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

Immediately afterwards, Li Qing manipulated the five apricot-yellow flags, which moved automatically and fluttered in the wind even without wind.

Visible beams of earthy yellow energy shot out from the flag, like sickles reaping wheat, piercing the vital points of the trapped assassins and corpse demons with unparalleled precision.

Within just a few minutes, there wasn't a single living thing left standing in the square.

I stood still, not interfering with Li Qing's cleanup work.

After being released from the "Body of Evil" state, waves of weakness and excruciating pain assaulted my nerves.

I hunched over slightly, my left hand tightly covering the deepest, most fatal sword wound under my left rib.

Between his brows, a mysterious, cool aura was continuously emanating a faint chill.

The coolness flowed through my meridians and throughout my body, soothing my internal energy, which was on the verge of going berserk due to the forced activation of the evil pill.

That faint jade-colored luster appeared and disappeared within the malevolent energy within my body.

It was precisely because of the presence of this jade-like color, coupled with my physical foundation of the Mountain-Shaking Force, which was faintly approaching the threshold of mastery, that I was able to remain standing even after taking so many sword strikes from a Dan Realm expert.

I took a deep breath and forced down the metallic sweetness that rose in my throat.

"Li Qing, you've worked hard."

Li Qing put away the feng shui black box, pulled out the five apricot-yellow flags stained with mud, carefully rolled them up, and put them into the cloth bag on his back.

He wiped the rain off his face and walked over to me.

His gaze lingered on my deep, bone-revealing wounds for a few seconds before his brows furrowed tightly.

"Old Chen, you're a fucking lunatic."

Li Qing shook his head and pulled a small medicine bottle wrapped in layers of plastic bags from his soaked pocket.

He poured two black pills, which emitted a strong medicinal aroma, from the medicine bottle and handed them to me.

"The old man refined the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, which is for strengthening the body and nourishing the vital energy. Take it quickly. Your injury looks terrifying."

I didn't refuse and took the pill, putting it directly into my mouth.

The pill melted instantly in my mouth, turning into a warm current that slid down my esophagus into my stomach, slightly relieving the chill in my body.

"I'm fine, I won't die."

I smiled gently, my voice weak but calm.

Then, I turned my head and looked at the center of the formation.

Lu Yan, Fang He, and Qian Ji were helping each other up from the muddy water with great difficulty.

The situation of all three of them was equally dire.

Fang He's left arm hung limply at his side, clearly broken.

Qianji's face was ashen, and blood was still trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Lu Yan's black special operations uniform was already soaked with mud and blood.

Her once cool and aloof face was now covered in dirt, making her look somewhat disheveled.

She ignored her own injuries and stared intently at me.

Those eyes, which usually exude decisiveness and efficiency, were now brimming with extremely complex emotions.

There was shock, there was lingering fear, but more than anything, there was an unconcealable worry and heartache.

"Chen Yang..." Lu Yan's lips trembled slightly, her voice hoarse.

She looked at my half-body, which was completely stained red with blood, and at the extremely dangerous bloodstain on my neck that was just millimeters away from severing the carotid artery. Her eyes reddened slightly.

"I'm fine."

I looked at her and gently interrupted her.

I knew roughly what she wanted to say, but I'm not used to accepting overly heavy emotional expressions.

"How are you? Can you still walk?"

I changed the subject very naturally, in that slow, deliberate tone.

Lu Yan took a deep breath and regained some of her composure as the branch director.

She nodded: "The main problem is that we were trapped in the formation and exhausted, but we can still walk."

She glanced around at the horrific scene that resembled a battlefield, her gaze finally settling on the headless gray-robed corpse, her expression turning extremely grave.

Lu Yan's steps were somewhat unsteady.

She trudged along the bluestone slabs, which were slick with mud and thick blood, until she reached the body of the man in gray and slowly knelt down beside him.

The white mask, half-cracked by my straight punch, now lay askew in the mud, its edges stained with dark red blood.

Lu Yan stretched out her slightly trembling fingers, gripped the edge of the mask, and completely removed it.

Beneath the mask was an utterly unfamiliar face.

It was the face of a middle-aged man, utterly ordinary.

There were no scars, no tattoos, and even the contours of his face appeared somewhat flat and generic.

They're the kind of people you'd throw into a subway car during rush hour and completely forget about in the blink of an eye.

But this seemingly ordinary face possessed a Dan realm cultivation level that far surpassed mine during his lifetime.

If Li Qing hadn't arrived in time, and if I hadn't used all my trump cards tonight, even risking serious injury to gain the chance to behead him at close range, I would have been in serious trouble.

I'm afraid I really won't be able to keep him here tonight.

Do you know him?

I stood a few steps away, my left hand still gently covering my ribs.

Lu Yan stared at that face for a long time before finally shaking her head.

She pulled a waterproof special operations communicator from inside her tactical vest, her voice hoarse from exhaustion:

"Never seen it before."

There is absolutely no record of this face on the Jiangcheng Branch's key surveillance list.

I don't even recall seeing him on some of the arrest warrants issued by the General Administration.

She turned on the macro camera function of her communicator and took several high-definition photos of the pale and bloodless face from different angles.

"but,"

As Lu Yan packed the photos, she analyzed them in an extremely serious tone.

"A Dan Realm expert who can mobilize so many elite Shadow Sect assassins to cooperate with his actions must hold a very high position within the Shadow Sect."

Lu Yan quickly operated the communicator a few times.

Through the encrypted intranet of the Folklore Bureau, she sent the photos directly to the highest-level database of the Beijing General Bureau, requesting a nationwide comparison of facial bones and spiritual features.

Li Qing walked over carrying the black box.

He kicked the gray-robed man's black soft sword, which had fallen into the puddle, with his toe and said:

"Stop guessing. Whether he's an elder or a sect leader, he's already a headless corpse under Old Chen's blade."

Li Qing pursed his lips and looked up at the gradually dissipating black mist around him.

Although his tone was relaxed, his face was filled with an inescapable gloom.

Li Qing paused, his gaze sweeping over the entire layout of Jinxiu Garden, and continued, "But tonight's formation, the Hundred Ghosts Sealing the Gate Formation, plus so many high-level corpse demons that have been forcibly catalyzed."

These are all insidious methods that consume a great deal of effort and resources.

"When did those Shadow Sect assassins, who only know how to use shadows and knives, become proficient in such large-scale feng shui killing formations and corpse refining techniques?"