Chapter 27: Landing on the shore

The sword light cut through the Nether fog, causing the Nether fog to burn into a flame crack.

The sword edge reached the top of the human ghost figure's head.

Accompanied by a shrill scream, the human ghost figure, along with the camel and the ghost flag, fell toward the sea surface below.

Li Youyi grabbed the rope hanging in mid-air, only to find that he was already twenty or thirty meters away from the side of the ship above, and a lingering fear couldn't help but arise in his heart.

"Splash!"

The human ghost figure fell to the sea surface; it was the evil camel bell carrying it that fell into the water first, splashing a large spray of water.

A moment later, it rushed out of the water, riding the camel, its hooves stepping on the dense floating coffins, heading in the direction where the red-clothed Qi Shanshan had disappeared.

A hoarse voice came back: "The ship is a trap, the Nether Realm has arrived, and the path to life is right before your eyes. If you have the guts, why not follow and see?"

"This ghost thing is really hard to destroy."

Li Youyi knew very well that the opponent was luring him off the ship, still coveting the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish.

But the human ghost figure was right.

Staying on the ship was not only a trap but also a dead end.

Even though they had been very frugal with food and water, what remained was only enough to persist for a few more days.

……

"The skeleton demon and the camel bell ghost couldn't have left the ship for no reason; there must be a reason. Before they died, they were likely living beings of this territory."

"Since the bronze warship has stopped for the time being, I will go and scout the path. If there is land and no danger, then everyone will leave the ship together. Within five days, no matter what the result is, I will definitely return. We live together or die together."

Li Youyi was worried about everyone on the ship, so he let his Senior Brother stay to preside over the overall situation, and only took Gao Huan down to the sea surface along the rope, landing on a floating coffin island that was tightly packed.

The reason he brought Gao Huan was, first, because he had drunk Golden Crow blood and had a strong physical constitution.

Second, Li Youyi's trip was not only to find land but also to save Cai Yutong. Knowing that the skeleton demon did it on purpose, how could he not go?

If land was found, but he had to track the skeleton demon, at this time, someone had to return to the bronze warship to report the news first.

Li Youyi closely pursued the aura left by the skeleton demon and the camel bell ghost, sprinting on the floating coffins on the sea surface. Although the road ahead was unpredictable, there was finally a feeling of having his feet on solid ground.

The bronze warship behind him was blurred in the Nether fog.

Not long after, it disappeared completely.

……

The stern of the bronze warship.

That three-zhang copper door embossed with "Ten Thousand Lights" and "Netherworld Star River" was suddenly blown open by a gust of wind. From the giant sword inside the door, dense light traces flew out, condensing into two figures.

One of the figures gazed into the distance, as if he could see through the vast Nether fog, and muttered to himself: "Arrived?"

……

"If the bronze warship sets sail again, we will be abandoned in this strange blood sea, and can only keep company with the dead things in the coffins."

Leaving the comfort zone, Gao Huan's heart was hanging, feeling very insecure, and soon said again: "Forget it, staying on the ship, there aren't many days left to live. Tathagata Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Jade Emperor... all the gods protect us, let us find a path to life."

Li Youyi discovered something, squatted down, and touched a drop of fresh blood on a coffin with his finger.

Gao Huan asked: "Whose blood?"

"Senior Sister Cai's."

Gao Huan said: "Did she kill Dr. Cai?"

"No! She deliberately left this drop of blood to lead the way for me," Li Youyi said.

Gao Huan said: "There must be something she desperately needs on you. If we follow like this, will we fall into her trap?"

"Then let's catch up as soon as possible, not giving her a chance to set a trap."

Li Youyi was more worried that the skeleton demon and the camel bell ghost would join forces. After all, the two evils needed different things and could completely take what they each needed.

The reason the camel bell ghost pursued the skeleton demon might be because of this.

……

Chasing for a whole day, the floating coffins under their feet seemed endless.

The two stopped to rest for a while, their stomachs were very hungry, but they could only endure it, as the food they carried was quite limited.

Li Youyi's eyes narrowed slightly, staring at the top of Gao Huan's head: "Don't move."

Gao Huan became nervous, not daring to move at all, and asked with a trembling voice: "What's wrong?"

Li Youyi reached out, plucked a withered leaf that had just fallen from his hair, and then looked up into the fog.

"What's in your hand? A tree leaf!" Gao Huan said.

Suddenly, a strong cold wind blew, and the coffins under their feet swayed with the waves.

The Nether fog was blown away quite a bit.

The two, who were originally sitting on the ground, slowly stood up, widened their eyes and looked forward, their emotions instantly excited to the peak.

A pitch-black mountain mass appeared, constantly spreading upward, unable to see the top of the mountain.

Because their current position was almost at the foot of the mountain.

Ancient trees like old locust trees grew on the shore not far away, their branches and leaves lush and dense, airtight. The trunks were as thick as millstones, and the roots reached strongly into the water, showing their life fighting spirit of hundreds or thousands of years.

Giant vines the thickness of thighs were wrapped between the branches and leaves of many ancient trees, hanging full of fruits the size of watermelons.

By the water under the trees were patches of shrubs and cattails.

"Clang clang!"

A green-rusted copper bell flew out from the water behind the two.

In an instant, the bell rang loudly.

Black Nether fog surged out from the bell, wrapping the camel, the human ghost figure, and the ghost flag inside, heading straight to attack Li Youyi.

"Still dare to sneak attack?"

Li Youyi had been guarding, and almost the moment the copper bell flew out of the water, he had already turned around.

While the hilt of the sword struck the black iron seal heavily, the two cold and hot air currents poured into it.

"Boom!"

Thunder roared through this bay.

Bright electric light flew out, hitting the human ghost figure riding the camel in the black Nether fog, piercing a transparent hole in his chest.

The human ghost figure screamed and fell from the camel's back.

It was injured repeatedly, and its combat power declined severely.

It thought that seeing land, Li Youyi would relax his vigilance, which was an excellent opportunity for a sneak attack. Who would have thought that this kid seemed to have expected it to ambush here, and his reaction speed was too fast.

Gao Huan hurriedly fled to the shore, not wanting to be a burden to Li Youyi.

On the other side, Li Youyi pursued the victory, not giving the human ghost figure a chance to escape back to the camel bell at all.

After three sword strikes.

"Bang!"

The Yellow Dragon Sword cut off the ghost flag pole, cutting the human ghost figure diagonally into two halves.

The soul fog on the human ghost figure dissipated rapidly, terrified: "No... no... I have already returned to the Nether Realm... how could I die here, I am not reconciled... this king is not reconciled..."

Another sword slashed out, and his soul flew away and scattered completely.

Li Youyi guarded the surroundings, determined that the skeleton demon was not nearby, then picked up the camel bell that had fallen on the floating coffin, and tried to shake it gently.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew.

"Whoosh—"

That three or four-meter-tall half-virtual, half-real camel mount was taken back into the bell.

"It was taken in just like that?"

Li Youyi shook it two more times.

As the bell rang, he only felt countless distracting thoughts in his mind, and negative emotions surged.

He hurriedly stopped.

This evil camel bell was too strange and was definitely an ominous object.

But it seemed to be able to collect real objects into it, which was very extraordinary. That ghost flag that was cut off was a real object.

Li Youyi tore off the ghost flag and wrapped the evil camel bell tightly, not wanting it to continue ringing.

"Gao Huan... Gao Fish Soup..."

He called twice, but there was no response.

Li Youyi hurriedly landed on the shore, passed through the cattails, and entered the pitch-black forest.

Before long, he saw Gao Huan sitting limply on the ground.

"What are you doing? I'm calling you, why don't you make a sound?" Li Youyi gripped the sword hilt tightly and walked over vigilantly.

Gao Huan finally caught his breath, let out a long sigh: "Damn! Scared me to death, it's all skeletons, and they have no heads."

Li Youyi walked in front of him, saw the scene in the forest clearly, and also felt a bit creepy.

On the ground were dense human skeletons, all headless.

Gao Huan climbed up, pretending to be calm: "Why do I feel that the land is more terrifying than the ship? You say, did we really come to the Netherworld? Is this world all dead souls like skeleton demons and camel bell ghosts?"

"No, look there."

Li Youyi found three human corpses that had just died not long ago among the dense skeletons.

"Human... great, it's human corpses..."

Gao Huan had never been so excited because of seeing corpses.

Li Youyi observed the surroundings, determined that there were no traces of animal activity, and it shouldn't be the nest of any fierce beast, so he looked down at the three headless corpses. Their neck fractures were very irregular, not like they were cut off by sharp weapons.

He squatted down and groped in the corpses' clothes.

From the bosom of the first corpse, he took out a gray cloth bag the size of a palm, which rattled inside. After pouring it out, it was a handful of round... coins similar to jade.

The first feeling was that it was a coin.

This cloth bag, this shape, really couldn't be associated with anything else.

"Damn! Master Li, you're still the one with the quick brain."

Gao Huan hurriedly went to grope the corpses too.

With money, one can travel the world; without money, even if one comes to land, one will starve to death.

He was nimble, quickly groped the remaining two headless corpses' clothes clean, and immediately went to grope the skeletons wearing clothes nearby, no longer having the previous fear.

When he turned back after groping more than a dozen skeletons, he found that Li Youyi had actually put on the clothes of a headless corpse and was tying the belt.

"Master Li, what are you doing?" Gao Huan was surprised.

Li Youyi said: "I plan to explore this world! Along the way, we haven't encountered any danger, you can go back to the bronze warship to report the news first."

"Why do I feel like this is a monk's robe?" Gao Huan said.

Li Youyi said: "I think so too! However, it's just like the monk's robes in our world. What kind of proper monk has no prayer beads on his body, but is full of money instead?"

Gao Huan also changed into a brown robe similar to a monk's robe, feeling that if he encountered the local human natives, he could still muddle through.

What if it really was a monk's robe?

Those who practice Buddhism are well-received everywhere.

"I always feel something is wrong, why are there so many headless corpses here? Who brought them here? We must leave immediately!" Li Youyi suddenly felt a sense of danger.

This sense of danger was getting stronger and stronger.

Like it was close at hand.

Looking up, Li Youyi's face changed drastically, and he pulled Gao Huan to leave lightly.

"What's wrong?" Gao Huan lowered his voice.

"Don't talk..."

"Bad!"

Li Youyi looked up again, his pupils shrinking sharply.

Then he carried Gao Huan on his shoulder, the spring eyes at the center of his feet gushed wildly, and he increased his speed to the limit, fleeing in a panic.

Gao Huan had already seen what it was.

It was that vine the thickness of a thigh!

It covered a vast area, shrouding this dense forest. Previously, they thought the fruits on the vine were all the size of watermelons; at this moment, these fruits opened their green eyes, and they realized they were human heads.

These heads, there were hundreds or thousands of them, completely growing on the vine.

Their mouths were wide open like bowls, revealing sharp and fierce teeth, making all kinds of strange cries and strange laughs, men and women, old and young, flying in the branches and forest behind, chasing relentlessly, which was truly terrifying.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 28 =====