Chapter 272
Chapter 272
The problem before us now was… how were we supposed to get down there?
This did not appear to involve a feng shui configuration or formation. There was simply another cavern in a deeper rock layer underground. Did we need to break through the cement surface?
Even the steel military shovels carried by the bodyguards in black could not dig through it!
Old Cao considered for a while before saying,
“There’s no need to rush underground yet. First, let’s find out what this strange tree actually is and how it produced so many sinister corpse-fiends.”
“Little Zhao, give me a dagger. I’ll cut a piece from the tree so we can all examine what the damned thing is.”
He took a sharp steel dagger from Zhao Xu, tied it to the end of his phoenix rope, and casually tossed it forward.
Whoosh!
The steel dagger sliced through the air. Guided nimbly by the phoenix rope, it accurately stabbed toward a gap in the trunk between the corpses…
To our surprise, however, it rang with a metallic clang.
The dagger bounced back.
I froze as well.
“This strange tree looks soft and spongy, yet it’s so hard? Even a dagger thrown by you and driven by the phoenix rope couldn’t pierce it, Old Cao.”
Old Cao retracted the phoenix rope.
The tip of the steel dagger tied to its end had bent, while the blade itself had twisted into a wavy shape.
That showed both the force behind the flying thrust and the hardness of the strange tree!
“Mm. This strange tree is a supernatural object. An ordinary dagger probably can’t pierce or cut it. We’ll need something else.”
Old Cao looked toward Big Bull.
“Big Bull, could I borrow your Dual-Blood Dagger?”
“Of course, Coffin-Bearer Cao.”
Big Bull did not hesitate.
With a flick of his wrist, a black-and-red dagger appeared in his palm, and he handed it to Old Cao.
This weapon could be considered Big Bull’s treasure!
Because the coffin carriers under a coffin bearer could not cultivate a sense of qi themselves, they followed the path of building physical strength and using evil-repelling objects.
After all, they frequently carried coffins and dealt with dead people and corpses every day. Their chances of encountering corpse transformations and other sinister incidents were not low.
The Dog-Blood Dagger and Rooster-Blood Dagger.
These were the most common offensive, evil-repelling weapons among coffin carriers.
After the Bai family’s blood fiend incident, Big Bull, the leader of Lianghe Town’s four coffin carriers, discussed the matter with Old Cao and created the Dual-Blood Dagger!
As the name implied, the dagger was coated in mugwort juice, then soaked in both black dog blood and rooster blood…
Although it could not yet be considered a ritual implement, its power was not to be underestimated.
On one previous coffin-carrying job, a corpse turned evil, leaped out of the coffin, and tried to kill someone. We had Big Bull test his Dual-Blood Dagger on it.
With a single thrust, it easily pierced the heart and completely destroyed the walking corpse!
Why not use my ritual blade?
Old Cao was a coffin bearer and funerary-paper artisan, but he did not understand the path of talismans. The ritual blade was designed for use with talisman arts, so Old Cao’s qi and phoenix rope could not control it effectively…
Otherwise, I certainly would have offered it first.
Old Cao tied the Dual-Blood Dagger to the end of the phoenix rope, repeated his earlier move, and hurled it directly at the strange tree covered in corpses!
Whoosh… Thunk!
This time, the Dual-Blood Dagger stabbed straight in. The entire blade sank into the trunk, leaving only the hilt wrapped in phoenix rope outside.
“Excellent! Brother Cao is incredible!”
Ni Yang could not help clapping and cheering.
With a slight shake of Old Cao’s wrist, the phoenix rope suddenly pulled taut and rigid!
Like a long, slender wooden pole, it allowed him to control the Dual-Blood Dagger from roughly seven to ten meters away and carve a circle into the trunk. He then pulled and stabbed with the dagger before yanking it back.
A large mass of gray “wood” came out with it and fell before everyone.
A sizable hole now gaped in the trunk. A small amount of viscous gray fluid slowly seeped from the wound…
“Everyone, come take a look. Be careful. This thing is extremely sinister!”
As Old Cao spoke, he did not touch the Dual-Blood Dagger with his hands.
We understood each other without speaking. I launched a talisman that transformed into talisman fire and enveloped the dagger, scorching it for a while. Only after it cooled did Old Cao remove it and return it to Big Bull.
I said enviously,
“Brother Big Bull, when we get back, I’ll find a way to make a Dual-Blood Dagger like yours too.”
Ergou immediately cried out beside us,
“Young Mr. Wu, your ritual blade and golden compass are practically divine artifacts in the eyes of poor wretches like us. Why would you still need ordinary evil-repelling weapons?”
Flat-Top hooked an arm around his neck and grinned mischievously.
“You don’t understand. He’s grown tired of rich meat and fish and wants some pickled vegetables and radishes.”
Only Silent Gourd remained quiet and unassuming. He watched us with a smile and said nothing.
I spread my hands helplessly.
“The ritual blade and golden compass are useful, but they consume quite a lot of qi. It’s like playing cards: you can’t lead with your highest cards every time. You need some ordinary options too.”
More importantly, a sharp dagger combined with internal martial arts could unleash even greater power!
While we joked, Ni Yang, Yuan Fei, and Roundy carefully examined the large mass of “trunk” on the ground.
Yuan Fei was the first to exclaim in surprise,
“This… this doesn’t seem to be a tree! It doesn’t look like wood. It resembles the stalk of some kind of mushroom after being broken.”
A mushroom?
I frowned and hurried closer to look.
Sure enough!
The internal structure of the section Old Cao had cut from the strange tree was completely unlike normal wood. Instead, it resembled the inside of a snapped mushroom stalk.
We could also clearly see dense, fuzzy fungal threads resembling those inside the two corpse-fiends we had killed earlier, or rather, identical to them.
“Could this actually be a gigantic mushroom?!”
Yuan Fei drew a sharp breath and stared up at the strange tree ahead.
After my initial shock, I calmed down and analyzed the situation gravely.
“Biology class mentioned that mushrooms are unusual fungi. In essence, they share a common origin with things like mold. Conversely, fungi can develop into many forms, and various kinds of mushrooms are edible, harmless fungi.”
“Perhaps for some special reason, possibly involving supernatural power, a subterranean fungus mutated into this enormous treelike form. It may also have gained the ability to infect living people and transform them into corpse-fiends!”
“That would explain why these corpse-fiends were harder to kill than the ones we normally encounter after dead bodies undergo corpse transformations. They were already hollow shells, their bodies long since eroded by fungal threads released from this gigantic fungus.”
Clap, clap, clap!
Ni Yang began applauding.
“A top student truly is different. You can even explain the strange phenomenon we’ve encountered from a scientific perspective.”
I felt rather helpless and continued,
“Whether viewed through science or the esoteric arts, this thing is bizarre and dangerous! Fortunately, the stench made us put on masks earlier. Otherwise, it might release tiny spores into the air at close range. Once they entered our bodies, they could take root as parasites, form those fungal threads, and consume us from within.”
My words left everyone shaken.
Zhao Xu and the bodyguards in particular were ordinary people with no understanding of supernatural entities. They worried even more about some sinister thing entering their bodies and parasitizing them.
Just then, without warning!
Roundy, perched on my shoulder, suddenly whipped its head toward the strange tree and seemed to grow alert.
“What is it, fat bird?”
The moment I finished asking, a series of peculiar tearing sounds reached us. Every corpse embedded in the strange tree’s trunk began to writhe!
Their limbs, previously fused to the trunk, pushed outward. Dense fungal threads could be seen running from the surface of their bodies into the “strange tree.”
Now they tore every one of those threads apart!
My pupils contracted, and my heart seemed to skip half a beat.
“Are all the corpse-fiends inside this fungal tree waking from their slumber?! Did Old Cao cutting away a piece of the fungus trigger some kind of defensive response?”
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
But there was no time to consider them carefully.
Nearly all the almost one hundred residents still in Daling Village when it vanished were embedded around the trunk of the fungal tree!
If they all awoke and surrounded us in a frenzied attack, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Even if Old Cao, Yuan Fei, and I doubled our cultivation, we could never face so many corpse-fiends.
Old Cao took the carrying-pole ritual implement from his back, gripped it, and shouted,
“Everyone, retreat immediately! This situation is too difficult to handle. Let’s return safely to the surface and make a new plan.”
Clearly, every corpse in Daling Village awakening meant we had to suspend this operation!
Remaining here would only lead to death.
In any case, we already knew how to enter. We truly could return another time with far more thorough preparations.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three muffled impacts rang out in succession.
Old Cao swung his phoenix pole, the carrying pole, and sent the first three corpse-fiends charging from the fungal tree flying backward!
He was no longer young, but his arms still bulged with muscle. Wielding the carrying-pole ritual implement, he looked overwhelmingly fierce.
“Old Cao, I’ll help you!”
I shouted and joined the battle.
I pinched a talisman between the fingers of each hand and launched both.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two flaming balls streaked through the air, knocking down two corpse-fiends preparing to flank Old Cao from both sides. Flames rose over their bodies as they released shrill, monstrous cries.
Yuan Fei refused to be outdone.
The Ghost-Beating Staff in his hand was also a fairly powerful weapon. Although it could not compare to Old Cao’s carrying pole, he had no problem handling two corpse-fiends at once.
He struck the tops of their heads with two sharp smacks, fixing them in place and temporarily robbing them of movement.
Yuan Fei seized the opportunity to turn and shout,
“Big Bull, take the ordinary people and retreat first! Once the timing is right, we’ll follow. Brother Ni, come over here. Let’s fight side by side like we did as children.”
Big Bull hesitated, then nodded firmly.
He knew this was no time to act on emotion. Besides, we were only holding off the horde long enough to create time for the others to retreat.
We were not fighting these sinister corpse-fiends to the death!
The situation had not yet become a matter of life and death.
At Yuan Fei’s words, reluctance appeared on Ni Yang’s face. He had probably wanted to retreat first with Big Bull, Zhao Xu, and the others, only for Yuan Fei to call him back directly.
With no choice, he gritted his teeth, ran to Yuan Fei, and stood back-to-back with him.
“Brother Yuan, I’m placing my precious life in your hands.”
“Don’t say that! You need to be careful yourself. Once Big Bull gets everyone else away, we can turn and run too. No one wants to fight this many corpse-fiends to the bitter end.”
As they spoke, a corpse-fiend lunged at them. Yuan Fei immediately dodged right while bringing the specially made Corpse-Nailing Hammer in his left hand down viciously upon its head.
With a crack, half the corpse-fiend’s skull shattered.
It was hollow inside, containing only masses of fuzzy fungal threads.
Ni Yang immediately opened his mouth and exhaled at close range.
Whoosh!
A two-meter column of flame erupted from his mouth.
This was another signature old-school conjuring performance, fire-breathing. When qi was infused into it and its power enhanced, the trick became a magical art!
The column of fire plunged straight into the corpse-fiend’s shattered skull, burning all the mold inside to ash.
This time, it died completely.
Yuan Fei glanced at the lingering fear on Ni Yang’s face and laughed.
“Hahaha! Not bad, Little Ni. We still work well together. Your character may leave something to be desired, but your magical arts are respectable. You’ve simply fought too few magical battles. Look at those frightened little eyes.”
Ni Yang looked ready to cry.
“Brother Yuan, I’m only someone who earns a living in the city by performing at banquets for powerful officials and wealthy elites. I don’t want to deal with demons, ghosts, and monsters every day or constantly fight for my life.”
…
The pressure on Old Cao and me was even greater!
More than a dozen corpse-fiends had already torn free from the fungal tree and were charging in our direction. We had to stop every one of them.
“Xiao Wu, be extremely careful. If you can’t hold them, retreat!”
“Don’t worry, Old Cao. I can still handle things for now. Let me show you an interesting little invention I came up with recently. Heh!”
A faint smile appeared on my face.
At the same time, my hands began plucking out sheets of talisman paper so rapidly that ordinary people could barely see them move!