Vengeful Mother in the Well

The sky was gradually darkening.

Just as the warriors dragged the last corpse from the main road to the square, the anomaly struck without warning!

"Woo—"

An eerie, sobbing sound like a woman weeping in the night drifted unhurriedly from the deepest old well at the center of the town.

The sound was not loud, yet it carried a strange power that seemed to pierce the soul!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The mountain of corpses piled high in the square—over a hundred bodies—seemed to answer some call. At the same instant, every single corpse snapped open its hollow eyes!

"Roar—!!!"

Over a hundred Water Sha awakened at once!

The scene was like hell descending upon the earth!

"It's over... it's all over..."

One warrior, staring at the writhing mountain of corpses that churned like a tide, went weak in the knees and collapsed to the ground in despair.

"Form up! Back against the ancestral hall! Hold the line!"

Lu Chen's roar, like a thunderclap, jolted everyone awake.

He showed no panic at all, because he had long anticipated this very moment!

Lu Chen ripped the oilcloth from the Hundred Refinements Saber strapped to his back. The dark silver blade, under the dim sky, traced a chilling gleam that struck fear into the heart!

"Clang!"

The blade left its sheath!

A heavy, mountain-like surge of Profound Black Internal Energy flowed through his arm and poured wildly into the saber!

The perfected Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art erupted without reservation!

"Roar!"

The nearest Water Sha lunged with a howl, its stinking claws aimed straight for Lu Chen's heart.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor flinched. He didn't even blink.

He simply held the Hundred Refinements Saber horizontally before his chest.

"Clang!"

A dull, thunderous impact!

Those claws, strong enough to tear metal and stone, struck the blade—and left not even a scratch!

A vast, rebounding force blasted out along the saber. The Water Sha let out a pained shriek as it was hurled backward, half its body caved in!

Such was the might of a single strike!

Every warrior stood dumbfounded!

Was this... the same feeble Corpse Handler who couldn't even truss a chicken?!

Lu Chen gave them no time to gawk.

His footwork shifted; the minor-accomplished Shadow Step unfolded, and he turned into a ghost gliding low to the ground, charging straight into the just-awakened, still-sluggish horde!

The Hundred Refinements Saber in his hand was no longer plain and unadorned.

Every swing carried the weight and solidity of an ancient, eternal boulder.

No dazzling blade light. No breathtaking momentum.

Only the purest efficiency!

Ptoo!

A horizontal slash sent three Water Sha heads flying into the air, the wounds smooth as a mirror, not a single drop of foul blood spattering.

The layer of Profound Black Internal Energy on the blade instantly annihilated every trace of Corpse Sha Qi!

He was like a god of slaughter from the deepest abyss, strolling leisurely through the corpse horde. Each time he struck, he took several lives.

The Water Sha's frenzied attacks landed on him but couldn't force him back half a step!

The Protective Qi formed by the perfected Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art was tough to an outrageous degree. Every attack was easily neutralized and deflected.

The warriors stared blankly at the figure cutting a swath through the mountain of corpses and rivers of blood. Their minds had completely stopped working.

All they knew was that following Lu Chen... maybe they really could survive!

"What are you standing around for?!" Lu Chen's icy voice cut through. "Guard the ancestral hall gate! Pour all the Fire Oil in! Not a single corpse gets inside!"

"Yes!"

Snapped back to their senses, the warriors hurriedly retreated to the hall's entrance and, with all their strength, doused the doors, windows, and wooden beams with bucket after bucket of Fire Oil.

And Lu Chen, with one man and one blade, forged an impassable line of death before the ancestral hall!

[Slain Water Sha. Obtained 1 year of Demon Devil Lifespan.]

Code
[Killed Water Sha, obtained Demon Devil Lifespan 1 year 3 months.]

[...]

The system's notification sounds flooded his mind in a frenzy.

Demon Devil Lifespan was skyrocketing at an unprecedented speed!

Yet just as Lu Chen was slaughtering wildly, on the verge of wiping out every last Water Sha—

From that ancient well came the eerie sobbing once more.

This time, the voice was brimming with fury!

"Boom!!!"

A thunderous crash, and the well, built from blue stone, exploded from within!

A massive humanoid figure, formed entirely of murky, dark-green liquid, rose slowly amidst a geyser of water and Killing Intent!

It stood three zhang tall, with no fixed form, like a flowing mass of sludge. But at its core, a woman's face, twisted with resentment and agony, flickered in and out of view.

"A Ranked Demon... the Vengeful Mother in the Well!"

Lu Chen's pupils abruptly contracted! The moment the Vengeful Mother in the Well appeared, that overwhelming aura of vengeful Killing Intent crashed down like an invisible mountain!

The few dozen remaining Water Sha seemed to see their deity; they instantly halted their assault on Lu Chen, letting out low, guttural roars as they retreated like the most loyal guards, surging back to surround the Vengeful Mother, encircling her massive form at the center.

This sudden turn of events gave Lu Chen a precious moment to catch his breath.

He stood with his blade in hand, his pitch-black inner energy flowing slowly across his body's surface, forming a barely perceptible Protective Qi.

His gaze, sharp as the finest scalpel, locked onto the massive Ranked Demon, his mind rapidly analyzing every one of its traits.

"Liquid body, physical attacks will have little effect... the core is that woman's face, but it's layered in protection... the source of its power seems connected to the water veins of this entire town..."

"Roar—!"

The Vengeful Mother in the Well clearly had no intention of giving him much time to think.

Its amorphous liquid body churned violently, and a massive tentacle, formed from murky corpse water and sludge, came crashing down toward Lu Chen's position like a siege ram, carrying a terrifying wind pressure that tore through the air!

Before the strike even landed, the stench-laden foul wind already stung his face raw!

The two Warriors at the ancestral hall's entrance were terrified out of their wits, scrambling and crawling back inside the hall, staring in horror at this apocalyptic scene.

But Lu Chen did not dodge or evade.

He sank his legs slightly, rooting himself like an ancient tree, and pushed his mastered Ten Thousand Year Black Tortoise Art to its absolute limit!