Volume Two: An Eventful Autumn, Twists and Turns Chapter 127: The Corpse Fiend in the Pit, a War-Torn Corpse

Under the moonlight, Chen San looked at Yang Chengzi, speechless and dumbfounded.

Ignoring him, Yang Chengzi turned to Wan'er and said, "Wan'er, if you can, please help me pull that corpse-man out from underground."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then I’ll have no choice but to dig it out with Chen San myself."

"Don't, don't, don't! Stop dragging me into this! You only ever include me when there’s trouble; why is it that every time you involve me, it’s always something disastrous? I really am fed up with you to the core."

"Who told me to be a Taoist? If I were an ordinary man, I would have married and had children long ago, living a peaceful and simple life. But I am a Taoist, and we are sworn to protect the living. If I didn't encounter these yin and yang matters, that would be one thing, but since I have, how can I turn a blind eye?"

"Chen San, are you ready?" Chen Wan'er stared coldly at Chen San, a trace of amusement flickering in her eyes.

Chen San didn't understand what she meant and stared at her blankly, while Yang Chengzi furrowed his brows and turned his gaze toward the graveyard.

*Boom, boom.* Two muffled thuds echoed as the ground behind the old man's coffin collapsed. It wasn't a massive cave-in, but the entire patch of earth had clearly sunk significantly.

Just as Chen San stood there in astonishment, a vine as thick as a human wrist burst from the soil. Under the moonlight, wrapped within the vine, was a creature that looked neither entirely human nor entirely beast.

Though the thing remained still, a blood-red aura began to radiate from it in Chen San's eyes, spreading across the entire sky.

Yang Chengzi’s brows knit tightly together, and he let out a sharp shout: "It’s here! Watch out!"

He reached into his robe, snatched a dozen spirit-suppressing talismans, and flung them into the air. Closing his eyes, he held his fingers in a mudra and focused his mind. "Command!"

The moment he opened his eyes, the talismans shot toward the corpse-man like arrows released from a bow.

The yellow charms flew forward, but the thunderous explosions Chen San expected never came. As soon as the talismans entered the blood-red malevolent energy, they lost all momentum and stopped moving. Just an inch away from piercing the corpse-man, they fluttered and drifted down like ordinary scraps of paper, scattering all over the ground.

Chen San’s look of shock seemed to tell Yang Chengzi he had failed, but Yang Chengzi’s deepening frown suggested that this situation was far more complicated than that.

"A Corpse Fiend! It has already become a Corpse Fiend!"

*Bang, bang, bang!* With a bizarre, guttural roar, the vines wrapped around the Corpse Fiend snapped into pieces.

The creature in the air, which had been motionless, seemed to have been awakened by Yang Chengzi’s talismans. Having broken free from the vines, it fell heavily from the sky.

The moment the vines snapped, Chen Wan'er’s brows furrowed just like Yang Chengzi’s. Although she had not been harmed, she seemed to have realized just how formidable this Corpse Fiend truly was.

"Are you even capable? These yellow charms of yours are useless!"

Yang Chengzi’s hands moved rapidly, forming seals, and a celestial array appeared beneath his feet. "Xun represents wind, the Sparrow grasps the Heavenly Pivot!"

The array shifted, and Yang Chengzi instantly appeared beside the Corpse Fiend just as it was about to rise. "Qian represents heaven, the force pulls the Heavenly Pivot!"

*Thud!* As the array shifted again, a heart-trembling sound accompanied a surge of energy that rippled outward.

Before the Corpse Fiend could fully stand, it was struck by Yang Chengzi’s palm, powered by the full force of the Qian position. Without exception, it was sent flying like a rock.

Chen Wan'er raised her hands, and a deep blue spiritual energy burst forth, its momentum so overwhelming that it pushed back the blood-red mist that had been spreading across the sky.

Just as the impact reached Chen San, vines rose from the earth like a wall of iron, blocking the Corpse Fiend’s path. *Thud!* Another heart-trembling impact followed by the sound of splintering wood—a figure tore through layers of vines and rolled onto the ground.

Before Yang Chengzi could get a clear look, the figure dashed back into the thicket of vines, and the sound of splintering wood grew closer and closer.

Yang Chengzi knew the Corpse Fiend was charging at him, yet his mind went blank, and he found himself unable to move.

Chen Wan'er, catching a glimpse, was also horrified. In the face of life and death, she raised her left hand, tracking the Corpse Fiend’s movement, pouring every ounce of her spiritual energy into her palm.

The deep blue energy converged in an instant. This was her final, desperate effort. With a cry of pain, she struggled to clench her left hand into a fist.

Following her motion, the layers of vine walls that had been pierced were crushed as if squeezed by an invisible hand. The dense vines crowded toward the position of the Corpse Fiend.

Almost instantly, the gaps in the vine wall were sealed so tightly that not a sliver of moonlight could penetrate. The rapidly moving Corpse Fiend came to a complete halt and stopped struggling.

Hearing Wan'er’s cry of pain, Yang Chengzi snapped back to reality. Facing a Corpse Fiend that could kill him with a single swipe, he had been momentarily paralyzed. Before he could think, a blood-red mist began to seep out from the dense vines.

Yang Chengzi didn't have his Heaven’s Eye opened, but he saw that blood-red mist clearly—it was malevolent energy refined to the extreme!

This energy was not a threat to Yang Chengzi himself; his Taoist blood would cause it to dissipate instantly. But Chen San was an ordinary man. Without Taoist blood, if such concentrated malevolent energy entered his body, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The red mist had already reached Chen San. The distorted vine wall seemed to be changing, and although it wasn't immediately obvious, Yang Chengzi could feel the pure malevolent energy slowly corroding the vines.

Yang Chengzi turned toward Chen San, but it seemed too late; the mist was only a hair's breadth from invading Chen San’s body. Panic surged through him, and the array under his feet vanished.

"Wan'er!"

Yang Chengzi knew he couldn't save Chen San in time; he had to pin his hopes on Wan'er.

Chen Wan'er was clever. As soon as Yang Chengzi called out, she understood his intent. In an instant, she possessed Chen San’s body, her spiritual energy erupting once more to forcibly block the encroaching malevolent energy from touching him.

As she took over his body, she spoke to Chen San: "Quick, use the God-Summoning Technique! Yang Chengzi cannot handle this Corpse Fiend."

Chen San was shocked, cursing inwardly: "What kind of nonsense is this? If he can't handle it, why is he always causing trouble, acting like he’s in charge? Every time he needs me to protect him! That old man in Taiyuan is supposed to be the Maoshan Sect Leader, yet he sends me a counterfeit to 'protect' me. Oh, give me a break!"

"Stop grumbling! Hurry up—if he dies, you won't survive either."

Chen Wan'er wasn't trying to scare him; it was the truth.

Suppressing a mouthful of bile, Chen San closed his internal Great Array of Heaven and Earth, squeezed his eyes shut, and began to reach out for a divine soul.

The malevolent energy was blocked, but with Wan'er possessing his body, she could no longer assist Yang Chengzi. Trying to trap the Corpse Fiend with those vines again was out of the question.

Yang Chengzi realized this too. He glanced at Chen San, his furrowed brows tightening even further. Dealing with a Corpse Fiend was not the same as a corpse-man; ordinary lightning strikes wouldn't kill it. The Shangqing Sword could inflict some damage, but killing it would be difficult, and he lacked a peach-wood sword.

He had thought it was just an ordinary corpse-man, hoping to have Wan'er trap it as before. Even without coffin nails, he had plenty of talismans—enough to burn a corpse-man.

But this particular one had evolved into a Corpse Fiend, making his talismans useless. Moreover, he hadn't expected it to stay hidden underground, avoiding the typical bloodlust and rampages.

*Crack!* Yang Chengzi was startled.

"Sword, come!"

The Shangqing Sword shattered the window and flew from Yang Chengzi’s room. Accompanied by a surge of righteous energy, he gripped it tightly.

Chang Yu and Chen Xin were both startled by the noise, and upon seeing the hole in the window, Chang Yu hid under Chen Xin’s blankets in terror.

Yang Chengzi knew he had no choice but to face it head-on. Perhaps the Corpse Fiend had a weakness, or perhaps the Taoist ancestor Chen San was summoning could finish it off.

*Crack, crack.* Another bizarre roar echoed.

*Boom!* The vines were blown apart as if by an explosion, flying in every direction. Before Yang Chengzi could even strike, a vine whipped across his body like a lash.

In that moment, he felt as if his entire body had been shredded by blades. The bone-deep pain was actually a blessing—it seemed to clear his head, and as he looked at the Corpse Fiend, his mind was no longer blank.

The creature before him matched his suspicions about the death pit. It wore tattered cloth and armor from wartime, the rags fluttering in the wind. The original style was unrecognizable, but the iron scale armor remained mostly intact, save for one long, jagged tear.

It was clear that this place was a mass grave for soldiers killed in war or prisoners of enemy nations.

No wonder the malevolent energy was so intense. So many warriors who had died on the battlefield were discarded in this pit; it would be strange if one who happened to become a corpse-man didn't evolve into a Corpse Fiend after soaking in such energy day after day.

The withered face, the tangled hair, the blood-red eyes, the long fangs and claws, the rotting nose, and the pure, suffocating malevolent energy all confirmed one thing to Yang Chengzi: this was indeed a Corpse Fiend.