Lan JingYi’s mouths hung gaping, unable to shut itself. OuYang ZiZhen murmured, “… My Ancestors… Just what in the world is this?”
Everyone who saw it had the same thought in their minds—just what in the world was this?!
The unidentified corpse that had appeared out of nowhere was nothing like the other corpses they had seen. It was colored a bloody crimson all over, as though it had just crawled out of the blood pool. With its extremely emaciated body, it seemed more than grotesque.
The corpses controlled by the Stygian Tiger Seal were also attracted to such a strange colleague of theirs. They all gave up on attacking Wei WuXian and instead looked over there with hesitation.
The blood corpse walked a few steps forward.
It wobbled forward as cracking noises came from its knuckles, almost as if it was stretching its bones. Dark red blood dripped from its limbs and torso, creeping to the ground.
A bitter fusion of yin energy and heavy resentment spilled from its body. As it approached, the other corpses began to writhe backward. Many of the people grew pale, afraid to make a single noise.
Lan WangJi stood in front of Wei WuXian, yet Wei WuXian pressed down on the hand he clutched Bichen with, whispering, “… Wait.” He stared dead at the blood corpse. A conjecture had formed within him. Heart racing, he repeated, “Wait.”
The blood corpse stopped at about ten feet away from them. Suddenly, it lifted his head, and let out two loud howls. The howls grew louder and sharper by each. The people covered their ears.
Light ripples formed over the surface of the blood pool.
At first, it was as though a small rock had been tossed. Yet, the ripples grew larger and larger, as though something was moving restlessly beneath the thick syrup.
Suddenly, a hand broke out of the blood!
With the force, the hand clenched the shore, its fingers sinking deep into the ground. What emerged afterward was a crimson face, half-rotten, its facial features unclear.
A second blood corpse had crawled out of the pool.
Immediately after, the entire surface of the blood pool began toss and turn, almost as if it had reached a boil. As it churned, more heads bobbed up its surface. A third, a fourth, a fifth…
Every one of them were clothed in blood. Shrill howls accompanied their hideous faces. As soon as they crawled out of the blood pool, they immediately began to fight the other corpses!
The corpses under the control of the Tiger Seal seemed as if they had been stirred by a red blade, becoming flesh, limbs, and black blood that flew in the air!
Jin Ling watched with shock, “… Just what in the world are these things?! Why would there be more fierce corpses in the blood pool? Didn’t they say that all of the corpses on Burial Mound had been incinerated?!”
Sect Leader OuYang answered, protecting his son, “Some weren’t!”
Lan JingYi, “Which ones were not?!”
Sect Leader OuYang, “Those… Those…”
He couldn’t say it out loud. After those Wen Sect’s remnants on Burial Mound back then were killed by the people partaking in the siege, the fifty corpses were all thrown into the blood pool!
Suddenly, Jin Ling shouted, “Watch out!”
A bloody lump of a red figure landed before him. Holding his sword, Lan SiZhui walked a few steps back. The blood corpse rose slowly.
The corpse was abnormally small and bent-over. It seemed that somebody had smashed a hole into its skull. Its white hair was sparse, sticking tattered to its forehead after being soaked by the bloody water. Along with its rotting flesh, it was extremely repulsive. Anyone who saw it felt uncomfortable. After it crawled up, limping, it slowly walked toward Lan SiZhui. All of the juniors trembled with fear, immediately gathering over here.
With the increase in people, the blood corpse grew cautious, growling with its throat. The boys seemed as if they faced a significant enemy, yet Lan SiZhui hurried to stop them, “Do not move!”
Although he himself was a bit nervous as well, for some unknown reason, he didn’t feel scared.
If the scrawny corpse had eyeballs, it must be staring at him. Tilting its head, it even stretched out an arm, its hand slowly moving toward Lan SiZhui as though it wanted to touch him.
The hand was covered in blood, almost like a half-nibbled chicken feet. All of the boys could feel goosebumps crawling up their bodies. Jin Ling raised his sword, ready to block it, just as Lan SiZhui exclaimed, “Young Master Jin, stop!”
Jin Ling, “Then what do we do?!”
Lan SiZhui, “Everyone… Everyone, do not move for now.”
The blood corpse called out in a faint voice. He steadied himself, and reached out toward the corpse as well.
Just as he was about to touch the corpse, a new wave of corpses had arrived. The blood corpse spun around and, with a long howl, leaped into the air, throwing itself into the pile of corpses before it bit and tore as if it was mad. Blood and flesh flew everywhere. The terror of its howls and the brutality of its moves was drastically different from how it was in front of Lan SiZhui.
Wen Ning threw off a number of corpses. His body trembling, he shouted at the corpse, “Is it you?!”
It didn’t pay attention to him.
All of the blood corpses killed with madness. Wen Ning shouted, “Is it you?!”
Fierce roars of all tones filled the entire Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Not one of them answered him, and not one of them could.
Not even an hour later, all of the sounds slowly quieted down.
After it all had ended, the Demon-Slaughtering Cave seemed just like the sceneries of hell painted in scrolls.
One after another, the blood corpses began to gather at where Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi were.
The tall and the short, the men and the women, the old and the young—all of them were demons drenched in blood. But on these figures, Wei WuXian saw a few familiar shadows.
Wen Ning murmured, “Uncle Four… Granny…”
He said their names one by one, his voice wavering as he went. Wen Ning, “Have you been waiting here ever since??”
If he were alive, his eyes would have grown red already and begun to tear up.
Wei WuXian’s lips trembled. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but still he couldn’t say it. He lowered his head and bestowed upon them a heavy salute. His voice was rasp, “… Thank you.”
Lan WangJi saluted as well.
When they were fighting, the blood corpses seemed as fierce as could be, but right now, when facing them, they still appeared hideous, but their movements seemed somewhat clumsy. At varied times, they bent down and lifted their hands, returning the salute.
And then, as if something had sucked out the energy and life within them, they all collapsed at once.
Their blood-colored bodies seemed to be fragile porcelain, cracking apart inch by inch, their pieces growing smaller and smaller. If another gust of wind blew over, there might be nothing left.
Wen Ning threw himself onto the ground, using his hands to gather up the crimson ashes. After he grabbed them, he stuffed him into his clothes, handful by handful. Soon, they were all full. Seeing this, Lan JingYi scratched his hair and took off one of his perfume pouches. He dumped out the herbs inside, squatted down, and handed it to him, “Here!”
Watching, the other boys copied as well. Jin Ling was the only who continued to watch them, his expression complex. He didn’t do anything. Frowning, he instead walked farther away. On the other hand, when the seven or eight hands were in front of Wen Ning, holding up perfume pouches and woven bags, Wen Ning didn’t know what to do.