Stimulated by the firelight, the humans suspended from the top of the tunnel began to stir restlessly. Their mouths tore open, and transparent saliva dripped from the tips of their teeth.
Seeing that a rain of saliva was about to fall from above, Qing Li retrieved a red umbrella from her storage space. Its sudden appearance startled the bizarrely acting humans, who seemed to have seen something terrifying and retreated into the shadows.
“This umbrella…”
Chu Ci stared at the umbrella in Qing Li’s hand. His thin lips parted slightly as he remarked softly, “It’s very beautiful.”
The crimson surface of the umbrella seemed to be dyed with fresh blood, exuding a thick aura of resentment. Beneath the canopy, it was densely covered with yellow talismans, intricately drawn with vermilion symbols. Faint streams of red light flowed across its surface.
“Of course, this is the prized treasure of our Taoist temple,” Qing Li said with a faint smirk.
After her master had fled, leaving a pile of junk behind, she had sold off all the useless items as scrap—except for this umbrella, which she kept.
The viewers in the livestream were intrigued by the strange design of Qing Li’s red umbrella.
[How is this umbrella beautiful? I doubt Dr. Chu’s sense of aesthetics.]
[Why are so many talismans stuck under a red umbrella? It feels so odd.]
[Am I the only one who feels extremely uncomfortable looking at this umbrella?]
[Nope, you’re definitely not the only one.]
[Curious about what this umbrella is made of—it doesn’t look like plastic, cloth, or oil paper. It seems so strange.]
A single umbrella successfully derailed the conversation.
The humans hidden in the dark corners of the tunnel became increasingly agitated. The flames from the burning talismans were gradually dying out, and the flashlight seemed to be malfunctioning under magnetic interference. Soon, the tunnel plunged into complete darkness.
“Shhh—shhh—”
The faint sound of friction was amplified endlessly in the darkness. Qing Li knew those things were coming back again.
Five lightning talismans appeared in her hand, but worried that their combined power might collapse the tunnel, she put four away.
Wisps of violet lightning coiled around her palm, but in the next moment, Chu Ci suddenly clasped her hand. In the darkness, his facial features were indistinct, and only his low voice could be heard.
“Little girl, I’m here to collect stock. If you destroy them, it’ll give me a headache.”
“Well, it’s your headache, not mine,” Qing Li snorted softly.
Beside her, Chu Ci chuckled quietly. He slipped a surgical scalpel into Qing Li’s hand and said in a low voice, “Their weakness is the brain. Those parasites burrow into their brains, consume all the brain matter, and use their tentacles to control the body’s nerves, manipulating their actions.”
As his words fell, a notification echoed in Qing Li’s mind.
“Congratulations, Player 91, on obtaining the special item—Chu Ci’s Surgical Scalpel.”
“Item Function: It can restrain ghost entities below the level of Supreme Malevolent Spirit and inflict permanent, irreparable damage.”
Qing Li’s ahoge stood upright. A weapon capable of permanently harming ghost entities below the level of Supreme Malevolent Spirit? That’s an absolutely overpowered bug.
It was common knowledge that ghost entities could heal themselves with ghost energy. But any damage inflicted by this scalpel would leave them forever unable to recover.
“Dr. Chu, I have two hands. Just giving me one scalpel isn’t enough!” Qing Li hinted blatantly.
Chu Ci: “…”
Suddenly, a shadow lunged at Qing Li. Without a moment’s hesitation, she raised her foot and delivered a powerful kick.
“Boom—”
A deafening crash echoed in the darkness as the figure slammed into the tunnel wall, followed by the faint sound of bones shattering.
[Oh my goodness, how strong is this kick from the village girl?]
The livestream, now switched to night vision mode, captured the scene clearly: a man in the darkness had attempted to ambush Qing Li, only to be sent flying by her kick.
What amazed the viewers even more was the aftermath—the man’s body crashed into the tunnel wall with a loud bang. Debris exploded in all directions as his body stuck to the wall like paper, blood spurting from his mouth in large amounts. Mixed within the spatters of blood were wriggling tendrils.
But this was only an appetizer. More figures—no, corpses—began to crawl forward. These humans, parasitized by the worms, had lost all signs of life. They were like puppets with no minds or thoughts, mechanically closing in on Qing Li and Chu Ci from all directions.
Qing Li threw a few fire talismans, which stuck to the approaching corpses and instantly ignited into blazing flames, lighting up the narrow tunnel once more.
The swarm of corpses surrounded them completely. The scene was far from pleasant.
“Sorry, Dr. Chu, but I don’t think removing their heads will affect your experimental materials,” Qing Li said with a sudden grin.
The raging flames reflected in her eyes made them glimmer ominously. Her pale face flickered with the firelight, her slightly upturned lips carrying a trace of excitement.
With that, a giant axe appeared in her hand. Without another word, she swung it at the nearest corpse.
“Thud—”
The corpse’s head rolled to the ground, spraying blood in all directions.
From the severed neck, writhing tendrils emerged, desperately trying to reconnect with the head. Qing Li casually tossed a fire talisman onto it, igniting the head in an instant.
“Ahhh—”
A sharp, harrowing scream came from the burning head as it rolled on the ground, writhing in agony. The flames, as though fueled by gasoline, quickly spread to the other corpses.
The tunnel grew brighter and brighter.
Amidst the chaos, Qing Li could even smell the faint scent of roasted meat.
She didn’t stop. With every swing of her axe, several heads were severed at once. One shorter corpse only lost half its skull, exposing the parasite within to the livestream viewers.
The parasite was blood-red, with a plump body resembling a tick bloated with blood. From its underside sprouted countless tendrils, which were controlling the corpse’s movements.
Sensing danger after losing its protective skull, the parasite tried to withdraw its tendrils and flee. But in the next moment, a talisman landed on its bloated body and burst into flames.
[Ugh, that’s disgusting. What kind of parasite is this? Someone call an expert to identify it.]
[This parasite doesn’t exist in our world; it must be a specialty of the Horror World.]
[The tendrils remind me of another parasite—horsehair worms.]
[Why do parasites have to be so revolting? This is nightmare fuel.]
Qing Li moved quickly, dispatching one after another with brutal efficiency. Her methods were so savage that, in comparison, Chu Ci’s approach seemed gentle.
The surgical scalpel in his hand seemed to come alive. He moved with precision, making no unnecessary motions. Each strike of the scalpel plunged perfectly into the corpses’ brains. A wisp of invisible black energy seeped into the wounds, and the corpses instantly fell lifeless to the ground.