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

But as I gradually became embroiled in the vortex of folk customs, from the last letter from Huilongzhai to the secret of the Ninth Place, and then to the appearance of Lei Zhenshan, who was suspected to be my parents' comrade-in-arms.

The fog obscuring the truth is being torn away little by little.

Now, I have condensed the Demonic Core.

I have the right to step into that vortex and explore the truth of what happened back then.

I took a deep breath, and my eyes gradually hardened.

Then, I went to the table, picked up my phone, and prepared to book a plane ticket to Beijing for tomorrow morning, and then ask Director Wang for a long leave.

However, the phone suddenly vibrated the moment my finger touched the screen.

The name "Li Qing" flashed on the screen.

I was slightly taken aback.

We've all been taking a break these past few days. Li Qing is a typical homebody.

When he has nothing to do, he usually plays games in Tingyuxuan and rarely calls me on his own initiative.

I pressed the answer button and held the phone to my ear: "Hello, Li Qing, what's up?"

"Chen Yang, where are you now?"

On the other end of the phone, Li Qing's voice lacked its usual carefree banter, instead revealing an unusual seriousness, even carrying a hint of solemnity.

"I'm in my rented room, just about to make something to eat."

I noticed the change in his tone and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What happened?"

"It's hard to explain over the phone. Come to Tingyuxuan right now. Fatty Jin is already here."

Li Qing's voice was very low, as if he was deliberately avoiding someone.

"Bring your gear."

Should we bring our gear?

My heart sank.

Li Qing knew that I had broken through to the Sha Dan realm. In this small corner of Jiangcheng, the fact that he would use such a solemn tone to ask me to bring weapons to the appointment meant that it was definitely not some trivial matter.

Could it be that the people guarding the tripod in the Northwest have tracked us down to Jiangcheng?

"Okay, I'll be right there."

I didn't ask any more questions, just replied with one sentence, and then hung up the phone.

I quickly changed into a black windbreaker that was easy to move in, slid my most handy scalpel into the sleeve, and carefully placed the black bone needle close to my body.

After thinking for a moment, I took two more scalpels from my suitcase and tucked them into my waistband, just in case.

I grabbed my car keys, hurried downstairs, and got into the car.

The engine let out a deep roar.

I stepped on the gas, and the black SUV shot off like an arrow, disappearing into the dazzling night of Jiangcheng and speeding towards Tingyuxuan.

The night view of Jiangcheng rushed past the car window, and the glow of the neon lights cast long shadows on the windshield.

I gripped the steering wheel with one hand, and the evil core within my body was slowly rotating according to some mysterious law.

After breaking through to the Sha Dan realm, not only did my power undergo a qualitative change, but my five senses also reached an incredible level of sharpness.

Just like now, even if I don't deliberately release my mental energy to investigate, I can still sense any fluctuations of Qi within a hundred meters that are not of ordinary people.

Just as the car was about to exit the overpass and turn onto the riverside avenue leading to Tingyuxuan, a cool sensation twitched slightly between my brows.

It was a feeling of being locked on, with a subtle, malicious gaze.

My gaze slowly drifted to the rearview mirror.

In the evening rush hour traffic, a black older model Volkswagen and a gray van were alternating behind my car, one on the left and one on the right, at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

I didn't take any counter-surveillance measures on this Toyota Prado. It wouldn't be difficult for anyone in Jiangcheng to find my license plate number.

If it were just an ordinary person following me, I might not have been able to detect it so quickly and easily.

But the people in these cars are different.

Even from dozens of meters away, I could still clearly smell the sinister aura emanating from those two cars.

"Heretical cultivation."

I slowly uttered two words, my brows furrowed.

Li Qinggang had just told me to go to Tingyuxuan in that solemn tone when I stepped out the door, and I was immediately being watched.

This proves that this matter is indeed serious, and that the other party is making no attempt to hide their intentions towards me.

However, since they have come to me of their own accord, it would seem impolite of me, a mortician from Jiangcheng, to ignore them.

I gently turned the steering wheel, choosing not to drive onto Binjiang Avenue, but instead turning directly onto a secluded side road leading to the old city of Jiangcheng.

That was a large area of ​​unfinished urban villages left over from Jiangcheng's early years, which had been sitting there for several years due to property disputes.

You can hardly see anyone in this place during the day, and at night even the streetlights are off.

It can be described as a prime location for murder, robbery, and garbage disposal.

In the rearview mirror, the two cars clearly hadn't expected me to suddenly change course.

They hesitated for a moment, but relying on their superior numbers, they eventually sped up and caught up quietly.

The road conditions in the unfinished building area are extremely poor, with potholes and discarded construction waste everywhere.

I drove the car into a dead end with three-story unfinished red brick houses on both sides, turned off the engine, and turned off the headlights.

The whole world suddenly went dark, with only the moon, half-hidden by clouds, barely letting through a faint light.

After opening the car door, I quietly disappeared into a windowless corner on the second floor of an unfinished building next door.

Two minutes later.

"squeak--"

The sound of brakes echoed at the end of the dead end.

The old black Volkswagen and the gray van stopped one after the other, completely blocking the only exit of the alley.

The car door opened, and five men wearing dark jackets and baseball caps stepped out under the cover of darkness.

They spread out with practiced ease, forming a fan-shaped encirclement, and crept towards my Toyota Prado parked at the end of the dead end.

"Brother Tiger, the car is off, and the person doesn't seem to be in it."

One of the thinner men said in a low voice.

He held a short knife with a bluish glow upside down in his hand; it was clearly poisoned.

The man known as Tiger was burly and had a terrifyingly sinister look in his eyes.

He pulled out a compass-like object from his pocket, looked at it, and sneered, "It won't go far."

Everyone has seen this guy's photo. He's the body-sewing man at Jiangcheng Funeral Home, and he's been quite popular on the black market lately.

The boss has spoken: since those bigwigs in Longhu Mountain are investigating Yan Shouyi, we need to find out about these local bullies in Jiangcheng beforehand.

If you can bring back some parts, the reward will be doubled.

"Brother Tiger, I've heard this kid's a bit strange, like what happened in Zhoujia Village..."

"What's there to be afraid of!"

Tiger spat out a mouthful of phlegm.

"Those are just rumors circulating in the martial arts world. I don't believe that a mere lad in his early twenties can take on Yan Shouyi one-on-one!"

Search him! This alley is a dead end; he can't escape!

Standing in the shadows of the second-floor balcony, I looked down at the five wicked cultivators below, who resembled clowns jumping around, and shook my head helplessly.