Chapter 171
Chapter 171
Clack, clack, clack.
Amid the din of countless rusted mechanisms and the patter of falling iron flakes, Chen Zhao led Qin Ying and Liang Pu in a desperate flight.
Unlike the last time, when they had fled from the Rust Tide, the danger this time was far more tangible, horrifying, and nauseating.
Amid the shrill, tooth-grating screeches, Qin Ying lost her Migu Flower Lamp.
Her right palm was impaled on the Bone Staff, leaving her no choice but to flee while dragging the cumbersome thing along.
Perhaps even a body made through Soul-Container Consecration could experience an adrenaline surge, because Qin Ying no longer felt any pain at all.
All she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
As they approached the stone door, Liang Pu shouted a warning. “Watch out!”
Qin Ying heard something cutting through the air from the side.
She ducked and lunged forward in a rather ungainly fashion, stumbling out of its path.
From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the Rust Men clinging to the stone door withdraw the arms it had reached out to wrap around her.
Like a living person, it twisted its neck to track Qin Ying’s fleeing figure.
Its rust-covered face was revoltingly grotesque.
Liang Pu hauled Qin Ying up before she could fall flat on her face. One after another, they followed Chen Zhao and squeezed through the gap in the stone door.
Behind them, amid the surging Rust Tide, the Rust Men crawled after them on their elbows and knees like geckos.
Despite being covered head to toe in rust and creaking like ancient gears with every movement, they somehow crawled at the speed of champion sprinters.
Their limbs moved so fast they left afterimages.
They pursued like insects, occasionally leaping high into the air in an attempt to seize Qin Ying, who was carrying the Bone Staff.
Qin Ying had also realized that these creatures were probably after the Bone Staff nailed to her palm. She tried to throw the damned thing away.
But the spike was lodged in her bone and covered in barbs. It clung to her like a maggot burrowing into bone and could not be shaken loose.
As she stumbled onward, Qin Ying narrowly dodged them several times.
Seeing Liang Pu put himself in danger by staying at her side, Qin Ying steeled herself. “Brother Liang Pu, forget about me. Save yourself.”
At worst, she could abandon this body made through Soul-Container Consecration and return Outside the Box.
Liang Pu was different. He was flesh and blood. If he died, that would truly be the end.
Gasping for breath, she said, “The Bone Staff can repel the Rust Tide, but not the Rust Men. Cut off my right hand and take the Bone Staff with it.”
Given the skill Liang Pu had displayed, he would have a much easier time evading the Rust Men if he carried the Bone Staff instead.
Qin Ying’s reasoning was purely pragmatic, but to Liang Pu, her words sounded like a grim declaration of self-sacrifice.
He and Chen Zhao, who was running ahead, shouted in unison, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Chen Zhao turned back and gave Qin Ying a hand as well. “We’re not at that point yet.”
As he spoke, a faint light appeared ahead.
A sudden chill enveloped Qin Ying’s legs. She had stepped into water that reached her knees.
Just like in her dream, rust and filthy water had mixed into a murky sludge bristling with sharp debris.
Hidden fragments of corroded metal sliced open Qin Ying’s skin.
Through the pain, she suddenly remembered that in her dream, she had been looking down from high above.
As if compelled by some unseen force, she raised her head.
The next instant, her heart seemed to be clenched by an invisible hand.
The enormous shadow of a beast was looking down at them as they fled in blind panic.
Chen Zhao and Liang Pu noticed her reaction and looked up at the same time.
Like Qin Ying, they froze in shock.
At that moment, one of the Rust Men sprang into the air behind them.
Just as it was about to land on Liang Pu’s back, Qin Ying snapped out of her daze and pivoted on her heel.
She swung the Bone Staff pinned through her right hand like a baseball bat.
The blood-soaked Bone Staff slammed into the head of one of the Rust Men.
Crack!
Half its head caved in like a water canister crushed underfoot, and the metallic skull underneath sagged to one side.
The commotion jolted Chen Zhao and Liang Pu awake.
The Tent-Guarding White Monkey riding on Chen Zhao’s back looked frightened at first.
Then its nose twitched. After sniffing the air, it let out a shrill cry and began drumming on Chen Zhao’s head.
“The Little Monkey says that thing isn’t alive!”
Chen Zhao could communicate with the monkey he had raised, and even he breathed a sigh of relief after saying that.
The thing on the ceiling was even larger than the Chongyuan kept by the Fengshan Elite Cavalry. If they ran into something of that caliber in such a cramped cave, they would have no chance of surviving.
It wasn’t just the two men. Even Qin Ying relaxed.
Throwing caution to the wind, she wielded the Bone Staff pinned through her palm like a baseball bat and sent two or three of the Rust Men flying in succession.
As she paused to catch her breath, she found it surprisingly handy.
The Little White Monkey on Chen Zhao’s back squeaked and pointed into the darkness.
Only one Migu Flower Lamp remained among the lights Qin Ying’s group had brought, leaving them with extremely limited visibility.
In the pitch-black cavern, they had to rely entirely on the Little Monkey to guide them.
Chen Zhao said, “Follow me!”
They hurried in the direction it had indicated.
After running for a while, an enormous pit suddenly yawned open before them.
A plank walkway so crude it looked like a joke spiraled down the walls toward what appeared to be an altar at the bottom.
Compared to the filth and wastewater all around them, the white stone altar looked pristine and sacred.
Qin Ying and the others had no choice. Water sloshed loudly in the darkness behind them; the creatures were still coming.
Chen Zhao sprang forward and stepped onto the walkway.
Liang Pu followed close behind, dragging Qin Ying along with him.
After only a few steps, they saw rust-red humanoid figures sprawling one after another along the edge of the walkway.
The creatures had finally given up the chase.
Only then did the three of them slump onto the planks and heave a collective sigh of relief.
They looked at one another. All three were in a miserable state.
There wasn’t a patch of intact flesh left on Chen Zhao or Liang Pu, and Qin Ying was no better off, with a Bone Staff still pinned through her palm.
She doubled over, nearly coughing her lungs out, if this Soul-Container Puppet body even possessed lungs, that was.
After resting briefly on the walkway, they looked back. The Rust Men were still crowded around the entrance, piled high in layer upon layer as they watched in utter silence.
Chen Zhao rolled his shoulders and grumbled, “What the hell are those things so wary of?”
None of them could answer that question.
Their only option was to descend to the altar and search for clues and a way out.
Chen Zhao gave Qin Ying a hand up. “Come on. Let’s head down first and get that thing out of your hand.”
“Thank you, General,” Qin Ying said as she braced herself against the rock wall and rose.
Chen Zhao grinned. “No need to thank me. From now on, just call me Uncle Chen like Ah Lie does.”
With that, he patted the monkey on his back. “I’ve carried you this whole way, you little rascal. Now it’s your turn to scout ahead.”
At his words, the Tent-Guard Monkey that had been clinging to his back like a little charm leaped down. Its long, climbing claws hooked around the edge of the walkway, and it swung itself below.
It took point as their scout.
Before long, hooting cries echoed up from below.
Chen Zhao listened intently for a moment, then said, “Let’s go. It’s safe down there.”