72: Chapter 72 Centipede Plague, Strange Human Figure

They had been running for who knows how long.

The rustling sound behind them persisted, neither near nor far, neither closing in nor being shaken off.

But gradually, they sensed something was wrong.

"Something doesn't seem right. How long have we been running? Why haven't we reached that big door from earlier?" Ye Xing was the first to voice his doubts.

"There is indeed a problem; that passage earlier was only about two hundred meters long."

"But we have already run at least two times that distance," Cao Hua said.

"So, have we encountered a Ghost Wall?" Tang Xiao's voice carried an uncontrollable tremor.

For a girl, so many bugs were truly terrifying.

Moreover, it seemed they were now trapped and unable to escape.

Su Chen looked around calmly.

Then, he drew his black gold ancient blade and sliced his palm.

Fresh blood gushed out instantly.

He used his Extraordinarily Long Two Fingers to dip into the blood and flicked a drop in one direction.

The next second, the darkness in front of them seemed to be torn apart from the middle by something.

When they looked up again, that white jade door was just over a dozen meters in front of them.

"It really was a Ghost Wall. The door is so close, yet we didn't see it at all just now," Wang Yi said helplessly.

The group hurriedly pushed open the door and ran out.

However, when they arrived at the main hall in front, they were shocked to discover that it, too, had changed.

The originally pitch-black hall now had a bit of light.

That light came from the vaulted ceiling above.

They looked up and saw a five-star ten-diagram pattern shimmering on the vaulted ceiling.

It was composed of countless glowing spots flickering with a ghostly green light.

It looked like fireflies.

Just then, a few scattered spots of light fell down from above.

One of them landed right on Tang Xiao's shoulder.

She instinctively turned her head to look and saw that it was a House Centipede on her shoulder.

Instantly, her whole body stiffened, and a scream was stuck in her throat.

Su Chen quickly moved to her side and, with a gentle flick of his slender fingers, knocked the House Centipede off her shoulder.

At the same time, the others also became panicked.

Their bodies were trembling uncontrollably.

Looking closely, they saw that several House Centipedes had also fallen onto their heads and bodies.

"Everyone, be careful! Do not let these things crawl into your ears. Otherwise, they will crawl all the way into your brain, and you will surely die," Su Chen warned loudly.

"Ahhh! Su Chen, why didn't you say so earlier? My ears feel itchy now; could a bug have already crawled inside?" Cao Hua's body trembled even more violently.

At a glance, it looked like he had been electrocuted.

"Oh, give it a rest. Your ears are probably just itchy because of earwax," Wang Yi didn't forget to tease him even at this moment.

Watching the bugs falling continuously, Su Chen frowned.

He turned around and quickly went to a lamp slave, pulled out a lighter, and with a swish, ignited the oil wick in the center of the lamp slave.

"Cao Hua, light the lamp slave over there too! These bugs like warmth!" Su Chen reminded him.

Cao Hua reacted immediately and hurriedly ran to the lamp slave on the other side.

At the same time, Su Chen also lit the two lamp slaves in front.

Sure enough, the bugs that had fallen to the ground all crawled toward the light of the fire.

Soon, the sound of crackling and burning came from the oil lamps.

The air was filled with a charred smell.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That scared me to death. These bugs may look small and insignificant, but their lethality is truly not small."

"I still feel like my ears are itchy; I keep feeling like they crawled inside," Cao Hua said, still shaken.

"It's a good thing Su Chen thought of lighting the lamp slaves; otherwise, we would have been in such a pathetic state," Wang Yi shook his head helplessly.

"But didn't Su Chen just say that the heat from the oil lamps might melt the ice layer and that there was a risk of collapse here?" Ye Xing asked worriedly.

"At a time like this, we can't worry about that much. Besides, we are about to leave, and this short amount of time won't be enough to cause the entire hall to collapse," Su Chen explained.

"I can't take it anymore. As someone who is afraid of creepy-crawlies, I can't handle this scene at all; I already feel itchy all over."

"Wuwuwu, I am most afraid of bugs, especially these multi-legged ones. Imagining myself in their shoes makes me feel like I'm about to faint."

"Just thinking about how the ceiling is covered in dense swarms of House Centipedes, I feel like this place is simply hell."

"Su Chen and the others have it so tough, and Tang Xiao is just a girl having to go through this. I can't even imagine the extent of her psychological trauma!"

"Hearing this crackling sound, I feel like I can smell the scent of burning bugs. Bugs are just bugs, with absolutely no intelligence. Isn't this just like a moth to a flame, seeking their own death?"

The most urgent task was to leave this place of trouble immediately.

Su Chen had been somewhat puzzled before; they had already entered the palace, so why hadn't the system's reward arrived yet?

At the time, he just assumed they had entered the Funerary Mausoleum, not the real Cloud Top Palace.

Now it seems that all of this is fake.

There were signs from the very beginning.

"Let's go, we need to leave here quickly. These lamp slaves can only attract these bugs for a short time."

"Once more and more bugs fall, it will be inevitable that we become their targets again."

These bugs like warmth, but the human body also has warmth.

It's just that because there are few bugs right now, they are all attracted to the firelight.

Once more and more bugs enter the lamp slaves, the others will still turn and crawl onto them, making it impossible to defend against.

Everyone nodded and hurriedly followed in Su Chen's footsteps as they headed out.

However, after walking just two steps, Su Chen stopped.

His gaze was fixed intently on the front.

The others also stopped, following Su Chen's lead.

"What's wrong?" Tang Xiao asked cautiously.

At the same time, everyone's gaze followed the direction Su Chen was looking.

At this sight, they were all stunned.

They saw that behind a lamp slave at the very front stood an eerie human figure.

The figure was leaning against the lamp slave in a strange posture, its neck stretched out long, close to the flame.

What made them feel most terrified was the height of this figure.

It was at least over two meters tall, completely exceeding the height of a normal person.

Of course, it could not be ruled out that the light and shadow had elongated its form.

But regardless, its posture was very strange!

"What the hell is this thing?"

"Is it a ghost?" Cao Hua whispered.

At this moment, Wang Yi quietly took out his compass, and in his other hand, he had already prepared a Talisman.

He was in a posture ready to have a big fight with the opponent.

Everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at that eerie figure.

"What should we do? Should we attack? Should we strike first?" Cao Hua asked.