Chapter 87 Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave

Chapter 87 Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave

Even Ning Xiaochuan, who had always adhered to atheism, couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath as he stared at the bloody figure standing behind the tombstone. The figure’s body was almost pressed against the tombstone, its back sunken in, revealing dried and rotting flesh and a broken spine, the fractured bones now a ghastly white.

He had suffered fatal wounds—a gaping hole the size of a bowl in his body—clearly having died many years ago. It was impossible to tell whether the wound had been torn open by a savage beast or pierced by some sharp weapon.

The blood inside the massive hole had long since congealed, shimmering like glowing red agate!

"Let’s go! I feel like if we stay here another moment, my heart’s going to leap out of my chest!" Murong Wushuang’s face was flushed red as he frantically gestured in sign language to Ning Xiaochuan, his anxiety palpable.

Ning Xiaochuan also found the situation utterly bizarre. If this corpse could crawl out of the grave on its own, there was no telling when it might suddenly come back to life.

His eyes locked onto the corpse’s right hand—its five fingers tightly clenched, as if gripping something inside.

Murong Wushuang was nearly driven mad with panic, but Ning Xiaochuan stepped forward toward the corpse. Profound Qi seeped from his palm, condensing into a Profound Qi Sword. With a single slash, he severed the corpse’s right hand at the wrist.

"Thud!" The severed wrist fell to the ground.

Seeing that the corpse still hadn’t awakened and remained motionless, Ning Xiaochuan finally let out a sigh of relief.

He picked up the bloody hand, then hoisted the unconscious Yu Qianqian over his shoulder. Quickly bypassing the tombstone, he hurried deeper into the cave.

Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang moved faster and faster, not daring to utter a single word. Soon, they were practically sprinting, racing through the underground tunnels for who knew how long before finally spotting light ahead and hearing the sound of flowing water.

Overjoyed, they realized they were about to exit the underground cave—though they had no idea where the other end of the tunnel led.

But just then, the underground cavern violently shook.

"Creak! Creak!"

"What’s happening?" Murong Wushuang stopped in his tracks, his expression uncertain, feeling as though the cave was about to collapse.

"Roar! Roar!"

From behind them came eerie, terrifying noises—like a human wailing, a ghost screaming, or a beast snarling!

Then came the sound of footsteps!

A bone-chilling aura surged from the depths of the cave behind them, as if something was chasing them.

"Could it be that corpse coming back to life, trying to reclaim its hand?" Murong Wushuang gulped hard, turning to stare into the pitch-black tunnel. He could sense something approaching, a sinister energy rushing toward them.

"That’s possible. Or maybe people from the Dark Emperor City also entered the underground tunnels and accidentally woke that corpse when they passed by the grave," Ning Xiaochuan speculated.

"Then what are we waiting for? Run!" Murong Wushuang’s hair stood on end as he bolted toward the light ahead at full speed.

Ning Xiaochuan also sprinted forward, feeling the severed hand in his grip squirm unnaturally, emitting strange, incomprehensible noises—as if struggling to break free!

"Ji-ya-hu-chi!"

Behind him, the chilling aura grew closer and closer, as if someone had already caught up to Ning Xiaochuan and was whispering in his ear. A hand touched the back of his head, poised to press down at any moment.

Carrying Yu Qianqian on his back, Ning Xiaochuan dashed out of the stone cave and leaped straight down, plummeting from the heights into a pool beneath a waterfall!

Splash!

The moment he burst out of the cave, the pursuing cold Qi instantly vanished.

Ning Xiaochuan found Yu Qianqian, supporting her arm as they surfaced, finally able to exhale in relief. That had been terrifying—had he been even a fraction slower, that sinister energy might have dragged him back into the cave.

That would have been a truly horrifying fate!

Looking up, Ning Xiaochuan spotted a man-sized cave carved into the cliff face. That must have been the one he had jumped from, following the waterfall down into the pool.

"Ah! Mother of—! Blood, it's blood!" Murong Wushuang surfaced, shrieking like a ghost before frantically swimming toward the shore.

Only then did Ning Xiaochuan realize the water in the pool was blood-red, reeking of a pungent metallic scent. Their clothes were already soaked crimson.

And the water cascading down the cliff was also blood-red—a waterfall of blood!

Even Ning Xiaochuan was shaken as he dragged Yu Qianqian onto the shore.

"What kind of cursed place is this? Why is there so much blood? Blood forming waterfalls, pools, rivers—is this the underworld?" Murong Wushuang stripped off his clothes, wringing out streams of blood.

"This is the depths of the Fire Demon Mountain Range!"

Standing at the edge of the blood-red pool, Ning Xiaochuan gazed upward. A towering crimson mountain pierced the clouds, its jagged cliffs shrouded in perpetual mist. A waterfall poured down from the mist like a river of blood descending from the heavens.

At the summit of the blood-red mountain stood an enormous Demon Palace. Even the glimpse of its ruined corner, barely visible through the mist, was enough to inspire awe—and an inexplicable urge to kneel in worship before it.

The sight was identical to the vision Ning Xiaochuan had seen while holding the Black Firewood Pearl!

Murong Wushuang also spotted the Demon Palace atop the peak, stunned into silence. In this desolate wilderness, an ancient palace stood at the mountain’s summit, filling his heart with wild imaginings.

"Could a Demon Lord live in that palace? It feels like something that shouldn’t exist in this world—like it came from another realm," Murong Wushuang muttered.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Even if the master of that palace was once a Demon Lord, they must be long dead. Otherwise, the palace wouldn’t be so dilapidated, as if weathered by centuries of storms."

This underground cave had led them all the way from Dragonfall Valley, through the Five-Colored Poison Miasma Forest, straight to the heart of the Fire Demon Mountain Range!

Looking into the distance, Ning Xiaochuan confirmed the presence of the Five-Colored Poison Miasma Forest. Within it lurked countless venomous creatures, but they seemed terrified of the blood mountain, hiding deep in the forest and refusing to venture out.

"This passage must have been excavated by someone, probably stretching over fifty kilometers—what a massive project!" Murong Wushuang stared at the cave in the cliff, his heart still gripped by fear, worried that the corpse might suddenly charge out from within.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "It might be related to that corpse. It’s possible the corpse was refined into a Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave."

"A Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave?" Murong Wushuang asked.

Ning Xiaochuan explained, "Legend has it that when a Martial Venerable perishes in the Fire Demon Mountain, they transform into a Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave, emerging at night to kill any warriors who dare enter the mountain. Of course, this is just what I heard from the disciples of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House—it might just be a spooky tale passed down through exaggeration!"

"Grooowl!"

A chilling howl echoed from the depths of the cave!

Both Murong Wushuang and Ning Xiaochuan paled slightly, thinking to themselves—perhaps this wasn’t just a ghost story after all. Maybe the Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave truly existed!

Fortunately, the corpse did not rush out of the cave.

Murong Wushuang and Ning Xiaochuan did not immediately head for the Demon Palace at the summit of the Blood Mountain. Though the palace seemed close, the mountain was simply too towering—it would take at least three days to climb to the top.

Moreover, strange sounds frequently emanated from the Blood Mountain, suggesting hidden dangers within.

Thus, Ning Xiaochuan decided to recover from his injuries first before attempting the ascent to seek opportunities within the Demon Palace.

By the Blood Pool, a bonfire crackled fiercely, its flames roaring and popping.

Yu Qianqian had already awakened and sat by the fire, her eyes frequently darting toward the cave in the cliff, fearful that the corpse might emerge at any moment.

Her injuries weren’t severe—just a slash on her arm, which had already healed after taking an Intermediate Elixir.

As a noblewoman participating in the trial, it was no surprise she carried plenty of healing pills.

She had also given Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang an Intermediate Elixir each.

At the moment, Murong Wushuang was refining Elixir Qi, while Ning Xiaochuan studied the blood-drenched severed hand!

This hand had been hacked off the corpse, its blood exuding a sinister, frigid malevolence. Though the blood was red, it was speckled with tiny black particles.

"This truly is the hand of a Martial Venerable. Who could have killed such a powerhouse and buried them in that underground cave?" Ning Xiaochuan dared not touch the blood oozing from the corpse’s hand directly, wary of contamination.

Yu Qianqian asked, "How do you know this belonged to a Martial Venerable?"

"The blood contains dense Earth Martial Essence!" Ning Xiaochuan used Profound Qi to levitate the severed hand over the Blood Pool, allowing a single drop of blood to fall into the water.

"BOOM!"

The entire Blood Pool erupted into a violent boil, bubbles bursting furiously.

This was the power of a single drop of a Martial Venerable’s blood—enough to make an entire pool seethe instantly!

Ning Xiaochuan had been trying to pry open the five fingers of the severed hand, curious about what they might be clutching.

But just as that drop of blood dripped from the corpse's hand, the Demonic Sword within Ning Xiaochuan's body caught the scent of the blood and grew restless. It resonated incessantly within his heart, as if trying to break free and drain every last drop of blood from the corpse's hand!