The abyss was deathly still,
as though no sound had ever existed here.
Thick mist writhed at Bai Lin's feet,
as if something beneath the ground were breathing slowly.
He had barely steadied himself when two points of ghostly green light ignited at the far end of the darkness.
That was not reflected light.
It was the glow of pupils radiating hunger when they lock onto prey.
The silhouette of the giant wolf gradually emerged.
At first glance, Bai Lin thought broken bones were jutting from its back.
Only in the next heartbeat did he realize:
those bones had grown outward.
Spikes burst through its hide like tree roots,
black-red fluid oozing from the splits,
scalding hot, dripping to the ground.
Each drop hissed—"tssss"—corroding the stone.
Bai Lin frowned. An indescribable stench slammed into his nostrils:
rotting flesh mixed with the reek of human corpses boiled seven times over.
The Demon Emperor's voice rang inside his skull, lower and colder than ever before:
"It is not a beast."
Bai Lin glanced sideways. "Then what is it?"
The Demon Emperor's tone held no emotion:
"A corpse-remnant.
Half-devoured and abandoned by the Coffin-Returners."
Bai Lin's heart jolted. "Half-devoured…? So it used to be… human?"
The wolf let out a roar.
It was not a wolf's howl,
but the sound of countless human throats rupturing at once.
The Demon Emperor said flatly:
"Sometimes they choose not to fully revert to human form.
To them, the beast shape is closer to true hunting."
Bai Lin's stomach churned.
The stench grew stronger.
When the wolf fully stepped out of the black mist,
Bai Lin finally saw:
half its face was not a wolf's head at all,
but a dried, shrivelled sheet of human skin,
still attached to the wolf's eye, hanging from a crack in the skull.
The corner of that dried mouth was curled into a faint smile.
Cold sweat poured down Bai Lin's back. "…Mocking me?"
The Demon Emperor gave a soft laugh.
It was not a human laugh,
but the sound of the abyss itself rubbing together—gentle, yet hair-raising.
"It is not mocking you.
It remembers…
how its companions abandoned it at the moment of death."
As if triggered, the wolf abruptly opened its jaws.
Inside were not only wolf fangs,
but an entire row of broken human teeth growing from the fissures.
Bai Lin's throat tightened.
The wolf lunged.
In that instant, he even heard the air tear.
It was more than twice as fast as the wolf from the previous chapter.
Its shadow fell over him like a black curtain.
Bai Lin's body reacted before his mind could.
He twisted aside—yet he was still half a heartbeat too slow.
RRRIP!!!!
Its claws carved open his flank.
Flesh peeled back, cruel and deep.
Blood sprayed.
But Bai Lin did not feel the expected agony.
Instead he felt—
heat.
Scorching heat.
Excitement.
Inside his chest, the crimson-black heart beat with unprecedented violence.
Thump!
Thump-thump!!
Thump-thump-thump-thump!!!!
As though urging him…
to bite.
to kill.
to devour.
Bai Lin's breathing grew heavy.
He even felt his own saliva thicken.
The Demon Emperor whispered:
"Do you feel it yet?"
Bai Lin's voice came out hoarse:
"…Feel what…?"
The Demon Emperor's soft laugh made his scalp crawl:
"The hunger for the hunt.
You died once.
Your understanding of life…
no longer belongs to humanity."
The wolf lunged again.
Bai Lin did not retreat.
He let it close in until its jaws were inches from his throat—
then his arm shot out
and seized the wolf's upper jaw with bare hands!
Bone spikes stabbed through his palms.
Blood gushed.
The wolf thrashed madly,
but Bai Lin clamped down with iron fingers!
His eyes… began to change colour.
From black to deep crimson,
from deep crimson to near black-gold.
The Demon Emperor murmured:
"Savour it well.
This is…
the first step of the Corpse Veins."
Bai Lin roared—
and drove his knee into the wolf's abdomen!
BOOM!!!!
That single strike was far more ferocious than any punch before it.
The wolf's abdominal cavity caved inward.
Yet Bai Lin was not finished.
He seized the lower jaw with his other hand,
fingers digging into bone seams—
and yanked!!
CRACK!!!!
The lower jaw was torn clean off.
Bone splintered. Blood exploded.
The wolf's scream was the wail of hell itself,
but Bai Lin did not stop.
He kept the upper jaw gripped in one hand,
then lowered his head—
and sank his teeth into the wolf's throat.
The blood was thick as mud,
reeking of rot and corrosion.
Yet in this moment—
Bai Lin did not feel disgust.
The Demon Emperor whispered:
"…How does it taste?"
Bai Lin growled between mouthfuls of throat-flesh:
"…Not enough."
The wolf thrashed desperately,
already directionless.
Bai Lin released it, saving only the final blow.
He seized its spine
and, with the full strength of his body,
snapped it like wet wood.
CRACK!!!!
The wolf's body bent into an unnatural arc.
Its shattered spine burst through flesh.
Its final scream shook the entire abyss.
Bai Lin flung the corpse aside.
Blood dripped from his fingertips to the ground.
He panted hard,
his chest burning like a furnace.
The Demon Emperor was silent for several breaths before speaking:
"…Bai Lin, you are no longer in control of yourself."
Bai Lin licked the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"But I… feel so strong."
The Demon Emperor's voice grew faint and distant:
"Strength… is not the same as being you."
Bai Lin froze.
The Demon Emperor continued:
"Every punch, every bite, every crushing blow you just delivered—
they were all performed automatically by the heart."
Bai Lin's pupils contracted. "You're saying… I have no control?"
The Demon Emperor chuckled low:
"Did you think a fate-defying body comes without cost?"
Bai Lin clenched his fists. "Then how do I take control?"
The Demon Emperor's tone lost all playfulness, as if speaking to the abyss itself:
"When you truly 'die a second time'."
Bai Lin's breath caught.
Before he could ask,
a heavy BOOM echoed from the depths of the cavern,
as though a thousand-jin coffin had been shoved open from within.
A wave of cold rose.
The Demon Emperor whispered:
"The Coffin-Returners… have awakened."
Bai Lin looked up.
The darkness at the far end of the abyss began to slowly split open,
as if something inside were crawling out.
The Demon Emperor said:
"Bai Lin, run."
Bai Lin: "How soon until they catch up?"
Demon Emperor:
"They've already smelled your blood."
In that instant,
Bai Lin felt the entire abyss suddenly develop a heartbeat.
Thump… thump… thump-thump…
It was not his.
It was not the Demon Emperor's.
It was the pulse of some ancient existences
stirring awake.
Bai Lin took a deep breath,
picked up the only un-corroded bone spike from the wolf's corpse,
and wielded it like a weapon.
"Fine. I'm gone."
The Demon Emperor's voice rang out coldly:
"Do not look back.
They will use your fear
to turn you… back into a corpse."
Bai Lin turned
and stepped into the only exit from the abyss.
Behind him, the sound of coffin lids cracking open grew nearer and nearer.