Chapter 661: Why Are You Here?

The voice sounded as though it had spoken right next to my ear. Startled, I stopped dead in my tracks and watched my surroundings for a long time, only exhaling in relief after confirming nothing was out of the ordinary.

'The voice is faint and ethereal. It must be transmitting through a formation. The speaker probably isn't targeting me.' Continuing forward, the Underground Ninth Level was a complete mess, littered with the corpses of humanoid monsters and white fiends.

'After I left last night, it seems an even more intense battle took place here.' Looking at the claw marks several inches deep in the cave walls, I shuddered.

Passing through the only corridor in the Underground Ninth Level, I followed the guidance of the yin energy within my yin aperture, slowly approaching Wang Shi's location.

After walking a dozen meters, the space suddenly opened up. Nine pitch-black cave entrances lay ahead. Like a mythical nine-headed serpent, they opened their gaping maws as though crawling out of the abyss.

'Ninefold Nether Opening, immortal and uncorrupted.'

I slipped into the shadows and used my Judging Eye to observe. The sect cultivators were standing in front of the nine cave entrances. They hesitated, seemingly discussing a strategy.

The group was still led by Xu Yan, talking back and forth.

"The Compass is being interfered with. Right now, I can only confirm that Gao Jian is hiding in these caves." Xu Yan held up the Compass. Its needle swung wildly back and forth, never stopping. "Tell me your thoughts."

"I've read through the texts in the Miaozhen temple, and I've never heard of the Broken Face Wenqu Terrain branching into nine veins. These nine entrances must have been excavated artificially. I'm guessing some of the caves are rigged with lethal traps," Lu Chen told the group, helping Wei Jianming to the side.

"This place is the absolute core of the Broken Face Wenqu. The fact that the enemy could dig out nine tunnels to confuse the senses without altering the overall feng shui layout means their mastery over feng shui already surpasses ours." Lu Jingxiu was completely frank. He was different from the other cultivators—if he fell short, he admitted it directly.

"You are too modest, Daoist Brother. We aren't feng shui masters, after all." Xu Yan stared at the nine cave entrances, nursing a growing headache as he tried to figure out the enemy's intentions.

"How about I go in first and scout the way?" Lu Jingxiu took the talisman-woven rope from Wei Wenming and tied it around his own waist.

"The corpse qi and earth qi here are dense. They might have bred higher-level walking corpses. Be careful, Daoist Brother."

Xu Yan remained outside to oversee the situation while Lu Jingxiu walked alone to the cave entrance closest to him.

"I will be right back." Just as Lu Jingxiu was about to step inside, that cold, unfamiliar voice rang out in the Underground Ninth Level once again.

"Dead end. The living must halt!"

This time I heard it clearly. The voice came from inside the caves—I just didn't know exactly which one.

'I have absolutely no memory of this voice. It's not Chen Jiuge, and it's not Wang Wu. Right now, other than them, there should be only one person left who could appear in Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital—Mr. Paper.' I committed the voice to memory. I was deeply entangled with the Two-Faced Buddha's faction, so I would likely run into him again in the future.

The sect cultivators heard the voice too, their reactions varying.

"Hiding in the shadows and playing the ghost. We've reached this point, yet you still don't dare to show yourself?" Xu Yan stood with his hands behind his back, his demeanor completely calm.

"Gao Jian, I know you're in there! Come out!" The cold voice had felt like a pair of icy little hands sliding down Wei Jianming's neck; he shuddered, broke free of Lu Chen's grip, and shouted loudly.

Lu Jingxiu, standing at the cave entrance, also gave a cold snort. The kindly expression vanished from the good-natured old man's face, leaving his tone solemn and grave. "You have committed a boundless slaughter, and you cannot hide from it! These thousands of wronged souls are weeping, demanding that you pay with your life!"

Never provoke an honest man. They rarely lose their tempers, but once they truly get angry, the consequences are severe.

This was exactly how Lu Jingxiu was right now. Without wasting any more words, he secured the talisman rope around his waist and strode straight into the cave.

From a dozen meters away, I saw it clearly. The cave Lu Jingxiu had chosen wasn't the one housing the Uncorrupted Bone.

'Out of the nine caves, apart from the one housing the Uncorrupted Bone, the remaining eight should be rigged with layers of traps. Knowing the sinister nature of the Two-Faced Buddha's disciple, these sect cultivators are in for a hard time.'

Just as I expected, it wasn't long before the talisman rope in Wei Wenming's hands suddenly snapped. The sounds of combat echoed out from the tunnel.

"Stay here! I'm going in to back him up!" The speaker was Lu Chen. The fact that this head disciple of Profound Truth could escape the Ghost Mother proved his skills were truly extraordinary. He knew Xu Yan was commanding the overall situation and couldn't move recklessly, and the Golden Mountain Sect disciples were injured. Right now, he was the only one who could go rescue Lu Jingxiu.

Without waiting for Xu Yan to nod, Lu Chen charged into the entrance.

'What's in that cave?' I hid in the back, watching the show while feeling a bit curious.

A moment later, footsteps echoed from the pitch-black tunnel. Lu Jingxiu and Lu Chen walked out, one after the other. Both of their Daoist robes were torn, and five deep claw marks marked Lu Jingxiu's back.

"Daoist Brother?"

Xu Yan took out a jade bottle the thickness of a finger and walked toward Lu Jingxiu.

Lu Jingxiu waved his hand. "It's just a flesh wound. But you all need to come see this."

He stepped aside, and everyone's gaze shifted to Lu Chen behind him.

Daoist robes stained with spots of blood, Lu Chen emerged from the dark cave, dragging a corpse with both hands.

"This place is far from simple. Look at this walking corpse—it's completely different from the white fiends we've seen before." Lu Chen dragged the corpse out of the entrance. As soon as the group saw it, their expressions changed.

Standing roughly two meters tall and wearing a custom-made hospital gown, the most terrifying thing about this monster was that its entire body was covered in three-inch-long white hair, making it look like a savage beast.

"Look closely here." Lu Jingxiu parted the white hair on the monster's chest and pointed at the roots, which weren't white, but black. "They are transforming into Black Corpses. Once the metamorphosis is complete, these monsters won't fear sunlight. As long as they feed on living flesh, they can survive indefinitely."

"Black Corpse?" Wei Jianming also walked over, looking curiously at the corpse on the ground. "Just a one-word difference, and the gap in strength is that huge?"

"The world is at peace, and earth burials are now forbidden. Black Corpses haven't appeared for many years." Xu Yan's brow slowly furrowed. "Any corpse has the potential for corpse reanimation. Growing white fur is only the earliest sign; a corpse at this stage cannot even be called a true walking corpse yet. Only when the white hair covers its entire body and reaches over an inch long can it be called a White Corpse, otherwise known as a white fiend. And out of a thousand White Corpses, only one will, through a myriad of karmic coincidences, evolve into a Black Corpse."

"Daoist, I don't quite understand. The ones with white hair are White Corpses, and the ones with black hair are Black Corpses, so what are these called?" Wei Wenming pointed toward the spider-like humanoid monsters scattered around.

"They belong to the White Corpse category." Xu Yan shifted his gaze away from the Black Corpse. "For a corpse to reanimate, it must absorb earth qi, death qi, and resentment—not a single one can be missing. But these monsters are different from normal corpses; they were artificially refined."

Xu Yan's experienced eyes immediately spotted the root of the problem. "We saw it on our way here. These monsters were kept in iron boxes, entirely cut off from the earth veins. Their bodies only carry corpse qi and resentment, lacking earth qi. The earth is the mother of all things; without the nourishment of the earth veins, they lack that vital spark of life, so naturally, they won't grow hair."

"Then why would Gao Jian refine these things? Without growing new hair, they have no possibility of advancing. These monsters are just one-time consumables; they'll never be able to leave the underground," Wei Wenming asked, somewhat confused.

"Refining them doesn't consume earth qi, but it requires an enormous amount of corpse qi. I find it strange too—where did this Gao Jian get so much corpse qi?" Xu Yan looked back at the mangled humanoid corpses littering the ground in staggering numbers.

"That's exactly what puzzles me as well," Lu Jingxiu said. "At first, I thought this place was just a standard corpse-raising ground. It wasn't until I saw the Black Corpse that I realized this abandoned hospital was built over a Pit of Ten Thousand Corpses! It's on par with an ancient battlefield; only under such circumstances could a Black Corpse possibly be born! In such a terrifying terrain, the earth vein's spiritual rhythm is naturally abundant. There was absolutely no need for the enemy to save a little earth qi while burning several times the corpse qi just to create these monsters with zero growth potential."

He stroked his beard. "Many years ago in western Hunan, I met an evil Daoist who raised corpses. Let alone Black Corpses, he treated even a slightly stronger White Corpse as his absolute treasure. Compared to that, Gao Jian's behavior is extremely abnormal. He definitely isn't doing this to raise corpses—it looks more like he's deliberately exhausting the corpse qi."

"Only corpses that died with grievances many years ago, or those buried in special terrains, can emit corpse qi. To someone who raises corpses, corpse qi is extremely precious. Why would Gao Jian deliberately waste it?" Lu Chen offered a different perspective.

"There is one situation where you'd actively want to deplete corpse qi—and that's when the raised corpse has exceeded its master's expectations and begun to slip out of control," Xu Yan chimed in. "The enemy's scheme is massive. It's impossible for an ordinary walking corpse to break free of control, unless this place has bred those legendary things."

"Legendary things?" Several of the younger generation cultivators crowded over, pricking up their ears to listen.

Xu Yan's expression was grave as he uttered three names: "Jiangchen, Drought Demon, and the Uncorrupted Bone!"

Hiding in the distance, my heart trembled the moment I heard the words "Uncorrupted Bone". 'These cultivators have deduced the truth. Will they retreat in the face of impossible odds?'

The very second Xu Yan mentioned the Uncorrupted Bone, that cold voice echoed once more. "A dead zone for the living! I don't care who you are, I advise you to leave immediately! Otherwise, you will all be killed without mercy!"

The voice drifted erratically, ruthless and domineering. Hearing his threat, Xu Yan's gaze turned contemptuous. He stood before the center of the nine caves. "A jumping clown dares to spout such arrogance? It seems the Five Great Upper Sects have been isolated from the world for too long. People have forgotten us."

"Five Great Upper Sects? Why are you here?" The drifting, cold voice sounded puzzled. This place was hidden away; it was simply impossible for sect cultivators to find it without someone leading the way.

"We came here, naturally, to vanquish demons and defend the Dao!" Xu Yan handed the Compass to Lu Jingxiu and stepped forward himself!