Corpse beetle

As the sun began to set, the surrounding scenery finally changed from barren wasteland to green grass and low trees, and the sound of flowing water could be faintly heard.

They had been walking under the scorching sun all day and were utterly exhausted. Yan Dan forced herself to stay upright, not uttering a single complaint. After all, she was the least skilled of the four, and it would be too shameful for her to complain. She pursed her lips, and after hearing the faint sound of water, her mouth felt even drier. She carefully discerned all the subtle sounds around her, but the faint murmur of water grew clearer and clearer.

Yan Dan breathed a sigh of relief: thankfully, she wasn't just hallucinating from thirst...

But when she excitedly ran to the water's edge, she was immediately dumbfounded. Although the stream was flowing water, sticky, pale green clumps of something kept floating down the bank. Before she could even bend down, she was hit by a strong, pungent stench.

Yu Mo glanced into the water and said calmly, "I wonder what's floating in this water?"

Yan Dan was on the verge of tears, no longer caring what disgusting stuff was in the water. An ancient echo resounded in her mind: No water, no water... If she doesn't have water to drink, she will die of thirst...

Tang Zhou bent down and looked for a while, but finally shook his head: "I can't tell what it is, but it looks a bit like—" Yan Dan was steeling herself and trembling as she put her hand into the stream when she heard this and immediately said: "Don't say it!" But it was too late. Tang Zhou uttered two words firmly: "...insect eggs."

Yan Dan broke down, grabbing Tang Zhou's collar: "So you're not thirsty or tired? I told you not to say it, but you still said it..."

Liu Weiyang stepped forward, knelt on one knee by the stream, slowly scooped up a handful of water, silently splashed it on his face, then scooped up some more and drank it expressionlessly.

Yan Dan stared in disbelief, only one sentence echoing in her mind: He drank it, he drank it, he really drank it… Before she could recover from her shock, she saw Yu Mo also bend down and slowly scoop up a handful of stream water. She knew, of course, that given their current situation, if they didn't drink water, they might not last until they found the next water source. But for her to drink such dirty water was unbearable, both mentally and physically, after years of comfortable living.

She grabbed Tang Zhou's sleeve and asked in a trembling voice, "Would you drink this stream water?"

Tang Zhou looked at her and said in a declarative tone, "You don't dare to drink it."

"Of course I wouldn't dare drink it, it's not something to be ashamed of! Smell this stench, look at these greenish insect eggs, if you squeeze them, they'll definitely burst out a puddle of dirty green liquid..."

Yu Mo turned to look at her, his tone harsh: "Yan Dan!" He took out a silk handkerchief, soaked it in water, and handed it to her without wringing it out.

Yan Dan silently took the item, reluctantly wiped her face, moistened her dry, pale lips, and then examined the silk handkerchief with two fingers. She asked in surprise, "Yu Mo, why do you always carry a silk handkerchief with you?" She unfolded the handkerchief and carefully examined the "Hundred Birds Competing for Spring" design from top to bottom. "Judging from the needlework, it was done by Bai Ling Xiu herself, and you've just ruined it like this."

Seeing that they had all drunk water, Liu Weiyang slowly spoke up: "These are not ordinary insect eggs, they are corpse beetles."

Yan Dan covered her lips with her hand, exclaiming, "Corpse..." She knew what a corpse beetle was; it was a kind of insect that ate corpses. She remembered teasing a local in that small restaurant in Qing Shi Town, and now karma had come back to bite her. After all, saying it was one thing, actually swallowing it was another.

"Judging from these insect eggs, there are probably countless corpse beetles around here. The road ahead shouldn't be too easy either; we need to be careful." After saying this, Liu Weiyang gracefully walked away.

Yan Dan felt utterly disgusted, and her face began to tingle and itch. She quickly threw the silk handkerchief she was holding aside. Although Bai Ling's embroidery was exquisite, it had been stained with that kind of stuff, so it was better to throw it away.

As the group passed through, the vegetation grew taller, and groves of trees began to appear. Under the pale rays of the setting sun, a pack of wild beasts, about the size of wolves, lay on the ground, preening their fur with their paws, appearing quite docile and harmless.

When Yan Dan walked over, they didn't move. She couldn't help but take another look, and saw one of them suddenly stand up and shake its body. Her heart skipped a beat, because the beast's body had a face that was several times longer than a normal person's, its eyes were dull, but in an instant, several red veins burst open.

Six badgers with human faces lunged at her with howls before she could even blink. One badger had already overwhelmed her, and now six at once left her with no choice but to run. Liu Weiyang drew a short sword from his jade flute, deflecting one of the badgers, and said sternly, "Follow the winding path!"

Badgers with human faces pounce very quickly, and if you walk on a straight path, you can easily be caught by them.

Yan Dan had only run a few steps when she felt a cold wind rushing from behind. She quickly ducked and rolled forward, dodging a badger with a human face that pounced on her. Before she could even stand up, a second paw sprang out from the side. Yan Dan could only scramble back a couple of steps, barely managing to avoid it, and came face to face with another badger with a human face. The strange human face was already inches away, its nose almost touching hers.

Yan Dan's face turned deathly pale, and her whole body stiffened.

A flash of cold, bluish light appeared, followed by a spray of blood. The badger roared furiously, raising its head and charging towards the menacing sword energy. Yan Dan immediately retreated to the side, catching a glimpse of Yu Mo drawing his sword. The instant he drew it, a bluish light rippled along the spine of the blade, neither dragon nor fish, piercing straight through the badger's belly.

For a moment, Yan Dan only caught a glimpse of blood, and something wet and white falling to the ground. The remaining badgers with human faces were stunned by the scene, sharpening their claws and hissing in their throats, but dared not move forward again.

Yu Mo reached out and grabbed her wrist, striding forward. Yan Dan, being led by him, couldn't help but think, "Couldn't Yu Mo learn some more aesthetically pleasing, less lethal demonic arts? Every time it's either a violent storm or disembowelment; it's just too bloody..."

As she was thinking this, she suddenly felt the grip on her wrist tighten, and Yu Mo's steady steps suddenly faltered. Yan Dan immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly went closer to look. She saw that the other half of his face, the corner of his eye, was still swollen with blood. His eye was injured so badly that even opening it was difficult, let alone seeing where he was going. No wonder he had been unsteady on his feet earlier.

Yu Mo turned his face away and smiled slightly, seemingly unconcerned: "It's nothing serious, just watch where you're going."

Yan Dan obediently responded, taking his arm and trying to walk on the flatter path: "Your eyes..."

"It's just a minor scratch, nothing serious."

"Really? You said you were fine when you were seriously injured last time."

"...Don't look at me, watch where you're going."

Yan Dan could only focus intently on what was ahead. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but even though she was walking on flat ground, the ground seemed to be trembling slightly. She could only think to herself that it must be her imagination; why would flat ground shake? This wasn't the mortal realm; how could there be earthquakes here?

Liu Weiyang's calm voice, as always, came from behind: "Head west!"

Yan Dan subconsciously did as he said, after all, he had been her most reliable companion since she entered the Demon Realm. She climbed up the mountain path to the west, and when she looked up, her heart sank: there was no way forward, only an empty cliff.

Before she could fully react, she felt someone shove her hard from behind. Yan Dan lost her balance and fell straight off the cliff. Quick as a flash, she released Yu Mo's arm and reached for the vines growing on the sloping edge. She could afford to fall herself, but she couldn't drag Yu Mo down with her, especially since his eyes were injured…

Fortunately, Yan Dan's luck wasn't bad; despite her haphazard grabbing, she actually managed to touch some vines. She turned her head with difficulty, only to catch a glimpse of a chilling sword aura flashing past, and the life-saving vines she was tightly holding onto immediately snapped into several pieces.

Following the sword energy was a pale white sleeve fluttering in the wind, and the person's calm, unwavering eyes.

Yan Dan wondered if she was just incredibly lucky. Falling from such a height, even with demonic energy protecting her, would have nearly killed her. Yet now, she lay safely in a soft swamp, her limbs perfectly intact.

When she first fell into the swamp, she struggled a few times in shock, but quickly realized that the harder she struggled, the faster she sank, so she lay still and lay there quietly. After a while, she noticed that the swamp was still slowly flowing, gently pushing her towards the shore.

Looking up at the sky, Yan Dan felt a pang of regret. Liu Weiyang had always been their enemy, but they had become companions only after entering the Demon Realm together. She had been incredibly foolish to have stopped being wary of him. Being pushed off the cliff was entirely her own fault.

Only about half a cup of tea's time had passed when she felt her back touch solid ground and used all her strength to climb upwards. The moment her feet touched solid ground, a deafening rumble echoed from afar, like thunder, reverberating through the valley. Yan Dan calmed herself and tried to pinpoint the direction of the sound; it seemed to be coming from the cliff she had fallen from. So what exactly happened after she fell?

She didn't care that her clothes were covered in swamp dirt, and hurried to the sound.

She clearly remembered falling from a cliff into a swamp. The cliff face below was slightly sloping and smooth to the touch, with absolutely no place to climb. But in front of her, there were no cliffs or steep walls, only large expanses of small hills, the terrain of which even an ordinary person with no martial arts skills could climb.

Yan Dan was extremely shocked. Where exactly did things go wrong? Could it be that within the demonic form of the divine artifact, Chu Mo, she ended up in a completely unfamiliar place after falling off the cliff? Now, she was all alone.

Yan Dan stood there, slightly lost in thought, but finally figured out the direction and walked forward alone.

If the demonic image is truly as Liu Weiyang claims, and at least half of the things within it are things they've seen before, then Yu Mo and Tang Zhou should be able to handle the dangers ahead. It's her and Liu Weiyang who are truly worrisome. Whether Liu Weiyang lives or dies is of no concern to her. The most important thing is that she must save her own life.

Yan Dan walked a long way through the mountains and forests. The path gradually widened, and in the distance, she could see wisps of smoke rising into the air. She paused for a moment, realizing that the distant smoke was likely from the chimneys of ordinary households cooking and boiling water. Could it be that people still lived here?

She took a few more steps closer, and the village houses in the distance gradually came into focus. Smoke from chimneys, the setting sun, the bustling activity—these things always bring a sense of peace in times of unease.

Yan Dan unconsciously quickened her pace. As she walked under the lush ancient tree, there was a sudden whooshing sound overhead. The branches and leaves swayed, and fallen leaves fluttered down. Suddenly, a face appeared in front of her.

The man's facial muscles twitched and stiffened, his skin was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide open, staring intently at her.

The suddenness of the attack caused Yan Dan to quickly take three steps back. After a closer look, she let out a long sigh of relief and murmured, "It was just a dead body. I thought it was some strange thing again..."

Yan Dan raised her head and carefully examined the corpse hanging upside down from the tree. The corpse was wearing a plain white robe, and its hair was not tied up; it was simply bound with a white rope.

In this situation, no matter how you look at it, this person is a human sacrifice.

Human sacrifice is the offering of a living person to a deity. This was a common practice in ancient times, especially in remote and uncivilized areas. The person chosen for human sacrifice was usually selected before adulthood, or even at birth, and then dressed in white and presented to the deity upon reaching adulthood. Sometimes, in cases of flooding, some places would draw lots to place the chosen person and the offering on a raft to be sacrificed to the river god.

Yan Dan suddenly recalled that Liu Weiyang was wearing a light white robe. He had said that he was forced into the demonic form by Tao Ziqi, but she didn't quite believe it. Thinking about it this way, he probably originally wanted to send her in as a human sacrifice, right? She looked around carefully. It was all mountains and forests, and there seemed to be no ferocious beasts around. So who was this human sacrifice for? And why did he have such a painful and stiff expression on his face?

Yan Dan, seized by curiosity, reached out and pulled out the hairpin, transforming it into a long jade sword. She gently sliced ​​it across the collar of the human sacrifice. Beneath the collar, she saw skin covered in bluish-black dots, some small, slightly smaller than a copper coin, others as large as a palm.

She felt uneasy, gazing at the village ahead, where the peaceful scene of smoke rising from chimneys remained. Yan Dan stood there, wondering whether to take the road into the village or take a longer route around it.

Often, the unknown is far more frightening than the known dangers. You don't know what lies ahead, nor what it will bring you.

After pondering for a moment, Yan Dan decided to take the road directly through the village. If she was lucky, she might be able to stay there for the night.

Just as she was about to take a step forward, she heard a snap, and a branch overhead broke, causing the corpse to suddenly sink two feet. Yan Dan looked straight ahead, her gaze falling directly on the corpse's abdomen. The hem of the corpse's upper garment was completely torn, revealing its tattered lower abdomen. Inside, the corpse's abdomen was teeming with black carrion beetles, as if they had used the body as a nest. Layers of greenish-brown insect eggs clung to the inside, eggs identical to those she had seen by the stream earlier.

Yan Dan felt a wave of nausea rise to her throat, her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground. Suddenly, a cold hand reached out from behind and gently covered her mouth. Yan Dan immediately smelled a faint, almost imperceptible sandalwood scent, but this sandalwood scent also carried a hint of blood.

She heard Liu Weiyang's voice whisper in her ear: "Silence."