSH...
Just as their hearts threatened to leap from their chests, a gust of wind unexpectedly blew from the cave, filling their mouths and noses with a heavy, bloody stench, as if they’d suddenly arrived at a slaughterhouse. Following that, a bizarrely cold wind gusted through their bodies, seeming to whip away all the warmth from their Five Organs.
A gloomy, drifting sensation overca them. Their vision swirled as they felt the sky darken, as if unseen clouds had drifted in, covering the sun that had just climbed overhead. Though it was noon, the sky suddenly turned black and oppressive.
WHOOSH!
In the midst of the wind, sothing crawled rigidly out of the mine, drenched in blood from head to toe.
It vaguely appeared human-shaped but was entirely crimson, crawling out in an eerie posture. The surrounding malign aura intensified dozens of tis, enough to make the sky itself seem to darken.
The strange and chaotic noises in their ears suddenly coalesced into a powerful torrent, assaulting their Divine Souls: "In the human world, those who defy Tai Sui shall pay their karmic debts when the ti cos!"
The voice shocked everyone to their core, their ears filled with the cries and howls of ghosts. The sounds were intricately detailed, their variations myriad. So sounded like high officials angrily berating criminals, others like the wails of vindictive souls, so like Ritual Officers chanting praises to the heavens, and still others like the din of a battlefield. Each different voice seed to represent a different scene.
Hearing just a fraction of it, their minds painted various images. Everyone was bewildered, as if suddenly thrust into hell, witnessing countless scenes, their ears already filled with a cacophony of sounds. They were still clutching their respective tools, but upon seeing the strange creature erge from the mine, a wave of dizziness washed over them. Terror churned in their stomachs, and they found themselves unable to even lift their weapons.
"Heavens, it’s a Corpse General..."
Amidst the chaos, Calculation’s terrified shout suddenly rang out.
Throughout the valley, everyone was terrified. Only Hu Ma and Calculation remained sowhat composed. Hu Ma, thanks to his solid foundations, though also affected, managed to retain enough clarity of mind and keenness of his senses to clearly see the thing crawling out of the mine.
What erged was a grotesque humanoid figure. It looked as if all its skin had been flayed, and it was clad in tattered, blood-red pieces of board armor.
Is this a Corpse Demon? A startling thought struck Hu Ma. This thing... it must be Zhuang Erchang’s eldest disciple!
So of what Zhuang Erchang had said was true, and so false. But after questioning the miners, he knew it was true: Zhuang Erchang’s eldest disciple had donned his heirloom talismanic armor, ventured into the mine to scout, then went mad and crawled back in.
But everyone, Zhuang Erchang included, believed that his eldest disciple, having crawled back into the mine, was surely dead and gone. Yet, looking at this thing now... could he still be alive?
No, it clearly doesn’t look like a living person. But it’s definitely not just a dead body either. Perhaps it truly has beco what Calculation called it—sothing like a Corpse General.
Neither human nor ghost, it was like a drought ba—a reanimated corpse, terrifyingly ferocious in appearance.
ROAR—
As soon as this monster rushed out of the cave, it suddenly let out a thunderous roar. Or rather, it wasn’t so much a roar as it was a surge of malign influence within its chest, producing a strange sound. With the roar, everyone’s eardrums throbbed, and their Divine Souls trembled. They suddenly felt damp all over. Soone instinctively wiped their face, and when they opened their blurred eyes, they saw their hand was covered in crimson blood.
It was as if their very blood was being drawn out through their pores, drifting in a hazy mist towards the Corpse Demon.
The nearby exposed ore veins—be it Black Tai Sui or Green and White Tai Sui—also seed affected by an invisible force. Their flesh rapidly withered, as if their essence was being forcibly extracted and twisted.
"Little Shopkeeper, quickly, do sothing! Only you can save us now!" Beside him, Calculation, who had already wrapped his face with the flag, shouted tremulously.
He didn’t dare to look. If he was too far, he felt an irresistible pull towards it; if he was too close, his blood would be drawn out. Looking at it made blood seep from his eyes; not looking made it gush from his ears and nostrils.
Within the valley, the at Cutting Craftsn and Zhou Datong’s group were already drenched in their own blood. Even outside the valley, the corpses that had long been sealed away began to tremble, their limbs twitching as if trying to rise.
"What manner of demon dares to cause such chaos here?!"
Hu Ma, long prepared, suddenly brandished his knife and charged, his body undergoing the Death Transformation, becoming the suppression object within the Magic Altar. This transformation offered two advantages: first, the aura of death surrounding him would prevent his blood from being siphoned away from a distance; second, by becoming a suppression object, he could borrow the power of the Magic Altar to contend with this creature.
He was fully prepared for a fight and had drawn close, staring intently at the blood-red humanoid monster, his expression taut. But, contrary to his expectations...
The creature had just crawled out of the mine. It was emitting strange, unintelligible sounds, its eyes gleaming fiercely as if seeking prey to devour. But the mont it saw Hu Ma flash before it, its expression changed drastically, its eyes suddenly filled with imnse terror. Though it had appeared incredibly ferocious, it now reacted as if it had seen sothing utterly terrifying. Its roar cut off abruptly. Its legs stiffened and then shot out, propelling it backward about fifteen yards in a panic, its malign aura dissipating chaotically.
Hu Ma, nerves stretched taut, watched the monster, equally startled by its extre reaction. As Hu Ma intently watched for its next move, he was bewildered to find himself suddenly uttering so garbled words. To him, it felt like an instinctive sound, perhaps a shout. The crucial part was that these words ca from his own mouth, yet he neither intended to say them nor understood what they ant.
At this, the blood-soaked creature seed even more terrified. It trembled visibly, the blood mist around it swirling, then it turned to flee. Its body stiff, it bounded away, each leap covering several yards, as it sprinted straight out of the valley. Wherever it passed, the vegetation was stained blood-red. Any person or living creature within a radius of about twenty-five yards was instantly overco, their minds going blank as they collapsed to the ground.
It... fled? Hu Ma stared at its retreating figure, a tremor running through him. It took him a long mont to collect himself.
"Terrible, truly terrible..." As the creature fled, Calculation finally regained so composure. He lowered the flag from his face, wiped his features with it, and forced his eyes open, his voice trembling, "That was too damn close! And to think those fools were fighting over it... they nearly cultivated a Big Corpse Demon!"
His words jolted Hu Ma, who turned to Calculation and asked in a low voice, "That thing was sealed in the mine for so many days... what exactly was it? Human or ghost?"
"Of course not human! That was a Yin General!" Calculation was panting, his coarse face deathly pale, his voice shaking badly. "It’s a good thing we opened this mine when we did! Otherwise, in another day or two, we’d all have mysteriously lost our lives, conscripted as its ghost soldiers!"
"Damn that Zhuang Erchang, thinking he’s so clever! The treasures in this mine... he practically gift-wrapped them for that thing!"
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