The Female Corpse Beneath the Statue

Chu He narrowed his eyes. His feet shifted slightly, grinding the blue bricks to powder. Like a human cannonball, he slammed fiercely toward the statue.

"Don't even think about it!"

Li Fang, chasing after him from behind, shouted. Countless black threads burst from all over his body, sweeping toward Chu He like a raging storm.

The black threads coiled around him, almost seeming gentle.

Yet their icy chill seeped bit by bit through his clothes and skin.

Just as they were about to invade his flesh and bones...

"Get lost!!"

Bzz—

The blood and qi within his body began circulating on their own. His five viscera and six bowels rumbled and shook like a slumbering primordial beast opening its eyes and awakening.

Visible to the naked eye, the black threads wrapped around Chu He turned into wisps of black smoke. The Golden Bell Shield activated on its own, cutting off the black threads' erosion.

Breaking through the black threads, he did not slow in the slightest as he charged straight at the statue.

The second layer of the Red Line Fist surged into motion. Thick red lines wrapped around the backs of his fingers, and blazing masculine energy formed an unmatched heat wave.

With a thunderous punch, Chu He easily pierced through the statue.

"Empty?"

Feeling the feedback in his hand, Chu He froze briefly. Then the muscles in his arm suddenly contracted, and he gave a violent outward shake, shattering the statue with sheer force.

Ripples spread across the statue's surface. Cracking sounds spread through the clay shell, and large chunks of mud peeled away and smashed onto the ground.

Just as Chu He was about to pull his hand out, a bone-piercing chill erupted from within. A thin layer of ice crystals rapidly formed across the surface of his golden membrane. In the blink of an eye, more than half of one arm had been covered in ice crystals.

Chu He's pupils contracted. He activated the Red Line Fist, and blazing blood and qi burst through his body. The ice crystals turned into billowing mist and vanished into nothing.

He yanked his hand free, swung it around like a hammer—

Then Chu He whirled around and smashed it toward Li Fang, who was attacking from behind.

"Bind!"

Li Fang roared under his breath, spitting out strands of hair. The snake-like hair covering his body instantly wrapped around Chu He's fist, trying to stop the blow hurtling toward his head.

The moment the black hair touched the fist blazing red like fire, it melted away like winter snow after the arrival of spring. But there was simply too much hair. Its frigid energy gradually brought Chu He's fist to a halt, leaving it suspended before Li Fang's face.

"Heh heh, Chu He, today you..."

Swish!

Before he could finish, a blade rang out. A white flash swept past Li Fang's eyes like a strip of silk, severing the hair binding Chu He with a single slash.

Chu He flipped through the air, braced one hand against the ground, and his golden membrane-wrapped calf shot toward Li Fang's nape like the vicious tail of a poisonous scorpion.

Crack—

Three thousand jin of force concentrated at one point. Li Fang's neck was knocked out of place, and half his flesh was kicked into mangled pulp. His head hung grotesquely from his neck by only a little bone and sinew as he vomited blood.

No matter how young Li Fang had become, he was still merely an ordinary man who had learned a little martial arts. He had never even entered the true path of martial arts.

How could he possibly be a match for Chu He in close combat?

"Kid, you truly have no idea how to respect the old and cherish the young." The head hanging against his chest tilted its eyes and spoke blandly.

"You old corpse, take this!"

Chu He pushed off the ground with his palm, twisted his waist, and stood upright. His left fist blasted out, its powerful airwave carrying scorching heat as it swept toward Li Fang once more.

The blood and flesh Li Fang had spilled began flowing back. Countless flesh buds interlaced like a spiderweb, pulling his head back into place.

Yet no matter how fast he healed, it could not compare to Chu He's punching speed. In his haste, he could only draw in the hair on both hands and raise it before himself as a shield.

Swish!

The blade whistled, crisp and far-reaching.

The instant Li Fang heard that sound, he knew something was wrong.

A tearing pain suddenly shot through both arms. Chu He switched from his left hand to his right, and a golden blade radiance tore through the hair's defense with unstoppable momentum, chopping off both of Li Fang's arms in one stroke.

"Sure enough, when people get old, they don't remember a thing."

Chu He bared his teeth in a savage grin. Rather than following up with another strike, he twisted his waist and lifted his hips, sweeping out with his blade. In an instant, it cut across the statue's base.

Blood and qi wrapped around the blade, lifting the statue and invisibly cutting off the villagers' supply of blood and qi. But no matter how fast Chu He moved, dozens of people who had run too far ahead had already died on the outskirts of the village.

This was already the limit of what he could do.

"You obstructed the plan. A thousand deaths would not be enough for you!" With both arms severed and his head barely healed, Li Fang's face grew increasingly cold and grim.

"Next, I'll see just how arrogant you can remain!"

Chu He's gaze sharpened, and he abruptly lowered his head.

An extreme chill rose from the pit beneath the Land God statue. Before he could see clearly, a blurry afterimage burst violently from the pit and stabbed into Chu He's waist like a sharp ice spike.

Smack!

An extraordinary force lay within the blow. Ripples churned wildly across Chu He's golden membrane. For the first time, he had encountered someone evenly matched with him in strength.

Wrapped in a gale, his entire body was sent flying.

As the dust scattered, the collapsed Land God statue had shattered into several pieces. From the huge pit beneath its base, which led directly to the secret chamber, a figure slowly emerged.

It was a woman's corpse. She wore a charming smile and had a well-proportioned figure, but half her head was full and solid while the other half looked as though it had been inflated.

With every step she took, the flesh on half her head trembled.

Li Fang, almost fully healed, knelt on the ground. As he watched the woman approach with graceful steps, an indescribable fervor and endless madness appeared in his eyes.

Bang!

The sound of metal striking stone rang out as Wu Feng and Han Zhong each retreated several steps. One had reached the third layer of the Golden Bell Shield, while the other had reached the third layer of the Red Line Fist. Both were Hong Shou's favored disciples, deeply taught by him, and neither could gain the upper hand in their two-man battle.

After their fierce clash, the room's pillars had snapped, cracks covered the walls, and not a single blue brick beneath their feet remained intact. The offering table, memorial tablets, and furniture had all been swept away by the force of their battle, flying off to who knew where.

Han Zhong took a deep breath and said coldly, "Junior Brother, I knew you hid your strength well. I never expected you to hide it so deeply. You actually cultivated the Golden Bell Shield to the second layer. You nearly made your Senior Brother suffer a huge loss."

Wu Feng said nothing, but his eyes were filled with wariness.

They were evenly matched. Both had expended some blood and qi, though not much. Continuing to fight would only turn it into a battle of attrition. Han Zhong's foundation was stronger than Wu Feng's, and he still had hidden cards he had yet to reveal. Wu Feng's chances of victory were slim.

But this was not what worried Wu Feng most right now.

Chu He and Li Fang had entered the Land God Temple so long ago and caused such a huge commotion, yet Li Fang had not immediately killed Chu He?

Could Chu He's strength truly be different from what he had imagined?

Before his confusion could fade, a figure flew backward out of the temple and crashed straight into the top of the wall. Rubble shot everywhere as the wall was smashed to pieces.

"Pah! You damned annoying corpse again!" Chu He swept the rubble aside with one huge hand and climbed out of the wall's ruins, covered in dust and dirt.

"Today, I'm tearing you apart! I'll wash away my past humiliation!"

Boundless fighting spirit surged in Chu He's eyes. His blood and qi circulated to the utmost, rushing and roaring like a river, while surging golden radiance shot into the sky.

Wu Feng, witnessing it all, widened his eyes.

"The third layer of the Golden Bell Shield!?"