73 Piles and piles

The bell led them down the halls of the Hidden Mist Manor. Every turn was filled with the groans of the undead their footfalls languid and without aim. Yuan Xuelan gritted his teeth, his fingers wound tightly around his sword. The halls seemed especially narrow now, with Silei's destructive power buzzing in his palm. He still had yet to get a hang of the sword and realized with frustration that he could easily burn the entire manor to the ground with one breath of error.

Nan Chang stuck close to him and he could feel the slight tremble of her body against his. He felt a little sorry for her and probably should have taken Liu Sumeng's side back at the inn. So he tried to reassure her by placing his free hand over hers. She was quick to entwine their fingers.

Peng Jipei, who had been talkative and lively earlier had fallen silent, his eyes staring ahead almost vacantly. Perhaps the horror of his home being wrecked and destroyed was only now sinking in. Yuan Xuelan couldn't sympathize with a lot of things, but this was something that he could.

He was livid as well.

Liu Sumeng stood vanguard and silently cut through any corpses that dared to wander too close. When Yuan Xuelan looked down at the body that fell to their feet, he noticed how the hair was thin and skin was like weathered leather. The stench was breath-stopping and terrible.

They walked on. Weren't they headed to the Main Hall? Even though Yuan Xuelan couldn't see the walls they passed by clearly, he knew much of the place by memory. Something growled up ahead of them, where the narrow hall opened up to a wider space. It thumped against the ground with a weight much greater than any corpse. It made a noise like a growl. The four of them shared a look. The bell was leading them straight to the source of that noise.

Yuan Xuelan furrowed his brows, the visibility was still too terrible to able to make out what exactly was going on. But just as he opened his mouth to share his opinion, another voice was heard instead.

But it was not from any of them and came from the direction of the mysterious, big, thing in the Main Hall. "Xiao Pangqiu!" It hissed, "Stay put, you fat ugly thing. I said stay put! Don't go off eating too many corpses behind my back, you hear?"

There was a rattling of chains. Footsteps walking away. They stayed silent, unmoving, and alert.

But after a while, nothing happened. Yuan Xuelan lowered his voice to the barest whisper, "We should go around. Get the other flags first so that visibility can clear up a bit."

"B-but how? The bell is saying this is the closest one," Peng Jipei hissed, his voice a little too loud and invited the sound of something shifting. A thump. Chains rattled.

The four cultivators stood there frozen and waited.

"N-Nan Chang is scared…" the female cultivator whined and pressed herself so tightly around Yuan Xuelan's arm that he feared he was going to lose circulation.

"...We walk," Liu Sumeng eventually said. They turned their attention towards him. "Walk until another flag is closer."

Yuan Xuelan looked at Peng Jipei, "Would that work?"

Peng Jipei frowned, "I think so. It should… The bell just detects whatever is the closest…I'm pretty sure that's how it works," he mumbled.

And thus, slowly, they crept away one step at a time, careful not to disturb whatever creature was resting in the main hall. They would have to deal with it later. Peng Jipei led them around the halls. But for some reason, even after a few rounds, it seemed that the flag near the unknown creature was still the closest.

Maybe they didn't understand how the bell worked after all. "Give that to me." Yuan Xuelan held out his hand.

But Peng Jipei was hesitant, "W-what, why? This bell is special to me…"

"Can't you just let me see it? It's weird that we're still being led towards the same damn flag."

"Maybe something's wrong with it," Nan Chang was curious as well, separating herself from Yuan Xuelan's arm just enough to get a better look at the bell.

But Liu Sumeng was uninterested in the tool and was looking at Peng Jipei instead. "You're taking us in circles." No one could miss the accusatory words that came out of his lips.

"I've only been following the bell's power…! You've all seen me."

Yuan Xuelan frowned at Liu Sumeng's suspicious tone, "Yes I believe you, Peng-ge. Which is why I'm asking to see the bell."

But Peng Jipei only clutched the bell close to his chest, "No!"

"Why not!?" Nan Chang complained with a deep pout. "What if there's something wrong with it?" Her voice raised.

All this fussing brought about the attention of more corpses and before any of the cultivators noticed, the two ends of the hall they were still stuck in was completely filled with fiends shuffling their way. "L-Look what you've done!" Peng Jipei cried, eyes darting angrily at the people surrounding him.

Liu Sumeng instantly switched his focus from the agitated Peng Jipei to the horde coming their way. He drew his sword and stood in front of Nan Chang and Peng Jipei. "Stay close." He wondered privately just how had fate brought him to this point in his life? How was he defending two people he hated so vehemently in his past life? Granted, the Ivory Sword Saint was only protecting Peng Jipei because he was curious about how the younger was related to this entire conundrum.

It was strange because while Peng Jipei had been responsible for a similar situation in his past life, there were some key differences that almost seemed misplaced. Like the fog and the person with the monster in the Main Hall and even Peng Jipei himself. It led Liu Sumeng to believe that fate was a lot more complicated than he had originally imagined.

But there was no time to drown himself in thoughts. He couldn't see the corpses approaching but the drum of their stampeding was an easy make out. Yuan Xuelan was facing the other end of the hall, protecting their two charges in between.

Gray fingers clawed at the Ivory Sword Saint from within the mist. He already anticipated their movement long before and severed the fingers that came his way, arching his body so none of that black putrid blood might spill onto him. More bodies squeezed forward and Liu Sumeng was forced to slice through their attack. In the narrow space and with two people that he was due to protect Liu Sumeng was left with a very limited range of movement.

The corpses were not powerful, but their numbers were overwhelming and Liu Sumeng was reluctant to abandon the integrity of his robes. Alas, he had no choice. They came like a wave with the rancid scent of decay. Soon it wasn't so much the animated corpses that were an issue but the defeated ones that stacked up from the ground.

"We have to get out of here!" Yuan Xuelan called. On the other side, Silei roared with thunder.

Liu Sumeng agreed, "Yes." His side was almost completely blocked by the fallen corpses so the only real option was to go the way Yuan Xuelan was facing, as he could blast a path through the bodies with Silei's power. Yuan Xuelan had reached out and grabbed Nan Chang's wrist behind him.

"Let's hurry!" He tried to pull her forward but she squeaked and stumbled over her ankles.

"T-There's something!" She screamed, horror saturating her voice.

Liu Sumeng drove Mingshui down to a hand that had crept its way around Nan Chang's ankle and sunk its nails in until she bled. She was crying, chest heaving, and Liu Sumeng had to bite back his feelings to pick her up bridal style. "Let's go."

Yuan Xuelan wasted no time and using Silei to cleave out the path. They ran down the hallway until they were able to reach a wider room. And when they entered the first thing Liu Sumeng did was turn around. His left arm was still around Nan Chang but he let his right one go of her to form a set of hand seals, erecting a barrier that blocked the entrance of the room. The corpses piled against the barrier and Liu Sumeng felt his spiritual energy strain.

Yuan Xulan caught his intention and pulled out a dozen talismans and piled them against the barrier. It was enough to stall them for now. "They'll breakthrough sooner or later…" Yuan Xuelan clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"But we have a bit of time." Liu Sumeng let out the smallest sigh of relief. But even though they were now safe, Nan Chang was still clinging to him. Awkwardly, he set her down but her hands were still gripping the length of his sleeve, her bosom pressed up against his arm. He looked at Yuan Xuelan helplessly.

"Ah!" Yuan Xuelan exclaimed, finally noticing how Nan Chang was flush against the Ivory Sword Saint. His mind went unthinking as he reached to drag her off. "What the heck are you doing? Didn't I tell you that he's off-limits!"

Nan Chang yelped at the sudden tug and fell into Yuan Xuelan's chest. "Xuelan!" She whined, her voice was trembling with fear.

Yuan Xuelan was suddenly at a loss, his annoyance towards her melted into pity. Nan Chang was really, in all seriousness, terrified. He hugged her close to him and tried to soothe the tremors that assaulted her body. "Okay, there, there. It's fine. You're fine. We'll protect you, right?" He glanced at Liu Sumeng and glance at…

At… the corpses still clawing at the barrier. Liu Sumeng had alarm in his eyes, obviously having come to the same conclusion as he.

Where was Peng Jipei!?