Chapter 55: Searching in the Corpse Sea

It seems this gravity exists whether in the real world, in the book world, or even in the underground world.

Chen Yi He was like the apple that once fell from a tree and hit Newton's head; he fell hard, dropping to the ground. At that instant of hitting the ground, Chen Yi He felt his trigeminal nerve almost breaking.

"Am I still alive?" Chen Yi He muttered to himself.

What exactly saved him? That pitch‑black big hand? Chen Yi He knew that if it hadn't intervened just now, he would surely have died.

The skeleton‑person army that had filled the entire underground world vanished, returning to the underground fissures that belonged to them—that is, the depths of the underground world.

Chen Yi He felt a tearing pain in his limbs that lingered to this day, and blood still flowed from his ankle; these were proof that the skeleton people truly existed.

"Chen Yi He, are you all right?" Wu Rong asked. He and the Young Palace Master had already rushed to Chen Yi He's side.

"Uh… okay, okay." Chen Yi He was in so much pain he could barely stand. He asked, "What did you just see?" Naturally he meant that pitch‑black big hand.

"We saw you kill the Skeleton King with one sword, and then all the skeleton people turned to ashes." Wu Rong replied.

The Young Palace Master nodded, the red veil on her face fluttering in the wind. Chen Yi He really wanted to lift it to see what she actually looked like. The Young Palace Master said coldly, "We need to hurry—first there was a flood dragon, then the skeleton people, and there may be more obstacles ahead."

As for lifting the Young Palace Master's veil, Chen Yi He could only think about it for now… unless he wasn't afraid of death or actually wanted to die…

"This time we owe it all to Chen Yi He; otherwise we'd probably be stuck here forever." Wu Rong rarely thanked Chen Yi He, then turned stern: "We shouldn't linger here."

"Right. Let's keep going north—I feel we're getting close…" Chen Yi He agreed with what they two said. Moreover, at the exact moment he unleashed his final sword just now, he seemed to sense his companions' call. He struggled to his feet, walked over, and picked up the Purple Tempered Sword stuck in the ground.

……

Continuing northward, the underground world was boundless. Chen Yi He feared that if they kept going this way they would completely drift away from South Border City, possibly even return to Bei Du—but being underground, they could not judge the exact distance to the surface.

The fog remained layer upon layer, growing ever more confusing.

"How much farther?" the Young Palace Master behind him asked.

"Soon! My feeling is getting stronger!" Chen Yi He accelerated madly, because the goal was drawing nearer. He didn't need to worry about his speed, for no matter how fast he went, the two behind him would not be left behind.

As for that ever‑stronger feeling, it was like a mental summons tugging at the heart; right now it grew stronger and stronger in Chen Yi He's heart! Gradually, the fog was flung behind him by Chen Yi He!

It wasn't that the three of them were fast enough to shake off the fog; rather, the fog had reached its end, just as the sea has an end, mountains and rivers have ends, and the fog too has an end.

At the fog's end, a wilderness of corpses filled the view!!!

Just as the skeleton‑person army had blanketed the earth a few hours earlier, here everything was covered with wilderness corpses. The three of them could find no place to set foot.

The rotting stench permeated the air, spreading everywhere, leaving no place untouched. Even if you covered your nose and mouth, you couldn't shut it out from your heart—it could reach straight into your innermost depths.

Wu Rong still couldn't hold back; he bent over and vomited. Experts who had reached the third or fourth heavenly layer possess some enhancement in all senses, yet only if they undergo violent jolts or suffer heavy blows to the spine or head would they feel dizzy or nauseous. Ordinary smells simply cannot affect cultivators of this level.

Wu Rong was already strong enough—he was an expert who had walked out of the Purgatory Gate, naturally having undergone the purgatory's baptism—but even he couldn't withstand this assault on his sense of taste.

Aside from furrowing her brows heavily, the Young Palace Master was otherwise fine, perhaps because the red veil on her face was no ordinary thing.

"Is it right here?" Chen Yi He lacked confidence in his judgment.

But that faint yet real feeling had indeed led him here.

Yet in this vast sea of people, amid the endless corpses, did his companions truly exist? The Dragon King? Or Dongfang Xing? Searching corpse by corpse would be like looking for a needle in an ocean, and no one knows how long it would take. If he gave up now, all his efforts would be wasted.

Having arrived here, Chen Yi He's sense for his companions was like a kite with its string cut—gone forever. His divine awareness showed no reaction. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Dragon King! Dongfang Xing! Are you there?"

Chen Yi He received no reply. His cries echoed back and forth across this heaven‑and‑earth, trembling as they faded.

"Shouting like that is useless—this place is full of the dead." Wu Rong finally managed to quell his nausea, and he had pretty much finished vomiting.

Who would have thought Chen Yi He would suddenly get angry, pointing at Wu Rong and warning, "Don't say that!"

Wu Rong let out a cold snort. "Heh."

Actually Chen Yi He hadn't lost his reason; he also knew Wu Rong's point was sound, but he simply refused to accept that fact—if people were dead, where would his feeling come from? Chen Yi He clapped his hands, rolled up his sleeves, stepped into the pile of corpses, and shouted, "Damn it! I'm gonna find them!"

……

"Do you think he can find them?" Wu Rong asked the Young Palace Master.

"He might just be looking for an excuse to give up." The Young Palace Master, who rarely spoke at length, said this.

"That's true too—after sleeping six months, waking up to find his traveling companions dead, that outcome is indeed hard to accept." Wu Rong sighed.

"It's just fate."

"Oh?" Wu Rong turned his head, looked at the Young Palace Master sitting to one side, then gazed at the distant pile of corpses, "Maybe… maybe this heap holds the bodies of our ancestors or predecessors, after all so many years have passed."

Chen Yi He's search lasted a full three days and three nights. Wu Rong and the Young Palace Master's wait also lasted a full three days and three nights. The three had agreed that after three days, whether they found anything or not, they would end it all.

They were willing to wait because they also didn't know what to do next—now, each extra companion meant another chance to survive.

Wu Rong had grown accustomed to the stench here; physiologically he no longer resisted it so strongly.

The Young Palace Master's gaze was firm and decisive; in such an environment, one wonders how she could maintain this composure, and how she could still be so charming.

"It's just fate"—those four words are hard to imagine coming from the Young Palace Master's mouth.

Wu Rong was actually quite suspicious, even wondering if the Young Palace Master had been hiding something all along: "Why did you tell me this back then?" Six months earlier, the Young Palace Master had sought out Wu Rong and revealed the conspiracy of the Thousandfold Gate.

"I need help." The Young Palace Master rose from the ground, speaking with a regretful tone, "It's just that you're not strong enough……

Wu Rong didn't want to argue, "Heh, have you noticed these corpses clearly reek of rot yet aren't decayed, and there isn't a single skeletal frame on site? Logically, bodies stored here for thousands of years should be…" Whether he's strong enough, only he himself knows.

The Young Palace Master added, "There are far more corpses than expected."

"Ten years per batch, seventy or eighty people per batch—even after thousands of years of accumulation, it wouldn't reach this many corpses."

So where exactly does the problem lie?

Chen Yi He kept digging into the mountain‑high corpses before him, while the corpses behind him were ones he had already checked and were not what he sought. His time dwindled, and he grew ever more frantic, like a mad dog desperately digging at the earth. For three days and three nights he took in no water, hoping only to find the last hope. Yet that hope grew ever slimmer.

"Where…… where…… come out quickly!" Chen Yi He felt his heart about to suffocate, yet he couldn't find them no matter what. His heart was a tangled ache—he both longed to find his companions for comfort and dreaded seeing the corpse of either one of them.

To find them or not—this is a question.

To live or to die—this too is a question.