Chapter 81

The humanoid skeleton that suddenly sat up from the stone coffin had a structure similar to a human skeleton, but there were some differences in the details. The skull was elongated, the facial bones were sunken, and the chin was sharp and long, resembling a curved horn. The ears had two strange ear spikes, unlike human ears which only have cartilage. The forehead of the skull was sharply protruding, looking like a nearly degenerated horn. The entire skull resembled a human but was clearly not one.

The skeleton was draped in a dragon robe, but due to its age, the moment it sat up, the dragon robe turned to ashes, revealing the skeleton beneath. Its skeletal structure was not much different from a human's, except for the spine. The spine was like a slightly curved small dragon, shimmering with a faint light, emitting a highly concentrated aura of primal energy. When it sat up from the stone coffin, two faint red lights suddenly burst from the empty eye sockets.

Chu Nan was shaken, not just because this skeleton, which had been dead for countless years, could come back to life and move, but more importantly, he had always believed that the tomb contained the remains of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen. However, the skeleton that appeared was clearly a monster resembling a human.

But if it was a monster, why was it wearing a dragon robe?

For a moment, Chu Nan couldn't understand why the tomb, which should have been the burial place of the Ming Dynasty's Jianwen Emperor, contained a monster wearing a dragon robe. He wasn't too surprised that the skeleton could come back to life, considering he had previously seen a skeleton army walking in the thick fog and even a ghost ship.

The残耳 (Cane Ear) let out a faint roar. The humanoid skeleton that had sat up from the stone coffin, with its eyes slightly glowing red, suddenly turned its gaze towards Chu Nan and Cane Ear. It extended its right arm bone and suddenly slapped the stone coffin, causing its entire body to creak as it began to rise unsteadily from the coffin.

Feeling the intense aura of primal energy emitted by the spine that resembled a small dragon, Chu Nan's heart raced. There was no doubt that this spine, which looked like a small dragon, was an extremely high-quality genetic weapon, far surpassing the spider claws or the pangolin scales he had.

Cane Ear had already silently pounced, its mouth wide open, aiming for the spine of the skeleton that had just risen from the coffin. Cane Ear was not unintelligent; it could see the special nature of the spine that resembled a small dragon, just as Chu Nan could, and it wanted to seize it first.

"This Cane Ear, though cruel and cunning, is somewhat rash. This skeleton, which can grow such a spine, is certainly not weak," Chu Nan mused. He held the spider claws in his right hand, released spider silk, and attached it to both sides of the cave walls, forming a simple web. He was calculating his next move, unlike Cane Ear, who had directly pounced to seize the spine.

The skeleton, which was unsteadily rising from the coffin, seemed to have just awakened, and its movements were very stiff. To Chu Nan's surprise, when Cane Ear pounced, the skeleton didn't react in time and was immediately bitten by Cane Ear's large mouth on its spine.

Cane Ear pulled hard, trying to tear off the spine that resembled a small dragon. At almost the same moment, the skeleton, as if finally awakened, its body trembled, and the spine that was being bitten suddenly emitted a strong, shimmering light.

Cane Ear let out a muffled groan, suddenly opened its mouth, and retreated, its mouth covered in blood, having suffered a significant loss.

The spine of the skeleton, now resembling a living dragon snake, emitted a strange vibration. The skeleton turned its body, and with a crisp sound, it leaped out of the coffin, landing in front of the retreating Cane Ear. The spine, which was the center, began to emit a shimmering white light that spread throughout its entire skeleton, like ripples in water.

Chu Nan's eyes widened, becoming even more convinced that this dragon-like spine was not an ordinary genetic weapon.

Cane Ear retreated further, already against the cave wall, with no more room to retreat. Suddenly, its tail rose high, and it let out a terrifying low roar, pouncing at the skeleton with its front claws, striking it heavily.

At almost the same moment, Chu Nan finally took action, pointing the spider claws in his hand at the skeleton and releasing spider silk.

"Zzzt, zzzt, zzzt—"

In that instant, a large amount of spider silk shot towards the skeleton, sticking to it. However, what followed made Chu Nan draw a sharp breath. Sensing the spider silk, the skeleton's upper body made a 180-degree rotation, and its entire body suddenly flew out, its hands raised, and it pounced at Chu Nan. The spider silk, which had stuck to it, softened and became fragile due to the shimmering light emitted from its spine.

The spider silk was ineffective against it.

Abandoning Cane Ear, the skeleton suddenly pounced at Chu Nan. Chu Nan's heart raced, but he was not afraid. He aimed at the pouncing skeleton and slashed with the spider claws in his right hand.

The skeleton raised its right arm, and the spider claws struck it, sparking. A shallow mark was left on its right arm bone, but it did not sever the arm.

All of this was within Chu Nan's expectations. As the skeleton was about to land in front of him, he unleashed the golden power, and his golden right leg lashed out like a whip.

With a crisp "snap," the golden right leg horizontally kicked the skeleton's thigh bone, striking the joint. This kick was Chu Nan's true attack, using immense force, and the skeleton's entire body was sent flying, crashing into the cave wall on the other side.

With a "boom," the skeleton hit the wall and slid to the ground, but the dragon-like spine quickly exerted its power, and it stood up again, seemingly unharmed. Behind it, Cane Ear, with a mouth full of blood, rushed forward, its large mouth opening from behind and biting the skeleton's neck.

With a crisp "snap," Cane Ear's fangs sank in, and its front claws firmly pressed on the skeleton's shoulders, trying to tear off its head.

The dragon-like spine of the skeleton glowed, and its upper body suddenly swung. The force was so strong that even Cane Ear, which was stronger than a sixth-level mutant, was thrown back. However, the skeleton was not unharmed; its head was tilted to one side.

Chu Nan, of course, would not miss such an opportunity. As the skeleton swung to throw off Cane Ear, he slashed diagonally with the spider claws, striking the tilted neck.

A sharp sound rang out, and the spider claws still failed to sever the skeleton's neck. However, the skeleton suddenly jumped with both legs, charging at Chu Nan.

This sudden attack caught Chu Nan off guard. He felt as if he had been hit by a speeding car, and his entire body was sent flying, a stream of blood spurting from his mouth.

With a "thud," Chu Nan hit the ground hard, his body feeling as if it had been shattered. The skeleton, which had sent him flying, took a step forward and reached out its hands to twist Chu Nan's neck.

In this life-or-death moment, Chu Nan's mind remained unusually calm. He rolled backward along the ground, and the skeleton, which had moved forward, suddenly encountered an obstacle.

Chu Nan had already set up a simple web with the spider claws in this area. Now, he rolled through the gap below the web, and the skeleton, which had pursued him, ended up colliding with the spider silk.

The spider silk was as strong as steel, and the skeleton, which was stronger, was momentarily blocked.

However, the dragon-like spine of the skeleton soon emitted a shimmering light, which softened the spider silk, making it fragile. In the next moment, the skeleton took another step, tearing through the web.

But this brief pause gave Chu Nan time to take a deep breath, roll to his feet, and wipe the blood from his mouth, charging at the skeleton that was closing in on him again.

Behind him, Cane Ear had regrouped and was also pursuing. Its cold eyes met Chu Nan's, and suddenly, Chu Nan understood its thoughts and the actions it was about to take.

Sure enough, Cane Ear leaped into the air, its front claws landing on the skeleton's shoulders, and its large mouth biting down on the skeleton's neck again.

Although the skeleton was terrifying, in some aspects, it appeared stiff and rigid. When it faced Chu Nan, it completely ignored the attack from Cane Ear behind it, allowing Cane Ear to easily bite its neck again and try to tear it off.

The already tilted neck was now even more skewed. The skeleton abandoned its attack on Chu Nan and turned to shake off Cane Ear, its bony hands grabbing Cane Ear, trying to kill it first.

Chu Nan, who had anticipated Cane Ear's actions, would not miss such a rare opportunity. Even he felt an unexpected sense of默契 (cooperation) with Cane Ear.

Cane Ear, fearless in the face of death, charged forward, drawing the skeleton's attention, while Chu Nan raised his golden right leg, let out a long roar, and with all his golden power, kicked the dragon-like spine of the skeleton.

The source of the skeleton's power was this dragon-like spine, and similarly, its only weakness was likely this spine.