Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 458

"Pack your things, let's leave."

Having seen the divine deer, their own auspicious arrangements became superfluous.

Those wolves not only possessed extremely high intelligence and keen senses, but each one was also blessed with good fortune and merit. Surrounded by wolves, how could anyone possibly hide?

If Lujiazhuang hadn't existed, there would have been a small chance of escaping, but since it did, the outcome was already decided.

Everyone immediately began to pack up what they had just set up. When traveling, the supplies and materials one carries are rationed, and it is difficult to replenish them effectively before one's home is destroyed and one's family is wiped out.

The focus in Lujiazhuang was entirely on capturing the escaped Shenlu, and they didn't notice that a group of people had sneaked in and quietly left.

When leaving the barrier of Lujiazhuang, Li Zhuiyuan deliberately lingered a little longer, leaving behind more "back doors".

Anyone with a certain level of skill in array formations can detect it.

Wolves travel thousands of miles to eat meat; you can't really give them the opportunity to organize and engage in so-called negotiations.

What if there's a ruthless person in Lu Family Village who would dare to hand over the divine deer in the face of such a annihilation of their lineage?
Ideally, after confirming the existence of the divine deer, some of the impatient wolves should go in first and start fighting for it, forcing the rest of the wolves to follow closely behind, thus turning Deer Village into a battleground for the divine deer.

In this way, we can ensure that Lujiazhuang is completely wiped out.

Lin Shuyou: "Brother Xiaoyuan said there was a divine deer, and so there was a divine deer."

Tan Wenbin: "That's because framing requires logic. You need to make the people you want to mislead believe your story."

The style of Lujiazhuang, passed down through generations, exudes an eerie quality.

Not obsessed with competing for supremacy on the river, nor eager to inherit and promote traditions, expansion and development are the spontaneous instincts of a power. When you find that it is openly emasculating itself, the most reasonable explanation is that it has much bigger ambitions in the shadows.

Lin Shuyou: "But their family really has a divine deer."

Tan Wenbin: "Do you think it's a pity?"

Lin Shuyou: "That's right. If the leather and flesh of the divine deer really have the power to turn decay into magic, then couldn't we have... secretly done this ourselves?"

In fact, Tan Wenbin had the same thoughts as Ayou.

It would be a lie to say that one was not moved after seeing the divine deer from afar. Putting aside the mythical evidence of the deer family's rise to power, anyone who wasn't a fool could sense the preciousness of that divine deer at that time.

But Brother Xiao Yuan made a decisive choice, leading everyone to retreat without leaving a back door for the wolves, clearly indicating that he did not intend to steal deer food here.

Tan Wenbin said, half in response to Ayou and half in self-consolation:

"When implementing a plan, details can be adapted to local conditions, but the overall direction should not be easily changed before encountering sufficiently significant conflicts."

We've already lured the wolves here. If we then go out and fight them for the meat, it's like shooting ourselves in the foot, making things harder for ourselves.

Even if they manage to snatch the meat and personally engage in a bloody battle, how can they then establish an alliance and guide the wolf pack towards the ultimate target of this wave, the Valley of Living People?

While the divine deer is undoubtedly valuable, considering the increased difficulties and costs it would bring, it can be abandoned.

Holding Ah Li's hand, Li Zhuiyuan, who was walking behind Runsheng, nodded.

Tan Wenbin's interpretation is indeed the decision that Li Zhuiyuan weighed in his mind.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin, the details of the plan still need to be revised a little."

Tan Wenbin pursed his lips and continued, "Without rushing to reveal our identities, we need to show ourselves to the wolf pack in advance."

We can refrain from competing and act with noble character, but we must demonstrate a certain presence, ideally controlling the intensity of the wolf pack's struggle for prey because of our presence.

This way, after the destruction of Lujiazhuang, we can pave the way for our rise to fame and recognition.

Secondly, this will allow us to preserve as many living forces as possible for our subsequent advance into the Valley of the Living.

Li Zhuiyuan: "There are three more."

Tan Wenbin said excitedly, "Thirdly, the difficulty of digging canals to divert floodwaters eastward on the river will be greatly reduced. The people on the river will know that if they follow our lead, they will benefit!"

Lin Shuyou suddenly realized: "I suddenly feel that not getting rid of this deer would be more profitable, it's a good deal."

Li Zhuiyuan frankly admitted, "Actually, it was partly to make amends. If we had been able to confirm before making the plan that there really was a divine deer in Lujiazhuang, I probably would have led you guys to try and steal it."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Even Runsheng, who was walking at the very front, had a smile on his face.

In the past, Xiao Yuan rarely spoke in such a humorous and self-deprecating way.

Ahead is the spot where everyone ate various eggs with brown sugar earlier.

Tan Wenbin: "Let's take a break up ahead, Xiao Yuan."

Li Zhuiyuan immediately released the red thread, connecting it to everyone.

Li Zhuiyuan thought to himself, "Maintain speed and keep moving forward."

Tan Wenbin thought to himself, "Someone was planning to rest at the place where we were resting earlier, but they discovered the traces of our burial and treatment. Although we did a perfect restoration, the soil in that area smelled different; it was too fresh."

Lin Shuyou thought to himself, "So they're still around here right now?"

Tan Wenbin thought to himself, "If they find any trace of where we lingered, they can simply leave if they don't want to run into us. The fact that they've restored it so meticulously suggests they're probably planning to wait for us to come to them."

"Brother Xiao Yuan, besides the area where we rested earlier, the soil here, here, and there on the outskirts... all smells different."

In ordinary communication, phrases like "here" and "there" can be meaningless, but the red line improves the efficiency of message transmission.

Li Zhuiyuan thought to himself, "This is an array that has been set up, with stakes buried underground."

Lin Shuyou thought to himself, "Could it be that a lone wolf has arrived early?"

Tan Wenbin thought to himself, "The three people who were assigned to lead the way controlled the timing. Even if a lone wolf was impatient and left the group early, he should be heading towards Lujiazhuang. There's no reason for them to set up an ambush on the outskirts and start a fight blindly."

The distance is getting closer.

Tan Wenbin did not find anything else unusual.

Lin Shuyou suddenly thought to himself, "Something's fishy."

At this point, regardless of whether the person waiting in front is a human or a ghost, you have to go and try your luck.

To gain control of this situation, we must find and disrupt the other hands that are trying to hide and manipulate things.

Runsheng took out the Yellow River shovel, completed the assembly, and then went into battle first.

The formation was not activated immediately.

Metal playing cards flew out, surrounding the boy and girl in the center.

Two generals, one for gain and one for loss:

"Evil spirits, only kill, never save!"

Immediately, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou moved laterally to the locations of the two underground array pillars.

"Om."

The formation is activated.

The other side must have realized that the formation had been discovered, so they had no choice but to take action.

The immense pressure acted on Runsheng, whose scars beneath his clothes writhed, but with his current physique, he was able to dissipate the pressure.

What followed was the groaning of countless ghosts, aimed at Runsheng's mind and spirit.

Even Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou, who were outside the formation, could clearly perceive the commotion.

Runsheng thought to himself:

"The pressure isn't too great; I can handle it."

As for the sinister laughter of the dead, Runsheng didn't mention it because he didn't sense it.

Tan Wenbin swung his rusty sword, and Lin Shuyou drew his golden mace. They each gathered their strength, preparing to smash the array pillars buried below.

Just then, a vortex appeared around each of them; Tan Wenbin's vortex was black, while Lin Shuyou's was white.

From within the two vortexes, two figures, one in black and one in white, emerged. The one in black swung out a soul-hooking rope, while the one in white brandished a mourning staff.

These two figures resemble the Black and White Impermanence from folk legends.

Their presence here means they come from the Valley of the Living Dead, a small hell.

The moment the Black and White Impermanence made their move, the ground in the array area where Runsheng was located bulged up, and a large, earthworm-like creature burst out of the soil. After opening its mouth, it revealed a ring of sharp teeth and lunged to devour Runsheng.

At the same moment, the light and shadow above rippled, revealing a short, young man dressed in extremely luxurious clothes, who looked like a pieced-together puppet, standing in mid-air.

He stiffly raised his hand, then stiffly lowered it again, and vengeful spirits shot out from his fingertips, pointing directly at Li Zhuiyuan below.

So far, given that the trap has been seen through, the opponent's timely response can be described as perfect.

While each side had its own checks and balances, the young man with the highest status personally targeted Li Zhuiyuan, who held a key position in the opposing team.

However, in the face of absolute strength, the application of tactics and techniques often seems pale and ineffective.

Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou's attack, which was originally aimed at the formation stakes at their feet, was smoothly reversed, and they attacked the attackers to their sides.

This indicates that they had received instructions to feint before actually smashing the formation's pillars.

Therefore, what was originally intended as a sneak attack has instead become a preparation for action on this side.

Tan Wenbin's rusty sword pierced the Black Impermanence's soul-snatching rope, and ghostly energy burst forth from the rope, attempting to suppress and engulf Tan Wenbin.

The Five Senses Diagram activated, and the four spirit beasts let out low roars. A surge of resentment rose, Tan Wenbin's snake eyes turned red, and a powerful resentment burst forth from the rusty sword, instantly shattering the ghostly energy on the Soul-Hooking Rope. Then, it became unstoppable, enveloping the Black Impermanence.

Under Lin Shuyou's forehead ribbon, the Ghost General's mark shone brightly. He clashed his golden mace against Bai Wuchang's mourning staff. The moment they made contact, Lin Shuyou's golden mace exerted pressure on Bai Wuchang. Even though Bai Wuchang held the mourning staff with both hands, he was still at a disadvantage. At this moment, Lin Shuyou's other golden mace struck Bai Wuchang's body.

"what!"

The screams came from Black Impermanence, who was enveloped in terrifying resentment that was frantically devouring and transforming the ghostly energy on his body.

After being fed by Li Zhuiyuan, the four spirit beasts seemed to have broken their vows and fasts. Before, when they were weak, they would hide in the city to avoid the people of the Xuanmen sect. Now, all they wanted to do was eat meat.

After achieving absolute suppression, Tan Wenbin was directly "intimidated by all five senses"!
Black Impermanence could no longer even scream; his consciousness was in a state of chaos, and he had lost all chance to resist.

Faced with Lin Shuyou's horizontal mace strike, Bai Wuchang's soul body became ethereal, attempting to dodge in this way. However, Lin Shuyou was a ghost general, and was further empowered by the Yin deity Bai He Tongzi, whose specialty was dealing with soul bodies.

The force contained within the golden mace scorched Bai Wuchang, causing his ethereal body to solidify again, and fierce ghostly flames erupted from his body.

Lin Shuyou flicked his wrist, and with a flick of his golden mace, he knocked away Bai Wuchang's mourning staff. Then, he slammed it down on Bai Wuchang's shoulder, forcing him to kneel down.

Another golden mace was aimed at Bai Wuchang's head, followed seamlessly by a heavy blow.

Headshots are a muscle memory for Ayou.

In real life, Ayou is the most shy and reserved, but when it comes to fighting, his fighting style is often the most brutal.

"boom!"

The head of the White Impermanence was smashed.

Inside the formation, after the giant earthworm swallowed Runsheng whole, it suddenly let out a mournful cry as its abdomen tore open from the middle, splattering green blood everywhere.

Runsheng first used a Yellow River shovel to gut the earthworm, then pierced the shovel into the ground, grabbed a section of the earthworm's body with each hand, first held it horizontally, then crossed his arms to use the wind to solidify the earthworm's body and intensify the impact.

"boom!"

Dust flew everywhere, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

On Li Zhuiyuan's side, the two generals Zeng and Sun immediately showed excitement when they saw the young man above them release a fierce ghost.

General Sun, in particular, was so excited that the black marks on his face began to turn red.

Just as the two generals were about to put on a proper performance, the girl beside Li Zhuiyuan raised her head and looked up at the noble young man above.

It wasn't that Ah Li didn't trust the abilities of the two generals, Zeng and Sun; rather, when she was by Li Zhuiyuan's side, she would instinctively not allow Li Zhuiyuan to encounter any risks.

Under the girl's indifferent gaze, the young man above seemed to be bound by some kind of constraint, and his body trembled.

The chain on Ah Li's backpack automatically pulled down, and a red hand reached out from inside, grabbing at the young man.

During this process, all the fierce ghosts released by the young man were annihilated when touched by the red arm.

Her arm forcefully gripped the young man's neck.

Ah Li lowered her head and looked down.

With a downward swing of his arm, he slammed the young man from mid-air into the ground.

Having failed to get another chance to attack, the two generals, one aggressor and the other abductor, exchanged a glance and could only take turns standing in their positions, shouting:
"Majestic!"

The young man's face bore a clear distinction between human and puppet; its mouth opened and closed, emitting sounds from within:
"Whatever benefits the Valley Master promised you, I can give you double!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Stop."

Tan Wenbin suppressed his resentment, pressed his rusty sword against the neck of the Black Impermanence, and the Black Impermanence lying on the ground charred and shrank considerably.

Lin Shuyou pressed one golden mace against the headless neck of Bai Wuchang, and used the other golden mace to scratch his back.

The earthworm's head and body were still wriggling. Runsheng reached out and tore off a piece of flesh from its body, put it in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then spat it out, looking uncomfortable.

It tastes terrible, with a strong earthy smell.

The red hand was still gripping the young man's neck, without pulling back.

The blood-red porcelain bottle was unwilling to give up and longed to pull the young man into it.

Li Zhuiyuan ignited karmic fire in his right hand and gently patted the red arm that extended to his side.

"hiss!"

The bloody hand immediately released its grip, as if it had been scalded, and quickly contracted back into the porcelain bottle.

This blood-stained porcelain bottle is unlike an evil book, which contains something akin to a spirit. It only possesses the ingrained instinct formed from generations of devouring living beings.

It's already quite an achievement that Ah Li can use it; it's almost impossible to train it to be completely at its command right now, because it has no brain.

It took Zhao Yi a great deal of effort to bring it back from the yellow sands of the Northwest.

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to the young man, who sat up and his mouth opened and closed again.
"Now, name your price."

Li Zhuiyuan: "So you're the traitor in that little hell?"

Young man: "So, you plan to bring me before the Valley Master, expose my true identity, and claim the reward?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'll ask, you answer."

The young man nodded.

Li Zhuiyuan: "What was your identity in Little Hell?"

Young man:

"I am the young lord of hell."

……

The campfire crackled and popped.

Lin Shuyou caught a lot of fish, gutted and cleaned them, skewered them on a tree branch, and grilled them.

Across the campfire sat Li Zhuiyuan and that young man.

The young man's surname was Sun, and his name was Sun Xi.

This is the surname of the Valley Master, and also the given name bestowed upon him by the Valley Master.

He couldn't remember his name anymore; he had lost all memories of the mortal world.

All he knew was that he had been dead for sixty years.

At the beginning of this year, I passed my 60th birthday, a day considered a "death anniversary".

People in the living celebrate their birthdays, while ghosts in the underworld celebrate their death anniversaries.

The former commemorates how many years one has lived as a human, while the latter commemorates how many years one has lived as a ghost.

However, in the underworld, only ghost officials of a certain status and position are qualified to hold such celebrations. After Sun Xi died, his soul drifted into the Lesser Hell of the Valley of the Living, where, among a crowd of dazed and confused souls, he was chosen by the Valley Master and directly appointed as the Lesser Lord of the Lesser Hell.

The reason is that his destiny is very good. Making him the young ruler will make the Lesser Hell more prosperous. The Valley Master said that this is good news bestowed by Heaven.

And so, Sun Xi served as the young lord of Little Hell for sixty years, handling various affairs on a daily basis.

Not long after he passed away on his sixtieth birthday, he left the Valley of the Living and found an old photograph.

That old photo is truly from a bygone era; it's a family portrait.

There was a middle-aged couple and an elderly couple. Standing in the middle was a boy who looked exactly like himself and was loved by everyone.

Following the clues in the photo, Sun Xi searched step by step.

He found the home he lived in when he was alive.

There's a place here where many people went to Southeast Asia to make a living in the past. Many died in foreign lands, while others earned money and returned to their hometown to build houses and settle down.

The Western-style two-story building had been abandoned and overgrown with weeds before the liberation, and the locals avoided it like the plague.

The village elders said that a landlord family who returned to their hometown once lived here. They bought a lot of land, built beautiful buildings, and lived a life that everyone in the area envied.

Then one night, a huge commotion came from there, as if a lot of people had flocked there, and the noise was incessant.

At that time, the world was in chaos, and bandits and soldiers were common. However, the local people were brave and fierce, and when faced with such situations, the young and strong would organize themselves to fight back. In addition, that family often helped the local people and sponsored the school, so everyone was even more enthusiastic when they went to protect and stand up for them.

But when they got there, all they could hear were the sounds of horses' hooves, shouts, and laughter, but they couldn't see a single person.

At that time, a funeral director in the village said that the ghost army had arrived.

A few daring individuals, unafraid of such claims, kicked open the main gate of the Western-style house and saw the family inside kneeling neatly on the ground, their heads seemingly being pressed down. Then, with a "crack," as if being executed, their heads collectively rolled off.

The next day, the city security team came to investigate and concluded that it was the work of bandits. When they counted the bodies, they found that the youngest "young master" of the family was missing. The villagers mobilized to search for him, but he was nowhere to be found, and the matter was dropped.

Later, within six months, the young men who kicked down the door all either drowned or hanged themselves.

The ghost story of this Western-style building has been passed down to this day.

“He killed my family and then took me in as his son. For the past sixty years, I have been recognizing a thief as my father.”

It's a story that evokes a lot of sympathy.

But Li Zhuiyuan's focus was on the very first old photograph.

Someone deliberately showed Sun Xi that old photo, guiding him to uncover the truth of what happened back then.

Based on the principle that whoever could profit the most is the most suspicious, Li Zhuiyuan quickly identified a suspect.

Yes, that's right, it's my mentor.

After learning the truth, Sun Xi began plotting to destroy Little Hell, posing as the young lord of Little Hell.

He was the one who colluded with the previous wave of lamplighters from the inside.

As a result, he did his best to create the perfect conditions for attack, but because the previous wave of lighters was a complete rabble, all his hard work and preparations were wasted.

He had almost given up hope when news came that the counterattack force of the Living Valley had been wiped out in the town, which rekindled his hope. However, he was soon shocked to find that this group of "foreign aid" who were obviously stronger than last time did not head towards Ailao Mountain, but instead collectively turned to another direction.

Li Zhuiyuan: "So, you think I'm the Valley Master's man, responsible for misleading your group of 'outside helpers'?"

Sun Xi: "Yes, that's right."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm very curious, how did you become so certain about the status of the first and second batches of 'foreign aid'?"

Sun Xi: "Intuition."

Li Zhuiyuan: "This is the last time I'll allow you to be dishonest with me. You don't have that level of understanding."

Sun Xi remained silent.

Li Zhuiyuan: "He told you not to reveal his identity?"

Sun Xi nodded with difficulty: "I swore an oath to him, but actually, I don't know who he is or why he helped me."

Li Zhuiyuan knew.

When Mr. Zhai was middle-aged, he handled projects near the Ailao Mountains and left behind various documents.

How could the Emperor possibly ignore His competitors in Hell?

It's highly likely that the primary threat was the Bodhisattva who had previously made a great vow, which prevented them from taking action against these minor hells under the watchful eyes of Heaven.

Now that the Bodhisattva has entered hell, the lesser hells have become the targets that need to be cleaned up to ensure a monopoly.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed in the direction of Lujiazhuang and asked:
Do you know what kind of place that is?

"I don't know the specifics, I only know that there is a family there that keeps to themselves and doesn't interfere with our Living Valley."

"That's my enemy's family."

"so……"

"I plan to seek revenge on my enemy first, and then go to the Valley of the Living."

"I see. When you're preparing to take action against the Valley of the Living, please let me know in advance, and I will do everything in my power..."

"You're too weak," Li Zhuiyuan bluntly commented, "including you and the ghosts around you."

"Last time, in order to coordinate an inside-outside attack, I instigated two Yama Kings and many Ghost Generals to start an uprising, and even broke the internal restrictions of the Valley of the Living, but because the people outside were really..."

As a result, only I and a few close confidants managed to hide; the rest were all killed.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Where are the seals of those two Yama Kings?"

"It will be sealed away until a new Yama is chosen to succeed him, at which point he will be granted an official title and seal again."

"Your next task is to steal those two seals for me beforehand and give them to me when you have the chance. I'll take care of the rest."

"Yes, I can do it. Don't worry, I will personally hand over those two seals to you before you officially take action against the Valley of Living People, to show my sincerity!"

"Ah."

"Besides, I'm actually not that weak if I had my physical body." Sun Xi pointed to his current puppet-like body. "If I could regain my physical body, I would have strength that is at least no less than that of Yama."

"Do you know where your physical body is?"

"In the Valley Master's main hall."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "You can leave now."

Sun Xi didn't rush to leave, but instead turned her gaze to Lin Shuyou, who was grilling fish: "He is..."

Li Zhuiyuan remained silent.

Sun Xi stood up and waved, disappearing into the forest ahead with the headless White Impermanence, the thinner Black Impermanence, and the earthworm that was reduced to a small piece.

Tan Wenbin, who had been listening in, sat down and began to speak:

"Brother Yuan, I think this young lord of Hell is a bit abnormal."

"where?"

"He's too normal."

"really."

"His appearance today seems as if he was specially arranged to meet with us."

"Isn't this just the normal way river water behaves?"

"Could it be that because I've dug so many irrigation ditches, I'm no longer used to seeing natural streams?"

"If you have doubts or suspicions about this card, then don't play it; treat it as if it doesn't exist."

"Brother Xiaoyuan, I understand. This mole wasn't part of our original plan."

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and looked towards the direction of the barrier of Lujiazhuang.

Do you still remember Grandma Chen Xiyuan's letter?

“I remember she implied that someone was going to kick down our dilapidated house.”

“My recent suspicions have all come true with a high success rate. So now I suspect that the person who couldn’t wait to try kicking down our door was hired by the Lu family.”

……

Lujiazhuang, ancestral hall.

A middle-aged man sat in a wheelchair, facing the ancestral tablets in front of him.

"Ah Jiu, Ah Jiu." An old man with white hair walked into the ancestral hall with a cane. "Ah Jiu, things have calmed down, things have calmed down."

The middle-aged man asked, "How could the deer have escaped?"

“Ah Jiu, it’s not that I, Grandpa Shi, have neglected my duty, but there are only so many people in the village. Recently, a large number of people have been sent out to receive gifts, so we have been lax in guarding the Divine Deer cage, and it has taken advantage of the loophole.”

Haha, it's also because the gifts this time were really too generous. Unlike before, we didn't have to pay a deposit first. Instead, they gave us all the gifts at once, which caught us a little off guard.

The last time I received such a generous gift was when you lit the lanterns and walked along the river, Ah Jiu.

"By the way, Ah Jiu, you ended up like this after the last job. So, is this job going to be quite unusual too?"

Lu Jiu: "These two times, it was actually the same job. But last time, there were still traces that could be covered up, and the other party was not suitable to investigate further due to various concerns."

If this job goes wrong, my Lu Family Village will be completely wiped off the face of the earth.

The old man said, "It's just a little bit of time left before the divine deer is fully grown. With the divine deer, my Deer Village will still exist, and it will only get better."

Ah Jiu, you can stand up again...

Lu Jiu stood up from his wheelchair.

The old man looked astonished: "A-Jiu, you, you, you..."

Lu Jiu walked up to the old man and said, "Grandpa Shi, actually, I wasn't paralyzed when I came back from lighting the lamp last time. It's just that I saw so many people who were beaten into paralysis and thought that they would be bedridden for the rest of their lives, so I wanted to experience what it felt like for them."

This experience turned out to be quite convenient.

The old man said, "Ah Jiu, you... Hehe, that's really good. Ah Jiu, you really are something. You actually lied to your Grandpa Shi for so many years, making me worry for so long for nothing."

Lu Jiu stretched out his hand, and the old man raised his cane.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The energy of both sides collided violently in the ancestral hall, producing a deafening explosion that caused all the ancestral tablets on the offering table to fall over.

In the end, the old man, whose life force had depleted, was no match for the family's former genius.

It should be noted that the family had a heated debate about whether to take on that job. With Lu Jiu's talent, he was qualified to challenge the Dragon King. But was it really worth it to use the family's hard-won genius to light lamps and exchange cards with others just for that generous gift?

Ultimately, the family decided not to gamble on the uncertain possibility of the Dragon King and chose to sacrifice Lu Jiu, securing the readily available resources first.

The old man, being lifted up and choked, stared at Lu Jiu in disbelief: "A-Jiu... what are you going to do..."

Lu Jiu: "Back then, you tried your best to persuade the other elders in the family to let me go and exchange the money, even at the cost of my parents' lives to coerce me."

"I...I did it for the sake of the family...the great cause of the Divine Deer..."

"You secretly opened the Divine Deer's cage, trying to avoid the Deer Division Assembly and obtain the Divine Deer's heart blood, hoping to rejuvenate as recorded in the family history. I was watching you do these things. Didn't you find it strange that the iron chains on the Divine Deer suddenly broke?"

"You...you actually..."

"boom!"

The old man's neck exploded into a bloody mist, and his body fell to the ground.

Lu Jiu waved her hand dismissively:
"Our family has conducted countless experiments over so many generations, all of which have failed."

Only this divine deer was successfully bred.

"Heh, the resources to nurture it were earned at the cost of my life. Therefore, no one but me has the right to touch it."

"Thump thump thump! Thump thump thump! Thump thump thump!"

The altar trembled.

Lu Jiu walked toward the offering table. As he approached, the offering table automatically moved to the sides, revealing a dark and secluded chamber inside.

The secret room has three tiers of steps, and many chairs are placed on the steps.

Lu Jiu stood below, looking up at the chairs high above.

A cold wind blew, the candles spontaneously combusted, the array below activated, and figures appeared on the chairs, filling them all.

Sometimes, many families come together to assign tasks to Lujiazhuang, and the chairs will be full of people; other times, even if only one family comes to assign a task, they will deliberately fill the chairs.

Those who are high and mighty cherish their reputation, and even though they do all sorts of dirty things in private, they value the cleanliness of their hands immensely.

The shadows on the seats above seemed to be asking a question:

"Did you receive the gift?"

"Did you receive our gift?"

"We should have arrived at your Lu Family Village by now."

Lu Jiu nodded: "Received it, as agreed, it's incredibly generous."

"You received it but didn't reply immediately."

"Do we have to ask you?"

"Have you already dispatched people from your Lu Family Village?"

"We're waiting to see the results."

Lu Jiu bent down and slapped the ground with his palm. The surrounding candlelight instantly changed color, and shackles with carved patterns appeared on the chair above.

These tangible shackles, at this moment, have completely bound these intangible shadows, preventing them from escaping.

"presumptuous!"

Do you know what you're doing?!

"Is the Lu Family Village trying to be destroyed?!"

You are courting your own destruction!

Lu Jiu: "Hahahaha!"

After laughing, Lu Jiu turned and walked out of the secret room.

The divine deer is only one day away from becoming fully adult.

The shadowy figures on the chairs above undoubtedly possess the ability to easily destroy the Lu Family Manor, but so what?
Their actions couldn't have been so swift; by the time their fury reached Lujiazhuang, they had already devoured the entire divine deer and left.

He loathed this manor so much that he wished it could be wiped out, and he was happy to ask them to help him with that.

The offering table was returned to its original position, concealing the secret room.

Lu Jiu sat back in his wheelchair, turned the chair, and as he passed the old man's corpse, he casually pointed his finger, and the old man's corpse burst into flames and was burned to ashes.

When he reached the entrance of the ancestral hall, he stopped, looked up at the moon in the sky, and the image of that man fighting alone came to mind.

"Once I've fully absorbed the divine deer, I'll come back to find you and have a proper battle!"

……

A bus was driving on the road and had just passed a boundary marker.

The young staff member gently nudged the sleeping elderly person next to him and whispered a reminder:

"Old Zhai, we've arrived in Yuxi."

(End of this chapter)