Chapter 223: Worms Beneath the Coffin

“Something’s coming out,” Guo Ming said, immediately using his flying sword to drag everyone backward.

In his own judgment, he could indeed hold it off—but only if Yu Chu’s safety was guaranteed.

Otherwise, killing the enemy would be pointless.

Yu Chu looked closely and saw a massive centipede burst through the entrance, tearing open a hole large enough for it to pass.

The giant centipede was as large as a truck, its back sprouting fleshy wings, resembling a flying dragon.

After emerging, it coiled into the shape of a reclining dragon, water and fire energies swirling around it, radiating a faint but violent pressure.

【Hidden Quest: Kill the Human-Faced Yin Hui, the Hundred-Legged Corpse Wasp, and the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng before returning】

【Trial Difficulty: S-Rank (Nightmare)】

【Trial Reward: Paradise Points ×20000, Attribute Points +5】

【Trial Failure: Paradise Points -40000, Random Attribute -2】

The hidden quest appeared; Yu Chu glanced at the objective and immediately accepted it.

This was clearly one of the three creatures he needed for his hidden quest.

The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng before him was the giant centipede—not constructed from corpses.

This opened Yu Chu’s eyes; he had expected another monster made of dead flesh.

He hadn’t anticipated a mutated variant.

The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng was likely a centipede corrupted by yin energy, death qi, and one-third of the Emperor’s Purple Qi.

This mutation was also part of the feng shui layout, meaning it had been deliberately guided into existence.

As for who guided it? Possibly the new emperor who had deposed Yuanping Wang.

After all, the former emperor still being alive made him conspicuous; if he wanted to shine, he didn’t need to do it in the living world—he could do it in the underworld.

But given the current situation, Yuanping Wang might have brought this upon himself; the Ziwei Jade Seal and the Emperor’s Purple Qi were hard to explain.

Guo Ming didn’t waste time—he immediately engaged the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng.

The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng’s strength wasn’t great; it remained within the First Stage.

Against Guo Ming, it had no defense at all—two swift sword strikes severed its fleshy wings.

In some ways, it was even weaker than Yuanping Wang.

At least Yuanping Wang, as a malevolent entity, was tough—he’d taken several sword strikes before Guo Ming finally crushed his head.

After losing its wings to two strikes, the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng’s water and fire energies vanished.

Malevolent entities were inherently otherworldly, so Guo Ming moved cautiously—but since it was still a living thing, there was no need for mercy.

In terms of threat, the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng couldn’t even match its own centipede offspring.

When individual strength is insufficient, sheer numbers matter more.

But the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng possessed considerable intelligence; after losing its wings at first sight, it realized it was outmatched and immediately tried to retreat.

How arrogant it had been when emerging, now how desperate it was in flight.

But it was too late—it had already come out.

Da Bao and Yue Lan’s martial shadows arrived instantly, grabbing the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng’s back on either side.

Even though half its body had already slipped into the hole, they forcibly dragged it back out.

The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng thrashed wildly—then three flying swords plunged straight into its skull.

The swords pierced its body instantly, unleashing torrential sword qi to shred it from within.

From outside, the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng’s body began to bulge irregularly.

That was the sword qi moving inside.

The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng let out a piercing shriek; its carapace cracked along the paths the swords had passed.

Greenish fluid seeped continuously from the fissures.

The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng collapsed lifelessly, its breath shallow and uneven.

The flying swords emerged from its tail, leaving the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng with only its final breath.

Looking at this, the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng was still formidable—it hadn’t died even after being pierced through. Truly impressive.

But only up to this point; it hadn’t died yet not because of its own resilience, but because Guo Ming had held back.

After all, the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng still carried one-third of the Emperor’s Purple Qi that Yu Chu needed.

“Yu Brother, how do you obtain the Emperor’s Purple Qi?” Guo Ming asked.

Yu Chu didn’t know either—the Paradise only gave him the quest, not the method.

“It must be through this,” Yu Chu said, pulling out the Ziwei Jade Seal and waving it before the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng for a long time—but nothing happened.

“Looks like that won’t work,” Yu Chu thought for a moment. “Maybe we should cut it open—perhaps it’s inside its belly.”

“No, I already tried,” Guo Ming replied. “My flying swords pierced it completely—nothing inside.” He’d had the same idea earlier.

Only after confirming there was nothing did he hold back.

“If it’s not inside and the Ziwei Jade Seal can’t draw it out, then just kill it,” Yu Chu said.

Better to act decisively than guess endlessly.

After all, the talent quest clearly stated that killing the three creatures would grant the reward; all previous actions were merely to avoid unnecessary trouble.

With Yu Chu’s words, Guo Ming didn’t hesitate—he immediately struck to kill.

He extinguished the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng’s final breath.

After death, a streak of purple qi rose from its corpse, hovering in midair.

If observed closely, it resembled a fragmented star, glowing faintly in silence.

Yu Chu was certain—this was the Emperor’s Purple Qi.

Simultaneously, all the winged centipedes stiffened the moment the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng died.

They seemed bound by shared fortune and ruin; after stiffening for roughly ten seconds, they all perished.

This was good news—neither Yu Chu nor Guo Ming wanted to fight through such a massive swarm.

At Yu Chu’s signal, the Ghost Wailing Infant flew toward the Emperor’s Purple Qi, reaching out to grasp the fragmented star—but its hand passed through empty air.

Seeing this, Guo Ming stepped forward to grab it himself—but failed as well.

“Yu Brother, it seems only you can take it,” Guo Ming immediately turned back and said.

Yu Chu had no choice—he stepped forward himself. As his hand touched the fragmented star, the Ziwei Jade Seal glowed faintly, and the Emperor’s Purple Qi entered his grasp.

【Emperor’s Purple Qi (1/3)】

【Type: Quest Item】

【Quality: Excellent ~ ???】

【Effect 1: Talent Awakening Material】

(Note: If the talent quest fails, this item will transform into an Excellent-grade consumable)

With the Ziwei Jade Seal’s aid, Yu Chu successfully obtained the fragmented star.

When it landed in his hand, it had no weight—light as air, offering no sensation.

Yet his touch could still perceive it.

Yu Chu tucked it away and said, “Let’s go. Two more creatures remain.”

Because of the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng, the entrance had widened considerably.

The group advanced with much greater ease.

“Clearly planned,” Yu Chu said, staring at the artificially carved tunnel.

From above, the main tomb chamber looked cramped—but once inside, the true scale became clear.

Not only could the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng move freely through it, it could even turn around without difficulty.

“Yu Brother, I have a question,” Guo Ming said. “How did the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng and the winged centipedes survive here?”

“I don’t know,” Yu Chu answered honestly.

He himself was puzzled too—like, where did the waste go?

It couldn’t be that the three creatures ate each other—and then ate their own excrement. That was too grotesque to imagine.

And as for not needing food? The Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng and winged centipedes didn’t look like creatures that could survive on air alone.

Especially since the Ghost-Faced Dragon Teng was a living being, not a corpse—how could it go without food or water?

Then there was the air problem—it was beneath Yuanping Wang’s tomb, with the Huanglong River flowing above.

But for Yu Chu, this wasn’t important; knowing the answer wouldn’t help him much.

In a world with supernatural power, probing such questions was no different from seeking the essence of the world itself.

It wasn’t his place to do so now—he should focus on the task at hand.

Stepping over the corpses of the winged centipedes, they soon reached a different area.

Large snakes were greedily devouring the winged centipede corpses, their mouths wide open.

These snakes resembled cobras, their backs patterned with grotesque, twisted human faces.

The human-faced snakes suddenly paused, all raising their heads to stare at Yu Chu and the others.

In their instincts, the living human seemed far more tempting than the piles of dead centipedes.

Then, a chorus of hisses erupted as they surged toward Yu Chu simultaneously, forming a vast tide of serpents.

“The living are far more alluring than the dead,” Yu Chu murmured.

But why was a snake among the three creatures?

Because snakes were called “long chong”—long worms.

In ancient times, people referred to legless reptiles as “chong,” like earthworms and roundworms.

The snake’s body was long and slender, lacking limbs, which also matched the characteristics of an insect.

Guo Ming struck first; a flash of sword light cut every upright-faced snake cleanly in half.

Unlike the winged centipedes crawling along the ground, the upright-faced snakes moved with their bodies raised.

Moreover, these upright-faced snakes were larger in size, presenting a broader target.

Not to mention that their lengths were nearly identical—so long as the height was properly judged, a single sword flash could eliminate them all.

Chu Danqing had never before seen such a textbook case of suicide.

As the upright-faced snakes fell like cut grass, a pair of green lights, the size of lanterns, emerged from deep within the corridor.

Before it could fully appear, merely two eyes showing, it took Guo Ming’s sword strike—one of the green lights went out instantly.

What would happen next, Chu Danqing already knew.

Piercing its eyes was already being generous; the next strike would likely be fatal.

“This upright-faced yin hui seems far inferior to the ghost-faced long teng,” Chu Danqing said as the second green light also went out.

(End of Chapter)