Hard Standoff

Before the cold alloy door, Fang Gang stood tall like a mountain.

His gleaming, light-gold bald head reflected a hard, cold luster in the dim light. The nascent form of his "Indestructible Golden Body" caused the very air around him to warp slightly.

Savage Elephant Power surged and roared within his forged Jade Bone, like a suppressed volcano.

Inside the door, the viscous, cold sound of hair combing, filled with endless malice, grew closer. Each "shriii" of the comb through the hair was like an ice pick scraping against his soul, carrying a potent mental erosion.

"Roar!"

"Haa..."

Stimulated by the source's aura, the Purple Zombies and White Zombies remaining in the hall behind him emitted even more frenzied roars, restless and eager.

Fang Gang's eyes were cold, unblinking. These weaklings weren't even appetizers.

"Brother Fang! We're here to help you!" Chen Tao and Captain Zhang rushed in with several elite team members. Seeing the mess of zombie remains and Fang Gang's mountain-like silhouette, they were both shocked and invigorated.

They quickly formed a defensive formation behind Fang Gang, their gun muzzles aimed at the zombie horde behind them.

Fang Gang didn't look back, his entire focus locked onto the alloy door before him.

The grey mark on his arm throbbed with a needle-like pain; the source was right behind the door!

"It's... watching you..." Chen Tao's earlier words echoed in his mind.

"Then let it... watch all it wants!" A ferocious energy surged within Fang Gang. He slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking like thunder!

His Jade Bone shone, Savage Elephant Power concentrating! He would smash through this gate to hell with a single punch!

Just as he gathered his strength, about to unleash it—

BOOM!!!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The heavy alloy door was suddenly blasted open from the inside by an unimaginable force!

Countless frozen ice shards instantly shattered!

A chilling, deathly aura, a hundred times denser than before, viscous like ink, carrying a bone-chilling scent of blood and rouge, erupted like water from a breached Underworld river!

"Careful!" Chen Tao and the others felt as if they'd fallen into an ice cave, their souls about to freeze, exclaiming in shock!

Fang Gang bore the brunt of it! The torrent of ferocious yin energy slammed into him!

His minor-level Vajra Body Protection Qi was instantly triggered. The light-golden qi shield fluctuated violently, groaning under the immense pressure!

Sssssss—!

The yin energy and the intensely yang qi clashed fiercely, emitting a piercing sound like a branding iron burning ice!

The golden light on Fang Gang's body flickered unstably, his feet rooted to the spot as if grown into the ground, forcefully holding back the terrifying impact!

His incredible defensive power was on full display!

As the stream of yin energy subsided, the scene behind the door was revealed.

It was a vast underground space covered in solid ice, like a frozen tomb.

In the center, a massive, dark ice coffin, covered in strange, blood-red runes, had its lid pried open. Sitting atop the ice coffin was a figure.

Clad in an ancient wedding dress the color of blood, embroidered with intricate golden threads.

A cascade of thick, black hair, like a waterfall, reached down to her ankles.

Her back was to the doorway, only her slender yet straight silhouette visible.

A grayish-blue hand with long, black, pointed fingernails held a jade comb inlaid with blood-red gems. She was combing her thick, black hair, slowly, meticulously...

Shriii... Shriii...

The sound of the comb moving through hair was crystal clear in the dead silence of the ice cave, carrying an unsettling rhythm that made one's scalp tingle.

With each stroke, a visible stream of dense black energy dissipated from her long hair, merging into the surrounding ice-cold air.

[Warning! Target locked: 'Red Wedding Dress · Hair-Combing Woman (Malevolent Soul-level/Grade A)'! Threat Level: A! Extreme Danger!]

[Traits: Extreme Cold Domain (Physical/Mental Dual Freeze), Grudge Erosion (Mental Pollution/Control), Mirror Domain Core (???)]

The system's warning was sharper than ever before!

"It's her! It's really her!" Chen Tao's voice trembled with fear. "What Uncle Wang saw... the source!"

Fang Gang's pupils contracted as he stared intently at the blood-red silhouette and the strange jade comb.

The grey mark on his arm seemed to come alive, writhing madly, bringing with it a soul-burning agony and a... morbid craving!

"Roar—!" The zombie horde in the hall behind him was completely ignited by the source's aura, charging forward madly!

"Open fire! Hold them back!" Captain Zhang roared the order! Gunfire erupted, talismans exploded, temporarily slowing the zombie tide.

Fang Gang took a deep breath, the cold air biting with chilling frost. Malevolent Soul-level (Grade A)!

This was the strongest enemy he had faced so far! But... it was also the greatest source of potential evolution!

"Whatever demons or monsters you are..."

"I'm the man who can 'add points' now!"

He took a step forward! The ice beneath his feet instantly shattered!

His body transformed into a tearing, chilling golden lightning bolt, ignoring the domain that could freeze souls, and charged straight for the Red Wedding Dress above the ice coffin!

His right fist, carrying the will to crush everything, smashed fiercely towards the back of the figure combing its hair!

"Die for me...!"

Just as his fist was about to touch the Red Wedding Dress!

The Red Wedding Dress, which had been facing away from Fang Gang and diligently combing its hair, suddenly stopped moving!

It didn't turn its head.

But on the smooth, mirror-like ice walls surrounding the ice cave, countless identical, pale, swollen ghostly faces with hollow eyes weeping blood tears instantly appeared!

All the ghostly faces stared intently at Fang Gang, their mouths stretched into identical, extremely malevolent, eerie smiles!

At the same time, the figure of the Red Wedding Dress in front of Fang Gang rippled and blurred like water waves!

The real danger came from above!

Whoosh—!

A bone-chilling, sinister wind pressed down! Fang Gang abruptly raised his head!

He saw that hanging upside down from the ice cave's dome, at some unknown time, was another Red Wedding Dress!

Its long hair cascaded down like a black waterfall, its pale, swollen, blood-tearing ghostly face was turned towards Fang Gang, mere meters away!

A grayish-green ghostly claw, holding the jade comb inlaid with blood gems, carrying soul-freezing cold and space-tearing shrieks, fiercely stabbed down towards Fang Gang's shiny, light-gold... bald head!

The target was clear! Aiming for a vital spot!

"Watch out above!" Chen Tao's startled cry was drowned out by the sinister wind!

Too fast! Too strange! This was a displacement of space and reflection!

Fang Gang's old force had just been unleashed, and his new force hadn't yet materialized! The fatal blow was from above! His pupils contracted sharply!

Dodge? No time! Against a Malevolent Soul-level surprise attack, it was still not enough!

Resist head-on? That was an enraged strike from a Malevolent Soul-level entity! And the target was his head!

In a flash of lightning, Fang Gang's eyes exploded with malevolent light! Without the slightest hesitation!

"Golden Body Protection! Hold it for me!" he roared, pushing his minor-accomplished Vajra Indestructible Body to the extreme!

The light-golden Body Protection Qi all over his body instantly boiled like burning fire, especially on his head! The hardened light-golden scalp even erupted with a dazzling metallic luster!

Hum—!

A layer of incredibly solid, several inches thick, semi-spherical Qi protective shield, as if cast from pure gold, instantly formed with Fang Gang's bald head at its center! Enveloping him completely!

The next instant!

Clang—!!!!!!!!!!!

An indescribable, terrifying explosion, like thousands of massive bells being struck by giant hammers simultaneously, erupted in the ice-sealed tomb!

The tip of the jade comb fiercely stabbed onto the light-golden Qi protective shield!

No, more accurately, it stabbed onto the very top of the shield, the point corresponding to Fang Gang's hardened scalp!

Sparks! Dazzling, electric-weld-like pure white sparks violently erupted! A ferocious energy shockwave spread out in a ring!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The smooth, mirror-like ice walls around instantly became covered in a spiderweb of cracks under the terrifying sonic waves and energy impact! Countless ice crystals rained down!

"Urgh!" Chen Tao, Captain Zhang, and the others were violently thrown back by the shockwave, crashing into the ice walls, blood seeping from their noses and mouths, their faces filled with horror!

At the center of the storm!

The solid ice beneath Fang Gang's feet exploded, his feet sinking deeply into the ice layer!

The golden protective shield on his body fluctuated violently, its light flickering, emitting a teeth-grinding creak, as if about to shatter at any moment!

Especially the point on his head where the jade comb struck, the golden light was most dazzling, and also the thinnest!

A huge impact force transmitted through the shield, causing all of Fang Gang's bones to groan! His physique was being consumed at an alarming rate!

But that jade comb inlaid with blood gems, in the end... was blocked! The sharp comb teeth hovered mere millimeters above the light-golden scalp, unable to advance further!

"Roar!!!" The inverted Red Wedding Dress let out an extremely furious shriek, as if unable to accept that its fatal blow had been blocked by a "bald head"!

Fang Gang abruptly raised his head, his light-golden pupils piercing through the violently fluctuating protective shield, locking onto the malevolent ghostly face above him, a ferocious grin splitting his lips, more terrifying than any vengeful spirit:

"You ghostly woman... nice hairstyle!"

"Too bad... your skull isn't hard enough!"

Before his words even fell, he lifted his right foot, which was sunk into the ice layer, and stomped down fiercely like a battle-axe!

Boom—!!!!

The ground ice layer completely exploded! The ferocious recoil force transmitted through his entire body via the forged Jade Bone!

Savage Elephant Power, mixed with his suppressed rage, was all poured into his clenched left fist!

His left fist! Like an ancient savage elephant breaking free from its restraints!

Carrying the terrifying aura of crushing mountains, tearing through the vibrating air, ignoring the jade comb that was so close, it roared upwards from below, smashing fiercely towards the inverted Red Wedding Dress's... chest!

"Get... down... here!"