Chapter 185: Starting Off With a Direct Twenty-Star Danger Level?!!!

The two of them, like two shadows merging into the night, slid noiselessly down the slope, approaching the northwest corner of Ghost Wailing Village.

The Shadow-Hiding Soul-Concealing Array set up by Hu Huxu seemed to be genuinely effective.

When the faint gray-black mist surrounding them brushed over their bodies, it carried a yin-cold, sluggish sensation, yet it didn't trigger any abnormal movement.

The nauseating, fishy, foul odor in the air, under the concealment of the array, also seemed to become somewhat "blunted," less pungent.

The closer they got to the edge of the village, the darker the color of the soil became, faintly revealing a rust-like dark red, feeling somewhat sticky underfoot.

Several crooked, crumbling adobe houses came into view, their walls mottled.

The roofs had partially collapsed, the windows were pitch black, not a single soul fire was visible, only endless deathly silence.

The evil energy here was indeed "sluggish" and heavy, like stagnant water, forming a stark contrast with the areas in the village center lit by the dark red soul fires.

Hu Huxu made a hand gesture, indicating they should circle around from the side of the outermost and most dilapidated house.

Lu Yuan's entire body was tense, his five senses heightened to their limit.

Even the beating of his heart was deliberately slowed, his blood flow nearly stagnant, applying the Daoist turtle-breathing technique to its extreme.

Not a single trace of living energy or true essence was leaked.

The jade pendant in his bosom was pressed tightly against his chest, bringing a sliver of cool, calming reassurance.

But most of his attention was focused on his ears, eyes, and that nearly instinctive intuition for danger.

The surroundings were too quiet.

Only the faint sounds of the gray-black mist flowing silently, and the almost imperceptible breathing and heartbeats of himself and Hu Huxu.

This deathly silence was more unnerving than any clamor.

Just as they had rounded the first broken-down house and were preparing to slip through the narrow gap between two buildings, a change occurred.

An extremely faint, dragging sound of footsteps, accompanied by a sticky noise similar to wet cloth being dragged across the ground, came from deep within the mist on the left.

It's coming!

Lu Yuan and Hu Huxu both stiffened almost simultaneously, instantly halting all movement, pressing their bodies deeper into the shadow of the corner of the wall.

Hu Huxu even slightly closed his eyes, as if using some special method to perceive the "nature" of the approaching entity.

The footsteps and dragging sounds grew closer.

Soon, a twisted figure slowly "oozed" out from the gray-black mist.

By the faint, dark red soul fire light emanating from scattered houses in the distance, Lu Yuan could make out the thing's outline.

It could hardly be called a "person" anymore.

Its body was wrapped in a tattered, unidentifiable cloth robe of indeterminate original color.

The limbs protruding from beneath the robe showed a corpse-like bluish-gray hue, its movements extremely stiff and slow. Its legs seemed filled with lead, dragging along the ground.

The most horrifying part was its face.

Its facial features were twisted and blurred. Where its eyes should be were only two deeply sunken black holes. Its mouth hung wide open, revealing broken, blackened teeth.

A wheezing, leaking-air-like panting sound came from its throat.

It had no apparent target, merely patrolling back and forth mechanically and aimlessly in the narrow alley between the two rows of broken houses.

It's a "living corpse"!

Or rather, a low-level servant refined and driven by the Liu Family using Malevolent Methods.

Possessing only the most basic instinct for night patrols, its perception mainly relies on detecting "living energy" and "abnormal yin energy."

Lu Yuan and Hu Huxu had suppressed their own auras to the extreme, and with the concealment of the Shadow-Hiding Soul-Concealing Array.

The living corpse swayed and wobbled past the corner where they were hiding, less than three meters away.

Those two black-hole-like "eye sockets" seemed to "look" in their direction for a moment, but didn't linger.

It continued dragging its heavy steps, "oozing" towards the other end of the alley, eventually disappearing into the mist.

Only the nauseating stench of decay and the sticky sound of dragging gradually faded away.

Both men let out an unconscious sigh of relief, a fine layer of cold sweat breaking out on their backs.

If they had been discovered just now, even though this living corpse was of low strength, once it raised an alarm, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"Continue."

Hu Huxu signaled with his eyes. The two men started moving again, flitting through the shadows of the dilapidated houses like ghosts.

With this experience, they became even more cautious. Lu Yuan pushed his hearing and vision to their limits.

Not letting go of any unusual movement or change in light and shadow.

Hu Huxu, meanwhile, occasionally sniffed lightly or cocked his ear to listen.

Seeming to discern direction and safe paths by sensing the flow of evil energy and certain subtle "sounds."

Relying on Lu Yuan's extraordinary five senses and Hu Huxu's sharp intuition for the evil energy environment, they continued forward.

The two men, with some fright but no actual danger, avoided several similar groups of "living corpses" mechanically patrolling different areas.

They also skirted around some eerie, faintly visible symbols on the ground or walls that emitted a yin-cold aura.

Hu Huxu whispered a reminder that those might be more concealed, trigger-type alarm restrictions. Once touched, they might attract more troublesome things.

The further they crept towards the village center, the surrounding houses, while still dilapidated, were noticeably more "intact."

Occasionally, they could see the dark red soul fire light shining through windows.

The bizarre, fishy foul odor in the air also grew increasingly strong.

Mixed in was a faint, cloyingly sweet fragrance, like some cheap incense burning, smelling it made one dizzy and unsettled.

Lu Yuan could sense that the old man's faint yet familiar Dao resonance seemed to be growing clearer.

The direction pointed towards the deepest part of the village, near the back mountain.

But at the same time, the density of "living corpses" in the surroundings significantly increased, and they were no longer just wandering aimlessly.

Some would stop at certain specific intersections or in front of houses, like stiff sentinels.

Extremely subtle murmurs, like whispers or the echo of wind through hollow spaces, began to appear in the air.

Unclear, yet making one's heart creep with dread.

The pressure suddenly intensified.

Every step forward felt like moving through darkness filled with spiderwebs. The slightest carelessness would touch that invisible, vast net.

Just as they passed through a relatively wide alley piled with debris and unidentified bones, preparing to turn into another, seemingly more hidden, small path leading deeper into the village.

Lu Yuan's footsteps abruptly halted, and he simultaneously reached out to stop Hu Huxu in front of him.

Hu Huxu immediately froze, turning his head to cast an inquiring look.

Lu Yuan didn't answer immediately, only frowned deeply, tilting his head to listen to the sounds from deep within the small path ahead.

His ears were far more sensitive than an ordinary person's. At this moment, he faintly heard sounds from deep within the small path that were completely different from the dragging sounds of "living corpses."

Was that... chewing sounds?

Very faint, very rapid, accompanied by a "drip-drip" sound of some liquid falling, and a satisfied, low whimper.

Hu Huxu obviously heard it too. His face turned somewhat ugly, mouthing silently:

"Filth-Eating Ghosts?"

"Probably not just one."

"Filth-Eating Ghosts" were another type of low-level evil creature raised by the Liu Family. They delighted in eating rotten flesh and filth, had much stronger perception than "living corpses," and possessed exceptionally keen senses of smell.

Go around?

This small path was one of the necessary routes leading deeper into the village.

The other route would require a large detour and was closer to houses lit with soul fires, carrying higher risk.

A fierce glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes. He made a gesture to Hu Huxu: "Quickly resolve them, don't make a big commotion."

Hu Huxu understood, silently pulling out from his clothes two leftover yin talismans inscribed with special runes.

He also drew out a short length of dark red blood thread.

Lu Yuan, meanwhile, held his breath and focused his spirit. Extremely faint, pale golden lightning began to gather at his fingertips, compressed to its limit.

As thin as a hair, yet containing terrifying explosive power.

This was a micro-manipulation application of Palm Thunder, aiming for a single strike to kill, with the sound controlled to the smallest possible range.

The two men, like hunting leopards, crept silently to the entrance of the small path. Using the piled debris and shadows for cover, they peered inside.

Deep in the small path, near a half-collapsed earthen wall, indeed crouched three or four black shadows.

Their builds were skinnier than "living corpses," their bodies covered in a sticky substance, unclear if it was mud or their own secretions.

They were gathered around a small puddle of black, foul-smelling filth, greedily gnawing at it, emitting teeth-grating chewing sounds and satisfied whimpers.

They exuded a more active and even more nauseating yin-evil aura than the "living corpses."

Now!

Lu Yuan and Hu Huxu struck almost simultaneously!

The lightning compressed to its limit at Lu Yuan's fingertips shot out, splitting into three mid-air, accurately piercing the back of the heads of three of the Filth-Eating Ghosts!

There was no loud explosion, only three extremely faint "puff" sounds, like bubbles popping.

The three Filth-Eating Ghosts' bodies suddenly stiffened, then went limp and collapsed. Faint azure smoke rose from them, their yin-evil aura instantly dispersing.

At the same time, the yin talismans and blood thread in Hu Huxu's hands were flung out.

A yin talisman stuck to the forehead of the last Filth-Eating Ghost, which was slightly further away and seemed to have sensed something wrong, just about to raise its head and screech.

The blood thread, like a living creature, coiled around its neck and suddenly tightened!

The Filth-Eating Ghost only had time to let out a short, choked-off "urk" sound before its eyes rolled back.

Its yin energy suppressed by both the talisman and blood thread, it similarly went limp and collapsed.

The entire process, from striking to resolution, took only two or three breaths of time, producing almost no noticeable sound.

The two men quickly moved forward, dragged the corpses of these Filth-Eating Ghosts to a more hidden corner, and used debris to crudely cover the bloodstains and yin energy.

After finishing this, both men had sweat on their foreheads, from both tension and the consumption of the sudden burst of effort.

"Quick, let's go. We can't stay here long."

Hu Huxu said in a low voice. The dispersion of blood and yin energy, though faint, might still attract other things.

Lu Yuan nodded. The two men didn't linger.

Passing through the small path where they had dealt with the Filth-Eating Ghosts, the road ahead became even more difficult to traverse.

The houses were no longer sparse but crowded closely together, forming deeper, more winding lanes and alleys.

Dark red soul fires flickered in more windows, casting an ominous bloody hue over everything around them.

Those eerie, whispering murmurs also became clearer, sometimes near, sometimes far, as if countless unseen things were whispering in their ears.

These whispers spoke of malicious curses and twisted desires, constantly assailing their mental defenses.

Lu Yuan and Hu Huxu had to be even more careful, almost crawling.

They not only had to avoid those stationary or wandering "living corpses," but also had to constantly watch for possibly more hidden and vicious restriction symbols on the ground and walls.

Hu Huxu's forehead was already covered in cold sweat. The needle of the specially-made Hu Family compass in his hand trembled wildly.

Pointing in all directions, indicating the chaos and intensity of the evil energy in this place.

Lu Yuan's situation was slightly better. His two-star Celestial Master cultivation and firm will allowed him to resist most of the mental disturbances.

But that omnipresent, yin-cold evil energy was still like countless tiny needles, constantly trying to pierce through his protective true essence.

The old man's familiar Dao resonance was now perceived more clearly, but also more feeble.

Like a candle flame in the wind, as if it could be extinguished completely at any moment.

Its direction clearly pointed to the deepest part of the village.

There, built against the mountain, was a strange structure taller than the other houses, entirely constructed from dark black stone blocks.

That building had no windows, only a tightly closed, massive stone door covered in twisted beast-head reliefs.

From the cracks of the door, a dark red, blood-like light faintly leaked out, emanating a terrifying, heart-palpitating pressure.

"That place... should be the Liu Family's core, the place for sacrifices or imprisoning the Malevolent Deity."

Hu Huxu's voice carried unconcealable fear as he pointed towards that black stone house.

"Your master Li Xiuye... is most likely inside, or beneath it."

Lu Yuan's heart sank.

To get inside, they had to pass through this area of densest housing and most concentrated evil energy right before them.

He could sense that the "living corpses" here were not only numerous but also seemed more "alert."

They no longer wandered completely aimlessly; occasionally they would stop, their black-hole "eye sockets" scanning the surroundings.

As if executing some more complex command.

Lu Yuan and Hu Huxu lay hidden in the shadow of a half-collapsed woodshed, observing the situation at the intersection ahead, searching for a gap to break through.

Lu Yuan suddenly pondered that, up to this point, his Demon-Slaying System had not issued any warning!

If there really was a super Malevolent Deity here powerful enough to cause trouble for the old man, then his Demon-Slaying System should have displayed a danger identifier long ago.

But right now...

It hadn't...

Perhaps they were still too far from that house?

After all, the Demon-Slaying System's danger identifier activated within five hundred meters of Lu Yuan.

The distance from here to the black stone house ahead should exceed the five hundred meter limit...

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and began creeping forward again!

If the old man was truly trapped in that stone house, there must be a super Malevolent Deity!!

And just as Lu Yuan quickly and forcefully advanced another few dozen meters forward, Lu Yuan's heart suddenly jolted!

A line of blood-red text instantly exploded before Lu Yuan's eyes!!

[Type: Blood-Skeleton Spirit Lord]

[Cultivation: Unknown]

[Type: A super Malevolent Deity cultivated by the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family over several generations, using Fangling blood as a base, fused with Earth Vein Yin Malevolence, the lingering resentment of pillar-death souls, and the remnant spirits of ancient mountain gods. Nurtured for a hundred years through blood sacrifices in a Nine-Yin convergence location.]

[Danger Level: ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★]

[Remarks: Has preliminarily acquired pseudo-Divine Status. Can control multiple powers including blood malevolence, bone, earth yin, and resentment. Can form a "Blood Ghost Domain" within its sphere of influence, significantly weakening living beings and amplifying evil entities. Possesses incomplete divinity. Difficult to completely eliminate using conventional physical or Daoist methods.]

Lu Yuan: "??????"

What the hell!!

Starting off with a direct twenty-star danger level?!!!