Chapter 147: Corpse in the Mountain Village

Lu Bai was lost in thought.

The very character for Ba contained the radical for ’ghost,’ hinting at its true nature.

Seeing Lu Bai’s silence, He Liangzhi assumed he was worried. "Brother Lu, you don’t need to worry so much," he said reassuringly. "Other Vassal States, and even the Dominator Countries, have Corpse Ghosts and Flying Corpses. I’ve heard that in some places, terrifying creatures like Drought Demons have even appeared.

But that’s impossible in our Wu Dynasty."

Lu Bai asked, "Why is that?"

"Our Evil Extermination Bureau specializes in handling this sort of thing. The Dynasty takes this matter extremely seriously."

He Liangzhi said, "Before these Evil Spirits can mature, they’re basically discovered and eliminated by the Evil Extermination Bureau. We don’t give them the chance to grow into Corpse Ghosts."

The two chatted idly as they rode toward Jingzhou City.

After another two hours, He Liangzhi, who had been holding his tongue the whole time, could finally no longer contain himself. "Brother Lu," he asked, "are this Black Dog and rooster so important that you have to carry them with you?"

After leaving Bluestone City, Lu Bai had been holding the Black Dog in front of him on the saddle.

The Big Rooster was perched on the Black Dog’s back.

This peculiar way of riding was quite strange, and as they traveled, it drew many odd looks from passersby.

But upon seeing their Evil Extermination Bureau uniforms, no one dared to say a word.

"Mm, they’re always with me. I’m used to it."

Lu Bai gave a vague reply.

Just then, the Black Dog, which had been lying obediently before him on the saddle, suddenly stood up. As if sensing something, it stared off into the distance, to the left and ahead of the main road.

The sudden movement nearly sent Ah Ming flying.

"CLUCK CLUCK!"

Ah Ming squawked complainingly.

Lu Bai knew the Black Dog must have found something, so he activated his Eye of Illusion and looked in that direction.

Although it was quite far, Lu Bai could still perceive a massive, dense cloud of Yin Qi swirling in the sky above that location.

"Brother Lu, did you find something?"

He Liangzhi knew about Lu Bai’s Yin-Yang Eye from Mo Tang. Seeing the strange expression on Lu Bai’s face, he asked.

At such a distance, the Evil Extermination Bureau’s Heart Mirror was useless.

"The Yin Qi over there is very heavy."

Lu Bai pointed in the direction.

"There must be Yin Souls there. Since we’re passing by, let’s go take a look."

He Liangzhi said, "You’ve just joined the Evil Extermination Bureau. The credit for these Yin Souls will go to you. It’s a good chance to teach you how to use the Yin Soul Compass."

"Thank you, Brother He."

Lu Bai thanked him, but frowned inwardly.

’If it were just one or two Yin Souls, the Yin Qi wouldn’t be this heavy.’

’But from what I can see with my Eye of Illusion, this Yin Qi hasn’t yet transformed into Ghost Qi. There shouldn’t be any Evil Spirits like Little Ghosts or Great Ghosts yet.’

The two galloped in that direction.

Once they left the main road, the path became difficult and the terrain complex, so their speed gradually slowed.

By the time they drew near, the sky had already begun to dim.

Lu Bai and He Liangzhi gazed into the distance.

Ahead of them was a small village, with what looked like a dozen or so households.

The place was quite hidden. They never would have found it if not for the Yin Qi guiding them.

He Liangzhi took out a map and searched for a moment, but found no mark for this location.

At the entrance to the village stood only a stone stele, on which was carved the single character "Bai."

Normally, at this hour, every household would be lighting their stoves to cook dinner.

But right now, there wasn’t a wisp of smoke from any chimney in the village. It was deathly silent.

Not a single dog’s bark or rooster’s crow could be heard.

"It’s too quiet. Let’s go in and take a look!"

As a skilled and daring Evil Exterminator Guard, He Liangzhi didn’t hesitate.

Lu Bai had his own abilities to rely on, so he nodded in agreement.

The two of them tied their horses outside and entered the village.

A faint, foul stench of decay drifted through the village.

The doors and windows of every house were shut tight.

He Liangzhi pointed to a few houses on the right and said, "Brother Lu, you check over there. Call out immediately if you find anything."

"Alright. Be careful, Brother He," Lu Bai replied, heading in that direction.

In truth, his Eye of Illusion revealed no Evil Spirits whatsoever.

But the Yin Qi here was undeniably heavy!

Lu Bai entered one of the houses.

The interior was simple and spartan, but clean and tidy, with no signs of a struggle.

Lu Bai went into the bedroom to take a look.

It was empty.

The bedding was still on the bed, but it was in complete disarray, as if someone had been startled awake from a dream.

’Where were the people from here?’

There were no bloodstains anywhere. It was more like the work of Yin Souls, killing without a trace.

Lu Bai checked several more houses and found the situation to be the same in each one.

Meanwhile, He Liangzhi finished his search and came back out.

"Didn’t see anyone."

He Liangzhi said, "Judging by the state of the houses, it doesn’t look like the whole village evacuated. There are no signs of packed luggage, and I didn’t see any Yin Souls either."

"Let’s check over there."

Lu Bai pointed to an old building at the very back of the village.

The Yin Qi was thickest over there.

The architectural style of this building was clearly different from the other houses—it was much grander. A plaque hung over the entrance, inscribed with the four large words: "Bai Clan Ancestral Hall."

He Liangzhi infused his Blood Qi into the Heart Mirror while also taking out his Yin Soul Compass. He scanned the surroundings for a moment, then shook his head.

The Yin Soul Compass didn’t react, and the Heart Mirror revealed nothing.

The Yin Qi here was indeed heavy, but there were no Evil Spirits.

He Liangzhi stepped forward and shoved the ancestral hall’s main doors open. At the same time, he dodged to the side with an extremely fast Body Technique, his eyes fixed on the entrance.

An overpowering, nauseating stench of decay rushed out.

Inside the ancestral hall were dozens of pitch-black coffins, scattered about haphazardly.

The foul stench was emanating from these dozens of coffins.

He Liangzhi frowned deeply, covering his mouth and nose as he walked into the ancestral hall.

’As expected, the bodies of the dozens of villagers should all be in these coffins.’

"Why were they placed in coffins but not buried?"

He Liangzhi muttered to himself and walked over to the nearest coffin, noticing that the lid hadn’t been nailed shut.

He drew the longsword from his waist, inserted it into the crack of the lid, and pried it open with a powerful heave!

CRASH!

The coffin lid fell to the floor.

There was nothing inside.

Not only was there no corpse, but there weren’t even any bones.

In the dim light, he could just make out a layer of sticky, greasy residue coating the inside of the coffin. The putrid stench was coming from this very residue!

"How disgusting."

Some of the greasy residue had gotten on He Liangzhi’s Sword Scabbard, and he couldn’t shake it off no matter how he tried, which made him curse under his breath.

Lu Bai came to his side and also opened a coffin.

It was also completely empty, filled with the same foul-smelling, greasy residue.

He Liangzhi proceeded to open several more coffins, all of which were empty.

"Where did all the bodies from this village go?"

He Liangzhi’s brow was tightly furrowed as he murmured softly.

A thought struck Lu Bai. As if realizing something, he suppressed his nausea and said slowly, "They might still be in the coffins."

"What do you mean?"

He Liangzhi asked instinctively.

Lu Bai pointed at the greasy residue inside.

"Are you talking about Corpse Oil?"

He Liangzhi froze for a moment, then immediately shook his head. "That’s impossible. Even if a body rots into Corpse Oil, it would still leave bones behind. There’s no way even the dregs..."

As he spoke, He Liangzhi’s voice trailed off. He seemed to have thought of something terrifying; his pupils contracted, and his face paled in horror.