The stone gate was fully opened!
The two exchanged a glance.
With one foot at the threshold, they both revealed a hint of hesitation at the same moment.
But in the next instant, as if they were telepathic, they firmed up their resolve.
Ning Yuesu nodded her head seriously, "Fortune favors the bold! If we do not move forward, maybe we can live a safe life, but in the end, we will age bit by bit and still suffer the torment of death."
Fang Zhixing smiled, "In life and death, I’m with you!"
Hand in hand, they stepped through the stone gate.
Fang Zhixing’s foot landed on something sticky and bloody, and when he lifted his foot, it stretched like a string.
"This is, actual flesh and blood!"
Ning Yuesu felt a wave of nausea, and as she looked around, she cried out in astonishment: "Look, the flesh is still writhing, it’s alive!"
Fang Zhixing also took notice, feeling the continuous subtle, soft undulations beneath his feet.
After pondering for a moment, he raised the Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber and slashed at the fleshy tissue on the ground.
The blade sliced through the flesh, and a surge of fresh blood spewed forth.
The surrounding flesh trembled violently as if in pain.
The cut flesh curled upwards, revealing what was underneath.
Fang Zhixing’s gaze sharpened as he spotted what appeared to be a metal substance at the bottom, corroded and rusted.
This corridor seemed to be constructed of some type of metal.
He tapped the bottom with the Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber, which emitted a clanging sound.
By the sound of the collision, it was undoubtedly metal.
Suddenly, Fang Zhixing picked up the Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber, only to see that the tip was tainted with rust.
Eerily, the rust was actively spreading along the blade toward the hilt.
The areas touched by the rust, similarly, started to show signs of corrosion.
The Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber was rusting at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Fang Zhixing was taken aback and quickly shook his sleeve to clear the rust from the blade.
The rust cascaded off.
However, in just those few seconds, some of the rust had already penetrated the blade’s interior, continuing to corrode unrestrained.
Fang Zhixing watched helplessly as the entire tip turned to iron dross and scattered on the ground.
A moment later, only half of the Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber remained.
The surface of the remaining half was covered with rust.
Fang Zhixing’s expression stiffened as he discarded the Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber, pursing his lips.
"Your arrows are rusting too!"
Suddenly, Ning Yuesu’s eyes widened as she shouted a warning.
Fang Zhixing glanced over to see his Arrow Bag rapidly turning into iron dross.
One iron arrow after another melted away in the sunlight-like snow, transforming into something else.
The metal in his pack seemed to decay and break apart as well, turning into dust.
Fang Zhixing’s gear was quickly rendered mostly useless.
But it didn’t stop there.
His clothes began aging rapidly, their color becoming faded, as if they had been worn for over a decade.
Not long after, the flesh at the cut bottom grew back, covering the rust once more.
It was at this moment that the corrosion stopped abruptly.
Fang Zhixing’s gaze flickered as he looked at his equipment, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Just in this short while, the Dragon Slayer Treasure Saber was gone, and the arrows and metals used for body restoration were largely consumed.
And he couldn’t stop any of it.
"What in the world is this rust?"
Fang Zhixing took a sharp breath and checked his body; his flesh seemed unscathed.
He then examined his Cut, which was undamaged.
In other words, the rust couldn’t harm Fourth Level weapons, but it was deadly to anything below the Third Level.
Fang Zhixing turned to look at Ning Yuesu; she stood a little farther back and wasn’t affected in the slightest.
At that time, Ning Yuesu turned her head and said with emotion, "The stone gate has closed."
Fang Zhixing also turned to look, at some point, the stone gate had closed silently, becoming a wall covered by fleshy tissue.
Upon a closer look, that wall was part of the corridor as well, like an inset door.
Fang Zhixing pondered, "Beneath this flesh, there exists a type of rust that can corrode everything; direct contact must be avoided at all costs."
Ning Yuesu nodded, "This flesh seems to be protective, as if it exists to seal the rust."
Fang Zhixing was contemplative, looking at the two ends of the corridor, both twisted and winding, without end in sight.
"Let’s just pick a direction and go."
Ning Yuesu faced the direction in which they entered, "How about this way?"
Fang Zhixing had no objections.
The two moved forward, each step squishing on the crimson flesh.
After only about twenty meters, Ning Yuesu suddenly stopped, exclaiming, "What is that?!"
Fang Zhixing turned his head to the side and saw a bulge of fleshy tissue on the wall, oval-shaped, with half of a human face jutting out at the top.
That half-face lacked skin, leaving only vague flesh covering the bones.
In the eye sockets, one eyeball was staring wide.
It was because it had no eyelids and could not close its eyes.
That eyeball was motionless, its pupil filled with boundless fear and despair.
This was undoubtedly a person, whose body seemed to have been consumed by the corridor.
Ning Yuesu couldn’t help but ask, "How could someone die here? Could it be that someone entered before us?"
Fang Zhixing nodded, "It seems that way."
He analyzed, "Anyone who can enter the Restricted Zone Gate must have reached the Nine Ox Realm. If this person died here, it means there is something in this place capable of killing someone of the Nine Ox Realm."
Ning Yuesu held her breath.