Chapter 870

Li Yi didn't understand why, after opening the paper umbrella, an extra person had mysteriously appeared beside him—but he was certain this person was not alive; they were another corpse, equally invisible.

Yet he could be sure the immediate danger had temporarily passed—the sound of knives slashing inside the house had ceased, and the family of three residing in this haunted mansion had regained their stillness.

"Seize this chance and leave this building immediately."

Li Yi didn't pause a moment; he felt this was an opportunity. Though an invisible corpse clung tightly to him beneath the umbrella, it was better than being hacked to death with a kitchen knife here.

He had experienced this kind of abnormal, eerie power only in World 36.

His movement was swift, like a gale sweeping past—he dashed out of the room, raced down the stairwell to the first floor, then bolted straight outside.

Something bizarre happened.

Li Yi successfully exited the building and was no longer trapped.

Clearly, he had found the correct method.

One had to be inside at night, after the family of three returned home, and hold the paper umbrella within the house to escape the building.

It seemed simple.

In reality, it had trapped and killed one cultivator after another; had Li Yi not possessed extensive experience delivering messages, he would likely have met the same fate as the others—slashed to death by the invisible corpse in the room.

It wasn't that other cultivators were weak—they were merely limited by their experience. Had they also visited World 36, they too might have escaped this building successfully.

Li Yi didn't dwell on it; he immediately closed the umbrella. He no longer wished to be so close to the invisible corpse beneath it.

But the moment he put away the umbrella, he realized the invisible corpse beside him hadn't vanished—instead, he could clearly feel a heavy corpse clinging to his shoulder.

The discomfort was severe. Li Yi tried to shake it off, but to no avail.

"Has it latched onto me?" He understood, roughly.

He hadn't become a corpse himself to escape the haunted mansion—he had simply walked out accompanied by a corpse. In the terms of World 36, he had walked out with a ghost clinging to him.

Now this ghost had attached itself to him.

But Li Yi had no time to deal with the invisible corpse on his shoulder—he turned his gaze toward the distant city district.

Though this place was dark and lifeless, far away lay thousands of glowing lights—a stark contrast between the two zones.

Li Yi walked forward along the silent path.

As he had observed earlier, all the residential buildings here were abandoned; hollow windows revealed deep darkness, and only weeds and dust surrounded them, as if forgotten.

When Li Yi stepped out of this residential compound, he halted abruptly.

He saw a large tree beside the compound—somewhat like a banyan tree—and beneath it stood a small temple, resembling a Tudimiao, though inside it enshrined not a land god, but a charred little figure.

The little figure's body was twisted, its head drooping over one shoulder, its green eyes seemingly fixed on Li Yi.

In front of the temple, many burned incense sticks and piles of ash lay scattered, as if someone had been offering worship here continuously.

But this thing looked so sinister—why would anyone in this world worship it?

If it were Li Yi, he would never worship such a thing.

"Is it watching me?" As Li Yi walked forward, he noticed the green eyes of the charred figure inside the temple were slowly turning—wherever he moved, the eyes turned to follow.

Their gaze remained locked on Li Yi.

No.

Perhaps this eerie charred figure wasn't watching Li Yi—it was watching the invisible corpse clinging to his back.

Curious,

Li Yi walked toward the small temple.

As he drew closer, the charred figure's drooping head suddenly swung to the other side, its green eyes glowing faintly in the night like two flickering ghost flames.

"What does this head-shaking mean?" Li Yi stared at the temple, frowning.

But the charred figure inside gave no response—only shook its head again, its eyes still fixed on Li Yi.

He observed for a moment.

He found the thing did nothing but sway its head and posed no immediate threat—but Li Yi knew he was new here and didn't understand; this temple must be of great importance.

Otherwise, why would people continuously worship, offer, and maintain it?

"I need to find someone who understands these eerie phenomena." Li Yi didn't want to guess—if such strange things existed in this world, there must be people who dealt with them.

Like the Ghost Handlers in World 36.

If he met one, all his questions would be answered—and perhaps he could even find a way to destroy the haunted mansion that trapped him.

He didn't linger. He left the small temple and walked away. Inside, the charred figure's green eyes remained fixed on Li Yi—but as he departed, the figure stopped swaying its head and returned to stillness.

As Li Yi walked forward, though the path was pitch-black, it affected no one with cultivation—he moved slowly, deliberately observing his surroundings.

Soon.

Light appeared ahead at the intersection.

A yellow streetlamp came into view. Beyond this crossroad, a short walk would lead him to a road with passing vehicles—but near this intersection, a cordon had been set up.

Yet the cordon's design was odd: made of white paper, crisscrossed into a barrier, with bells hanging from it as early-warning devices.

Clearly, this cordon wasn't meant to deter the living—it resembled one meant to contain the dead.

Li Yi glanced at his back.

It still felt heavy. With every step forward, the sound of dragging toes echoed on the ground—unsettling to hear.

Carrying an invisible corpse.

Fortunately, it was Li Yi—if a normal person had been here, they'd have fainted long ago.

He ignored the cordon ahead and leapt over it effortlessly.

Yet, just after landing and taking a few steps forward, he suddenly sensed something—he froze in place.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out in the distance; a bullet whizzed past his face and struck the concrete beside him.

"Sniper rifle?"

Li Yi followed the bullet's trajectory and quickly locked onto a house near the road. On its rooftop, a man crouched with a sniper rifle; beside him, a companion peered through binoculars toward him.

His attention had been fixed on the corpse clinging to his back—he hadn't paid much heed to his surroundings.

But when danger struck, his cultivator instincts made him instinctively dodge the shot.

Li Yi's evasion startled the two men on the rooftop.

"Lucky bastard—he stopped right when we fired," the observer said, surprised.

But the sniper frowned. As a professional, he felt the man hadn't been lucky—he'd sensed the danger and stopped before the shot, dodging it.

But how was that possible?

The straight-line distance between them was at least eight hundred meters.

"He came out of the Dead Zone—some strangeness on him is normal," the sniper told himself, though his mission was to kill anyone emerging from the Dead Zone.

Because such people often brought corpses into the world of the living—something strictly forbidden.

Without hesitation,

the sniper pulled back the bolt and re-aimed at Li Yi in the distance.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang out.

The target had stood still—no way this shot could miss.

Yet the next moment—

something unexpected happened.

Li Yi merely shifted his body slightly—the bullet missed again, striking the ground beside him and spraying concrete.

"Dodged? What the hell—he dodged a bullet?" The sniper was stunned; the observer beside him gaped in shock.

This was impossible.

"Huaimu City, Dead Zone Three—abnormal individual detected. Request backup. Request backup."

After a brief moment of shock, the observer grabbed his radio—but his words cut off abruptly.

The figure ahead had vanished.

A tall silhouette appeared behind them—instantly raising every hair on their bodies, freezing them stiff, cold sweat pouring from their foreheads.

They wanted to turn their stiff necks and look behind.

But fear held them paralyzed, too terrified to move.

One second—no, less than a second.

How had he reached the rooftop?

Even a living corpse couldn't be this terrifying.