My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Miao Gui looked around, but couldn't see anything in the pitch-black forest.

He raised the copper bell and shook it vigorously:

"Ring ring ring ring—"

no respond.

He shouted again:

"Come back! All of you, come back here!"

Only the night wind whistles through the mountains and forests.

Miao Gui's heart sank to the bottom.

The missing body was a woman.

He was in his early twenties, died less than three days ago, dressed in white, and had a rather decent appearance.

The family had specifically instructed that this was their daughter and that she should be returned to her family for burial intact.

Now it's all right, completely intact?

Even the body is gone.

Miao Gui plopped down on the ground, on the verge of tears.

If it can't be found, the owner will definitely make him pay compensation.

A corpse would cost at least several dozen taels of silver in compensation.

He worked as a corpse transporter for three years, and the money he saved wasn't enough to cover this loss.

He got up and checked each of the six corpses one by one—the talismans were all properly affixed, so they wouldn't run away again.

Then he looked around and gritted his teeth.

We need to find it.

We have to find it.

He took out a tracking talisman, stuck it on his forehead, and closed his eyes to sense it.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and looked in the northwest direction.

A faint, lingering aura could be heard from over there.

He grabbed the copper bell and chased after it in that direction.

He ran while cursing:

"Serves you right for being lazy! Serves you right for being lazy! Now look what you've done!"

The night wind blew, and his voice grew fainter and fainter.

Behind them, the six corpses followed in a neat row, leaping a large step each time the bell rang.

......

The sky gradually darkened.

The three of them walked north along the official road, and had been walking for a whole day.

Ye Qingfeng chose this road; he had calculated that heading north would lead him back to Jingyang Prefecture.

He planned to return to Jingyang Prefecture.

Since his transmigration, he had never suffered such a great loss, being transported thousands of miles away without uttering a sound.

If we don't go back and have a serious talk with him, people will think he's easy to bully!

You should know that he is a believer in Confucianism.

There was one particular saying that he always regarded as a guiding principle.

If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening!

What does this mean?

It means that if you hear about the road to the enemy's house in the morning, you'll go there and kill him that night.

Shen Zhaoyue listened without saying anything, but simply nodded.

She was preoccupied with the unresolved case in the prefectural city and wanted to return as soon as possible.

The sun had set behind the mountains, leaving only a last sliver of dark red on the horizon.

On both sides of the official road were continuous barren mountains, overgrown with weeds, with a few crooked trees occasionally casting eerie shadows in the twilight.

As Lü Yang walked, his expression suddenly changed.

He squeezed his legs together, took a few more steps, and his face looked even worse.

Shen Zhaoyue glanced at him: "What's wrong?"

Lu Yang smiled awkwardly: "Um... Officer Shen, I... I need to use the restroom."

Shen Zhaoyue turned her head away expressionlessly.

Lü Yang then looked at Ye Qingfeng.

Ye Qingfeng nodded slightly, continuing on his way: "Go. Hurry up."

As if granted a pardon, Lü Yang clutched his stomach and scurried into the roadside bushes.

After running a dozen steps, he looked back again, but Shen Zhaoyue had already gone far away, leaving only a blurry silhouette.

He was relieved and continued to venture deeper into the area.

The bushes grew denser and the weeds grew taller.

Lu Yang chose a relatively secluded spot and squatted down.

The evening breeze rustled through the grass.

While relieving himself, Lü Yang muttered to himself, "This is the middle of nowhere, there's not even a proper outhouse... I should have known better than to eat so much for lunch..."

As darkness fell, the surrounding light became increasingly blurry.

The shadows of the bushes stretched long on the ground, like twisted hands.

Lu Yang kept his head down, concentrating on doing what he was supposed to do.

Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine.

It wasn't the kind of coolness you get from a breeze, but rather an indescribable, creepy chill.

It was as if something was standing behind him, staring at him.

Lü Yang froze.

He dared not turn around.

The chill grew stronger and stronger, spreading from my back to my neck, and from my neck to the top of my head.

He could feel his hair standing on end, his back tightening, and his palms sweating.

He held his breath and listened intently.

There was a sound behind me.

Very light, very slow—

"Thump."

"Thump."

"Thump."

One, one, another.

It felt like something was hopping closer.

Lu Yang's heart was in his throat.

He reached out with trembling hands and pulled out a piece of straw paper from his pocket. It was given to him by the bearded man's wife before he left, saying he would need it on the road.

His hands were shaking so badly that the toilet paper almost fell to the ground.

After finally wiping himself clean, he pulled up his pants, mustered up his courage, and slowly turned around.

In the twilight, a white shadow stood by the bushes three zhang away.

It's a woman.

She was wearing a white dress, which was tattered and covered with mud and grass clippings.

Her hair was loose, covering most of her face, leaving only half of her pale, bloodless cheek exposed.

She stood there motionless, her head bowed.

Lü Yang's pupils suddenly contracted.

He wanted to run, but his legs felt like lead, and he couldn't take a single step.

The white figure suddenly moved.

She jumped.

Another jump.

Jump again.

The "thump" sound was the sound of her landing. Her legs were stiff as two wooden sticks, her knees wouldn't bend at all, and she just hopped forward straight.

With each jump, she got one step closer to Lü Yang.

Three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

One zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

Lu Yang finally saw her face clearly.

It was a woman's face, which may have been beautiful before, but now it was as pale as paper, with bluish lips and half-open eyes that revealed the cloudy whites of her eyes.

Her lips parted slightly, revealing her gleaming white teeth.

What's most terrifying is her expression.

She was smiling.

The smile was stiff and distorted, the corners of the mouth stretched to an impossible angle, as if someone were pulling it upwards with a string.

A gust of wind blew by, bringing with it a putrid smell.

Lu Yang's legs can finally move.

He suddenly stood up, not even bothering to fasten his pants, and ran away!

"Help--!!!"

He ran and shouted, his voice distorted, becoming shrill and unlike his own.

Behind them, the "thump" sound grew closer and closer.

Lu Yang didn't dare look back, he just ran for his life.

The branches of the bushes whipped at his face, leaving bloody scratches, but he paid no heed to the pain; his pants slipped down, but he didn't bother to pull them up.

He tripped over something, staggered a few steps, almost fell, and then continued running, tumbling and crawling.

"Immortal Master—! Help—!"

Lu Yang scrambled out of the bushes, his pants still hanging on his knees, his face covered in blood, and his hair matted with grass and dirt.

He ran to Ye Qingfeng, his legs buckled, and he knelt down, hugging Ye Qingfeng's legs, trembling all over.

"Master! There's a ghost! There's a ghost!"

Ye Qingfeng looked down at him, his gaze calm and still, without even frowning.

Shen Zhaoyue glanced at Lü Yang subconsciously and said indifferently, "What the hell? Explain yourself."