Chapter 236

Chapter 236

I crouched on the ground and carefully examined the flying-head creature’s remains, secretly alarmed.

“This flying-head creature could not only fly, but was skilled at concealing itself and launching sneak attacks. Its body consisted of one of the hardest parts of the human skeleton, while its spine had transformed into something like a sharp bone whip or bone spear. It was truly terrifying.”

“It was probably much stronger than an ordinary corpse-fiend and at least comparable to a weaker vicious corpse. If ordinary people encountered one, even six or seven strong adult men would be finished.”

Beyond that, the way this flying-head creature formed–or was manufactured–was horrifying to contemplate.

After all, this damned thing must originally have been human!

A human head with the spinal column still attached beneath the neck… Had someone forcibly pulled it from the torso like uprooting a radish?

The image was too horrific. I did not dare imagine it.

I hoped some evil, terrifying method had turned a corpse into this flying-head creature only after the person died. Otherwise, even though I considered myself widely experienced after the past two years, I would still feel my hair stand on end.

“Forget it. I’ll leave this alone until Roundy and Old Cao arrive. There’s strength in numbers, and it’ll be safer.”

I straightened up and waited quietly.

Only now, I was far more vigilant!

This place was too sinister. I worried other powerful evil entities might be present besides the flying-head creature.

I never imagined something so terrifying and evil could be hidden on the mountain behind Lianghe District Middle School! Nor that the death of an ordinary student would lead to such a mysterious place.

Less than half a minute later, I heard rustling footsteps above my head, outside the cavern.

My first thought was…

“Could Old Cao have arrived? That’s far too fast. Only five or six minutes have passed since Roundy left, right?”

I even lowered my head and checked the luminous digital watch on my wrist. Flashy things like that were popular back then.

The coffin shop on the eastern side of town was three or four kilometers from the school. With all the twists and turns across the back mountain added in, even if Old Cao galloped here on a paper horse with spiritual resonance, it should still take at least ten minutes.

That did not include the minute or two Roundy needed to fly there and Old Cao needed to prepare his equipment.

Yet reality slapped me in the face the next moment.

Pairs of blood-red eyes, like clusters of floating crimson ghostfire, appeared around the opening above.

By the moonlight, I saw five walking corpses. Their burial clothes were tattered and covered in soil. They had probably just crawled from their graves!

So the arrivals were not Old Cao and Roundy, but corpse-fiends coming down to deal with me.

“Holy crap, seriously? Does this place have corpse-fiend guards?”

I was rather speechless.

Although they appeared to be merely somewhat stronger corpse-fiends at the “walking corpse” level, without a single vicious corpse among them, fighting would still consume physical strength and qi…

Five walking corpses jumped down through the opening.

Naturally, I gave the damned things no time to prepare!

I attacked immediately, launching two Corpse-Suppressing Talismans. They struck two walking corpses in midair, and the instant the corpses landed, they collapsed and lost all ability to move.

The remaining three, however, rapidly lunged at me. Their blue-gray faces were rotten, their skin shriveled, and both hands reached toward me…

Hmph!

I sneered.

“Mere walking corpses of the lowest level dare attack me? Utterly foolish.”

Facing their assault, I neither dodged nor retreated, but charged straight at them.

I did not even use magical arts, intending to destroy these walking corpses with martial arts alone!

Even an ordinary person with some strength could handle a low-level corpse-fiend like this alone if they were brave enough. How much easier was it for me, when my martial arts were already approaching the peak of overt force?

Awooo, awooo…

The three walking corpses emitted strange cries. I slipped sideways past them and used the Turn-Body Punch from Taijiquan to hammer the chests of two.

Crack!

Bones broke, and the two walking corpses fell to either side.

The walking corpse directly ahead lunged at me. I lowered myself slightly, formed fists with both hands, and unleashed Antelope Hanging Its Horns from Xingyi Boxing.

Like a ferocious antelope charging into an enemy with sharp horns, the move also shattered the final walking corpse’s chest. The powerful force knocked it to the ground.

I withdrew a step and dropped a talisman, igniting talisman flame.

It set all three walking corpses ablaze and burned them to ash…

I exhaled deeply and surveyed my surroundings again, pondering inwardly.

“Heh! Now I can be completely certain this abandoned grave was created by some evil cultivator. The mound outside is just a cover. This underground chamber and the deeper tunnel are probably the real point, aren’t they?”

“That strange flying-head creature and the walking corpses from the surrounding graves were probably stationed as guards to stop anyone from entering.”

“Judging by the time, Old Cao probably needs another four or five minutes to arrive. That stupid bird Roundy likely thinks I won’t encounter danger, so it’s surely coming slowly alongside Old Cao. If it flew back alone, it would return in a minute or two.”

“I still have to wait here alone and stay alert for several minutes. I hope no more trouble appears.”

Of course, the entire base of the abandoned grave collapsing and causing me to fall into this underground chamber was itself an accident. I could not entirely blame Roundy for failing to anticipate it…

Unfortunately, when bad luck struck, even a sip of water could make you choke! Whatever I feared came true.
The thought had only just entered my mind when faint breathing sounded around me again!

It was identical to the sound made by the flying-head creature earlier.

My heart jolted. I hurriedly picked up the flashlight from the ground and aimed it toward the sound.

Sure enough!

A rotten, shriveled human head floated in midair. Eyeballs somehow remained in its sunken sockets, radiating a cold gleam. A long spinal column trailed beneath its neck like an eerie bone whip or spear.

It slowly writhed in the air. Together with the short lengths of broken ribs on both sides of the spine, it resembled some bizarre octopus.

“There’s actually another one of these damned things?!”

I was somewhat speechless.

Logically, such a powerful monster should be extremely difficult and troublesome to make. Having one guard this place was already impressive. How could there be another?

I immediately braced for battle as qi circulated within me.

This creature’s strength could not be compared with the five walking corpses from moments ago.

“This underground chamber is fairly large, but it’s surrounded by solid walls. Where did this flying-head creature come from?”

The next second, I learned the answer…

One of the most complex strange sigils on the wall flashed. The stone at that spot rippled like water, becoming soft and viscous.

Then a human head began pushing out of the stone wall… Finally, with a slick slurp, it slid free together with the spinal column behind it, then writhed as it floated into the air.

Thus, two flying-head creatures now stared at me from nearby.

I drew a sharp breath.

“So that’s it! There is another mystery hidden in these stone walls. These strange sigils probably combine into something like a formation. Each of the most complex sigils corresponds to one flying-head creature.”

“The formation likely sensed me, an intruder, and released one flying-head creature. But I destroyed it immediately. Then it activated the guarding walking corpses in the surrounding graves, and I destroyed those too. So now it will release more than one flying-head creature!”

An extremely ominous guess formed in my mind.

Sure enough…

At least six or seven sigils on the surrounding walls began flashing at once!

One dried, rotting human head after another emerged from the stone walls, writhing as they pushed outside.

New flying-head creatures appeared one after another before me and hovered in the air, eerie and sinister.

“Holy crap, seriously? Is it releasing every flying-head creature? It certainly thinks highly of me.”

I groaned inwardly.

These flying-head creatures were no easy opponents!

Although I had seemingly killed one “instantly,” that was because I launched a surprise attack and followed it with a practiced chain of powerful strikes that gave the creature no chance to defend itself.

In reality, every flying-head creature possessed strength comparable to a vicious corpse, albeit a relatively weak one.

But think about it. There were the two already floating before me, plus seven more emerging from the walls. It was equivalent to facing nine vicious corpses alone!

Even the weakest vicious corpse was still a vicious corpse!

I might consider myself highly talented in cultivation and already quite strong, but if I faced a combined assault from nine flying-head creatures comparable to vicious corpses and tried to fight them head-on, I would undoubtedly meet a miserable end…

“What do I do? What can I do?”

At that moment, a trace of panic truly entered my heart.

Nine flying-head creatures were clearly more than I could handle alone!

I was not the sort to grow hot-blooded, lose all restraint, and fight desperately. I was extremely calm and cautious. In a situation like this, I certainly could not charge into a direct clash. Turning and running was obviously the best choice.

The problem was that although I wanted to flee, there was nowhere to go!

The surrounding stone walls were extremely smooth, without the slightest foothold or handhold for climbing. Besides, at a height of over four meters, the flying-head creatures would certainly attack from behind and kill me halfway up…

Huff, huff, huff.

The group of flying-head creatures made strange sounds like people breathing deeply. Swinging their sharp spinal columns, they closed in on me from all sides.

“I can’t beat them or escape. What do I do? Damn Roundy, why didn’t it fly back ahead of Old Cao? Then I could at least hold out until he arrived.”

I was rather helpless, and my mind had already connected with Roundy’s.

“Damned fat bird! Hurry and fly back first. Powerful evil entities have surrounded me.”

I received an answer almost instantly.

“Huh? What’s going on, Wu boy? Old Cao and I have already crossed Lianghe Bridge and reached the path outside the school. Hold out for another half minute. I’ll be there!”

I could sense its anxiety.

But… I could not hold out even half a minute.

Nine flying-head creatures accelerated toward me in a fan-shaped line!

They blocked every route ahead.

A bitter smile appeared on my face.

“Sigh, there’s no other choice… I’ll take the gamble!”

I spun around and ran into the tunnel behind me, though I had no idea where it led!

That was right!

This was the only chance I had just thought of taking.

Being surrounded and attacked by nine flying-head creatures meant certain death, and I could not escape through the opening overhead. Only one retreat remained–running deeper into the tunnel!

It would certainly be extremely dangerous too, but compared with certain death before me, surely it offered at least a little more hope of survival?