Maiden Galaxy

Chapter 111: Corpse Hand Hell

Several Rank Five¹ "Ashtooth"² lay on the ground. These giant creatures were more than two ren in length, reached weights of three tons, and their entire bodies were covered in skin flesh that was like a rocky hill. As for the records pertaining to these Demon beasts, their most valuable components were their teeth, sharp as knives and ash-gray in color, able to be forged into every kind of weapon. 

It was said that the breath of the "Ashtooth" was like a sharp blade, capable of piercing through the chest of a warrior.

But in front of them, these Demon Beasts that were equivalent to matured Qi Flower Realms were already dead, no sign of vitality at all, and their ash-colored teeth had all been extracted.

"Strange. I don't see any wounds."

Ting Nanyuan inspected these enormous Demon Beasts. Up and down their whole bodies, there surprisingly seemed to be no wounds at all. Whether it was by weapon or martial art, there would always be some trace left, but the pack of "Ashtooth" died intact like this.

To be able to make these Rank Five Demon Beasts die so uncharacteristically, Ting Nanyuan's heart was a bit apprehensive.

"Don't tell me they got scared to death?" Chen Mo surmised. The Demon Beasts' bodies were all curled up, the signs of being terrified.

"Something able to Rank Five Demon Beast to death? Then it must be a Greater Thunder Tribulation Cultivator's ability." Ting Nanyuan clicked her tongue.

The Yin Underworld's Yin Qi was very heavy. Cultivators would not obtain very significant benefits from training here, however, a Thunder Tribulation-level cultivator appearing in this place actually made Chen Mo somewhat depressed.

He hoped there would be no anomalies.

"I fear that isn't a Thunder Tribulation cultivator. The person who killed them should be no more than a few days away." Qin Shaoxu inspected the surroundings, finding tracks.

Thunder Tribulation cultivators were able to soar through the skies on their swords. It was not worthwhile to run around on legs. 

"Let's follow them. Maybe we can find the Underworld Cave." Chen Mo said.

Over the next few days.

On the road, they found the corpses of many Demon Beasts. These Demon Beasts included those as strong as the Rank Four "Corpse Transformer" and as weak as the Rank Two or Three "Sound Eater." Among them, they even saw a Rank Six "Yellow Ghost Throne." That was a horse or ox-like Demon Beast, whose entire body emitted a poisonous yellow smoke.

Rank Six was equivalent to the level of a complete Three Flowers Gathered Overhead Saint of War. As a Demon Beast, they were far more formidable than a Saint Of War. They could even face against a Second or Third Layer Thunder Tribulation cultivator. Their sole comfort was that they finally found a stab wound from a weapon on this Yellow Ghost Throne.

"From the tracks, our opponent should have entered this cavern. Do you still plan on going?" Qin Shaoxu asked.

"You two can stay behind, but I must go." Chen Mo thought it over.

"If you aren't afraid, then why must I be." Qin Shaoxu leisurely said.

"Where Big Brother Qin goes, I go, too." Ting Nanyuan seized Qin Shaoxu's arm, afraid that he would leave her behind.

A few hours later, as they expected, they found a pitch-dark cave in the ground. It was like a black hole, the Yin Qi even more concentrated than the forest's. Even Qi-blood as indestructible as Ting Nanyuan's was difficult to maintain. She only felt her Qi-blood was about to be completely devoured under the Yin Qi's corrosion.

Qin Shaoxu held the Wuyang Princess' hand. The girl suddenly shuddered, a warmth flowing through her heart.

"Thank you, Big Brother Qin." Ting Nanyuan smiled extremely sweetly.

Chen Mo exercised his Star Energy but was still barely able to resist the Yin Qi's nibbling. As he looked at the Underworld Grotto's entrance, his mind was perturbed. If it was not for this being an assignment from Auntie, the present him honestly would have no thoughts of going exploring through a place even a Thunder Tribulation cultivator was unwilling to.

Seeing Chen Mo's was demeanor was good, Qin Shaoxu was pensive.

"I'll go first." Saying this, Chen Mo jumped into the cave. When the Yin Qi sensed a living person's Qi-blood, it became like a drop of oil splashed into fire, surging even more violently, turning into all sorts of malevolent shapes.

"Be careful, exercise your Soul Technique, and do not forget your Astral Treasure." Qin Shaoxu ordered Ting Nanyuan.

The girl activated the "Dark Yang Soul Technique," and then she and Qin Shaoxu jumped into the Underworld Cave together.

The cave was perpendicular, approximately four hundred meters in size. However, the deeper they went, the thinner the Yin Qi became.

Qin Shaoxu hugged Ting Nanyuan as they fell. In the darkness, she heard Qin Shaoxu's descent that was as light as a feather. The man's body techniques were as agile as a swallow.

"Ah, a ghost."

Ting Nanyuan shrieked, activating her Finger Technique. A ray of flame-like sword-qi fired into the wall from her fingertip. The girl fired several times in succession, striking the walls with bangs, which let out ghostly wails.

"Nanyuan, calm down a bit. There's nothing at all." Qin Shaoxu immediately seized her hand.

Chen Mo lit a torch. A warm firelight drove away the darkness, illuminating the cavern. This cave was relatively large, the surrounding walls pitch-black. What would make people feel terrified were the cave's towering rock walls that vaguely took the shape of a face. At first glance, it was a warped, painful expression.

Not only this cave wall, the surface of the other walls also showed more sinister expressions, all with vaguely visible facial features, as if ghosts were buried within the walls.

"Be careful." As a place that not even a Thunder Tribulation cultivator was willing to step into, this was still more or less somewhat bizarre. Chen Mo issued this order, cautiously advancing.

"Have you heard any rumors about the Underworld Cave?" Chen Mo asked.

Ting Nanyuan normally was bold, but now that they actually came to this eerie place, she finally realized her normal courage was vacuous. However, this was a great opportunity. The girl specially tugged Qin Shaoxu's hand, their relationship much more intimate. "In the past, I heard that Godslayer Bai Qi³ buried four million soldiers alive here, so that's why the Yin Qi is so heavy, up to the extent that the Demon Beasts in this place that suffered the Yin Qi's corrosion have become very strange."

"Buried four million alive." Bai Qi was one of the Four Lords of the Warring States, nicknamed the Godslayer. In Star World, she was the best Star General at slaughtering people. She had a very famous legend where she buried four million cultivators alive. It was rumored that no matter how high a cultivator's cultivation was right now, they would be frightened out of their wits upon mention of Bai Qi's name, turning weak in the knees.

However, nobody knew where those people were buried. As time passed, everyone liked to append things to the stories behind these Star Generals.

"Shaoxu, do you know anything?" Chen Mo asked the beautiful man who was obviously more reliable than Ting Nanyuan. 

Qin Shaoxu shook his head.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to come here? Don't tell me you aren't clear about this place." Ting Nanyuan said, despising Chen Mo.

Chen Mo was quite puzzled as well. How could a place with such concentrated Yin Qi have a Divine Stone needed for the Northern Dipper's Seven Stars. In Mother's records, the background of Northern Dipper's Seven Stars was mysterious, but each stone was full of the starry sky's profundity.

Just what plans did Auntie's assignment have?

Could it be she wanted to make him perceive this Yin Qi, but this was apparently superfluous.

Chen Mo did not understand.

They walked for a while, the constant Yin wind inside the cave making them very uncomfortable. Ting Nanyuan was somewhat unable to endure, proposing they rest for a bit.

Chen Mo saw that they had walked for several hours. They had continued on their way down but still did not reach the end. Thus, he accepted her idea.

Receiving an opportunity to exchange information, Ting Nanyuan immediately sat against the wall and ingested several pills to replenish her blood and cultivated her Dark Yang Soul Techniques.

Chen Mo strolled through the cave's surroundings.

After a moment, Ting Nanyuan suddenly yelled: "Hey, Chen Mo, don't put your hand on my shoulder."

Ting Nanyuan froze, only now noticing that Chen Mo and Qin Shaoxu were not at her side, but that her shoulder had the feeling of someone's grip.

"Hm?"

Chen Mo and Qin Shaoxu turned their gazes at the same time, immediately freezing.

They saw a hand on Ting Nanyuan's shoulder. The skin of that arm was as deathly pale as a corpse as it rested on her shoulder. Its fingers were still twitching. Despite Ting Nanyuan's great bravery, she still nearly screamed out. Qin Shaoxu pointed his finger, firing a ray of light. 

That hand's reactions were extremely fast, shrinking into the wall in the blink of an eye.

Ting Nanyuan leapt into Qin Shaoxu's embrace in a frightened panic.

Chen Mo swiftly stepped forth. That corpse's arm was already completely retracted into the wall, vanished without a trace.

"Fuck me." Chen Mo inhaled sharply. What was this situation.

"This place is too frightening, to surprisingly have a corpse's hand on my body." Ting Nanyuan's eyes were nearly red. She would practically never forget this scene just now when she saw her shoulder gripped by a gray hand. "Shaoxu, I'm so scared."

Seeing the Wuyang Princess take advantage of the situation to act weak and spoiled for her beloved, Chen Mo was speechless.

Qin Shaoxu twisted his brow, "This place is a bit strange."

"En, how can there be a corpse's hand. Don't tell me this place actually is Hell?" Chen Mo felt this was too preposterous.

"Be careful." Qin Shaoxu took a deep breath.

Ting Nanyuan looked at Chen Mo, worriedly saying: "Quickly find what you're looking for. I really want to leave this place as soon as possible right now."

"Oh, me, too." Chen Mo rolled his eyes.

The three of them appeared even more cautious during the following journey, with Ting Nanyuan keeping a greater distance from the wall. They reached an open cavern. Chen Mo abruptly stopped, and QIn Shaoxu stopped as well.

"What? What? Why'd we stop." Ting Nanyuan was frightened as she looked all around her.

Fortunately there was no corpse hand.

Chen Mo and Qin Shaoxu glanced at each other. Chen Mo took a few steps forward, gathering True Qi in his palm before violently smashing it towards the floor.

A clap of thunder.

The cave jolted, and that blowing Yin wind became a ghostly howl.

"What are you doing?" Ting Nanyuan clasped her hand over her pounding heart, not understanding what Chen Mo was doing.

She had hardly finished speaking when suddenly, that deep, dark cave in front of them let out a chafing sound. Then, a terrifying scene appeared in the eyes of the Wuyang Princess.

The ground became hundreds of hands that reached up from underground, and then even more densely packed corpse hands extended from the walls on their flanks. These arms were sickly pale, gray, or even the purple of livor mortis. As far as the eye could see, the cave was crammed to the brim with the hands of these corpses.

These hands moved incessantly, as if they had been waiting to grab the approaching trio.

Ting Nanyuan nearly fainted when she saw this wretched scene, her knees promptly buckling. Fortunately, Qin Shaoxu held her waist and supported her so that she did not make a fool of herself.

The girl had never seen such a terrifying landscape. The color drained from her face: "This, t-this…What is…Don't tell me we really ended up in Hell."

The scene before them was not far off from how Hell was described in novels. The path was filled with the hands of the dead reaching out from within the walls, numerous and dense as a seaweed forest.

If it was not for being in view of her sweetheart, Ting Nanyuan would have turned around and ran.

This scenes was very outside of Chen Mo's expectations. Before he came here, he thought he would encounter every kind of Demon Beast, but he never imagined that he could see this kind of corpse hand hell that seemed straight out of "Resident Evil."

Seeing that these hands were coated in poison, to rush past them would perhaps be difficult.

Chen Mo wrinkled his brow.

1. Raws say Three ↩
2. 灰齒 ↩
3. 殺神白起 ↩

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