Chapter 29: Corpse Infant

Xu Yuan lay motionless on the ground, slowly gathering a bit of strength, then stiffly opened his mouth, and a golden pellet flew out.

It swiftly transformed into a short sword.

Xu Yuan controlled the short sword, gouging and twisting it into his own back!

The short sword shaved off all the skin and flesh near the wound!

The ghostly qi and the skin and flesh detached from the body together; the ghostly qi then broke free from the flesh and swiftly lunged at Xu Yuan again.

Xu Yuan rolled over, and a fire dragon roared out from his mouth; the ghostly qi walked straight into a trap and was instantly burned to ash and dust.

Xu Yuan was in such pain that his whole body broke out in cold sweat; he let out a few screams as the Fu Zhong Huo scattered uncontrollably into flames all over the ground.

Suddenly, Xu Yuan felt something was wrong; he focused his gaze and saw that the Corpse Infant, at some point, had crawled to his feet, and in that pale, swollen little hand, it held the short sword formed from his golden pellet!

The short sword had double edges and no hilt; the Corpse Infant's hand gripped the blade's edge, yet was not cut by it, and a black-gray hue began spreading from the grip point across the rest of the blade!

The Corpse Infant raised the short sword and thrust it toward itself!

Xu Yuan, greatly alarmed, leaped backward to create distance; the Corpse Infant's thrust missed, yet it flashed and reappeared beneath Xu Yuan's feet, as if distance did not exist.

Xu Yuan spat out another mouthful of Fu Zhong Huo, which burned directly onto the Corpse Infant's face.

The Fu Zhong Huo, which had proven effective against evil spirits in a hundred trials, was useless before the Corpse Infant!

The Corpse Infant, braving the flames, took a step toward Xu Yuan.

That ability to ignore distance appeared once more; Xu Yuan let out a strange cry and flew backward, while spitting out another golden pellet.

The golden pellet carried the properties of gunpowder and the Inner Core!

Boom!

The golden pellet struck the Corpse Infant accurately; a violent explosion erupted into a cloud of fire.

Xu Yuan waited cautiously until the fire cloud and gunpowder smoke dissipated, then saw clearly that the Corpse Infant was lying seventy or eighty zhang away, with a wound blown open on its belly.

Inside the wound there was no flesh and blood; countless disgusting, pale-white maggots burst forth!

The Corpse Infant writhed on the ground, its two swollen, pale little hands slowly stuffing those maggots back into its belly.

Xu Yuan's scalp went numb; he thought "Run quickly," waved his hand to recall the short sword lying aside, turned, and charged toward the lights.

The short sword had already been contaminated by the Corpse Infant in a small area; Xu Yuan dared not draw it directly into his Fu Zhong Huo, so he could only hold it with his fingers.

After running several li forward, the sound of the small river's water gradually faded away.

Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief; the Corpse Infant was injured and could no longer maintain that ability resembling "Ghost-Beating Wall."

The lights were now visible in the distance; Xu Yuan mustered his last strength and increased his speed once more.

Just as the town seemed within reach, the sound of rushing water suddenly rang in his ears again!

"Waa-waa, waa-waa, waa-waa..." The eerie, piercing cry of an infant sharply tore through the night sky, piercing Xu Yuan's eardrums.

"It caught up again!"

A chilling aura, like rising river water, engulfed Xu Yuan's entire body; Xu Yuan plunged into the town, only to discover in shock that the inn had been destroyed!

The doors and windows were broken and tattered; the Holy Maiden, harboring resentment toward Elder Qiao, had destroyed this place before leaving.

"Rush-rush..."

The river water rapidly surged into the town, spilling everywhere along the streets.

Xu Yuan suddenly felt his legs incredibly heavy; even with the support of the calligraphy sheet, which actually allowed him to tread the air three feet off the ground, he was still affected by the river water's yin and evil forces.

If his feet had been stepping on the ground, they would probably already be firmly stuck by the river water, unable to take a single step forward.

The river water flowed along the streets; as if countless ghosts and monsters hid within the water, it suddenly rose up and lunged at the houses along the street.

On the door panels, the Door Gods glowed with a faint Jin Guang; a vast power emanated from the unknown, and as if an invisible giant hand in the void had raised a golden whip high, it struck down at the demonic river water.

Splash!

Splash!

Splash!

The muddy waves lunging at the door panels were beaten apart, one clump after another.

But in the central street of the town, a larger wave rose up, within which the form of the Corpse Infant appeared.

Five wraith-blue ghost fires burned fiercely at its head, two hands, and two feet; the one atop its head was the largest.

The wound on its belly had not fully healed; one could still see those disgusting maggots writhing endlessly within it.

The Corpse Infant looked down from the air, found its enemy, and its pale eyes were filled with resentment and fury!

So you are here! Let's see where you can run to!

Your "home" has already been destroyed.

In this town, no one will open a door for you in the middle of the night. Who would dare? No one dares; opening the door means dying alongside you!

"Waa—" It let out a loud cry, and the black, viscous river water rushed through the broken back door of the inn and surged into the backyard.

Xu Yuan's mind raced quickly; he felt a certain degree of confidence that if he truly went there, Grandmother Ying would open the door for him.

But could Hua Hua hold off the Corpse Infant? Xu Yuan had no certainty.

Therefore, Xu Yuan did not want to implicate Grandmother Ying.

Suddenly, Xu Yuan raised his eyebrows, turned, and headed straight for Zhao's Leather Goods Shop.

Rush-rush, rush-rush... the river water pursued closely behind, and soon clumps of waves were chasing Xu Yuan.

As the distance grew shorter, the black river water began to turn red; the entire river had become a river of blood!

Xu Yuan felt his legs grow heavier and heavier; originally hovering three feet off the ground, he uncontrollably sank one foot lower.

The massive wound on his back constantly drained Xu Yuan's stamina, making him weak.

Within the blood waves, countless infant little hands reached out, one after another, persistently trying to grab at Xu Yuan's back.

The distance from the inn to Zhao's Leather Goods Shop was only fifty zhang, yet Xu Yuan walked with great difficulty.

The atmosphere was chilling and eerie; yin qi continuously eroded in through every pore and wound on his body.

Xu Yuan had to repeatedly release the Fu Zhong Huo from his abdomen to disperse the yin qi surrounding him.

Furthermore, because of the river of blood beneath him, countless resentful spirits rose on an invisible, ethereal plane, entangling Xu Yuan's legs and causing his speed to be extremely slow.

The slower he went, the heavier he felt, the more arduous it became.

The wooden building of the Zhao Family Fur Shop was right before his eyes, and a baby's small hand behind Xu Yuan was almost touching his back.

Xu Yuan bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, then drew his short spear and spat out the "Fu Zhong Huo" with a "puff," transforming the spear into a fire spear.

Sss!

Xu Yuan hurled the fire spear backward, piercing it accurately into the blood waves behind him.

"Waaah!" A wail of crying exploded; the blood waves recoiled violently. Seizing the opportunity, Xu Yuan threw his full weight toward the main door of the Zhao Family Fur Shop.

With a "clang," the door burst open. Xu Yuan rolled inside, seeing stars and feeling utterly weak.

He forced himself up, lunged forward, and with his hands clasped together, slammed the main door shut with all his might!

Indeed, the Zhao Family Fur Shop was empty; the Holy Maiden had taken everyone into the mountains.

After Zhao Yong's death, his former subordinates were in a state of panic and had not attended to the shop, so the door was not locked; otherwise, for Xu Yuan to enter, he would have had to break the doors and windows, which would have left an opening for the Corpse Infant.

Waves of blood surged violently, crashing heavily against the main door with a "clatter."

On the door were pasted two large Door Gods.

Requesting monthly tickets

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(End of this chapter)