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

Too much to chew.

My immediate priority is to return to Jiangcheng and find a completely safe place to absorb the evil crystals and improve my strength.

And try to take good care of the fragile snake egg in his arms.

"Master Guan is right, it's time for us to go."

I spoke first, and then bowed deeply to Guan the Blind Man.

"I will always remember the kindness of your teachings over the past few days."

Li Qing also dropped his nonchalant expression and solemnly performed a junior's salute: "Old Guan, thank you very much."

"When I've finally fixed the flag and become a geomancer, I'll definitely come back and have a good drink with you."

Guan the Blind waved his hand, indicating that we didn't need to go through these formalities.

"Let's go, let's go. Let's catch the last bus to town before it gets dark."

When we left Guanjiatun, Guan Ling followed us all the way to the entrance of the village.

She shoved a bag of dried fruit she had made herself into my hand and looked at us expectantly.

"Brother Chen, will you come back in the future?" she asked softly.

I smiled at her and said gently, "I will come back. When you grow up, Brother Chen will take you to Jiangcheng to see the Yangtze River."

The bus bumped along the uneven mountain road, and the setting sun cast long shadows of us.

I leaned against the car window, watching the black earth rushing past outside, while my mind was already planning the rest of the journey.

Go back to Fengtian, and then book the fastest flight back to Jiangcheng.

That's our territory, with Jin Wanliang's extensive network of connections and Lu Yan's folk customs bureau.

It's much safer than being in this unfamiliar place outside the Great Wall, where you could run into the "Demon King" at any moment.

I reached out and touched the black bone needle on my chest, then felt the faint pulse coming from the snake egg in my backpack.

Jiangcheng, the corpse-stitching man.

What exactly does this divination by Master Liu foretell?

Can this congenitally damaged snake egg really hatch in the hands of a mortician like me who deals with corpses all day long?

I do not know.

But I know that as long as I set foot on the soil of Jiangcheng, I will always feel more confident.

"Old Chen, what are you thinking about?"

Li Qing nudged me from the side, stuffing the dried fruit Guan Ling had given her into her mouth.

"When we get back to Jiangcheng, our first meal has to be a big feast at Haiyanlou. I've been eating pickled cabbage and vermicelli every day for the past few days, and I feel like I'm turning into a pickled cabbage flavor."

I smiled and said, "Okay, whatever you say."

Night fell outside the car window.

After leaving Guanjiatun, we hurried and finally arrived in the town before it got completely dark. We then hired a private car and headed straight to Fengtian city.

The driver was a talkative guy from Northeast China. He chatted with us the whole way in his thick accent, talking about everything from the old industrial base of Fengtian to which barbecue stall had the most authentic kidneys.

Li Qing and I made half-hearted responses, but our minds were no longer on this black soil.

It was already past 8 p.m. when we arrived at Taoxian International Airport.

The airport terminal was brightly lit and bustling with activity, with passengers hurrying by with their suitcases.

The hustle and bustle of modern society finally allowed my nerves, which had been tense for many days, to completely relax.

During these few days outside the pass, I was either fighting to the death with a black bear spirit that had become a demon, or staying in a blacksmith shop full of sparks to hone my skills.

Standing on the gleaming marble floor again, I feel as if I've stepped into another world.

I led Li Qing straight to the outermost VIP and special service passage.

When the security personnel saw the two of us, dressed in ordinary clothes, walking over, they were about to reach out to stop us when I took out the black card from my inner pocket and handed it to them.

[National Administration of Folklore and Cultural Heritage - External Consultant]

The security checkpoint staff took the ID, swiped it on the machine, and the screen immediately displayed green "maximum access permission".

The staff member's expression instantly turned extremely serious. He handed the documents back to me with both hands and even bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you for your hard work." I nodded gently.

"Gentlemen, please come this way. There is no need to open the boxes for inspection."

Staff immediately set up the isolation barrier.

Li Qing followed me closely, swaggering through the security gate until he entered the waiting area, at which point he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"Holy crap, Lao Chen, your laptop works so well? Where did you get it?"

I don't remember asking Director Lu for favors when we went back this time, right?! Did Director Lu give it to you privately? I didn't!

Li Qing smacked his lips, his face filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"This document wasn't obtained for me by Lu Yan; the person who did it for me also has an official background."

I carefully put my documents away, speaking calmly.

"You should have... no, you were unconscious then and didn't see him. He's the one who saved me back in the back mountains of Huilong Village."

As I spoke, I ran my fingers over the black card.

After I finished speaking, Li Qing blinked and looked at me, somewhat bewildered.

I ignored him and continued, "I rarely use this thing. It doesn't offer any special privileges, but it's very convenient for getting around."

Li Qing stroked his chin and smacked his lips: "That's true. You're usually in Jiangcheng, and Director Lu takes care of everything. There's no need for this."

I ignored his teasing, sat in the lounge chair, closed my eyes to rest, and pretended to be dead.

Li Qing, having found himself in an awkward situation, clicked his tongue when he saw that I was no longer paying attention to him, and then lay down on the seat like me.

We spent a short time in the first-class lounge before boarding smoothly.

The spacious leather seats, the soft reading lights, and the hot towels offered by the flight attendant all made Li Qing hum with pleasure.

As soon as he sat down, he adjusted the chair to a semi-reclining position, put on an eye mask, and looked ready to fall into a deep sleep.

I carefully placed the backpack at my feet, making sure it wouldn't be squeezed, and then turned to look at Li Qing.

"Li Qing, there's something I've always been curious about."

I spoke softly, keeping my voice at a volume that only the two of us could hear.

Li Qing pushed his blindfold up, revealing one eye: "What's up? As long as it's not about borrowing money, anything is fine."

"Before we came here, when we were in Jiangcheng, didn't you say that your master told you that your lineage of geomancers had a secret connection with the outside world?"

I looked at him: "You said you'd go there in person. Why haven't you mentioned it at all these past few days in Fengtian?"

After listening, Li Qing pursed his lips, pulled his blindfold down again, and said in a somewhat languid voice, "Hey, I thought you were going to ask about some state secret. Is that all?"

He shifted to a more comfortable position and continued, "Old Chen, don't you realize how smoothly this trip went?"

I originally thought that finding the dragon vein and the meteorite would be extremely difficult, and might even require digging up the ancestral graves of a few old zombies.

And what happened? Wang Daya took us to Guanjiatun, where Guan the Blind delivered the meteorite iron right to our doorstep, even giving us the meteorite iron and a set of body-refining techniques as a bonus.