The Corpse Monkey

When Han Li saw the expression on the young woman's face, his own expression turned cold. A glint of sharp light flashed in his eyes, and without another word, he raised his hand and flung the jade box directly at her.

Although he didn't understand why she was afraid of the talisman, since she clearly harbored ill intentions, he naturally wouldn't be polite any longer.

Seeing this, the black-robed woman became even more panicked. Without thinking, she slapped one hand on the stone platform beneath her, seeming about to rise and dodge.

But this action apparently triggered some kind of restriction. The moment she rose about a zhang into the air, a red light flashed around her body, and she was forcibly pulled back to her original position, her face twisting in pain.

By this time, the jade box had already shot to her front. With a clear hum, it changed direction and flew autonomously above the woman's head.

Golden light then blazed from the golden talisman on the box. Countless golden runes flew out from the talisman and drifted lightly down onto the woman.

"No!"

The black-robed woman let out a despairing cry. Her elegant features twisted hideously.

Then, as if unwilling to give up without a fight, she quickly raised her single arm to cover her face while frantically lowering her head—as if she wished she could hide her entire face within her chest.

The runes finally landed on the woman's shoulder. Golden light flashed, and a cloud of green smoke instantly rose.

The woman's body trembled violently as a terrifyingly shrill shriek burst from her mouth. The sound was sharp and piercing, utterly inhuman.

Han Li's expression shifted drastically. Involuntarily, he stepped back several paces. After a thin layer of sweat formed on his palms, one hand immediately gripped the spirit beast pouch containing his Gold Devourer Beetles, while the other tightened around the ancient jade ruyi treasure. His expression was grim as he stared fixedly at the stone platform, not uttering a single word.

More runes fell. Green smoke billowed around the black-robed woman. Soon, the entire stone platform was enveloped in a thick fog. Occasionally, a glint of golden light could be seen, but the woman herself was no longer visible.

The screams from within the green mist, however, never stopped for even a moment. At times, they were high and piercing; at others, hoarse and savage. The voice shifted back and forth from male to female, sending chills down the spine.

Watching with a growing sense of alarm, Han Li licked his lips and held his breath.

As the green smoke spread, a foul, stench-filled odor filled the entire room. After inhaling just a mouthful or two, he immediately felt dizzy and nauseous, and could not help feeling deeply alarmed.

This smoke was highly toxic.

Just then, from within the thick green fog, a series of snapping and cracking sounds emerged.

Before Han Li could figure out what the noise was, he heard a sharp "whoosh."

A jade-green claw shot out from the mist like a bolt of lightning, its surface wrapped in thin silver chains. It struck viciously toward Han Li, who had already retreated to a corner of the stone chamber. The arm stretched and contracted like a snake, extending several zhang in an instant, aiming directly to smash through his protective barrier.

Han Li tensed and tightened his grip on the jade ruyi, about to activate it.

But the silver chains on the ghostly claw suddenly tightened. Sparks flew everywhere, and the smell of scorching filled the air.

A low, pained roar echoed from within the mist. The claw immediately retracted.

With his lips pressed tightly together, Han Li stared at the dense fog, his expression shifting between uncertainty and calculation. After a moment's thought, his face turned cold as he took two more small steps back, pressing himself against the wall of blue-gold stone. He then poured more spiritual power into the jade ruyi.

Instantly, the red and yellow light barrier around him thickened once more.

Only then did he relax slightly, feeling a bit more at ease.

After about the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, the strange cries from within the green mist began to fade. The light of the golden talisman on the jade box also gradually dimmed. The number of runes falling from it had greatly decreased, a far cry from the beginning.

It seems this golden talisman can indeed restrain this thing—neither ghost nor demon—but its spiritual power is still limited. I wonder whether it will be able to subdue the creature by the time its energy is drained, Han Li mused silently.

Fortunately, his worry proved unnecessary.

By the time the screams had completely ceased and the green mist had fallen deathly still, the light of the golden talisman had not yet fully faded.

Han Li looked at the talisman still hovering in the air but didn't move closer immediately. After waiting a moment longer, he only acted when the talisman's light completely converged and it, along with the jade box, dropped straight down into the green fog.

With a wave of his hand, he temporarily put away the spirit beast pouch. The freed hand formed a hand seal, and a low chant emerged.

In front of his chest, a red light orb the size of a chicken's egg materialized.

Looking at the orb, Han Li did not hesitate. He pointed at it lightly, and with a "whoosh," the orb transformed into a streak of red light, shooting into the green mist and disappearing without a trace.

Then, his brows lifted, and he uttered a single word: "Explode."

A thunderous boom erupted from within the green mist.

The fog, as if swept away by a fierce gale, was instantly scattered into nothingness. At the same time, a wave of scorching heat filled the small room.

As expected, fire-attribute techniques are the most effective against this kind of evil toxic fog.

With the hot wind washing over him, Han Li remained standing still, his eyes flickering with strange light as he fixed his gaze on the now-revealed stone platform.

What he saw made his heart skip a beat. He swallowed dryly, a chill creeping over him.

On the stone platform lay a humanoid creature, motionless, its condition unknown.

The only reason he called it "humanoid" was that, despite its roughly human shape, its body was covered in a dense layer of coarse, stiff green fur. A thick, rancid odor of rotting flesh emanated from it.

Though he had not yet seen its face clearly, it was definitely not human.

Like the illusion of the black-robed woman, it also had only one arm. Its claw, tipped with black nails, was clearly the ghostly claw that had attacked him just moments ago.

What caught Han Li's attention was that this monster was bound by countless thin silver chains that were wrapped tightly around its limbs. Most frighteningly, a large portion of the chains ran straight through its chest and back, as if they were the only thing keeping it imprisoned in this position.

Without overthinking, Han Li pointed at the flying swords above his head. A dozen streaks of green light shot forward, hacking wildly at the monster.

A series of dull thuds rang out. The green-furred monster remained completely unharmed.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly, a bitter smile appearing on his face. Still, he wasn't particularly surprised.

Given how carefully this creature was imprisoned, it was clearly no ordinary existence. If he had actually chopped its head off in a single blow, that would have been the truly shocking outcome.

He waved his hand, recalling the flying swords. Then, stepping forward a few paces, he gave a light flick of his sleeve toward the green-furred monster.

A patch of green light shot out from Han Li's sleeve, gently enveloping the creature's body before silently rolling it over, revealing its true face.

A deathly-pale, skeletal visage—a face of skin and bones like a skull—appeared before Han Li. Its half-open mouth exposed a pair of large fangs, each about an inch long, giving it a horrifying appearance.

"This is…?" Han Li examined the monster's green fur and its features, feeling a vague sense of familiarity, as if he had read about it in some ancient text.

He lowered his head, deep in thought.

"Corpse Monkey."

After a moment, Han Li suddenly looked up, a trace of fear in his eyes as he blurted out the creature's name. In his mind, he frantically recalled the terrifying legends about this ominous spirit, infamous even in the Primordial Era.

"Corpse Monkey," as its name implies, was a type of zombie. However, it was vastly different from the walking corpses cultivated by human cultivators or the ordinary buried zombies that had awakened through spiritual energy.

The conditions for its formation were extremely harsh.

Though no one knew the complete method of their creation, for a corpse to evolve into a Corpse Monkey, two conditions had to be met.

First, the corpse must have belonged to at least a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator in life. Mortals or cultivators of low cultivation simply did not have the power to transform into a Corpse Monkey after death. Second, the cultivator must have possessed a wood- or earth-attribute spiritual root—and specifically a Heavenly Spiritual Root at that. Without such a root, relying on the power of stone and wood to reawaken was impossible.

Beyond these, another essential condition existed: these cultivators must have died carrying a tremendous grudge or resentment. Only then would their souls refuse to enter the cycle of reincarnation, lingering instead around their corpses.

Over a long period, aided by other coincidences, the soul would gradually reintegrate and refine with its original corpse, giving rise to this kind of monster.

Such a creature could be considered half-human and half-corpse, or perhaps half-corpse and half-ghost.

It possessed none of the fatal weaknesses of ghosts or zombies—fear of sunlight, for instance—and retained most of its memories from life. It could naturally practice the techniques it knew in life. And because it had died bearing deep resentment, such malevolent spirits were never merciful. Nearly all of them were born with a murderous nature. After killing a cultivator, they especially enjoyed imprisoning the victim's soul in their abdomen, slowly tormenting it with corpse fire for amusement.

This monster was something the cultivation world of the Primordial Era had feared beyond all else.