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

Jin Wanliang's voice carried a hint of strangeness: "However, brother, I must remind you of something."

I just checked the recent situation in Zhoujia Village, and something strange has been going on there lately.

About two weeks ago, Zhoujia Village seemed to be carrying out some kind of grave relocation project, but an accident happened on the day of the groundbreaking, and several strong laborers died.

Zhou Ming probably took leave to go back this time because of this.

"Zhoujia Village, ancestral burial ground, relocation of graves..."

I repeated those words to myself, a vague sense of unease creeping into my heart.

"Thanks, Lao Jin. I'll treat you to drinks later."

"Hey kid, watch out. Even someone like Zhou Ming got caught. There must be a huge pitfall there."

Should I find some people in the industry to go and meet you?

"No need. The Folklore Bureau will send someone over. Too many people will only hinder the process."

I hung up the phone and floored the gas pedal.

The vehicle beneath me roared like an enraged beast as it sped onto the highway leading to the northern suburbs.

The scenery outside the window rushed past, and night had completely fallen.

I gripped the steering wheel with one hand, while my right hand gently stroked the handle of the willow-leaf knife at my cuff.

Twenty days of seclusion allowed my inner energy of malevolent energy to reach the critical point of the half-step malevolent core.

I was just worried about not having a suitable opportunity to hone my newly increased strength, but I didn't expect it to come knocking on my door so quickly.

"Zhou Ming, you better hold on for me."

If by the time I arrive and all you're left with is a corpse, then I'll have to use my mortem-stitching skills on you.

I muttered to myself, a sharp, cold glint flashing deep in my eyes.

Zhoujia Village is not a well-known name on the folk customs map of Jiangcheng.

But since it involves relocating graves and the dead, it's highly likely that some ley lines that shouldn't have been disturbed were touched, or some old monster sleeping underground was encountered.

In this degenerate age, true spirits and monsters are indeed rare.

But those sinister creatures that are sealed or buried are often more troublesome than living spirits.

An hour later, I got off the highway and onto a country road.

The Toyota Prado has a high chassis, but it still creaks and groans from the bumpy ride on this dirt road full of mud and gravel.

Outside the car window, one could still see some lights of distant towns.

But as the car drove into the deep mountains of the northern suburbs, those traces of civilization seemed to be gradually eaten away by the thick darkness of the night.

Shortly after Jin Wanliang hung up the phone, Lu Yan's information was sent to my phone via encrypted text message.

I glanced at it, and the content was almost identical to what Jin Wanliang had found.

It simply includes some more technical descriptions of Zhoujia Village's geographical location.

Lu Yan added a sentence at the end of the message: "If things are not going to work out, retreat first and wait for the people from the bureau to arrive."

I smiled but didn't reply.

If it really comes to the point where it's "impossible to do," then retreating won't be so easy.

The car rounded a sharp bend, and the outline of Zhoujia Village finally came into view at the edge of the horizon.

It was a village nestled in a mountain valley, with most of the buildings being red brick houses from the 1980s and 90s, interspersed with a few newly built villas.

I slowly pressed the brake and stopped the car next to the stone tablet with the three large characters "Zhoujia Village" engraved on it.

The moment the wheels stopped turning, a sense of unease washed over me like a tidal wave.

I glanced at the rearview mirror subconsciously, and my breath hitched slightly.

The rugged mountain road I had just driven on had now become blurry and indistinct.

A white mist suddenly appeared and enveloped the road behind me.

I picked up my phone and saw that the signal bars had been completely cleared, and a ring of unsettling red crosses was displayed at the top of the screen.

"They arrived so quickly..."

I muttered to myself as I pushed open the car door and got out.

Instead of heading into the village immediately, I turned around and took a few steps into the mist.

Based on my sense of direction, I should be able to get back to the dirt road outside the village after walking a few dozen steps.

But after I had walked for about a minute, the fog in front of me suddenly cleared up, and I was stunned.

I found myself back at the village entrance, right in front of my Toyota Prado with its headlights still on.

"A ghost wall?"

I frowned, and the cool vortex between my eyebrows began to spin wildly.

I closed my eyes, letting the cool breath seep into them.

When he opened his eyes again, a barely perceptible blue glint flashed deep within them.

This is my strongest vision enhancement to date; I can even see through flesh and blood to the smallest worms hidden inside human tissue.

But this time, I was disappointed.

In my sight, the fog was still fog, only its color had become more murky.

I could vaguely see countless tiny, black sand-like particles mixed in with it.

They formed an invisible wall in the air, completely isolating the entire Zhoujia Village from the outside world.

This method is either a top-notch feng shui formation or some kind of extremely sophisticated illusion.

Since I couldn't leave, I stopped dwelling on it.

I closed the car door behind me, locked the car, and put my phone in my pocket.

"Alright, since you want me to go in, then I'll see what treasures Zhoujia Village is hiding."

I walked along the main road in the village.

Zhoujia Village is larger than I imagined. Most of the buildings on both sides are two- or three-story villas with white walls and red tiles. It is considered a relatively wealthy village in the suburbs of Jiangcheng.

Strangely, it was too quiet.

I didn't see a single person along the way.

It was only a little past eight o'clock in the evening. Although people in the countryside go to bed early, it was impossible for them not to see a single person.

The further you go in, the stronger the sense of incongruity becomes.

As I passed by a house, I noticed the door was wide open, so I stopped and glanced inside.

Although the lights in the main room were not on, I could clearly see three bowls of unfinished porridge on the table by the moonlight.

A plate of pickled vegetables sat on the rim of the bowl, and a pair of bamboo chopsticks lay across the edge of the bowl.

Is anyone there?

I walked over, knocked on the door frame, and shouted.

Unsurprisingly, there was no response.

So I went straight into the room and lightly touched the bowl with my fingertips.

It feels cool to the touch.

I couldn't help but frown.

It's early summer, and the fact that the food was completely cold means the owner had been away for at least an hour.

Working backwards, if this meal is dinner, then it's right around dinnertime.

Why did they leave in such a hurry? What exactly happened in Zhoujia Village?

After leaving the house, I continued walking forward.

I passed by five or six houses in succession, and the situation was almost exactly the same.

In some homes, the television was still on, and in others, freshly washed wet clothes were still drying in the yard.

But there was no one in sight.

"Zhou Ming, where the hell are you...?"

I muttered something to myself, my gaze fixed on an old-fashioned ancestral hall at the far end of the village.

The aura emanating from that side is the most mixed; perhaps we can find some clues there.

Just as I was about to cross the small square in the center of the village, I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

Moonlight shone on the bluestone slabs, casting several slender shadows.