Chapter 142

The good news is, even though Lin Shuyou was carrying a bamboo pole in the corpse-driving team, he could open his eyes and seemed to retain a certain degree of self-awareness.

This suggests that he wasn’t “picked up” but rather voluntarily joined this team.

However, the problem is, while Lin Shuyou occasionally has moments of confusion, he’s generally very obedient when he’s not being mischievous, especially since I paired him with Yin Meng.

Under normal circumstances, the two of them would absolutely not deviate from their assigned tasks to pursue their own objectives.

My team places great emphasis on discipline.

So, did something happen midway, some accident that forced the two of them to get involved?

The bad news is, they are entering the water.

The sound of the bell held by the yellow-robed Taoist in the front gradually diminished, replaced by the sound of water. Li Zhuoyuan, with his good hearing, could hear them entering the lake one by one.

Li Zhuoyuan pursed his lips and began to think rapidly.

Because… there isn’t much time.

Currently, Lin Shuyou retains some degree of self-awareness, and while Yin Meng hasn’t been observed, she’s likely not in the worst state either.

But that’s the current situation. What about a day later?

Tomorrow, eight teams will leave the lake surface and set out again, but by then, each team should be the standard three-person formation of “two people carrying one person.”

The eight teams returning will be around the same time tomorrow, which is twenty-four hours from now.

In this day and night, can Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou still ensure their safety at the bottom of the lake?

Therefore, choosing to wait another twenty-four hours is almost equivalent to giving up on the rescue, hoping they can perform miracles and survive.

And if I’m going to do something, the only opportunity is the black shadow that has appeared in front, the eighth team that is about to arrive.

Blend into that eighth team and go into the water!

Li Zhuoyuan made up his mind.

In this young man’s dictionary, there is no option to light the lamp a second time and admit defeat.

Therefore, he has to go into this water sooner or later.

Given this, shouldn’t I go down now to meet and rescue them while Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou still retain self-consciousness, instead of waiting until they’ve cooled down?

Li Zhuoyuan turned his head and looked at Xiong Shan.

Xiong Shan has been down before, he has experience.

Whether from the perspective of a guide or team cooperation, if Xiong Shan can go down with us, it will undoubtedly greatly increase our chances of saving people.

Xiong Shan’s eyes now showed a struggle.

Li Zhuoyuan couldn’t precisely measure Xiong Shan’s feelings for his brothers, but Xiong Shan had previously shown the intention of wanting to light the lamp a second time and stop.

When a person actively displays this emotion, it means their inner dam is already full of holes.

And the ones going down are his brothers, while the ones staying above are him, his wife, and child. If this configuration were reversed, his struggle might not be so intense.

The situation has clearly spiraled out of control. Xiong Shan can now light the lamp a second time, directly admit defeat, and spend the rest of his life with his wife and child. At most, he will think of his two brothers whom he abandoned and watched die during midnight dreams, bearing a little inner reproach.

“Ding ling ling… Ding ling ling… Ding ling ling…”

The bell of the eighth team approached.

Xiong Shan closed his eyes. When he reopened them, the struggle in his eyes had vanished.

He looked at Li Zhuoyuan, reached out and gently patted his wife’s body, and said, “We’ll go save Old Second and Old Third.”

Lihua breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her face. She first lowered her head and kissed her son, then tied the swaddling clothes hanging on her body, letting the child cling tightly to her, thereby completely freeing both of her hands.

Facing Xiong Shan’s gaze, Li Zhuoyuan replied calmly, “Together.”

Xiong Shan laughed, “Instead, I’ve been outdone by you, little brother. You have stronger emotions.”

Li Zhuoyuan: “What do we do next?”

Xiong Shan had previously explained the method of blending into the team, but he didn’t reveal the actual operational details, also intentionally holding back.

“When they are about to enter and exit the ‘inn,’ quickly blend into the team. At the same time, throw away the paper money. This way, you can blend in successfully without alarming them.

After entering there, when the bamboo pole starts to turn, let go and stand still, pretending to be a dead person.

There is one eye, don’t make any movements when it opens. Wait until it closes to find an opportunity.”

“You succeeded once last time?”

“I’m considered half a local. After initially killing that evil cultivator, I also learned some of his leftover Chen State talismans and gained some understanding of the taboos and methods of corpse-driving.

If you’re interested, little brother, I have some remnant scrolls of Chen State talismans. If we can all survive this time, I can lend them to you to look at.”

“I’m not interested in that.”

“Also, you are worried that this will contaminate my Jianghu karma.”

Li Zhuoyuan didn’t offer further explanation.

The eighth team had only three people. This meant this team hadn’t picked up anyone.

Xiong Shan: “We three go first, you three later.”

With this sentence, he clearly included his son as one of the three.

Li Zhuoyuan: “Okay.”

The young man cast his gaze towards Runsheng and Tan Wenbin. They nodded in return.

The eighth team arrived. Everyone first collectively lowered their heads.

After this team adjusted its angle and began to circle around the ‘Yin Yang Road Inn,’ which is the so-called ‘entering the inn,’ Xiong Shan and Lihua quickly stood up, one person on each side, grabbing the bamboo pole with one hand and supporting it with their shoulder.

Three pieces of paper money fell from their bodies.

When the team was about to ‘exit the inn,’ Li Zhuoyuan’s three also quickly stood up.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin imitated Xiong Shan’s actions, while Li Zhuoyuan grabbed Runsheng’s clothes.

Three pieces of paper money were quickly thrown away.

In an instant, it felt as if the entire perspective had shifted.

The surrounding environment became a blur, only behind, there seemed to be a flickering virtual image of an inn.

Although they were walking step by step, the speed of advancement was somewhat exaggerated, with a strange sense of spatial dislocation.

Lin Shuyou should have sensed something before, which is why he opened his eyes to search. However, he was located within the corpse-driving team, while Li Zhuoyuan and the others were inside the inn holding paper money, equivalent to being in another realm. Thus, it was perfectly normal for Lin Shuyou not to find anyone.

Walking at the back of the team is not as good as walking at the front.

Because the middle person with feet not touching the ground, you have to avoid looking at them.

Therefore, Xiong Shan and the others walking in front could look forward more freely, while Li Zhuoyuan’s three at the back could only look around to the left and right.

But who has experience? The guide walking in front, indeed, is beyond reproach.

Underfoot, came the sound of water splashing.

Entering the water.

The front end entered first, the back end followed.

The water was a little cool, but after being completely immersed, there was a suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe. However, this was more a psychological feeling than a true physiological suffocation.

Very uncomfortable, very unpleasant, yet not drowning.

This should be another characteristic of this corpse-driving team.

So, every time Brother Liangliang went to find Miss Bai, this was the feeling he experienced.

Even having to endure this pain twice every time couldn’t stop his frequent trips back and forth to Nantong.

The team advanced at the bottom of the lake. The two bamboo poles seemed like a boat, pressing down steadily.

As they walked, Li Zhuoyuan saw an underwater village, submerged at the bottom. This should be Peach Blossom Village.

The underwater Peach Blossom Village still retained most of its original appearance. The team also walked along the village road.

After leaving the village, the team continued to advance downwards. This is where the true Yin Ma Lake should be.

Downwards, downwards, again downwards, this should be heading towards the center of the lake.

Finally, Li Zhuoyuan felt both feet become empty, and the entire team began to descend vertically.

But even so, the feet of the ‘corpse-driver’ behind continued to swing back and forth at the original frequency. Everyone also followed its rhythm, continuing to swing their legs.

Descending, descending, again descending…

“Hua la!”

Experiencing it for the first time, after descending, there was a feeling of surfacing from the water. Turbid but real air surged into the nasal cavity, beginning to soothe your heart and lungs.

Here is a pool located underwater.

In front of the pool stood many people.

Everyone was standing in the water with their lower bodies submerged, eyes closed, steady and completely motionless.

At this time, the bamboo pole began to turn.

Xiong Shan and Lihua let go and stood in place. Runsheng and Tan Wenbin also loosened their hands and stood in place.

The standard three-person corpse-driving team completed its unloading here and then continued forward.

On the pool, there was an ancient thick stone door. The left stone door was only half remaining, and the right stone door was full of cracks. On the stairs leading to the stone door, there was a large pit, with four thick grooves on the edge, as if hammered out with fists.

The surrounding rock walls were originally carefully depicted with murals, similar to an arched dome pattern, but now these murals were densely covered with deep and shallow black stains, which should be splashed blood.

Here, a great battle once took place, and many people died.

Suddenly, the “sky” brightened.

Above their heads, a cluster of red ghost fire appeared.

Ghost fire is generally not this color, but in this cluster of flames, there seemed to be one eye, scanning below, bringing surging pressure.

This “eye” gave Li Zhuoyuan a very strong sense of familiarity.

The corpse-driving team that had unloaded the people began to walk into the stone door. As they advanced, there was a vague friction producing sparks around them, but these were suppressed and extinguished by another force.

They were originally not supposed to move. Under the ghost eye, any extra actions would be seen as heresy and fire punishment would descend.

But either the ghost eye was damaged before, or it was artificially modified, or both. In short, this ghost eye was ineffective against the corpse-drivers.

Corpse-drivers could freely enter and exit here, but others could not enjoy this treatment.

Even without Xiong Shan’s reminder from the shore, everyone would not move randomly at this time. The warning from the ghost eye was dense and almost substantial.

There were still many rows of people standing in front. Li Zhuoyuan was short, so he could see some details of the front two rows from the gaps between the legs of the people in front.

He found that he could see the back of the heads of the people in the front two rows. From the shape of their heads, they were all adults.

And from the front row to the back, the overall height clearly showed a gradual increase.

This meant that it wasn’t because the front two rows were all people with dwarfism and macrocephaly, but because they had melted.

This pool was like a candlestick. The “people” brought here would melt here, becoming wax oil, used to maintain the existence of that ghost eye.

But the problem is, while this method is clever, when combined with this majestic ghost eye, it seems a bit mismatched.

Wei Zhengdao once carefully and severely criticized evil arrays.

The young man deeply agrees.

Therefore, Li Zhuoyuan knows that ordinary evil arrays can indeed disguise themselves with a righteous and bright aura to deceive people into entering, but the more advanced evil arrays are more difficult to conceal their essential aura, and there is no need to do so, because people worthy of such strict arrangement are impossible to deceive with this simple blind method, it just seems a bit redundant.

Moreover, relying on corpse-driving teams to continuously pick people from outside as lamp oil to maintain the long-lasting brightness of the ghost eye is really a bit too troublesome, like using horses to pull a train engine.

If I were to arrange this ghost eye… isn’t there a lake above? Directly borrow the tide of the lake water, connect it to the ghost eye, as long as the lake water doesn’t dry up, that ghost eye can exist endlessly.

!.Read

Suddenly, Li Zhuoyuan’s eyes lit up.

No wonder he felt such a strong sense of familiarity. Substituting his own thinking, isn’t the operating principle of this ghost eye the “Qin Clan’s View Jiao Method”? And isn’t this array itself the Qin family’s “Dragon Eye Lock Door Array”?

Only the method of maintaining its existence has been changed, and what was originally supposed to be a pair of ghost eyes, now only one remains.

The closed place of the Qin family’s old residence would previously arrange this array to prevent being disturbed by the outside world during closure; some special forbidden places also arranged this array, meaning that if you come here without opening your eyes and touching it, you will be burned and melted, and it’s not unfair at all.

Look, this is the work of a Qin family Dragon King.

He was the one who initially gathered the four great families of the old Heaven Gate and suppressed the general here.

It must be said, this is still Li Zhuoyuan’s first time coming to “ancestral relics.”

Although this relic has already been destroyed and modified to some extent beyond recognition.

Just at this moment, the ghost eye gradually dimmed.

This should be what Xiong Shan said before, waiting until it closes its eyes.

Li Zhuoyuan’s breathing became a little heavier. You modified it, fine, but you still modified the level of this array so low.

Which family’s forbidden place array still closes its eyes and dozes off?

Finally, the ghost eye completely extinguished.

Xiong Shan moved, and Lihua followed suit. The two left their original positions and began to search forward for their team’s Old Second and Old Third.

“Found them!”

Li Zhuoyuan, with Runsheng and Tan Wenbin, also moved and began to search for Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou.

There were many people in the pool, and the light was not sufficient, so searching was really troublesome.

Fortunately, everyone could start by height. They only needed to search in the back two rows. After all, these were people who had just been sent in, and they hadn’t melted to the point of becoming shorter yet.

But at this time, Li Zhuoyuan had doubts. He wasn’t clear about Yin Meng’s situation, but Lin Shuyou should be able to move freely. It’s understandable that he didn’t dare to move when the ghost eye was open, but why is Lin Shuyou still not moving now that the ghost eye is closed?

In the pool, the only sounds of movement, excluding the child on Lihua’s chest, were five paths.

Secondly, if it were just a simple “open eyes and close eyes” taboo, then the difficulty here would undoubtedly be too low, and Xiong Shan wouldn’t say he almost confessed inside the last time he came in.

So, entering and exiting this place are not in the same position?

To exit from here, do you still have to enter that stone door?

The young man knows that even if he asks Xiong Shan now, he won’t be told frankly. Their internal brotherhood is one thing, but in external matters, there may not be the slightest ambiguity.

“Stop!”

Li Zhuoyuan’s voice warned.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin immediately stopped moving.

Xiong Shan and Lihua continued to search. Lihua heard Li Zhuoyuan’s reminder, but seeing her husband not react, she didn’t stop.

The ghost eye hadn’t lit up yet. After a while, new light appeared. Only then did Xiong Shan pull his wife’s hand, and the two stopped moving.

Li Zhuoyuan had predicted it half a minute early, making Tan Wenbin and Runsheng play wooden man with him for a while longer.

This was Li Zhuoyuan’s mistake because he applied the correct operational rhythm to the incorrect array.

After another period of waiting, until the ghost eye extinguished again, the five people moved again simultaneously.

Li Zhuoyuan’s side still couldn’t find Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng. Not only that, they didn’t even see Brother Tiger’s three.

However, Tan Wenbin found Old Second and Old Third. These two were standing in the middle position of the second to last row, eyes closed and completely still.

Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuoyuan.

Find their people first. What if they take people away and don’t help us find our people? It’s even possible they’ll just leave first.

Li Zhuoyuan took the initiative and shouted, “Found them!”

The difficulty is not in finding people, but in how this group of people should be safely brought out, and Xiong Shan’s heart should still be thinking of going to seal the general.

People are not so shortsighted.

Xiong Shan and Lihua immediately waded over.

Lihua: “Old Second, Old Third!”

Calling out to Old Second and Old Third, who still had their eyes closed and showed no reaction, they seemed already dead.

Li Zhuoyuan was preparing to try and wake them, but seeing Xiong Shan already forming a seal with talismans, he didn’t interfere either.

After forming the seal, Xiong Shan pasted a Chen State talisman on Old Second’s forehead and slid his thumb down along the talisman paper.

A stream of black mist overflowed from Old Second’s nostrils, and his eyes also slowly opened afterward. However, he could only move his eyeballs after opening his eyes, and he couldn’t speak or move.

Li Zhuoyuan’s eyes instantly narrowed: he was under restraint!

Xiong Shan: “Hahaha, Old Second, fortunately, you’re not dead. You wait, I’ll help you remove the restraint…”

Xiong Shan’s voice stopped. He also discovered the problem. Who put the restraint on Old Second, and what was the purpose of putting the restraint?

Old Second’s eyeballs began to move rapidly and continuously to the side. That was exactly the position of Old Third.

Xiong Shan: “Old Third, what happened to him?”

Li Zhuoyuan: “He’s telling you to run fast!”

Before, Old Second’s eyes were always closed. How did he know Old Third was standing right beside him? And even after opening his eyes, he didn’t turn his head and couldn’t see Old Third’s position.

This was simply a coincidence. When giving the eye signal, he happened to glance in Old Third’s direction, leading Xiong Shan into the confusion of the person involved.

“Brother Runsheng!”

The young man reached out and grabbed Runsheng’s arm. Runsheng habitually swung it, throwing Li Zhuoyuan onto his back. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed Tan Wenbin’s arm, opened his Qi gate, and Runsheng sprinted in the direction guided by the young man.

After the reminder, Xiong Shan also finally realized, hugging his wife and running backward.

Inside Old Second’s clothes, blue light lit up. There seemed to be layers of talisman paper hanging inside, and roots of chains winding. Inside the chains were wrapped with black Qi, violently rubbing against the power of the talisman paper. All of this accompanied the opening of the host’s eyes and officially began.

“Pi li pa la! Pi li pa la!”

Electric snakes rampaged on Old Second’s body. Black flames also spurted from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

Not only the outside, but his inside was also filled with things.

This was absolutely not done by the “corpse-drivers.” It was only possible that the person who put the restraint on them left these for them, letting them bring these and be picked up by the corpse-drivers into here.

Black flames spurted from Old Second’s side, igniting Old Third. Blue light first appeared on Old Third’s body, and then black flames spurted from his mouth.

These black flames are corpse fire, refined with special methods. Once ignited, they can easily stir up corpse Qi and burn the surrounding corpses together.

“Ah!!!”

“Ah!!!”

As the corpse fire inside Old Second and Old Third’s bodies further spurted out, their body restraints were also subsequently wiped out, but the two were only able to turn back and look at Old Big, their heads just falling down, their bodies quickly melting, the containers breaking, and the corpse fire pouring out, beginning to spread on a large scale.

After being contaminated with corpse fire, even dead people began to twist and shake, just like corpses will also deform and make some movements after being ignited in an incinerator.

For a time, the entire large half of the pool area was like a group of demons dancing wildly.

“Old Second, Old Third!”

Xiong Shan, while sobbing and shouting at them, pulled his wife and ran non-stop towards the stone door.

Meanwhile, Li Zhuoyuan’s side simply didn’t look back.

After Runsheng opened his Qi gate, his power and speed were truly terrifying. Tan Wenbin, after all, had an ordinary person’s body. At this moment, there was no opportunity for him to invite a ghost possession. After exhausting all his strength to follow for a segment, he finally couldn’t hold on and fell down.

But Runsheng still pulled him and continued to run. Tan Wenbin’s body was like skipping stones on a riverbank, being dragged flying with a “Pa da! Pa da! Pa da!” sound.

Binbin started sliding with his hands and feet together, helping out as much as possible, while keeping his mouth closed to prevent dirty water from pouring in.

But only closing his mouth wasn’t useful, because his nose and ears couldn’t close, especially his nose, which was facing the direction of the sprint. The strong impact brought water pressure, hitting the pool water into his nasal cavity.

But even so, he still couldn’t stop.

If he didn’t run, it would be too late.

Because the ghost eye was about to open.

Finally, Li Zhuoyuan’s three arrived at the shore first. Tan Wenbin knelt on the ground, his stomach churning, while a warm sensation flowed from his nostrils, which should be a nosebleed.

At this time, the ghost eye also gradually opened.

Xiong Shan put two Chen State talismans on himself and his wife respectively. Their speed increased.

But they had been delayed by many factors before, and Xiong Shan’s body was originally injured, and Lihua’s body still had a child. So, the two were still a little distance from the shore, they should be able to catch up, but there was still a certain danger.

On the shore, Li Zhuoyuan opened his mouth: “Help them.”

Upon hearing this, Tan Wenbin immediately drew out a seven-star hook from his backpack, flung it forward. The hook quickly extended, and then he quickly handed it to Runsheng.

Xiong Shan and Lihua grabbed the hook. Runsheng, standing on the shore, exerted force and fished the couple up.

It must be said, their kung fu was really good. They landed steadily.

Lihua began to sob, turned around, and turned her back to the pool water.

Xiong Shan’s eyes were red. He first looked at Li Zhuoyuan, nodded at him, then let out a low roar from his throat: “Xie family, Bu family!”

The ghost eye opened.

The corpses below the corpse fire were all “dancing.”

Strands of flames descended from above, smashing towards all the corpses.

For a time, the entire pool area was ignited with raging fire. The pool began to violently boil, like human purgatory.

Everyone standing on the shore didn’t move, but even so, they could feel the terrifying heat wave constantly beating on their bodies.

Finally, the great fire burned out, the pool was nearly dry, and all the corpses also turned to ashes.

The ghost eye became a little dimmer, and then it was time for it to close its eyes again, gradually closing.

Xiong Shan: “Sorry, your people also bur…”

Li Zhuoyuan: “Sorry, my people are not here.”

———

Due to the flu, my state is reduced by a layer, and my coding state is poor. As per the old rule, I will send half first, and I will continue to code. There will be another chapter during the daytime tomorrow.

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