Chapter 30: You Startled the Ghoul!

Chapter 30: You Startled the Ghoul!

Something nudged at his nose. Hui turned away, vaguely brushing it away. Zhubi, not yet

Cold hands caught his arm and drew it away from him.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Huis eyes snapped open. His yanked his arm away from the ghoul and instinctively kicked it. The ghoul fell back, arms flailing.

Jumping to his feet, Hui raced at the ghoul. His sword slid from its sheath with a whisper. He swung at the ghouls knees with both hands, meaning to break or dislocate.

The sword bit through putrid flesh and slashed bone. The ghoul flopped to the ground, legs severed at the knee.

Hui blinked. He looked at his sword, then back at the ghoul, then at his sword again. Damn.

The ghoul clawed toward him, mouth open, hungry. Strings of drool dripped down its jaw. Hui glanced at it, then back at his slab of slate.

He pointed at the ghoul. You wait here, alright?

Digging a claw into the sandy earth, the ghoul hauled itself toward him. It let out a horrible grunt, half a struggling breath, half a groan.

Good talk. Grabbing the slate block by one end, Hui dragged it into the cave. The ghoul crawled slowly after him, barely a hair slower than he could move.

At last, Hui reached the chamber at the end of the tunnel. Letting out an exhausted breath, he dropped the slate block, then kicked and pushed it until it blocked off the end of the tunnel. Just as he laid the final kick on the block, the ghoul arrived.

Time for the first test! Hui crouched on the other side of the block to watch the ghoul.

Dragging itself, legs trailing dark blood behind it, the ghoul reached the block. It clawed toward Hui, but stiff arms couldnt reach over the block. It bumped its head against the block once, then again, again, its arms clawing uselessly at the slate.

Ah! It does work! Hui cheered, delighted. In the old days, they would always make the threshold of a morgue extra deep, because if the dead rose, their stiff limbs wouldnt allow them to breach the deep threshold. Im not strong enough to cut the floor of this chamber deeper, but I can use the block to, in essence, raise the threshold!

Hui hopped over the block. The ghoul clawed slowly toward him, yellowed teeth bared. Sidestepping nimbly around to its rear, he grabbed it from behind and hefted it over the block. It plopped down on the other side and laid there, stunned, for a moment, then began to crawl toward him as numbly as before.

Alright, one ghoul captured! Time to go capture some more!

Skipping along, Hui left the cave behind and headed out into the deserted secret realm.

Darkness descended slowly over the secret realm when Hui returned for the final time, kiting two ghouls after him. He paused at the caves entrance and gazed up into the sky. Thick clouds obscured any sun that might have existed. Not a single glowing orb or patch of light stood out in the sky.

This secret realm I already suspected it, but it really isnt a part of the main world, is it?

A hand swiped for his neck. Hui ducked and danced backward, out of the ghouls reach. He jogged into the cave, ghouls following obediently.

From outside, something shrieked, the same shriek hed heard earlier. As before, it cut off abruptly. Hui halted again, just an instant, not long enough for the ghouls to catch up. As he walked, he peered into the fog uselessly. It didnt get closer, did it?

On the far side of the threshold stone, five ghouls bumbled about in various states of liveliness. The crawler bumped his head repeatedly against the stone, while two of the walkers stumbled into it or him alternatively. Another of the walkers stumbled toward the back wall, unaware that her toes scraped against stone with each step, while the final ghoul slumped numbly against a wall, eyes dim. The final ghoul sat up at his approach, and the back-wall ghoul likewise spun around to face him.

Hui stood on the far side of the threshold stone and waited, watching the last two ghouls approach. They reached for him, pale hands clawed.

Hui ducked around behind them and kicked once, spun, kicked the other one. Almost in sync, the two ghouls tripped over the threshold stone and into the cavern proper.

Looking at his seven ghouls, Hui nodded to himself. This is probably enough to study death qi. He sat cross-legged, facing the ghouls, and entered a state of meditation. Cautiously, he sent a thread of qi toward the undead.

The second his qi touched the ghouls, it vanished. Hui frowned. Did I lose track of the thread? Am I not concentrating hard enough?

Hui lifted a leg and kicked the shrieking ghoul away. It stumbled back, lips painted red with blood. It rushed at him again, but before it could reach, he ducked, flipping the girl ghoul over his head and into the shrieking ghouls face.

Thrown off his neck, she flailed randomly and caught onto the shrieking ghouls shoulder. Her white eyes locked onto the blood on the shrieking ghouls mouth, and she lunged.

Oh. Oh dear. Thats a bit spicy for this poor disciples delicate eyes.

The shrieking ghoul shrieked and slashed the girl ghoul to ribbons with its black claws. It wiped its mouth and approached Hui again, slowly, eyes narrowed.

Hui hesitated. He lowered his sword. If its an undead cultivator, it might have intelligence. Elder brother, kindly listen to me. This poor disciple only wants to study death qi. We have no quarrel. In fact, this disciple is even willing to offer his blood in return for the opportunity to

The shrieking ghoul launched at him, darting across the room.

So much for that. He parried its blows, barely able to keep up with the ghouls speed. With a forceful slash, he parried the ghouls hand upward and managed to land a blow on its body, only for the sword to bounce off its skin. Hard! Is it a body-cultivating undead? Or maybe it was before it died?

The cold in his chest spread deeper into his body with every motion. The longer he fought, the faster the ghoul moved.

They parted. Hui wiped sweat off his brow and shook his head. Two copies of the shrieking ghoul wavered before him, two images overlapping, separating, overlapping again. Hes not moving faster. Im poisoned and tired, and hes an inexhaustible monster.

Zhubi hissed in his ear, concerned.

Im fine, Hui replied. He pressed a hand against his chest. The blood wouldnt stop flowing. His limbs felt heavy. The world shifted around him, wobbling gently off its axis. Seems like a depressant, an anti-coagulant, and some kind of mild hallucinogenic? Fuck. I need to cleanse my blood. If I could sit still and meditate for a minute, Id be fine, but elder brother here isnt going to let me, is he?

He reached into his robes and drew out the second talisman, the one that felt like fire. Xixing said theyre weak to fire. I want to copy this one like I did the wind talisman, butits my poor little life at stake here! Faking my death will do me no good. Elder brother ghoul wont stop trying to eat me just because I died!

Dammit. Im throwing away my best chance to study death qi but theres no use studying it if I die in the process!

He pointed the talisman at the ghoul, then hesitated. The ghoul slashed with its claws. He darted to the side, thinking. Its claws grazed his arm, drawing fresh blood.

The other attack washed off him without hurting him. My sword bounced off his skin. Hes an undead, so qi is weak against him, and his skin poses as a natural armor on top of that. This talisman represents my only fire attack and my only chance at victory. I dont know what the final talisman does, and theres no guarantee itll effect the ghoul. My swordplay is lacking, not to mention my fatigue and the ghouls poison. I have to make sure this hits home!

Hui glanced at his bleeding arm. He sheathed his sword. Smearing the knuckles of his bleeding arm with the blood on his chest, he held out his fist to the ghoul. Here! You want blood? Take it!

The ghoul lunged. It grabbed his arm with both hands and stuffed his hand into its mouth. Sharp teeth bit into Huis flesh.

Hui winced. He opened his hand and pointed the talisman at the back of the ghouls throat. Activate!

Fire blasted through the ghoul. Its chest and neck glowed with light from the inside out. The fire hit the bottom and bounced back, roaring past Huis hand and into the ghouls skull. He yanked his hand out, a second too late. Red, seared skin blistered before his eyes.

The ghoul reached for him. Eyes burned out from the inside, bones rattling in its skin, it lurched a step forward, then let out a black, sooty breath and collapsed.

Hui drew the blood-red pills from his sleeve and tossed back two of them. The cuts sealed over, and his blistered hand began to heal. The remains of the other ghouls clawed toward him, the ones that hadnt died in the blast of wind. Exhausted, Hui drew his sword. As they came for him, he sliced their heads from their necks, one at a time. One at a time, the ghouls eyes went dark, and they fell still.

Wobbling, Hui backed up until his back hit the wall, then slid down it. Slumped over, he made a halfhearted attempt to circulate his qi. The ghouls venom lulled him down toward sleep.

Im on the right side of the threshold stone. I should be okay.

Unless another undead cultivator

Id be screwed anyways.

Hui shut his eyes and gave in to sleep.