Rising Dance

A crystalline object rolled to Lu Li's feet. As he picked it up, a notification box appeared in the corner of his vision: [Rule Module: Fear] obtained.

Nearby, the puppet propped up its somewhat damaged body and gathered the black fragments left behind after the Headless Buddha shattered. Whatever world rules were at play, these shards had turned into something resembling coal, serving as fuel.

Silently binding the stones with silk threads, the puppet said to Lu Li with an embarrassed expression, "I am truly sorry. I never expected to encounter a Headless Buddha here and put you in such danger, Young Master. It is fortunate that you are unharmed; otherwise, this servant would never be able to find peace, even in death."

"It is nothing. I am fine, after all!" Lu Li smiled and did not press the matter, though a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Afterward, Lu Li and the puppet returned to the campfire and placed the stone fragments into the flames. It was at this moment that the figure of the old man sleeping nearby suddenly became translucent. The puppet's expression shifted, and she hurriedly said to Lu Li, "The Master is about to wake up, and you are about to return to the real world!"

"Remember, you must not let the fire go out. Also, in a short while, I will find a way to pull you back in again. When that time comes, I will give you something..."

Before the puppet could finish her sentence, everything before Lu Li's eyes began to distort, as if he were drifting into sleep. He looked hazily at the blurring world; the puppet in the distance was still saying something, but Lu Li could no longer hear her. The world returned to darkness.

"Young Master! Young Master!" Lu Li was awakened by the old man. Opening his eyes, he found himself back in the dilapidated temple. Looking up, he noticed that the headless Buddha statue was now covered in cracks, as if it might shatter into pieces at any moment.

Seeing Lu Li wake up, the old man said anxiously, "Young Master, do not sleep anymore. The outside is full of monsters. What are we to do? It matters not if an old man like me dies, but you are still young; you truly should not perish here."

"The outside is full of monsters?" Lu Li instantly sobered up. Listening carefully, he heard the sounds of creatures moving outside, accompanied by the low, guttural growls of corpse ghosts.

"Yes, I heard a large number of footsteps earlier and woke up immediately. I peeked through the door crack, and the outside is swarming with those white-skinned monsters!" The old man's face was full of anxiety as he clutched the puppet tightly in his arms.

"I will go take a look." Lu Li glanced at the puppet in the old man's arms, pulled out a piece of firewood, and pushed open the temple doors. He saw the corpse ghosts retreating into the darkness, avoiding the reach of the firelight.

The growls of the corpse ghosts continued to emanate from the shadows, making it clear to Lu Li that they had not retreated for good. These creatures, of unknown number, had definitely set their sights on this place. He just couldn't understand their motive—were they seeking revenge for their fallen kin, or was there something in this temple that attracted them?

Just then, a commotion broke out outside. With the sound of heavy footsteps, an exceptionally large corpse ghost emerged from the shadows. This creature was at least two heads taller than the others and significantly bulkier. Its lipless mouth revealed outward-curving, massive teeth, and a worm-like appendage with a chrysanthemum-shaped orifice acted as its tongue.

At the same time, the corner of Lu Li's vision updated with the data for this special corpse ghost:

[Variant Corpse Ghost]

[Physical Assessment: 2.48; Life Energy Derivative: 3.0]

[Soul Assessment: 1.2; Spiritual Energy Derivative: 1.0]

[Origin: A person who died accidentally. After their corpse became infested with maggots, it touched something, stood up again, and transformed into a monster!]

[Special Abilities: (1) State Stasis: Omitted; (2) Life Drain: Uses its special orifice to drain and store life energy from living beings!; (3) Life Contamination: Having absorbed vast amounts of life energy, it can inject this contaminated energy into other living beings through its orifice, transforming them into Corpse Servants!]

[Weakness: Firelight, of course, though it has developed a preliminary resistance...]

[Monster Evaluation: This is a BOSS. Survive this, and this plot segment is nearly complete!]

"Ah!!!" The Variant Corpse Ghost let out a roar, grabbing a smaller corpse ghost and driving it forward. Lu Li quickly held the firewood in front of him; the bright flames caused the creature to shriek repeatedly, and it scrambled away from the light.

Lu Li threw the firewood directly at the Variant Corpse Ghost. The approaching fire forced it to retreat rapidly. The heat only melted a small portion of its skin, and as the wood fell into the snow and slowly extinguished, the melted flesh immediately began to regenerate.

By this time, Lu Li had already slipped back into the temple. The old man looked at him anxiously and asked, "How is the situation? Have those monsters retreated?"

Seeing the old man's panicked expression, Lu Li thought for a moment and said, "These monsters fear fire. They won't come back for a while. We will be fine once it is dawn. How long have we been asleep, and what time is it now?"

The old man trembled slightly and said, "We slept for about two hours. There are at least three hours left until dawn!"

"Let us not sleep anymore. We can chat by the fire until daybreak; these monsters won't come out then." Lu Li silently calculated the time. According to his internal biological clock, he had spent at most half an hour in the Dream of Delusion, yet about four or five hours had passed in the outside world. This time discrepancy was truly strange.

Lu Li added a piece of firewood to the pile and, seeing the old man's worried look, smiled and said, "Do not worry. These monsters are nothing to fear. We just need to wait until dawn!"

"Sigh! As one grows old, one's courage wanes. I have made a fool of myself in front of you, Young Master." The old man managed to compose himself, though a trace of fear still flickered in his eyes. He was prepared to die, but dying in one's sleep was vastly different from being devoured by monsters.

"The night is long and we have nothing to do here. Why don't you perform some of your puppetry for me, old man?" Lu Li seemed to want to change the subject, gesturing to the puppet in the old man's hands. He then stood up, cleared the space for the old man, and retreated to the side of the headless Buddha statue.

"This... very well." The old man lifted the puppet and began to recite lines from a play. The petite puppet moved in his hands as if it were a living person. Accompanied by the old man's singing, the puppet maiden danced gracefully, her every movement elegant and precise. She enacted the joys and sorrows of the story under his guidance. Although Lu Li did not understand the lyrics, he could feel the underlying sorrow and joy.

I had some things to attend to today, so the update is a bit late. But Xu Ming-jun is still shamelessly begging for votes and follows!