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

"The formation has been broken."

I reached out and touched the broken dragon-suppressing stake, feeling a slightly chilly sensation on my fingertips.

The air above was thick with the stench of death, clearly indicating that it had been eroded beyond recognition.

"Amitabha Buddha..."

Master Xuanzhen walked to my side, picked up a fragment, examined it, and frowned.

"This formation wasn't broken from the outside; it was breached by something below. And..."

He pointed to the empty surroundings.

"The malevolent energy here has weakened."

It has indeed faded.

Compared to the corpse-filled area outside, the concentration of corpse energy here can only be described as refreshing.

But this is not a good thing.

"Because they were all sucked away."

I looked into the depths, where there was a passageway I had never set foot in before, clearly leading to a deeper place.

"This is just an overflow outlet. Now that the real entity has awakened, all the evil energy is flowing back to nourish the true monster."

"Walk."

Lu Yan hadn't forgotten the main reason we came here; the corpse domain above our heads was still expanding.

We crossed the dried-up pool of blood and entered the dark tunnel.

The passageway was wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side.

The walls are covered with neat blue bricks, and there is a lamp slave every few meters.

The lamp slaves were peculiarly dressed; they were not the usual palace maids or eunuchs, but rather prisoners kneeling on the ground, holding oil trays aloft with both hands.

However, there is no oil in the oil pan now, only a thick layer of dust.

Watch your step.

Although Qianji was injured, his professionalism remained.

He held a few ink lines in his hand, walking on the flank of the group, always on alert for any possible traps.

"Something's wrong with these floor tiles; they look like they've been moved."

He pointed to a section of road ahead and said.

I looked down.

Indeed, although the blue bricks on the ground were neatly arranged, the soil in the gaps was very new, and some bricks were noticeably darker in color than the surrounding ones.

"Someone scouted the way for us."

I crouched down and picked up half of a broken crossbow bolt from beside a turned-up blue brick.

The crossbow bolt was entirely black, with barbs on the arrowhead, clearly fired by some extremely malicious mechanism.

In the corner not far away, I also saw a pool of blood that had not yet dried, as well as a few pieces of torn clothing.

Judging from their posture, they are clearly the people guarding the tripod.

"Looks like these bastards aren't having an easy time either."

Tie Zhu grinned, which aggravated his wound, causing him to wince in pain. "Serves you right."

We continued along the passageway.

The further you go in, the stronger the feeling of oppression becomes.

The air is becoming increasingly dry, while the temperature is gradually rising.

This is not a normal temperature increase, but a kind of unbearable heat.

It's like being next to a giant furnace, but you can't feel any warmth, only irritability.

The aura of a drought demon.

Legend has it that a zombie transformed into a drought demon, leaving the land barren for miles around.

Although General Zuo has not yet reached that level, his aura has already shown some promise.

After walking about five or six hundred meters, the view suddenly opened up ahead.

We arrived at a magnificent hall.

This should be the front hall of the underground palace, which is the place used to place burial objects and sacrificial items.

But now, the place is a complete mess.

The ground was littered with broken pottery jars, porcelain, and long-rotted wooden frames.

The burial items, which should have been neatly arranged, were scattered everywhere, as if they had been looted by a group of robbers.

In the very center of the main hall stands a huge stone tablet.

The stone tablet is about three zhang tall and is carved from a single piece of obsidian. It is densely covered with text.

"The name of General Zuo, the General Who Guards the Nation of the Ming Dynasty, is..."

Master Xuanzhen stepped forward and used the flashlight to decipher the inscription on the stele.

"This is the spirit path stele. It records the military achievements of General Zuo during his lifetime."

I joined them too.

The first half of the inscription describes how this General Zuo was brave and skillful in battle, pacified the frontier, and was awarded the title of General Who Protects the Nation.

But as you read on, the writing style suddenly shifts.

The writing became messy and chaotic, as if the person who carved it was in a state of extreme fear or anger.

"...In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the emperor died."

The world was in chaos, and bandits entered the pass.

The Duke wanted to serve the King, but treacherous officials were in power, and supplies were cut off.

The lord was trapped in a besieged city. When food ran out, he killed his horse; when the horse was gone, he hunted for sparrows and mice; when the mice were gone…

The remaining writing was erased by a deep scratch.

The scratch marks penetrated three inches into the stone tablet, with smooth, mirror-like edges. They didn't look like they were left by a weapon, but rather like they were scratched out by some kind of sharp claws.

"With the rats gone... I'm afraid cannibalism is brewing behind this."

Master Xuanzhen sighed, his voice heavy.

"Besieged in a lonely city, out of ammunition and food. It's no wonder that such resentment transformed him into such a ferocious corpse king after death."

"It's not just resentment."

I stared at the line of small characters at the very bottom of the stone tablet.

The words were very small, almost invisible if you didn't look closely, and they were deeply engraved, conveying a resolute and ruthless intent.

Though my body is dead, my fighting spirit will never perish.

When I return, I will surely transform this land!

"He didn't want to die, or rather, he felt that he hadn't lost, but had only lost to fate."

So I'm waiting for another chance to come back and fight back.

I let out a long sigh.

This time, the opponent is not an ordinary wandering ghost, but an ancient general with a clear goal and a strong obsession.

As time has passed, this general is now almost a zombie king.

Just then, a strange sound suddenly came from the other end of the hall.

"Click...click..."

It sounded like bones grinding together.

The flashlight beam focused instantly.

A huge dark figure was lying in front of the stone gate leading from the front hall to the rear hall.

The thing was enormous, about the size of a water buffalo, but its shape resembled a giant spider.

It lay on the ground, its eight bristly legs digging firmly into the floor tiles.

And beneath it, a person was lying on top of it.

No, it's half a person.

This person was clearly also a member of the Guardians of the Cauldrons organization, but now his lower body had been eaten by that monster, leaving only his upper body still twitching slightly.

"It's a human-faced spider!"

Lu Yan let out a soft cry, and the peach wood short sword in her hand instantly appeared in front of her chest.

The monster seemed to be startled by the flashlight beam and suddenly raised its head.

After seeing it clearly, I frowned.

The monster had a human face on its head.

It was a woman's face, with pale skin, distorted features, and half of the corpse's intestines still hanging from the corner of her mouth.

Its eyes had no pupils, only two eerie green flames.

"hiss--!"

The spider let out a sharp hiss, dropped the half-corpse it was holding in its mouth, and charged at us with a powerful leap from its eight legs!

"You beast!"

Master Xuanzhen reacted instantly, roared, and flicked his whisk, sending several yellow talismans flying like knives toward the monster's eyes.

But the human-faced spider was incredibly fast. It nimbly sprang against the wall, dodging the yellow talisman, and pounced directly at Qianji, who was on the outermost edge of the group.