Eat Them Clean

Beside the stables, two figures—one tall, one short—crashed into each other with brutal force. Seven pale-faced living dead stood around them.

At the heart of the battle, one man had a dark face and fangs, with ten fingers like beast claws.

The other stood two heads taller than an ordinary strongman, his arms as thick as tree trunks and his entire body shrouded in poisonous mist.

On the muddy ground lay a dead horse with half its head gnawed off, along with five living dead beaten beyond recognition.

Just then, two figures arrived one after the other.

"Third Senior Brother." Liu Feng's voice made all seven living dead turn their heads.

The seven hadn't dared approach Zhu Li. They immediately made Liu Feng their target, turning as one and lunging at him.

"Li Si." Liu Feng gave a cold snort and channeled Poison Qi into the Nightmare Gu Larva.

He moved his hand slightly forward, and Medicine Slave Li Si darted out.

Only after directing him himself did Liu Feng understand how Shen Yushu had guided Li Si.

The Nightmare Gu Larva was like a magnet. The Nightmare Gu Mother inside the Medicine Slave's head could sense it. Once Poison Qi was infused into it, a slight tug was all it took to direct Li Si where to kill.

With Liu Feng's vision guiding him, the result was more than a cut above Shen Yushu's!

Facing seven living dead, Li Si's figure shot forward as eight holes ripped open in the broad robe on his back.

Eight insect legs, like steel blades and spears, thrust out. His figure flashed past, and all seven living dead were skewered on the insect legs.

Medicine Slave Li Si twisted at the waist, and the eight insect legs swung with a martial artist's tremendous strength. A string of ripping sounds rang out, and fourteen mangled remains lay scattered on the ground.

Without pausing, Medicine Slave Li Si changed targets.

The Walking Corpse fighting Zhu Li didn't have time to react. Li Si struck it from afar with a palm, and its body was sent stumbling back several steps.

Before it could steady itself, the Walking Corpse saw a blur before its eyes and lost consciousness on the spot.

Compared to his father, this Walking Corpse's body hadn't yet been properly refined. When Li Si's palm sent true qi into it, its internal organs were shattered.

Now both the old man and the middle-aged man—the two Walking Corpses—were dead.

Zhu Li picked up the middle-aged Walking Corpse that Li Si had killed and said, "Let's go to Second Senior Brother."

Liu Feng nodded, and he and Zhu Li headed back to the side room.

They had only taken a few steps when a series of sharp cracks rang out.

Looking toward the sound, they saw a shadow burst through the roof of the manor's main house and take to the sky, wings beating.

"It's a falcon. It's abnormally huge. It might be a Spirit Monster." Liu Feng immediately recognized the shadow.

As they watched the falcon fly away, Shen Yushu approached at an unhurried pace and said mildly, "We'll follow it."

Liu Feng paused at his words, understanding what he meant: they were going to follow it and wipe out the whole nest.

"Wouldn't tracking it down be a little risky?"

"If you won't take risks, how will you reap great rewards? If you live long enough, you'll understand the principle in time."

Shen Yushu gave Liu Feng a meaningful look, then opened his palm to reveal a Blood Crystal.

"That old thing had a Blood Crystal inside him, accumulated through years of cultivation."

"As for his daughter-in-law, the Vine Wood Spirit drained her dry. Third Junior Brother, hand over the one you're carrying, too."

"I've brought back these spoils. The two of you can divide the Blood Crystals between you."

With that, Shen Yushu tossed the Blood Crystal in his hand. A green light appeared in his eyes as he gazed into the distance at the falcon flying farther and farther away.

With the Mountain God Exotic Gu, he could use the plants and trees to scout the area. How could that little Spirit Monster possibly escape?

Zhu Li caught the Blood Crystal and crushed it in one hand. Then he tossed half of it to Liu Feng.

"How do I use it?" Holding the Blood Crystal, Liu Feng felt his throat go dry. It had just been dug out of a Walking Corpse.

Zhu Li didn't explain. The Third Senior Brother simply demonstrated on the spot, tossing his half of the Blood Crystal straight into his mouth.

"Let's go. We'll wipe out their nest. There'll be more spoils." Shen Yushu sent a vine shooting out to coil around the middle-aged Walking Corpse, then darted ahead.

Zhu Li, who was busily chewing the Blood Crystal, and Medicine Slave Li Si followed close behind.

Liu Feng brought up the rear. Rain roared in his ears, and the young man stood beneath it, slow to react.

"Guk, guk..." The Soldier Gu Split-Tooth croaked. Two insect legs reached toward the Blood Crystal, looking ravenous.

Liu Feng simply couldn't bring himself to eat it, so he tossed the Blood Crystal to Split-Tooth on his back, then darted out of the manor.

Before he could catch up with the three figures ahead, he saw a corpse hurled into the air. It was the middle-aged Walking Corpse whose internal organs had just been removed.

The downpour eased, turning into a soft drizzle.

Old Huang and Little Fuzi, grandfather and grandson, were fast asleep beneath the eaves. The vast manor held no one else alive.

Before midnight, the grandfather, grandson, and daughter-in-law who had played the "hunters" in the manor, along with twelve living dead, had become prey for others to devour, leaving nothing behind.

If one wanted to be exact, it was hard to say whether the Corpse-Eating Gall, now torn to pieces, had been part of this family too.

"Caw..."

Beneath the night sky, a giant eagle with a wingspan of over ten feet descended.

At its cry, several bandits in the woods below took their torches and walked to the cave entrance.

As the eagle landed, it folded its wings and set its talons on the ground, then strode forward like a man.

Its humanlike eyes swept over the bandits, but it ignored them and headed straight into the depths of the cave.

"It's Second Master's falcon." A bald bandit called out, quickly stepping aside.

The other bandits saw the eagle enter the cave, but none dared stop it.

Seeing the falcon that had become a Spirit Monster head straight for the depths of the cave, seemingly in a hurry to find Grand Master, the bandits all felt something was amiss.

Normally, the falcon only returned for one reason: to bring a bag of Blood Medicine refined by Second Master from the blood essence of living people. On its way back, it would bring "bait" for Second Master—in other words, wild beasts caught in the mountains.

But just now, the falcon had been completely clean, carrying nothing at all.

The bald bandit was a minor leader. He said in a low voice, "Something may have happened to Second Master. Go wake all the brothers."

Before long, the bandits sleeping in the cave were roused. More than forty steel blades gleamed in the firelight.

Deep in the winding cave, a small pool sat at the base of the wall.

The pool was piled high with Blood Medicine. As the blood essence grew dense, wisps of red mist gathered above it.

An old man lay submerged in the muddy Blood Medicine, with only his head of white hair showing.

The Falcon Spirit Monster strode into the cave and called out from a distance in human speech, "Grand Master."

"Half a month ago, I sent you a bag of Blood Medicine. Why tonight..."

He had only spoken halfway when the Blood Medicine burst apart. The white-haired old man stared fixedly at the falcon's neck, his eyes bloodshot.

There was nothing around the falcon's neck. It carried no Blood Medicine at all!

In an instant, frost spread across the cave floor from the small pool at its center.

Faint blue Corpse Fire flickered over the frost, then vanished.

"Tell me. What happened to my second brother?" The blood light faded from the white-haired old man's eyes, and he slowly closed them.

The falcon, now a Spirit Monster, stood rooted to the spot. Its neck in particular seemed frozen solid.

Only after the old man had closed his eyes did the humanlike fear in the falcon's eyes subside.

"Second Master... is dead. The ones who did it are coming here, too!" the Falcon Spirit Monster stammered.

"Fools who don't know their place."

After the sinister, cold laugh faded, silence returned to the cave.