446: Not a living person, but a ghost soldier passing through? (Two in one)

The smell of blood in the air instantly thickened.

“Ach—choo…”

The suddenly intensified bloody smell quickly reached a choking level, causing Lin Yang and Que Tian to both sneeze uncontrollably.

Blood continued to seep from underground to the surface.

From a slow trickle at first, it quickly turned into flowing blood, gushing outwards.

In a flash, it converged into streams of blood.

“What the hell is this?! How much blood is underground?!”

Que Tian yelled in horror, covering his nose. The depression he had stepped into was already filled with blood.

From the cracks in the ground, crimson blood spurted out like springs.

Whoosh.

The next moment, Lin Yang pulled Que Tian, and they ascended directly into the air on their hovercraft.

The ground was already saturated with blood, leaving no place to land.

Lin Yang’s expression was extremely grave. He silently asked the System, “Can you analyze the composition of this blood? See if it’s human or from other creatures?”

“Okay, Host, please wait.”

The System immediately responded and quickly provided the analysis results.

“Host, this blood contains some unknown special components, differing from normal human blood. Aside from these unknown special components, it has an eighty percent similarity to human blood overall.”

“Eighty percent similarity? Then it can basically be determined to be human blood, right?” Lin Yang frowned deeply.

“Host, it can tentatively be determined as such.” The System replied.

“What are those unknown special components? Even you don’t know?” Lin Yang asked again.

For the System to say ‘unknown’ was quite astonishing.

“Host, regarding the Unknown Space and the conditions inside this ruin, the System needs to upgrade and unlock the corresponding information modules. After upgrading and unlocking, the System should be able to precisely identify what those unknown special components are.”

The System answered thus.

“This… Alright.” Lin Yang was momentarily speechless.

The information module for the Unknown Space was of an extremely high level.

The System had mentioned before that to unlock the Unknown Space’s information module, it needed to enter a dormant upgrade state, and it couldn't provide an approximate time for the upgrade.

The current situation was not suitable for the System to enter a dormant upgrade.

Although the System hadn't unlocked the information module here and couldn't provide more specific information about the Unknown Space, its other functions could still be used as usual.

Upgrading and unlocking modules would have to wait until after they left the Unknown Space.

“So much blood, and it’s all human blood…”

Lin Yang looked around; the entire ground as far as his eyes could see was crimson.

He couldn't imagine how much blood had gathered underground.

“Was it the Mingye Clan who killed these people?” Lin Yang couldn't help but wonder.

But then he felt it was unlikely.

How many people would have to be killed to create such a scene?

“Leader, look, the blood is seeping back down.”

Que Tian, seeing Lin Yang lost in thought, spoke up to remind him.

After they left the ground, the blood on the surface began to flow back underground.

In a matter of seconds, the ground returned to the reddish-brown appearance it had when they first landed.

Lin Yang’s eyes narrowed at the sight. He suddenly said, “Que Tian, what if this reddish-brown ground is actually like this because it’s been soaked by the underground blood for years and years?”

“Huh?” Que Tian was startled.

Lin Yang then landed again, carefully observed the soil, and picked up a small pinch to smell it.

Deep reddish-brown, still carrying the smell of blood.

“This color feels like it’s been thoroughly stained by blood, then exposed to countless winds and sun, causing the surface to appear reddish-brown.”

Lin Yang said, simultaneously collecting a small amount of reddish-brown soil as a sample.

After he said this, Que Tian’s expression changed. “If that’s the case, then the blood underground shouldn’t be recent. To saturate the entire ground to this extent, even several years might not be enough.”

As he spoke, he also prepared to collect some soil.

But before Que Tian could reach it, blood began to seep out from underground again.

Que Tian’s hand, still some distance from the ground, instantly recoiled in fright.

Then, the two were forced to use their hovercraft to ascend away from the ground again.

However, as the two ascended, the blood that had emerged on the ground once again receded back underground.

“This…”

Que Tian couldn't help but look at Lin Yang. “Leader, this situation is a bit strange!”

Lin Yang nodded, understanding Que Tian’s implication, and immediately landed on the ground again.

Then, a magical, or rather, astonishing scene unfolded before them.

As soon as their feet touched the ground again, blood instantly gushed out from underground.

And this time, there was almost no delay.

As soon as they landed, blood began to emerge.

Whoosh.

The two ascended again.

The blood surging onto the ground instantly vanished back into the earth.

Lin Yang and Que Tian exchanged glances.

“Again!”

The next moment, the two, with unspoken understanding, landed again.

Hum.

Blood gushed out!

Whoosh.

The two ascended!

Hiss.

The blood disappeared.

“One more time!”

“…”

“…”

After more than a dozen times.

“It seems that as long as we step on the ground, blood will gush out.”

Lin Yang spoke.

After multiple experiments, it was now confirmed that as long as he and Que Tian stepped on the ground, the underground blood would instantly surge forth.

During this time, they tried different locations, but no matter where they landed, as long as they attempted to touch down, the situation would be the same.

And unlike their first landing, where there was a slight buffer time before the blood appeared, now, as soon as their feet touched the ground, blood would gush out.

In fact, in the later attempts, even before their feet touched the ground, as long as they approached the ground to a certain distance, the blood would appear.

“Is it trying to stop us from landing?” Que Tian frowned, somewhat puzzled.

“I don’t know.”

Lin Yang shook his head.

The current situation was very strange.

“How about we take a risk and let the blood gush out, and see what happens if we stand in it?”

Que Tian suggested.

Lin Yang’s eyes flashed. He hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded. “Let’s try.”

“Leader, I’ll go first. Let’s not go together. Keep one person outside; if something goes wrong, they can help.” Que Tian added.

“Okay.” Lin Yang agreed.

Although he didn’t sense any danger from the blood, it was always better to be safe.

The next moment, Que Tian descended directly.

As he approached the ground to a certain distance, blood began to gush out.

Que Tian slightly decelerated, intending to land at the risk of being soaked in blood.

But, in an instant.

Que Tian’s face suddenly changed dramatically, as if he had experienced something terrifying. He abruptly accelerated, instantly ascended, moved away from the ground, and returned to Lin Yang’s side.

“Leader, no, those bloodstains don’t look dangerous, but they are extremely corrosive. As soon as I got close, a single splash of blood almost ruined my hovercraft.”

Que Tian said with lingering fear.

A noticeable damage appeared on his hovercraft.

Lin Yang’s expression was solemn.

He had naturally witnessed what just happened.

When Que Tian attempted to land, the blood gushing from the ground rose slightly, and a single drop splashed onto the hovercraft. The hovercraft was immediately corroded, leaving a damaged area.

One must know that the material of this hovercraft was the same as that of a Level 9 battleship!

Yet, just a single splash of blood directly corroded a damaged area on the bottom of the hovercraft.

This was terrifying! “With such strong corrosiveness, if we were to touch the blood, we’d probably be corroded to nothing, not even bones left, within seconds.”

Lin Yang’s expression was grave.

Their flesh and blood bodies were not as sturdy as the hovercraft’s material.

If even the hovercraft was instantly corroded, one could imagine what would happen if a person touched the blood.

Even with their single-person combat suits on, they would probably only last a few more seconds at most.

“Such terrifying corrosiveness, yet the ground seems unaffected. That’s truly strange.” Que Tian looked at the ground and muttered.

Lin Yang nodded. “It is very unusual.”

The blood possessed such terrifying corrosive power, yet after it emerged from the ground, the ground showed no abnormalities.

This was indeed very peculiar.

Immediately, he looked up at the Stone Statue’s giant palm that was about to descend and said, “Let’s go for now. There’s no Mingye Clan base underground on this planet.”

While asking the System to analyze the blood components earlier, he had also asked the System to check for a base.

There was no base on this planet.

“Okay.” Que Tian nodded, somewhat regretting not getting a soil sample.

“I’ll give you some of mine.” Lin Yang said.

“Never mind, Leader. You only got a tiny pinch just now. If you share it with me, the sample will be too small to detect anything. Just tell me what results you get from your analysis later.” Que Tian shook his head.

“Alright then.” Lin Yang nodded.

He had indeed only managed to get a tiny bit of soil before the blood started gushing out, leaving no opportunity to get more samples.

Subsequently, Lin Yang changed direction, preparing to leave this planet with Que Tian.

Suddenly.

“Whoosh whoosh…”

“Whoosh…”

“Whoosh whoosh…”

A fierce wind rose, carrying wailing sounds from the horizon.

Instantly, sand flew and stones rolled, the sky turned yellow and the earth bleak.

Lin Yang and Que Tian’s vision was instantly filled with a grayish-yellow color, unable to see the sky or the ground.

“Leader, what a strong wind! I can’t see anything. Can you hear me talking?”

Que Tian shouted, his voice swallowed by the howling and wailing gale.

Lin Yang could only vaguely hear Que Tian’s voice. Even though they were only separated by one body length, he couldn't see the other’s figure at all.

Even their hovercraft was swaying precariously in the strong wind.

“Que Tian, don’t move! Maintain your hover!”

Lin Yang didn’t care if Que Tian could hear him; he only had time to give a quick instruction before feeling himself being swept backward a distance by the strong wind.

Even the hovercraft’s power couldn’t resist this sudden gale.

His vision was even more blurred.

He couldn’t even see things within half a meter!

Yet, even in such blurry visibility, Lin Yang strangely could see the Stone Statue’s giant palm already nearing his head.

The enormous Stone Statue’s palm appeared incredibly clear amidst the vast, yellow, raging wind.

“Oh no.”

Lin Yang’s heart tightened.

This sudden gale had delayed their escape; they were about to be caught by the Stone Statue’s palm!

Seeing the Stone Statue’s huge hand getting closer and closer, Lin Yang urged the hovercraft, attempting to escape.

But under the strong wind, the hovercraft was useless.

“Where did this demonic wind come from?!”

Lin Yang growled, wanting the System to initiate a jump, but then he hesitated, thinking of Que Tian.

If he initiated a jump now, Que Tian would surely not escape and would die here.

“System, can you warp both Que Tian and me out separately under these circumstances?” Lin Yang urgently asked.

The System had previously said that as long as Que Tian was within one body length of him, he could take Que Tian with him during a jump.

But now, he had been swept backward a distance by the strong wind, and Que Tian was likely in a similar situation. Their distance was probably quite far now, and he didn't know if the System could still perform a jump.

“Host, the Sys…”

The System was about to answer, but Lin Yang suddenly stiffened, staring straight ahead, not even paying attention to what the System was saying.

At this moment, the Stone Statue’s giant palm above was already close, but within Lin Yang’s vision, a 隊 of armored warriors appeared, charging madly towards him.

These warriors wore strangely shaped armor, charging at him, their faces completely obscured.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

Waves of earth-shattering battle cries came from this warrior 隊.

The sound made Lin Yang’s eardrums ache.

He instinctively covered his ears, but the battle cries seemed to pierce directly through his soul, echoing in his mind.

Clang!

The warrior at the forefront of the 隊, holding a sharp blade, charged forward, reached him, and directly stabbed his body.

“I…”

Lin Yang instinctively wanted to exclaim.

But before he could even shout the word “damn”...

He saw the charging warrior, holding the sharp blade, pass directly through his body!

A hum!

Lin Yang instantly felt blood rush to his head and a chill down his spine.

“Did I just die?”

Lin Yang stared blankly at his abdomen.

Death came too suddenly; he was completely unprepared mentally!

But the next moment, his eyes changed!

Because.

He was unharmed!

The abdomen that had just been pierced by the sharp blade had no wound whatsoever!

Lin Yang incredulously touched his stomach again, feeling the warmth of his body.

A perfectly intact abdomen!

Not a single wound!

“This, this…”

Lin Yang was a bit bewildered.

He didn't know what was happening.

One second he clearly saw the charging warrior pierce his body with a sharp blade, but now he was perfectly fine!

Clang!

But, without giving him much time to think, the sound of a sharp blade piercing the void came again from his ear.

This time, it still passed through his body!

But what was different was that not only did the sharp blade pass through his body, but the charging warrior holding the sharp blade also passed through his body.

Thump thump thump!

As the warrior at the very front of the charge passed through Lin Yang’s body, the warriors in the 隊 behind, like ten thousand galloping horses, also successively passed through Lin Yang’s body and continued forward.

No, to be precise, they passed through Lin Yang’s body, appeared behind him, and continued to charge in another direction!

“This…”

Lin Yang was stunned for about two and a half seconds, then his whole body trembled.

He turned his head blankly, looking at the figures of those warriors charging into the distance!

In an instant, he understood something.

These warriors passed directly through his body!

And not in a tangible way!

That is to say, these warriors he saw might not be real!

They didn’t actually pierce his body; they were illusory, passing through him.

“They’re not living people?”

Lin Yang instinctively swallowed, some thoughts flashing through his mind.

He could feel the warmth of his body, so he should be truly alive.

And these warriors could pass directly through his body, so there was no doubt that these “people” he saw were not real people!

“Is it an illusion? Or have I encountered a ghostly procession?”

Lin Yang couldn’t help but think of some legends from his homeland on Blue Star.

A ghostly procession was one of those legends.

The current situation made him instinctively think of it.

Hum.

Still, without giving Lin Yang more time to think, a slight fluctuation came from above his head.

The Stone Statue’s giant palm was already nearing his forehead.

“System, can you take Que Tian with you to ju…”

Lin Yang instinctively spoke. He had been distracted by the sudden appearance of those warriors, who seemed like a ghostly procession, and hadn’t paid attention to what the System said. Now he asked again.

But his words were cut short.

His sentence abruptly stopped.

Lin Yang no longer cared about asking. Instead, he stared dumbfounded at the scene before him, his expression extremely strange.

He saw that the warriors who had passed through his body suddenly lined up neatly, abruptly turned around, and charged towards the Stone Statue’s giant palm.

“What… what exactly is going on??”

Lin Yang was bewildered.