Volume Three: The Tomb of the Fox Immortal - Chapter Forty-Six: The Red-Haired Corpse Fiend

Xu Tian pressed his body tightly against the wall. Once the wave of heat completely vanished, he shouted "Old Liu" into the tunnel a few times before peering back and forth into the interior.

Right at that moment, Xu Tian heard a series of loud, booming sounds echoing from within the burial chamber.

Xu Tian turned his head toward the source of the sound, only to see the two stone coffins in the chamber shaking continuously, accompanied by a rhythmic pounding coming from inside them.

Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Xu Tian muttered inwardly, "Damn it, the things inside the coffins are about to rise. It seems something must have gone wrong over at Old Li's or Old Liu's end."

With that thought, Xu Tian hastily raised the Type 87 rifle slung across his waist and aimed it directly at the two stone coffins. He decided that the moment either coffin lid opened, regardless of the consequences, he would unleash a full magazine into them first.

At that exact moment, a crisp sound of footsteps echoed from the right-hand passageway. The instant Xu Tian heard those footsteps, he recognized them as the military boots worn by Li Kun.

Looking toward the sound, Xu Tian indeed saw Li Kun running out of the tunnel in a disheveled state, covered from head to toe in dust—looking as wretched as one possibly could.

Seeing Li Kun in such a condition, Xu Tian had no time for pleasantries and shouted, "Old Li, it's bad! The things in the coffins are about to rise!"

Hearing this, Li Kun felt his heart tighten. Damn it, how had they just escaped a wolf's den only to enter a tiger's lair? Li Kun yelled back, "What about Old Liu? Something must have gone wrong on his side!"

Before his voice had even faded, the two of them spotted a figure darting out from the tunnel, as Dagou came running for his life.

Seeing that only Dagou had emerged, the two men shouted in unison, "Dagou, where is Old Liu?"

With a weeping expression, Dagou looked at them and said, "The headless ghost came after me! Brother Liu is still behind. The corpses in the stone coffins have all risen; Brother Liu must have blown up the burial tunnel."

From Dagou's brief words, both men immediately understood what had happened. Each cursed inwardly—why did that headless ghost have to show up at such a crucial moment? Things were truly ruined now.

At that very instant, the three of them heard a loud, explosive crash from the two stone coffins inside the chamber. The lids of both coffins flew straight off, heavily slamming into the ground. Following that, they watched as the corpses inside both coffins stood up stiffly.

These two corpses looked completely identical, covered only by a few tattered white rags that barely concealed their upper bodies. Their forms were withered and extremely shriveled. However, what terrified the men was that the skin of these two corpses was pitch-black and gleamed brightly; when the flashlight beam shone upon them, a faint black radiance was actually visible.

Atop the heads of both corpses was a thick mass of long red hair that cascaded all the way down to their waists. Their eye sockets were deeply sunken, revealing a pair of pitch-black, hollow eyes that were currently staring fixedly at the three men in the chamber.

Just then, yet another figure came flying out at high speed from the left-hand tunnel.

Hearing the commotion and turning to look, the three men felt their hearts drop as they recognized me. Li Kun hurriedly shouted to me, "Old Liu, we're in trouble now! The corpses in the coffins have broken out!"

Hearing this, I didn't waste time thinking and turned my gaze toward the two stone coffins. We had originally expected these corpses to be ancient ones that hopped along by jumping. To our utter astonishment, however, the two corpses stood inside their coffins, bent their knees, and leaped upward. They soared more than two meters high out of the coffins before landing steadily on the ground.

Witnessing this, we were all profoundly shocked. The two corpses opened their wide mouths and let out a low, hoarse roar, sounding as though they had stones lodged in their throats.

The other three quickly ran to my side. Xu Tian asked, "Old Liu, what's going on? Why did the corpses in the coffins wake up?"

I cursed under my breath, "Damn it, it's all because of that headless ghost! Just as I was about to destroy the final rune carving, that bastard jumped out and grabbed my arm, which messed everything up. Fortunately, I blew up the tunnel; the two corpses on my side can't get out and are currently buried deep underground."

With that, Xu Tian and I both turned to look at Li Kun. Li Kun said, "I ran into some trouble; the rune carvings on the ground were covered with dirt. Later, I risked my life to condense the ghost Qi in my blood eyes and completely destroyed the burial chamber. Those two corpses were buried beneath the earth before they could even crawl out."

Hearing this, Xu Tian and I both wore looks of astonishment. At that moment, the two corpses were standing firmly right at the exit of the passageway, guarding it with absolute determination. From the look of it, they intended to hold the tunnel exit and block our escape, though they had not yet made any move to attack.

Both corpses stared straight ahead into the side tunnels, as if waiting for something.

Seeing that the two corpses showed no intention of attacking us and were merely guarding the tunnel, the few of us secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Kun pointed at the two corpses blocking the tunnel and said, "Old Liu, what on earth are these things? Why do I feel like they still have consciousness?"

I nodded, looked at the long red hair of the two corpses, and said, "These two are likely the red-haired corpse fiends raised by that wicked immortal. They are immensely powerful—it's no exaggeration to call them beings with copper skin and iron bones. I reckon your blood eyes won't be of much use against them. Look at the black sheen on their skin; that is death aura, comparable to the death aura in your blood eyes. If you attack them with your blood eyes, it will likely only make their strength surge even more."

Hearing my words, the expressions of the two men turned solemn. Xu Tian remarked, "Old Liu, do you think they're waiting for something? These two corpses keep watching the tunnel. Could it be that these red-haired corpse fiends are waiting for the corpses from the other two burial chambers so they can surround us from three sides and wipe us out?"

Li Kun countered, "No way, could these things be that smart? They know how to use tactics?"

Xu Tian replied, "That headless ghost had consciousness even after being dead for so many years. It's not strange for these corpses, raised by a fox immortal for so many years, to have consciousness as well."

Keeping my eyes on the two corpses, I dared not lower my guard. Yet, after observing them for quite a while, the two corpses still made no movement at all, continuing to stare blankly into the tunnel.

Seeing this, I softly suggested, "What do you think—could these two red-haired corpse fiends be specifically assigned to defend this tunnel, while the ones in the other two burial chambers are meant to attack us? Otherwise, why would they simply guard the passage instead of attacking us?"

Hearing my reasoning, both men blanked for a moment, then exchanged glances and nodded. I raised the Type 87 rifle slung across my chest, aimed it at the two red-haired corpse fiends, and pulled the trigger. A burst of gunfire flashed from the muzzle, and sparks actually flew across the bodies of the two red-haired corpse fiends as the bullets struck them and bounced harmlessly away.

I fired until the entire magazine was empty, then lowered the rifle to reload with a fresh magazine. We all stared intently at the two red-haired corpse fiends standing before us.

After my intense barrage of gunfire, the two red-haired corpse fiends merely turned their heads to look at me, but made no other move, remaining frozen in place as they watched us.

Seeing this, our hearts settled considerably. It seemed my deduction was indeed correct: these two creatures were meant for defense, while the other four red-haired corpse fiends were the ones tasked with attacking.

Li Kun nodded at me, preparing to step forward and test the waters. He slowly lifted his feet and walked cautiously toward the two red-haired corpse fiends. After taking a few steps, the two corpses still showed no reaction.

However, the moment Li Kun closed the distance to within three meters of the two red-haired corpse fiends, they suddenly snapped their heads toward him and let out a fierce roar. One of the red-haired corpse fiends parted its legs wide, leaned its torso slightly forward, and assumed a crouching posture, ready to leap into an attack.

Seeing this, Li Kun cursed loudly and quickly took several steps back. Yet, the instant Li Kun retreated, that red-haired corpse fiend abruptly retracted its stance.

Witnessing this, we all walked over to where Li Kun was. Li Kun cursed, "Damn it, these things are just like NPCs in a video game! As long as you don't get close, they won't attack you, but the moment you step forward, they pounce. Old Liu, what do we do now?"

Upon seeing this scene, I couldn't help but smile. "Since that's how it is, I have a plan."

With that, I drew the Soul-Slicing Blade from my robe, turned to Li Kun, and said, "Old Liu, you draw the attention of this red-haired corpse fiend, and I'll sneak up behind it to deliver the blade. I refuse to believe that no matter how tough this red-haired corpse fiend is, it can outmatch my Soul-Slicing Blade."

Hearing this, Li Kun took a deep breath, raised the Type 87 rifle in front of him, and Xu Tian cautioned from the side, "Old Liu, be careful. The strength of these red-haired corpse fiends is freakishly terrifying."

I nodded and replied, "Don't worry."

With a mutual glance between us, Li Kun raised his muzzle and began walking toward the red-haired corpse fiends while pulling the trigger.

The moment Li Kun closed in on the two red-haired corpse fiends, one of them let out a furious roar and lunged straight at him.

Seeing that the red-haired corpse fiend had indeed taken the bait, Li Kun swiveled his body and bolted to the left. Meanwhile, gripping the Soul-Slicing Blade, I slowly followed behind the corpse as it pursued Li Kun.

To our utter disbelief, however, the red-haired corpse fiend possessed astonishing speed. Finding that its initial pounce missed Li Kun, its legs flexed powerfully, and like a coiled spring, it hurled itself through the air toward Li Kun once more.

This time, it slammed solidly into Li Kun's body. Li Kun felt as though he had been hit in the lower back by a truck, and he let out a miserable shriek.

As Li Kun turned his head, he saw that after striking him, the red-haired corpse fiend had tumbled sideways as well. Seeing that Li Kun had fallen to the ground, the corpse opened its massive jaws wide and lunged to bite down directly on Li Kun's face.