Chapter 32: Don't Look Back

He Lingchuan naturally heard it too. He held his breath, focused inward, and remained perfectly still, like an old monk in deep meditation, utterly oblivious to whatever he heard.

Seeing his lack of reaction, the voice changed. It became soft, sweet, and endearing, like a gentle girl of sixteen or seventeen pouring out her heart. As He Lingchuan listened, it increasingly sounded like a girl he had a crush on in his youth.

He inwardly scoffed. That "sweet girl" had run off with a rich heir from her hometown before even finishing school, giving birth to two more in less than three years. The moment he saw those snot-nosed children, he felt incredibly foolish for his younger self. This Three-Corpse Worm hadn't done its homework; it didn't understand that what's past is past.

Just then, the boat suddenly shuddered, as if some heavy creature had climbed aboard. Immediately afterward, shouts and screams from soldiers echoed from the back, along with curses from the desert bandits and the clang of drawn swords.

Combat had begun in the back, and the fighting was fierce.

The nearest scream rang out directly behind He Lingchuan. He had seemingly just spoken with that very soldier.

Then the monster charged straight towards them, its heavy footsteps sounding as if they were directly treading on their hearts.

Was this a trick by the Three-Corpse Worm, meant to lure him into turning around?

But if it were real, remaining still would likely make him the monster's snack. This was the Panlong Desert, a place where many strange beasts roamed. Who could guarantee that one or two wouldn't climb onto the boat to devour people?

Closer and closer! This heavy sense of oppression made the hairs on He Lingchuan's neck stand on end.

He quickly looked at He Chunhua. His father was facing him and should be able to see what was behind him.

He Chunhua's facial muscles twitched slightly, his expression even a bit grim, but his eyes were vacant. He Lingchuan found this expression unfamiliar; he didn't know what his father was hearing.

How could they convey their intentions to each other through mere eye contact?

But with the Three-Corpse Worms present, no one dared to open their mouth.

Fortunately, He Chunhua suddenly snapped back to reality. He stared intently at his eldest son, and as if hearing his unspoken thoughts, suddenly winked his right eye at him.

This action was very rare for a dignified prefect, yet it directly broke the tense and terrifying atmosphere. He Lingchuan secretly let out a sigh of relief, his mind instantly at ease.

It's fake!

His father was trying to tell him that whatever he was hearing was not real!

Sure enough, the monster's footsteps rushed past him from behind; he could even hear its heavy breathing, but the next second, it vanished.

Only the whistling wind remained in his ears.

The wisps of illusory smoke around him also lost interest and drifted off to other places.

He Lingchuan had passed the test, and he, too, winked at his father.

The small red pills everyone had taken earlier were Soul-Bending Powder specially concocted by State Preceptor Sun for this journey. Their main ingredient was Heartrot Grass, which grew in extremely yin-heavy places. After humans consumed it, they could not only temporarily see "unclean things" but also allow their life-flames to temporarily mask their living aura. As long as the Three-Corpse Worms did not enter the body through the nine orifices, they would only perceive the users as inanimate objects.

But the biggest weakness of this method was that one must not turn back easily!

Three "life-flames" surround a person's upper body, protecting the heart aperture and warding off external evil. But if you turned around while being targeted by a Three-Corpse Worm, your life-flames would immediately weaken, and you could no longer hide from it.

This was not Sun Fuping's unique invention but a method recorded in the notes of a sorcerer from the Xianyou Kingdom. Your opponent often knows you best; the Xianyou Kingdom and Panlong City had been at war for over thirty years, so they must have spent every day devising ways to counter the Three-Corpse Worms.

In fact, such incidents often occurred at night in wild forests and fields: when a traveler heard someone calling their name from behind and inadvertently turned around, their "life-lamp" would weaken, allowing evil spirits to invade.

When He Lingchuan first received the small pills, a thought struck him. The Xianyou Kingdom had been destroyed a century ago, so acquiring a sorcerer's notes from that era must have been difficult. Furthermore, Heartrot Grass was a rare commodity; its growth conditions were harsh, and it could not be cultivated or mass-produced. Just collecting the raw materials and concocting enough Soul-Bending Powder for three hundred people would require immense effort.

Had Grand Marshal and State Preceptor Sun truly only begun preparing for the exploration of the Panlong Ruins half a year ago?

Of course, this thought was only a fleeting one, and He Lingchuan did not dwell on it.

He saw that He Chunhua's expression had returned to its usual composure, and the Three-Corpse Worms around him had dispersed, indicating that his father had also passed the test.

But as his gaze swept over the personal guard behind He Chunhua, he was suddenly startled: "Hey, don't..."

This man actually had red, tear-filled eyes?

The words had barely left his mouth when the personal guard turned his head.

He Lingchuan watched helplessly as the life-flame on the guard's left shoulder 'puff'ed out.

The light from the other two immediately dimmed.

The Three-Corpse Worms hovering nearby, like sharks smelling blood, swiftly flicked their tails and burrowed into his ears and nostrils!

The guard's eyes immediately glazed over.

Seeing his eldest son's face change drastically as he stared behind him, the veins on He Chunhua's neck immediately bulged. It was clear he was exerting great effort to resist the instinct to turn around.

He did not turn. Instead, he lunged two steps forward.

This was truly a prime example of successful self-preservation, because the personal guard suddenly drew the long blade from his waist and aimed a powerful downward strike at the back of He Chunhua's head!

The two men were originally only four feet apart, and the guard's movements were swift; he intended to cleave his leader's head like a watermelon.

When the blade came down, it was less than two inches from He Chunhua's skull.

He Lingchuan brushed past his father and, with a swift lunge, crashed into the guard's embrace, pinning both the man and his blade.

The guard's movements immediately froze, and a blade tip protruded from his back.

He Chunhua, having narrowly escaped death, took several deep breaths. Then, staring straight ahead, he said, "Chuan'er, turn around slowly. I'll take care of these puppets."

He Lingchuan pushed the corpse away and saw a wisp of phantom smoke emerge from the deceased's seven orifices, float back into the air, and drift unhurriedly.

With the person dead, the Three-Corpse Worm could no longer reside within and had no choice but to leave.

He kept his neck still, using his waist and legs to pivot, and slowly turned his body. This way, the life-flames on his shoulders remained undisturbed and would not be extinguished by his own turning.

The boat, however, was already in chaos.

The personal guard was not an isolated case. Although they had been repeatedly warned and instructed beforehand, seven or eight people were still swayed by the voices at their ears, extinguished their own "life-lamps," and were possessed by Three-Corpse Worms.

Once possessed, they recognized no one and attacked anyone they saw.

In just a few breaths, a riot broke out on the boat: four or five people were injured, and one unlucky person had half his head sliced off.

He Chunhua charged towards the killer. This was a desert bandit who remained agile even after being possessed by a Three-Corpse Worm. He didn't engage in direct combat but played hide-and-seek among the crowd, occasionally injuring one or two more people.

If one constantly reminded oneself not to turn around, their flexibility would certainly be greatly reduced. He Chunhua felt as sluggish as a zombie; his movements were three beats slower when chasing someone, and he simply couldn't get around this irritating foe.

Just as he was about to unleash a spell, a dagger flew from behind and 'whoosh'—it plunged into the killer's right eye.

It passed straight through, front to back, bursting open a spray of blood.