What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

However, I had already located its position using my keen hearing!

Right three inches from my forehead, the target is—my ear!

With a slight movement of my sleeve, the scalpel was already in my hand.

Swish!

With a flash of light, the annoying buzzing sound vanished instantly, replaced by the corpses of two Gu worms, now split in two.

The moment the insect corpse hit the ground, a charming voice followed.

"Hehehe... Young Master Chen, what impressive skills!"

I looked up in the direction of the sound.

On the tombstone in front of my second uncle, a figure was standing there.

She was a woman dressed in elaborate Miao silver ornaments, her face covered with a purple veil, revealing only a pair of captivating peach blossom eyes.

"A Miao girl..." I thought to myself.

The woman looked around and then chuckled as she spoke: "Old Master Chen Xuan truly lives up to his reputation as a titan in the industry. Even in death, he can make such a grand spectacle~ Hehehe~ Using his corpse as the focal point of the formation, he's really played a very clever game!"

The situation is now irreversible; it seems that what they want won't be getting today.

As she spoke, her eyes fell on her second uncle, who was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over, and her tone turned cold.

"As for you, Chen Qingguo, considering your merit in retrieving the sword, you will be spared the death penalty. Go back and find your mother-in-law to receive your punishment!"

After she finished speaking, her second uncle trembled even more, and stammered, "Yes!"

After scolding her second uncle, she turned her gaze to me: "Little brother, I have urgent business to attend to today, so I'll take this old good-for-nothing with me. As for you... keep your rattle drum safe, I'll send someone to retrieve it myself later."

After she finished speaking, she gently raised her jade-like hand, and a blood-red butterfly with skull patterns on its giant wings landed on her fingertips.

A light flick of the fingertips.

The blood-red butterfly suddenly flapped its wings, and a large cloud of red powder enveloped me like smog.

They didn't give me a single chance to speak.

"Oh no, it's hemolytic phosphorus powder!"

My expression changed. My grandfather's notes recorded that this phosphorus powder would cause the skin to rot upon contact, and even bones could turn into water.

I dared not take the hit head-on, so I quickly held my breath, retreated rapidly, and created distance.

When the red poisonous mist dissipated, the tombstone was already empty.

My second uncle and that mysterious Miao girl, along with the countless butterflies, vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.

I stood before my grandfather's tombstone, put away my scalpel, and pondered.

Although my second uncle has passed away, the appearance of the Miao girl indirectly confirmed some of my suspicions.

First of all, leaving the coffin unsealed during burial was probably a backup plan left by the grandfather, intended to create the ominous situation mentioned by the Miao woman.

Secondly, there must be something coveted by some of the second uncles, or rather, by the people behind the second uncles, hidden somewhere in the Chen family's ancestral graves, but they are blocked by this inauspicious formation.

Based on the information provided in Grandpa's letter, it can be inferred that these people came for the "Chen Family's Heavenly Garment Strategy".

However, they were wrong.

The "Chen Family's Heavenly Garment Strategy" was burned in front of me when I was a child, after my grandfather had confirmed that I had memorized the last word.

Grandpa said this thing has caused too much bloodshed and should no longer exist in the world.

He didn't even teach this to my father, nor did he pass on even some basic techniques for sewing corpses to my second uncle.

They probably wanted to extinguish the Chen family's lineage.

But for some reason, he secretly passed this inheritance on to me without telling anyone.

After passing it on to me, my grandfather instructed me that unless it was a matter of life and death, I must never use any of the mundane arts recorded on it.

Then, before he died, he left me a letter, once again instructing me not to reveal that I possessed the "Chen Family Heavenly Garment Strategy".

So even when I was facing that Miao girl just now, I didn't go all out.

However, this is also the point that puzzles me the most.

Since the Chen family ancestral tomb does not contain the "Chen Family Heavenly Garment Strategy", then what exactly is being suppressed under Grandpa's curse?

However, one thing is certain: the copper coin sword mentioned in Grandpa's letter has been taken away by Second Uncle, and the copper coin sword and the rattle drum in my hand should be the key to breaking this curse.

After clearing my mind, I let out a long breath and slowly walked to the old ghost who had already fallen silent.

Upon closer inspection, it was no longer human; only a shriveled human skin lay on the ground.

In the distance, lay the only intact zombie. Without the spellcaster's control, this zombie was unconscious.

Looking at the chaotic battlefield, I shook my head helplessly.

We still need to clean it up, otherwise it could easily cause public panic.

I picked up the shovel my second uncle had left behind, dug a hole on the spot, and buried the old ghost's skin and all the traces.

Then, he took the specially made steel needle from the head of the walking corpse and used it to completely remove the corpse energy from the other two walking corpses.

Finally, they dug a large pit and buried the three zombies along with the corpses of the corpse beetles scattered on the ground.

By the time all this was done, the moon was high in the sky.

Back in the old house, I glanced at the time—2:30 a.m.

After taking a quick shower, I practically collapsed into bed.

Fighting isn't tiring, but digging holes is!

When I woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky.

I stretched, got dressed, and got up to wash.

Then, he went into the kitchen, started a fire, and rinsed the rice.

Before long, a pot of steaming white porridge, several dishes of homemade pickled radishes, and a plate of golden-brown fried eggs were placed on the table.

I sat on a small stool by the courtyard, drinking porridge and staring blankly at the moss on the roof tiles.

My second uncle ran away, and I just called my cousin Chen Gang.

As expected, we couldn't get in touch with them.

The large family fell apart instantly after Grandpa's death.

"A lonely man..."

Holding the bowl of porridge, I muttered to myself.

But I've gotten used to it.

My parents are just a label to me. I've never seen them since I was very young. I only get to answer their phone calls once a year during the Chinese New Year and we can exchange a few words.

My second uncle settled down in the county town when I was very young, and his family rarely stayed in the village.

I grew up under the guidance of my grandfather, who was my only family since I was a child.

But ever since my grandfather made me leave Huilongzhai when I was fifteen, his image has become blurred.

Until now, it has completely left me.

Now my second uncle has been taken away by a Miao woman, and my parents have completely lost contact with me.

I am not an expert in feng shui, and I have no idea how to deal with this "inauspicious formation" left by my grandfather.

Moreover, as long as he still has this rattle drum, the Miao girl will eventually appear.

That will be my time to retaliate.

You can't take anything from the Chen family.

My grandfather's cause of death remains a mystery, and I must find out the truth.

I squinted, my fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the table.

The matter at Huilongzhai should be temporarily put to rest.

The only clear clue among the few words left by Grandpa is "Ghost Hand Zhang," who lives far away in western Hunan.

It seems a trip to western Hunan is inevitable.

Before that, I need to go to my second uncle's house in the county town to see if there are any clues I can find, and to confirm the exact whereabouts of my cousin Chen Gang.

As I was pondering this, a sudden, urgent knocking sound came from outside the courtyard gate, interrupting my thoughts.

"Brother Chen Yang! Are you home? Something's happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Judging from the voice, it's Erhu, the village chief's youngest son.

I snapped out of my thoughts, put down the bowl of porridge in my hand, and got up to open the door.

"They're here, don't rush. What serious thing could happen so early in the morning?"