A crystal-shaped object rolled beneath Lu Li's feet. He picked it up and noticed a prompt frame in the corner of his eye, revealing a special item: the "Rule Module: Frightened."
The puppet, supporting her somewhat broken body, picked up some black fragments after the Headless Buddha shattered. She didn't know what kind of world rule they represented, but these fragments resembled common coal—fuel for the fire. Silently bundling the stones with silk threads, the puppet apologized to Lu Li with embarrassment, "I'm truly sorry. I didn't expect to encounter the Headless Buddha here. The young master was in danger. Fortunately, you're alright. Otherwise, this servant would have been extremely worried!"
"It's nothing. I didn't have anything to do anyway," Lu Li smiled, his eyes flashing with a hint of coldness. He returned to the towering firewood, where the flame burned brightly. Suddenly, the form of the old man, who had been sleeping, turned illusory. The puppet's complexion changed, and she hastily said to Lu Li, "Master must wake up immediately. You need to return to the real world at once!"
"Remember, don't let the fire go out. Wait for me. I will find a way to bring you back again. Then, I'll give you something similar..."
Before the puppet could finish her sentence, Lu Li's surroundings began to distort, and he felt as if he were about to fade away. He looked at the puppet, who was still speaking, but he couldn't hear her words. The world plunged into darkness once more.
"Young master! Young master!" Lu Li was awakened by the old man. He opened his eyes and found himself back in the ruined temple. However, when he looked up, he noticed that the cracks covering the temple, caused by the Headless Buddha, seemed as though they would collapse at any moment.
Seeing Lu Li wake up, the old man anxiously said, "Young master! Don't rest any longer. There are monsters outside! What should we do? Even if the old man dies, it doesn't matter. But as the young master, you shouldn't perish here!"
"Are all the creatures outside monsters?" Lu Li also snapped back to reality, listening carefully to the sounds of activity outside the ruined temple. He could hear the shouts of the Corpse Demon as it tore down the place.
"Yes! I just heard a massive sound of footsteps. I woke up immediately and secretly looked through a crack in the door. It's all those white-skinned monsters outside!" The old man's face was filled with anxiety as he tightly clutched the puppet in his hands.
"Let me have a look!" Lu Li glanced at the puppet in the old man's arms, grabbed a piece of firewood, and opened the front door of the ruined temple. He saw the Corpse Demon retreating and disappearing into the darkness, evading the reach of the flames.
Even though the Corpse Demon's shouts continued to echo from the darkness, Lu Li realized they hadn't truly retreated. These countless Corpse Demons were undoubtedly fixated on this place, but he couldn't understand what attracted them to the ruined temple. Was it revenge for their own deaths? Was there something within these temple walls that drew their attention?
The commotion outside grew louder, accompanied by the sound of footsteps. A particularly large Corpse Demon emerged from the shadows. It stood at least two heads taller than the previous ones, with a significantly larger physique. Its mouth lacked skin, revealing protruding, earthworm-like tongues.
Simultaneously, Lu Li's peripheral vision provided an update on this special Corpse Demon:
[Variant Corpse Demon]
[Physical Evaluation: 2
.48; Life Force: 3.0]
[Soul Evaluation: 1.2; Spiritual Energy: 1.0]
[Means for Spawning: When a person dies unexpectedly and their corpse becomes infested with maggots, touching anything causes them to rise again, transformed into a monster!]
[Special Abilities: (1) Rigor Mortis: Mild; (2) Lifesteal: Through its special mouth apparatus, it can absorb and store life energy from living beings; (3) Corrupt Life: By absorbing massive amounts of life energy, it becomes polluted within its body. It can inject this polluted life energy into other living beings through its special mouth apparatus, transforming them into corpse servants!]
[Weakness: Naturally, it fears flames, but it possesses preliminary resistance...]
[Monster Appraisal: This is a BOSS! Brace yourself; it seems the plot is about to unfold!]
"Roar!!!" The Variant Corpse Demon let out an angry roar, using one hand to push a Corpse Demon away and charging forward. But before Lu Li positioned his body next to the firewood, preventing the flame from extinguishing, that particular Corpse Demon screamed in agony, unable to tolerate the burning flames. It fled from the range of the rolling fire, its yells echoing as it escaped.
Lu Li threw a piece of firewood directly at the Variant Corpse Demon, causing the flame to approach rapidly. The approaching fire forced the Variant Corpse Demon to retreat quickly, melting its skin slightly. As the firewood fell onto the snowy ground and slowly extinguished, the melted skin of the Variant Corpse Demon began to regenerate.
Lu Li sidestepped within the ruined temple and saw the old man's anxious expression. He asked, "What's the situation? Have these monsters retreated?"
Observing the old man's flustered face, Lu Li thought for a moment before saying, "These monsters fear fire. They'll retreat for a while. We just need to wait until dawn. How long have we been resting? What time is it now?"
The old man's trembling body responded, "We've rested for a little over two hours. It'll be at least three more hours until dawn."
"Then let's not rest! Let's stay by the fire. When dawn arrives, these monsters won't dare to come out!" Lu Li calculated the time silently, using his internal biological clock. From his perspective, he had only been in the Dreamland for about half an hour, but in the outside world, approximately 45 hours had passed. It was a truly peculiar situation.
Lu Li added more fuel to the firewood, and he smiled at the old man, who appeared burdened. "There's no need to worry. These monsters are nothing to fear. We just need to hold out until dawn."
"Oh, I'm just an old man. My courage isn't what it used to be. Let the young master have a laugh," the old man reluctantly controlled his emotions and said to Lu Li. However, a faint trace of fear flickered in his eyes. He was prepared to die, but dying in a deep sleep was entirely different from being devoured by monsters.
"This seemingly endless night! We have nothing to do here. How about you, old gentleman, perform with your puppet?" Lu Li tried to change the subject, looking at the puppet in the old man's hands. He then stood up and gave the old man his seat, moving back to a spot near the Headless Buddha.