Chapter 10

Just as the two of them watched with tense eyes, from the dark, ominous cave entrance, a series of squeaks sounded, and a small gray mouse crawled out, then ran frantically to the side.

"Phew..." Seeing that it was just a mouse, the old man relaxed.

But Zuo Qingcang frowned beside him and asked, "Do you survive here by eating mouse meat?"

"No, I eat other things, and there are no mice in this tomb..." Before he could finish, both he and Zuo Qingcang had already reacted, looking at the dark, small hole.

'No mice means the first hole leads outside?'

Just as they both thought this, with a swoosh, a transparent tentacle had already emerged from the cave entrance, instantly wrapping around the mouse and pulling it back in.

It was indeed absorption. The transparent tentacle looked like some kind of light green slime, which quickly enveloped the mouse. The mouse struggled as if it had been thrown into a small water tank.

However, no matter how it struggled, it could not escape the transparent slime. Instead, more and more slime emerged from the hole, like a mass of green paste, deeply enveloping the entire mouse.

At the same time, the bricks were pushed aside, making a clattering sound. Now, Zuo Qingcang and the old man could see that the sounds were actually various bones hitting the ground.

In a blink, the cave entrance no longer emitted slime. The monster in front of them had turned into a pale green, transparent slime mass about the size of a stove. Clearly visible were many bones, rotten flesh, organs, and all kinds of corpses immersed inside.

"What the hell is this thing?" The two of them stepped back, and Zuo Qingcang asked in a low voice.

"This... this is..." The old man's face was pale, and he trembled as he said, "This is a corpse monster! It's the first time I've seen one. They say this thing can only form where a cultivator has died, supposedly due to the chaotic spiritual energy in the corpse after death. I thought it was just a legend..."

In the central cultivation sects, the spiritual energy in the human body, perhaps because humans consider themselves the most intelligent beings, has always been considered different from any kind of spiritual energy in the world. And such corpse monsters often appear in the graves of cultivators.

Watching the mouse struggle in the transparent slime of the corpse monster, its fur gradually dissolving, Zuo Qingcang's pupils constricted, and he urgently asked, "Does this thing eat humans?"

"I don't know. I used to think it was just a legend. It probably doesn't eat humans..."

As they spoke, a part of the corpse monster's slime body suddenly bulged, and vaguely, a face filled with sorrow, anger, and hatred could be seen. The face was entirely made of slime, with eyes and mouth just hollow cavities.

Seeing the face turn to look at their position, Zuo Qingcang's expression darkened, and he asked, "Do you know how to deal with this thing? It seems to be interested in us."

"I don't know, but according to legend, the corpse monster is formed from the bodies and spiritual energy of cultivators, making it the most yin and evil thing in the world. It can be restrained with the most yang and righteous things."

Hearing the old man's words, Zuo Qingcang frowned. This was like saying nothing. They were in an underground tomb; where could they find such yang and righteous things? He stared intently at the corpse monster, seeing the ghostly face it had spat out continuously turning.

He added, "Right, don't you know Daoist magic? What about the fire you can create with a blink?" Zuo Qingcang had just thought of asking the old man to set the corpse monster on fire, but then reconsidered. He wasn't sure if the fire could deal with the monster, and if it couldn't, it might just anger it.

Looking at the hollow eyes of the corpse monster, Zuo Qingcang suddenly thought, 'This thing has no eyes, so it probably doesn't see us with these eyes. If it has always been in the dark underground, it might not rely on vision to sense prey. Could it be using hearing?'

As they thought, the corpse monster suddenly moved, like a large mass of rolling mud, rapidly approaching their position. The bones and various debris inside it occasionally hit the ground, making a clattering sound.

The old man shouted and turned to run toward the crack they had come from, but Zuo Qingcang grabbed him tightly and ran in another direction.

"What are you doing! Let me go!"

"Calm down. The crack is too narrow. If we run in there, we'll be too slow, but the corpse monster can deform its body and move without being affected by the terrain. It will catch up."

The corpse monster was much faster than its appearance suggested. By the time they had finished speaking, it was already within five meters behind them. Zuo Qingcang pushed the old man hard and ran in the other direction, shouting, "Run in different directions! Don't stop!"

Seeing the old man and Zuo Qing run in different directions, the corpse monster let out an angry hiss. Then, a sound like tearing fabric was heard, and the corpse monster split into two masses, each chasing after Zuo Qingcang and the old man.

Zuo Qingcang, hearing the strange sounds and hisses, ran forward without looking back. When he no longer felt the movement behind him, he turned to look and saw that the corpse monster, perhaps because it had split in two, was much slower and had been left behind by more than ten meters.

'After the body splits, it doesn't die. Is this corpse monster some kind of collective organism...'

Next, he tried to run into the shadows of the burial chamber, but the changes in light and darkness seemed to have no effect on the corpse monster. Instead, Zuo Qingcang had to be careful of the terrain and burial objects in the darkness, which slowed him down.

Thinking back to when the two of them had whispered in front of the corpse monster, Zuo Qingcang thought, 'It indeed doesn't use vision; it must be using hearing to move.'

With this in mind, he grabbed a jar from the side of the road and threw it with all his strength. A loud crack was heard, followed by a series of clattering sounds as the jar smashed into various burial objects. The corpse monster's body immediately stopped.

On the other side, as Zuo Qingcang threw the jar, he immediately fell to the ground, holding his breath and remaining completely still, trying not to make any sound.

After doing this, Zuo Qingcang stared at the motionless corpse monster, ready to jump up and run at any moment.

However, the corpse monster hesitated for a moment, as if sensing something, and then ran in the direction where the jar had fallen, never looking at Zuo Qingcang's position again.

Relieved, Zuo Qingcang slowly got up and quietly walked in the direction the old man had run. As he stealthily moved through the darkness, he could occasionally hear the old man's shouts, the corpse monster's hisses, and the sounds of burial objects being smashed.

When he arrived, the old man's lower body was already completely enveloped by the corpse monster's slime. He struggled to free himself, but it was futile. The corpse monster, like a giant cell, continued to consume the old man. This method of attack was ineffective no matter how hard the old man struggled or how much strength he used.

Zuo Qingcang could easily imagine that once the old man was completely enveloped by the slime, he would suffocate and die, then be digested and decomposed by the corpse monster.

However, as the old man struggled, his eyes occasionally opened and closed. Each time they opened, a small spark appeared on the surface of the corpse monster, and each time the spark appeared, the corpse monster let out a scream. But the sparks were too weak and were quickly extinguished by the slime.

Seeing this, Zuo Qingcang's eyes lit up: 'This thing seems to fear fire, but the old man's Daoist magic is too weak. The trick of creating fire with a blink can only scare it, not kill it.'

At that moment, the other corpse monster appeared, apparently attracted by the old man's struggles. It immediately rushed toward the old man's head.

Seeing the other corpse monster, the old man's face changed, and his eyes showed a疯狂的恐惧. He shouted, "Save me! Come and save me!"

His body shook violently, but he could not shake off the slime on his lower body. His legs were like being wrapped in jelly, unable to move. He could only watch helplessly as the other mass of the corpse monster rushed toward his body. His eyes gradually filled with despair.

A few seconds later, the back of his head was completely covered by the slime. The other corpse monster was slowly covering his head, and the old man could clearly feel the disgusting slime flowing over his head, and a strong smell of decay constantly entering his nostrils.

His feet continued to struggle, but they only touched various half-decomposed hairs and bones, with no other effect. Even his hands were already bound by the slime, and he felt as if he had touched the dead mouse from earlier.

Just as he was in despair, a figure over two meters tall suddenly rushed toward him from the darkness.

'A giant?' As he thought this, the figure emerged from the darkness. It was Zuo Qingcang, who was holding a mummy in his hands, rushing toward the old man's position.

The old man looked closely and recognized the mummy as the human-headed bird-bodied Liang Bo from the crystal coffin. Zuo Qingcang's voice echoed, "Light the fire! Light the fire!"

The old man blinked, and a small spark appeared on the mummy. In the next moment, the mummy, which had been artificially dried and had not a drop of water after two thousand years, became the best kindling.

With a loud roar, a large flame burst out from the mummy, and thick black smoke rose. Zuo Qingcang threw the mummy onto the body of the corpse monster.

In the next moment, a terrible scream echoed, and the corpse monster released the old man and retreated frantically.

Zuo Qingcang immediately rushed forward and threw the burning mummy onto the corpse monster again. This time, the mummy broke into countless pieces, falling into the body of the corpse monster. Zuo Qingcang then pounced and threw the still-burning remains into the other corpse monster.

A few minutes later, the two of them panted heavily, watching the corpse monsters disappear. On the ground, only two black burn marks and clumps of black residue remained.

At this moment, Zuo Qingcang drew a deep breath and noticed the stinging pain in his hands, clearly from the minor burns he had sustained during the struggle.