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

I breathed a sigh of relief, and my tense nerves finally relaxed completely.

ended.

Once the zombie domain dissipates, external support can come in.

With the resources of the Folklore Bureau, as long as there's still a breath left, they should be able to save them.

Master Xuanzhen sat cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing. Although his face was still ashen, his breathing had become much more steady.

"Slap, slap, slap."

Just then, a sudden burst of applause rang out from the shadows of the tomb.

The applause was slow and deliberate, but it sounded particularly jarring in the empty and deathly silent tomb.

"Who?!"

I turned my head sharply, trying to grip the scalpel beside me, but found my fingers trembling so badly I couldn't muster any strength.

A middle-aged man slowly emerged from the shadows.

He looked very ordinary, like any other elderly man doing his morning exercise in a park.

But in one of his hands, he was playing with a palm-sized piece of bronze.

The fragments were rusty and faintly exuded an ancient and evil aura.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

The middle-aged man stopped about ten meters away from us, a gentle smile on his face.

But the smile didn't reach his eyes; his eyes held a chilling indifference.

"The talismans of the Zhengyi sect, the thunder magic of Longhu Mountain, and..."

His gaze fell on me, with a mixture of inquiry and greed.

"The forbidden art of stitching corpses, which has long been lost, is truly remarkable among today's young people."

Lu Yan struggled to stand up, but was frozen in place by his indifferent gaze.

"You are... the guardian of the cauldron?" Lu Yan asked through gritted teeth.

"The guardian of the tripod?"

The man chuckled softly, seemingly pondering for a moment, but ultimately nodded.

"That's what people from the outside world seem to call us."

However, that's not important.

He raised the bronze fragment in his hand and shone it on the luminous pearl above his head.

"I was initially worried that the corpse energy in General Zuo's body was too mixed and difficult to absorb."

I never expected you guys to do me such a big favor, breaking him up and even forcing out the original corpse poison in his body.

This saved me a lot of trouble.

What does that mean?

A very ominous premonition rose in my heart.

Before I could figure it out, the bronze fragment in the man's hand suddenly glowed with a faint green light.

"rise."

He uttered a single word softly.

boom!

The entire underground palace suddenly trembled.

An indescribable suction force suddenly erupted from that small fragment.

The yin energy and corpse energy that had been slowly dissipating in the tomb chamber now seemed to be summoned by some powerful force, transforming into visible black vortexes that surged madly toward the fragment.

"roar……"

The corpse of General Zuo, which had been suppressed by the purple talisman, suddenly began to tremble violently.

The purple talisman stuck to his forehead instantly burned to ashes.

It began to weather at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The remaining corpse energy from the past few hundred years was forcibly extracted from the body, transforming into a thick black dragon that plunged headfirst into the bronze fragments.

The black bone needle I had inserted into his body was knocked away by this force and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

"No...no good!"

Master Xuanzhen suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with horror.

"He's absorbing all the malevolent energy that's accumulated in the ancient town for centuries! This is... this is the Gluttonous Devouring Heaven Formation!"

As a large amount of corpse energy was injected, the green light on the bronze fragment grew stronger and stronger, eventually transforming into a phantom image of a cauldron.

"stop……"

I felt the malevolent energy within my body begin to stir restlessly, as if it were about to burst out and be absorbed by that fragment.

The pain of my meridians flowing backward made me groan involuntarily.

"How dare you, an ant, speak?"

The man glanced at us indifferently and waved his hand casually.

boom!

An invisible wave of energy crashed into Master Xuanzhen.

The old Taoist priest didn't even utter a sound before being sent flying more than ten meters, crashing heavily against the wall. His fate was unknown.

"Taoist Master!" Lu Yan exclaimed in surprise, trying to help him up, but was swept away by the aftershock of the shockwave, spitting out another mouthful of blood and collapsing to the ground.

At this point, we were either exhausted or seriously injured after a major battle, and had no power to resist.

The man didn't even need to lift a finger; the sheer power emanating from that fragment was enough to crush us.

"Alright, it's time to send you on your way."

After the man absorbed the last wisp of corpse energy, General Zuo's body had completely turned into a pile of white bone powder.

He picked up the fragments with satisfaction and walked towards me step by step.

I really don't like the smell on you.

He looked down at me, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.

"The Corpse Stitchers are the most troublesome lineage. Keeping you around will only bring trouble sooner or later."

He raised his hand.

In the palm of his hand, a dense, impenetrable black aura was gathering.

The scent of death was closer to me than ever before.

I can not be reconciled.

I haven't figured out the truth behind my parents' disappearance, nor have I solved the mystery left by my grandfather...

I gritted my teeth, preparing to mobilize the remaining malevolent energy within my body to unleash my full power.

Even if it means death, in a desperate gamble, I will bite off a piece of his flesh!

However, at that moment...

The earth suddenly began to shake violently.

This tremor was different from the previous landslide; it was rhythmic, as if some enormous creature was turning over underground.

Immediately afterwards, a voice, tinged with a hint of mockery yet full of energy, abruptly pierced through the thick rock layers and echoed throughout the tomb chamber.

"Hey sir, it's one thing to snatch a kid's lollipop, but to try and kill them to cover it up? That's just too disgusting!"

Before I could finish speaking, the ground in front of me suddenly exploded.

A beam of earthy yellow light shot into the sky and crashed head-on into that sure-kill palm strike.

"Bang!"

The air currents surged.

The arrogant middle-aged man was actually forced to take three steps back by the beam of light, and for the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

The smoke and dust cleared.

A figure blocked my way.

Wearing a windproof jacket, hiking boots, carrying a huge camouflage backpack, and holding an old-fashioned compass in his hand.

Although his head was covered in dust and he looked travel-worn, he stood there, commanding respect from everyone.

He turned around, grinned at me, revealing two rows of white teeth.

Those peach blossom eyes were full of a cynical smile.

"Hey, Brother Chen, it's been a few days. What happened to you and what's gotten into you?"

Anyone who didn't know better would think you just got back from digging in a coal mine.

"Li...Li Qing..."

Looking at that familiar back, the tension that had been building up finally eased.

Li Qing is a descendant of the geomancers.

This guy, who fought alongside me in Huilong Village and was captured by his master and forced into seclusion, actually appeared at this moment.