"She" Awakes

Those who heard him laughed. He Lingchuan could feel morale lift slightly, as the origin power that had grown faint around his body thickened just a bit once more. Even if origin power had limited effect on these monsters, a boost to morale was a good thing after all. He feigned ease. "Hold on a little longer. Reinforcements are coming." A patrolman whose eyes were injured couldn't help asking, "Do we really have reinforcements?" "Of course," Door Plank said heavily. "We're only the first wave. If we don't emerge for too long, the mountain spirit will report to the military to send more troops. It's already been..." "Two shichen!" He Lingchuan said with absolute certainty. "Reinforcements will come. We must not lose heart, nor give this monster any more openings to exploit!" Facing an enemy they seemingly could not defeat, they needed a chance, and they needed— They needed hope! *** She was immersed in a sweet dream. Here, the sky was still a brilliant blue, the grass was still lush and green, and the cherry tree in the courtyard had only just been planted. As a daughter of a prominent family, she could wash her face with clear spring water drawn fresh from the well, then moisturize her skin with rose essence oil blended with milk. Her personal maid would comb and wash her hair, and the greatest trouble in her life was nothing more than her cousin speaking a few unkind words behind her back. The year the cherries ripened and bore bright red fruit, she was betrothed into an equal match, and the cherry tree went with her as part of her dowry. She had a gentle husband and led a blissful, contented life. And after that... After that, the cherry tree returned to the way it looked when freshly planted, and she was once again a bright-eyed, fair-toothed little girl, growing up without a care in the world. Then she married, and then she led a blissful, harmonious life. And then it repeated, and repeated, and repeated. Yet she felt nothing was amiss; everything was only natural. Happiness was always identical, was it not? All she had to do was immerse herself in it. Until one day, while picking cherries, she discovered a startling smear of blood on a leaf, shocking to behold. Who had carelessly cut their hand? Then she stepped around the cherry tree and saw her gentle, devoted husband lying in a pool of blood, his eyes staring straight at her, frozen in his final terror before death. She clapped her hands over her eyes and sank to her knees. From the moment she lowered her hands, the world changed. The city was overrun by the enemy, her home destroyed by the flames of war, her clan collapsed, and her family members were dead or scattered. She could not even protect that cherry tree; she watched it turn to charcoal in the fire, just to provide her with a wisp of warmth in the bitter winter. The days that followed were dark and wretched. For a bite of food, she fought with stray dogs; for a place to stay, she slept with three men of the same household. Later, she became a merchant's concubine, but he used her to entertain his business associates. One of them got drunk and beat the child from her belly. She washed her face with tears every day, searching for something to sustain her spirit. Mercifully, the gods took pity on her and sent her lovely children. Plump and fair, neither crying nor fussing, good children who constantly grinned up at her. Her life had comfort once again. Right then, a red rain began to fall from the sky, stinging wherever it struck her face. She opened her hands and saw them coated in crimson. The children beside her burst into tears and tried to drag her away. But out of the darkness stepped a figure, ignoring the children's frantic resistance, who shoved her violently into the rain and ordered her in a frigid voice to force her eyes open: "Wash your eyes and see clearly what you actually gave birth to!" The red rain splashed into her eyes, multiplying the stinging pain tenfold, hurting so fiercely that the nerves in her eye sockets throbbed uncontrollably. Yet her vision suddenly cleared. Washed by the rain, the children's forms transformed before her eyes. The plump, fair babes turned into grotesque, misshapen demons. Vicious ghosts that could only appear in the deepest nightmares. They surrounded her, calling her Mother, sucking her blood and gnawing her flesh, every single bite piercing to the core. Then they tore open her belly, crawled out, and devoured one human after another. Everyone wept bitterly at her; everyone hurled curses at her. Yet earlier, she had felt it was pure bliss? So this... this was the truth? One unbearable horror after another crashed down upon her. She could endure it no longer and screamed at the top of her lungs! *** Deep within the mine, inside a hidden stone chamber. There was nothing else here. Upon a natural stone platform lay a single woman, her eyes closed and her expression serene. Yet from her limbs and temples extended thick, straight cords like sinews, connecting to the four corners of the chamber. Or rather, grown together with them. Whenever she gave an occasional tremor, the entire mine shuddered along with her. It was exceptionally quiet here, the air dry, without the faintest trace of noise. Yet in the next second, her eyes snapped open, and she screamed! She was awake, and in an instant she saw her true predicament. Her terror did not lessen in the slightest; instead, it swelled. Everything she had seen and heard in the red rain was actually real? Where was this? What place was she trapped in? Why did she feel such excruciating pain inside and out? Naturally, she noticed the abnormality at her temples and limbs and struggled violently. She did not know what creature these sinews of flesh had been flayed from, but they were remarkably sticky. It felt as if another layer of skin had grown over her body. Fortunately, with forceful tearing, she could still rip them off. As she yanked at the last three sinews, she seemed to hear a terrifying roar from deep within the mine. What was even more terrifying was that she could understand it. That creature was shouting at her, "Mother, don't!" A shudder ran through the woman, and she tore at the sinews even faster. *** The red rain had come swiftly, and it departed just as fast. After falling for less than a quarter of an hour, the rain cleared and the clouds parted. Were it not for the withered desolation across the ground, it was almost as if nothing had happened. By now, however, the sky had darkened into night. "Do not touch anything soaked by the red rain," General Red instructed his subordinates. "Follow me." The power of this red rain was comparable to virulent poison. Seeing it with their own eyes, the Gale Army guards naturally kept their distance. Yet General Red was startlingly fast; in a flash of movement, he entered the cavern. By the time the others rushed over, they only caught sight of his cloak vanishing around a bend. *Crack.* A crisp, gruesome sound of snapping bone echoed as the ferry whelp broke Xu Chun's neck. A missed strike from Xu Chun had allowed the creature to seize an opening, and his companions could not reach him in time to help. Under normal circumstances, He Lingchuan, Willow, and the others would likely have provided support. Now, however, everyone's stamina was thoroughly drained; even swinging a proper blow had become an ordeal. The ferry ghost, by contrast, grew faster and faster, until human eyes could scarcely follow it. He Lingchuan's saber and Duan Xinyu's spear were both lodged in the whelp's body. The former in particular had slashed open its hard belly armor, leaving it bleeding profusely with internal organs exposed. Yet Xu Chun was beyond saving. He Lingchuan closed his eyes, his heart sinking to the very bottom. They had already consumed all the medicine they carried. What they needed most was to sit down, meditate, and regulate their breath to recover their vitality. Yet they could not. This monster could ambush them from any corner of the rock wall; daring to sit in meditation would only get them baked alive. They could not even lean against the wall to rest for a single moment. Now with Xu Chun dead, the Slowing Art immediately lapsed. The previously lumbering bone puppets broke into a sprint, skirting around their bound comrades and charging toward the group with howling shrieks. In the next instant, the ferry whelp locked its sights onto Duan Xinyu and lunged straight at him. It had targeted Duan Xinyu for a long time. Growing increasingly seasoned in combat, it had recognized long ago that this fellow was the one who threw the man-eating vines. As long as it killed him, its work today would soon be done. Duan Xinyu's face was ashen, his teeth clenched as he endured the bitter struggle. His saber technique was tight and impenetrable, but he was at the end of his tether now. Seven or eight holes across his body hissed with spurting blood, the saber in his grip growing heavier by the breath, while a single thought echoed through his mind: *Just give up and find quick release.* *No matter how desperately I resist in the end, death is inevitable.* The moment this thought arose, his hands slowed. The ferry ghost seized the opportunity, sweeping a claw toward his throat to send him after Xu Chun. From behind, Willow delivered a backstab that struck the ferry ghost's spine. It neither dodged nor parried, intent entirely on taking Duan Xinyu. Door Plank lunged from the side, slamming his body and shield into its ribs and knocking it flying. The ferry ghost used the momentum to roll into the rock wall. Duan Xinyu gasped for breath. "You..." Just those two words, and he had no idea what to say next. He Lingchuan seized the moment to even out his breathing, trying hard to recall the feeling of swinging his blade in the waters of the Han River. Back then, taking the rushing rapids as his opponent, he had also faced an exhausting war of attrition from every direction. Conserving stamina and fighting spirit was the first priority. He said in a deep voice, "Everyone, watch your footing." This whelp favored attacking from beneath the floor; stabbing at the soles of their feet was exceedingly effective. No sooner had the words left his mouth than it burst out of the ground, aiming for Duan Xinyu's back, armed this time with a four-foot-long bone spear. Its sense of smell seemed extraordinarily sharp, allowing it to accurately discern who had lost the will to fight. A fresh wave of bone puppets had also arrived. Free of Xu Chun's Slowing Art, they dashed forward swiftly, about to rendezvous with their master. He Lingchuan had already stepped behind Duan Xinyu. Slashing out with his blade, it seemed almost as if the ferry ghost had delivered itself right to him to be carved. The spearhead snapped instantly, taking half the front paw with it, and the monster howled in agony. The special effect of Army Breaker had actually triggered at this very moment, ignoring the bone armor's defense to sever the paw in a single blow. Was something wrong? He Lingchuan hesitated slightly. Over on the other side, Duan Xinyu also seized the opportunity to strike back, barely evading two of the monster's subsequent attacks. The group continued their stubborn cooperation, but their spirits could no longer be roused. Human endurance always had a limit. After holding out bitterly for so long, they still saw no dawn of hope. How much longer could this dark, endless battle continue? He Lingchuan suddenly said, "Willow, hit it with an ice arrow!" Willow startled. "I only have one left." It wasn't that she begrudged the few taels of silver it cost; rather, what was the point of using it now? "Use it!" With her squad leader giving the order, she nocked the arrow and released it without a second thought. Thanks to her solid fundamentals, she did not lose her mark even under these conditions, striking the fast-running monster. The ferry whelp took the arrow in its left arm, and ice immediately spread from the wound across its entire body. Having been shot before, it had experience. Doing nothing else, it urgently flung itself against the rock wall. Under the "Mother's" protection, it could swiftly recover. Everyone knew all too well that hacking it into several pieces right now was useless; in the end, it would still recover—though it could not multiply into several bodies like a leech. Other whelps died when their heads were severed, but this one was different. The youngest, most favored by the Ghost Mother, truly possessed extraordinary qualities.