Chapter 771: The Incomplete Corpse

Unlike the wilderness of exposed grayish-white rock that Lu Mian and the others had passed through earlier, the soil on this side of the River of the Netherworld was deep black, without withered blood-colored flowers, nor white, bone-like skeletons or rotten corpses.

The high altitude was no longer illuminated by the pale, dim, temperature-lacking "sunlight"; rich darkness ruled this world that had no visible boundaries.

In the depths of the darkness, clusters of pale, green-tinged flames floated quietly in mid-air, separated far from each other, as if acting as streetlights.

With the illumination of the pale flame closest to him, Lu Mian jumped rapidly from the gloomy small boat to the shore.

After his feet stepped onto solid ground, his heart settled down quite a bit, and at the same time, he felt that as he crossed the River of the Netherworld, the aura of death in his undead-transformed body became richer and more obvious, and his spirit and consciousness, which were strictly protected by the Aigris family's golden mask, also had a slight chill.

Immediately following, another cluster of gloomy chill was added to his body, while the "ferryman" in a highly rotten state had empty eyes and re-inserted the long oar into the flow of the River of the Netherworld.

It didn't attack Lu Mian again.

It seemed it wouldn't attack targets on the shore.

Looking at the gloomy small boat gradually moving away from the shore and the "ferryman" with his back to him, Lu Mian thought for a moment and said:

"Not going to kill it?

"As a piece of rotten human skin with a not-low rank, it matches your messenger very well."

This referred to "Knight of Swords'" messenger, the "Half-Fairy", who was a Spirit World creature that had lost the other half of her body; in other words, she happened to be missing a human skin, and the "ferryman" was the human skin peeled off by a demigod of the "Death" pathway.

"Knight of Swords" was silent for a few seconds, letting his voice echo in Lu Mian's ears:

"The only skin she is missing is her own."

This answer was restrained and concise, yet Lu Mian seemed to hear "Knight of Swords" roaring:

Don't just find any human skin and let my messenger wear it!

"Knight of Swords" paused for a second and continued:

"We might need to return to the other side of the River of the Netherworld in a moment, and we don't know how many 'Ferrymen' are left on the River of the Netherworld."

Need to return to the other side of the River of the Netherworld? Lu Mian only then considered a very serious and very important question:

"After solving Oseto's child, how are we supposed to leave the Netherworld?"

This was clearly something that couldn't be solved by "teleportation".

"Our companions in the outside world should be looking for a Sequence 5 'Gatekeeper' of the 'Death' pathway or a corresponding demigod for help, and this might require us to return to the area outside the Netherworld where we were before, so that we can see that bronze-colored Gate of the Netherworld."

Lu Mian nodded and, following the blurry induction brought by the black mark on his right shoulder, took a step forward.

He didn't ask "Knight of Swords" and that Temperance Faction demigod if the direction they were walking was deviating from the road to find Oseto's child.

If it were wrong, they would remind him.

Walking to the pale flame closest to him, Lu Mian only then discovered that this was truly a streetlight.

It was crafted from gold, and as a whole, it presented a kneeling human figure with hands tied behind its back, head tilted upward, chest and abdomen arched backward.

A pitch-black, evil-looking wick extended from the mouth of the human figure statue, covered with a layer of pale yellow, semi-transparent grease, and the pale flame burned quietly, as if it had been burning for thousands of years without a sign of extinguishing.

Starting from this human streetlight, there were more pieces of deep black, shattered stone slabs on the ground.

Lu Mian could already imagine how solemn and dignified the road leading to the palace of "Death" was back then.

He followed the road of stone slabs that didn't know why they had cracked and shattered, under the illumination of the human streetlights cast from gold that were separated far from each other, walking rapidly but cautiously toward the depths of the darkness, where the part of the "Abscessed Hand" body was suspected to be hidden.

This road also presented a state of slanting downward.

Lu Mian thus remembered the Aurelia Hotel he had stayed in before, remembered the words spoken by the descendant of "Death", Ivelista—many people believe that the true hell and the source of death are in the depths of the underground, so one must constantly go down, constantly go deep into the underground.

This is also reflected in the Netherworld... Lu Mian, who had walked for a while, suddenly raised his hand and pinched a cluster of massive, scorching white flames.

The bright radiance quickly dispelled the darkness further away, letting Lu Mian see the situation nearby clearly:

Buildings in the style of mausoleums were either completely collapsed or had half-crumbled, dead and quiet, without skeletons or corpses.

These buildings were of various colors, not just black, but also pale, golden, dark red, gloomy green, and other different paint jobs.

"In the past, did the followers of 'Death' live in these houses?" Lu Mian asked "Knight of Swords", who was quite knowledgeable about the history of the Southern Continent and the legends of the Netherworld.

"Knight of Swords" answered concisely:

"I don't know."

He then added a sentence:

"Only by finding a creature that had entered and exited the Netherworld before the fall of 'Death' can it be determined."

"Alright..." Lu Mian didn't ask any more questions and walked a bit faster.

This was because he felt that part of the "Abscessed Hand" body was not far ahead!

His right hand was put into the "Traveler's Bag" again, ready to draw the "Sword of Courage" at any time.

As for the "Devil's Whisper" ring, he didn't intend to wear it for the moment; he didn't feel that after turning into an undead creature, he could be immune to the negative effects of that sealed artifact that made malice ostentatious.

Undead creatures also have malice!

One must know that undead creatures like vengeful spirits and evil spirits are formed with their own obsessions and residual malice as the core.

Moreover, Lu Mian's spirit and consciousness were still protected by the Aigris family's golden mask, remaining in a living state.

After jogging for a while, relying on the pale flames of the human streetlights and the scorching white light cluster above his head, Lu Mian discovered a magnificent building located on the side of the shattered stone slabs.

It was suspected to be a church, pitch-black all over, a full fifty or sixty meters high, but the upper half had already collapsed, crashing into the lower part.

Lu Mian gathered his spirit and listened carefully, hearing the magnificent but broken church emit a strange sound that was barely audible.

It was as if someone were using an unsharpened knife or sword to cut a human body, sawing bones, making those who heard it feel a sense of empathy, their teeth feeling sour.

"I have another matter that needs to be solved inside this church." Lu Mian only then informed "Knight of Swords" and the Temperance Faction demigod of his intent.

He then added in a firm tone:

"It should be very quick."

He remembered Ms. "Magician" saying that the danger of the "Abscessed Hand" itself would only manifest after all parts of its body were gathered, and currently, it still had two parts in the "City of Exiles" Morora, so there was no need to worry about this problem.

The enemy that needed to be faced next might be the undead creature that made that sound just now.

"Alright." "Knight of Swords" didn't ask what the matter was.

"Thank you." Lu Mian responded sincerely.

"Knight of Swords" and that Temperance Faction demigod didn't object, nor did they detach from his body, which meant they tacitly agreed to provide the necessary help later.

Lu Mian extinguished the scorching white fire cluster floating above his head, so as not to stimulate the undead creature inside the broken church.

He transformed into a shadow, merged into the area not illuminated by the pale flames, and silently infiltrated the building where the upper half had collapsed entirely and crashed into the interior.

Lu Mian saw from the shadows the stone pillars that had crashed into the ground, saw the dome that had fallen into pieces, and saw the bird-shaped statue that only had half left.

After circling around in the ruins for a while, Lu Mian's eyes suddenly lit up.

On the broken walls that were still ten meters high in front, several bone torches burning with pale, green-tinged flames were inserted, and the rich darkness from high above flowed in through the massive hole created by the dome's collapse, blocked outside by this not-so-bright light.

Underneath the bone torches was placed a long table made of grayish-white stone, on which lay half a corpse that had been decapitated and split vertically.

That corpse wore no clothing, was blue-black all over, rotten to the point of swelling, and everywhere flowed yellowish, blood-tinged pus.

It looked quite a bit larger than a normal person; I don't know if it belonged to a half-giant before death, or if it was puffed up by rotting gases after death.

Lu Mian recognized it at a glance; this was the body of the "Abscessed Hand"!

It belonged to the left half, with one hand and one foot.

In front of the corpse of the "Abscessed Hand", a massive figure stood with its side to Lu Mian.

That figure was a full four meters high, its skin pitch-black, etched with a large number of evil-looking patterns, but most of them had already rotted, the flesh either having fallen off long ago, revealing white, bone-like bones, or presenting a half-melted, viscous state.

At this moment, this figure was bending its waist and back, holding a more massive, pale leg bone that didn't know whose it was, and was slowly cutting the half-corpse of the "Abscessed Hand".

Lu Mian saw that the figure had two curved, tattered, pitch-black goat horns on its head, and its side profile looked like a human face fused with a goat's face, the more he looked, the more terrifying it was.

An undead creature turned from a Beyonder of the "Devil" pathway after death? Lu Mian had just flashed this thought when he saw the goat-faced giant cut off a piece of blue-black rotten flesh and stuff it into its mouth, gnawing on it, causing yellowish pus to splash.

On the half-corpse of the "Abscessed Hand", the rotten flesh wriggled and grew, filling the wounds created by the cutting.

One eats and one grows? Lu Mian was pondering a plan to take away the corpse of the "Abscessed Hand" when the devil-like undead creature suddenly turned around, looked at the shadow where he was hiding, and spoke in a language he couldn't understand with a hollow, decaying voice.

Although he couldn't understand it, Lu Mian felt his flesh jump strangely, forced to detach from the shadow creature state, turning back into the undead creature appearance wearing the golden mask.

However, that goat-faced rotten devil didn't take the opportunity to attack him.

After two seconds, the voice of "Knight of Swords" entered Lu Mian's ears:

"It is asking:

"Do you need meat?"

Need meat? Lu Mian was first stunned, then rejoiced that he had a translator.

Looking at the massive undead creature that was devil-like and bending its waist and back, Lu Mian suddenly generated an inexplicable thought:

Does this count as making a deal with the devil?

Has the sequela of me using the "Power Broker's Dark Box" finally arrived?

PS: Recommending a book, "Brilliant Years 1991", Author: Dao Yigeng

A time-travel novel about the 90s; a programmer returns to 1991, and because of a favor owed by his predecessor, he has to go on a blind date, but starts a story after not being chosen by anyone...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 772 =====