Chapter 780: [Forceful Battle Against Two Corpses] (Part 1)

Huo Shengnan glanced at Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian said, "Maybe the secret is right here." He approached one of the dry corpses; it had been stored for years, skin and bones, eyes sunken, wearing armor, gripping a horse‑cutting sword, helmetless, with gray‑white tangled hair over two feet long hanging over his shoulders, still holding the chopping pose.

Hu Xiaotian reached out and snatched the horse‑cutting sword from his hand; with a little force he gripped the sword, but the corpse's right arm was pulled off as well. Hu Xiaotian put the hilt on the ground, stepped on the arm, and wrenched it free from the hilt.

Seeing him treat the corpse this way, Huo Shengnan warned, "You're mutilating a corpse—watch out for vengeful spirits."

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "What ghosts are there in this world?" Holding the horse‑cutting sword, he swung it into the air; the blade sang, and unintentionally a sword qi burst forth, striking the dry corpse opposite, cleaving it in half. The sword qi kept going, cutting down two more dry corpses before stopping.

Huo Shengnan thought he was doing it on purpose, frowned, and said, "Don't forget our main purpose for coming here—there's no need to quarrel with corpses."

Hu Xiaotian silently sighed, "You think I lack restraint? I simply can't control my internal energy, so I can't freely release and retract sword qi."

Continuing down the passage, the view suddenly opened into a hall built entirely of stone blocks, with various beasts and dry corpses placed along the surrounding walls. In the center of the hall sat two dry corpses cross‑legged on mats, one male, one female, palms pressed together. Their appearance gave no clue to gender; only their clothing distinguished them.

From their attire they appeared to be Hu people. Yet their looks were bizarre: the man's skin was pitch black, the woman's snow white, like a black person and a white person. Both were skin and bone, clearly dead for years—otherwise they wouldn't be desiccated like this.

Zong Tang was about to step forward for a closer look when Hu Xiaotian blocked him, whispering, "Wait!"

Zong Tang felt puzzled, wondering why Hu Xiaotian was stopping him from moving forward.

Hu Xiaotian sent a mental message to Huo Shengnan: "Shoot them with an arrow first to test."

Huo Shengnan was both amused and exasperated, thinking, "Do you think I'm like you, attacking corpses?" Hu Xiaotian continued, "These two people's clothes are spotless, completely unlike the other dry corpses."

Upon hearing that, Huo Shengnan realized it was indeed so. Hu Xiaotian's mind was meticulous, observing things more carefully than she did.

Hu Xiaotian listened closely and detected no heartbeat or breath from the two corpses, yet he still found it odd: their clothes were much cleaner, clearly freshly changed; also, their eyes were closed, not shriveled into hollows like other corpses. Since he and Xi Yan could fake death so convincingly, surely many others could too—caution was warranted.

Huo Shengnan drew her bow, aimed at the black corpse's throat, the bow curved like a full moon, and the feathered arrow shot forth like chasing wind and lightning.

Just as the arrow seemed about to strike the black corpse's throat, the corpse suddenly thrust out a hand and firmly seized the shaft. Hu Xiaotian had guessed right—the two corpses were indeed disguises. He shouted, swung his horse‑cutting sword, and unleashed a Powerful Splitting of Mount Hua strike from afar. Now his success rate in emitting sword qi with the Hidden Edge Sword is about fifty percent; because he feared leaving a trace on his weapon that could be tracked, he did not bring the Hidden Edge Sword, and after switching to the horse‑cutting sword his success rate dropped sharply. Although the first strike had actually emitted sword qi, when facing the enemy it suddenly jammed.

The white corpse rose like a phantom, seeming to attack Huo Shengnan, but in midair it turned, its fingers like hooks, reaching for Zong Tang on the right.

Zong Tang swung his torch, sweeping it toward the white‑skinned woman; though he worked as a blacksmith, he had trained in martial arts since childhood, and his external‑style kung fu had reached the level of a top‑tier master.

The white corpse did not dodge; its right hand seized the burning torch. The torch struck her hand like hitting fluff. With a "pop!" the flame flared up then dimmed, and Zong Tang realized he had been exploited—the white corpse's aim was to extinguish the fire.

The stone chamber instantly fell into darkness.

The white corpse's attack speed did not slow in the darkness; its sharp five fingers lunged for Zong Tang's throat. Zong Tang could not see in the dark, but his hearing was superb; he heard the sharp tearing of air, jerked his torso back, and the corpse's claws grazed his throat skin without cutting it, yet the five gusts of force that passed by lacerated his flesh.

Among the three, only Hu Xiaotian had night vision. In the instant the firelight died, the black‑skinned man shot forward like a wisp of black smoke toward Huo Shengnan, both hands gripping a three‑foot steel spiral spike. Hu Xiaotian stepped forward to shield Huo Shengnan, slashing his horse‑cutting sword sideways; it met the spiral spike, sending sparks flying and a brief flash that lit the pitch‑black stone chamber. The opponent's force felt strange—not the usual powerful impact but a weird centrifugal force that easily sapped Hu Xiaotian's strength and deflected his sword's original direction.

In that flash, Huo Shengnan had already aimed at the black corpse's heart; "whoosh!" she loosed an arrow, confident in her skill—fast and true, it seemed destined to hit the chest, but the corpse's body suddenly twisted, shifting its torso rightward, turning the former heart spot into a void through which the arrow passed, unharmed.

Hu Xiaotian seized the moment to throw a phosphorus fire bomb, and the pitch‑black stone chamber briefly regained light.

At that moment Zong Tang faced life or death; the white corpse's assault surged like a tide, its claws lunging for Zong Yuan's groin.

Zong Tang pushed hard off the ground with both feet, leaping backward; the white corpse's claws grasped at air, dug into the stone floor, cracking the hard blue‑stone tiles—a display of terrifying strength.

Huo Shengnan pulled out a fire arrow, lit it, and shot at the dry corpses on either side; those struck burst into flame. Though she had not intended to harm the corpses or specimens, in the dark stone chamber this was the only way to gain light.

The black corpse noticed Huo Shengnan's intent, brandished its spiral spike and charged at her. Hu Xiaotian wouldn't let it succeed; he stepped sideways to block its path. Though he had never formally studied swordsmanship, the principles of blade and sword are similar; after several failed attempts to emit sword qi he had basically given up on that idea, and instead deployed the Spirit Snake Nine Swords taught him by the Sumeru Heaven Sect.

Each strike of the black corpse's spiral spike carried a spiral force; with its strange technique and weapon it formed vortices of various sizes. Hu Xiaotian felt he had nowhere to apply his strength; when he thrust a full‑powered blow, meeting the spiral spike he encountered a strong centrifugal force that rapidly drained his power, while at the same time the vortex the corpse generated suddenly exerted a powerful suction that nearly wrested his horse‑cutting sword from his grasp.

The dry corpses and animal remains inside the stone chamber were ignited by Huo Shengnan's fire arrows; once light returned, Zong Tang's condition greatly improved—he was no longer hard‑pressed by the white corpse as before, planted his feet firmly, donned his black iron finger stall, and launched a steady counterattack.

Huo Shengnan stood at a distance, watching the battle; whenever she saw an opening she fired an arrow to provide external support for the two.

The spiral spike trembled, projecting hundreds of black phantom images that enveloped Hu Xiaotian from all sides.

In several hard clashes with the opponent, Hu Xiaotian had suffered hidden losses; a full‑force chop against the spiral spike would certainly be flung away by centrifugal force, the greater the force, the higher the chance of being countered. This time he used only five‑tenths of his strength, employing the Long Snake Entwines Body technique from the Spirit Snake Nine Swords to meet the black corpse's spiral spike.

The horse‑cutting sword struck the spike's side; the myriad phantom images vanished instantly. Hu Xiaotian flicked his wrist, and the sword wound like a spirit snake around the spiral spike. The sword exceeded the spike's length by over two feet—an extra inch meant extra strength. Though he was not skilled in spiral force, the Spirit Snake Sword Method was extraordinarily subtle and effective against the spike. This was also the lesson he had distilled after several unsuccessful frontal clashes: by following the spike's rotation and winding ahead of it, he could minimize the opponent's centrifugal force.

The horse‑cutting sword's edge was about to pierce the black corpse's pulse point when its left hand suddenly lunged out, gripped the blade, twisted its torso, and with wrist strength snapped the sword in two. At that moment Huo Shengnan loosed another arrow aimed at the corpse's right shoulder; just as it seemed sure to hit, the corpse drew both shoulders inward, nearly folding them together, narrowing its frame enough to dodge the shot.

Hu Xiaotian marveled at the black corpse's incredible flexibility; its bone joints could move as freely as desired—it must be a yoga master.

Although Huo Shengnan's arrow missed, it gave Hu Xiaotian an opening; he seized the spiral spike, jerked it toward his chest, and thrust the remaining half of the horse‑cutting sword into the black corpse's abdomen.

The black corpse suddenly released the spiral spike, dodging Hu Xiaotian's thrust; its right hand reached for his neck. Though its arm should not have been long enough to reach, as it extended we heard a crackling like firecrackers from the bones, and in a short time the arm grew over a foot longer. (To be continued…^~)