Pillar of Yita

The capsized canoe overturned, leaving Fang Hong no choice but to hold his breath and dive into the water. As soon as he entered, the bloated corpses swarmed him from all directions. The bottom was like a charnel house, with countless pale hands densely reaching out like seaweed, grabbing at his hair, face, arms, and legs.

Fang Hong’s scalp tingled with horror as he struggled to break free from these ghostly beings, swimming with all his might to one side. However, he soon realized that other than being a bit disgusting, these underwater corpses had no special abilities—they were even slow and weak, less so than an average adult.

The bodies, softened by the water, allowed him to easily snap off the wrist of a hand that clutched his own. It was unclear whether it was broken flesh or something else that rose from the broken end like mist.

Fang Hong felt a wave of nausea, but didn’t dare to breathe out, let alone open his mouth. He turned under the water and kicked hard in the face of the swollen corpse, pushing it back. Using the reaction force, he broke free from the multitude of bodies.

Before entering the water, he remembered the riverbank was not far on the left; at this moment, he could not worry about others, and swam in that direction by memory. Yet before he could exert more strength, suddenly a strong current swept him towards the center of the river.

Fang Hong lost his footing, nearly spinning underwater. He then realized that while the river’s surface might seem calm, the undercurrents were still complex and intricate. He could vaguely hear the sound of roaring water ahead.

He ran out of breath, frantically waving his hands underwater in vain, barely managing to grab a sharp rock column. Gasping for breath, he broke the water surface, opening his mouth wide for air.

The illumination bomb he had released earlier was still burning on the surface, casting a bright white light over the dark river water. Fang Hong was unsure of the effects of drinking the river water, but the thought of those swollen corpses below made him reluctant to let the water into his mouth.

Suppressing his nausea, he took a deep breath and then quickly closed his mouth, only to see a warning from Sophie pop up in his system: ”Watch your back!”

Fang Hong turned around only to see a White Bone Giant Mountain standing in the water, almost completely filling the narrow space of the underground river channel. Behind him, two canoes were passing one before the other by the Corpse Tomb Demon, which, despite its size, moved agilely. A massive bony hand rose from beneath the surface, firmly gripping one of them—

Fortunately, the passengers from Silver Weslan reacted quickly. As their canoe was lifted from the water, they leaped out and scattered in all directions. Seeing this, the Corpse Tomb Demon shrieked and squeezed the canoe into debris, then slapped toward the water surface with a palm—after a loud bang, Fang Hong couldn’t tell whether it had hit anyone, but saw countless dismembered limbs soar into the air, only to fall back into the water with a splash.

Most of these were the bloated limbs of the underwater corpses.

Taking advantage of the Corpse Tomb Demon’s missed strike, the third canoe quickly passed by it. Only after diving did Fang Hong realize how fast a canoe could travel on water; it zipped past everyone and disappeared into the darkness ahead.

Only then did the White Bone Giant Mountain slowly turn, allowing everyone a full view. Its body was studded with drowned, swollen corpses, which still wriggled futilely, waving their pale arms about.

But what was truly impressive was within its ribcage, packed with entrails like a gigantic balloon confined within the ribs, teeming with those decaying floating corpses.

It looked like a moving giant tomb.

Fang Hong saw the beast lower its head—where its skull should be was empty, just a large hole, and through that hole, the Corpse Tomb Demon’s chest suddenly contracted, sending a shower of corpse debris forward.

Seeing this, Fang Hong’s scalp exploded with terror, and his hand relaxed, plunging back into the water, only to encounter a bony Naga swimming towards him.

The creature resembled nothing so much as a skeletal king cobra, but it was more akin to an Amazon Forest Anaconda in scale, with a neck as thick as a water barrel, vertebrae splaying out like the crown of an Egyptian Pharaoh. It might look unimposing, but it was a mid-to high-level Undead type.

Bony Naga could cast spells, and each of its spiny bones was venomous—it was a formidable opponent on land, let alone underwater.

Seeing this, Fang Hong muttered in dismay, truly caught between a rock and a hard place. Looking back, the broken corpses that had hit the water were gathering in his direction, the dark river surface occasionally broken by the splash of carnivorous fish leaping up.

These creatures were small but particularly nimble underwater, posing a far greater threat than the bloated corpses.

With no other choice, Fang Hong released a Walker III, thankfully distracting the brainless Bony Naga, which attacked it on sight. Taking this opportunity, while it struggled with the Sword Bearer, Fang Hong slipped past it.

But the carnivorous fish behind him were not so easily fooled; they swam much faster than Fang Hong in the water, quickly closing in from behind. Fang Hong looked back, feeling a wave of despair. After all, as an Alchemist, he relied on his modest swimming experience on Earth; his survival thus far was nothing short of miraculous.