Chapter 416: The Forest of Inverted Corpses

Fu Liang Jian'an did not struggle for long.

Because the situation quickly became even worse.

The ghost girl behind him suddenly vanished; without that eerie, faint fluorescent glow, the surroundings plunged into total darkness, and he could see nothing at all.

Compared to seeing a monster, it is far more terrifying when a monster suddenly disappears.

Bang! The inverted corpse in front of Fu Liang Jian'an kicked him square in the face, causing his nose to bleed profusely. Below him, hands reached out to grab him. Fu Liang Jian'an's heart rate accelerated a thousandfold, and he scrambled to run in the direction away from the inverted corpse.

It was a flight through darkness, yet he fled far more wretchedly than Wu Xian ever had; he tripped several times and nearly had his eyes gouged out, until he finally collapsed to the ground and could only crawl forward.

He could feel the inverted corpse's palms pressing against his legs, inching forward.

Once the inverted corpse crawled over his head, it would likely be the end of everything.

Just then.

Fu Liang Jian'an saw firelight.

Before hope could even rise in his heart, he saw a ferocious tiger pouncing toward him.

"Ah!"

Fu Liang Jian'an rolled his eyes back and fainted.

The inverted corpse, with its hands pressed against his back, "lowered its head" in confusion, its gaze meeting Wu Xian's.

Hah! The wound on the inverted corpse's throat split open, transforming into a giant maw that let out a piercing hiss, and then the entire body lunged, its throat-mouth biting toward Wu Xian's waist and abdomen.

Pang Hu rose and pounced, pinning the inverted corpse down. Before it could struggle further, Wu Xian pierced its head with the Saw-Blade Knife; the astonishing heat carried by the blade melted everything inside the skull.

"An old man, throat slit, fleeing while inverted—this must be the man who told the story that summoned Xia Caoqing and her husband."

Even though its brain was already half-cooked, the inverted corpse continued to claw and scratch, attempting to rise and attack. Its hands had been worn down to the bone from walking inverted, exposing white, skeletal remains.

"The most suitable form for a human is indeed walking upright. Even though he looks terrifying while walking inverted, his actual combat ability is far weaker than a typical malevolent entity. It's just... he is too tenacious!"

Wu Xian threw a fire-oil ball at him and used a torch to ignite the corpse, and only after most of the body was charred did the creature's movements finally cease.

Next, Wu Xian looked at Fu Liang Jian'an.

This fellow had been scared unconscious by an inverted corpse, so he was certainly not a malevolent entity. Since he was still alive, he had to be brought back.

In the underground cavern.

Living humans were precious resources.

Because every living human meant eight hours of safety, as well as a potential malevolent entity ally.

Slap, slap-slap.

Wu Xian slapped Fu Liang Jian'an's face hard and splashed cold water on him, and only then did he wake up.

The moment he woke up.

Fu Liang Jian'an let out a blood-curdling scream.

But when he saw Wu Xian, the burning charred corpse, and Pang Hu—who was crouching beside the corpse and trying to poke the fire with its claws—he knew he had been saved.

Fu Liang Jian'an patted his own face, quickly calmed down, and asked Wu Xian: "Where is this place? Who are you? Why am I here, and what was the thing chasing me?"

After answering his questions, Wu Xian said with some surprise: "Seeing you get scared unconscious earlier, I thought you were a coward, but your mental state is much better than the other survivors I've met."

Fu Liang Jian'an sighed.

He was, after all, a man who had experienced despair and walked out of it; even as an ordinary person, he knew what to do and when.

Afterward, Wu Xian asked him about a few things. Hearing that he hadn't encountered Xiong Gang, he shook his head in disappointment.

The main reason Wu Xian had rushed over here was to find Xiong Gang; it seemed Fu Liang Jian'an was not the person Xiong Gang had met, and the two had missed each other.

But upon hearing that the place where Fu Liang Jian'an had just been had many upright coffins, Wu Xian's eyes lit up.

"Lead the way, let's go take a look!"

For Fu Liang Jian'an, the Coffin Labyrinth was a terrifying death trap, but for Wu Xian, it was an excellent site for arson.

The two didn't walk far.

Before they arrived at the Coffin Labyrinth where Fu Liang Jian'an had been.

Along the way, there were sparse, scattered coffins, and then the two arrived at an open space even larger than the Great Cavern. It was vast, though the ceiling was generally only two or three meters high, and upright coffins formed a complex, winding maze.

It is worth noting that, except for a few broken ones, all the coffins were nailed shut with coffin nails, and they were connected to the cavern ceiling, with small gaps between them and the ground.

Although the Coffin Labyrinth was eerie, those coffin nails brought Wu Xian a great sense of security.

These coffins likely contained corpses.

But even if these corpses could move, they couldn't open the coffins from the inside, and even if they could, it would create a massive commotion, enough for Wu Xian to escape in advance.

Moreover, although it looked eerie, since Fu Liang Jian'an had been able to escape, the danger here shouldn't be too great.

Wu Xian held up his torch.

And thrust it into a coffin ahead.

Whoosh! The flames ignited as expected, engulfing the entire coffin, and the Coffin Labyrinth suddenly became much brighter.

Wu Xian frowned.

Although the burning speed was fast, because all the coffins were independent, one ignition could only light one coffin; wanting to burn the entire labyrinth would require some effort.

Deepen into the labyrinth, start the fire from within, and then slowly retreat?

No.

That was dangerous, and the efficiency was too low.

It seemed he would only be able to sweep up all these resources once he obtained a suitable large-scale fire talisman.

Click, click-click...

While deep in thought, Wu Xian suddenly heard a clicking sound from behind him.

Wu Xian turned his head abruptly, only to see something fall out of a coffin behind him: a highly decomposed corpse covered in white hair.

The coffin lid hadn't opened, and the coffin nails were still firmly in place, yet the corpse had fallen out.

Wu Xian looked closely and realized the bottom of the coffin was empty; it must have rotted away over the long years.

The corpse waved its arms, bent its body, and crawled out from the gap between the coffin and the ground, then rushed toward Wu Xian while walking inverted—another inverted corpse.

Because it had been dead for so long, this inverted corpse's movements weren't as agile as the old man's.

But looking at it, Wu Xian felt his skin crawl.

If the corpse in this coffin could come out this way, what about the others? Wu Xian turned his head blankly.

Only to see that behind him, silently and without warning, a dense mass of human figures had appeared! They were all corpses with miserable deaths, walking inverted with their hands supporting the ground, countless cold, twisted gazes looking up at Wu Xian from below, their legs swaying slightly with the movement of their bodies.

Just like forest trees swaying gently in the wind...