Chapter 34: Chapter Thirty-Four: The True Form Finally Appears

Zhou Zhen'guo, who had fallen to the ground, scrambled up violently.

Just now it looked exaggerated and brutal.

Actually, the now-vanished light curtain had already blocked most of the damage for Zhou Zhen'guo.

It turned what would have been a fatal blow into "being shoved hard and falling to the ground."

Zhou Zhen'guo's "old arms and legs" were fine after such a fall.

"What is that?"

Zhou Zhen'guo looked toward the direction from which it had flown.

There, a person stood silently.

No, it wasn't standing; it was lying prone with its back to the ground and face to the sky.

How can one lie like that, back to the ground, face to the sky?

First, a person bends backward at the waist, bending further until the raised palms can touch the ground.

Next, the joints completely break and twist against nature.

They become like the limbs of an arthropod.

Just like a spider's legs.

Moreover, the shadow‑covered head with only three hollows rotated 180 degrees.

The hollow where the eyes should be is on top, the mouth hollow below.

It retains a human shape, with bluish‑black skin, and its entire body is covered in stitched wounds.

Some wounds are torn open, revealing black organs inside that show no movement.

The monster's hollow eyes fixed on Zhou Zhen'guo.

Its limbs flailed, quickly leaving four shallow pits in the ground.

The only reason this twisted monster did not keep attacking Zhou Zhen'guo was that a person stood beside it.

Tang Luo had one foot on the monster's chest and the other hand holding another monster of the same appearance.

Chu Zhongtian sat down hard, mouth agape, still trembling with fear.

A rustling sound came, the sound of snow being trampled.

Behind the three people.

The pit dug by Tang Luo was now shrouded in a thick black aura.

The same kind of monster slowly crawled out.

Their guess was correct!

Kaitangshou Jieke was indeed getting stronger.

Each time it killed a townsfolk, Kaitangshou Jieke grew a bit stronger.

From initially not daring to face it, to later mass control, and now to this twisted, powerful monster.

Kaitangshou Jieke.

Its current eeriness and power make one's blood run cold.

The twisted monster raised its head high and let out a silent howl.

Visible ripples spread from its "mouth," making no sound at all.

It struck the ground, kicking up snow.

Zhou Zhen'guo and Chu Zhongtian both covered their ears, showing pained expressions.

They felt as if someone were poking their eardrums with a needle.

Their bodies seemed to be slowly bound by chains.

"Go ahead, I'll hold the rear," said the poor monk.

Tang Luo threw the monster in his hand, smashing it into the howling monster, stopping its noise.

The two monsters collided into a mass, but not as before.

Under Tang Luo's hand, they were no match.

They were annihilated in an instant, with overwhelming force.

The two monsters tangled together, fusing into a humanoid spider, becoming even more twisted and bizarre.

"Jack..."

From its mouth came a sound that was a name but held no real meaning, a spiteful utterance.

"Come on."

Tang Luo said again, exerting force, and drove the monster under his foot deep into the mud.

"Master!"

Chu Zhongtian shouted excitedly, then got up and ran without looking back.

Before running, he didn't forget to hurl the ominous thing at Tang Luo.

As for Zhou Zhen'guo, he was a step faster than Chu Zhongtian—he didn't even shout, just ran.

It wasn't like filming some melodramatic scene.

And then came the stupid "No, I won't go, we must go together" trope.

With Tang Luo covering the rear, they could still leave.

Staying behind would only mean dying or causing Tang Luo trouble.

Watching Chu Zhongtian and Zhou Zhen'guo run off.

Tang Luo withdrew his gaze, looked at the twisted eight‑legged monster, and smiled.

The ground beneath his feet suddenly sank.

A shallow pit appeared, in its center was a monster that had lost its shape.

"This little bit can't kill a poor monk." Tang Luo said with a smile.

The black vapor rising from the tomb began to boil.

Monsters one by one began to struggle out from inside, giving the feeling that a new life was actually being nurtured.

Tang Luo put away the ominous thing, tossed aside his hat, moved his neck a bit, and walked toward the tomb.

A domineering aura gradually emanated from his whole body.

Ha……ha……

It was probably the fastest he had ever run in his life, absolutely unprecedented, and unlikely to be surpassed.

Chu Zhongtian and Zhou Zhen'guo were in the tomb chamber they had come from.

He supported his knees with both hands, panting heavily.

What he inhaled felt not like air, but like burning flames.

Moreover, it only circled in his throat, never reaching his lungs.

Ugh!

After two heavy gasps, Chu Zhongtian couldn't help but retch, bracing himself against the coffin wall.

His right hand felt some indented marks, carved names and birth‑death years.

After vomiting until he was empty, Chu Zhongtian finally felt a bit better.

Zhou Zhen'guo walked to the iron door leading underground and reached out to pull it.

Huh?

What's wrong?

Chu Zhongtian raised his head and asked.

"It's locked again." Zhou Zhen'guo said.

"We… didn't we open it when we came? Should we… push it inward?" Chu Zhongtian spoke, still haltingly.

Just now, having run all the way, they didn't know how long they had been running.

They only knew there was a feeling of suffocating desperation.

Even though Tang Luo was covering the rear, no monsters from Jack the Ripper's gutting followed behind them.

But who knows if Master Xuanzang can block it completely.

Or whether any will slip through the net.

When fleeing for one's life, you must surely hold your breath and press forward, not looking back.

Looking back easily invites trouble.

"No, I kicked it out." Zhou Zhen'guo recalled; initially, he had kicked it over, knocking the iron door down.

Now it's probably been reinstalled by someone—maybe that priest.

Pulling outward poses no problem.

Together.

Chu Zhongtian stepped forward, gripped a bar of the lattice iron door, and they pulled outward together with force.

For some reason, the iron door wasn't cold; instead, it had a warmth.

But at that moment, the two had no mind to attend to that abnormality.

They only thought of opening this iron door, returning to the carriage, returning to the real world, so they could truly catch their breath.

Why won't it budge!

One minute later, Chu Zhongtian stood at the iron door, his face ferocious.

Zhou Zhen'guo was the same.

The two strained together like in a tug‑of‑war, their palms already completely red.

Gripping it hurt.

But the iron door didn't budge an inch.

What kind of lock is this strong?

Inside the tomb chamber, moonlight couldn't get in; there was only the door's 'light source'.

Here the iron door was pitch black, making it impossible to see how it was locked.

It didn't even budge at all.

Zhou Zhen'guo reached out to feel: "No lock, how can there be no lock?"

Ah, is it a bolt of this sort?

None at all!

Zhou Zhen'guo's voice revealed terror he could not conceal.

How could this be!

Step back a bit, I'll handle it!

Zhou Zhen'guo grabbed the iron door with both hands; his clenched fists glowed with a faint white light.

Ah!

He roared, lunged backward, and had already used the skill 'Powerful Strike'.

The instantaneous burst of force was enough to overturn a small car.

But when Zhou Zhen'guo burst forth, lacking strength to hold the iron door, he collapsed straight to the ground.

The iron door, however, remained completely unmoved.

This not‑particularly‑thick lattice iron door suddenly became an uncrossable chasm.

It blocked the boundary between life and death.

"Can't you open it?"

A sound like heavenly music came from behind.

Tang Luo's shadow was reflected on the ground, and he appeared at the doorway.

"I don't know why, this iron door won't budge." Zhou Zhen'guo leaned against the coffin wall, too weary to lift his hand, so Chu Zhongtian, the one in slightly better shape, spoke.

"Master you—"

As Tang Luo approached, Chu Zhongtian cried out in alarm.

By the moonlight, he saw Tang Luo's face as pale as gold paper, with blood still at his lips.

Moreover, his gait while walking just now was a bit unsteady.

His right hand had basically been propping him up against the coffin wall all the way here.

Master Xuanzang is injured!

And it looks like a serious wound!

"Cough, cough."

Tang Luo coughed twice, "It's fine, just some minor injuries."

"Master, you shouldn't say that when you're coughing up blood!" Chu Zhongtian lost his composure, "Where's Jack the Ripper? Did the master kill him?"

"No, I did my best." Tang Luo said, "If it were any stronger, I might have been done for."

"Hurry, hurry!"

Chu Zhongtian turned and yanked at the door frantically.

"Don't bother trying, Patron Chu; it won't open now." Tang Luo said.

"No way, do we have to kill Jack the Ripper to get out?" Chu Zhongtian wailed.

"This place..."

At that moment, Zhou Zhen'guo, sitting on the ground, suddenly said, "Is this your name up there?"

"Huh?" Chu Zhongtian stared, dumbfounded.

"Is that your name on the wall, Chu Zhongtian!" Zhou Zhen'guo shouted at Chu Zhongtian.

"What?"

Chu Zhongtian walked over and crouched down.

Tang Luo stepped aside at just the right moment, letting the moonlight fall on the wall.

Chu Zhongtian's gaze was vacant; he clearly saw near Zhou Zhen'guo's head.

What was carved on the wall was actually his name!

Plus his birth date, a horizontal line, and no time of death.

"How... what's going on?"

Chu Zhongtian instinctively looked toward Tang Luo.

"Ah, if my guess is correct..."

Tang Luo said, "This place is the world of the dead. This tomb belongs to us."

"Are we dead?"

Chu Zhongtian looked at another coffin.

The name on it was unmistakably "Li Liang"!

"Little Li," the guy who first turned into a salted fish on the first night, then a koi carp, but ultimately couldn't stay a koi.

Li Liang, who vanished right under everyone's noses.

"Death—right now, he's definitely not dead."

Tang Luo said.

Just then, the whole tomb chamber shuddered.

Debris rained down from above, striking the stone walls on both sides.

Everyone looked up and saw several enormous grayish-white fingers "stabbing" inward.

As if grabbing a toy, they seized the tomb's ceiling.

They flung the ceiling wide open, letting moonlight pour into the chamber.

"This is..."

Zhou Zhen'guo and Chu Zhongtian stiffened, unable to move.

Like a frog seeing a snake, a rabbit meeting a wolf, or an otaku seeing his 2D wife materialize before him.

This is an absolute gap in level.

Just looking at it left them unable to move.

Outside the tomb chamber was the upper half of a colossal humanoid figure.

Dense sutures, a wound that almost tore the chest completely open.

Trailing outside, the spine.

Withered hands like dead tree branches, with a grayish-white complexion.

Just like the black shadow skull seen on the other side of the graveyard, with hollow oval eyes and mouth.

But this time, the hollowness was no longer a deeper black.

Instead, it was filled with tangled, distorted souls constantly emitting wails.

Including exposed organs.

Looking closely, one would see it was entirely made of shredded corpses and limbs.

This is none other than the true form of Kaitangshou Jieke, appearing before the three.

Very good, finally willing to show his true self and take a beating.

The feeling of weakness on Tang Luo's body swept away, he straightened up, and lifted his head to look at the enormous skull staring at them.

Looks like the poor monk's acting hasn't let down.

He spread his five fingers, giving them a little movement.

Clench fist!

In the cramped tomb chamber, the air wave surged, shooting up into the clouds.