I whimpered as the blood-sucking Flying Revenant had already sunk its fangs into my neck. I was utterly helpless, unable to turn into a ghost. All I felt was a wave of dizziness as it drank my blood, gulping greedily.
Streams of warmth trickled down from my neck, and below, the ground was swarming with Blood-Sucking Revenants. As my blood dripped down, they grew increasingly excited.
My whole body felt frozen stiff. I had no idea what was happening. Bit by bit, I could sense my blood being drawn out by the Flying Revenant gripping me. My body temperature dropped to freezing, and gradually, I lost feeling in my hands and feet; my skin turned an icy blue.
My mind remained conscious, but my body was completely numb. With a sharp cry, the Flying Revenant, seemingly satisfied, withdrew its fangs from my neck and let go. Slowly, I fell into the pile of accumulating revenant corpses below.
Within just a few minutes, I had lost all strength to resist. My body was completely devoid of sensation—empty, powerless. In an instant, all my strength vanished, and I watched myself falling downward.
Just then, the Flying Revenant covered in crimson fur suddenly swooped over, grabbing my neck with one hand. It opened its mouth and let out a deep, beast-like roar.
The number of Blood-Sucking Revenants below kept growing, but when they heard that roar, they began to scatter in all directions, fleeing as if in terror.
In less than five minutes, all the Blood-Sucking Revenants below had dispersed. I was in terrible shape, weak and feeble. The Flying Revenant gripped me with one hand and flew toward the forest on the far side of the mountain. I saw Rachel and William Wu shouting desperately for me, but I was already completely at the mercy of my captor.
Looking down at the landscape below, I saw a small, rising peak. The ground was gradually elevating, littered with piles of rocks. Amidst them, I glimpsed several revenants: Purple Revenants, White Revenants, and even Green Revenants.
At a small hill, the Flying Revenant holding me stopped and looked around. Its eyes seemed to be searching for something. Suddenly, its head twisted with a crack, and its crimson eyes glowed with excitement. With a whoosh, it landed on the hill, still clutching me.
At that moment, the Ironhide Revenant paced around, seemingly searching for something. After a while, it seemed to find what it was looking for. I saw its left hand wave toward the ground—boom—a massive stone, four or five meters in diameter, rose up from the earth with a rumble.
Without another word, the Flying Revenant tossed me into the newly revealed pit.
I didn't even have the strength to cry out. All I could do was close my eyes weakly and fall onto something hard. When I opened my eyes, I saw the ground was densely covered with white skeletons, some already blackened, some still intact, others scattered in pieces.
This scene didn't shock me much. In the Netherhell opened by Yuna Ji, I'd seen far more bones and corpses than this.
Looking again at this pit, I noticed a cave surrounded by heaps of bones. It was surprisingly spacious, with a bed—on which lay a skeleton—and a table holding some broken bowls and a pair of chopsticks.
I couldn't help but feel surprised. Looking at the four walls, I suddenly realized I couldn't climb out of this pit. The walls were sticky, like mud, and they seemed to be moving, faintly emitting wisps of black mist.
I kept trying to sense the ghostly part within me, but now it was empty—nothing at all. I was completely human, powerless, trapped in the Nether Syndicate.
I saw the Blood-Sucking Flying Revenant floating above me, looking down with a smile in its eyes. I had no idea what it intended to do by bringing me here. Suddenly, its mouth opened wide, and a faint red mist poured out from within.
Gradually, those red mists formed a thin membrane, enveloping the entire pit I was in. Then the revenant vanished.
I looked around the pit again. It was about seven or eight meters high, with a diameter of more than ten meters—fairly spacious. What stood out was the edge of the pit, where the blackish-green, mud-like substance flowed strangely.
After resting for a while, I regained a bit of strength. I had no idea how much blood the Blood-Sucking Flying Revenant had drained from me. My head felt heavy, my legs light, and I was unsteady on my feet. I tried picking up a white bone arm and slowly moved toward the flowing wall.
I placed the bone arm against the wall. Suddenly, I felt a powerful suction pulling at me. Even though I gripped the bone arm tightly, it was slowly dragged into the blackish-green mud. I hurriedly let go, and the entire bone arm disappeared into the muddy wall.
Startled, I quickly backed away several steps. It was clear I was trapped here.
I couldn't be bothered to think about the Blood-Sucking Flying Revenant's intentions anymore. I walked over to the bed with the thin mattress, carried the corpse lying on it outside, and lay down on the bed myself. It felt much more comfortable.
Now, I found myself worrying about Rachel and the others. Although my blood had temporarily suppressed the corpse energy within them, when I left, I noticed both of their faces looked a bit dark. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination.
At that moment, my neck began to itch. I scratched at it and found a large, hard scab. The more I scratched, the itchier it got. Suddenly, I peeled off the scab—it was as big as half a palm, blackish-green in color. My neck started itching again.
Suddenly, I sensed something was wrong. I quickly got up and felt my neck where I'd been bitten. The flesh on the left side of my neck had hardened and itched intensely.
"Am I turning into a revenant?"
Startled, I hurriedly rolled up my sleeves and checked my skin—it was turning dark. Panic surged through me. I quickly sat up. This was no time to relax; I had to find a way to escape and turn into a ghost.
I sat cross-legged on the bed, quietly trying to sense everything within my body. Still, I felt nothing. Not only did my neck itch, but my whole body was itching to varying degrees. I could only scratch at myself.
Suddenly, I noticed my fingernails had fallen off—completely detached from the flesh, exposing darkened fingertips.
Was I really turning into a revenant? I remembered what Huangfu Ruofei had said: being bitten by a revenant wouldn't turn you into one, but corpse poison would slowly invade your heart, kill you, and you'd become a mindless, flesh-eating zombie. Once your body decayed, you'd turn to bone.
The more I thought, the more terrified I became. I took off my shirt, racking my brain for a way to escape from here.
But before long, I grew drowsy, yawning again and again. I realized I hadn't rested in ages, so I decided to sleep for a bit.
My nose itched, then I caught a whiff of food. Saliva dripped from my mouth. Suddenly, I woke with a start, crying out as the Flying Revenant, its head turned at a ninety-degree angle, loomed in front of me, rousing me.
"What exactly do you want?"
I shouted, clenching my fists, but the Flying Revenant stood up and turned toward the table, waving its hands. I looked over—on the table were piles of meat, fish, and wine. The aroma made my stomach growl.
I licked my lips, thinking that since I was a prisoner, I might as well eat my fill. I sat down at the table and started eating.
After a hearty meal, I patted my full belly and looked at the Flying Revenant.
"Can't you speak? What do you want?"
Before I could finish my question, the Flying Revenant slowly rose and vanished.
Frustration boiled inside me. Then I realized the itching in my body had stopped. Miraculously, my fingernails had regrown, but another large scab came off my neck, and it still itched.
This was exactly the situation I feared most—helpless, unable to do anything, just waiting to be slaughtered. I had to come up with a plan. Suddenly, I slapped my thigh and laughed, then walked outside.
I remembered how those revenants would stack themselves like a human pyramid near the floating wooden house. I could do the same—there were so many bones here. I squatted down and began searching carefully.
First, I stacked skulls one by one, though it was difficult. I used intact ribs for support, then added hand bones and thigh bones to reinforce the sides. After stacking over a meter high, I climbed up, but it was wobbly, so I jumped down and kept fixing it.
After two or three hours, the supply of bones seemed endless. I could now stand two meters above the ground. I kept stacking slowly, hoping the Blood-Sucking Flying Revenant wouldn't return.
Though exhausted, I sped up, piling bones bit by bit.
Maybe people can unlock hidden potential in the most desperate moments. Now I stood at the top of the pit, with only the red membrane above me. Live or die, I decided to gamble—leaping straight toward that red membrane.