343: Corpse Demon's true form, dragon-patterned chains

Ye Bai took some glutinous rice from his backpack and threw it toward the bone hands. As the glutinous rice landed on the bone hands, a sizzling sound erupted; the bone hands quickly retracted as if they had been scalded.

"glutinous rice can suppress these evil things. Everyone, be careful and follow me closely," Ye Bai said.

The three of them walked cautiously, trying their best to avoid areas where bone hands might appear. As they walked, they discovered a cave up ahead.

A faint light flickered inside the cave, accompanied by a low, humming sound.

"There is something inside. Should we go in and take a look?" Meng Ziyi asked.

"We've already come this far; there's no turning back," Ye Bai said as he walked toward the cave.

A mysterious aura permeated the cave, and the walls were covered with strange symbols and patterns. In the center of the cave was a massive Stone Platform, upon which sat a box emitting a five-colored glow.

"What is that? It looks very precious," Yang Mi said curiously.

Ye Bai was not deceived by the light; he alertly observed his surroundings.

Suddenly, he noticed some black shadows wriggling on the ceiling of the cave.

"Watch out above!" Ye Bai said.

Just as Ye Bai finished speaking, everyone immediately looked up. They saw the black shadows on the cave ceiling slowly converging as if they were alive, forming a massive black mass.

"What on earth is this thing?" Meng Ziyi's voice trembled slightly as she instinctively moved closer to Ye Bai.

"It looks like some kind of evil spirit. Everyone, don't panic."

While speaking, Ye Bai took several talisman papers from his backpack and distributed them to everyone. "Hold onto these; they might save your life at a critical moment."

Yang Mi gripped the talisman paper tightly, her eyes fixed on the black shadow. "Are we going to meet our end here? I haven't lived long enough yet. If I had known, I wouldn't have come on this trip."

"There's no use saying that now. Prepare for battle."

Ye Bai's expression was solemn; he knew that what they had encountered this time was definitely not simple.

At that moment, the black shadow suddenly attacked, and countless black tentacles reached out toward everyone.

Ye Bai quickly threw glutinous rice at the tentacles. The moment the glutinous rice touched the black shadow, bursts of green smoke rose, and the black shadow let out a sharp, miserable scream, but it did not stop its attack.

"This glutinous rice isn't enough. Everyone, attack together!" Ye Bai shouted.

Meng Ziyi and Yang Mi also summoned their courage and threw the glutinous rice in their hands at the black shadow one after another. Under the combined attack of the three, the black shadow was temporarily forced back.

"We need to find a way to leave this place quickly, or find a way to suppress it." Meng Ziyi looked around, trying to find clues.

Ye Bai appeared from seemingly nowhere, his gaze still cold. "This is a Corpse Xiao, formed from the condensation of countless resentments. Ordinary glutinous rice isn't very effective against it."

"Then what should we do?" Meng Ziyi asked anxiously.

"Find its true form. Usually, in places where these evil spirits gather, there will be a core object. Destroying it will eliminate the Corpse Xiao," Ye Bai said.

Everyone began searching the cave. By this time, the light in the cave grew even more intense, and the strange humming sound became louder. Around the Stone Platform, they discovered some ancient written records.

"These writings seem to mention something called a 'soul guiding stone.' Could it be related to the Corpse Xiao's true form?" Yang Mi said, pointing at the text on the Stone Platform.

Ye Bai looked closely, his brow furrowed. "It's possible. According to these records, the soul guiding stone can absorb resentment; it should be in the box on this Stone Platform."

"Then should we open the box?" Meng Ziyi hesitated.

"Don't be in a hurry; there might be a mechanism," Ye Bai said as he began to cautiously inspect the area around the Stone Platform.

Suddenly, he noticed something unusual. "Wait, look, there are footprints next to the Stone Platform."

Hearing this, the other two leaned in and indeed found several faint footprints. They followed the footprints, only to find that they actually extended to the deepest part of the cave, with no further trace beyond that.

Ye Bai crouched down and looked at the innermost part of the cave, his brow slightly furrowed. "The deepest part of the cave is empty."

The outermost layer of the cave was closed, so the inside being empty felt a bit strange to Ye Bai.

Just then, Ye Bai suddenly heard a hoarse and shrill cry coming from the cave.

That voice seemed to carry anger, yet it also seemed filled with fear.

Hearing this sound, everyone felt their skin crawl and their bodies break out in goosebumps.

"Run! There really is a monster inside the cave," Meng Ziyi said in a panic, grabbing Ye Bai's arm to pull him back.

But Ye Bai stood rooted to the spot, while the other two started running wildly.

Ye Bai didn't run because he knew that if he fled, the remaining two would surely die.

He drew the peach wood sword he carried with him and swung the blade fiercely. The blade cut through the air with a piercing whistle, slashing hard at the top of the cave.

A piece was sliced off the top of the cave, revealing the scene inside.

A shriveled and rotting Corpse lay prone in the cave, its eyes wide open and staring straight ahead. Blood flowed from its mouth, and its body was curled into a ball, appearing to be in extreme pain.

Ye Bai stepped forward and severed the Corpse's neck with a single strike. Instantly, that Corpse turned into flying ash.

This Corpse was precisely the target of their trip—the Corpse King. The zombies and Yin Spirits they had encountered before were all under the control of the Corpse King.

Only with the death of the Corpse King were they truly safe.

Seeing the Corpse turn to powder, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But then, they became worried again.

"What should we do? There was actually a Corpse King in this cave."

"The Corpse King's strength is extremely formidable. Although it's dead, its resentment hasn't dissipated. Our current state is too poor; it would have been very difficult to kill it."

Ye Bai's tone was heavy. "I suspect that soul guiding stone is buried within this cave. If I'm not mistaken, we only need to dig through the cave to retrieve the soul guiding stone."

"Dig open the cave?" Yang Mi's face was pale; this was much more difficult than climbing out.

"I'll do it," Ye Bai volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Yang Mi looked at him in surprise.

"Yes, trust me." Ye Bai nodded and then walked toward the other end of the Cave, his pace steady and firm.

Yang Mi watched his back, her eyes reflecting admiration.

This man was always so resilient and confident.

Ye Bai walked along the stone slab path until he finally discovered an iron door at the end.

Complex and profound patterns were carved on the iron door, with a Dragon coiled upon it, looking lifelike.

He tried to push open the iron door, which made a creaking sound as it slowly opened a gap.

"This is... chains?"

His pupils suddenly constricted. On the walls inside this door, there were actually countless chains hanging everywhere, at least a thousand or more by a rough estimate.

These chains were different from ordinary copper or iron locks; the material of each chain was different. Ye Bai looked at these chains, his eyes flashing with excitement; he seemed to have seen the gateway to a new world.