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

"Killing two birds with one stone. The Black Serpent Cult is not only after my life, but also after that skull."

"right."

Lu Yan nodded.

"They thought I would be blinded by the fire in the East District, but I had your warning and felt that the rhythm of the attack was wrong."

Those guys from Southeast Asia, though insidious, rarely launch large-scale, head-on attacks.

So I only sent a small team to assist the police in maintaining order, while I led the main force to infiltrate the precinct, playing a game of cat and mouse.

I can picture that scene.

The Black Serpent Cult's elite forces, thinking the branch office was undefended, infiltrated the vault to seize the skull, only to stumble into a killing formation that Lu Yan had already laid out.

Although Lu Yan usually appears to be just a leader, as a direct descendant of the Zhengyi sect of Longhu Mountain, her thunder magic and talisman arrays are absolutely a nightmare for all evil cultivators in that narrow underground space.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"Total annihilation."

When Lu Yan uttered those two words, her tone was as calm as if she were reporting the weather.

"The Black Serpent Cult sent two elders to lead the team, along with twelve elite disciples."

I didn't give them a chance to surrender and activated the formation directly.

The outer corridor of the branch office's vault will probably need to be renovated.

I smiled; Lu Yan's decisiveness was indeed in line with her personality.

"Only after doing all this did I lead my men to your side."

Lu Yan's voice lowered, tinged with lingering fear.

"Chen Yang, I'm sorry."

Although I guessed it was a diversionary tactic, I didn't expect the Ghost-Faced Granny to be so crazy as to gather so many people from the industry to besiege Tingyuxuan.

"If you hadn't been with Li Qing... I don't even want to think about the consequences."

"It's not your fault," I said gently, trying to comfort you.

"This was an arrangement we discussed long ago, wasn't it?"

"That being said, but you..."

Lu Yan glanced at me intently through the rearview mirror, hesitated for a moment, then sighed and changed the subject.

"The dozen or so people you killed tonight were all from very different backgrounds."

Several of them are well-known professional assassins in China, and some are even registered independent practitioners from other provinces.

Your move has shaken the entire industry.

I smiled and said, "So be it, it vibrates."

"If those people want my life, then I have no choice but to send them on their way first."

This serves as a warning to these people: my life, Chen Yang's life, isn't so easily taken.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan nodded and remained silent, focusing on driving.

Half an hour later, the vehicle drove into the emergency department of Jiangcheng City First People's Hospital.

A medical team arranged by the Folklore Bureau was already waiting there.

Li Qing was quickly transferred to a special care ward for full-body functional monitoring and energy replenishment.

I was also forced to undergo a series of examinations.

The results showed that my meridians had developed some minor cracks due to the excessive use of evil energy.

However, thanks to the Xuan Yin Sha Crystals absorbed earlier and the expansion gained from the battle in the underground palace, these injuries are not fatal and can be recovered with just a period of rest.

At three in the morning, I sat on a bench outside the intensive care unit, holding a hot coffee that Lu Yan had bought for me.

After Lu Yan finished handling the follow-up communications, she came over and sat down next to me.

"Li Qing is out of danger. The main problem was that he was mentally exhausted. The doctor said he needs to sleep for two or three days."

She took a piece of bread from me and took a bite.

"Jin Wanliang has also sent back news that the bounty on the black market has completely disappeared."

As soon as the Ghost-Faced Woman died, the money was immediately swallowed up by the black market.

The remaining assassins are now busy on the run, fearing being purged by the Bureau of Civil Affairs.

I nodded, looking at the flickering lights at the end of the corridor, but my mind was on something else.

That skull.

The fact that the Black Serpent Cult spared no expense, even resorting to such a suicidal series of schemes, to retrieve that skull shows that its value far exceeded my imagination.

"Lu Yan, is there any progress on the skull research?" I asked in a low voice.

Lu Yan's hand froze for a moment. She looked around to make sure no one was nearby before leaning close to my ear and whispering:

"The preliminary results are in. It's not a human skull, or rather, it's not entirely human."

We extracted a highly active biological tissue from the bone marrow cavity of the skull.

After comparison by experts from the General Administration, that organization... matched very well with a certain sacrificial object that disappeared three thousand years ago.

"What sacrificial offerings?"

"The offerings from the Nine Tripod Cauldrons."

Lu Yan's expression turned extremely serious.

"Chen Yang, do you still remember the fragment of the Nine Provinces Cauldron in the hands of the guardian of the cauldron in the underground palace?"

The Black Serpent Cult seems to have mastered a method of using skulls as a medium to sense and activate fragments.

If they manage to collect enough fragments, the consequences will be unimaginable.

I gripped the coffee cup tightly.

How did this get involved with the Nine Cauldrons again?

"What are you planning to do next?" I asked her.

Lu Yan stood up, straightened her trench coat, and her eyes regained their usual coldness and sharpness:

"Report to the General Administration and request the deployment of higher-level experts and combat formations."

At the same time, Jiangcheng needs to undergo a thorough investigation.

As for you... Chen Yang, I know you.

Are you still planning to go back to the funeral home?

I nodded, stood up, and smiled at her.

"Yes. The yin energy there is heavy, which is suitable for my recovery, and... the corpses there make me feel more at ease than the living people."

Lu Yan looked at me, remained silent for a long time, and finally sighed.

"You're a freak. Fine, I'll have someone keep an eye on you in the shadows."

But you must also be careful. Although the Black Serpent Cult has been defeated in Jiangcheng, their influence in Southeast Asia is deeply entrenched, and it's hard to guarantee they won't retaliate even more fiercely.

"When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it."

I put down my coffee cup and turned to walk towards the elevator.

The rain outside had stopped, and a faint glimmer of dawn was breaking in the east.

A new day begins.

When I got back to my rented room, it was already six in the morning.

I didn't go to sleep immediately. Instead, I sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the black bone needle.

At this moment, after absorbing a large amount of yin energy and killing intent, the bone needles became even darker in color, and even faintly emitted a dark red light.

I can feel it; it's yearning, yearning to devour more and stronger energy.

I closed my eyes and sank into my consciousness.

The cool sensation between my eyebrows was faint, but it was slowly repairing my meridians.

I must become stronger as soon as possible.

It's not just about surviving the bigger vortex to come, but also about unraveling the mysteries surrounding me.

And, to find out where my mysteriously missing parents are now.

As I pondered these thoughts, my consciousness gradually faded.

……

I slept very soundly, and when I woke up, the sun was already high in the sky outside the window.