Everyone suddenly felt an extremely putrid stench of corpse gas rushing towards them like surging and menacing waves. In an instant, fear filled everyone's heart and they were all terrified. They quickly dodged to the sides and simultaneously pulled out their weapons from their waists or backs, getting into combat stances and waiting in full readiness.
Tang Zhen was holding that Broken Soul Seizer. In the faint light, this weapon glinted with a mysterious cold gleam. Feng Zhen tightly grasped the acupoint-pressing pickaxe. The pickaxe head, made of refined steel, seemed capable of piercing through anything. Wang Xiaohu held two Measuring Mountain Rulers in each hand. There was a look of fearlessness in his eyes. Cui Zheng was carrying something similar to a Soul-summoning Banner, which emitted an indescribably eerie aura in the darkness. Yan Tieshan still had his hands tucked in his sleeves. He seemed relaxed on the surface, but in fact, he was fully concentrated. The five of them stared fixedly at the White Demon with their eyes burning like torches, not blinking at all. At this moment, the only candle in the distance seemed to be extinguished by an invisible hand, and the surroundings immediately plunged into an inky blackness.
In this endless darkness, the White Demon sat up straight as if awakened by a devil. Her eyes were as cold as frost, lifeless yet staring straight at Wang Xiaohu right in front of her, as if she had locked onto her prey. Immediately afterwards, like a bolt of white lightning, she suddenly stretched out her arms with a whooshing sound, rushing towards Wang Xiaohu at an astonishing speed. Her slender fingers curled into hooks, with a cold glint at the fingertips, carrying a nauseating stench of blood and wind, and aimed straight at Wang Xiaohu's face, as if trying to rip his soul out of his body.
Wang Xiaohu was greatly shocked and instinctively crouched down, quickly raising the Measuring Mountain Rulers in his hands to protect his vital parts. At this critical moment, the Corpse Mastiff, which had been on standby all along, leaped up suddenly like a black phantom, opening its huge mouth wide, revealing its menacing fangs, and biting towards the White Demon's throat.
The White Demon seemed quite wary of the Corpse Mastiff. After missing with her first strike, her figure flickered like a ghost and instantly transformed into a white shadow, drifting away into the distance. The Corpse Mastiff chased closely behind without letting up. In the blink of an eye, the White Demon and the Corpse Mastiff disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a gradually dissipating stench of wind.
Everyone had just let out a sigh of relief and before they could even open their mouths, suddenly, a sinister chuckle came from the cave entrance in the distance. The sound was like sharp fingernails scratching on glass, echoing in this deathly silent burial chamber, extremely piercing, and strangely, it carried a familiar undertone.
The Five Heroes of Southern Sichuan had been wandering in the jianghu for many years and had seen countless tombs. If not a thousand, they had robbed at least eight hundred tombs. The zombies and corpses they had seen in their lifetimes were far more than what an ordinary person could ever imagine. Ordinary people could never see so many in several lifetimes. They had always been fearless of everything except those intangible ghosts.
Tang Zhen frowned and shouted sternly, "Who is it?"
The sinister voice rang out again, "Tang Xiucai, can't you even recognize the voice of your Seventh Master?"
Tang Zhen snorted, "So it's Iron Leg. Humph! I never expected that as a proud disciple of the Mountain-moving Elder, you would engage in such trickery of pretending to be gods and ghosts. Aren't you afraid of disgracing the great reputation of the Mountain-moving Elder?"
Just then, a torch was lit in the distance. The flickering firelight tore a hole in the darkness. Under the illumination of the firelight, a extremely tall and thin figure walked slowly out of the cave entrance. With a long, narrow horse-like face, it was none other than Iron Leg. He had a hideous grin on his face, holding the torch high in his hand, and walking towards everyone step by step. Each step seemed to tread on everyone's heartstrings.
Suddenly, a loud and clear voice like the tolling of a huge bell came from behind Iron Leg, "Old Seven, who are these friends? Introduce them to me." Iron Leg slightly turned his body, and a chubby figure rolled out from behind him like a ball of meat.
Wang Xiaohu was already short and fat enough, but this person behind Iron Leg was even shorter and fatter than him. Wang Xiaohhu couldn't beared it and stared at him with widened eyes, taking a couple more glances.
The chubby man saw Wang Xiaohu staring at him and immediately glared at him with his eyes wide open, angrily shouting, "Fatso, what are you looking at? Do you think I'm short?"
Wang Xiaohu was first taken aback and then couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Haha, yes. I was just wondering who's taller between us."
The chubby man was furious. Without any visible movement, his whole body suddenly flew up like a cannonball and landed right in front of Wang Xiaohu. Before Wang Xiaohu could react, the chubby man's hands started slapping him left and right, "Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!" Four loud slaps landed on Wang Xiaohu's face. Then, with a whooshing sound, he retreated back just as quickly. The distance between the two was about six or seven zhang. No one would have expected this fat man to have such agile movements, coming so quickly and leaving even faster.
Wang Xiaohu's face was burning with pain. He spat hard on the ground and cursed, "Damn it! I didn't expect you to be such a good lightness kungfu expert. What's your name? Let's get to know each other in the future."
Iron Leg spat in disgust, "You? You don't deserve to know his name."
Tang Zhen whispered to the others, "This fat man is Luo Yuhu, the fifth disciple of the Mountain-moving Elder."
Feng Zhen nodded slightly and also whispered, "Today we're really in a desperate situation, facing enemies on both sides. It seems we have no choice but to fight to the death."
Just then, Cui Zheng silently handed over a small porcelain bottle. He opened it and briefly whispered, "Forehead, apply." Cui Zheng had always been a man of few words. He would only speak when it was absolutely necessary, and every word he said was concise to the extreme. If two words could express it, he would never use a third.
The Five Heroes of Southern Sichuan, who had been with him for a long time, understood what he meant. They knew they were supposed to apply a little of the stuff in the bottle to their foreheads. Although they didn't know what it was for, they still did as they were told. The liquid in the bottle felt like oil, very cold, but with a strange smell that was unbearably bad, as if it came from the depths of hell.
The four of them stood in front, keeping a vigilant eye on the enemy. Cui Zheng slowly moved towards the white coffin. With a light flick of the tip of his right finger, a black shadow quickly flew into the coffin. No one knew what this mysterious thing was.
Iron Leg coughed to clear his throat and said, "Tang Xiucai, my senior brother has conveyed my master's decree. As long as you honestly hand over that Herb-picking Manual, we'll let bygones be bygones. My master is magnanimous and can spare your life. Cough cough..." Iron Leg sounded clearly lacking in energy when he spoke, as if he was still recovering from a serious injury.
Tang Zhen curled the corners of his mouth slightly, showing a meaningful smile, but didn't respond. He was secretly calculating in his mind: It seems that Iron Leg is seriously injured. His skills must have been greatly discounted, probably only eighty percent left. That Luo Yuhu on the other side is just one person, even if he is highly skilled in martial arts. But we have five people on our side. As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands, and a lone tiger is afraid of a pack of wolves. It's still uncertain who will win.
Iron Leg saw that Tang Zhen only smiled without answering and immediately got angry. He shouted loudly, "Tang Xiucai, are you going to hand it over or not?"
Tang Zhen blinked his eyes and said with a sly smile, "Hand over what? I don't even know what you're talking about."
Luo Yuhu, who had been waiting on the side all along, could no longer hold back his anger. He roared like a furious tiger and rushed towards everyone with his huge body like an arrow leaving the bow. His palms were waving like a storm, hitting everyone with great force.
Tang Zhen immediately swung the Broken Soul Seizer and fought with Luo Yuhu. Wang Xiaohu raised the Measuring Mountain Rulers, and Feng Zhen also started waving the acupoint-pressing pickaxe. The three of them fought while retreating. Luo Yuhu's attacks were fierce, like surging waves coming one more after another. Iron Leg was following closely behind, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Tang Zhen and the other three gradually retreated to the white coffin. There were only three zhang left from the wall of the burial chamber behind them.
Luo Yuhu saw this and showed a hideous grin on his face. He roared arrogantly, "See where you can run now?!" And his attacks became even more intense, with each move aimed at the vital parts of everyone.
During the fierce battle, before they knew it, Luo Yuhu had already reached the white coffin. Suddenly, the surrounding light seemed to be swallowed by darkness and became dim. The Black Demon, like a devil crawling out from the abyss of hell, sat up abruptly. His palms were like hard iron hooks, carrying the breath of death, and tightly gripped Luo Yuhu's throat.
Luo Yuhu was terrified. He desperately raised his hands, trying to break free from the Black Demon's grip. However, he only felt that the Black Demon's strength was astonishingly great. Those hands were like iron tongs, tightly gripping his throat, making him unable to move, as if he was being strangled by the hand of death.
The Black Demon had a face full of beards as hard as iron, and a pair of lifeless dead fish eyes stared fixedly at Luo Yuhu, with endless killing intent in his eyes. The Black Demon opened his huge mouth, revealing two sharp canine teeth, shining with a chilling light, and bit towards Luo Yuhu's throat. Luo Yuhu only felt a strong stinking smell rushing towards him and secretly groaned in his heart. At this critical moment, he suddenly flipped his left hand in desperation and used all his strength to firmly hold the Black Demon's chin.
The Black Demon continued to tighten his grip with his hands, and Luo Yuhu's face gradually turned pale due to lack of oxygen.
Iron Leg saw this and could no longer care about chasing the Five Heroes of Southern Sichuan. He raised his knife in his right hand and rushed towards the Black Demon anxiously, wanting to save Luo Yuhu.
Iron Leg reached the back of the Black Demon and raised his knife, using the move of "Splitting Huashan with Force". He exerted all his strength and slashed down hard on the Black Demon. The knife carried a whistling sound, as if it could split a small mountain.
However, to everyone's shock, the Black Demon seemed to feel nothing. His eyes were rigid and dull, and his hands still tightly gripped Luo Yuhu without any sign of loosening.
The Five Heroes of Southern Sichuan, who were hiding behind the coffin, were all stunned when they saw this scene. Their hearts were pounding. They never expected that this Black Demon would be invulnerable to swords and spears. This scene was truly terrifying, as if a nightmare had come true. Tang Zhen lowered his voice and asked nervously, "Third Brother, it seems that the Black Demon can't see us. What's going on?"
Cui Zheng also whispered in reply, "We smeared corpse oil on our foreheads, which covered the living breath of our bodies, so the Black Demon couldn't detect it."
Iron Leg's blade continued to chop at the Black Demon, but the Black Demon remained motionless. Luo Yuhu was being choked red-faced by the Black Demon, looking like a cooked shrimp. At this critical moment, no one knew where Luo Yuhu got a burst of superhuman strength from. Only to hear him roar like a tiger, and with a powerful push of his right hand, this palm contained all his strength and sent the Black Demon flying out like a broken sack. The Black Demon flew towards the wall of the burial chamber and hit it with a dull thud.