Blood corpses were surrounded by a thin layer of blood mist. Through the mist, one could vaguely see the human silhouette still preserved, with its face largely decayed, eyes collapsed, nose gone, nails sharp and elongated, and leg bones twisted and skewed.
Sensing the opponent’s strength, Li Cheng’s expression turned solemn as he stood sideways in the middle of the corridor, his right hand lightly swirling a sword flower, orienting the straight, upright, and imposing Spine Sword diagonally towards the floor in front.
He slightly lifted his left hand, donning a pair of gloves made of fine metal rings taken out from the Backpack.
Prepared, Li Cheng’s cold eyes under the round-framed sunglasses stared dead ahead, his hand waving slightly to his companion with a serious yet calm tone, "Take little Feng and his family and retreat from the villa."
Considering the blood corpse’s state, it was highly doubtful that it had any conscious awareness, let alone recognizing its relatives from its life with shriveled eyeballs.
Even if it could recognize them, Li Cheng wouldn’t gamble—Who knows what kind of powers the so-called "Supreme Cave Destiny Changing Scripture" could endow a Resurrected Corpse with, maybe "each relative devoured increases its Strength by one unit".
Bai Zhi also thought of this and pulled the dazed Little Feng and his wife and children to run towards the back of the corridor.
Seemingly sensing its target escaping, the blood corpse dropped the nanny’s head, its body leaning forward and rushing forward wrapped in a gust of wind. Its speed was so fast that it almost turned into a blur in the sightline.
Li Cheng, standing sideways, felt his heart skip a beat. He pointed the toes of his right foot towards the ground, retreating to create distance and buying himself reaction time. His palm tightened around the handle, flicking upwards. The sharp blade, covered with a hint of cold light, slashed at the blood corpse’s extended claws. Read complete version only at nοvelfire.net
The blood corpse’s nails were harder than steel, and the intense vibration from the collision traveled up the sword blade to Li Cheng’s palm, causing a stinging pain.
In a life-and-death moment, even without hesitation, his expression remained calm. Stepping half a step forward to the left, shifting his body weight downward, he used the rebound force to pull back the sword, parrying the blood corpse’s right arm with the sword body to prevent it from scratching, while the sword tip stabbed downward towards the blood corpse’s ribs.
Wudang Sword Thirteen Forms, introductory stance.
The sharp sword tip, reinforced with Sword Qi, pierced into the tendons of the blood corpse exposed to the air, half of the sword tip disappearing from view. Li Cheng twisted his wrist, mangling the intestines inside the blood corpse’s abdomen, but the latter seemed unbothered, swiping its claw at the young man with sunglasses.
At the critical moment, Li Cheng decisively let go of the sword to avoid the blood corpse’s sweeping claws, activating the special effect of the metal glove on his left hand.
[Name: Attraction and Repulsion Gloves]
[Defensive power: Weak]
[Special Effect: Attraction and Repulsion. After binding an item of personal equipment, the gloves can release repulsive/attractive forces to push/pull that item. The strength and distance depend on the Spiritual Power Value consumed. Currently bound: Golden Scale Sword]
[Consumption: At least 20 Spiritual Power Points]
[Cooling Time: 2 seconds]
[Equipment conditions: Wearer has a physiological hand structure]
[note: "When magnets approach, they repel, and when they leave, they attract. Such is life, and so it is with you and me; why fuss about it so much?" "Is that your reason for placing magnets under the market scale? Drop dead!"]
The metal glove first released a repelling force, pushing the long sword through the body of the blood corpse, then switched to attracting force, allowing the sword to drift and slash open the blood corpse’s chest as the hand moved, creating a horrifying near-decapitation injury.
The resurrected corpse, having suffered severe damage, staggered and fell toward the left wall, as if losing its drive to move forward. However, a sense of ominous premonition blared in You’an Sword’s mind, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end; he didn’t continue the attack but instead used the glove’s special effect to retract the long sword.
The blood corpse’s left arm fused into the wall, spanning several meters, and reached out from the ceiling above You’an Sword’s head, heavily grasping towards his crown.
This strike was urgent and fast; You’an Sword barely leaned his upper body backward, swinging the sword to block, avoiding a fate of having his head split open. The price paid was the sword blade being pushed by the blood corpse’s left arm, chopping backward into You’an Sword’s own shoulder.
Worse, the blood corpse’s right arm had also fused into the wall, spanning a distance to emerge directly from behind You’an Sword, reaching for his heart as it had previously done when killing Zhao Xinglang.
A long-handled heavy sword, heavier than a person, chopped down close to the wall like a guillotine. Li Cheng acted swiftly, first using the 170 straight blade dropped by the mission’s good triangular head, severing the blood corpse’s right arm that emerged from the wall.
Then he sheathed the straight blade, grabbed You’an Sword’s neck with his left hand and flipped out the bat hook gun with his right, aiming at the window sill at the end of the corridor and pulling the trigger, firing the hook claw.
In artistic works, the hook gun could even pull an armored tank, let alone two individuals whose weight wasn’t much of an outlier. Driven by the electric winch, the steel cable of the bat gun fiercely wound and tightened, pulling Li Cheng and the other person out of the window and landing outside the main building of the villa.
Earlier, Bai Zhi had already sent the Feng family to the lawn outside the first floor, and now seeing Li Cheng and the other person escape, she didn’t hesitate to pull out the artillery launcher, pouring incendiary shells into the second-floor window of the villa.
The incendiary shells exploded in quick succession, emitting loud noises and flashes of light. The thunder in the sky over Wudun Town in the distance and the cries of baby Feng nearby responded to each other.
As the smoke and dust cleared, the figure of the blood corpse flashed past the ruined window. It seemed to have not sustained much damage, its cloudy eyes full of beast-like resentment towards the three players.
"Can’t this thing be killed?!"
You’an Sword pressed his wounded shoulder and, grimacing in pain, said, "Do you guys have any incendiary bottles? If not, let’s just burn this villa down. Then, while the smoke clears, try to find old Feng before he dies from suffocation or burning. There’s not much time left until the mission ends."
The objective of this mission was [Find Feng Youyun, Unravel the Truth of the Residence]. After obtaining the yellow paper fragments, the players should have unraveled the truth; all that remains is to find old Feng...
The only issue was that the villa was not too big, nor too small; where could old Feng hide?
Li Cheng casually took out the Healing Gel, sprayed it over You’an Sword’s shoulder, and then vaguely realized something. He looked around, and in a corner of the courtyard, he noticed the villa’s nanny who had died a long time ago, her body completely dissolved.
The image of her life was also in the backyard — originally diligently hanging clothes, her head was suddenly plucked off by invisible hands.
"What powerful invisible hands."
Li Cheng inhaled deeply, his hall of thoughts piecing all the clues together into a smooth chain of events and immediately stepping forward, under the astonished gazes of everyone, heading towards the villa’s front door, coming to... the pile of corpses of Zhao Xinglang which was there at the very beginning.
"If mortals encounter undue disasters or misfortune, seek a relative or friend with profound good fortune and rare life destiny, change their destiny, and extend their life."
Li Cheng looked at the remains on the ground, already devoid of any signs of life, squinting and asking, "A perfect plan, it’s just a pity there was a slight mishap. Right?