Above and Underground

Wu Gou and Jian Huaishuang also let loose, and as the three of them went all out, the number of hundred corpse patchwork began to decrease sharply.

However, the speed at which they emerged only grew faster.

From those small caves, new hundred corpse patchwork crawled out almost every second.

They stood up wobbling and charged toward the group, only to be killed and turned into marks, from which new ones would immediately crawl out.

The gray-green filth in the Earth Dissolving Cave became more prevalent, and the smell of rot grew stronger.

Countless little demons were crying.

"It's over... it's over... the Earth Dissolving Cave is finished..."

"Run... let's run..."

Scorpion Demon turned back and glared at them fiercely. "Run? Run where?"

The little demons shrank back at his roar.

Growing anxious, Scorpion Demon grabbed a little demon who was trying to run in the opposite direction and hoisted him up.

"That way is full of hundred corpse patchwork, do you want to die?"

The little demon shivered at his shout, looking at him with tearful eyes.

Scorpion Demon threw him to the ground. "That way! Follow that big rat and run!"

The little demon scrambled toward Plague Rat's direction.

Scorpion Demon then went to grab another.

He cursed even as he worked.

"You little brats, do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Haven't you seen hundred corpse patchwork before? Don't you know how terrifying those things are?"

"Running around blindly now is just seeking death! Anyone who wants to live, run that way for me!"

The little demons were stunned by his shouting, but they indeed did not dare to run aimlessly anymore, obediently heading toward Plague Rat.

Scorpion Demon panted heavily and turned to look the other way.

Several more little demons were hiding in a rock crevice, trembling and afraid to come out.

Scorpion Demon walked over, squatted down, and looked at them.

"Come out."

The little demons shook their heads, shrinking deeper into the crack.

Scorpion Demon took a deep breath and then erupted into curses.

"Are you coming out or not? If you don't, I'll drag you out and throw you to the hundred corpse patchwork!"

The little demons screamed in terror, but they still didn't dare to move.

Scorpion Demon reached inside, grabbed one, and yanked him out.

"Run!"

He tossed the little demon onto the ground; the creature froze for a moment before scrambling away.

Scorpion Demon repeated the process, dragging the remaining few out and driving them all toward Plague Rat.

After finishing this, he slumped to the ground in exhaustion, gasping for air.

The wound on his leg throbbed with even greater intensity, making him hiss in pain.

But he glanced at the back of the black-robed figure in the distance, gritted his teeth, and stood up again to continue herding the stray demons.

At the tunnel entrance, the severed arm had retracted, and soon another complete arm squeezed its way out.

Chen Zhou looked up at the thing.

His Ghost Domain sensed that the main body of the creature was on the other side of the crack.

It was larger than he had imagined.

Wu Gou looked up. "Holy shit, this thing isn't even done coming out yet?"

Plague Rat also looked up, his face turning green. "My Lord, what is the cultivation of this thing? Lord Rat is only at the third transformation of Eerification, I can't quite tell."

Chen Zhou said, "Seventh-stage."

Plague Rat breathed a sigh of relief. "That's not so bad then, it's lower than the Lord..."

Chen Zhou added, "But its main body hasn't come out yet."

Plague Rat went silent.

Wu Gou went silent.

Chen Zhou asked, "What's with those expressions? Do you have so little faith in me?"

The hundred corpse patchwork continued to pour out incessantly; Wu Gou, Plague Rat, and Jian Huaishuang put forth their full strength to herd them into one spot before concentrating their efforts to destroy them.

Meanwhile, the large one was almost out; after half its chest emerged, the other half followed.

Plague Rat walked over, panting. "My Lord, are we not leaving yet?"

Chen Zhou asked, "Leave? To where?"

Plague Rat was stunned. "There are too many Sticky Clumps, and that giant thing is about to come out. The Earth Dissolving Cave is so small; if a real fight breaks out, won't it collapse?"

Chen Zhou nodded. "You're right."

He looked at Wu Gou. "Wu Gou, have Diting open a path and take the little demons up first."

Wu Gou nodded and summoned Diting.

A giant worm burrowed out from the ground, opening its mouth to suck a large group of little demons into its maw lined with spiral teeth.

The little demons screamed in terror, struggling desperately.

Scorpion Demon slapped the head of the nearest little demon. "What are you screaming for? This is to save you!"

The little demons finally quieted down, lining up to float into Diting's mouth.

After swallowing everyone, Diting dived back into the earth and vanished.

Once everyone had gone up, Chen Zhou set a fire in the depths; the flames grew increasingly fierce, swallowing the entire Earth Dissolving Cave along with a massive number of hundred corpse patchwork.

Amidst the crackling of the Hatred Fire, Chen Zhou felt as if he could vaguely hear a few faint cries.

Over and over again.

He didn't know whose name they were calling.

By the time Chen Zhou emerged from the ground, the outside was already a chaotic mess.

The little demons had been spat out by Diting and were scattered everywhere; some were sprawled on the ground retching, some were clutching their heads and trembling, and others were looking around with faces full of terror.

Scorpion Demon stood at the front, directing the little demons to run further away while looking back at the ground, fearing that the giant creature would catch up.

Seeing Chen Zhou emerge, his eyes lit up, and he hurried over. "My Lord, are you all right?"

Chen Zhou shook his head and looked around.

He discovered that the marks on the ground were also continuously spawning hundred corpse patchwork; some were large, some small, some resembled humans, some looked like beasts, and others had no form at all, appearing only as clumps of rotting meat writhing on the ground.

They were swarming toward them; though they weren't fast, their numbers were immense.

Chen Zhou did a rough count—there were at least ten thousand of them.

Wu Gou's expression was grim. "My Lord, what do we do?"

Chen Zhou didn't speak; he simply looked at Plague Rat.

Plague Rat understood and nodded.

He released Great Plague Heaven, and dark green mist surged out wildly, spreading in all directions.

Wherever the mist passed, the bodies of the hundred corpse patchwork began to fester, pustules burst, and flesh fell away.

But they didn't stop; they continued to walk forward, rotting even as they moved, each step leaving a smoking footprint on the ground.

Then, human-face sores began to grow on their bodies.

Densely packed human-face sores sprouted from various parts of the hundred corpse patchwork; every face was contorted, screaming and shrieking in different voices.

Then, they collapsed one by one.

Plague Rat retracted the mist and panted heavily, grinning at Chen Zhou. "My Lord, it's done."

Chen Zhou nodded and looked into the distance.

There, a massive figure was approaching; it was the main body of the arm from the underground.

A giant hundred corpse patchwork over a hundred feet tall.

Its gray-green body was so rotten it was barely humanoid.

One of its arms was missing, with pus still dripping from the stump, while the other arm dragged on the ground, plowing a deep trench with every step.

It walked until it reached Chen Zhou and stopped, standing like a mountain of rotting meat.

Chen Zhou stood before it and looked up.

The creature also lowered its head to look at him.

The monster had no eyes; where the sockets should have been, there were only two clumps of murky, yellow-green pus.