Chapter 23: Schism

Countless exposed human bodies crawled over the massive frame of the Mountain of Corpses. The iron cage atop its head was likewise crammed with people, their arms reaching out through the desperate iron bars as if trying to grasp at something with all their might.

The moment the Mountain of Corpses appeared, Qin Changsheng saw nothing. In the blink of an eye, the gargantuan monster had manifested out of thin air. It was so silent, so stealthy, as if it had crawled straight out of the shadows.

The Mountain of Corpses stood directly behind Xi Fenglie. One of its hands raised a massive, serrated butcher's cleaver and, without a moment’s hesitation, brought it down vertically toward him.

*No!* Qin Changsheng felt a jolt of terror. Was history about to repeat itself? The momentum of the descending cleaver seemed capable of cleaving everything in its path in two; beneath that blade, there was nothing but death.

*Clang!* Unexpectedly, the cleaver did not bite into flesh. Instead, it struck another piece of metal, sending sparks flying and producing a resounding echo.

It had stopped! Qin Changsheng watched in astonishment as the unstoppable cleaver came to a halt. Before him, Xi Fenglie was gritting his teeth, his leg muscles coiled tight as he stood his ground. In front of him stood Longyuan, his Mountain-Sea Beast, its arm—composed entirely of ten thousand swords—raised to intercept the descending blade in mid-air.

The arm of the Mountain of Corpses, constructed from countless human bodies, trembled slightly. Every body fused into it wore an expression of intense strain, clearly exerting every ounce of strength. Yet, despite the subtle vibrations, the cleaver could not be pushed down even a fraction of an inch.

Longyuan’s strength was actually on par with the Mountain of Corpses! No, it was even superior!

Xi Fenglie bit down so hard that Qin Changsheng, even from a distance, could feel a sympathetic ache in his own jaw. He seemed to gather a surge of power in his wrist and then, suddenly, he struck!

*Bang!* With Longyuan’s explosive force, the cleaver snapped in two. The front half of the blade ricocheted backward, embedding itself directly into what could be called the "chest" of the Mountain of Corpses, slicing one of the human bodies in half.

Turbid black blood erupted from the overlapping forms. Each body on the monster’s frame revealed an expression of extreme agony and began to wail. The chorus of cries wove together in the air, piercing deep into Qin Changsheng’s ears.

He couldn't help but crouch down, covering his ears with both hands. As stars danced before his eyes, a realization struck him: Xi Fenglie had actually bested the Mountain of Corpses in pure strength!

Previously, swayed by Cao Mengmeng’s descriptions and his own observations, the Mountain of Corpses had become an unshakable, invincible entity in Qin Changsheng’s mind. He had never imagined they could face it head-on. But things were different now. A ridiculous thought took root in his mind: perhaps they could actually win!

This thought did not last long. As soon as his hearing recovered, he heard Xi Fenglie shouting at him from afar: "I'll hold it off, you two run!"

Qin Changsheng looked up, only to see that Xi Fenglie’s face, turned toward the monster, was etched with pure despair. Why? Qin Changsheng didn't understand. The brief clash had clearly gone in Xi Fenglie’s favor. With his sword-demon Longyuan, the Mountain of Corpses should have been no match for him, right?

Yet, Xi Fenglie showed no sign of believing he could win. Instead, he trembled uncontrollably, his expression that of a man who had already accepted his own death.

As Qin Changsheng remained bewildered, Cao Mengmeng grabbed him, saying with firm resolve, "Don't look, go! If we wait any longer, we won't be able to escape!"

"Why? I feel like Ah-Lie has a real chance. Shouldn't we stay and help him?" Qin Changsheng couldn't fathom why they were both so pessimistic when the monster had clearly been injured.

"You don't understand anything," Cao Mengmeng said, her expression bitter. "We can never, ever defeat the Mountain of Corpses."

Just as Qin Changsheng started to speak, another *clang* echoed from Xi Fenglie’s direction—a duller sound, as if something had fallen to the ground. Qin Changsheng instinctively looked over. The broken half of the serrated cleaver lay in a pool of black blood. He shifted his gaze to the Mountain of Corpses and saw that the body sliced in two was not dead; it was struggling, twisting its torso like a severed earthworm.

The next second, the unbelievable happened.

From the severed cross-section of the body, countless blood bubbles erupted. As they popped, worm-like threads of blood extended from the wound, pulling the upper and lower halves of the body together. The threads intertwined and fused. Within moments, the severed body had reattached itself, as if nothing had happened.

Watching this from beginning to end, Qin Changsheng stood frozen. One word occupied his mind: *Regeneration.*

Not only could the wounds of the Mountain of Corpses regenerate, but the speed was far beyond his imagination!

Having healed, the Mountain of Corpses turned the iron cage atop its head toward Xi Fenglie once more. With its cleaver broken, it simply reached out with a hand composed of five human bodies and lunged for him.

Xi Fenglie commanded Longyuan’s body to disperse, forming a wall of swords before him that pierced through the monster’s reaching hand. He shouted at Qin Changsheng again: "Forget about me, run!"

"Run!" Even Cao Mengmeng lost her composure, urging him loudly.

Qin Changsheng’s mind went blank. Above him, Momo moved on its own, extending four articulated limbs and wrapping its tentacles around Cao Mengmeng, carrying them toward the nearest high-rise. They left Xi Fenglie behind and fled.

They hadn't run far when Qin Changsheng realized, "Shouldn't we have brought Ah-Lie with us? Momo is fast, we wouldn't be caught..."

His words were cut short. A dark mass swept over their heads and slammed into the ground in front of them with a sickening *squelch*.

Qin Changsheng stopped abruptly. He focused his eyes and saw that the shadow blocking their path was a writhing, living mass composed of several twisted human bodies.

What was this?

Qin Changsheng felt that this thing was very similar to the composition of the Mountain of Corpses, only much smaller. The next second, several more bodies crawled out from the clump. These new bodies climbed over the surface of the living mass, more and more of them, rolling and expanding.

Before Qin Changsheng’s horrified eyes, the mass continued to swell, transforming into a second Mountain of Corpses.