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

The blade sliced ​​through the armor, sending sparks flying.

I felt a tingling numbness in my wrist; the zombie's hardness exceeded my expectations.

At this moment, the other two members of the Folklore Bureau also threw out various talismans.

However, the blows had little effect on the zombie.

I gritted my teeth and forcibly mobilized the remaining malevolent energy in my dantian.

The black bone needles seemed to sense my emotions, trembling violently inside my sleeve.

I suddenly flicked my hand, and a black light shot out, accurately piercing the back of the golden-armored zombie's neck.

The golden-armored zombie let out a silent roar, its movements visibly stiffening for a moment.

"Now!"

I rolled over and stood up, and the scalpel slipped through the gap in its armor and plunged into the back of its knee with a soft thud.

At the same time, Zhou Ming let out a sharp whistle and slammed the last dragon-suppressing stake into the ground.

"Four Symbols Lock the Dragon, Seal!"

Om-!

The four dragon-suppressing pillars simultaneously emitted a dazzling blue light, and the four light curtains converged above the blood pool, forming a huge "seal" character.

The previously raging blood instantly solidified like a mirror, and the golden-armored zombie rapidly weathered under the blue light, eventually turning into a pile of withered bones scattered on the ground.

The oppressive aura of death in the stone chamber dissipated almost entirely in an instant.

I looked up at the dome and saw that the gray mist was no longer emanating from the crack; instead, specks of golden light were shining down from it.

"It's done."

I let out a long sigh of relief and plopped down on the ground, feeling my muscles trembling slightly.

"Huff...huff...Advisor Chen, so we...we survived?" Zhao Tie put away his shield, leaned against a stone pillar, drenched in sweat, with a look of relief on his face.

Zhou Ming collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to even speak.

Looking at the now calm pool of blood, I felt little relief.

The evil cultivator from earlier, and this golden-armored zombie, both point to the extraordinary origins of this underground palace.

This matter is probably not over yet.

"Take a three-minute break, gather your belongings, and we'll head back the way we came."

I propped myself up on my knees and stood up. "Director Lu is still waiting for us upstairs. Don't keep her waiting."

The return journey was much more difficult than the way down.

After the adrenaline subsided, fatigue washed over me like a tide, and every muscle screamed in pain.

The air inside the underground palace was still thin, mixed with dust and that ancient musty smell.

"Consultant Chen, slow down, these steps are a bit loose."

The one speaking was Lao Sun, one of the two team members who didn't have much of a presence.

Just now in the main hall of the underground palace, they were on the outside clearing out those little devils who were trying to interfere with us.

Although he wasn't seriously injured, he was covered in dust and dirt.

I nodded and reached out to pull Zhou Ming, who was walking ahead of me, along.

This kid has exhausted his magical power; one of his glasses is broken, and he's even walking a bit unsteadily now.

Zhao Tie walked at the back, carrying the large alloy shield on his back.

At this moment, he was carrying the corpse of the evil cultivator I had killed, moving upwards step by step.

On the way back, it took us about twenty minutes to walk.

Then, a faint breeze finally came from above, followed by the long-awaited natural light.

When we emerged from the construction site, the sky had cleared up.

"Chen Yang!"

Before I could even stand up straight, a hurried voice came from over.

Lu Yan practically rushed across the cordon.

She rushed up to me, reaching out as if to help me, but then stopped in mid-air.

His gaze swept quickly over me, finally settling on the still bleeding web between my thumb and forefinger on my left hand.

"It's good that you're still alive." She pursed her lips, her voice gentle.

I smiled and said calmly, "You're lucky to have survived."

The underground breach has been plugged, but this isn't over yet.

Lu nodded and waved to the medical team that was already waiting on the side.

"Quickly, stretchers! Treat their wounds first. Everyone else, immediately seal off the entrance. No one is to approach without my order!"

Several medical staff in white coats quickly surrounded Zhou Ming and Lao Sun and helped them onto the stretcher.

Zhao Tie threw the evil cultivator's corpse onto the ground with a dull thud, then sat down heavily, panting as the nurse treated the bruises on his back.

I refused the stretcher, only asked the doctor to bandage my hand wound, and then asked for a bottle of water, which I drank more than half of in one go.

"Tell me what happened." Lu Yan handed me a dry towel, her eyes becoming serious.

I wiped the dust off my face and pointed to the corpse on the ground: "This is the evil cultivator who caused all this trouble. But the situation was urgent at the time, and I didn't have time to ask his identity, so I killed him on the spot."

But it wasn't a complete loss; he had some things on him that might lead to his identity.

After listening to what I said, Lu Yan did not show any dissatisfaction. She simply nodded and slowly uttered four words.

"He deserves to die."

After saying that, she looked at me again: "What did you find out about him?"

I led Lu Yan to the corpse and pointed with my toe at the bronze cauldron pattern on the back of his head: "This person has a cauldron tattooed on his head, and we also found this on his body."

As I spoke, I took the black wooden plaque out of my pocket and handed it to Lu Yan.

This wooden sign was given to me by Zhao Tie for safekeeping on our way back.

"This was found on him. There are two characters engraved on it, but I don't recognize them."

Lu Yan took the wooden plaque, and her expression changed instantly.

She repeatedly stroked the texture of the wooden plaque, her fingertips turning slightly white.

"It's Yu Ding..." she murmured to herself.

"This is in Small Seal script, and there are records of this organization in the bureau's archives."

I nodded: "Tell me in detail."

Lu Yan slowly said, "The bureau doesn't have much information recorded, but this file is top secret."

Legend has it that Yu the Great cast nine tripods to suppress the fortunes of the nine provinces. Later, the nine tripods were lost, and a group of guardians of the tripods inherited the tradition. However, they had long since deviated from the right path and began to collect the most yin and evil objects in the world, attempting to recast the demonic tripods.

Thirty years ago, they caused a disturbance in the north, but it was suppressed by the experts in the bureau at the time, and they disappeared without a trace since then.

I never expected... that they've actually infiltrated Jiangcheng.

After listening, I frowned and said, "So, this heretic cultivator is very likely a member of this organization?"

Lu Yan neither refuted nor confirmed: "There is too little information to confirm. But this matter is of great importance and must be reported to headquarters."

If he really is a member of the Guardians of the Cauldron, then Jiangcheng is in trouble.

Lu Yan's words were heavy, clearly showing her extreme fear of the Guardians of the Cauldron.