Chapter 148: Corpse Nurturing Ground

He Liangzhi had just checked the houses in the village. There was only a thin layer of dust in the rooms, meaning the incident couldn’t have happened too long ago.

At least, not in this amount of time. Even if the bodies had decomposed, it would be impossible for so much Corpse Oil to appear.

Only the methods of a Demon Sect could render even bones into Corpse Oil!

He Liangzhi’s expression was one of shock and suspicion as his eyes swept quickly around the ancestral hall.

The placement of these coffins seemed chaotic and random, but a closer look revealed something abnormal.

It was a matter of perspective.

If he were looking down from above, he would have noticed it immediately.

But having entered the hall and looking at it from ground level, it was much harder to discern.

This wasn’t an ancestral hall.

It was a Corpse Nurturing Ground for a Demon Sect!

"Brother He, what’s wrong?"

Seeing He Liangzhi’s expression change drastically, Lu Bai immediately focused and went on high alert.

He Liangzhi swallowed, hurriedly made a shushing gesture, and signaled for Lu Bai to leave first.

BOOM!

Just then, the great doors of the ancestral hall slammed shut behind them with a tremendous crash!

The sound was like the blow of a heavy hammer.

He Liangzhi’s heart nearly leaped from his chest. His eyes flew open, his expression tense, and his breathing grew heavy. The palm gripping his longsword was slick with sweat.

Without the moonlight and starlight from outside, the ancestral hall was instantly plunged into darkness.

All around them, it was utterly silent.

It was terrifyingly still!

He Liangzhi could even hear the sound of his own breathing.

"Xiaolu? Xiaolu?"

He Liangzhi’s Heart and Spirit were stretched taut. He couldn’t be bothered with formalities and called out softly twice.

For him, it was pitch-black, and his vision was limited.

Combined with the gloomy silence, he was extremely tense. Perhaps having someone else by his side would give him a bit more courage.

"Brother He, I’m here."

Lu Bai’s voice was calm.

He cultivated the Ultimate Skill, the Dragon Elephant Suppression Skill, and had opened his Nine Acupoints, so his vision was actually somewhat better than He Liangzhi’s.

With the help of his Eye of Illusion, he could roughly make out the situation inside the ancestral hall.

There were no Evil Spirits, no other people, not even a trace of life.

Just a deathly silence.

However, Lu Bai didn’t understand what was going on, so he didn’t dare to make a rash move.

Hearing Lu Bai’s response, He Liangzhi relaxed slightly.

A drop of sweat slowly slid down his face and fell to the ground.

This almost inaudible sound seemed to shatter the silence!

SCREEECH!

A strange, unsettling sound echoed through the hall, like something heavy was slowly scraping as it slid.

Lu Bai’s gaze shifted.

He could faintly see that among the dozens of coffins, the lids of three were slowly moving.

"Watch out!"

Although He Liangzhi couldn’t see the specifics, he had a vague idea of what was happening and quickly warned, "This is a Corpse Nurturing Ground of the Demon Sect’s Corpse Refining Sect! The placement of these coffins probably corresponds to a type of Array, the Seven Evils Gathering Yin Array!"

"Demon Sect? Corpse Refining Sect?"

Lu Bai’s gaze hardened.

He watched as the coffin lids slid open just enough for ten pale fingers with long, sharp nails to slowly extend from within!

"Jie jie jie."

A sinister, chilling laugh suddenly echoed through the ancestral hall.

"You, an Innate Martial Artist, are surprisingly knowledgeable. To even know of Corpse Nurturing Grounds and the Seven Evils Gathering Yin Array."

The voice seemed to echo right in Lu Bai’s and He Liangzhi’s ears, yet it was ethereal and its source was impossible to pinpoint.

He Liangzhi quickly explained, "Besides their own cultivation, the most important Demon Sect Secret Technique for Corpse Refining Sect Cultivators is refining Jiangshi.

These Jiangshi possess immense strength, feel no pain, and have no vital points. Even if stabbed through the heart and heavily wounded, as long as their bodies can still move, they can still fight."

As He Liangzhi was speaking, three Jiangshi had already crawled out of the coffins. Judging by their clothes, they were once villagers from this place.

Each one had a deathly pale face, bulging eyes, a vacant gaze, and gave off a putrid stench.

Lu Bai said in a low voice, "Three Jiangshi have climbed out of their coffins."

"You can see them?"

A thought struck He Liangzhi, and he quickly asked, "What do the Jiangshi look like? Do they have white fur or green fur?"

Lu Bai focused his gaze.

The faces of the three Jiangshi weren’t just deathly pale; they were covered in a layer of fine white fur.

Lu Bai said, "White fur."

"Good, they’re White Jiangshi."

He Liangzhi breathed a secret sigh of relief. "A White Jiangshi is equivalent to an Inner Martial Artist. Just be careful not to get hurt by them. The Corpse Refining Sect disciple behind this should only be at the Qi Refining Stage."

Their only disadvantage at the moment was the combat environment.

They couldn’t see, and the Yin Qi here was too dense, suppressing their Blood Qi.

"Jie jie jie!"

The sinister laughter rang out again.

BOOM!

A loud bang suddenly erupted in the ancestral hall.

A coffin lid shattered to pieces, and a green figure leaped out from within, letting out a great roar in Lu Bai and He Liangzhi’s direction!

Lu Bai saw it clearly.

This Jiangshi was covered in green fur, its frame tall and powerful. As it roared, it revealed two pairs of sharp fangs, its face ferocious, and the veins on its neck bulged!

"A green-furred Jiangshi is out."

Lu Bai had never seen such a thing before. He was a little creeped out and quickly spoke up.

"A Green Jiangshi!"

He Liangzhi’s heart sank. "That Green Jiangshi carries Corpse Poison, which is why its fur has changed color. Do not let it scratch you, don’t even let it touch you!"

To have refined a Green Jiangshi meant that this person’s Cultivation had already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm!

Today, the odds were stacked against them.

If it were broad daylight, under a scorching sun, the Jiangshi’s power would be greatly restricted.

But now, they had stumbled into a Corpse Nurturing Ground of the Corpse Refining Sect. The only option was to escape as quickly as possible and not get bogged down in a fight!

BAM!

He Liangzhi suddenly retreated, slamming heavily into the ancestral hall’s main doors behind him.

The impact was powerful, but it was like hitting a mountain; he was sent rebounding back.

At that moment, the three White Jiangshi lunged.

Two pounced toward He Liangzhi, while the other rushed at Lu Bai.

The movements of these White Jiangshi were relatively stiff and sluggish, and they weren’t fast.

"Xiaolu, break a window and get out! The people from the Demon Suppression Bureau will be here any second. I’ll hold them off!"

He Liangzhi roared, and with a shake of his longsword, the blade instantly erupted with two halos of blood-red light, illuminating their surroundings and the three lunging Jiangshi!

A Middle Grade Treasure Artifact!

As for the men from the Demon Suppression Bureau, that was just a bluff from He Liangzhi, meant to make their opponent hesitate.

"Heh heh."

The person sneered and said, "You’ve come all this way to my place, and you think you can just leave?"

Lu Bai remained relatively calm.

He glanced at Black Dog and Ah Ming beside him.

Over the past few days, Ah Ming had evolved to the Tier Three Demon Beast Level, equivalent to the Golden Core Realm.

’Worst case scenario, Ah Ming is my safety net.’

But when he looked, he found only Black Dog was still by his side. Ah Ming was gone.

"Where’s Ah Ming?"

Lu Bai asked.

Black Dog looked up at the roof beams.

Lu Bai followed Black Dog’s gaze.

At some point, Ah Ming had jumped up onto a roof beam and was now perched there, just watching the show.

"Get down here!"

Lu Bai shot a flurry of meaningful looks at Ah Ming.

Ah Ming pulled its neck back and simply shut its eyes, pretending not to see.

’Some Brother Chicken he is, completely unreliable when it counts!’

Lu Bai complained to himself.

It wasn’t that Ah Ming was afraid of these things; they were just too disgusting.

The mere thought of fighting these Jiangshi and getting stained with their stench and Corpse Oil made it want to gag.

If a few enemies covered in bugs were to show up, it would have charged in without even waiting for Lu Bai’s command.