Chapter 1251

Black blood splattered three feet high. Dong Rui didn't have eyes in the back of his head, but fortunately, upon entering the Howling Forest, he had placed the bat on his shoulder. As soon as that thing sneaked out to ambush, the bat took action.

Fu Liushan turned around and finally saw the second attacker clearly: it was a Dead-Leaf Frog.

Other frogs had skin that was either smooth or covered in bumps, but this one had brown, horny protrusions; from a distance, it looked just like fallen leaves on the ground.

Of course, this guy was ridiculously large; where in the forest would there be such large tree leaves? So it was mimicking dead tree trunks and fallen bark in the grass.

Naturally, the frog's hunting technique was very similar; it also flicked out a long tongue, wanting to stick and drag Dong Rui into its mouth.

But the long tongue only stuck back a yellow talisman paper—

Before entering the forest, Fu Liushan had given them each a "Clothes-Shedding Talisman." Don't let the name sound sleazy; as long as you stick this talisman on your undergarments, once an enemy uses a binding technique on you, this talisman can take the hit for you.

Even He He Lingchuan felt it would be better to call it a "Golden Cicada Talisman," but Fu Liushan insisted on keeping the ancestral name.

The Dead-Leaf Frog kicked its legs a few more times rapidly.

Fu Liushan grabbed the Myriad-Treasure Pestle and gave it a light twist, and the bottom turned into a cone tip.

He was just about to raise the pestle to stab the giant frog to death, but Dong Rui stopped him, saying, "No need, no need."

The Dead-Leaf Frog moved a couple more times, and something crawled out from the wound on its back.

It was the Bat Monster Puppet.

Its first strike had pierced through the Dead-Leaf Frog's brain.

"Go back in and find the pituitary gland!" Dong Rui casually took out a knife to collect skin, blood, and many other parts from the Dead-Leaf Frog.

"Good stuff, good stuff." Dong Rui was delighted. "This mutation is quite successful."

"What exactly are these things?" Fu Liushan watched from the side, finally understanding what He He Lingchuan meant when he said he "just liked this."

"They were monsters when they were alive." Dong Rui carefully put away the collected samples one by one. "They mutated before they died, and became like this."

"Is the mutation man-made?"

"Not necessarily." Dong Rui was well-versed in this. "Some were accidentally contaminated."

The bat brought the things he wanted and placed them in a bottle.

Over there, the Ghost Ape also caught the Lingying that was running around. Fu Liushan tapped its forehead twice with the Myriad-Treasure Pestle, knocking out two evil ghosts, and stabbed them to death on the spot.

Dong Rui's eyes lit up, and he mercilessly cut off the Lingying's tail: "This is the most valuable part of the Lingying; it cannot be wasted!"

After this interlude, the three continued to advance toward the Bai Yu Wall.

An hour later, they encountered another corpse puppet ambush, but this time the number was higher, seven in total.

They had different forms and different abilities.

Even though the three of them each had their own skills, plus the Ghost Ape and Lingguang, it still took some effort to knock them all down.

Both the Ghost Ape and Fu Liushan were injured, and Lingguang quickly helped them treat the wounds.

If He He Lingchuan didn't have the ability to ward off evil energy, the three of them would have had to dodge the evil energy while dealing with these corpse puppets in the Howling Forest; that would truly have been maximum difficulty.

This ghost place was truly "no entry for the living."

"First a ghost-beating-wall, then a corpse puppet ambush." Dong Rui hummed. "I'd like to see what other tricks the Ghost King has."

He He Lingchuan said while walking: "It's probably out of tricks. In the previous battle at Cotton Village, it took many corpse puppets from here."

The ones left behind were probably just for guarding the house.

As if to confirm his words, the three continued forward and didn't encounter any more attacks until they reached the Bai Yu Wall.

The sun finally set.

The three stood before the Bai Yu Wall, the huge gap like the wide-open mouth of a snail-toad, waiting for them to jump in themselves.

Dong Rui gestured for He He Lingchuan to go first: "You go first, I'll bring up the rear."

"I thank you." He He Lingchuan was also sizing up the pitch-black cave entrance. What kind of setup would the Ghost King have in its lair?

"What are you two in such a hurry for?" Fu Liushan grabbed two handfuls of acorns and casually scattered them into the gap. "Let them go first; if there's a path, they'll scout it; if there's a trap, they'll trigger it."

These acorns had all been enchanted by him; after landing, they grew small hands and feet, hopping and jumping toward the depths of the cave. Some ran too fast and would trip themselves over.

Don't look at their small size; moving a coin or two or triggering a few mechanisms was no problem for them.

He was an expert at tomb raiding and cave digging; when his pockets were short on money, he would occasionally borrow some from wealthy families, so these tricks all came in handy.

The acorn people entered the cave, and Fu Liushan said to the two, "Guard me," then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

This guy really had many spells essential for home and travel. The two waited on the side to prevent the Ghost King from sneaking an attack.

More than half an hour later, Fu Liushan opened his eyes and yawned.

Dong Rui said irritably: "Just now I thought you were snoring."

Fu Liushan climbed up, stretched a few times, and then gave a long stretch: "It's really big down there; I don't know if it counts as an underground palace or a cave dwelling! There's something inside... not very ordinary!"

A cave dwelling? Dong Rui looked at He He Lingchuan: "What about the Ghost King?"

"Didn't see it. But my acorns stepped on quite a few traps; they seem to be set up in a hurry and aren't precise enough." Fu Liushan was also an expert at setting traps and making layouts; he knew some traps could even let the first few targets pass, only catching the targets behind.

Dong Rui said: "This is the Ghost King's lair; setting traps roughly doesn't fit its status, does it?"

He He Lingchuan asked him back: "Do you usually set heavy mechanisms in your own home?"

"Uh..." Wouldn't that be superfluous?

"But there are a few traps that are quite remarkable; if we went ourselves, we'd lose a layer of skin even if we didn't die." Fu Liushan said solemnly. "These few traps wiped out forty or fifty of my acorn people at once."

With them scouting the path, the three finally felt at ease entering the Bai Yu Wall.

He He Lingchuan raised a fluorescent spore as a street lamp. The mountain walls on both sides were covered with climbing plants, but one could vaguely see the entire gap was straight and smooth, without even a tiny wrinkle. Cracks formed by natural weathering or mountain compression couldn't look like this.

This gap was likely man-made, and cut open in one go.

Crisp and neat.

What kind of magic treasure, what kind of divine ability could leave such a shocking cut on this huge jade wall? Fu Liushan was already muttering to himself: "Could it be the handiwork of an immortal?"

It seemed that was the only explanation.

The three walked down along the gap, as if walking into the belly of the mountain.

Just as Fu Liushan said, there was actually a huge underground palace beneath the Bai Yu Wall! Due to geological reasons, there were likely one stone nest after another here, but later they were artificially expanded and connected in sequence, thus forming a complex cave dwelling in the mountain.

He He Lingchuan and the others walked in along the gap, not at the main entrance of the cave dwelling, but instead entered a side grotto.

Fu Liushan said: "Walk to the end along the gap; there's something very unusual there."

(End of chapter)