Bai Ru frowned and asked, "You mean that walking corpse isn't an ordinary one, but one that can obey commands?"

Gu Yi sighed lightly, "Or perhaps, more like a guard or an enforcer."

"Are there any precautions we need to take against this thing?" Bai Ru weighed the Demon-Subduing Rod in her hand, asking, "Is it immensely strong, or impervious to blades and bullets?"

Ever since Bai Ru had dealt with Principal Hao thoroughly using the Demon-Subduing Rod, she felt a sense of reckless abandon about everything. Although this mindset seemed somewhat abnormal, this was hardly the time for psychological evaluation; resolving the immediate threat was the key.

Gu Yi was slightly surprised, "You plan to go? Or should I?"

Bai Ru shook her head, very calmly, "No, I will. Don't forget there's that little thing darting around. You're better at tracking its movements than I am."

Gu Yi knew she was referring to his Clairvoyant Eye, which could move within walls or the ground. It was indeed easier for him to monitor it than for Bai Ru.

Gu Yi reached out and stopped Bai Ru just as she was about to rush forward. "It's... fast, and incredibly strong."

Bai Ru managed a weak smile, "Don't worry. We'll take it down and bring Li Jin back."

Time did not allow for further conversation. Bai Ru stepped toward the corpse sprawled on the ground.

When they were still over ten meters away, the corpse, which still appeared to be breathing shallowly, indeed moved. It lifted its head and turned toward Bai Ru's position. Under the beam of the flashlight, Bai Ru couldn't help but feel a chill. Because it had been lying down, she couldn't see clearly before, but now she instantly saw a face so rotted that its features were barely recognizable. Where its eyes once were, only two pitch-black holes remained, and strips of flesh hung loosely from its face, looking as if they might fall off at any moment.

As the walking corpse raised its head, its entire body rose from the ground, but not standing on two legs. Instead, it crouched low on all fours like a beast, bracing itself on its hands. The skin on both hands had completely ulcerated, showing deep depressions from the decay. Several of its fingernails had fallen off, and the remaining ones were purple, looking exceptionally gruesome.

Although this thing was eyeless, it seemed to see Bai Ru. Its head swayed twice, and it opened a mouth devoid of teeth or tongue, resembling a gaping black hole. A low "wuu wuu" sound emanated from its throat, and it lunged forward, pouncing toward Bai Ru.

Though its head was completely bald, the fingernails on its hands had grown quite long, curling over and trembling slightly.

With that leap, it clearly aimed for Bai Ru's upper body, its five fingers slightly bent, the long, hooked nails striking directly toward her face.

They had just encountered a Vengeful Corpse, and now another ancient Jiangshi appeared. This entire sewer was filled with the decaying remains of animals; Bai Ru suddenly felt this place had become what legends called a Corpse-Nurturing Ground.

Despite her thoughts, seeing the walking corpse rush her, she flipped her wrist, thrusting the Demon-Subduing Rod straight toward the zombie's head. However, perhaps her aim was off, or the walking corpse dodged slightly, but the tip of the rod failed to strike the zombie's brow. Instead, it plunged directly into one of its blackened eye sockets. It didn't pierce through; it stopped after lodging in for a section, but the consequence of this small error was that the walking corpse's claw grazed Bai Ru's shoulder.

Bai Ru urgently tensed her waist, leaning her body back to avoid the creature's long nail. With a hard pull, she wrenched the Demon-Subduing Rod free from the eye socket. As the walking corpse was pulled by her motion, it lunged over her body.

Bai Ru straightened up with a snap, turning around. Before the walking corpse could land, she slammed the rod into its waist. Even though the skin on its body looked withered, it was tough and hard, rigid like frozen meat. A "peng" sound echoed as the Demon-Subduing Rod struck.

Although this strike caused no immediate major damage, the spiritual energy inherent in the Demon-Subduing Rod left a charred black mark where it hit. Furthermore, it unbalanced the walking corpse, causing it to roll several times on the ground. When it finally got up, its movements seemed sluggish.

By the time Bai Ru engaged the walking corpse, Gu Yi had already moved along the wall toward Li Jin. One person to draw the walking corpse's attention, the other to rescue Li Jin—this was the implication of Bai Ru's earlier words.

Unexpectedly, just as Gu Yi hadn't even covered half the distance, two pale white little hands suddenly shot out from the cement wall near the floor and clamped around his ankles.

Even though Gu Yi was constantly mindful of his surroundings, this attack was quite sudden. Caught completely unprepared, he was instantly pulled down to the ground. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough, bracing himself with his hands so he didn't end up in a face-plant scenario.

He could feel the hands were small, clearly connected to the little black shadow that moved within walls and floors. Evidently, the hands pulling his ankles had no intention of letting go; they vanished before Gu Yi could kick them off.

Gu Yi scrambled up. Since he didn't know when the thing would strike next, he didn't perform the hand seals to cast a spell. Instead, he flicked out several talismans, causing a few sparks to explode around him. Looking back at Bai Ru, she was heavily engaged in combat with the walking corpse and likely couldn't attend to him anytime soon.

He sidestepped away from the wall and moved quickly toward Li Jin. Simultaneously, small hands continuously emerged from the wall, attempting to impede his progress. However, having learned his lesson, Gu Yi was now paying much closer attention to his footing, managing to evade the little hands several times by grazing past their fingers with his own feet.

Perhaps realizing it couldn't hold Gu Yi, an extremely piercing shriek suddenly erupted, sounding like an outpouring of rage or perhaps a threat to both of them. The sound echoed around them for a long time, making the residual noise seem endless.

Gu Yi couldn't spare any attention for the owner of the little hands. He had already rushed to Li Jin's side, reaching under his armpit, hoisting him up, and carrying him securely over his shoulder.

The moment he turned, he felt a chill down his spine, and a gust of chilling wind swept toward him. He quickly shifted sideways, maneuvering Li Jin on his shoulder out of the path of the wind, while simultaneously flicking his other hand, sending out two Fire Talismans he already held ready. With a "poof," the two fireballs ignited simultaneously and collided with the gust of wind, causing both to dissipate into the air.

Gu Yi rapidly retreated a few steps, pulling out his last few Light Talismans and flinging them into the air. In an instant, the clusters of light formed by the talismans illuminated more than half the space. Just then, from the corner wall Gu Yi had just left, a black silhouette squeezed itself out. Once the figure was completely clear of the wall, it transformed into what looked like a small boy, perhaps seven or eight years old.

This time, Gu Yi finally saw the child clearly. He realized the child wasn't much better off than the walking corpse. His face was bluish-black, large blisters swelled beneath the skin of his face, and his features were almost entirely rotted away. His eyes, showing only the whites, bulged outward, constantly rolling up, down, left, and right.

The little boy grinned, screaming, "Put him down!"

Gu Yi couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you crazy? Why would I leave him with you? Have you forgotten why we came here?"

As he spoke, he threw out two Fire Talismans, which instantly shot toward the little boy as two lines of fire.

The little boy dared not confront the talismanic fire directly. He leaped aside and submerged himself back into the wall once more.

Gu Yi was about to mock him further when Bai Ru's shout suddenly came from behind him: "Watch out!"

Before her words had fully faded, a fierce gust struck him. Gu Yi glanced sideways and saw that the walking corpse had abandoned Bai Ru and was now lunging toward him.

"Damn it," Gu Yi cursed, forced to turn again. He positioned the side of his body not carrying Li Jin toward the walking corpse and flicked out his last two Thunder Talismans. Two bright blue electrical sparks burst forth in front of him.

Whether the walking corpse wasn't very intelligent or simply couldn't dodge in time, its two claws collided precisely with the electrical sparks. In a blink, the smell of scorched flesh mingled with putrefaction permeated the air. Although the walking corpse seemed incapable of feeling pain, the Heavenly Thunder Talismans still jarred it, causing it to veer mid-air and crash onto the ground not far in front of Gu Yi, rolling several times.

Taking advantage of the pause, Gu Yi quickly walked over to the gasping Bai Ru and asked, "How are you?"

Bai Ru shook her head, "I'm fine."

Gu Yi carefully set Li Jin down, glanced at Bai Ru, and asked, "Do you still have any Five Elements Talismans?"

Bai Ru nodded, pulled out a talisman, held it between two fingers of one hand while forming a mudra with the other, and began chanting the incantation.

Gu Yi clapped his hands together, forming a hand seal, and as his hand gestures shifted, he recited, "Five Elements Borrowed Power, Carve the Earth Three Feet Deep, Move Three Mountains, Suppress!"

They finished the incantation at almost the exact same moment. Bai Ru shot the talisman in her hand toward the walking corpse, while a red glow emanated from Gu Yi's hand, transforming into countless red specks that enveloped the staggering walking corpse.

Instantly, it felt as if an invisible pressure was driving down from above. Before it could regain its footing, the walking corpse was slammed back down onto the ground.

The two breathed a sigh of relief. With Bai Ru's talismans supporting him, Gu Yi's Earth technique could hold for a while. Gu Yi pulled out the last four remaining talismans from his pocket and flicked his wrists, sending them shooting toward the four corners. He then glanced at Bai Ru and said, "Withdraw."

The two quickly retreated into the passageway, supporting Li Jin. Gu Yi reformed his hand seal and whispered, "Five Elements Borrowed Power, Earth as a Prison, Lock the Four Directions, Seal!"

In that instant, the entire rectangular space shuddered violently. A faint kralak-kralak sound emanated from within the surrounding walls. A stream of golden light shot out from the corner closest to Gu Yi, striking the talisman placed in another corner, then immediately reflecting to the third corner, and so on, until the fourth. Thus, a golden beam encircled the space along the walls. At that very moment, fierce flames suddenly erupted within the space. The walking corpse, which had been pinned to the ground and unable to move, struggled feebly a few times in the fire, letting out a final death wail before quickly turning into a cloud of ash dancing above the leaping flames.