Hours went by as Corpse walked with heavy steps. Unsure of what's around him, and where he's headed Corpse moved forward at a snail's pace while the conversation he had with the almost white maiden plagued his mind.

Corpse still couldn't figure out what the deal was with that damn woman. " Was she some naive idiot that believed that a single act of benevolence will save her soul from the abyss when her time comes?" he guessed. " If not, why bother to help me then? " As much as he struggled to understand the maiden, he also struggled to understand why he cared. " It was her allies that captured me in the first place. The only thing she did was return things how they should be. Yet... " Yet it still bothered him. It bothered him that she didn't leave that shit hole. It bothered him that she was gonna die there.

" But why? " Corpse questioned himself.  " Is it some rule of the martial path that poked its head through the mist that covers my mind and now I feel like benevolence must be answered with benevolence? " Corpse shook his as he felt it was something different. " Perhaps I have missed a woman's touch for so long that my brain turned into mush? " he mocked himself. " She was a beauty after all? "  But no, neither of those seemed to fit. There was something different about the maiden. Her silent figure that silently faced death seemed oddly familiar and slightly hateful. 

Somehow that was enough. Corpse didn't want that feeling of regret to fester and in his simple mind, there was only a single solution. Corpse laughed to himself, " I did call her half-assed, but what about me? What kind of prison breakout was that? It's outright embarrassing. " His laughter got louder. " Last time I sneaked out like a rat, but now I should show that little girl how a real prison breakout should be like. So that she knows this Corpse doesn't deal in half measures."

Despite his better judgment and common sense, Corpse turned back. Back to that cursed stage and unsightly ghost. He didn't hold any grand heroic delusions. It was very likely that he will die a stupid death for a stupid reason, but a person had things that were worth more to them than just their life. And Corpse knew, if he were to run now he might just lose something he will never manage to get back. Well either that or perhaps he really hadn't seen a woman for too long.

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It took Corpse only an hour to return back to the formation that concealed the secret entrance. Despite the heaviness, he felt Corpse ran as if his feet were on fire. Once again despite the considerable distance he traveled, he didn't feel exhausted just hungry. But that's a thought Corpse left at the back of his mind, he had more pressing concerns.

Corpse ran like the wind and without a pause, he rushed into the fake hill like a blind bull. But this time he failed to pass through. Instead when he crashed into the illusionary hill it felt like he had run into something solid. The feeling persisted only for a moment as the hill deformed and crumbled like a piece of paper.

With a high pitched screech cracks quickly spread through the formation. For a moment the small hill transformed into yellowish glass before it broke apart and revealed the passage underneath. Corpse wasted no time as he rushed in, determined to show that half baked excuse for a savior what a real breakout looked like.

But fate quickly decided to rain on his parade. For a while, his momentum remained strong and his pace unwavering, but soon enough he was nailed to the spot. Corpse stared at a crossroad. " Right, I forgot the damn thing was a maze. " He desperately tried to remember the path he took with the maiden, but there was a reason she was confident that nobody else could catch up with them.

A foul wind traveled throughout the passage, and Corpse shivered ." Is it starting already? Impossible! The ritual shouldn't start for at least a day." He then remembered who was the one that told him that and his face twisted in anger. " That fucking weasel. I should have broken his neck when I had the chance." There was no time for hesitation now.

Left, right, and center. Corpse had 3 paths to pick from, and he knew only the general direction where he should be headed. " Screw it," he thought. He didn't have time to hesitate. He didn't have any clever tricks up his sleeve so Corpse went with his gut.

Corpse ignored any path that led him astray and looked only straight ahead where his goal lied. For a time it actually worked, but soon enough he was faced with a wall. The path forward was blocked and he had to make a choice to either move to the right or left. Corpse hesitated only for a moment. He sped up even more and rammed straight into the wall like a raging beast. " If there is no path forward I can only create one of my own! "

The whole passage shook and ruble came loose from the ceiling threatening to bury anyone that stood directly underneath. Corpse managed to open up a path forward just in time. He smirked to himself. " Ha, that's what you get for being cheap and not reinforcing the walls." He continued his mad dash and broke through any obstacles in his path. His speed inevitably dropped when another wave of foul power washed over him. He couldn't help but hesitate once he remembered where he was headed. He shook his head, " I made a choice and I will stick with it until the end. Be it bitter or sweet."

Whether by luck or fate Corpse was mostly unimpeded, but his shortcuts were bound to garner some attention. So it came as no surprise when 2 guards walked out of a corner probably there to find the source of the constant rumbling.

Corpse managed to detect them a moment before they detected him. Their shiny green teeth a dead giveaway in the dimly lit corridor. He didn't hesitate as his speed increased and he kicked one of the guards in the chest. After a sick crunch, the guard crashed against a wall. His chest a mess of broken bones and ruptured organs.

The other guard managed a.half assed spear stab but Corpse barely felt anything as his shoulder was pierced. [Death grip] He wrapped his hands around the guard's head and applied as much pressure as he could. After a second the guard released a bloodcurdling shriek while Corpse popped his head like an overripe grape. His body covered in gore and with 2 dead bodies beside him, Corpse didn't even have time to catch his breath as heard numerous footsteps close in on his location.

Corpse knew that there will be more guards to come so he hurried on as fast as he could. There were no more walls that blocked his path, instead, there were new fleshy obstacles.  His enemies while individually weak, only nascent cultivators and mortals, flooded from the surroundings in increased numbers. One after another they fell under the might of his fists. The only problem was he had only 2 fists and the number of opponents only increased. Soon enough Corpse felt like he faced a sea of enemies. He forced his way through while he was showered with attacks from all sides. More and more injuries gathered on his back, a stab there, a cut here A few white arrows in his shoulder. Despite how grievous these injuries were they didn't slow Corpse down one bit, he felt like nothing short of a beheading would.

His efforts were finally rewarded as only 100 meters remained. The final stretch. Yet his good mood was dampened as what probably amounted to 50 members of Skeleton manor blocked his way forward, while more gathered behind him every second. Outnumbered by opponents on all sides Corpse looked like a small boat in the middle of a storm, just a step away from sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

And there. At the very end. Just right in front of that cursed stage stood that cold-blooded bastard. Air froze all around Mo Wan him as he guarded a single broken-down window. He didn't seem all that impressed, " I can't really tell if you're just stupid or insane."