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

"ah!!!"

The second uncle let out a piercing scream as blood gushed from his severed wrist, splattering all over the ground.

Ignoring my second uncle who was already rolling on the ground, I flicked my wrist and slashed my twin knives at the dark yellow drum.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Miao woman instantly released a dense swarm of Gu worms from all over her body in an attempt to stop me.

However, after those Gu worms flew towards me, they were all blocked by the evil aura on my body and could not get close to me.

wow-

A cold glint flashed, and in an instant, I sliced ​​a cross-shaped gash into the drumhead from two directions.

The Soul-Severing Drum that Uncle Er mentioned emitted a shrill sound, like a baby crying, the moment it was slashed by the willow-leaf knife.

sizzle-

Countless black wisps of smoke billowed from the cracks in the drumhead, transforming into distorted human faces in the air before painfully dissipating into the world.

As the Soul-Severing Drum shattered, the gloomy, deathly aura that had been shrouding the square seemed to be completely severed by this single strike.

Thump, thump...

The hundreds of villagers who had been frozen in place by Li Qing with ferocious expressions suddenly seemed to have their spines removed. They rolled their eyes, collapsed limply into the mud, and passed out.

I landed heavily on the high platform, crushing the wooden planks beneath my feet.

Turning around, I looked coldly at the pale-faced Miao girl.

She then realized that the ordinary Gu worms couldn't get close to me at all. After dispersing the Gu worms, she looked at me with deep fear in her eyes.

"The Chen family's corpses were sewn together..."

She gritted her teeth, her voice chilling, "I never imagined there would be such a vicious mortician these days."

"There are many things you haven't considered."

I flicked the blood off my knife and approached her step by step.

As I approached, the Miao woman retreated step by step, her hands moving continuously as if she were about to fight to the death.

As I watched the Miao woman's hand stealthily reach for the silver ornaments at her waist, I let out a cold laugh.

"Trying to run away?"

However, I didn't alert them. Instead, I took a half-step back without making a sound, and at the same time, I gave Li Qing, who had just gotten up from the ground, a look.

Li Qing is a smart man; he understood what I meant instantly.

His fingers, which had been gripping the mechanism of the black box, quietly loosened slightly.

"burst!"

A fierce glint flashed in the Miao girl's eyes as she slammed several black balls onto the ground.

boom! boom! boom!

After a few muffled thuds, a thick cloud of purple smoke exploded and quickly enveloped the entire platform.

"Watch out! It's the Five Poisons Barrier! Hold your breath!"

Li Qing shouted, but instead of stepping forward to stop me, he quickly retreated to the edge of the smoke, just like me.

sizzle...

When the mountain wind dispersed the poisonous smoke, the Miao woman was nowhere to be seen on the high platform, leaving only a pool of snake blood that had not yet dried.

"They run pretty fast."

I sheathed my scalpel and looked at Li Qing: "Are you confident?"

"Don't worry, she can't get away."

Li Qing stepped forward, squatted down, dipped his finger in the snake blood on the ground, and then smeared it on the compass in his hand.

The compass needle in his hand spun wildly several times before finally settling on a single direction.

Li Qing looked in the direction of the pointer, but his brows gradually furrowed.

"Chen Yang, over there."

I followed his gaze and saw the back mountain of Huilongzhai.

That is, the location of the Chen family's ancestral graves, the place where Grandpa set up that ominous formation.

"It really is there."

I took a deep breath. "Second Uncle made such a commotion here, even resorting to human sacrifice, just to provide nourishment for the Gu King."

Now that the formation has been broken, the woman's only way to survive is to escape back to her lair for protection, which must also be where the Gu King resides.

"Looks like we'll have to head into the mountains. I'm getting more and more curious. This is some kind of Gu King and Dead Man's Trap, Chen Yang, what exactly is hidden in your ancestral grave that's driving these people crazy?"

I smiled faintly: "I wanted to know too, so I invited you here, didn't I?"

After listening, Li Qing laughed and patted my shoulder, giving me a look that said, "You've got good taste, kid."

Then, he put away the compass, glanced at his second uncle who was lying unconscious in a pool of blood, and asked, "What should we do with this old bastard? Kill him?"

I didn't say anything, but answered Li Qing directly with my actions.

I walked towards my second uncle, squatted down, and then slashed his throat with the scalpel in my hand.

The strike was swift and decisive.

Just like the stab I gave my cousin back then.

I had no intention of waking up my second uncle again to ask him some nonsense.

The situation in Huilongzhai is complicated now, so we need to avoid any unexpected complications later.

My second uncle has to bear the consequences for the beastly things he did.

After getting up, Li Qing didn't say anything more teasing, but silently came over and patted my shoulder.

I waved my hand to indicate that everything was alright, then looked at the villagers lying on the ground: "These people?"

"Don't worry, they're fine." Li Qing shook his head. "They just lost some of their vital energy, but luckily we arrived in time."

I nodded. Now that we've confirmed they're not in any danger, it's time to leave.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to explain when they wake up.

Li Qing and I exchanged a glance, and he instantly understood what I meant. After putting the compass into his backpack, he turned around to collect the few apricot-yellow flags that were stuck in the square.

And I, too, carried my second uncle's gradually cooling body and got up to leave.

As I was leaving, I suddenly remembered the strangely dead stray dogs at the village entrance and asked Li Qing about them.

Li Qing slung the black box over his shoulder without turning his head: "I investigated when I entered the village. It contains some kind of Gu worm that hasn't awakened yet, which I suspect is related to the Gu King."

Don't worry, I've placed a protective barrier around there. The immediate priority is the back mountain.

Upon hearing this, I nodded and strode away.

On the way to the back of the mountain, I also turned back to the old house and picked up a hoe and the ink line that I hadn't finished using back then.

On the way into the mountains, I casually dug a hole and buried my second uncle's body in it.

Li Qing just watched me do all this in silence, waiting for me to finish filling in the hole.

After putting down my hoe, I lit a cigarette and continued walking into the mountains, telling him about the things that had happened in the past few days.

After hearing everything, he said nothing, only exhaling a vicious smoke ring: "He deserves to die!"

Then, we continued our journey to the back of the mountain.

The fog in the mountains grew thicker and thicker, with an eerie pale blue hue. It clung stickily to the skin, making one feel uncomfortable all over.

Something's not right.

Li Qing, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. At that moment, the compass needle in his hand spun wildly as if he were in a frenzy.

"What's wrong?" I stopped in my tracks instantly and looked around warily.

At this moment, I noticed that the pine trees that were originally growing straight were now all showing a strange twisted shape.

The natural patterns on the tree trunks, shrouded in mist, resembled human faces.

"Is it a maze or a spell?" I asked in a low voice.

"It's a bit more advanced than that." Li Qing snorted coldly, took out a yellow talisman from his pocket, and with a flick of his wrist, the talisman spontaneously combusted without fire.

"It's a smokescreen combined with a poisonous incense. Can't these people do anything else besides playing with insects and poisoning people?"