[Rain-Praying Village] The Human-Skin Ghost

After glancing back, Liu Chengfeng suddenly realized that the Spirit Medium, who had been running on two legs, had now lowered her upper body to the ground like a beast. Using both hands and feet, she chased them like a ravenous wolf gone mad!

"Fuck, did she just undergo some kind of super-devolution?!"

Liu Chengfeng let out a startled yell. His nerves, which had only just relaxed, snapped taut again!

The two of them saw that the Spirit Medium, who had begun slowing down, picked up speed again the moment her hands touched the ground-and she was even faster than before!

Human bones and muscles were structured differently from those of beasts, which meant most people could not run on all fours the way animals did.

Beyond coordination, the bigger problem was that most people lacked the arm strength and flexibility to quickly absorb the impact.

Imitating an animal for a short run was fine, but keeping it up for too long would injure their arms!

Yet the Spirit Medium chasing them now seemed to have truly transformed into a ferocious beast!

Her movements were grotesquely contorted, but her speed was astonishing!

In just a few seconds, the gap between the three of them shrank by dozens of meters!

Now, the Spirit Medium was less than twenty meters behind Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng!

"This is bad, buddy! She's catching up!"

After running for so long, Liu Chengfeng felt as though his lungs were suffocating. He could not catch his breath, and his head was swimming. Only his fierce will to survive had kept him going this far!

Even so, his body had almost reached its limit.

Even if he wanted to speed up again, he simply did not have the strength!

At this rate, the Spirit Medium would catch him in less than five seconds!

And he still needed at least twenty seconds to reach Fangcun Pond!

The distance between them kept shrinking, closer and closer...

The Spirit Medium's hideous, vicious face loomed larger before his eyes. Her features were twisted, her eyes riddled with scarlet veins. There was nothing human left in them!

As though wringing out a sponge, Liu Chengfeng tried to squeeze the last trace of strength from his body, but his legs refused to obey. They would not move a single step faster!

At last, the Spirit Medium came within killing range of Liu Chengfeng!

Watching the Spirit Medium pounce on him like a savage beast or demon, Liu Chengfeng sank into utter despair. At that moment, he had only one thought-If I make it out of this Blood Gate alive... I'm definitely going to train for long-distance running!

"Hey! Is this what you're looking for?"

The Spirit Medium knocked Liu Chengfeng to the ground. Just as the Bone Blade in her hand was about to descend, Ning Qiushui's voice made her freeze.

She slowly raised her head, fixing her bloodshot eyes on the book in Ning Qiushui's hand!

The next moment, she saw Ning Qiushui hurl the book away!

It was headed... straight toward Fangcun Pond!

The Spirit Medium roared in fury and terror. Abandoning Liu Chengfeng beneath her, she raced toward the falling book and caught it an instant before it landed in Fangcun Pond!

With the book in her hands, the Spirit Medium regained her human form almost instantly.

Still hunched, she stood on the raised platform with her back to the pond, staring at Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng with murderous eyes!

"Game over, you insects!"

The Spirit Medium's voice was ice-cold, but a brilliant smile spread across her lips.

"What a shame..."

"I won in the end!"

"In fact, I've never lost... never!!"

Ning Qiushui pulled Liu Chengfeng up from the ground and walked with him toward Fangcun Pond, one step at a time. They stopped below the raised platform, and he looked up at the Spirit Medium.

"Yes, the game is over."

He smiled.

Seeing the smile on Ning Qiushui's face, the Spirit Medium's expression stiffened slightly. An ominous sense of foreboding suddenly filled her!

At that very moment, splashing erupted from Fangcun Pond behind her. The water bubbled and gurgled as though the entire pond had begun to boil!

At the sound, the Spirit Medium began trembling uncontrollably!

She lowered her head and looked at the bluestone beneath her feet, overwhelming terror rising in her eyes!

How... did I end up here?!

Earlier, while chasing them, she had been forced to enter [that] state to get the book from Ning Qiushui. And in [that] state, the Spirit Medium's capacity for rational thought was limited.

She tried to leave the platform, but strands of black algae suddenly writhed to life, crawling over her body and binding her fast!

"No... no!!"

The Spirit Medium screamed in terror, hacking at the black algae with the Bone Blade in her hand!

The Bone Blade was indeed formidable, capable of slicing through the ghost woman's otherwise indestructible hair. But there was simply too much black algae. No matter how much she cut away, more immediately took its place!

In the end, even the Spirit Medium's arms were completely immobilized!

Gurgle-

Gurgle-

The sound of water grew louder behind her. Soon, the two men below the platform saw a woman's skin slowly rise out of the water and stand behind the Spirit Medium!

The woman's skin reached out and made a light slashing motion. The Spirit Medium's fingers holding the Bone Blade fell away, dropping in front of the two men below the stone platform.

"Ugh, ugh..."

The Spirit Medium cried out in pain, but black algae quickly appeared and sealed her mouth.

Holding the Bone Blade, the woman's skin examined it carefully. Before long, blood streamed from the corners of her eyes, and a mournful, plaintive sob escaped her lips:

"Brother Xiu..."

"Brother Xiu..."

As the woman's skin called softly to him, the Bone Blade seemed to come alive as well. It trembled incessantly, as though answering her calls.

The Spirit Medium was still struggling desperately, and she did possess some real skill. While the woman's skin stroked the Bone Blade, the Spirit Medium actually tore through her hair with one hand. Then her withered hand grabbed the hair covering her own mouth and clawed at it relentlessly!

Soon, she had clawed that hair apart as well!

The Spirit Medium began muttering strange... scriptures without pause.

As she recited them, the woman's skin let out an anguished wail. The hair binding the Spirit Medium actually began to burn, finally vanishing into nothing!

Below the platform, both men were stunned by what they saw!

"Holy shit, this old hag is that powerful?!"

Liu Chengfeng let out a startled yell, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. Seeing that the Spirit Medium was about to break free, he suddenly picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at her!

Whether by luck or fate, the little stone, neither too big nor too small, landed squarely in the Spirit Medium's mouth and lodged in her throat!

The Spirit Medium's eyes widened. Clutching her throat, she coughed incessantly. By the time she finally swallowed the stone, the thick black hair behind her swept over her again. And this time... the ghost woman gave her no further chance!