Chapter 41: Evil Has Taken Root

Chapter 41: The Evil Has Awakened

In the deep, shadowed cave, a thousand-armed statue of a Buddha stood silently amid darkness as black as ink, its face hidden behind heavy drapes, terrifying and uncanny. Flickering firelight revealed that among the statue's myriad arms, the shadows seemed to wriggle—a hand was actually moving!

Everyone stepped back in alarm, raising their heads to look.

“No, it’s the old woman!”

Now, all could see clearly: it was not the statue itself moving, but an old crone with a hunched figure, climbing upon the statue like some dreadful ghost. Zhang Sanlu watched as her trembling hands clutched a string of sharp teeth—teeth that looked as though they had been torn from the mouths of the unfortunate, stained with dark red blood and gleaming with a chilling pallor.

With those blood-soaked hands, she rubbed the teeth forcefully against the draped cloth, as if performing some wicked and sacrificial rite. Each rub was met with a muffled sound from beneath the curtain, accompanied by the old woman's muttered, eerie incantations.

The cave gradually filled with an indescribable stench—the odor of rotting corpses mixed with fresh blood, so foul that it threatened to make one retch. The old woman seemed oblivious, wholly absorbed in her ritual, as if pouring all sin and agony into the statue, indifferent to the people watching below.

Guo Qi, teeth clenched, fixed his gaze on the crone climbing the ancient stone statue. He took a deep breath, then gently placed his fingers on the bowstring, drawing it into a full arc. The bow trembled under his immense strength. His eyes locked onto the old woman’s head—his target.

With a resonant hum, an arrow shot forth like a meteor, slicing through the night toward its mark. The old woman sensed the danger; her movements, startlingly agile, shifted just enough to evade the deadly strike.

The arrow missed her body, but grazed the chain of teeth in her hands. The impact sent a crisp snapping sound through the air, and the chain broke apart, scattering teeth in a bizarre rain.

“Well done!” someone shouted in the darkness. Though the arrow missed, it disrupted the old woman's actions—whatever she was doing, it was surely nothing good.

A shrill cry burst from the old woman, her eyes blazing with rage and defiance. Guo Qi remained calm, knowing that though he hadn’t struck his target, he had at least ruined the wicked ceremony.

She glared downward, her head turning, face wrinkled and eyes sunken, radiating a chilling malice. Her gaze, filled with venom, fixed upon Guo Qi.

With a guttural roar, she launched herself with impossible speed toward the people below.

In the dim depths of the cave, several of Guo’s clan, armed with bows and axes, stood ready, their eyes resolute and unwavering. The old woman’s leap from the statue was swift and uncanny, as if she belonged to another world, beyond their expectations.

Battle erupted instantly. The archers among Guo’s clan drew their bows, arrows streaking toward the old woman like shooting stars. She moved with uncanny agility, her body twisting as if boneless, dodging the arrows with ease.

Meanwhile, those wielding machetes and axes charged bravely at her, their blades flashing coldly in the firelight. Their strength and speed found full expression as they swung at her, every blow aimed at her vital spots. The old woman’s twisted face gleamed with cruelty as she lunged forward, claws bared.

“Help me—!” Guo Qi, seeing her rush toward him, panicked and dragged a short-bladed companion in front of himself.

Guo Xiaoshu, the young clansman wielding the short blade, swung wildly but missed. He had no time to react before a sickening crack rang out—the old woman’s claw lifted off his skull, sending red and white matter flying. His terrified scream echoed through the cave.

“Kill her! Kill her!”

Another clansman tried to defend with his bow, but the old woman’s movements were too bizarre; his arrow merely grazed her tattered clothes. Instantly, she jabbed a claw at his eyes, tearing one out with a dreadful scream as he fell to the ground.

“Master! Master!!”

The remaining people fought desperately, calling out for Zhang Sanlu as they battled the old woman. Her strength was beyond imagining: a single swipe tore off a clansman’s arm, blood staining her palms. In mere moments, the cave was filled with screams, but their struggles were futile; the old woman’s claws, like the scythe of Death, harvested their lives one by one. The firelight flickered amid chaos.

The cave reeked of blood and despair as Guo’s clansmen fell, their lives snuffed out mercilessly in the darkness. The monstrous old woman seemed tireless, her claws continuing their deadly work.

Zhang Sanlu gripped his bloodstained hammer, his gaze burning with unyielding fury and resolve as he leaped forward, chanting under his breath.

“One-Eyed Five!”

The air twisted strangely; a gust of chilling, malevolent wind appeared from nowhere, suffused with the oppressive aura of evil. An inexplicable pressure filled the space; everyone could feel something slither past, as though something brushed their skin, sending shivers through their flesh. A piercing shriek split the night, the howl of some creature—or perhaps an eerie laughter carried on the wind—as Zhang Sanlu plunged toward the old woman.

Her face had become grotesquely distorted, like a demon crawling from hell, her eyes glowing a ghostly green and her mouth emitting shrill, ear-splitting cries. In her hands, she gripped several sharp bone spikes—torn from the bodies of the dead.

The battle raged fiercely in the narrow cave, every clash accompanied by the crunch of shattered bones and flying flesh. Zhang Sanlu swung his hammer, each blow threatening to tear the air apart, while the evil crone dodged deftly and struck back with lethal bone spikes.

One-Eyed Five swooped overhead, sometimes a shadow darting at the old woman, seeking to rend her body with chilling energy, sometimes transforming into a cold wind that swept through her soul.