Volume I: The Soul-Guiding Gourd and the Soul-Burning Lamp Chapter 121: The Eerie Wooden Chest

A mountain of corpses, a sea of blood, swirling white mist—the scene was profoundly bizarre.

*Crunch, crunch.*

Gu Mo held the Measure of Heaven in one hand and a cheap lighter, stripped of its windproof cover, in the other. He walked with extreme caution across a mass of highly corroded body parts. Before him, a pool of high-concentration, acidic gastric juice rippled, as if eager for him to fall in.

Suddenly, a strange, chilling wind swept through the unnaturally vast space. Gu Mo’s foot slipped, his center of gravity wavered, and he landed hard on a pile of gore-slicked remains. A piece of flesh he had inadvertently kicked into the gastric pool immediately emitted a piercing, corrosive hiss.

*Sssssss.*

Wisps of white smoke rose, accompanied by a foul, nauseating stench. If Gu Mo had fallen into that pool, he would have been stripped to the bone, if not killed outright. The thought made his hair stand on end; he was paralyzed with terror, and the cold sweat breaking out on his back instantly soaked through his psychiatric patient uniform.

Just as Gu Mo was still reeling from the narrow escape, the Gluttonous Furball sniffed the air with an invisible nose, then opened its terrifying, gaping maw and used its long tongue to retrieve the Soul-Drawing Gourd and the Soul-Burning Lamp.

Seeing this, Gu Mo was utterly bewildered. "Furball, what are you doing?"

No sooner had he spoken than the Gluttonous Furball shoved the two Yin-World artifacts into his hands. A bone-chilling cold instantly shot through every nerve in Gu Mo’s body. Then, the creature’s tongue, slick with glistening saliva, draped over Gu Mo’s neck. A faint electric current surged into him, and the creature’s voice echoed directly in his mind: "Master, there is another Yin-World artifact here!"

Gu Mo went numb. "What... a Yin-World artifact? Don't joke around!"

As he spoke, the shabby-looking Soul-Burning Lamp suddenly flickered with a strange green glow, and the Soul-Drawing Gourd in his hand began to vibrate like a ringing phone. Wisps of ghostly fire erupted from the lamp, casting a terrifying light over the surroundings.

Faced with this unbelievable scene, Gu Mo was left in a daze. Before pocketing his lighter, he didn't forget to light a cigarette and tuck it into his mouth.

*(Damn, how thick is this guy’s skin? He’s nearly dead, yet he still has the heart to smoke. Is he trying to make the Death Worm choke on the smoke and spit him out?)*

*Huff.*

After a long drag, Gu Mo, sitting amidst the mounds of corpses, tilted his head to look at the Gluttonous Furball. "Furball, do you know something?"

The pitch-black creature appeared unusually excited. "Master, the Soul-Burning Lamp and the Soul-Drawing Gourd have resonated with the next Yin-World artifact. If we find it, we might be able to get out of here!"

Gu Mo, still confused, smiled bitterly, half-doubting. Even if he found it, how would they get out? He already possessed three Yin-World items. These primitive-looking things didn't look like artifacts; they looked like creepy funeral objects.

The moment he thought of "funeral objects," his face turned pale. Using the flickering ghostly light of the lamp, he scanned his environment. This gargantuan stomach of the Death Worm was more like a natural graveyard. If he died here, he wouldn't have to worry about grave robbers, though he wondered if he could still receive offerings in the afterlife.

In life, he was so broke he couldn't rub two coins together. He wondered if he could become a tycoon in the underworld after death. Mentioning the underworld immediately reminded him of his wife at home—the silly Yama queen, Jiang Jingxue. That poor girl must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to end up with a short-lived ghost like him. Ever since he returned to North Wilderness Town, he had been plagued by bizarre and terrifying events every single day. If it wasn't walking corpses, it was vengeful spirits. He didn't even know what he was busy with anymore.

After these stray thoughts, Gu Mo frowned and gave a bitter smile. "If only I’d just stayed in the incense shop my grandfather left behind and lived as an ordinary person."

With a final exhale, he flicked his cigarette butt into the green gastric juice. With a sharp hiss, the glowing ember was corroded into nothingness. He tucked the Soul-Drawing Gourd into his waistband and held up the ghost-fire-lit lamp to begin his search.

...

After circling the mountain of corpses, Gu Mo noticed that the green flame on the lamp would pulse from time to time. It seemed that the closer he got to the next artifact, the more intense the ghostly fire became.

Gu Mo gave a wry, bitter smile. "Damn, is this thing equipped with GPS?"

Adjusting his position based on the flame, he searched the gory landscape. After some time, a loud *boom* echoed! The lamp in his hand suddenly erupted with an intense, raging ghost fire. Startled, Gu Mo was thrown into a panic. "What the hell? What's going on?"

The Gluttonous Furball on his shoulder draped its tongue over his neck in high spirits. "Master, start digging!"

Gu Mo’s face twisted. The mounds of corpses were higher than a granary; finding one small object here was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if he didn't find it, once the Death Worm digested this mass, he would lose his life.

Sighing deeply, he forced a bitter smile and resigned himself to the task. "Fine. Even if the artifact is useless, at least it's another funeral object!"

He drove the Measure of Heaven into the blood-soaked, sandy remains and set the blazing Soul-Burning Lamp to one side. Whatever the case, he relied on that ghostly light to see; without it, he would be swallowed by an even greater terror.

He began to dig through the piles of corpses. It was a macabre scene—digging through remains in the dead of night, inside the stomach of a Death Worm. It was certainly stimulating!

As he worked, he heard a crunching sound behind him. Puzzled, he turned his head. To his shock, the little black creature was greedily devouring the corpses with its gaping maw. Gu Mo went numb again. A roar echoed through the vast space: "Furball, what are you doing? Don't you have snacks in your mouth?"

The creature just bared its four rows of blood-stained fangs. It seemed the little beast was trying to help him search. Even so, Gu Mo felt disgusted. But with his fate uncertain, he had to compromise with his survival instinct.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Mo placed the Gluttonous Furball at his feet and began scooping up mounds of remains, dumping them into the creature's mouth. The sinister little pet happily opened its maw, allowing Gu Mo to feed it continuously. The sight was truly bone-chilling.

As he worked, Gu Mo muttered, "Sigh... it would be so much better to have a cat or a dog. Why do I have a pet like this?"

The Gluttonous Furball glared at him fiercely.

...

Time ticked away. After several breaks, Gu Mo had cleared more than half of the corpse mountain with his blood-stained hands. Suddenly, his fingertips brushed against something hard—it felt like wood!

He dug frantically. Before his eyes lay a massive wooden box. The Gluttonous Furball leaped onto his shoulder, its long, gory tongue reaching for his neck. Gu Mo twisted his face away in disgust. "Furball, you didn't brush your teeth! Don't touch me with that tongue!"

The creature looked at him with starry, aggrieved eyes. It seemed very sensitive about how Gu Mo treated it. Seeing his own blood-stained state, Gu Mo sighed and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. I'll give you a good wash when we get back."

Satisfied, the creature draped its tongue over his neck. A faint current passed through, and the creature’s voice echoed in his mind: "Master, look at the box!"

Gu Mo shuddered, frozen in place. "Damn... I'm not blind! I can see it!"

The box was over a meter long and half a meter high. It looked primitive, coated in a layer of blood-colored frost. It was eerie and terrifying. Gu Mo raised an eyebrow and carefully cleared the surrounding remains. When the box was fully exposed, he curled his lip in disdain. "Tch, nothing special about this box. No carvings, not even a decent lock!"

Still, with a trembling heart, he reached out toward the strange container.

Suddenly, the creature's voice rang out like a thunderclap in his mind: "Master, wait!"

The suddenness nearly scared the soul out of Gu Mo. He turned, eyes wide, and gritted his teeth. "Furball, what are you doing? If you scare me like that again, I'll let you soak in the corrosive hot springs!"

Under the threat, the creature still persisted: "Master, this box is clearly malevolent. It would be safer to use the ghost energy within your body!"

Gu Mo felt a sudden flush of embarrassment. *Right! Why didn't I think of that? The previous artifacts looked pathetic, but they were all bone-chillingly cold. Who knows what kind of hellish thing is inside this box?*

He steeled himself against the stench of blood and rot, took a deep breath, and channeled the ghost energy within him. With a *boom*, green ghost fire ignited on his hands, and a bone-deep chill surged through his nerves. He cast a doubtful glance at the Gluttonous Furball on his shoulder, then slowly reached toward the frost-covered, ominous wooden box with his ghost-infused hands...