Chapter 53
Li Duo walked over to the bed and took a closer look at the old lady\'s body, “Xiao Ma, you must have gotten really fat . Look at what you did to the old lady . You’ve flattened her! She is just as flat as a piece of skin!”
Xiao Ma turned around and was startled to find that Li Duo was right . The old lady was indeed flat like a piece of skin, “Holy sh*t, this is unbelievable! I\'m not even a hundred kilograms!”
“Don’t worry, nothing is wrong with you,” Ye Shaoyang said, “This is just a shell . Her real body is on the floor . ”
Everyone turned to where he pointed—toward the old lady’s corpse . Her body was almost damaged beyond recognition . It was not a pleasant sight, so everyone frowned when they looked at it . Li Duo asked, “This is something I don\'t understand . Brother Shaoyang, how could one person die with two corpses and both are real?”
Ye Shaoyang smiled and explained, “This lady is not an undead, nor is she a spirit . She is what we call the living dead . To become a living dead, she would have to cultivate to a point where she starts to shed her own skin like an insect . Every once in a while, she needs to shed her old skin . Then, she would need to obtain a new one to cultivate to the next level . What you see on the bed is only the shell, so it has no organs inside . That\'s why it was flattened once Xiao Ma fell on it . ”
Ye Shaoyang glanced at the corpse on the floor again and continued, “We are actually a lucky bunch . We bumped into it right after it shedding its old skin, which is her weakest time . As such, she was only half as strong as she could have been . If we met her during normal times, it wouldn\'t be this easy . ”
Everyone was baffled . It was almost unbelievable that such a thing would happen right in front of them .
“I’ve never imagined that something like this could happen! Now I guess I’ve seen everything,” Xie Yuqing shook her head, “But what about the centipede in her stomach? Did it crawl into her belly by itself?”
“Of course not,” Ye Shaoyang replied, “Someone placed the centipede inside her belly . The centipede fed on the lady\'s flesh and blood . They both guard this place and could easily kill any ordinary person that stumbled here . ”
Xie Yuqing frowned, “Guard this place? What for? There\'s nothing here . ”
“The answer is inside the house,” Ye Shaoyang pushed the door that connected to the back of the house . He shone the torchlight into the room—It was empty . There was nothing inside other than a well . Ye Shaoyang moved over to the side of the well . He could instantly feel a chilly wind that blew past his face . He directed the torchlight into the well . It was about three meters in depth, and there was a cement floor at the bottom . There seemed to be a secret tunnel down the well .
“What is down there?” Xiao Ma asked in a nervous voice .
“The person behind all of this . I\'m guessing he is hiding down there . This is going to be dangerous, so I can\'t promise you that we can come back alive . I\'m going to need your help, but if any of you want to stay back, I understand . ” Ye Shaoyang said . Then, he turned to Xie Yuqing for her answer .
“I’ll go . I\'m in charge of this case anyway . This is my job, so I will take the risk,” Xie Yuqing replied with a firm tone . Ye Shaoyang turned to look at Old Guo next . Old Guo rubbed his hands and said, “Little junior brother, this is a risky business . High risk usually comes with high rewards . ”
“I’ll pay you 30 thousand once this job is done . ”
“Well, that\'s more like it . I\'m in . ”
Before Ye Shaoyang could finish asking, Xiao Ma interrupted, “I\'m in too . I want 30 thousand too . ”
“Move aside . No money for you,” Ye Shaoyang rolled his eyes .
Ye Shaoyang turned to Li Duo, “This has nothing to do with you . You don\'t need to risk your life for this . Stay here . If anything shows up, stab it with this,” Ye Shaoyang handed him a peach wood sword and some talisman papers . Li Duo accepted the items and felt safer, “Ok . If anything short of a human shows up, I’ll make sure I kill it . ”
Ye Shaoyang knew that this fellow would get easily scared, so he replied, “No need to fight it with your life . If it\'s too strong for you, run . But remember to shout so that we know that something is happening . They are aiming for me . They wouldn\'t wanna waste time chasing you . ”
The three of them jumped into the well . The tunnel was rather complex, similar to air-raid shelter, and it could only fit two people at a time . They heard footsteps behind them just as they started walking . Ye Shaoyang immediately turned around and saw Xiao Ma following them .
“I don’t have 30 thousand for you, go away,” Ye Shaoyang said snappishly .
“Nah, just pay me as you wish . I won’t ask for 30 thousand anymore,” Xiao Ma awkwardly laughed .
They carefully walked through the tunnel . They took a few turns . Soon, they noticed a light at the end of the tunnel . They hurried toward the source of the light and arrived at an exit to a hidden valley .
Ye Shaoyang looked into the distance . A slope in between the valley blocked his view, so he could only see a field of wild grasses . Tiny streams of water flowed across the field and met beneath the slope . Ye Shaoyang climbed onto the slope and looked down . He took a deep breath when he saw hundreds of corpses lying on the grass beneath the slope . Green hair covered all the corpses, which formed a big circlewith their heads pointing toward the center . Nine tiny streams joined and formed a pool in the proximity of a mound . Above the pool, he could see black mist lingering in the air, almost like a dark cloud shadowing the heavens .
Xie Yuqing almost screamed, “Oh my God! Are all those dead people?”
“Green-haired undead, also known as awakened undead . They’re just a little less powerful than undead lords,” Ye Shaoyang glanced at these creatures with a tired expression . He let out a sigh, “This is the first time I’ve encountered so many awakened undead in one place . This is going to be a big fight . ”
Xie Yuqing, “Are they all asleep? Why aren’t they moving at all?”
“They are not going to wake up for now . Someone has placed them into a state of sleep . They won’t do anything even if you stand right under their noses . But things are going to be different sooner than you know,” Ye Shaoyang finished his words and walked down to the undead . He stood right in the middle of them and observed . They were all facing upward, and their faces looked rather hideous . Two sharp fangs were visible even when their lips were closed . They were all wearing Japanese military uniforms with different ranks . Apparently, they were all Japanese soldiers .
Everyone followed closely behind Ye Shaoyang, as they nervously walked past the undead . They arrived before the still pool of water, and Ye Shaoyang kneeled down to observe .
It was a 10 square meters round pool . The nine streams carried crystal clear water, but strangely, the water in the pool was a muddy mixture of black and green . Moreover, it carried an unbearable stench . “Little Ye, please tell me there’s no drowned undead down in this pool, can you?” Xiao Ma said anxiously . Even the slightest thought of drowned undead was enough to give him goosebumps .
“It’s a lot easier if it’s just a drowned undead,” Ye Shaoyang stood up and took a look around . He knew what was going on at first glance, but he still turned to Old Guo, “Senior brother, you learned about fengshui too . Can you recognize this formation?”
Old Guo had been observing the surroundings from the start . When he heard Ye Shaoyang’s words, he took out his Yin Yang Compass to confirm, “This is the Chain of Nine Yin Formation!”
Ye Shaoyang nodded and said, “Nine streams meeting to become a still pool . This forms the Chain of Nine Yin Formation . This formation is a great place to cultivate undead . The undead arein a state of sleep . The corpse Qi they release will be transferred through the stream and into the pool . Then, it would enter the host—the one in the coffin right there . ”
Ye Shaoyang walked over to the coffin . He could immediately feel a chill in the air . He neared the coffin and started to carefully observe . He gasped after he noticed something,“This is made of ebony hardwood!”