Chapter 362: White Walkers

Autumn rain carried a chilling cold. When it fell on one’s face, body, or arms, it would silently seep into the body, hard to shake off, eventually turning into shivers, then bone-piercing cold. Such was the chilling melody.

Xu Qing’s body trembled uncontrollably. He recalled the time when he was still at the scavenger camp, with Captain Lei in the forbidden jungle, seeing a pair of women’s boots walking through the blood mist.

At that time, as merely a Qi Cultivation rogue cultivator, he had felt a similar cold, one that froze his soul and sealed his body in ice.

Now, his cultivation was considerable, but the feeling was just the same.

The long, ethereal, and sinister operatic singing, as if the sound waves had materialized into a soul-snatching dirge, caused dozens among the more than a thousand cultivators around them to sway and directly fall from their positions.

They plunged towards the deep pit, disappearing into the darkness as if swallowed.

The remaining people’s minds were greatly shaken, and expressions of horror uncontrollably surfaced on their faces, because the operatic singing now had a tremor in it.

It was as if countless trembles were contained within each note, seemingly implying that the singer themselves was also afraid and fearful.

It was as if she was singing for the dead.

And throughout the deep pit, only this operatic singing echoed. Even if people blocked their hearing, it was useless; the sound would reverberate within their souls, transforming into an alien substance, growing within everyone's mind.

At that moment, as the alien substance within the deep pit continuously thickened, the operatic singing, however, strangely weakened, until it finally turned into a faint murmur and hum, appearing and disappearing.

Everyone let out a breath. But just then, another operatic voice suddenly emerged.

"In a past life, you didn't come. In the next, I am always here. Who clipped the threads of longing and painted whose dust..."

This time, the operatic singing was different from before. It wasn't as startling, nor as bleak and drawn-out. Clearly, it was a different singer. Yet it was even more sinister, causing everyone's minds to shake, and they all looked towards Xu Qing's area.

Because the sound was coming from there! Xu Qing suddenly turned his head, looking at Captain.

Captain's eyes widened as he stared at Xu Qing.

In Xu Qing's pupils, he saw his own spiritual reflection and a white-clad figure floating behind him.

The one singing was precisely the figure that had appeared behind Captain at some unknown time.

Captain narrowed his eyes, his expression ferocious. Another face appeared within the slits of his eyes, and an icy aura emanated from his entire body. He then bared his mouth wide, revealing his teeth, and suddenly turned his head behind him with a crunching sound, taking a massive bite.

The sound of teeth clashing spread in all directions, showing how fiercely he had bitten.

Yet, the operatic singing continued.

Only this time, it appeared behind another cultivator. That cultivator trembled, feeling an immense life-or-death crisis. Just as he was about to crush the teleportation jade slip in his hand, the next instant... his eyes showed confusion, operatic singing came from his mouth, and his expression also became ferocious.

Immediately after, his body rumbled, and the alien substance instantly exploded to its extreme, leading to a direct mutation!

His back instantly swelled with tumors, his arms became several times thicker, and bone spurs pierced through his flesh and clothes, tearing out.

His legs also thickened, and at the thigh area, they burst open, each growing seven or eight tentacles covered in bloody mucus. The biggest change was his head; his entire head... transformed into a gigantic blue eye.

With a blink of the eye, its figure suddenly vanished. When it reappeared, it was in front of a cultivator from a minor sect. That cultivator, also quite capable, immediately conjured a spell, causing flames to burn and suddenly engulf the surroundings.

But it was useless; a tentacle stretched out from within the flames, directly piercing the cultivator's mouth and surging inside.

The next moment, the cultivator let out a wailing, mournful sound. His body was lifted high, his abdomen continuously swelling, until with a loud bang, his belly burst open.

From the burst-open area, the tentacles that had extended into his body thrashed out, shaking continuously, sending flesh and blood flying.

This scene made everyone gasp.

Immediately after, the mutated cultivator swayed, displaying astonishing speed, and rushed towards another person. For a time, mournful screams echoed incessantly.

It appeared next to Xu Qing.

The moment it appeared, it raised its hands and lunged to embrace Xu Qing. A gaping maw appeared on its belly, intending to swallow him.

At the same time, as the danger within the deep pit became apparent, human selfishness was equally evident at this moment. Although there were clearly over a thousand people around, they didn't need to attack together. Even if seven or eight of them combined forces, no matter how fast the mutated cultivator was, it would be futile.

But everyone's thoughts were different. Many took advantage of the mutated cultivator attacking others, swaying their bodies and heading straight for the deeper parts of the pit, avoiding the immediate crisis.

There were many such people, several hundred in total. Others decisively crushed their jade slips, choosing to leave, unwilling to continue participating.

The scene was chaotic.

Xu Qing ignored these things. The moment the mutated cultivator lunged ferociously towards him, a cold light flashed in his eyes. He did not retreat but advanced, charging directly. In an instant, he neared the mutated cultivator and raised his right hand to deliver a punch.

The three Celestial Palaces within him erupted, and the Golden Crow manifested.

With a single punch, the mutated cultivator let out a mournful shriek, its body suddenly recoiling.

But before it could retreat far, an icy aura came from behind it. Captain's figure appeared silently. With a ghostly glow in his eyes, he directly seized the mutated cultivator's body, opened his mouth towards its blue eye, and took a bite.

A more mournful shriek emanated from the large mouth on the mutated cultivator's belly just as Xu Qing arrived and delivered another punch.

Finally, with a loud bang, the mutant's body directly exploded, shattering into pieces and scattering into the deep pit below.

At this moment, few cultivators remained here, only dozens. The others had either teleported away or had already ventured deeper below.

"Little A-Qing, let's split up. We need to hurry," Captain said, spitting to the side, looking as if it tasted bad.

Xu Qing nodded, and the two immediately plunged downwards.

Their speed was very fast. During their rapid descent, Xu Qing saw the disciples from various sects who had left earlier.

These people were now engaged in combat. Their opponents included the white figures that had just appeared, and the mutated cultivators formed after being possessed by these figures.

Their numbers were large, and most were locked in fierce battles.

And those who dared to come for this trial naturally possessed some capabilities. Thus, what Xu Qing saw along the way was mostly human victories.

However, there were also many disciples who didn't have time to teleport away and died here.

Obtaining this qualification was indeed extremely perilous.

Xu Qing flew onward, avoiding these conflicts. The further down he went, the denser the chilling cold in the deep pit became. The oppressive feeling also grew stronger, making it hard to breathe and causing his heart to race.

Eventually, he could hear his own heart pounding loudly, and his vision became blurry; he couldn't see very clearly.

It took a while to adjust. When he could finally see his surroundings clearly again, Xu Qing noticed that occasionally cave passages would appear in the mud walls. Clearly, this underground world didn't have just one path but many, like a labyrinth.

However, the stench of blood and decay did not lessen with the appearance of the passages; instead, it grew stronger.

Furthermore, of the fragments required to obtain the Sword Holder trial qualification, Xu Qing had not seen a single one so far.

He understood this was because too many people had left earlier. Naturally, all the fragments that could be easily taken from the places they passed through had already been collected.

Xu Qing pondered, looking around. His body swayed as he landed on a raised patch of dirt at the edge of the deep pit. Standing there, he looked up.

Faint sounds of combat came from above, and occasionally, drops of blood fell. Below, the chilling aura intensified, and the operatic singing remained faint and elusive.

As for Captain's figure, he was no longer there. The two had already agreed to act separately this time. After all, when searching for items, working separately was more efficient.

"I won't take other paths. I'll just follow this one to the deepest part," Xu Qing murmured.

Xu Qing lowered his head, leaping up, and continued to whistle downwards.

Ahead, there was a cave passage. A figure stood at its edge.

The figure was an old man, dressed in a black robe. No aura emanated from him. He seemed to merge with the surrounding darkness, making him easy to overlook.

His hands hung down. Upon closer inspection, one could notice that all ten fingers of his hands had long, sharp black nails.

He was facing away from Xu Qing, so his face could not be seen.

Only his body could be seen leaning slightly, as if listening intently to the operatic singing coming from the deep pit below.

However, in this ghostly cavern, the appearance of this figure would make anyone who saw him extremely wary.

Xu Qing gazed, his eyes first sweeping over the sinister figure. Then he looked at the dirt beside the figure, where three fragments were stuck in the mud!

These three fragments were exactly what Xu Qing needed.

Xu Qing pondered; he didn't believe no one had passed through this place. Yet the fragments were still there. From this, he could deduce that other disciples who had passed by either died or did not dare to act, thus being unable to retrieve the fragments.

Xu Qing thought for a moment, first checking his surroundings. After confirming there was no ambush, he sent a spiritual message to his shadow.

The next instant, the shadow extended from his body, quickly approached the old man listening to the opera, coiled around a fragment, and was about to pull it back.

But just then, the old man raised his hand and pressed it onto the fragment. The force was so great that the mud rumbled.

Then he turned his head, and an emotionless, ashen face came into Xu Qing's sight.

Like a zombie.

His hollow eyes emitted bursts of red light. At this moment, he was staring fixedly at Xu Qing. His lips gradually split open, revealing jagged teeth.

The next instant, his body swayed, and an aura of malevolent savagery erupted, rushing straight towards Xu Qing.

Especially the nails on his hands; as he approached, they seemed to tear through the void, emitting a sharp tearing sound as they lunged fiercely at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. The moment the putrid wind hit his face, he leaned his upper body back.

Watching the zombie old man's dark right hand whistle past in front of him, Xu Qing's body fell with the momentum, twisting his torso. His head was down, his right foot up. His entire cultivation erupted, and his physical strength converged in his right foot, which he savagely kicked towards the old man's chin!

The zombie old man's head twisted unnaturally with a crunch. His body was sent reeling dozens of meters away by Xu Qing's kick.

At the same time, the shadow swiftly coiled around the three fragments and rushed back to Xu Qing.

But the next instant, the zombie old man violently shook his head, twisting it back into place. Red light flared intensely in his eyes, and a monstrous malevolence surged forth. Alien substance erupted violently from his entire body.

Bestial roars emanated from his mouth, and his speed exploded as he lunged menacingly towards Xu Qing.

Instantly, he closed in, attempting to bite Xu Qing's neck.