Chapter 353: Chapter 229: Swamp Corpse Hand
Translator: 549690339
After resting for an entire day, Chu Mu continued on his way.
Walking along this dim forest path, shrouded in darkness like a black night, Chu Mu even wondered if there might be soul pets from the Netherworld in this gloom-laden, slightly putrid forest.
The Netherworld’s soul pets were generally enveloped by the breath of death, formed from the discarded corpses in the wild that gradually absorbed these deathly auras.
Chu Mu had seldom interacted with creatures from the Netherworld and hence knew little about them. It was said that there was a vast land densely populated by countless undead, teeming with the soul pets of the Netherworld…
After crossing a patch of muddy land, like a swamp, Chu Mu could unmistakably sense the intensifying aura of death around him, a deathly stench that made breathing somewhat difficult.
“Creak, creak ”
Suddenly, a few spine-chilling noises echoed from around the decaying tree marshland, sounding like some sinister creature gnawing on bones!
Chu Mu became more alert and released his soul sense to locate the origin of the noises.
Because of the prevailing aura of death, Chu Mu’s soul sense could only probe a limited distance, and he could not pinpoint the creature’s location, as it was clearly very adept at hiding.
“Creak, creak ”
Once again, the noise came, this time strikeably closer, as if the creature was nearing.
A sense of unrest rose within Chu Mu.
“Roar!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The Ghost Dome King standing behind Chu Mu suddenly lifted the King’s Ghost Sword and roared infuriatingly in a particular direction!
The Ghost Dome King’s momentum was overwhelming, invoking a chilling whirlwind of ghostly air that swept towards where the sound came from, like a black typhoon!
After the appearance of the black ghostly air, a perturbing silhouette of a floating creature materialized on the deserted path ahead, looking almost transparent. If not for being enshrouded in ghostly aura, its body wouldn’t be visible at all.
“What is this?!” Chu Mu was astonished at the creature lurking in the chilly mist up ahead.
It held a humanoid form, seemingly with hair, in shabby tatters, and its long thin arms hang loose while its head drooped down, the whole creature appearing as if a hanged man was suspended in mid-air…
“Young Master, don’t panic, that’s a ghost race soul pet. Clearly this is a soul pet master’s spirit that transformed over several years, or even several decades, under the influence of the local aura of death,” Master Li suggested.
“Ghost Race?” Chu Mu had heard about this species of soul pets, but had never encountered one, especially a human form ghost race soul pet, due to his life in limited areas.
“Most Soul Pet Masters cultivate their souls, which makes their souls relatively powerful. When their physical bodies die, their souls cling to the unmoving corpses. Over the long term, under the influence of the aura of death, there’s a chance they can transform into ghosts. It’s similar to the elemental soul pets; they are also born from a certain spirit item and nourished by that type of element over time…”
Intimidated by the powerful ghostly aura from Ghost Dome King, the ghost race soul pet hovering in place didn’t dare to get close to Chu Mu.
“This is the lowest servant-level ghost race soul pet, it hardly has any offensive ability. It can only cast some interference and limiting skills. Young Master, you don’t need to worry,” Master Li stated.
Chu Mu nodded, seeing the Ghost Dome King could keep this creature in check, and boldly moved forward.
However, after taking only a few steps forward, the ghost race soul pet suddenly recoiled as if it had seen something frightful.
A cold gale swept from an unknown source, hitting Chu Mu in the face. The concentrated aura of death nearly made it impossible for him to breathe.
“Uhh ”
“Uhh”
Weird noises emanated from beneath the swamp, sounding as if something was lodged in a throat causing difficulty in producing the sound, resulting in an eerie feeling.
Chu Mu immediately furrowed his brow. For some reason, his soul sense felt blocked as if by a seal, making it impossible to extend outwards.
Usually, this only occurs when the soul is locked or suppressed by a stronger spirit force. However, Chu Mu didn’t sense any spirit force being imposed on him, only the surrounding eerie atmosphere completely suppressing Chu Mu’s soul sense.
“You know, Young Master… I suggest you summon your Black Deer, and… then withdraw these three soul pets…” Old Li’s voice took on an unusual tone.
Although Chu Mu didn’t quite understand, he followed the advice and withdrew Zhan Ye, Demon Tree, and Ghost Monarch before slowly summoning the Night Thunder Dream Beast to his side.
Chu Mu climbed onto the Night Thunder Dream Beast and, to be safe, he immediately had the Night Thunder Dream Beast to enter into a state of “Ye Wu”.
In the shadows, the Night Thunder Dream Beast was able to walk in mid-air. As it slowly moved forward, it also moved towards higher grounds, gradually making its way into mid-air…
“Run as fast as you can, and get out of this swamp first,” the voice of Old Raccoon Li came through. However, this time, the voice did not come from the Soul Capture Ring Chu Mu was wearing into his spiritual world, but appeared in front of Chu Mu.
Chu Mu stared blankly as Old Raccoon Li disappeared from his sight in a puff of smoke.
“Uuurrrrrrrrr!!!!”
“Uuurrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!”
A chilling call suddenly came from the muddy swamp below, Chu Mu quickly realizing what it meant.
“Night, Extreme Shadow, run forwards, don’t stop!” Chu Mu hurriedly commanded.
The Night Thunder Dream Beast also sensed danger, its head leaning forward, it started to sprint through the deadwood swamp forest without treading on the swamp!
“Uuuhhhhhhhh!!!!”
“Uuhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
A completely decayed arm rose from the swamp, with ghost-like claws, emitting a frightening corpse poison!
This hand reached towards the limbs of the Night Thunder Dream Beast, as if trying to brutally pull it down into the swamp!
The evading ability of the Night Thunder Dream Beast was as good as Mo Ye’s. While stepping in mid-air, its body suddenly swayed from side to side, elegantly dodging this frighteningly fast emerging arm.
“Bubble, Bubble, Bubble”
The muddy swamp started to boil, countless black bubbles burst open in the mud, each explosion splashing black liquid upwards. From within this liquid, many long, arm-like claws, corpse hands, and bone palms reached out, intending to pull both Chu Mu and Night Thunder Dream Beast straight into the swamp!
“Chasing Wind and Moon!”
The speed of the Night Thunder Dream Beast increased, even forming a special kind of airflow swirling around its body. The beast sprinting through the swamp forest filled with countless grasping hands seemed to be running on these frightening appendages!
Its speed kept increasing, the Night Thunder Dream Beast had accelerated to three times its original top speed. This speed was very close to Mo Ye’s instant attack, and it was a continuous sprint!
The stamina of the Night Thunder Dream Beast was enough to let it chase throughout the night. Maintaining this speed, the beast passed through this large swamp filled with clawed hands and decayed arms, and it was gradually able to see the small Old Raccoon Li in front…
Chu Mu looked back, several Beast Soul Pets that came out in search of prey didn’t escape this crisis, they were brutally pulled into the swamp, their bodies cruelly shredded by those arm-like appendages. Chu Mu was taken aback, he had not expected such terrifying creatures to gather in the swamp.
“Young Master, you have just seen that creatures are constantly being pulled into the swamp. The more the swamp fills with the dead, the more corpses there are. After almost a hundred years of constant vicious cycle it eventually resulted in the emergence of the terrifying Swamp Corpse Hand…” Old Raccoon Li sighed in relief after reaching a safe spot.
Chu Mu had long been used to Old Raccoon Li’s habit of escaping during dangerous times, he asked: “Doesn’t that mean there are thousands of Netherworld Soul Pets in the swamp?”
Old Raccoon Li stretched out a raccoon paw, shaking it left and right: “No, no, the Swamp Corpse Hand is not thousands of Netherworld Soul Pets, it is only one Netherworld Soul Pet.”
“One?” Chu Mu looked somewhat baffled at the countless corpse arms extending from the swamp, finding it hard to imagine that they could be just one Soul Pet…
“Soul Pets of the Netherworld are a bit special, quite a few have the ability to devour each other, all those bodies pulled into the swamp would become part of this Soul Pet’s body. In fact, beneath those arms you saw there must be a main body, and this main body is the main body of that Soul Pet.
“From what I can see, the Swamp Corpse Hand is presumably about the level of a Commander, nearing the Monarch level, at the seventh rank. If it were a bit stronger, escape would be significantly more difficult.”
“Of course, if Young Master is interested, you can also try to capture it for fun. With the existence of the Nine-tailed Flame Fox, coupled with the White Nightmare Demon possessing Abnormal Abilities, there is a chance to defeat it,” mentioned Old Raccoon Li.
“Even if such a Soul Pet is captured, how would it fight?” An expression of disbelief dawned upon Chu Mu.
“Of course it can, in fact, the swamp is its domain, once you summon it, it will establish its domain first, that is, forming a movable swamp. Within this swamp, it can attack anytime. What you see from this Swamp Corpse Hand is not very strong. This swamp is naturally formed, and the swamp domain it owns can only cover about twenty meters in radius. It feels like there are thousands or that corpse arms are scattered throughout the swamp, that’s because it has cast an illusion magic, don’t you feel that your soul sense cannot stretch out?” Old Raccoon Li explained.
“Illusion magic? Like a Dreamland Skill?” Chu Mu found out about a new skill.
“Somewhat similar, but also different, the combat techniques of these soul pets are very special, many people who don’t understand them would become victims. If Young Master feels that he has vacant soul contracts, you can indeed consider it,” Old Raccoon Li suggested.
“Forget it, such things are too strange, they might not eat Soul Crystals, they may need to eat meat for sustenance…” Chu Mu shook his head, having no intention of wanting such a Soul Pet.
(The first chapter) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian () and vote for recommendation votes, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)