Holy Shit! Terror in the Cave

The moment Gu Qingfeng saw Senior Sister Lin's face, his first thought was of what Qi Lingguang had told him before.

Someone was wearing the skin of one of their fellow disciples, hiding among them, watching them, serving as the eyes and ears of their master, the Golden Core Celestial Venerable.

Could someone be causing trouble while wearing Senior Sister Lin's skin?

In an instant, the pale face vanished.

For some reason, even though he suspected that someone might be wearing human skin to make trouble, the appearance and disappearance of that face had been far too bizarre. It did not feel human at all.

"Keep moving," Gu Qingfeng said.

The other side was skulking about, afraid to face them head-on. There was no reason for him to fear it.

Without realizing it, he had begun to think of that thing as "it."

Something that looked human, yet was not human.

This Golden Core Immortal Sect was wicked as hell. Nothing strange would be surprising here.

After that disturbance, everyone's nerves tightened further. They kept raising their heads and looking back, terrified that the dead Senior Sister Lin would appear again.

After turning another two corners, shadows of trees appeared in the cavern ahead.

Most of those trees lay slanted across the ground, their trunks twisted like enormous pythons.

They knew this sight well.

They were the same strange trees from the training chambers, the ones they worshipped before every practice session.

Suddenly, Wang Wu and Zhao San, who were walking at the front, both backed away, as though they wished they could press themselves against Gu Qingfeng.

"Someone."

"There's someone ahead."

Wang Wu said in terror.

Ahead was another fork in the tunnel.

This should have been the last time they needed to turn right.

Yet this time, someone was kneeling at the fork.

In the dim surroundings, that person wore a broad, scarlet robe and faced away from them, muttering nonstop as though paying respects at a grave.

Yes, the scene easily reminded Gu Qingfeng of following his elders to sweep graves in his previous life, watching them burn paper offerings while muttering under their breath.

But there was clearly only a twisted tree in front of that person.

This "person" who had suddenly appeared here—even if it truly was human, it could not be a good one.

Gu Qingfeng gripped the Core Branch tighter.

Human or ghost, no one was going to stop him from escaping alive!

These past days, Gu Qingfeng had dreamed every night that he was about to mature, about to be eaten by the Golden Core Celestial Venerable. Or else his secret of the Reversal of Cost had been discovered, and he was locked in a dungeon, brutally tortured and controlled, waking in a cold sweat.

The pressure weighed heavily on him, so heavily that it drove him nearly mad.

Especially after learning that Junior Brother Zhao had been taken away that morning, every nerve in his body had been stretched to the breaking point.

Right now, all he wanted was to escape. All he wanted was to live!

Once he escaped, when the divine art of Reversal of Cost had reached great completion, he would return and tear the Golden Core Celestial Venerable's entire family into ten thousand pieces to vent the bitter grievance in his heart!

So at this moment, human or ghost, neither could dream of stopping him!

The rage in his heart gave him courage. Gu Qingfeng raised his twin branches and strode forward.

That person remained facing away from them, as though they had not heard their footsteps at all.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Everyone held their breath and focused their minds.

At this point, the other party had already entered Gu Qingfeng's striking range.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Qingfeng took a great stride forward and raised his hand, about to deliver a crushing blow to this thing that had appeared out of nowhere!

Human or ghost, hit it first and talk later!

"Watch out!"

Zhao San suddenly cried out from the rear.

At that moment, the vines above moved, and a black shadow dropped down.

The shadow moved with astonishing speed, whipping up a fierce gust as it pounced directly at Gu Qingfeng's back.

Gu Qingfeng's attention was wholly on the red-robed figure ahead. When he suddenly heard the warning, it was already too late to dodge.

Almost at the same instant, Qi Lingguang lunged forward and collided with the black shadow.

With a muffled bang, neither side had time to gather strength, and the gap in their power was enormous. Qi Lingguang was sent flying outright, smashing heavily into the cavern wall.

But the collision also knocked the black shadow off course, buying Gu Qingfeng time to react.

The instant he turned his head, he tilted his body and fell to one side.

The black shadow flew past, nearly grazing his body.

In that instant, Gu Qingfeng saw its face.

Senior Sister Lin, who had vanished moments ago!

At that moment, it even stretched out a hand and grabbed at him.

That hand was hard to describe. It was dry as a withered branch, covered in black fur, resembling a spider's leg and somewhat like a dog's as well—horrifying and disgusting.

Gu Qingfeng was already brimming with savage courage. Even after being frightened like that, he remained furious beyond measure.

Facing the sneak attack, he knew it was too late to dodge, so he chose to attack instead!

With a sharp hiss, just as those claws tore through the clothing on his chest, the Core Branch in his right hand smashed down as well!

The Core Branch, like both a mace and a sword, was wrapped in Geng-Metal Power. It shot forward with tremendous force, stirring up a shrill howl of wind.

With an explosive crack, the arm was smashed clean off, flesh and blood spraying from the severed end.

"Senior Sister Lin" let out a miserable shriek and hurriedly burrowed into the vines beside the trees.

Gu Qingfeng fell to the ground, the disgusting severed hand still hanging from him.

Yet he felt no pain.

"Precious Moon Garment!"

The Precious Moon Garment he wore had blocked that claw strike!

Just as he was about to get up, the red-robed person who had been facing away from him turned around as well.

Although Gu Qingfeng had just violently counterattacked an enemy and was filled with courage, he still could not help being startled by that face. A chill ran down his spine.

It was Second Senior Brother's face!

Second Senior Brother Zhang Lei's face was quite distinctive: square-faced, with small eyes. But now it wore heavy makeup, its eyes deliberately painted larger, with two red patches of rouge on its cheeks. At a glance, it looked like the paper effigies burned for the dead.

It opened its mouth and smiled, baring sharp teeth. Then, without warning, it stretched out a hand toward Gu Qingfeng, as though inviting him to take it.

Without another word, Gu Qingfeng raised the Core Branch and struck!

But this Second Senior Brother reacted quickly, suddenly leaping backward out of range.

Only then did Gu Qingfeng and the others see it clearly.

Judging from the way it stood on all fours, it was not human at all. It looked more like a dog.

A dog wearing clothes.

Had a dog put on Second Senior Brother's human skin?

The dog wore a human face, swaying its head as it continued to smile. Its smile was deeply sinister, making for a terrifying sight in the dim cave.

The next moment, it gave a gloomy laugh and charged at Qi Lingguang, who lay on the ground!

Qi Lingguang had slammed into that black shadow with tremendous force. Her nose was still bleeding, stars danced before her eyes, and she could not get up at all.

Just as the "dog" was about to rush at her, with nowhere for her to evade, a streak of golden light suddenly shot over, forcing the "dog" to retreat.

Gu Qingfeng had violently hurled the Core Branch from his left hand.

This Man-Dog was extremely cunning—one could even call it crafty. Seeing that Gu Qingfeng had no weapon in his left hand, it immediately abandoned Qi Lingguang, leaped fiercely, spun around, and pounced toward Gu Qingfeng's left hand.

The pounce was extremely tricky, striking precisely during the opening after Gu Qingfeng had exhausted the momentum of throwing the Core Branch, and it came from below.

At this moment, it was clearly too late for Gu Qingfeng to use the Core Branch in his right hand to save his left.

The Man-Dog's smile became even more sinister, as though it had already foreseen itself succeeding in a single blow.

Qi Lingguang and the others were likewise struck dumb with alarm.

Senior Brother Gu was in trouble!

Yet at that moment, there was not the slightest panic in Gu Qingfeng's eyes. Instead, killing intent surged through them!

Fuck your mother, perfect timing!