Chapter 89: Corpse Wax

The screams came from deep within the mountains, one after another, crashing against the stone walls and creating various echoes. It felt as if they had completely surrounded Zuo Zhicheng and the others.

Liu Changding said with a trembling voice, “Wha… What’s happening?” Unconsciously, goosebumps had already formed all over his back.

Over there, Zuo Zhicheng used his Infrared Vision to look in the direction from which the sound had first come. “Be careful. Something’s coming.”

Ghost Fist’s identity and methods were clearly very trusted by the few members of the Shadow Corps. As soon as Zuo Zhicheng finished speaking, all of them had already drawn the weapons at their waists. Qingyue Qiu also unscrewed the lid of a small pot. A white, human-shaped figure emerged from the pot, swirling around Qingyue Qiu like a ghost.

That was the Qingyue Family’s inherited Dao Arts, the Shadow Corps. Because the shadow figures contained a large amount of highly alkaline substances, they were extremely corrosive and could change shape and move freely according to Qingyue Qiu’s Mental Force. It was a Dao Art of immense destructive power.

However, although Qingyue Qiu’s Dao Arts were powerful, in Zuo Zhicheng’s Infrared Vision, the other party’s body did not contain any Innate Primordial Breath. It seemed this woman only had a Life Grove and no Innate Primordial Breath, so she had only trained in Dao Arts.

But just from this Shadow Corps Dao Art alone, Zuo Zhicheng couldn’t tell exactly what her Life Grove was.

Just as the group had gathered around Qingyue Qiu and Liu Changding and begun to take defensive positions, Zuo Zhicheng had already taken a step forward and disappeared into the dark forest.

“I’ll go take a look. You all stay here and don’t move.”

“Ghost Fist…” Qingyue Qiu called out, but she found that his figure had already vanished. She frowned and could only order everyone to wait where they were.

In the darkness, the Life Grove in Zuo Zhicheng’s left eye, Night Sea, began to operate. It absorbed the already faint light around him, turning the space he occupied completely into shadow.

Just by instinctively absorbing light, the presence of Night Sea had already elevated Zuo Zhicheng’s already formidable stealth abilities by another level.

After a short while, the screams abruptly stopped. The entire forest returned to a state of silence. Even the sounds of some animals had disappeared.

Perhaps because they were somewhat uncomfortable with this eerie silence, as they looked at the shadowy, constantly swaying trees around them, everyone’s hearts grew a bit tense.

Suddenly, footsteps treading on leaves could be heard. Everyone tensely looked in the direction of the sound.

“What is that!”

It was a strange black figure. Its upper body and head looked very, very large, but its lower body was similar to that of a human. The shadow’s body seemed very heavy; with each step, it sank deeply into the rotten leaves.

Just as everyone was extremely on guard and even considering whether to attack, Zuo Zhicheng’s voice came through. “It’s me.”

The figure approached again and finally came into the light of the torches everyone held. It was Zuo Zhicheng, carrying a man over his shoulder as he walked toward the group.

Tang Xianghui let out a breath and sheathed her Dagger. “You gave us a scare. Who is that on your shoulder?” As she said this, including Tang Xianghui herself, the other members of the Shadow Corps looked at Zuo Zhicheng with extreme surprise.

‘What a joke. In a situation like this, he actually went for a stroll in the dark jungle as if he were shopping.’

‘This Ghost Fist, in such a short time, subdued and carried a person back like that.’

‘Compared to him, we’re like kids playing house. Is he really just at the Grand Completion of Qi Training? Could it be he can also use some Dao Arts?’

Setting aside their inner thoughts, Zuo Zhicheng had already set the man down.

“He was the one making the screams,” Zuo Zhicheng said with a stern face. “Although it sounded far away, it was actually just the echoes.”

The man was placed on the ground. “He seemed to be under some kind of shock. I had no choice but to knock him out.”

Beside Tang Xianghui, a man with a somewhat round face, called Tang Yuan, said, “I think I’ve seen this person before.” He frowned. “He seems to be one of the hunters stationed at the camp.”

A Wei said with some confusion, “How is that possible? Why would he run out so late and make those kinds of sounds?”

“That means something has happened at your camp,” Zuo Zhicheng said, hoisting the man back onto his shoulder. “Let’s hurry. My intuition tells me something happened tonight.”

The members of the Shadow Corps exchanged glances and then followed Zuo Zhicheng back on their journey.

As they continued deeper, the surrounding forest grew denser. Traces of human civilization had completely vanished. They were now deep in the mountains where even herb gatherers and hunters would never go.

Fortunately, the location of these mountains and Xinlu Port meant it didn’t snow in winter, making the surroundings much more manageable.

Even so, it took them the entire night. It wasn’t until the next noon that they passed through a stretch of forest and arrived at their destination.

Exiting the forest, their field of view suddenly broadened. A huge lake stretched before them, and behind the lake was a range of connected mountain peaks. One of the mountains looked like a large dog lying down—that was Dog Head Mountain.

Tang Xianghui pointed to a campsite by the river. “They should be right there.”

Liu Changding, his face as pale as wax and panting heavily, said, “We’re finally here.” His physical condition made it hard for him to keep up with the group. Later on, several men from the Shadow Corps had taken turns carrying him on their backs.

As for Zuo Zhicheng, he had carried the unconscious man the whole time but showed no signs of fatigue at all, earning the silent admiration of the Shadow Corps members for his stamina.

Watching the Shadow Corps members head straight for the camp, Zuo Zhicheng frowned. In his Infrared Vision, there were no human presences there at all.

And indeed, that was the case.

“No one’s here.”

“Where did they go?”

“How come everyone’s gone?”

Zuo Zhicheng laid the man from his shoulder inside a tent and looked around the empty camp. The campfire was still burning. The hardtack, dried noodles, and other food stores were neatly arranged. Everything seemed in perfect order.

“The food is still here. It doesn’t look like a beast attack.”

“Everything is very tidy. No signs of a fight were found.”

“They didn’t take their weapons or dry rations. They left in a hurry.”

“But they deliberately covered their tracks.”

While listening to everyone’s various speculations and discoveries, Zuo Zhicheng’s eyes scanned the entire camp. Suddenly, he walked over to the empty shore. He crouched down and saw a row of strange footprints in the mud by the water’s edge.

Qingyue Qiu came over. “Did you find something?” When she saw the footprints by the shore, she said puzzled, “Did they jump into the lake?”

“There are footprints going in and footprints coming out. And they’re all barefoot…” Zuo Zhicheng touched the layer of white soil around the footprints on the ground and brought it to his nose to smell.

Tang Xianghui also walked over. Seeing Zuo Zhicheng smelling it, she showed a confused expression. “Do you have any clues?”

Zuo Zhicheng smelled it briefly, then flicked the white soil from his fingertipe onto the ground. “Corpse Wax.”

“Corpse Wax?”

“If a fatter corpse stays in water for about a year, the fat under the skin…” He paused, knowing that the professional terms and chemical reactions might not be well understood by people in this world, so he said, “Anyway, the body turns into something like this white wax.”

“You can tell that just by smelling it?” Tang Xianghui said incredulously. “And you’re saying a corpse climbed out from this lake?”