Chapter Fourteen - The Cemetery at East Hill

Chapter 14 – The East Ridge Graveyard

Xiao Xianyu watched as the Decayed Wood Taoist concealed himself behind a towering pine tree, and thereafter, waited in silent anticipation. Xiao Xianyu narrowed his eyes and surveyed his surroundings; all was hushed, save for the low hum of night insects.

After a short while, even the insects' calls abruptly ceased. Xiao Xianyu’s heart tightened. He thought to himself, “It seems the real adversary is about to appear.”

He immediately turned his gaze to the Decayed Wood Taoist, only to see that the Taoist’s figure had grown indistinct, almost blending entirely with the pine tree.

Then, a mound of earth a few paces before the Taoist began to rise, swelling larger by the moment. At the crest of the mound, the earth split open, and clusters of black objects crawled forth from the fissure, dispersing in all directions.

Xiao Xianyu frowned at the sight, for he saw clearly that these black things were none other than corpse-devouring bugs.

Suddenly, the mound exploded with a thunderous sound, and a cloud of black smoke erupted from within. Yet, instead of dissipating, the black mist twisted and writhed through the air.

At that moment, the corpse-devouring bugs converged upon the cloud, quickly forming a humanoid shape. Around this monstrous figure, a dense aura of corpse energy spread; dark clouds gathered overhead, and the temperature across the East Ridge Graveyard plummeted by dozens of degrees. Frost even formed upon the blades of grass.

Xiao Xianyu mused, “So, these corpse-devouring bugs are spawned by this creature. Judging by its aura, it has already become a force to be reckoned with! No wonder the Decayed Wood Taoist is so wary!”

Once the creature had assumed its human form, it drifted to the highest burial mound, raising its gaze to the heavens.

The clouds above began to swirl, forming a vast vortex, from which a thick column of black smoke extended toward the earth.

Xiao Xianyu frowned, thinking, “This is bad. The monster is now absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and it seems poised to ascend to a new level. If I don’t intervene now, it will only become harder to deal with.”

He was about to act, but then reconsidered, “If I can see this so readily, Decayed Wood Taoist surely has noticed as well.”

“He has not moved yet; there must be another reason. I should wait a bit longer!”

As expected, no sooner had this thought appeared than he saw the Decayed Wood Taoist emerge from behind the pine, striking at the column of black smoke with a palm.

A transparent wave of spiritual energy struck the pillar of black mist, and with a loud crash, the column dissolved.

“Ah-woo!”

The monster turned toward the Decayed Wood Taoist, emitting a piercing screech. Or rather, it seemed to “look” at him, for where its eyes should be burned two flames of red light.

The beams of red light locked onto the Decayed Wood Taoist.

The creature then rushed directly at him. Midway through, it transformed into a beast with a gaping maw, spewing forth a torrent formed of corpse-devouring bugs.

Anticipating this, the Decayed Wood Taoist was covered in a crimson shield of light; as the bugs crashed into it, they were repelled in all directions.

Yet, the bugs did not vanish, instead returning to the monster’s body.

The Taoist then struck at the creature with a palm. The monster’s form wavered, but it suffered no real harm.

Clearly, the monster was enraged by the Taoist’s intervention, howling and roaring as if it wished to tear him apart.

Unfortunately, its current strength was insufficient for such a feat.

The Decayed Wood Taoist, though unable to slay the creature outright, was more than capable of restraining it. For him, holding it back was already a victory.

Xiao Xianyu saw that the monster desperately wanted to devour the black mist gathering above.

But with the Taoist present, doing so was nigh impossible.

The Taoist kept circling the creature, while it refused to leave its burial mound.

Xiao Xianyu understood the Taoist’s strategy: he had calculated that the creature would attempt to ascend at midnight, and came to prevent it.

If the monster was restrained, it could not ascend, nor overcome the Taoist, and the villagers would be safe.

Yet Xiao Xianyu felt matters were not so simple. Judging from their prolonged struggle, this situation had lasted a long while.

If the monster had made preparations, the Taoist’s position might not be so secure.

He pondered, “Since the Taoist sought me as an ally, might the monster also have summoned assistance?”

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Xiao Xianyu noticed two shadowy figures stealthily approaching the Taoist from the periphery.

Judging by their aura, they were steeped in malevolent energy.

“It seems the monster really did find help! And their concealment is even more thorough than the Taoist’s!” he reflected.

A more dangerous thought arose: had they already discovered him?

Xiao Xianyu quickly glanced behind himself, seeing that one shadow was already less than two paces away.

The shadow’s evil aura, previously suppressed, suddenly surged, bearing down upon Xiao Xianyu.

The impact shook him, but he quickly steadied himself, focusing his mind.

At that moment, the shadowless black sword appeared at his side, shooting straight at the shadow.

With a swift whistle, the sword pierced the shadow clean through.

The shadow had no time to realize what had happened before its life was extinguished.

Xiao Xianyu then took the black gourd from his waist and aimed it at the fallen shadow, which transformed into black mist and was drawn into the gourd.

Though it seemed long in the telling, all this transpired in mere moments.

After finishing, Xiao Xianyu looked again toward the Taoist and the monster.

By now, the two shadowy figures had crept behind the Decayed Wood Taoist, poised to strike.

Xiao Xianyu thought anxiously, “This is bad—has the Taoist noticed them?”

He hesitated, wondering if he should intervene, when he saw the Taoist subtly shake his hand in Xiao Xianyu’s direction.

Had he not been watching closely, Xiao Xianyu might have missed the signal entirely.

Upon seeing it, his heart eased. He thought, “So, the Taoist has already spotted these two shadows. He won’t be caught off guard!”