Chapter 52: This dungeon is too high-level, should we leave the group?
A cold wind swirled through the wild grass, bringing with it a rustling sound.
Tiepan took a deep breath, held his heavy shield firmly in front of him, and whispered, "I'll clear the way." He stepped forward, used the shield to block the crooked wooden door that was about to collapse, and exerted force!
Squeak—Bang!
The rotten hinges snapped, and the entire door crashed inward, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The scene inside the door, accompanied by a stench strong enough to make one's stomach churn, crashed into everyone's eyes without any concealment.
Even the well-informed Mo Yun and the aloof Shen Yunzhou instantly turned extremely ugly.
Xie Chen's waving jade fan froze in mid-air, and the usual smile on his lips vanished without a trace.
Ji Qianqiu's eyes widened suddenly, and veins bulged on his forehead.
Fang Li blurted out "Fuck!" and felt a churning in her stomach. She instinctively took a half step back, only regaining her balance when Shen Yunzhou gently pressed his sword sheath against her back.
"System... what... what the hell is this thing?!"
The system was frantically alarming in Fang Li's mind: [An extremely high-intensity aggregate of evil energy has been detected! Resentment levels are off the charts! Warning of dual pollution on both physical and mental levels! Host, this thing is making me lose sanity just looking at it. Can we request outside assistance or just run away?]
In the center of the courtyard, dozens of corpses were stacked in bizarre positions, forming the base of a huge array.
Most of them were small children, but there were also a few adults. They were of varying ages, some were almost bones, while others still had rotten flesh remaining.
Their postures were contorted, as if they had suffered immense pain before death. Each corpse was covered with twisted runes that revealed the bone, the dark red patterns gleaming wetly in the dim moonlight.
The thick, black liquid seeping from the ground flowed slowly, converging into a ditch, emitting a foul stench that was a mixture of blood and decay.
Several pale white prayer flags hung in mid-air, moving on their own even without wind.
The banner was unusually soft and grayish-white; upon closer inspection, it was found to be made of multiple human skins sewn together, covered with densely packed runes drawn with scarlet curses.
As the banners fluttered, the outlines of distorted human faces vaguely appeared on them, emitting low, hoarse sobs, like weeping and lamenting, drilling straight into one's consciousness and stirring up unease.
At the center of the array, a man in black robes stood with his back to the crowd, his body hunched over, chanting softly to a curled-up infant corpse.
He held an object in his hand, which appeared to be made from an infant's skull. Its white surface was covered with black incantations, and as he chanted hoarsely, a faint green light flickered in the eye sockets of the skull.
Xie Chen's gentle smile vanished completely, replaced by a solemn expression. He stared at the corpse array and prayer flags, and said in a deep voice, "'Ten Thousand Souls Corpse Spirit-Attracting Array'! They actually dared to use this heaven-defying evil technique! Forcibly extracting the essence of living beings and the spiritual energy of the earth's veins to nourish... some extremely evil thing!"
Fang Li asked tremblingly, "Senior Brother Xie, is it possible to break this formation?"
Xie Chen's eyes flickered slightly, and the corners of his lips habitually curved into a slight smile, but there was no hint of a smile in his eyes: "The core of the formation lies in the skull artifact at the formation's eye and the cultivator who presides over it. However, the formation is already complete, and the resentment and spiritual energy of the earth's veins are intertwined. Forcibly breaking the formation might cause an energy outflow, harming innocent remnant souls instead. We need to sever the connection between the person in charge of the formation and the formation's eye in one strike, or use the power of purification to release the resentment, and proceed slowly."
Shen Yunzhou said coldly, "Why bother? Kill the master of the formation, and the formation will break on its own." His sword tip pointed directly at the black-robed figure's back, and his killing intent spread out as if it were a tangible substance.
Ji Qianqiu's eyes instantly turned red, his hair stood on end in rage, his heavy sword hummed, and he roared, "You beast! I'll chop you up, you piece of trash!"
With a roar, Tiepan slammed his giant shield heavily onto the ground, and a burst of earthy yellow spiritual light surged, protecting Fang Li and Mo Yun behind him. Mo Yun had already pinched several exorcism talismans between his fingertips, his eyes sharp.
The black-robed demonic cultivator seemed to finally be alarmed, and his chanting abruptly stopped.
He slowly turned around, raised his head, revealing a withered, ghostly face. His eyes blazed with green light, and his gaze swept over the crowd without a trace of fear. Instead, he let out a hoarse, eerie laugh, like the beating of a broken bellows: "Heh heh... A new sacrifice... has delivered itself to our doorstep..."
He suddenly raised the infant skull artifact in his hand, its eye sockets facing the crowd.
The evil runes carved on the ground suddenly burst forth with thick black light, and countless pairs of semi-transparent gray-black arms formed from resentment burst out of the ground from the black light, emitting a shrill shriek, and densely grabbing at everyone's ankles!
"Be careful!" Mo Yun shouted sharply, and the exorcising talisman in his hand shot out, exploding with golden light and burning the arms of several vengeful spirits into green smoke.
Shen Yunzhou reacted with lightning speed. With a flash of his sword, a chilling sword aura descended like a sudden icy tide, instantly freezing and shattering the resentful arm that was reaching for him. He moved swiftly, already positioned to protect Fang Li's left front, his sword curtain like a waterfall, deflecting the incoming attack.
Ji Qianqiu roared, neither dodging nor avoiding, his muscles bulging beneath his black martial attire. He unleashed a punch, the powerful force instantly shattering several resentful arms into black smoke. He then swung his fists repeatedly, the wind howling as he used pure strength to directly confront the resentful energy. With a single step, the ground trembled slightly as he pressed towards the demonic cultivator.
Xie Chen moved lightly, dodging the grabs, and several jade talismans popped out from his sleeve, landing precisely at the feet of Fang Li and the others around him, forming a small protective aura: "Junior sister, please guard the array eye for now, and don't let the resentment disturb it." He spoke quickly, and at the same time, his hands formed a hand seal, and a calming and soothing spell spread out, slightly dispelling the disturbing wailing and ghostly cries.
Fang Li immediately understood, steadied her mind, and channeled her spiritual energy into the jade talisman beneath her feet. The pale golden light expanded, blocking the approaching arm of resentment. She focused her consciousness intently, maintaining her defense while vigilantly observing the entire scene, paying particular attention to the demonic cultivator's actions.
Only Tongzi was still screaming: [“So many hands! I’m having trypophobia! Host, run! This dungeon level is too high! Let’s leave the group! (Д≡Д)”]
Fang Li suppressed the turmoil in her mind and cried out to the system, "System! Scan that man in black robes!"
[Aww—! The visual impact is too strong, host! This smell is making my database malfunction... Wait, let me analyze! The black-robed man is a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, and his energy fluctuations are of the same origin as the child's soul damage! The skull in his hand is the core of the array, currently drawing spiritual energy from the earth's veins and... Oh my god, there's a survivor behind the third prayer flag on the right!]
Fang Li turned her head sharply and saw a small, bluish-purple hand peeking out from behind the human skin banner, its fingertips still twitching slightly.
"The prayer flag on the right!" she shouted sharply. "There are children alive!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Fang Li made a hand seal, and green vines grew wildly from her sleeves, shooting straight at the prayer flag on the right! The vines wrapped around the child's waist and pulled him back sharply. It turned out to be a five or six-year-old boy with his eyes closed and his breath weak. There was also an evil talisman that absorbed life force stuck to his chest.
The man in black robes laughed even louder when he saw his attack miss: "You've ruined my formation... so I'll use your souls to fix it!"
The skeletal artifact suddenly exploded with blinding evil light, causing the entire mortuary to shake violently! More vengeful spirits tore through the ground, and the corpses within the formation began to writhe and crawl, twisting and lunging forward!
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