Chapter 172

“Do... do-do... do-do-do... da-da-da-da!”

Holding the crank, Tan Wenbin spun it rapidly and started the tractor.

Once everyone had climbed aboard, Tan Wenbin drove them along the mountain road.

Behind them lay the Miao village, sunk into sleep after its celebration.

Li Zhuiyuan sat in the back of the tractor, head tilted up, gazing at the sky full of stars.

As they neared the lake, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, breaking off that moment of peace.

“Get ready.”

Everyone began checking their gear.

Xue Liangliang, seated beside Tan Wenbin at the driver’s position, took the handle and drove the final stretch himself.

They arrived at the lakeside.

Holding a compass, Li Zhuiyuan confirmed the direction and chose both the entry point and the underwater route.

Runsheng crouched, lifted the boy onto his back, then leaped into the lake.

Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng followed right after him.

After taking two hard drags from the cigarette he had just lit, Tan Wenbin handed it to Xue Liangliang and jumped in as well.

Xue Liangliang stayed where he was, finished the half-smoked cigarette, then started the tractor again and turned it around.

Inside were some of the clothes and tools they had left behind, along with food and medicine. His job was to drive the tractor to a safer spot farther away and wait for them to return to shore.

Xue Liangliang knew he did not have the ability to help on the front line, so there was no point going down there and getting in the way. He would do what he could and handle logistics properly.

After hiding the tractor securely, Xue Liangliang sat in the back and lifted his head, taking over Little Yuan’s place in admiring the stars.

Guizhou had an abundance of cultural and scenic treasures. Once this matter was settled and the construction crew came back to resume work, their mission here would be finished too.

After that, there would be a long stretch of free time, and they would no longer need to remain at the worksite.

Xue Liangliang took a small notebook and pen from his pocket. He felt he could make a travel guide for Little Yuan and the others and take them on a proper trip.

But as he worked on the guide, a sudden emptiness rose in his heart.

It was not that Guizhou’s mountains were not beautiful, but that the river waters of Nantong were even more captivating.

He felt that compared with the detailed travel guide he was making, Little Yuan would probably rather hear him say just one thing:

Let’s go back to Nantong.

...

The lake water at night was freezing.

Once they entered the water, everyone swam northwest.

The closer they got to that direction, the colder the water became.

When they dove deeper and the beams of their waterproof flashlights swept across the lakebed, they could even see a layer of white frost.

And in the middle of that frost was a pitch-black opening, with great swathes of black waterweed waving around it.

Runsheng was the first to approach the opening. The black waterweed immediately wrapped itself around him, trying to bind and drown him.

Unfortunately for it, Runsheng was simply too strong. He had always been even more at home underwater than on land, and after receiving Uncle Qin’s instruction and transmission of skill, he was even more like a fish in water below the surface.

The waterweed kept snapping apart. In Runsheng’s hands, the Yellow River Spade was like a sickle, reaping wildly while also clearing a path for the others behind him.

After waiting briefly and seeing that the others had caught up, Runsheng finally swam into the cave.

Inside, the currents were chaotic. An ordinary person entering a place like this would likely be spun around and lose all sense of direction.

Li Zhuiyuan had his left arm around Runsheng’s neck and a compass in his right hand.

All the boy had to do was trace a few marks with his fingertips on the back of Runsheng’s neck, and Runsheng immediately understood and adjusted course.

As they swam on, a broad shadow appeared ahead.

Li Zhuiyuan shone his flashlight over it and discovered rows upon rows of corpses. Because of the unusual environment, the bodies had been preserved relatively well and had not bloated into anything grotesque.

There were both men and women among them, but judging by size alone, more than half were children.

Many of those children, even in death, were still holding the hand of the “father” or “mother” beside them.

The old crone’s main targets had been children. The adults here had probably been dragged down with them while trying to save their sons and daughters.

When the flashlight shone farther down, they could see the shadows piled into a hill below, though most of those were shattered.

Only the more intact corpses had floated upward.

There were not many fresh corpses. Judging by their clothing, these had all been here for many years.

These were all sacrificial offerings gathered during the old crone’s last “birth.”

The devastation caused by a malevolent spirit’s calamity became concrete in this moment.

Li Zhuiyuan put away the compass, closed his eyes, and slowly lowered his right hand.

The Twelve Edicts of Fengdu—Silence All Ghosts.

It could not be seen in the real world, but from the perspective of walking the shade, black lines could be seen continuously emerging from the boy’s palm and rippling outward.

Li Zhuiyuan was soothing “them.”

Bodies that had been dead for a long time and then trapped in a place thick with yin energy could easily undergo corpse transformation and become Dead Sinkers once they came into contact with the aura of the living.

Rather than deal with that kind of trouble underwater, it was better to calm “them” in advance.

Before meeting the real target, any energy they could save was worth saving.

With the boy’s soothing influence, the corpses remained quiet, and everyone swam through them.

Then the fully water-filled space came to an end. After rising to the surface, they found an open cavern and came ashore.

After a quick rest, they continued forward.

This was not an underground palace. It had an air of something natural and primeval.

As they walked, they could see the glittering crystal formations in the cave, especially when flashlight beams struck them and reflected dazzling rainbow colors.

Tan Wenbin said, “What a great place. Perfect for tourism development.”

Lin Shuyou said, “But Brother Bin, this place has unclean things in it.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Then we just clean the unclean things out.”

Lin Shuyou said, “But wouldn’t tourists think it was bad luck? After all, so many people died here.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Aren’t those tomb attractions still packed with tourists during holidays?”

Lin Shuyou said, “Fair point.”

The path under their feet grew broader and broader, and up ahead a relatively flat area came into view.

There were twelve recesses on the platform. Eleven of them held stone coffins.

The shape of those coffins was exactly the same as the one the noblewoman they had destroyed at the worksite earlier that day had lain in.

At the time, Li Zhuiyuan had suspected that the old crone had dug that noblewoman out of some nearby ancient tomb. Now it seemed he had guessed wrong. That noblewoman had originally been one of the old crone’s burial attendants.

A holy maiden had always been a title within a system of faith.

Historically, some holy maidens became the shared object of worship across a vast surrounding region, while others may have been revered only by their own small village.

The old crone’s former self had probably been a holy maiden of very high status. Otherwise, her burial attendants would not have been so richly adorned with jewels.

Of the remaining eleven coffins, however, nine had already been opened and stood empty.

The lids of the two unopened coffins were still bound in chains.

Those nine empty coffins had most likely been cleared out when the Zhao Family’s Dragon King came here.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that the chains binding the coffins had already corroded and no longer served their original purpose.

The boy pointed toward them, and his companions understood. Everyone began moving toward the two coffins step by step.

When the Dragon King had come here, he had arrived in effortless grandeur and, after suppressing everything, departed just as elegantly.

That was the bearing of a Dragon King.

They, however, were still far from that level. A small team had its own way of operating.

If the threat was too great, they could avoid it and simply complete the main task. But if the danger was manageable, then they would rather spend a bit more time defusing these two hidden dangers in advance.

That way, they would not run into some nasty surprise on the way out after finishing the job.

But at that moment, a shrill scream suddenly came from deeper inside, followed by a second, then a third...

Tan Wenbin said, “Holy crap, is she about to give birth?”

Yin Meng said, “Didn’t the Dragon King’s inscription say she needed a blood sacrifice to give birth?”

Lin Shuyou said, “Yeah. But the slaughter hasn’t started yet, has it?”

Runsheng said, “Premature birth.”

Along with the screams, the chains fell from the two coffins and the lids flipped open.

Inside, two female corpses rose upright. Their skin had not exactly been creamy white before, but at least it had looked pale and fair enough, and they had probably been noblewomen in life. But very quickly, their skin turned iron-blue, black qi swirled from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and sticky, foul-smelling liquid began to seep from their bodies.

Bang. Bang!

The two Dead Sinkers leaped out of the coffins, but they did not attack. Instead, they lifted onto their toes and slid toward the entrance as though standing guard.

The screams continued.

Li Zhuiyuan had two choices before him.

One was to continue advancing steadily, dealing with each obstacle one by one and pushing forward in a controlled, methodical way.

The other was to use the most cost-effective method to brush aside anything blocking the path and charge into the core area as fast as possible—the “delivery room.”

This might be a trap, but it also might be an opportunity.

But if you looked at it the other way around, the choice became easier.

Historically, when the old crone had last given birth, it had taken the Dragon King himself to resolve the matter. The Zhao Family’s Dragon King had personally killed the gu child.

From that, one could infer that the gu child posed a much greater threat than the mother, the old crone, did.

Even if this was a trap, at worst they would only be falling for a divide-and-distract tactic. The risk was bearable.

Li Zhuiyuan made up his mind and said,

“Lin Shuyou.”

“Here!”

“Hold them off.”

“Understood!”

Lin Shuyou first reached out and tapped the Dissolution of Evil Talisman Needles in his hiking pack. It was a psychological cue for himself, and also a direct signal to the Child Medium who was about to descend.

The daytime fight had only been a warm-up. The real work started now.

Lin Shuyou spread his left hand, clenched his right into a fist, kicked off with one leg, opened his vertical pupils, and White Crane Child descended!

The moment it descended, the Child wasted no words. With a Three-Step Praise, its body shifted position. Closing in on one Dead Sinker, it seized the thing by its clothing and dragged it backward.

At the same time, it extended its right hand. An invisible vortex appeared in its palm, forcibly pulling at the other Dead Sinker so that it had no choice but to follow along as well.

Even among the older spirit mediums of the Officers of the Command Banner lineage, few had ever seen an Underworld deity actually use spells. Over time, this had gradually created the fixed impression that the Officers of the Command Banner could only fight malevolent spirits in close combat.

In truth, they could use spells.

They just hated to waste the strength.

Now, though, the Child was willing to spend it.

It surely had thoughts of its own, but it had to face reality.

Compared with being ordered around by this boy and forced to follow rules, what it found even less acceptable was the possibility that after already enduring so much compromise and humiliation, it would still perform badly enough for the boy to forcibly swap in a different Underworld deity for his medium.

That night on the third day of the New Year, when Lin Shuyou had skipped sleep and gone to feel up the statues of General Zeng and General Sun, had deeply provoked the Child.

The Child immediately erupted with force, dragging the two Dead Sinkers apart and clearing the way.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed onto Runsheng’s back again and waved his hand. The others rushed inward.

Those two Dead Sinkers were only around the same level as the noblewoman from earlier that day. Their strength was not outrageous, but they were difficult to kill. At this point, they were no longer worth wasting too much time on.

Beyond the platform was a thick pond.

What filled the pond was not water, but stinking fresh blood.

When the group reached it, a huge black shell rose up from within. It looked as though it had once belonged to an insect.

But the insect was already dead. There was a massive dent in its carapace, as though it had been smashed open by brute force and killed outright.

Even though the dead insect had not revived, it had still become a new breeding vessel.

From its body, countless smaller bugs kept crawling out, and some of them even fluttered their wings and took to the air.

“Yin Meng.”

“Understood!”

Yin Meng drew out her Demon-Suppressing Whip. It had snapped in the daytime fight, but after being tied back together it was still usable. Besides, her whip was becoming more and more like a carrier for poison anyway.

She was not like Runsheng, with that kind of overwhelming brute strength. If she had that kind of power, she would not be using a whip in the first place. A shovel would suit her better.

The Demon-Suppressing Whip trembled, and poisonous mist spread out.

The gu insects were already venomous by nature, but clearly they feared Yin Meng’s poison even more—because Yin Meng herself feared her own poison too.

Once a path was opened, Runsheng carried Li Zhuiyuan over the insect shell and leaped to the other side of the blood pond.

A cave appeared ahead. Carved above it was a strange emblem, likely the totem of the village where the old crone had once belonged.

Tan Wenbin made two jumps in quick succession and followed over. Yin Meng came last.

Crash... crash...

Just then, dense swarms of insects also appeared above the cave mouth, pouring down like a black waterfall.

The insects at the blood pond also began pressing in again after the poisonous mist thinned.

Yin Meng knew exactly what Little Yuanhou was trying to do. This was a rare chance for her to shine in the one area that truly matched her specialty, and she had to seize it.

She yanked open her hiking pack. Inside was crammed full of all kinds of little bottles.

Some had labels on them, and some had no markings at all.

Tan Wenbin’s teeth ached at the sight. Before setting out, he had seen Yin Meng preparing and mixing poisons with his own eyes.

Those unmarked bottles were not unlabeled because Yin Meng could identify them at a glance by their color and appearance and therefore did not need labels.

It was because halfway through making them... she had forgotten what poison they contained.

In truth, everyone in the team knew that Yin Meng’s use of poison was a little unreliable.

But no one tried to persuade her to change her methods. Not even Li Zhuiyuan. He had tacitly allowed it.

Because a neatly disciplined Yin Meng would only be an average poison expert, while Yin Meng operating according to her usual half-chaotic habits had wildly unstable performance but an extremely high ceiling.

“Little Yuanhou, four-nine position!”

This was one of the terms used in their formation setup, the “multiplication table” the boy had created for them.

Runsheng nodded hard, and Tan Wenbin began reciting under his breath.

Then Yin Meng began.

She first threw out a bottle, then snapped it in midair with her whip. The poison hidden in the whip reacted in some unknown way with the poison inside the bottle and exploded at once.

A cloud of green burst out first, and all the nearby gu insects shrank away in terror.

Carrying Li Zhuiyuan on his back, with Tan Wenbin following behind, Runsheng began running. They moved in a curved path.

Each time they turned, it meant another poison bottle had shattered in front of them, sending poisonous mist spreading outward.

While it drove away the gu insects and opened the path, it also minimized the chance of harming their own side.

Runsheng ran with intense focus, while Tan Wenbin shouted out the mnemonic as he ran.

The gu insects were terrified.

Their teammates were even more terrified, because one slip of Yin Meng’s hand could easily poison their own side.

At last, they broke through the swarm and rushed into the cave.

Yin Meng, meanwhile, remained behind to keep the path open for everyone.

Watching the backs of her companions as they departed, Yin Meng smiled.

Centering the whip around herself, she cracked it repeatedly, scattering poisonous mist and temporarily creating a safe isolation zone for herself.

She could not get out, but for the moment the insects outside did not dare rush in either.

She did not feel abandoned. On the contrary, she rather enjoyed this feeling of giving of herself and sacrificing for the team.

In fact, she had imagined this exact scene several times in dreams:

She stood there and said,

You all go on ahead. I’ll hold the rear!

Then the shot first gave her a frontal close-up, before pulling back to show her heroic silhouette from behind.

Unfortunately, she had never had such an opportunity before, nor the right setting to create one, so she had never been able to enjoy that sense of accomplishment.

Last time, Little Yuanhou had said that because of her, they had become entangled with The Great Emperor of Fengdu, and that she had rendered a great service.

But the problem was that she remembered nothing, and neither Little Yuanhou nor anyone else remembered either. It was a great merit so intangible that it could not even be reminisced about!

This time was much better. At last she had a chance to show what she could do.

Yin Meng patted her bulging hiking pack. She had brought plenty of poison bottles this time, so she was not panicking.

But looking at the dense mass of gu insects outside the poisonous mist, a thought suddenly rose in her mind:

Should she catch one and study it?

She knew that her master, Aunt Liu, was best at gu arts.

But those gu arts had developed from feng shui methods of raising gu, cultivating symbolic feng shui gu, which was not the same system as Miao-region gu.

It was not that Aunt Liu had never taught Yin Meng how to raise gu insects, but Yin Meng had only learned to walk the shade when they were in Zhangjiajie, and even now she still struggled with it and had only a shallow grasp of feng shui methods...

So even though Aunt Liu had taught her several times and found a few larvae for her to raise, she had managed to kill every last one of them.

The insects used in feng shui gu arts were too delicate. Yin Meng felt that Miao-region gu insects had stronger resistance, so maybe she could find one better suited to her?

Her gaze swept across the ground around her, where quite a few gu insects that she had poisoned earlier already lay dead.

Gu insects were raised, cultivated things. So wouldn’t the ones suited to her be the ones selected by her poison?

As long as a bug could survive several rounds of her poison without dying, wouldn’t that mean it was naturally compatible with her?

Still, she did not know how long she would have to hold out here. When Little Yuanhou and the others came back, she might need to open the way for them again, so she needed to ration the poison in her pack.

Forget it. Once this matter was over, she could always come down again to reunite with these gu insects.

Yes. She would have Runsheng sneak down here with her.

The three who had left the insect pond area continued deeper into the cave.

Tan Wenbin’s back, already soaked once from diving, had now been drenched all over again.

He sighed. “We should’ve had Mengmeng make some antidotes or something. Isn’t that how it always goes in TV dramas? You swallow the antidote in advance, and then you’re not afraid of poison.”

Runsheng said, “Why don’t you test whether the antidote works?”

“Fine. Pretend I never said anything.”