Corpse Infant

Xu Yuan lay motionless on the ground. After slowly gathering a little strength, he stiffly opened his mouth, and a Gold Pellet flew out.

It swiftly transformed into a short sword.

Xu Yuan controlled the short sword, cutting into his back. Then he twisted it!

The short sword sliced away all the flesh around the wound!

The ghostly energy and flesh separated from his body together. The energy then broke free of the flesh and swiftly pounced at Xu Yuan again.

Xu Yuan rolled over and opened his mouth. A blazing fire dragon roared out, and the ghostly energy flew straight into its trap. In an instant, it was burned to ashes.

Xu Yuan, however, was in so much pain that cold sweat covered his body. He screamed several times, and "Inner Fire" uncontrollably scattered into flames all over the ground.

Suddenly, Xu Yuan sensed something was wrong. He took a closer look and saw that the Corpse Infant had somehow crawled to his feet. In its ghastly pale, swollen little hand, it clutched the short sword formed from his Gold Pellet!

The short sword had two cutting edges and no hilt. The Corpse Infant held the blade, yet it wasn't injured. A blackish-gray color spread from where it gripped the sword, creeping across the rest of the blade!

The Corpse Infant raised the short sword and stabbed at him!

Xu Yuan sprang backward in alarm, putting some distance between them. The Corpse Infant's thrust missed, but it flashed and appeared at Xu Yuan's feet again, as if distance didn't exist.

Xu Yuan spat out another mouthful of "Inner Fire," scorching the Corpse Infant's face head-on.

The Inner Fire, which had always worked against evil spirits, was useless against the Corpse Infant!

With flames licking over it, the Corpse Infant took a step toward Xu Yuan.

That distance-defying ability appeared again. Xu Yuan yelped and shot backward, spitting out another Gold Pellet at the same time.

This Gold Pellet carried the properties of a gunpowder Inner Pill!

Boom!

The Gold Pellet struck the Corpse Infant squarely, and a fierce explosion sent a cloud of fire billowing into the air.

Xu Yuan waited cautiously until the fire and smoke had cleared. Only then did he see the Corpse Infant sprawled seven or eight zhang away, a wound blasted into its belly.

There was no flesh or blood inside the wound—only countless disgusting, ghastly pale maggots spilling out!

The Corpse Infant writhed on the ground, using its two swollen, ghastly pale little hands to slowly stuff the maggots back into its belly.

Xu Yuan's scalp prickled. Run! he thought. He beckoned, retrieving the short sword from where it had fallen, then turned and charged toward the distant lights.

The Corpse Infant had contaminated a small part of the short sword, so Xu Yuan didn't dare draw it back into his belly. He could only hold it between his fingers.

After running for several li, the sound of the little river gradually faded behind him.

Xu Yuan let out a breath of relief. The Corpse Infant was injured and couldn't maintain that "ghostly wall" ability anymore.

The lights were already visible in the distance. Xu Yuan summoned the last of his strength and picked up his pace again.

He was almost at the town when the rush of flowing water suddenly sounded beside him once more!

"Waaah, waaah, waaah..." The eerie, piercing wail of a baby tore through the night, stabbing at Xu Yuan's eardrums.

"It caught up again!"

A chill, like rising floodwater, engulfed Xu Yuan. He charged into town, only to discover in shock that the inn had been destroyed!

The doors and windows were in tatters. Saint Aunt had harbored a grudge against Master Qiao and had wrecked the place before leaving.

"Rushing, rushing..."

The river water swiftly poured into town, flooding the streets in every direction.

Xu Yuan suddenly felt his legs grow unbearably heavy. Even with the boost from the calligraphy, he was actually treading through the air three chi above the ground, yet he was still affected by the river water's sinister power.

If his feet had been on the ground, the river water would probably have sucked him fast in place by now, leaving him unable to take even a single step.

The river flowed down the street. It seemed as if countless ghosts lurked in the water; all at once, they surged up and lunged at the houses along the road.

On the doors, the Door Gods glimmered with faint golden light. A vast power came from somewhere beyond sight. An invisible hand seemed to rise in the void, lifting a golden iron whip high before bringing it down on the wicked river water.

Splash!

Splash!

Splash!

The filthy waves surging toward the doors were beaten apart, one after another.

But in the middle of the town's main street, an even larger wave rose, and the Corpse Infant's form appeared within it.

Five clusters of ghostly blue Ghost Fire burned fiercely at its head, hands, and feet. The one above its head was the largest.

The wound in its belly hadn't fully healed. The disgusting maggots could still be seen squirming inside.

The Corpse Infant looked around from midair and found its enemy at once. Its ghastly pale eyes brimmed with resentment!

So you're here! Let's see where you can run now!

Your "home" has been destroyed.

No one in this town will open their door for you in the middle of the night. Who'd dare? No one would. Open the door, and they'd die alongside you!

"Waaah—!" It let out a wail, and the black, viscous river water surged through the inn's shattered back door and flooded into the courtyard.

Xu Yuan's thoughts raced. He was fairly sure that if he really went to Granny Ying, she would open the door for him.

But he had no idea whether Huahua could stop the Corpse Infant.

So Xu Yuan didn't want to drag Granny Ying into this.

Suddenly, Xu Yuan raised his eyebrows, turned around, and made straight for Zhao's Furs Shop.

Rushing, rushing... The river water pursued him relentlessly, and soon wave after wave was right on his heels.

As the distance between them shrank, the black river water began to turn red. The entire river had become a river of blood!

Xu Yuan felt his legs grow heavier and heavier. Though he had originally been floating three chi above the ground, he was uncontrollably lowered by one chi.

The huge wound on his back kept sapping his strength, leaving him weaker with every passing moment.

Tiny infant hands reached out from the blood waves, grasping again and again at Xu Yuan's back with dogged persistence.

The distance from the inn to Zhao's Furs Shop was only fifty zhang, yet Xu Yuan struggled to cover it.

A bone-chilling aura seeped in through his pores and his wound, relentlessly eroding him.

Xu Yuan had no choice but to release Inner Fire again and again, driving away the sinister energy around him.

And the blood river beneath him stirred up countless threads of resentment on some unseen plane. They coiled around his legs, slowing him to a crawl.

The slower he went, the heavier and more difficult each step became.

The wooden building that housed Zhao's Furs Shop was right before him. Behind Xu Yuan, one tiny infant hand was already about to touch his back.

Xu Yuan bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, then drew his short spear and spat out a burst of "Inner Fire," turning the spear into a flaming lance.

Hiss!

Xu Yuan hurled the flaming lance over his shoulder. It plunged straight into the blood wave behind him.

"Waaah!" A wail exploded. The blood wave suddenly recoiled, and Xu Yuan seized the chance to throw himself at the door of Zhao's Furs Shop with all his strength.

With a bang, the door burst open. Xu Yuan tumbled inside, seeing stars and utterly drained.

He forced himself up, pitched forward, and slammed the door shut with both hands!

Just as expected, Zhao's Furs Shop was completely empty. Saint Aunt had taken everyone into the mountains.

And after Zhao Yong died, his former subordinates had been in a panic and hadn't bothered with the shop. They hadn't locked the door. Otherwise, Xu Yuan would have had to break the door or windows to get inside, leaving an opening for the Corpse Infant.

Wave after wave of blood rushed over, crashing heavily against the door with a clatter.

Two large images of the Door Gods were pasted on it.