Bait, monster

The long, narrow passage twisted and wound, its stone walls exceptionally smooth. With the slope carrying them downward, they could not have stopped even if they wanted to.

Feeling the speed of their descent, Lian Youming kept one hand on the girl in his arms and gripped his military dagger in the other, its point angled downward, ready for any sudden turn of events.

Even now, he was still thinking back over those martial artists' conversation.

Experts from all the different sects had actually joined the White Lotus Sect.

Could something earthshaking have happened in the martial world before?

Then there was the secret the Mountain-Guarding Old Man protected, the White Lotus Sect's objective, and the various martial sects. Everything seemed to be linked together by invisible threads.

Darkness.

Deathly silence.

Apart from the rustling of their clothes as they slid, there was only the beating of their hearts.

Lian Youming held the girl tightly. He had given some thought to bringing her down with him.

Until he could be certain of her identity, she harbored danger, but she might also offer a chance of survival.

If she really was a good person, then naturally he had brought her down to save her.

But if she was a bad person, someone from the White Lotus Sect, her behavior so far-displaying no fighting ability whatsoever, nor any murderous intent-meant she still wanted to keep up the act.

In that case, why not travel together?

With her along, he could naturally use her to deal with those martial artists as well.

With all the different parties converging on Changbai Mountain, it was now a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. Li Da was nowhere to be seen, either. Escaping unscathed would likely be as hard as ascending to heaven for Lian Youming.

So he could only drive the tiger to devour the wolves and make a risky move. Even if this vicious tiger had an agenda of her own, he would at least be safe until she tore off her disguise completely.

Besides, Lian Youming also wanted her to openly drop the pretense. He was thoroughly sick of living in fear, but she had not resisted in the slightest. Surely he could not simply crush her to death.

Crush someone who offered no resistance?

And back on the mountain, even if he had fallen out with her, never mind whether he could beat her-with so many people lurking in the shadows, what possible benefit would there have been?

As for the two from the Xingyi Sect, Lian Youming had given Xue Hen's name because he was unsure whether they were genuine or impostors from the White Lotus Sect. He had wanted to use Xue Hen to provoke their murderous intent and judge their reaction.

But given the current situation, no one could be trusted. Who knew whether there were more traitors within the various sects? Since the White Lotus Sect had the better odds of winning, Lian Youming naturally had to bring her down.

Suddenly, gusts of chilling wind blew from the depths of the passage, carrying a strange, rotten stench.

Lian Youming tightened his grip on the dagger, his five fingers tensing and the sinews of his arm standing out. He braced both feet outward to slow their descent, his mind drawing taut as well.

In the darkness, a very faint, flickering light suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

"Hold on tight!"

By the time the words left his mouth, they had slid out of the passage.

Below its opening, an enormous rope net hung suspended.

Before he could adjust his balance, Lian Youming landed on it along with the girl.

But the moment they settled, the girl's face went deathly pale, and she cried in terror, "Look beside us!"

Lian Youming's expression was grim as well. He had already sensed it without her warning.

Turning his head, he saw a terrifying face as gaunt as a bundle of sticks. Its cheeks were shriveled and sunken, exposing two rows of black teeth, like air-dried cured meat. A pair of eyes like black holes stared straight at him. He had almost kissed it.

"Dead."

"Japanese soldiers?"

Looking at the dried corpse's clothes, Lian Youming frowned deeply.

A quick scan revealed seven or eight dried corpses scattered across the net, all crowded together with them.

Seeing that the net was not far above the ground, Lian Youming simply cut a hole in the ropes beneath him and dropped through first. Once he had steadied himself, he caught the girl as she jumped down.

Then the dried corpses all tumbled to the ground like dumplings dropped into a pot.

"How did they end up looking like this?"

Lian Youming quickly examined them again. The bodies were intact, their only wounds on their necks, as though some wild beast had bitten through their throats.

There was no time for a closer look. Worried that martial experts might come down from above, he gave them only a hurried glance before carefully surveying his surroundings.

This was actually a natural cavern. The light came from several bulbs on the walls, flickering constantly and very dim. Thick electrical wires and cables also ran along the walls like monstrous pythons, extending into five tunnels that led in every direction like a spider's burrow.

Lian Youming pressed his dry lips together, astonished and suspicious.

How many years had it been since Japan surrendered? Yet there was still electricity. Could there still be living people inside?

Looking around, he chose the second tunnel from the right and strode toward it. The layout on the map surfaced clearly in his mind as he asked, "What's your name?"

"Xiao Li."

The girl still looked frail and docile, frightened and afraid, her eyes trembling, but she followed close behind.

Lian Youming sighed. It seemed that from the moment he saved her, he had had no choice but to steel himself and press onward.

Yet the farther they went, the more carvings began to appear on the stone walls. There was even a huge stone tablet set into one.

"What kind of chicken scratches are these?"

Unexpectedly, the girl answered, "Trespassers die!"

Her voice was very soft and low, like someone talking in a dream.

Lian Youming neither heard her clearly nor understood, and instinctively asked, "What did you say?"

Before he could question her further, a muffled crash suddenly came from the tunnel entrance, as though a huge stone had fallen to the ground.

Lian Youming's expression shifted slightly. He hurried the girl along, and after thirty or forty meters, the view before them abruptly opened up.

"There's actually an ancient tomb hidden in this Underground Fortress."

At the end of the tunnel stood a stone chamber with an enormous stone coffin laid across its center. Numerous rotting wooden crates were piled around its sides, and silver dollars and silver ingots lay scattered across the floor, along with a corpse.

This was not a dried corpse, nor one of the Japanese devils. He was middle-aged and wore a Zhongshan suit...

"Did he come in through another entrance?"

Looking as though he had seen a ghost, Lian Youming hurried forward. At his touch, the corpse still felt slightly warm; clearly, the man had only just died. Both of the burly man's hands were covered in thick calluses, and his frame was tall and strong. He was plainly a martial artist.

Yet this man's limbs had been twisted and broken, and a gash opened his neck, its flesh turned outward in a horrifying sight.

"Why did he die the same way as those Japanese soldiers?"

An odd expression crossed Lian Youming's face. His gaze abruptly lifted, sweeping his surroundings with extreme vigilance as he drew his pistol.

"Strange. With such a big wound, why is there so little blood?" The girl finally spoke of her own accord, trembling, her voice very quiet.

Lian Youming's eyes flickered. Of course he had noticed too, but what was he supposed to make of such a bizarre scene?

There were no light bulbs in the stone chamber, but strangely, torches burned in all four corners.

Lian Youming suddenly felt a little cold, especially with himself inside a burial chamber and a stone coffin sitting beside him.

"Surely some hopping corpse or ghost didn't jump out and suck his blood?"

Naturally, he did not believe such nonsense. But the corpse's artery had been bitten open, most of its blood had vanished into thin air, and those Japanese soldiers had all died the same way. How could any of it be explained?

Lian Youming glanced at the corpse's limbs again. Injuries that tore sinews and dislocated bones like this were no ordinary handiwork.

In an instant, a spine-chilling thought surfaced in his mind.

Could a person have done this?

But why drink blood?

Lian Youming could not help recalling what Yan Lingyun had once said. His Three Yin Earth-Baleful Force could strengthen his Qi through nourishment from food; its martial principles were exceedingly sinister.

Could there be martial artists who cultivated using vital blood?

Lian Youming's scalp instantly prickled.

There was actually a sinister being hidden in this Underground Fortress who cultivated with human blood. How could this be allowed?

"That bastard Third Brother Xie didn't even explain things properly..."

But as his thoughts turned, Lian Youming abruptly swallowed hard.

Something was wrong.

The map Third Brother Xie had given him was of unknown origin, with no background or explanation. It might well be bait, meant to lure a group of martial artists here to their deaths...

Just as his hands and feet turned icy, a piercing scream suddenly rang out from the other end of the burial chamber.

"Ah!"

Lian Youming immediately took Xiao Li toward the sound.

Torches burned along the way, along with quite a few flickering electric lights, as though welcoming them.

When they reached a three-way junction, Lian Youming saw a young man in a shirt lying facedown on the ground.

"What did you run into?"

The young man's face was filled with terror. The instant he opened his mouth, hot blood gushed out.

"There's... urgh, cough, cough... save... save me..."

(End of chapter)