Chapter 326 - Corpse Demons

“M-Meow! Don’t scare me!”

Everyone produced orbs of light to illuminate their surroundings. What greeted them were numerous deep lakes of maroon-colored water. Next to every lake was a large locust tree, some of which had their roots protruding from the ground and winding around the lake like veins and arteries. The roots were so tightly wounded that they were a horrifying sight from afar.

Qingyu and Liu Feiyan turned pale from fright. “H-How could there be so many locust trees and pools of blood? Is that human blood inside…”

“L-Locust trees…” Zhiluan was so frightened that he fell, sitting on the ground. In a trembling voice, he said, “Locust trees gather dark energy and easily attract evil spirits. That’s why most people wouldn’t plant a locust tree in their yards. Legend has it that under every locust tree is a mass grave of people who have died tragically and then turned into vengeful ghosts. Every year at this time, they would find a scapegoat. Here…”

Unable to take it anymore, Liu Feiyan clapped her hands over her ears and screeched, “Argh! Stop talking! Xiao Chen, discipline your cat!”

Xiao Chen walked over to Zhiluan and kicked him aside. “Yeah, yeah, you’re the only one who knows all these stories! Stop spouting nonsense, will ya?”

The kick sent Zhiluan tumbling and rolling on the ground. When he got up, he continued saying in a trembling voice, “No! I’m telling you the truth! The lake… isn’t filled with blood! It’s the water of the Yellow Springs, the kind you’d find only in the Underworld!”

“Yellow Springs water!”

The group turned grim-faced. Yu Yifeng said in alarm, “What’s that over there?!”

Everyone turned to look and saw a piece of land in the distance covered with red-colored flowers. With their red-as-blood petals and thin stamens growing upward from within, they looked incredibly demonic.

Bai Yushu said quietly, “The books mention that the flowers of the Yellow Springs blossom three feet away from the road. Could those be the flowers of the Yellow Springs…? Could it be that we have truly walked into the Underworld that governs the death of commoners?”

These words left the group in disbelief. Ling Fei’s expression turned stern as he said harshly, “I don’t believe in any Underworld that governs the death of commoners!” He then aimed a palm attack at the nearest locust tree. Following the rustling of the leaves, the entire tree shook alongside the leaves, so much so that it produced an eerie hissing sound.

Several trees nearby began shaking as well. In an instant, all the locust trees here quaked and the sinister hissing sounds reverberated throughout. Everyone felt their scalps go numb from fright.

“Stop trying to scare us with your petty tricks!” Ling Fei bellowed, wanting to take out his Immortal’s Sword and cut down a tree or two. Xiao Chen glared at him. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“What I’m doing? Cutting down these trees!” Suddenly, he staggered and nearly fell. It was as if someone had given him a shove.

“Who pushed me?!” Ling Fei whipped around, unable to restrain his anger. Seeing Wan Yanyan standing behind him, he yelled, “Why did you push me?!”

Wan Yanyan was bewildered. “I didn’t push you…”

“Argh!” Out of the blue, a screech shattered the atmosphere. Everyone turned around and saw a pale-looking Qingyu. Xiao Chen frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Qingyu shuddered nonstop as if something had frightened her. She could barely get the words out of her mouth. “Girl! There’s a girl! I just saw a little girl in red running past me! She’s carrying a terrifying puppet on her back!”

Everyone exchanged looks before scanning their surroundings. Other than the eighteen of them, there was no sign of a little girl in red anywhere. Zhou Li walked over to Qingyu and said, “It’s alright, Junior Sister Qingyu. Stop scaring yourself…”

Before he could finish his sentence, another screech pierced the air. This time, it came from Liu Feiyan. She was so frightened that her face was white. “I saw her! I saw her too! Argh! She’s right behind you!”

Xiao Chen immediately whipped around. Other than feeling a gust of cold wind sweeping him, he saw nothing else. The rest took out their Immortal’s Swords and magic treasures, all on guard.

Xu Gu put his palms together. “All with appearances is empty and false. If you can see all appearances as unreal, then you see the Tathagata…” It wasn’t until he planted the Vajrapani Drives Out the Devil Seal between both girls’ brows that they finally calmed down a little.

Xiao Chen unsheathed his Unsullied Immortal’s Sword and said seriously, “May I ask whoever senior it is to show himself or herself?” His voice echoed in the space but no reply answered him.

After a long time, a wispy voice reverberated. The voice sounded both as close as if it was next to everyone’s ears yet distant at the same time. It sounded like a little girl slowly singing a folksong. “Amid the red flowers and red moon, I ride a horse across the bridge; Uncles and Older Brothers are all dead, I carry my Brother up the bridge…”

The singing was sinister and the last line was especially hair-raising. Not even covering their ears helped for the sound was clear. Xiao Chen’s expression turned increasingly solemn. Red flowers? Red moon? Puppet? He didn’t think the girl was singing about the red flowers blooming everywhere here, but rather…

“This is a strange place. Don’t show blind trust in what we see and hear now because it might not be the truth. That includes the person next to you now. He or she might not be who you know,” Su Zimu suddenly said.

Su Zimu’s last line confused everyone but they nonetheless became alert. The little girl’s ghostly folksong was still resounding in the air. Qingyu and Liu Feiyan felt their scalp turn numb. Meanwhile, Xu Gu started reciting Mind-purifying Tathagata Incantation.

“Come on. Let’s leave this place first.” Xiao Chen thought it wouldn’t be wise to linger in this strange place any longer. He and Xiaoyue led the group to the other side.

Thanks to the many lakes nearby, everyone found the soil under their feet to be damp and clammy. Creaking and grunting sounds rang out every time their feet touched the ground. When they reached the expanse of strange and gorgeous flowers of Yellow Springs, Xiao Chen frowned. The flowers here covered every inch of the ground, forming a boundless sea of red that left no space for them to move around in. He lifted up the hem of his robe and said, “We can’t verify if these are the flowers of the Underworld at the moment but it’s best that we don’t touch any.”

Everyone cautiously treaded through the field of flowers as the ghostly folksong resounded next to their ears, sometimes sounding close and sometimes far. It was as if the little girl had been following after them all this while, insisting on haunting them.

“Don’t go any further. There are Corpse Demons up ahead.”

Suddenly, another voice rang out. It belonged to that little girl. Everyone immediately turned around but saw no one. Qingyu turned pale and said in a trembling voice, “It’s that girl. Is she warning us…?”

Xiaoyue frowned and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. She focused on her surroundings and said, “Little girl? Is that you speaking? Can you please show yourself?”

No one said anything for a long time. The only sound was the sound of the folksong again. “Amid the red flowers and red moon, I ride a horse across the bridge; Uncles and Older Brothers are all dead, I carry my Brother up the bridge…” The voice gradually sounded farther and farther away until it fell silent completely.

Relief washed over everyone as soon as the little girl’s voice vanished. But just as quickly, they plunged into a deathly stillness that made them feel even more panicked.

“Amitabha…” Xu Gu recited the name of Buddha. “The thoughts we birth in our minds are unreal, and it is all an illusion.”

“Senior Brother Xu Gu is right. Let’s go.” Xiao Chen didn’t say much. He once again turned around to lead the rest. Nearly an hour later, the group finally left the field of flowers. However, the empty space in front of them seemed to go on endlessly. The atmosphere here was indescribably eerie. Even the air here was permeated with the faint smell of decaying flesh; it was enough to make them feel sick.

Su Zimu gripped his Mystic Heaven Fan and said cautiously, “The stink of corpse here is strong. Looks like the little girl is right. We should be careful.”

While he was still speaking, the sound of rustling suddenly rang out all around them. The sound became denser and denser. In the darkness, no one could tell what was approaching them. The eighteen of them immediately got together, with each doubling the brightness of the orb of True Energy light in their hand. What they saw next was hair-raising.

The soil around them began to open up, revealing countless withered arms emerging from the ground. Then, a hoard of rotten corpses climbed out of the soil and filled the air with a horrible stench.

Qingyu and Liu Feiyan turned sheet-white. They hastily covered their nose with their sleeve but that didn’t stop them from retching. The rest also felt their stomach churn. Bai Yushu gripped his Immortal’s Sword and said seriously, “Watch out. They’re Corpse Demons.”

In just seconds, hundreds of Corpse Demons climbed out of the ground. The rotting of the demons was severe. Inside their eye sockets were two dark-green will-o’-the-wisps and a large part of their skin were illuminated green. From afar, it looked like a field of green. There were likely thousands of these Corpse Demons.

“M-meow! They’re not ordinary Corpse Demons! They’re giving off Devil Qi!” Zhiluan was so scared that he hid behind Xiao Chen. He put his claw near his mouth. His teeth were chattering nonstop.

Corpse Demons were originally a form of Corpse Insect inside bodies. They were born out of the Negative Qi and Tainted Qi in the world. With the bodies as a stove, the insects gradually cultivate to become evil creatures. Ordinary Corpse Demons would only emanate deep Negative Qi, but the ones in front of them even exuded unnatural Devil Qi.

“Watch out! Don’t let the Corpse Qi and Devil Qi infect you!” With that said, Su Zimu slew the dozen or so Corpse Demons charging at them with his Heavenly Thirteen Swords. Limbs immediately went flying all over.

Bai Yushu cast a spell. The Immortal’s Sword in his hand instantly turned into a ray of light and cut through the air. However, the hoard of Corpse Demons caused the white radiance of the sword to lose some of its lusters. Bai Yushu hastily retrieved his sword. When it flew back to his hand, he saw wisps of black Qi so thin that they were barely discernable winding around the blade.

“Be careful. The Devil Qi on these Corpse Demons is thick enough to taint our weapons.”

Naturally, this came to the attention of everyone else as well. Unless they were using legendary weapons like the Unsullied Sword, ordinary Immortal’s Swords would be tainted by the Devil Qi on these Corpse Demons as soon as they came close. Everyone began to cast their respective spells to attack with Sword Qi instead.

The sight of numerous Sword Qi weaving left and right in their attacks was dazzling but Xiao Chen remained frowning. He could feel another terrifying existence hiding in an unknown corner of the darkness.

“Who is it? Who dares to disturb this General’s eternal rest?”