Chapter 207: The Curse of Desiccation

"It's turned into a dried corpse." Guo Ming stared at the dried body dragged out by the Ghost-Resentment Infant.

This was the officer who had argued with the village chief yesterday afternoon—Guo Ming recognized his clothing.

As the Ghost-Resentment Infant dragged it, the corpse itself crumbled like paper, and by the time it reached Guo Ming, a pile of debris had fallen off its body.

"All moisture has vanished completely." Guo Ming examined it and reached a conclusion.

It felt like a snake's shed skin—crumble at the slightest touch.

"Master Zhong, do you know what happened?" Guo Ming asked.

This was truly too bizarre—the distance between the two houses wasn't far, yet not only Da Bao, but even Huangtian's Son and the others had noticed nothing amiss.

"They touched something they shouldn't have—left behind a curse from a malevolent object."

"The curse erupted at night, and that's how they died." Zhong Ting had seen many similar cases, but this method of death—drying out—was his first encounter.

Usually, malevolent objects come to strike directly; this kind of distant cursing is rare.

But it also meant the malevolence far exceeded his expectations.

"Curse…" Guo Ming couldn't help recalling the black aura he'd spotted yesterday with his clumsy feng shui knowledge.

He'd planned to mention it to the man today, but never imagined he wouldn't survive the night.

Now he thought about it—it made sense. If it was this malevolent that even someone with only surface knowledge like him could detect, it must have been extremely severe.

"Can you trace its origin?" Guo Ming asked further.

"You're overestimating me, Young Master Guo. With a malevolent object like this, I'd avoid even hearing its name." Zhong Ting meant he couldn't.

But he had no intention of getting entangled in this matter for no reason.

He'd barely spent one night on the outskirts of Cangmang Guling and already encountered so many malevolent things—if he actively pursued them, he couldn't imagine the consequences.

He only wanted the Centipede Pearl—he wasn't here to tomb raid. No need to stir up unnecessary trouble.

After hearing Zhong Ting's thoughts, Guo Ming gave up.

If someone felt it was dangerous and refused to act, Guo Ming wouldn't force them.

Compared to possible side quests or hidden tasks, Guo Ming valued his innate quest more.

With his strength, he didn't need this quest—but if it affected his innate quest, it would be a loss.

"Where did this corpse come from?" The returning village chief, seeing the dried corpse lying nearby shedding debris, spoke in shock.

Especially since the corpse wore warlord clothing.

If these soldiers died in their village, retaliation was inevitable.

"All those soldiers from last night have turned to dry dust, Chief. You'd better prepare yourself." Guo Ming warned.

"Don't worry, Young Master—we're moving out immediately." The chief said.

With these two handling the malevolent objects, the chief felt as calm as an old dog.

But warlords were different—they had guns and cannons. These two couldn't handle them, so he fled so decisively.

Seeing this, Guo Ming merely nodded: "Alright, leave as soon as possible."

With that said, Guo Ming wouldn't rashly promise to deal with the warlords.

As for changing this chaotic world? Only if it didn't interfere with his quest.

There were plenty of chaotic worlds—he couldn't sacrifice himself for all of them.

"But our guide won't be able to accompany you up the mountain anymore," the chief said regretfully, then sent someone to fetch a map.

"This is the mountain map drawn by our village hunters long ago. Go ahead, both of you."

Since they were moving away, they wouldn't wait for a good time—they'd leave immediately.

Guo Ming took the map; the chief had newly circled a red mark on it—that was the tomb's location.

With the map in hand, Guo Ming, Da Bao, and his summoned creatures followed Zhong Ting along the map's path.

Along the way, the two chatted casually.

"Master Zhong, can you tell what malevolent object killed those men?" Guo Ming remained curious.

Zhong Ting shook his head: "I don't know—but rest assured, this curse has nothing to do with the Demon-Resentment Corpse."

If the Demon-Resentment Corpse could curse from afar, it wouldn't have just risen.

In Cangmang Guling, the Demon-Resentment Corpse is barely a minor peripheral entity.

The true great malevolences lie buried in the tombs.

Any one of them escaping would be a great calamity to all living beings.

"By the way, Master Zhong—why are you hunting centipede corpses? Why travel all the way to Cangmang Guling?" Guo Ming asked further.

"Centipede Pearl," Zhong Ting said. "I need the Centipede Pearl to save someone."

"And you, Young Master Guo—why seek the Yuanping Prince?" Zhong Ting replied in turn.

"Same reason—I need something from the Yuanping Prince's tomb," Guo Ming answered.

Since the other didn't reveal his true intent, Guo Ming gave a vague reply.

"I see," Zhong Ting didn't press further, then added: "But I'll say this upfront—I'll only help you locate the tomb. I won't enter it with you."

Though the Yuanping Prince's tomb hasn't gone deep into Cangmang Guling, it's still extremely dangerous.

Zhong Ting is skilled, but not bold—he values his life dearly.

Besides, if he died here, how would he ever deliver the Centipede Pearl back?

"No problem," Guo Ming never feared danger; his biggest issue had always been information.

Every time he entered a new trial world, he faced the same problem: total darkness, no idea how to proceed.

Fighting and killing, by contrast, posed little difficulty.

As they talked, they climbed the mountain and reached the map's marked location.

The trees before them were in chaos, as if ravaged by some massive creature.

Zhong Ting examined the ground, pinching up a clump of dried black slime.

"Found it—it's here," Zhong Ting's face lit up. "I'll lure it out. The rest is yours, Young Master Guo."

Guo Ming didn't care—he'd get quest rewards and a chest anyway.

Letting Da Bao do some work was fine.

Upon hearing Guo Ming's reply, Zhong Ting immediately took out a stack of incense sticks from his small pouch.

Then he checked directions, wind flow, lit the incense, and began setting the bait.

Seeing this, Guo Ming retreated to a safe spot immediately.

What else could he do? He was a summoner—why rush to the front?

"A giant centipede probably isn't…" Guo Ming muttered, when suddenly the ground ahead bulged upward.

A black shadow burst from the earth, revealing its true form.

"What the hell? You call this a centipede??" Guo Ming's face twisted in disbelief.

The emerging shadow was the size of a small truck.

Size wasn't the issue—he'd expected something this large to cause such massive tree destruction.

That he'd prepared for. The problem was the species.

Zhong Ting had kept saying "corpse-centipede," so Guo Ming assumed it was a biological centipede.

But now he saw—it was a human-centipede.

The Corpse-Centipede was formed from swollen human corpses, not stitched together, but semi-fused.

You could see the bloated, grotesque faces pressed against its outer skin.

So this truck-sized Corpse-Centipede was a massive corpse made of countless human bodies.

It made Guo Ming's scalp tingle.

He'd never seen anything like this before.

He'd seen corpses—rotten or intact—he could handle them.

But this… this was new.

The Corpse-Centipede slithered toward the incense. Zhong Ting swiftly dodged aside.

With its speed, size, and weight, being hit by it wouldn't be a joke.

Demons and monsters wandering onto the highway were asking for death.

"Young Master Guo, it's yours," Zhong Ting called out.

Guo Ming looked at Da Bao: "Can you handle it?"

If the Corpse-Centipede were truly the size of a small truck, Guo Ming wouldn't worry.

But its size being truck-like didn't mean its impact force was only truck-level.

Da Bao paused, then pointed at Guo Ming—signaling he needed blood to stack his attack power to win.

Guo Ming's eyebrow twitched—again with the attack stacking?

"Fine, I'll give you blood," Guo Ming said, then began drawing his own blood.

Da Bao activated his Tearing Claws and charged straight at the Corpse-Centipede.

Under Blood Rage, he leapt straight onto the Corpse-Centipede's head and slashed downward.

He severed its head clean off.

D-rank difficulty—nothing like A-rank. If he couldn't handle this, he'd look pathetic.

Earlier, facing the Demon-Resentment Corpse, he had no experience. Now, with experience, efficiency was higher.

But the Corpse-Centipede didn't die—each corpse forming its body seemed independent, yet fused into a single entity.

"Take the Centipede Pearl!" Zhong Ting shouted as he spotted a gray-white pearl emerging from the severed neck. "Without the Centipede Pearl, the Corpse-Centipede loses its power—it'll turn to corpse sludge in less than half an hour."

Physical methods alone cannot kill these monstrous entities.

Either target their weakness, or use specialized methods like black donkey hooves, the Gold Seeker's Talisman, or the Star of the Northern Dipper's Kick.

The centipede pearl of the Corpse Centipede is precisely its weakness.

Da Bao naturally ignored Zhong Ting; he listened only to Chu Danqing.

Chu Danqing said nothing, so Da Bao continued according to his own combat logic.

The advantage is that you won't be deceived; the drawback is that you may miss opportunities.

A Ghost- Yuanying immediately crawled out of Chu Danqing's shadow and darted toward the fallen Corpse Centipede's head.

With lightning speed, it scaled the Corpse Centipede's body, skillfully dodging attacks from the floating corpses, and seized the gray-white pearl exposed in the air.

After forcibly tearing it loose, it sprinted back toward Chu Danqing's position.

As Zhong Ting watched the Ghost- Yuanying hand the centipede pearl to Chu Danqing, he opened his mouth as if to speak, then hesitated.

But in the end, he said nothing.

(End of Chapter)