Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 60

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but shudder and asked, "Are you suggesting that they're sacrificing living people to the Dragon God by throwing them into the eye of the Yellow River?"

But that's the truth. Ancient people believed in dragon gods, and when there was drought or flood, they thought it was a punishment from heaven for mankind. In order to ask for forgiveness, they would sacrifice cattle and sheep. If that didn't work, they would sacrifice living people...

So, who knows how many living people were thrown into that eye of the Yellow River over a period of thousands of years?

But why didn't we find a single corpse in the Yellow River's eye back then? Ah... no, that's indeed a problem. Since there were human sacrifices back then, there should have been corpses in the Yellow River's eye. But apart from a white jade coffin, the Yellow River's eye was too clean; there wasn't even a single corpse.

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed, so I couldn't help but swim much faster to catch up with the young master who was swimming in the lead. Just then, suddenly, Old Chen called my name from behind—

"Brother Xu..."

I turned around quickly, and what I saw startled me. Chen Laogui, who had been perfectly fine just moments before, was now sinking into the water. He was desperately paddling and struggling with his hands, but he couldn't control himself. It seemed as if something underwater was pulling him down.

"I'll come and get you!" I hurried over.

Upon hearing this, the young master and Huang Zhihua turned around, but Old Chen said anxiously, "Don't come any closer, there's something underwater... I've been pulled back."

Even if there was something underwater, I couldn't abandon Old Chen. I immediately swam over and grabbed his hand. But as soon as I grabbed his hand, his body sank underwater. I felt a sinking sensation in my hand, and then there was nothing there.

"Old Ghost Chen..." I couldn't help but exclaim.

Both the young master and Huang Zhihua witnessed this scene and were immediately dumbfounded. They looked at each other, speechless.

Just then, about ten paces away from me, a splash suddenly appeared, and Old Chen emerged from the water again. But his mask was gone, his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. He shouted at me, "Brother Xu, that was the destruction of another civilization..." As he spoke, he spat out a mouthful of blood and disappeared back into the water.

In the final moment, I saw it clearly: the old man bit off his own tongue and committed suicide.

Under the light of our miners' lamps, the three of us stared blankly at the crimson stain rising from the water, like a peach blossom in spring, exceptionally beautiful. Yet, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Just yesterday, we had gone to confront them with righteous indignation, but now they had both lost their lives here, and both of them had died so tragically.

One burned alive in the fire, while the other bit his tongue and committed suicide in the water... Why, why did this happen?

I suddenly remembered that in the tomb chamber above, in the eye of the Kunlun wind, there was an old man wearing a robe from before liberation, with a dagger stuck in his heart. He had also committed suicide. Yes, he was Chen Laogui's master. He had said that they would not die from the curse, but they also did not want to become monsters or be resurrected by the Three Corpse Gods after death. Therefore, when they knew that their life was over, they chose to commit suicide.

I touched my chest; my heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of my throat, and the water pressing against my chest was incredibly uncomfortable. What had he just told me—the demise of a civilization? He didn't forget to tell me that even on his deathbed. What did he mean?

"Hehe...hehe..." Just as I was stunned, a strange and cold laugh came from behind me. I was startled and turned around abruptly, only to see the girl's face right in front of me.

"You..." I was shocked and hurriedly backed away, splashing water. The girl's face was pale and bloodless, even her originally rosy lips were pale. Her once bright and lively eyes had lost their liveliness and appeared lifeless under the light of the miners' lamps above our heads.

"Girl, where did you run off to? Don't you know everyone was worried about you?" The young master tried to swim over, but I quickly grabbed him and shook my head at him repeatedly.

"Old Xu, do you also believe those two old men's nonsense?" The young master was stubborn; nothing was more important to him than the girl. He immediately tried to shake me off and swim towards her.

“She’s not a girl.” I hugged him tightly and shook my head desperately.

"What's down there? Be careful, Old Xu..." Just as I was trying to dissuade the young master, Huang Zhihua suddenly exclaimed in alarm.

In the moment of my surprise, a tremendous force suddenly rushed up from underwater and overturned me. I didn't care about the young master anymore and frantically grabbed at the water. I don't know what I suddenly grabbed, but it was like grasping a lifeline, and I held on to it tightly and wouldn't let go.

Suddenly, I emerged from the water. In the beam of the miner's lamp above my head, I could see clearly that it was a huge snake's head and a pitch-black snake's body, and I was now clinging tightly to the snake's body.

I was instantly terrified and hurriedly let go. With a "plop," I fell into the water again, feeling dizzy and disoriented. I finally caught my breath when suddenly my body felt heavy, and a tremendous suction force pulled me backward. In my haste, I turned around to look at my past life. The sight instantly robbed me of two and a half of my souls; my limbs went weak with fear. Behind me stood a gigantic monster with long tentacles and bared fangs, its mouth agape, waiting for me. I could even see saliva dripping from its scarlet, forked tongue…

Isn't this monster the so-called dragon we saw in the underwater tomb? Why is it here to join the fun? Right, since the Shadow Kunlun Eye and the Yellow River Eye are interconnected, if we can come here, it can naturally come here too. It doesn't seem like there's anything to be surprised about.

But I knew very well that if it swallowed me whole, I probably wouldn't be full. In my panic, I didn't have time to think about anything else, so I quickly drew my ancient bronze sword and slashed fiercely at the dragon's head.

"Bang bang bang..." Huang Zhihua fired his gun, and a series of gunshots shattered the deathly silence of the underground world, sounding extremely jarring.

However, Huang Zhihua's bullets seemed to have no effect on the monster dragon. I watched helplessly as the monster dragon opened its mouth wide and swallowed me whole.

My life is over! I never imagined I'd be fed to a monstrous dragon?

Just then, water splashed behind me, and a powerful force rushed over. The black serpent charged towards the strange dragon like an arrow. The two behemoths collided, and I was thrown out by the impact of the two forces, once again propelled by the splashing water.

"Damn you, you snake demon, I'll kill you!" the girl roared through gritted teeth.

Turning around, she saw the snake and the strange dragon entangled together just like last time, while the girl held an extremely strange bronze mirror in her hand, which she shone on the snake.

With a "whoosh," a dazzling light suddenly shone in the dark underground world. My vision blurred, and I almost went blind. The light was so bright that none of us who had been in the dark for a long time could adapt to it.

If I'm not mistaken, that should be lightning!

The bronze mirror in the girl's hand could actually emit lightning? I almost choked on this thought. How could that be? Even with today's advanced technology, it's not as easy as the girl to manipulate high-voltage electricity to produce light like lightning.

The serpent was struck by lightning from the bronze mirror, and immediately began to writhe and thrash in agony on the water's surface.

"Old Xu, hurry and help Huashe, or we're doomed!" Huang Zhihua shouted in terror. I was stunned for a moment, then I realized that Huashe was helping us, and if the monster dragon gained the upper hand, we would all have to be fed to the dragon.

Without thinking twice, I raised my ancient bronze sword and fiercely attacked the monstrous dragon.

Suddenly, the girl let out a sharp scream, a sound that didn't sound human at all. I was startled and looked up at her. The girl was already soaking in the water, but her golden robe, made of some unknown material, didn't have a single water droplet on it, making it much more effective than our heavy water suits.

The girl's eyes remained lifeless, devoid of any vitality. The monstrous dragon, which had been entangled with the serpent, flipped over and released the serpent, charging towards the girl. Although—although we all knew the girl was no longer the original girl, we couldn't help but worry about her. Just as I was about to warn her to be careful, the girl was already standing on the monstrous dragon's back. The dragon raised its head high and lifted the girl out of the water.

What a breathtaking and bizarre scene! A woman in a long, golden dress stands proudly atop a monster that resembles a dragon.

"Girl...girl..." Just then, while Huang Zhihua and I were not paying attention, the young master swam desperately towards the girl.

"No, young master, swim back quickly!" I shouted in a panic, but I was too far away from the young master to reach him. Huang Zhihua, worried about me, swam towards me a step ahead of him, and by then the two of us had also separated.

"Giggle..." A strange sound came from the girl's throat, seemingly a laugh. I looked up at the girl, and her originally beautiful face was twisted into a hideous and terrifying smile, just like the way Wang Quansheng and the others looked after they died. But her throat was emitting an extremely eerie laugh.

Huang Zhihua was stunned by this bizarre scene. He floated motionless on the water, staring blankly at the girl.

"Young Master, come back quickly!" I called out hurriedly, but the young master was getting closer and closer to the maid. I rushed to chase after the young master, but at that moment, the strange dragon, which had been holding its head high above the water, suddenly lowered its body and swooped down towards the young master.

Almost without any suspense, the young master was bitten in the mouth, and the sharp fangs instantly tore him in two. His intestines, covered in scarlet blood, immediately stained the murky groundwater red.

"Young Master..." Huang Zhihua and I screamed at the same time, but it was too late. This young master, who always loved to talk nonsense and had no taboos, actually died in the dragon's belly. I felt hot liquid flowing from my eyes. I looked up at the maid, but all I got was a twisted and ferocious smile on her face and a strange "gurgling" sound coming from her throat.

The young master's body was bitten in two by the dragon monster, yet he didn't die immediately. His upper body struggled to stay afloat, and he shouted loudly at the maid, "Wang Ruonan! Wang Ruonan! Wang Ruonan..."

After calling out three times, half of the young master's body fell into the water with a "plop" and sank in the shimmering water. I could clearly see that the young master had a faint smile on his face, but his eyes were wide open, staring at me unwillingly. I watched helplessly as half of the young master's body slowly sank into the water and disappeared.

A moment of confusion seemed to cross the girl's face as she murmured to herself, "Wang Ruonan...who is Wang Ruonan? Why does she look so familiar?"

"Why, why did this have to happen?" I looked up at her, standing high above the monstrous dragon. I had no more tears left. I was going to die sooner or later; I might be next. But the young master's death was truly undeserved. I wanted to cry, but when I opened my mouth, only a strange, menacing laugh, similar to the maid's, came out—"Hehehehe..."

"Why?" The girl muttered to herself for a moment, then let out a strange "giggle" laugh, her face contorted in a grotesque grin. "I don't know why, maybe—I'm already dead?" she said, touching her face. Then she raised the bronze mirror in her hand and looked at me, saying, "Come on, step onto your serpent form, come here, let's end this destiny once again..."

Our destiny? I didn't understand what it meant. I just looked at the girl. What destiny? What was going on? In an instant, I felt a splitting headache, as if I remembered something, but I couldn't remember anything. I just felt a splitting pain in my heart, as if I had been stabbed hard by someone.

Just then, I felt something bump into my waist. The giant head of the serpent was right next to me. This time, I wasn't scared. Instead, I felt a strange sense of familiarity. Without even thinking, I grabbed the serpent's head and climbed onto its back.

"Old Xu, what are you doing?" Huang Zhihua exclaimed, "Old Xu, the young master..."

"If the young master dies, we will all die!" I said as I took off my gas mask, tore off my plastic gas gloves, and gripped the bronze sword tightly in my hand, facing the girl from a distance.

"Hehe...hehe...that's more like it!" The girl was laughing, but her smile was twisted into a strange and ferocious shape.

She wasn't a maid, she wasn't Wang Ruonan—she was just a golden-threaded demon corpse. I closed my eyes in despair, almost afraid to think any further. After a while, for reasons I didn't even know myself, I actually asked this question: "What exactly is the curse?"

This is a question that no one can answer, but I can't help asking it; it's an instinctive behavior, just like how humans eat and dress.

"It's just a kind of Gu worm, raised in water. They live by attaching to Yin Jade. Once they attach to a human body, they will damage the human brain, hehe...hehe..." the girl explained with a laugh.

"How did you know?" I asked, shocked.

“Because I am a Gu worm…” The girl laughed even more wildly.

"She's the Gu worm?" I looked at her, puzzled. How could this be explained? But I heard her continue—

"There are three types of Gu worms, which are what you called the Three Corpse Gods before. Hehe, you're really smart, you even know this—when a corpse encounters Yin Jade, it will produce Gu worms. After the Gu worms mutate and enter the human body, gaining control of the body, that person is essentially dead, but their body can still move...like the professor and Old Bian." The girl explained with a sinister smile, as if telling a very funny joke...

For example, her own?

I didn't move. She was indeed no longer a girl, but a puppet whose body had been taken over by Gu worms. No... no... she was dead and had become a monster like Wang Quansheng and the professor. What was even more terrifying was that she had actually gained human intelligence and her original memories.

I recall Old Chen's dying words—"That was the destruction of a civilization!" If that's the case, then everything illogical and abnormal seems reasonable and normal here?

Perhaps they possess technology unknown to us, creating these living dead? Like the black corpses in the Guangchuan Royal Mausoleum? Suddenly, a thought struck me. I had never understood how the black corpses in the Guangchuan Royal Mausoleum were created, but now I finally understood. They were also a type of Three Corpse God, products controlled by Gu worms. However—those were originally people, weren't they?

Were they controlled by the Gu worms before they died or after they died?

Thinking of those black corpses with iron chains on their feet, I understood that these people must have originally been slaves, turned into black corpses... Under the control of the Gu worms, some unknown mutation occurred, and these corpses decomposed very slowly. Just like Wang Quansheng's corpse, which did not decompose much even more than half a year after his death. In fact, when his corpse appeared at the East Gate of Taiyuan, it was mistaken for a fresh corpse and reported to the police.

What a cruel and terrifying method! Thinking of this, I couldn't help but shudder. I looked up at the girl—I was holding the ancient bronze sword, and I felt my palms were tightly pressed together with the four bird-script characters "Heavenly Cripples and Earthly Imperfections," giving me a strange feeling of being connected to my flesh and blood.

With a loud "bang," Huang Zhihua, seeing that the girl wasn't paying attention to him, actually fired a shot at the monster dragon. But this one shot enraged the monster dragon, and with a twist of its massive body, it charged towards Huang Zhihua. I was shocked. My young master had already perished in the dragon's belly. I couldn't let Huang Zhihua fall in as well. I hurriedly brandished my bronze ancient sword to go and support Huang Zhihua, forgetting that I was still standing on the back of the serpent.

The serpent seemed to know my intention, suddenly swimming towards the monstrous dragon. I brandished my ancient bronze sword and slashed fiercely at its head. This was no dragon; it was a monster. The more I looked at it, the uglier it became—a massive, bloated body, its head covered in pustules like a toad, with two thick tentacles…

The strange dragon seemed to be very afraid of the ancient bronze sword in my hand. It turned its head and dodged away. Just then, my vision blurred and a dazzling white light shone, piercing towards my eyes.

I was startled and quickly closed my eyes, fearing the intense light would blind me. In that instant, I heard a roar beside me, and the serpent beneath my feet seemed to lose its footing, its body twisting and contorting. I opened my eyes and saw that all nine of the serpent's tails were twisted forward, shielding me in the middle, and one of its tails was a bloody mess, seemingly badly injured.

I looked up at the girl standing on the strange dragon. She raised the bronze mirror again. We were so close that I could see it clearly. The bronze mirror had a strange octagonal shape, and in the center, there was a bird-script character for "Ji" engraved. It was that damned "Ji" again. I don't know why, but I felt an inexplicable aversion to this character.

At that moment, Huang Zhihua rushed over again, and while the girl was focused on dealing with me, he raised his military bayonet and stabbed the dragon monster hard in the abdomen.

This dragon monster was probably a kind of South African python, with a slow pain response. By the time it came to its senses, Huang Zhihua had already drawn his military bayonet and stabbed it again fiercely. He probably wouldn't feel good unless he stabbed the dragon monster seventeen or eighteen holes in it.

The dragon monster rolled over in pain, almost dropping the girl. Even so, the bronze mirror in the girl's hand tilted, and a bolt of purple lightning struck the underground river, creating a crackling sound.

The dragon monster turned around and threw Huang Zhihua away violently.

"Watch out!" I shouted, quickly raising my bronze sword and slashing at the dragon monster's head. The girl flicked her wrist, and a bolt of lightning shot towards me. The serpent raised one of its tails high, and with a "whoosh," the lightning struck its tail hard. Instantly, I smelled a burning stench, and the serpent writhed in agony, its tail contorting...

Huang Zhihua rolled over in the water and swam towards the dragon monster again—

"Don't come any closer!" I shouted, hoping that Huang Zhihua would stay far away.

This time, Huang Zhihua clearly heard my voice and gave me a desolate laugh: "Old Xu, do you think we still want to go out?"

It turned out he was also prepared to die—another bolt of lightning shot straight toward my heart. I was terrified. If I were hit by this lightning, wouldn't I be charred and crackled with electric shocks? In that instant, I couldn't care less about Huang Zhihua. It was too late to dodge. Instinctively, I raised my bronze sword and met the lightning.

With a soft "whoosh," the bronze sword and the lightning collided violently. I felt a sudden weight in my hand, almost losing my grip on the sword, and my heart seemed to sink, making me feel extremely uncomfortable. But to my utter surprise, the bronze sword was non-conductive, and it actually blocked the lightning emitted by the bronze mirror in the girl's hand.

I had a strange feeling that the bronze mirror in the girl's hand seemed... to have a similar quality to the ancient bronze sword in my hand. Perhaps they were forged by the same master craftsman. Come to think of it—two divine artifacts from the same era. The ancient bronze sword, after a thousand years, is still as sharp as ever. And the bronze mirror is the same; after thousands of years, it still serves its purpose in the hands of the Golden Thread Demon Corpse.

I finally understand now—why Old Chen said it was the demise of a civilization.

Yes, it was indeed the destruction of a civilization. Our ancestors did possess certain technological skills that we modern people cannot understand, such as... the ancient bronze sword in my hand, and the girl's bronze mirror.

But the girl now—no, it should be called the Golden Thread Demon Corpse—is no longer a girl—her face is contorted with rage, and she holds the bronze mirror high. Streaks of purple lightning flashed in the dark underground world, only to be blocked by me. Those that I couldn't block landed on the poor serpent's tail. Of the serpent's original nine tails, at least seven were already mangled and bloody.

I don't know how much time passed, but I felt my arms starting to go numb, and I could barely lift my sword. The girl opposite me also stopped attacking and stared at me blankly, holding her bronze mirror.

I was completely focused and dared not relax for a moment, but at that moment, the girl looked at the bronze mirror in her hand and suddenly threw it into the water. With a soft "clang", the bronze mirror entered the water, barely making a splash, turned over on the surface, and slowly sank to the bottom.

I looked at the girl, not understanding why she suddenly threw away the bronze mirror, and why her face had turned a strange flush, her expression indescribably odd.

"Come on... let us all be bound by fate!" The girl laughed maniacally, her face twisted and deformed, her once beautiful features now resembling a vengeful ghost. Before I could even react, she and the monstrous dragon lunged at me.

I exclaimed "Ah!" and charged forward, bronze sword in hand—

The bronze sword in my hand encountered almost no resistance and pierced directly into the girl's heart. The ferocious and twisted smile on her face gradually disappeared, replaced by pain. A layer of mist appeared in her previously lifeless eyes...