Chapter Forty-Two: The Black Water Pond

"With all the cunning in the world, armored in gold, the tricks of the Touch Gold School are endless!"

At this moment, Bai Ling, a descendant of the Touch Gold School, stood before the mechanical stone door. Her black leather jacket was open, revealing dozens of tools of all shapes and sizes neatly fastened inside.

Descendants of the Touch Gold School were masters at deciphering traps—no mechanism in the world was safe from their hands, no tomb impenetrable to their craft.

Now, Bai Ling employed both hands: her left holding a lock-picking needle, her right testing with a measuring line, both hands skillfully maneuvering four specialized implements, as she pressed her ear to the stone wall to listen for hidden dangers.

Meanwhile, An Wu and his two men had drawn their pistols, firing repeatedly at the flying spectral hands and jars spinning through the air.

Strangely, whenever a jar was shattered, a lump of flesh would fall out, and one pair of monstrous hands would disappear.

Fang You quickly noticed this and shouted to those behind him, "Break the jars, as many as you can! The jars are where the Flesh Abominations hide their true forms—if the jars are destroyed, they lose their power!"

Hearing this, Daoist Qiu pulled a crimson blood-fruit from his robes and called out, "Spirit Monkey, catch!"

The enlarged spirit monkey turned, caught the fruit in its mouth, and swallowed it down.

"This blood-fruit comes from my secret art. It holds living spirit blood within and can help a spirit beast unleash its power!"

Sure enough, as soon as Daoist Qiu finished speaking, the spirit monkey's eyes turned blood-red. Its fangs bared, ferocity awakened, it charged directly into the midst of the jars. With every mournful wail from the Flesh Abominations, the monkey, though wounded, reduced the number of flying monstrous hands with every attack.

Just as everyone began to breathe a sigh of relief, the ground before them suddenly collapsed, revealing a giant jar hidden beneath the floor. To Fang You’s eyes, dark, malevolent energy seeped from its very surface.

As he hesitated, the lid of the giant jar was violently blasted aside. From within, hundreds of hands reached up, followed by a massive, grotesque head emerging from the darkness.

"This is bad—a Ten Thousand-Flesh Abomination!" Fang You finally understood: buried here were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of prisoners of war and criminals, all turned into flesh monsters and entombed together in this jar.

So many tormented souls crammed into a single vessel—resentment and rage seethed within. After thousands of years of festering, even a celestial immortal would find it hard to resist the power of this abomination.

The horror that crawled from beneath the earth was a mass of writhing arms and a gigantic head, beneath which dozens more smaller heads howled in agony.

"I am in such pain!"

"It hurts so much!"

"Save me!"

"I am full of hatred!"

The Ten Thousand-Flesh Abomination’s cries filled the tomb and echoed through the halls, chilling every spine with its ghastly wailing.

"Such a monstrous evil!" Daoist Qiu realized the danger before him and called urgently to his spirit monkey, "Return!"

But in the next instant, dozens of long arms shot from the abomination, snatching the spirit monkey and slamming it to the ground, leaving a massive crater. With that single blow, the monkey reverted to its ordinary form.

Daoist Qiu rushed forward, wrapping his monkey in a strand of prayer whisk and pulling it back to his side.

"Touch Gold girl, are you done yet?" Daoist Qiu cradled his injured spirit monkey, his heart aching.

"Almost!" Bai Ling was already drenched in sweat.

At that moment, the abomination fixed its sights on them, its rage boiling over. With a bloodcurdling howl, it charged straight at the group. Its enormous bulk alone was enough to crush them to pulp, even without its monstrous strength.

"Hurry up, girl!" Daoist Qiu was growing desperate.

Just as the abomination was about to reach them and all hope seemed lost, Bai Ling shouted, "Done!"

The tomb entrance swung open, and everyone scrambled through. Once the last of them was out, Bai Ling turned back and kicked the door shut, sealing it tight once more.

Outside, the monstrous abomination pounded furiously at the stone door, each blow making their hearts lurch in fear. If it broke through, none of them would leave alive.

Fortunately, after pounding for several more minutes, the abomination lost interest and slowly moved away.

Everyone let out a shaky breath of relief.

Now that the immediate danger had passed, they examined their surroundings. The tomb chamber was dim, the walls gray and lifeless, and a faint stench of blood hung in the air.

"Shouldn’t be much danger left in here, right?" Bai Ling panted, still catching her breath.

Fang You noticed a pool of black water at the base of the chamber, with a narrow bridge spanning above it—the only way forward. The waters below were pitch black and still, giving no hint of what might lurk beneath.

"I never thought we’d actually encounter a Ten Thousand-Flesh Abomination," muttered Daoist Qiu, holding his spirit monkey close. "I’d only heard of such things in legend. We are no match for it."

"The exit is now blocked by that giant abomination," said Fang Zhong, the Mountain Mover Daoist, deep in thought. "We have no choice but to move forward, reach the main tomb chamber, and look for a way out."

Indeed, the main tomb chamber was almost certain to have an exit—a hidden vent left open during the construction so workers could breathe. Though later sealed, such vents often remained as weak points that could be breached.

It seemed their only choice was to press on toward the main tomb.

After a brief rest, the group rose to their feet.

"Let’s keep moving. The longer we linger, the greater the danger," Daoist Qiu said, leading the way.

Fang You and the others followed close behind, with An Wu and his two remaining men bringing up the rear.

They crossed the narrow bridge with utmost caution.

But one of An Wu's men, bringing up the rear, had suffered a wound in the earlier chaos. The pain from the abomination's corruption was excruciating.

Looking at the black water below, desperate for relief, he dipped his wounded hand into the water, hoping to ease the pain.

His blood mingled with the black water, spreading outward.

Ripples began to disturb the surface. Suddenly, as if drawn by the scent of blood, long, dark shapes gathered beneath the water.

A moment later, a terrible scream echoed throughout the tomb.