Chapter 277 - Unforeseen Circumstances
Every hair on Hao Xuan's body stood straight up. The countless creatures in front of him were letting out heart-wrenching shrieks that had a strange effect on everyone present.
None of these powerful cultivators could properly control their Qi's.
Hao Xuan was forced out of Infernal Rapture and Assualt of the Mad God, returning to his normal self.
The same happened to the burly man. Only Ensis retained his full power but it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case for much longer.
His black robe was fluttering without any wind, seemingly putting up a resistance against the shrieks of these horrendous creatures.
Hao Xuan's visage turned unsightly.
"What the hell are those things?!" he shouted inwardly.
*Beep*
"Specters! When an innocent person dies a sudden and tragic death, their last moments filled with torment and suffering, their souls are corrupted beyond recognition and can return to the mortal realm to exact vengeance."
"Exact vengeance? So we're safe then right? Since none of this was our fault?"
"No, they do not see it that way. For them, every living creature had a hand in their untimely demise. That means that no one alive is safe. And the stronger the lifeforce, the more attractive you are to them. This place is not safe, you need to escape right this second, before they wake up completely."
Baracus's solemn voice rang in Hao Xuan's ears, informing him of the severity of the situation.
***
As Baracus had explained, Specters were creatures of the spiritual type. This meant that normal physical attacks wouldn't work against them, while they could easily attack all living things.
And because of their hate towards the living, by their very nature, they were a threat to all other existences. Their cries made cultivators Qi's go berserk, their baleful auras destroyed the very lifeforce from the surroundings, they could move through matter and nothing could stop them unless it was backed by a spiritual power.
With so many of them, there was no telling the amount of damage they could do if they escaped to the surface.
***
The burly man's knees went weak and he collapsed onto the floor while throwing up several mouthfuls of blood.
All the resistance he was putting up against Ensis's attack vanished when his Qi went out of control. Ensis's 3 swords were still inside his body but even they were shaking non-stop.
Ensis's expression was distorted to a degree, evidence of the amount of pressure he was in trying to maintain his current form. He looked at Hao Xuan pleadingly.
"M-Master, we have to leave, right now!"
Hao Xuan who was still in a daze from the cold energy that was starting to come off of the Specters woke up and nodded.
"Y-Yeah, let's go."
Ensis waved his hand, pulling the 3 blades out of the burly man's back. Yet it seemed like it was already too late for him. The man's face was pale white and blood continuously poured out of his wounds.
He raised his head with some effort and met Hao Xuan's gaze.
"L-Look....what...you did. You've doomed....us...all.."
Hao Xuan who was about to leave suddenly stopped. He bent down and stared right into the man's eyes.
"You did this. All of you. You tortured those poor souls so much that they couldn't even move on to the afterlife. You've brought this on yourselves, not me."
The man was barely holding on as it was but Hao Xuan's comment was the last nail in his proverbial coffin.
*Fssh*
A stream of blood spurted out from his wounded chest, coloring the ground red. It looked like he had a lot more to say but didn't have the energy or the physical capability to do so anymore. All he could do was grab hold of Hao Xuan's arm.
"You deserve everything that's coming for you. Maybe now you'll be able to realize your mistakes."
Having said that he shook away the dying man's hand and stood up.
He walked up to the other collapsed man to the side, the one who somehow had taken the altar inside his body and picked him up.
He looked at Ensis, "Let's go," and started running towards the exit.
*Crrrrr*
The noise from Hao Xuan and Ensis's retreat alerted the few hundred specters closest to them. They turned around and saw Hao Xuan's back becoming smaller and smaller in the shadows, and then at the burly man who was laying in a pool of his blood.
The choice was obvious. Over 300 specters dragged their squirming bodies towards him. All the blood that was seeping out of his wounds acted like a guiding light in a stormy night.
Using the last bit of strength left in him, the man tried to crawl away but the specters caught up to him within seconds.
*Crack*
"AHHHHH"
*Riiip~*
*Chomp*
*Splatter*
In the empty chamber, the sound of the burly man's screams and his flesh and bones being ripped apart echoed loudly. Some even reached Hao Xuan's ears with his remarkable hearing.
He wasn't listening for it but still heard them. It wasn't the first time he had heard such sounds but these ones were especially disturbing.
With Hao Xuan at the front, the unconscious man on his shoulder, Black around his waist and Ensis behind him, the party sprinted out with everything they had.
*splash*
As Hao Xuan stepped back into the man area with the 9 paths, he stepped into some water.
'Where did this come from?' he looked down at the several inches of water at his feet but didn't give it too much thought.
Just as he was about to speed off, shrieks and screams of help came from the other 8 chambers.
"AHHH~"
"RUN! RUN!"
"MONSTERS!"
"DON'T LEAVE ME PLEASE! hELP!"
It seemed like the specters had started spreading throughout the structure, towards the other chambers which seemed to have been inhabited by people as well.
"Master, they're about to catch up as well," Ensis urged when he felt the cold breeze on the nape of his neck. The specters were almost upon them.
"Unh, let's go," Hao Xuan nodded. He turned towards the other chambers and slashed out with his glaive, destroying a large portion of the area right above the entrances.
Large amount of rocks and rubble fell, blocking the entrances. He wanted to make sure that as many of those b*stards would die as possible. Although they had the wormfood flames with them, their cultivations were also restricted.
Even if some of them managed to reach the entrances, they would be locked in by the rubble and would have to take off their necklaces to escape, which would, in turn, attract more specters.
He ran towards the area he had come down from and reached it within a couple of minutes.
This was the source of the water. At some point it had started raining heavily, and all of it was pouring down here from the giant hole in the ceiling. The water was already up to his knees.
"Go," he patted Black's head and his body started expanding. In less than 5 seconds Black was back to his original size at over 200 meters. He lowered his head, prompting Hao Xuan to get on.
***
At the top, there was a team of 5 standing on guard. Their job was to make sure no one else went in until their people returned. One among them was a rookie named Alex who was curiously staring into the black hole.
"Hmm? What's that....?" he mumbled when something moved in the darkness.