The Midnight Gravedigger

The west side of the city, Fu Shou Yuan Cemetery.

The witching hour was approaching, and a cold wind spiraled past rows of icy tombstones, kicking up dead leaves and ashes.

The pale moonlight struggled to penetrate the heavy, leaden clouds, casting twisted tree shadows on the ground like grasping, clawing phantoms.

The air was thick with the metallic tang of earth and a faint, almost imperceptible… sweet, putrid smell.

Fang Gang stood outside the large, rusty iron gate of the cemetery.

His dark golden bald head, under the dim moonlight, was like a lightbulb emitting its own glow, clearly illuminating the overgrown weeds within a few meters of his feet.

He carried the heavy Bronze Battle Halberd on his shoulder, its blade reflecting a cold light.

"This is it."

He murmured to himself, his sharp eyes scanning the dead quiet graveyard.

The Old Smoker's intel pointed here – the "big score," the "same source," all connected to the twisted music box from Lost Alley.

The Grudge Pupil brand on his left arm sent a faint, chilling tremor through him the moment he entered this area. The dark golden vertical pupil at its end seemed to open and close slightly, greedily absorbing the cold, gloomy aura permeating the air.

"Creak… creak…"

A sudden, dull sound of digging echoed from the depths of the graveyard, shattering the stillness. The sound was mechanical and rhythmic, with a grating persistence.

Fang Gang's gaze locked onto the source of the sound – the deepest part of the cemetery, near the foot of the mountain, an old burial ground.

He strode forward, directly smashing the rusted chain by the iron gate. His heavy footsteps landed on the gravel path, creating clear echoes.

The deeper he went, the colder the air became, and the stronger the putrid, sweet smell grew.

Under the pale moonlight, a hunched figure could be seen, back turned to him, digging vigorously in front of a clearly freshly disturbed grave mound.

The person wore torn, mud-caked groundskeeper's clothes, their movements stiff and unnatural, unlike a living person.

"Old Liu Tou?" Fang Gang remembered Chen Tao mentioning that the old groundskeeper at Fu Shou Yuan was named Liu Degui, nicknamed Old Liu Tou. He was a taciturn, solitary old man.

He had been missing for almost two days.

The digging figure seemed not to have heard Fang Gang's footsteps, continuing its digging motion.

The shovel plunged into the earth with a dull thud. What it brought out was no longer ordinary soil, but thick, foul-smelling black-red mud!

It was like diluted blood and flesh!

"Old Liu Tou!" Fang Gang shouted in a deep voice, his words like thunder in the silent cemetery.

The digging figure froze abruptly.

The next second, it turned around, extremely slowly and stiffly.

The moonlight illuminated its face – or rather, what could no longer be called a face.

The skin was the grayish-blue of a corpse, covered in cracked lines, with thick, black blood oozing from the fissures.

The eyeballs were cloudy and yellow, completely devoid of human spirit, leaving only a hollow greed for the flesh and blood of the living.

The lips were curled outward, revealing yellowish teeth, and a leaky, wheezing sound came from its throat.

Old Liu Tou had become a puppet for something!

"Hiss… meat… fresh… meat…" a hoarse, inhuman voice squeezed from its throat, carrying intense malice.

It dropped the shovel smeared with black-red mud, its joints emitting grating "crackling" sounds. In a posture that defied human anatomy, it dropped to all fours and lunged at Fang Gang with a sudden burst of speed, stirring up a foul wind!

Fang Gang's eyes turned cold, and he advanced instead of retreating!

He stomped down hard!

"BOOM!!!"

The hard ground beneath his feet instantly exploded into a half-meter-deep pit, as if struck by a cannonball!

Gravel, soil, and foul black-red mud flew everywhere! A violent gust of wind, like a tangible wall, slammed into the rushing ghoul!

"Bang!"

The thing let out a strange shriek, its forward momentum abruptly halted as if it had hit an invisible steel wall. Its entire hunched body was thrown backward, smashing hard into the new grave mound it had just been digging, splashing a large amount of black mud!

"Peak C-rank… Grave Soil Ghost General?" Fang Gang instantly assessed the creature's nature.

A corpse corrupted by special evil magic and contaminated grave soil, possessing immense strength, astonishing defense, and a body full of poison! No wonder the Old Smoker called it a "big score"!

The Grave Soil Ghost General staggered up from the mud, its clouded eyes blazing with ferocity! It seemed utterly enraged, letting out a shrill, piercing scream. It thrust its emaciated hands into the grave mound beneath it!

"Splat!"

The thick black-red mud surged like a living thing, instantly engulfing its arms and rapidly spreading upward, solidifying!

In the blink of an eye, its two withered arms were covered in a thick layer of black carapace, gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen!

The edges of the carapace were sharp as blades, and its fingertips extended into three half-foot-long, curved, bone-white claws! Stinking mucus dripped from the tips of the claws!

This was no longer a simple corpse transformation, but a killing weapon imbued with some kind of sinister power!

"Roar!" The ghost general roared, charging at Fang Gang again with its newly formed bone claws, faster than before!

Its claws tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek, aiming directly for Fang Gang's head and heart! Wherever the claw wind passed, even the air carried a corrosive, foul stench!

"Interesting," a fighting spirit flashed in Fang Gang's eyes. He didn't dodge or evade, instead circulating the peak Yang energy and blood within his body! A brilliant golden-red light surged beneath his skin, like a furnace igniting!

"CLANG!!!"

A piercing clang of metal against metal echoed through the night sky!

The ghost general's bone claws, sharp enough to pierce steel plates, fiercely raked across Fang Gang's forearms as he blocked.

The expected scene of flesh tearing apart didn't happen! The bone claws scraped violently against his skin, which was covered in a golden-red radiance, erupting in a series of blinding sparks!

It was as if they were scraping against a thousand-times-tempered alloy armor!

Fang Gang didn't budge an inch! The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch!

For the first time, a trace of human-like shock and disbelief flickered in the ghost general's murky eyes! Its strongest attack hadn't even broken the opponent's skin?!

"Done scratching?" Fang Gang's voice was cold, laced with mockery. "My turn."

Before he finished speaking, he forcefully shook his blocking forearms outward!

"CRACK!"

An irresistible, terrifying force erupted!

The ghost general's black-shelled arms, along with its newly formed bone claws, were instantly shattered and blown apart by this pure strength, like fragile dead branches! Black, viscous liquid and bone fragments splattered everywhere!

"ROAR—!!!" The ghost general let out a world-shattering howl of pain, its broken body staggering backward!

Fang Gang gave it no chance to breathe! He stepped forward, the ground trembling!

His five fingers spread open, his bulging, muscular arm like a red-hot brand, carrying the Nine Yang True Fire that incinerated all, shooting out like lightning. He grabbed the ghost general's head, which was covered in partial black shell!

"Sizzle—!!!"

It was like a red-hot iron pressed against accumulated snow! The peak Yang True Fire and the Yin-evil ghost body clashed violently! Acrid green smoke rose with a foul stench!

The ghost general's head thrashed and contorted wildly in Fang Gang's palm, emitting a deathly shriek!

"Perish!"

Fang Gang's five fingers tightened, and the golden-red flames surged!

"BOOM!"

Under the ferocious Nine Yang True Fire and sheer brute force, the Grave Soil Ghost General's head and nearly half its shoulder exploded like a gasoline barrel set ablaze!

The defiled Yin energy, viscous black mud, and shattered bone armor were instantly purified and incinerated by the peak Yang True Fire!

Only a charred remnant of its lower half twitched on the ground before rapidly turning to ash.

[Ding! Killed C+ class Grave Soil Ghost General (Core)! Gained +35 Evolution Points!]

[Available Evolution Points: 35!]

The battle ended as swiftly as a flash of lightning. From the ghost general's pounce to its transformation into ashes, it took only a dozen seconds.

Fang Gang flicked away nonexistent dirt from his hands and looked towards the partially excavated new grave.

In the grave pit, black and red mud was still bubbling and emitting a nauseating odor.

And in the center of the mud, a simple, thin-skinned coffin was half-exposed.

Several deep scratch marks, stained with dried, dark brown blood, were visible on the coffin lid, as if clawed from the inside!

Fang Gang's gaze sharpened, and he jumped into the grave pit.

He slightly released his Nine Yang energy and blood, evaporating the chilling mud that tried to cling to him. He reached out his hand, covered in golden-red radiance, ignored the residual Yin-evil aura on the coffin, and firmly grasped the edge of the coffin lid.

"Lift!"

The thousand-jin coffin lid was flung off with one hand, crashing heavily into the muddy ground nearby.

Inside the coffin, there was no decaying corpse as he had expected.

Only a shriveled, dried skeleton, clad in an old tomb keeper's uniform. The skeleton's hands were tightly clenched, and something seemed to be caught between its finger bones.

Fang Gang extended a finger and gently nudged.

The skeleton's tightly clenched fingers loosened.

A Nightmare Emblem, stained with dried black blood, fell into his palm.

The emblem was crafted from some unknown black metal, chilling to the bone.

It was engraved with an extremely bizarre pattern: a giant eye with no pupils, composed entirely of countless twisted spirals! Deep within the spirals, the darkest malice and madness seemed to surge!

"Eye of Nightmare..." Fang Gang's eyes instantly turned bone-chillingly cold! The Grudge Pupil imprint on his left arm suddenly sent a wave of intense burning pain and throbbing!

The dark gold vertical pupil at the end of his arm flickered wildly, conveying an extreme greed, desire, and... a fear akin to pilgrimage!

This item held immense significance for the Nightmare Holy Cult! Old Liu Tou's desperate grasp of it before his death was no coincidence!

He suddenly looked up, his sharp gaze like a tangible searchlight, sweeping towards the depths of the dark forest at the edge of the cemetery!

The moment the battle erupted, his keen spiritual power had captured an extremely faint, fleeting energy fluctuation, carrying a sense of scrutiny!

Someone was there! Watching from the shadows!

"Get out!" Fang Gang let out a low roar, like a muffled thunderclap! The terrifying sound wave, carrying the scorching Yang energy of his Nine Yang blood, slammed fiercely into the darkness!

"Crash!"

The tree shadows swayed violently, leaves scattering.

A faint, muffled groan seemed to come from the darkness, followed by a blurry figure, like a startled wildcat, disappearing into the vast night in just a few leaps, its speed astonishingly fast.

"Hmph, a rat." Fang Gang didn't give chase.

He lowered his head, looking at the bone-chillingly cold Nightmare Emblem in his palm, then at the Grudge Pupil brand on his left arm. It had temporarily receded, but it still pulsed with greedy fluctuations.

The music box in Lost Alley, the Grave Soil Ghost General in Fu Shou Yuan Cemetery, the Nightmare Emblem, and the rat lurking in the shadows…

These things hiding in the gutters were becoming more and more active.

He put away the emblem, hoisted his battle halberd, and his dark golden head, under the pale moonlight, was like an unextinguishable beacon. He turned and strode out of the silent cemetery.

Behind him, only the exhumed grave and scattered coffin fragments remained, silently testifying to the violence and strangeness that had just occurred.

The night was still long.