Chapter 257: Corpse Ghost, a Peculiar Form of Life

Perhaps it was because Chen Ping had gotten too close and was so shocked that he could not keep his aura under control.

In an instant, the woman who had been crouching low over the unconscious man, seemingly feeding on something, paused. The face at the back of her head — the one that had kept its eyes closed and been softly singing — slowly opened its eyes.

A pair of slightly greenish eyes, brimming with a murderous aura, instantly locked gazes with Chen Ping.

"Hiss~"

"You monster! How dare you harm people!"

Startled out of his wits, Chen Ping stumbled back several steps before finally coming to his senses, gripping his saber hilt, yanking it free with a sharp cry.

"Shing~~~"

The blade flashed snow-white, sweeping through the ruined temple like flowing water as it slashed toward the bizarre woman.

Seeing this, the bizarre woman realized she had been exposed. With a low snarl, she burst forth with an agility that did not match her appearance, leaping aside in a flash.

Then a pair of withered Ghost Claws swept up a chill, fishy wind as she lunged at Chen Ping.

In an instant, the lone man and the bizarre woman had exchanged several bouts.

Yet within only a few breaths, Chen Ping was already gasping for air, his face pale, his grip on his saber so unsteady he could barely hold it.

He felt as though he were not slashing at a living thing, but at a boulder of immense hardness and strength; every few strikes sent a violent, numbing pain shooting through both his hands.

"What was that sound?"

"Who's fighting?"

"What's happened?"

At that moment, the commotion of the fight woke the people who had been sleeping at the front of the ruined temple, and one by one they began to rise and look around.

"Be careful — she's not human!"

Seeing the crowd approaching, Chen Ping hurriedly called out a warning.

But the moment his attention slipped, the bizarre woman seized the chance. Amid a gust of fishy wind she closed in like a ghost, then lashed out with a claw.

"Puh—"

A sound like tearing silk rang out, and Chen Ping went flying backward like a bird with broken wings, crashing to the ground. The clothing on his chest was visibly soaked through, wet and translucent.

At this point, the woman finally came to a halt, and the crowd finally got a clear look at her true appearance as it had been revealed during the fight.

Hair withered and yellow like scorched grass, bulging eyes shot through with blood veins and glowing a fiery red, a face blue-black and wrinkled, with twisted blood vessels faintly visible across it. Add to that a body all shriveled and slightly hunched, and she looked like a dried corpse that had lost every drop of moisture and flesh.

"This is—? Damn! It's a Two-Faced Corpse Ghost!"

One of the traveling merchants, a man of broad experience, recognized it and cried out in a low voice.

"How dare you bully my Brother Chen! Corpse Ghost, prepare to die!"

"Brother Li, Miss Zhou, Sister Zhang — let's rush her together! I refuse to believe she can hold off all of us attacking at once."

Watching the pale, wounded man, the young fellow who had been gathering firewood with him earlier flew into a rage. In the hot-blooded flush of youth, he had no idea of the gap between a Corpse Ghost and an ordinary martial artist.

He simply snatched up the wooden staff that had been lying beside him, channeled the Blood Qi through his whole body, and brought the staff down in a crushing blow.

Seeing this, the few others — who had only just begun to roam the jianghu under Chen Ping's lead — did not hesitate either. One after another they grabbed whatever weapons they carried and charged forward.

Yet their martial skill was poor, and they fared even worse than Chen Ping had.

Even though several of them rushed in from surrounding positions, trying to strike from behind, they had forgotten — this was a mutated Corpse Ghost with two faces.

The moment they charged in, the Two-Faced Corpse Ghost, swift as a phantom, sent them all flying back in an instant, each of them coughing up blood without pause.

"It's over…"

One of the traveling merchants, watching those supposedly formidable heroes all wounded, could not help muttering in despair.

Among them, a black-faced big fellow, after carefully glancing around at the others, quietly slipped to the back, grabbed his bundle, and bolted straight out into the pouring rain.

Clearly he figured that among so many people, the Corpse Ghost would not necessarily fix on him alone. Even if the odds of surviving a midnight dash into the rain-soaked deep mountains were slim, it was still better than staying in that ruined temple.

But he had underestimated the Corpse Ghost's greed and speed.

In a single swivel of the Two-Faced Corpse Ghost's eyes, she vanished from where she stood and plunged into the torrential rain.

"Rumble rumble…"

"Ah…………"

The next moment, a scream rang out amid the thunder, lingering long without fading.

Then the Two-Faced Corpse Ghost appeared once more near the entrance of the Mountain God Temple. Compared to before, however, her clothes were now stained red, and a few streaks of blood clung to the corners of her mouth.

Sigh — well, it seemed he had still underestimated the martial skills of this band of jianghu heroes.

Baichuan watched the sorry performance of those few young "heroes" and could not help shaking his head in resignation.

Still, it was not entirely without gain — he had roughly calculated the Corpse Ghost's top speed at full Burst.

Her speed was no slower than the fastest cheetah he knew of on land.

But compared to a cheetah, her speed required no Burst acceleration phase — she could instantly reach the cheetah's top speed, that is, over thirty meters per second. At the same time, her agility was absurdly beyond a cheetah's: she could stop, Burst, or turn at any moment, anywhere.

It was precisely this that created her phantom-like figure.

He had also noticed that every time the Corpse Ghost displayed speed or attacked, he could sense a faint energy reaction — a wave of energy that carried a chilling, cold sensation.

It was probably something like Yin Qi, he supposed.

Besides that, every time those humans attacked, they too carried a faint energy reaction — only theirs was even weaker than the energy reaction leaking from the Corpse Ghost.

It seemed the world's energy system was not limited to the one he possessed, the so-called Spirit Qi system.

Baichuan mused.

But to know the specifics, he would have to get closer and observe carefully.

Thinking this, Baichuan slowly turned his gaze toward the Corpse Ghost closing in on the crowd, and unconsciously licked his tongue.

Such a peculiar form of life was well worth his study.

As the flood dragon's gaze fell upon her, along with that undisguised sense of inquiry within it.

At the same moment, the Two-Faced Corpse Ghost gave an abrupt shudder, her whole body seeming to be enveloped at close range by the blazing sun overhead, as if she were about to be burned to ash.

Who?!

Instinctively, the corpse ghost stopped its steps, looking around in some panic.

What is this?

The people in the temple, who had grown panicked as the corpse ghost drew near, were also somewhat stunned at this sight, not understanding what had happened to the corpse ghost or why it had suddenly panicked.

Could it be—?

Suddenly, Chen Ping, who was heavily wounded and coughing blood, suddenly recalled that bizarre scene from earlier — the deity statue's head falling to guide him — and a trace of delight appeared on his face as he struggled to sit up.

"Brother Chen, what are you—?"

A companion beside him asked in confusion.

"May I ask which Divine Official, Earth God, or Expert has descended here? I am Chen Ping of Jingzhou, at your service."

But Chen Ping had no Time to spare for them. He cupped his hands and respectfully bowed to his surroundings under the astonished gazes of the crowd, then said in a clear voice.

……

(End of chapter)