Whish!
A stone whizzed through the air, precisely hitting the back of a man's head with a 'thud.' The man felt as if a heavy hamr of ten thousand pounds had struck him, shattering his skull. The stone penetrated his cranium, turning his brain into a mush.
The man didn't even have ti to let out a groan before his body went limp, blood streaming from his seven orifices as he collapsed to the ground.
"So, there really is a secret underground passage at the Lin Family Manor..."
Su Mu quietly landed from the eaves, arriving before the fake mountain. A gust of cold wind blew from the opened path, bringing with it a foul, decaying, and moist stench.
Inhaling deeply, Su Mu slled a strong, unpleasant mix of blood and tallic rust, and he could faintly hear tal clashing sounds, as if soone was forging iron underground.
The pitch-black tunnel before his eyes was utterly frightening.
"This is the place."
Su Mu frowned slightly as he looked at the tunnel. Just as he approached the small courtyard, he felt the dormant Gu insect under his chest stirring, showing signs of awakening.
The feeling beca even stronger as he stood outside the passage, a sensation Su Mu had experienced once before.
"Black Insect Elder... There are likely so Gu insects inside this passage..."
Instantly, a sense of caution arose in Su Mu's heart. The scene of his previous encounter with the Black Insect Elder flashed before his eyes. Su Mu's eyes flickered as he downed several gulps of dicinal wine, and he still carried a package of pills inside his jacket.
"I should go in and take a look... If things get out of hand, I'll retreat imdiately."
With that decision, Su Mu stepped inside. The tunnel was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face, but after walking fifty more steps, it brightened slightly. Luminous pearls were embedded on both sides of the tunnel.
Continuing, there was a faint glow of firelight, and the space suddenly opened up. The underground area of this Lin Family Manor had been hollowed out, containing a spacious area with torches affixed to the walls for illumination.
Clang clang clang!
Soon, Su Mu's eyes sharpened as the sounds of tal clashing ca from a certain direction, seeming like a fight, mixed with several bestial roars.
"Beast roar?"
Su Mu's nose twitched, doubt crossing his eyes. He imdiately moved toward the direction of the sounds.
As he got closer to the source of the fighting, the ground trembled. Soon, Su Mu saw a vast underground space, resembling a massive arena of death. What he witnessed made his pupils contract suddenly.
There were chains across the arena. The ends of the chains were nailed into the stone walls, while the front ends shackled three to five hairy creatures, each nearly seven feet long, crawling on all fours.
The roars Su Mu had heard earlier ca from these 'creatures.'
But, focusing on them, one would realize these creatures on all fours were actually humans.
At this mont, the humans, resembling monsters, were surrounding another human. That human had a thick chain locked at his waist and two thin chains passing through his shoulder bones, anchored to a central iron pillar.
"Clang clang clang!"
The human had broken chains on his wrists. He wrapped the chains around his fists, continuously smashing them into the attacking 'monsters' like beasts. The collision of chain-wrapped fists and flesh produced ear-deafening clanging sounds of tal and iron.
It seed that those shackled monsters were made of tal and iron, and even with power-infused chain fists, it was difficult to inflict significant damage.
"Damn it!"
The man swinging his fists was Zhang Jin, an instructor from the Hong Saber Martial Arts Hall in Changfeng County, a Seventh Grade Second-Ti Tendon Transformation Martial Artist. He had been poisoned and ambushed while traveling in Qingyun County, awakening to find himself in this dire situation.
Roar!
A humanoid monster, gnashing its teeth and waving its claws, attacked. Zhang Jin had to infuse power again and throw a punch. While his punch was forceful enough to break fifty ordinary Refined Blade Soldiers, it could only push these humanoid monsters back a few steps, leaving a shallow fist imprint on their flesh.
Another monster attacked, and against creatures with such resilience and seeming immunity to pain, even a Second-Ti Tendon Transformation practitioner like Zhang Jin felt despair, overwheld with both shock and anger, desperately trying to survive.
As Zhang Jin fought like a trapped beast, an old man in black battledress stood proudly on the outskirts. The humanoid monsters remained indifferent to the elderly man in their midst.
The old man watched the battle from the sidelines. At that mont, soone hurried over, shivering upon seeing the monsters. The old man glanced over and pulled a bone bell from his sleeve, shaking it. Imdiately, a nearby monster stiffened, gave a low growl, and retreated to the stone wall.
Only then did the newcor dare to approach, whispering sothing into the old man's ear.
"Master, it seems sothing has happened above ground."
"A bunch of useless fools indeed."
The old man in black frowned, his eyes coldly glinting. "Go, release my little darling."
Hearing this, the person who ca to report showed a flash of fear in their eyes, but dared not disobey. They quickly nodded in agreent, "Yes, Master."
In the shadows, as Su Mu saw the bone bell, a thought of a certain high-difficulty-to-craft Gu insect ntioned briefly in the Hundred Gu Scripture erged in his mind.
"These people have long been dead. What we're seeing are just lifeless bodies... Most likely, so kind of Corpse Gu has been implanted in them."
The Corpse Gu is a type of Gu insect used to control corpses. The thod to create such Gu insects is brutal, and the Hundred Gu Scripture rely glossed over it.
Su Mu never expected to encounter a Corpse Gu tonight, right under the noses of Qingyun City at the Lin Family Manor. Yet right now, a murderous intent surged in his eyes, though sowhere in his heart, he felt a glimr of hope.
"The blood sll coming from these bodies is strong, and it's likely not human blood... but so Demon Beast Blood. These corpses have been tempered with Demon Beast Blood, making their defenses quite impressive. This Lin Family Manor might possess Demon Beast Blood!"
Furthermore, as Su Mu focused on the old man's face, he quickly noticed sothing amiss.
"His appearance is strange. He must be wearing a human skin mask... This person is likely not Lin Yun, the real Manor Master Lin may already be dead, with soone impersonating him."
"If they're part of the Black Mountain Rebel Army, this person's rank must be high... Perhaps I can glean so information about 'Purple Shirt' from them."
While Zhang Jin gasped for breath, unable to catch even a single breath, he felt the earth start to tremble. From the depths of the cave ca a horrifying roar.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he forcibly swallowed.
"What, what is that thing?"
Squeak squeak!
A piercing tallic screech echoed from the depths, as if a terrifying beast was breaking free from its chain bindings.
Bang!
Following a sound akin to a heavy iron door opening.
Boom!
The earth shook as if a giant heavy hamr had struck it. Then, the sound of 'boom boom boom' rapidly approached. Zhang Jin, after repelling yet another humanoid monster with a punch, spun around to look.
In the darkness of the cave, two points of crimson light floated up, with a rough panting audible.
Boom!
With another muffled thud, a figure more than nine feet tall, clad in heavy beast-patterned armor, as towering as a small mountain, erged from the shadows. The design of the armor on this armored figure was ingenious, not hindering movent, yet the joints were tightly fitted, nearly seamless.
Seeing such an armored giant, Zhang Jin's face changed dramatically, and he shouted in a trembling voice, "This, this is the Iron Armor Corpse Puppet, are you remnants of the Corpse Puppet Sect?"
"Remnants?" The old man in black snorted coldly, then exposed a cruel and sinister smile, "I don't like that na."
"Little darling, kill him!"
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