Kuang Feifan, initially puzzled by a sudden stench, was startled when Feng Tian let out a loud shriek. He couldn't recall ever hearing Feng Tian cry out in alarm before; how could an old hand like him still panic like a rookie?

Since they had been back-to-back, Kuang Feifan immediately spun around upon hearing the cry, casually asking, "What happened?"

Unexpectedly, just as he turned, Feng Tian was also backing up in his direction, and the two collided. Fortunately, Kuang Feifan had a solid stance; he was only pushed back a step before regaining his footing. Supporting Feng Tian, he asked with concern, "What is it? I've never seen you so panicked..."

Feng Tian genuinely looked terrified. He frantically scanned their surroundings, sweeping his flashlight back and forth, whispering, "These sounds, this smell, and what I saw... this..."

Kuang Feifan followed the beam of the flashlight and immediately sucked in a sharp breath, blurting out involuntarily, "What in the hell is that..."

Where the light landed, they saw a person crawling toward them—or rather, only half a person, just an upper torso. Every visible patch of skin was a sickly blue-black, ragged and torn, perhaps from constant crawling, revealing unrecognizable tissue underneath in many places.

What was truly horrifying wasn't the body, but the head, if it could still be called that. Because the creature kept its neck stretched and face tilted upward while crawling, they saw it clearly: the top of its head was nearly bare of hair, just a few sparse strands here and there. The face itself was almost entirely devoid of flesh, exposing bone in most areas, while the remaining parts were just rotting meat. Both eyeballs were long gone, leaving only two black, hollow sockets. The nose was rotted down to a stump, yet both men clearly watched the thing weakly flutter its remaining nostrils, trying to scent the air.

Even with little muscle left on its skull, the creature’s expression conveyed ravenous hunger. It crawled rapidly, alternating its hands forward, visibly closing the distance. Kuang Feifan noticed white maggots crawling over its face and body; some would crawl out of its nostrils, reach its mouth, and be swallowed immediately.

"What is that thing?" Kuang Feifan gagged, asking the question again.

Feng Tian's expression was one of extreme dread. He instinctively lowered his voice: "That is... an Egui..."

"Egui? How fierce? You mean disgusting, right?" Kuang Feifan felt the name was inappropriate, thinking it should be called a 'Disgusting Ghost.'

Feng Tian slowly began backing away while pulling Kuang Feifan aside, shaking his head. "It’s not the 'fierce' E, it’s the 'hungry' E. There are many descriptions of these ghosts, but they share one thing: they will consume almost anything as food, even each other. Furthermore, like locusts, they appear in swarms, so..."

Feng Tian didn't finish his sentence, and perhaps he didn't need to. As the "skittering" sounds around them grew louder and more dense, the foul odor in the air intensified. Without further explanation from Feng Tian, Kuang Feifan understood: swarms of Egui were closing in on them.

Without waiting for Feng Tian to devise a plan, Kuang Feifan raised the gas cylinder in his hand and sprayed a stream of flame toward the approaching half-Egui. The serpent of fire instantly enveloped the creature’s head, and they could hear the remaining flesh sizzle as it burned, emitting a distinct scorched smell mixed with rotting meat that made their heads ache.

He then noticed that even with flames licking its head, the Egui did not slow its crawl; clearly, fire didn't frighten it.

However, Kuang Feifan soon became convinced that fire was effective after all. While the approaching Egui didn't seem bothered by the blaze raging over it, its body couldn't withstand the intense heat. Soon, the upper-torso Egui dissolved into a piece of charred coke within the flames.

The frightening part was that even resembling a piece of charcoal, the arms and head could still move slightly, but before long, being baked dry and brittle by the fire, the remains shattered into fragments.

Kuang Feifan immediately decided to put the gas cylinder away in his pocket, adopting a stance ready for immediate retreat. Just as the first Egui turned to ash, aided by the chaotic sweep of Feng Tian's flashlight, both men saw countless others, identical to the first, emerging from the surrounding darkness.

In that fleeting glance, they noticed great variation among the approaching horrors: some were crawling forward on the ground using only their upper bodies, just like the first one; others were using their legs, but one leg was utterly rotted while the other was nothing but bone; and still others, consisting almost entirely of skeletons, were relentlessly rolling and crawling toward them.

What struck Kuang Feifan the most was one Egui that was only the left half of its body remaining below the shoulders, managing to propel itself forward by simply rolling on the ground. These creatures all bore clear signs of being ripped apart; it seemed Feng Tian was right—they were food for one another.

Another detail caught Kuang Feifan’s attention: based on their appearance, it was highly likely these Egui lacked sight. It appeared most of them tracked their location by scent, much like dogs hunting prey.

Looking at the horde, Kuang Feifan felt more revulsion than fear. Such an overwhelming number of Egui could never be handled with a single gas canister. Even a full tank would be a mere drop in the ocean against these creatures lurking in the dark.

Feng Tian also abandoned any thought of a direct confrontation. He understood the principle of the many overwhelming the few, especially since he couldn't quickly formulate any effective countermeasure, unless they both happened to be equipped with flamethrowers.

"Let's charge," Kuang Feifan muttered through clenched teeth.

In truth, they didn't need to keep their voices down, but in such an environment, whispering was almost instinctual. This was the crux of their problem: they could lower their voices, but the Egui were tracking them by scent. At this point, dousing themselves in cologne wouldn't help.

Feng Tian had been intently watching the compass needle, but its reading was ambiguous. Finally, just as several Egui were close enough that their reaching arms might soon touch them, Feng Tian managed a rough calculation of a direction. He yanked the rope at his waist and whispered, "Crouch low, keep your posture down, and force our way through."

Kuang Feifan faltered: "Force... through? With... our fists?"

Although he wasn't overly fastidious like some people, the thought of making direct contact with that rotting flesh was far beyond mere unpleasantness. Moreover, could a few punches really stop these Egui?

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