Chapter 92: The Monster

Qingyue Qiu looked at Zuo Zhicheng with a bit of surprise. She thought to herself, ‘Is that magnesium? But it seems even brighter. Does Ghost Fist also know some simple Dao Arts materials?’

Under the magnesium light, the scene above them clearly appeared before everyone.

On the river, bright as day, the small boat behind them about a dozen meters away was now empty.

Meanwhile, the pitch-black cave above their heads was now illuminated as brightly as daytime.

It was a mountain fissure of immeasurable height. Even Zuo Zhicheng couldn’t see the top at a glance. What was even more shocking was that, under the magnesium light, the mountain walls were covered with vines of various lengths, long and short. Wrapped in these vines was an endless, countless array of corpses and skeletons.

Among these corpses were dried-up bodies and skeletons, including both animals and humans. Some of the corpses had skulls that were half-decomposed, staring down at the people on the boat with hollow eyes, sending a chill up everyone’s spine.

Tang Xianghui muttered, “How can there be so many corpses?”

“Look at the clothing on those bodies—there are all sorts of ethnic groups, and they don’t seem to be from the same era.”

Just then, Zuo Zhicheng pointed in one direction on the mountain wall and said, “Look there!”

Everyone looked up in the direction Zuo Zhicheng pointed and felt a sudden chill. They saw a pale face staring blankly at them. The face had prominent cheekbones, deeply sunken eye sockets, and a venomous expression—it didn’t look human, sending shivers down their spines.

Just as they were shocked, the bomb Zuo Zhicheng had made went out. The magnesium light vanished, and the pale figure disappeared as if it had been just a fleeting glimpse.

Tang Xianghui and the others looked at each other. They had experienced assassinations, stealth, and combat before. But seeing such an obviously non-human creature with their own eyes still made cold sweat run down their backs like rain.

Zuo Zhicheng didn’t have such a strong reaction. He looked in the direction of the figure with his left eye, but in his Infrared Vision, he couldn’t see any shadow or detect any heat signature.

‘A cold-blooded creature? Or something else…’ Zuo Zhicheng frowned. The next moment, his left eye switched visual modes, turning into Night Vision Mode. Although it wasn’t as clear as under the magnesium light, in this situation, Night Vision Mode was more practical than Infrared Vision.

‘I was careless. It seems I’ve grown too accustomed to using Infrared Vision lately.’

Since gaining Infrared Vision, Zuo Zhicheng had grown used to using its functions to detect others’ presence. Because of this, he had overlooked creatures without heat signatures and rarely used Night Vision Mode.

“What exactly was that thing?” Qingyue Qiu couldn’t help but frown as well.

“Could it be a Jiangshi?” Tang Xianghui’s face looked a bit pale. “Did that thing attack A Wei and the others?”

“But how did they take them right from under our noses?”

“Earlier, A Wei said he saw a woman in green clothes. Could it have been that ghostly thing?”

Seeing everyone’s surprise and panic, Zuo Zhicheng said coldly, “Jiangshi, ghosts, whatever—it doesn’t matter. In the end, they’re just a type of animal. They have weaknesses, and they can definitely be killed.”

“Whether Liu Changding and the others disappeared because of these creatures, and if it was them, how they did it without anyone noticing—none of that matters now.”

“Why?” Tang Xianghui asked.

“Didn’t you see all those corpses up there?” Zuo Zhicheng picked up an oar from the boat and began rowing himself. With his superhuman strength and skill, the boat’s speed immediately doubled, racing along the river channel.

“You don’t actually think there’s only one of those ghostly things up there, do you?”

“What!” A terrifying possibility dawned on Qingyue Qiu and the others.

Soon, rustling and clinking sounds came from above them.

“They’re coming,” Zuo Zhicheng said, increasing his rowing speed.

“What are they?” Tang Xianghui exclaimed.

“Those ghostly things you just saw.” Zuo Zhicheng glanced back. Under his Night Vision Eyes, hundreds of ghostly shadows were climbing down from the mountain walls, charging toward their boat.

Tang Yuan turned around and drew the long knife from his waist. “We can’t just abandon A Wei and the others like this. Let’s kill them!”

“Don’t act recklessly. There are at least several hundred of them,” Zuo Zhicheng said. “And we only have this small boat under our feet. There’s no room to maneuver. If the boat gets wrecked, it’ll be even more troublesome.”

Hearing Zuo Zhicheng’s words, Tang Yuan said bitterly, “But A Wei and the others…”

“They may not be dead. From what we saw just now, all those corpses were old—there were no fresh ones. This place above us where the bodies are stored probably isn’t where they keep their food. They might have been moved, or maybe they were abandoned.”

“Besides, if we die, there’s no hope left.”

“If you want to fight, wait until we reach that stone platform ahead. We need solid ground under our feet first.”

Tang Yuan and the others understood this logic, but the thought of abandoning their comrades made them hesitate. In the end, Qingyue Qiu gave the order, “Do as Ghost Fist says. Everyone row together.”

Immediately, they all picked up extra oars and rowed together with all their might, heading deeper into the river channel.

“But why aren’t we rowing back? Wouldn’t it be too risky to go further in under these circumstances?” Tang Xianghui suddenly asked. “Maybe these ruins are the nest of those ghostly things.”

“It’s too far. We’ve already gone two-thirds of the way in. The distance back is too long.” Zuo Zhicheng watched the monsters above, moving quickly along the rock walls and vines as they descended. “They’re very fast. They’re catching up.”

“Hurry up!”

“Row faster!”

No one asked how Zuo Zhicheng could see the rock wall in the dark. All they could hear were the rustling sounds getting closer and closer. They had no choice but to row with all their strength. The thought of all the various corpses wrapped in the vines made them determined not to end up the same way.

But the river was too narrow, and the members of the Shadow Corps weren’t skilled rowers. After a few bumps and collisions, the monsters on the mountain wall had caught up.

A vine dropped onto Tang Xianghui’s neck, trying to hook her and pull her up. But she reacted quickly, drawing her long knife and slashing, cutting the vine. However, a green shadow had already let out a screech and was pouncing toward her.

Although the creature’s appearance was horrifying, Tang Xianghui was, after all, an experienced fighter. She cleared her mind and swung her knife. A silver flash later, the blade was deeply embedded in the monster’s neck.

“What!” Tang Xianghui had intended to cut off the monster’s head with that strike. As a warrior with Innate Primordial Breath and extraordinary Physique Strength, this shouldn’t have been difficult. But she hadn’t expected the monster’s skin to be as hard as old tree bark, making it impossible to pull the knife out.

The struggling force transmitted through the knife was incredibly strong. Amid the monster’s chattering screams, Tang Xianghui couldn’t free her blade. Just then, two more monsters leaped down from above, heading straight for her.