After climbing up thirty or forty steps, Da Xiong, who was ahead, suddenly stopped, murmuring, "Wait up!"

and I halted in succession, asking him, "What's wrong?"

Da Xiong whispered, "There are people at the door—it’s those geriatric ghouls who threw me down from above..."

Hearing him say that, I pulled out my glasses from my pocket and put them on, and sure enough, beside that blue-glowing exit, there stood an armored warrior on either side.

Examining the two warriors closely, I was slightly astonished. The reddish leather armor they wore, the battered bamboo hats atop their heads, and the slightly curved long swords they held in their hands—their attire was strikingly similar to that of Tōyō samurai.

So, I asked them in surprise, "What's going on? These geriatric ghouls look like Japanese."

Da Xiong slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's right! When I first saw these old monsters, I thought their clothes were really strange, but I couldn't quite place it. Xiao Chuan, you read a lot of comics, you spotted it right away—those do look like ancient Japanese clothes."

Seeing these figures dressed as warriors, and recalling the crab-like Nouchou figures we saw earlier, it was easy to connect them; these things were very likely another one of the monsters gifted to the Lingyu Temple by Tōyō.

So I asked Da Xiong, "Are you sure these things can move?"

Da Xiong nodded and said, "Get your gear ready. This thing is formidable, possessing monstrous strength. This is going to be a brutal fight."

To tell the truth, ever since that inexplicable burst of strange power allowed me to defeat the previous Green Thorn monster, I had gained a new understanding of my own fighting capability. Now, facing this situation, I wasn't so afraid anymore; instead, I felt a surge of excitement, a genuine eagerness to test myself.

I drew the Silver Fish Blade tucked into my belt.

also pulled his handgun and saber from his waist. I knew his ammunition was running low; this might devolve into a close-quarters brawl.

Da Xiong looked longingly at the Silver Fish Blade in my hand. Being completely unarmed, he was about to say something to me, but the heads of the two warriors at the top of the steps suddenly twitched. Slowly, they raised their long swords and began walking toward us.

Watching their gait—heavy and mechanical—I sensed that these two were indeed not living men. Could they truly be geriatric ghouls?

In less time than it takes to speak, although they walked clumsily, the momentum with which the two warriors charged down from above was still ferocious. They quickly closed the distance between us.

The one in the lead raised its sword and swung it directly toward Da Xiong's face.

Seeing the fierce attack, Da Xiong made no move to dodge. Instead, he thrust both palms forward in a posture reminiscent of a young monk paying respects, using his palms to catch the descending strike.

I thought to myself, this fatty is still so reckless, catching a blade barehanded! If anything went wrong, his head would be split open.

But seeing Da Xiong manage to block that blow, I let out a slight breath of relief.

However, what I hadn't anticipated was that as Da Xiong caught the blade, a muffled grunt escaped his nostrils, and his legs buckled slightly, nearly forcing him to his knees.

Dust billowed up from his feet, and the stone steps below let out a heavy, creaking sound.

For Da Xiong’s strength to be affected this much by a single blow showed the immense power wielded by his opponent.

Though the block was a strain, who was Da Xiong? He couldn't afford to lose face. I had never seen this bear of a fatty lose ground in a frontal confrontation, unless ambushed.

Da Xiong pivoted sharply, his body shifting like a fat snake just beneath the line of the blade. He released his grip, and the sword, undiminished in its momentum, sliced into the step beside him.

Then, Da Xiong swung his elbow and smashed it squarely into the warrior's forehead.

Da Xiong put tremendous force into this strike. The warrior staggered back two steps from the impact before falling backward onto its back.

But just then, the second warrior, closely following, raised its blade and swung at Da Xiong.

I had observed that while Da Xiong was strong, his movements were slow. Seeing he had no time to evade, there was a sharp pop behind my ear.

had fired, striking the center of the second warrior's brow.

Its straw hat flew off, but only a shower of sparks erupted from its forehead. Its movement faltered momentarily.

Da Xiong seized that second or two to retreat from the front.

Shaking his hand, he cursed, "Damn it, this thing is too strong! What in the world is it? It doesn't feel like a ghoul."

I recalled the time Da Xiong ripped a ghoul apart barehanded in Black Bamboo Gully; even then, those ghouls, though immensely strong, were dismantled by Da Xiong. These two warriors clearly possessed even greater strength.

At this point, * said, "I don't think we can confront them head-on. These two are tough and difficult to deal with, but luckily, they aren't very agile. We need to get past them."

While we were speaking, the two warriors raised their blades and pressed toward us again.

This time, the three of us saw things much more clearly, as both of the warriors' straw hats had fallen off. Beneath the hats—there were no heads!

Seeing this, Da Xiong retreated another two steps, wailing, "It's over, it's over! We've really met a ghost this time!"

However, * had sharper eyes than Da Xiong. He calmly stated, "What ghost? It’s mechanics. Look, there’s a disc-shaped object inside their armor."

As we slowly backed away, * shone his flashlight into the hollow cavity of the warrior in front.

Indeed, I then saw, affixed to the inner wall against the back of the warrior's empty armor, a circular disc-shaped object.

I recognized this object; it was identical to what * and I had discovered inside the straw figure previously.

Seeing that I recognized it too, * turned to me and said, "It seems that person has gone inside too."

I knew * was referring to the white-clad maiden who saved his life, as those straw figures were controlled by her. If she could bring vegetation to life, a mere empty suit of armor would be child's play for her.

This suggested that the key to the mystery lay behind these two warriors, in that door.

Since we understood the weakness of these warriors, we were less passive. If we could just destroy the copper disc inside their bodies, we could defeat them.

always had a sharp mind. He clapped us both on the back and said, "When I count one, two, three, we'll charge past both warriors simultaneously. Only by taking the high ground can we get an angle to shoot at the discs."

Da Xiong and I nodded in unison.

"One, two, three!" As * finished counting three, the very step we were standing on began to shake violently.

Then, from deep within this colossal tree, a distinctly clear sound echoed: "Thump-thump!"

and I felt our hearts plummet into our stomachs simultaneously, our faces darkening.

Because we were all too familiar with that sound—it was the sound of a heartbeat.

"Fire generates wood; it lives..." I murmured the phrase internally.

This was unbelievable—a tree having a heartbeat! I felt certain that something terrible would happen in conjunction with this tree’s heartbeat.

The Huo Sheng Mu's heartbeat differed from a human’s; it only beat once, thump-thump, approximately every twenty seconds. Clearly, a body of such massive size would have life signs that operated much slower than those of ordinary animals.

However, its vital signs manifested immediately. Already inside the giant tree, we could feel the surrounding walls gently undulating. I imagined we were currently within the tree's blood vessels.

The momentary pause caused by the vibration slowed our steps, nearly causing us to crash into the two headless warriors.

But fortunately, the headless warriors also lost their footing momentarily. Their wildly flailing blades managed to slice off a lock of Da Xiong's hair.

Da Xiong flinched, swore under his breath, and darted past one side of the two headless warriors.

Although the two warriors lacked heads, their senses were acutely sharp. Likely due to their duty guarding the gate, they immediately turned to pursue Da Xiong.

Seeing how slow they were to turn, Da Xiong swung his leg and kicked one of the headless warriors in the lower back. The warrior lurched forward, colliding directly with the other, and the two became entangled, tumbling down the steps in a rolling heap.