Chapter 291

The tomb owner himself possessed no power. If left undisturbed, he was merely an ordinary corpse buried there. Therefore, transforming him into a puppet was neither difficult nor costly.

However, due to the unique carrying capacity of his physique, not only did three-colored light exist within him, but Buddhist golden light also flowed in his eyes. These various coincidences endowed the puppet with incredibly terrifying power. This kind of opportunity was rare and couldn't be sought, requiring the right time, the right place, and, counterintuitively, human discord. Zhao Yi felt he would never encounter such an opportunity again in his lifetime.

However, the first thing he had to do now was send his physical body out. Once the fight truly began in the cramped tomb chamber, his physical body would certainly be in danger. Perhaps it was because multiple powerful and chaotic forces were currently circulating "within" him, and this feeling of being overwhelmed was too intense. It made Zhao Yi now regard his own physical body with a sense of displeasure, no matter how he looked at it. Without comparison, there's no harm. Relatively speaking, his original body was too frail, like a willow tree swaying in the wind—truly contemptible.

His arms were firmly pinned on both sides, but his feet could still move. First, he kicked "Zhao Yi" upwards. Once "Zhao Yi" was airborne, he aimed towards the looting hole above and, like kicking a ball, punted "Zhao Yi" out. The entire process required him to restrain his strength, repeatedly, because if he lost control, his actual body would be kicked apart by "himself." Above, "Zhao Yi" successfully and safely landed on the ground outside through the looting hole. The increased distance from his physical body caused Zhao Yi's consciousness below to experience a dizzying pull, but fortunately, he quickly adjusted.

Sensing that this body was once again clearly "out of control," the golden light in Zhao Yi's eyes flared brightly for a moment, and along with it, the three-colored glow within his body also began to rapidly vie for dominance. When the person named Li previously controlled the tomb owner, he had encountered situations where the control link was severed. But the current situation was completely different from that day.

First, the General on the right opened its mouth and spewed dense corpse qi towards Zhao Yi's eyes, covering the golden light. The Noble's clothes tore open, and bone worms formed from its bones flew out, burrowing towards Zhao Yi's chest—specifically, directly into his heart, liver, and lungs. The entry of bone worms into each area triggered corresponding colors of light. The two forces within his body were suppressed, greatly reducing the pressure on Zhao Yi in controlling the puppet. Clearly, the General and the Noble had noticed the "tomb owner's" changes and began to actively cooperate. Their allegiance had been decided by the person named Li long ago.

Zhao Yi would not change it, nor did he have any reason to. He could only shout in his heart:"Great Emperor, you must watch closely; I will fight to the death and bleed for you!"

Zhao Yi's arms trembled, sending a signal to his allies on both sides. Indeed, the next moment, the General and the Noble released their grip on Zhao Yi's arms. Without a word, Zhao Yi raised his right hand, extended his index and middle fingers, and jabbed them into his own eyes! As soon as his fingertips touched his eyes, before he could even exert force, an invisible golden barrier already sprang up. What followed was an even greater surge of boiling Buddhist golden light.

Zhao Yi knew his control over this body would be very limited; he had to complete the "self-harm" in the shortest possible time. Though Young Master Zhao had not explored underground like Li Zhuiyuan, Zhao Yi possessed a multitude of magical techniques in his mind. Yet, as his thoughts raced, he couldn't find one suitable for the situation. After all, this level of confrontation was simply too high-end; most techniques weren't even qualified to be considered.

Whether it was giving up completely or a crucial decision to trust his ancestors and go all out, Zhao Yi activated the fundamental art of the Zhao clan. The Zhao Clan's fundamental art had a significant advantage in activating various spells, but overall, it wasn't considered exceptionally powerful. Even members of the Zhao family felt that while their art was practical, its mediocrity in combat couldn't be hidden, which was why generations of the Zhao family had diligently collected and supplemented martial arts techniques from the jianghu.

But this time, as Zhao Yi performed his clan's fundamental art, the two fingers that had been completely blocked outside began to glow with a faint blue light and slowly pressed downwards. It's important to know that the power emanating from the eyes came from "that being," yet this ancient blue light was still able to continuously break through under such immense pressure. There was no overwhelmingly powerful aura, only a calm, persistent advance. Even if towering mountains lay ahead, it simply looked down at the path and ascended step by step.

Zhao Yi suddenly realized... it wasn't his clan's fundamental art that was lacking, but his own people. The legacy left by ancestor Zhao Wuyang was that the stronger the person, the stronger the legacy. It was a path of accumulating strength for a sudden burst, but it was difficult for later generations to reach that same height and appreciate the same view. For a moment, Zhao Yi was filled with great emotion. Although his ancestor had humble beginnings, the wealth left behind was incredibly rich and precious. The Zhao clan of Jiujiang failing to produce another "Dragon King" was truly due to the descendants' lack of ambition.

His fingertips poked into his eye sockets, and a sharp pain ensued. However, Zhao Yi was already accustomed to this kind of self-mutilation. His fingertips curled, turning a poke into a dig, and he forcefully gouged out his own eyes. These eyes were not only bright but also burning hot. Even after being gouged out, they still had a strong impetus, attempting to return to the body. He didn't know if his "allies" were ready, but he had done what he needed to do. Zhao Yi threw the two eyeballs, one to the General and one to the Noble. Both sides swallowed the eyes. Golden flames then erupted all over their bodies; this was them consuming the eyes using the power of their shadowy side.

Zhao Yi's movements didn't stop. First, with both hands, he forcefully tore open the flesh on his chest, as if unzipping and opening a jacket. Then, the red liver and white lungs were grasped, torn, and finally pulled out of his body, one by one. Like the eyeballs, once detached, they immediately tried to return. Zhao Yi gave the liver to the General and the lungs to the Noble. As expected, they began chewing and swallowing. Flames, mixed with various colors, overflowed from their bodies, filling the entire tomb and even the entire underground area. Many plants on the surface above also began to rapidly wither.

The last part was the organ Zhao Yi was most familiar with: the black heart. He didn't dig it out immediately because doing so would cause the puppet to lose its last portion of power. Above, "Zhao Yi"'s Heart's Gate of Life and Death spun frantically. Below, Zhao Yi's black heart continuously twisted. Zhao Yi used this damaged puppet body as the final vessel for smelting.

"Roar.""Roar!"The General and the Noble, their bodies mostly dissolved, roared.

To blend in and not break the atmosphere, Zhao Yi also opened his mouth and roared along. Immediately after, Zhao Yi spread his arms and voluntarily embraced the General and the Noble, burning together with them.

"Rumble..." The small hill began to collapse. The small river that once flowed through it exposed its riverbed. What should have been verdant in summer became a vast barren expanse; even the soil lost its vitality.

"Ugh..." Zhao Yi, returned to his original body, crawled out of the pit. After shaking off the dirt, he spread his limbs and lay on the ground. While gasping for breath, his body occasionally twitched. Not only were his eyes bleeding, but the intense tearing sensation in his heart, liver, and lungs was incredibly clear. Zhao Yi hadn't expected that controlling the puppet to self-harm would transfer to his own physical body. And this was merely the lowest level manifestation of this secret technique's side effects.

Chaos appeared in Zhao Yi's consciousness. For a moment, he felt he was Zhao Yi; then, he felt he was Su Luo. One moment, he felt immensely excited and proud to have accomplished such a significant feat; the next, he found life utterly meaningless. But soon, perhaps due to past inertia, the part belonging to Su Luo disappeared. Zhao Yi recovered and regained consciousness. The reason Su Luo disappeared was that he, as usual, sealed himself away in the deepest part of Zhao Yi's consciousness. This was his most familiar and adaptable environment, allowing him to minimize interference with Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi sat up and tapped his forehead. He had only half-heartedly experienced that secret technique, relying on the previous arrangements left by the person named Li, yet the negative effects were so strong. Su Luo was merely a gentle, peaceful, and unassuming personality. Had it been someone violent, twisted, or extremely vicious, Zhao Yi's mind would likely still be engaged in an internal struggle right now.

"Hoo... hoo..." Zhao Yi was now immensely grateful that he hadn't practiced the black leather book given to him by that person under the peach forest. If he had practiced it, there would have been no other outcome: he would have become addicted to the controlling power brought by this terrifying secret technique, eventually leading him to the same fate—to plant trees.

"Li, you're really a monster!"

Li Zhuiyuan surfaced and climbed onto the boat. Tan Wenbin had chatted up the boat owner, who happily agreed when Tan suggested they stop there to enjoy the moon and chat, as the moonlight was perfect that night.

"Little Yuan Ge?" Hearing the movement, Tan Wenbin immediately ran to the stern of the boat. The young man sat there, soaking wet, but his breathing was steady and even. The former Tan Wenbin might not have noticed much, but now he could clearly perceive this. It was like a top student who diligently studied and solved problems but never took an exam or appeared on any list with results. Little Yuan Ge hadn't practiced martial arts, but he had consistently been building his foundation. Heaven knows how deep that foundation would be when Little Yuan Ge reached adulthood and his body was fully developed enough to officially begin martial arts training.

"I'm fine, let's go back.""Alright!"Tan Wenbin ran to tell the boat owner to dock.

As the boat sailed, Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and looked at the water below. A massive Bodhisattva Dharmakaya continuously rose from below, growing larger and larger, until the boat gradually became tiny before this "face." The next moment, the Bodhisattva's eyes opened, like a high-ranking deity, looking down upon tiny ants.

This was the second time Li Zhuiyuan had met the Bodhisattva's gaze. The first time, he was nervous and apprehensive, relying on the backing of his identity to make the other party wary, which gave him the courage to meet its gaze. This time, Li Zhuiyuan didn't need any of that. The young man calmly met those eyes. It wasn't that the Bodhisattva was no longer frightening, nor that his own confidence had grown stronger. Given such a vast disparity in power between them, the impact of such subtle changes was actually minimal. The real reason was that, now, he had substantively taken an opposing stance.

The gigantic Bodhisattva face slowly sank, quickly disappearing again. Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, then opened them again, letting out a soft sigh. It seemed that Runsheng and Zhao Yi had succeeded. Although the Dizang Hall had long been built into Fengdu in the mortal world's tourist area, in reality, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had not been able to enter the true Fengdu. From the Bodhisattva's earlier use of Pudu Zhenjun's avatar to help build the Zhenjun system, and later personally crafting the Guanjiang Shou (official generals), it was clear that the chosen materials hadn't truly touched the core of the Underworld. Former ghost kings like White Crane Child had never actually served as officials in the Underworld; instead, it felt more like jianghu wanderers being recruited.

He himself was the Bodhisattva's key to entering Fengdu. Yin Meng was the bloodline key, he was the legacy key, and the three-colored glow sealed beneath the three incense sticks, which originally came from the Underworld and held revered status, were keys actively sent out from the Underworld. However, having the keys didn't necessarily mean the door had to be opened. What the Bodhisattva wanted was certainly not just a day trip to Fengdu. It wanted to station itself in Fengdu and completely take over the Underworld. This could only mean that the Underworld was truly in trouble. More specifically, the Great Emperor... was in trouble.

Only when an opportunity arose did the Bodhisattva actively seek out the keys and push this wave forward. But now, the keys it had sought were opposing and stopping it. Li Zhuiyuan didn't know if his choice was correct, just as he didn't truly understand what effect sending Runsheng and Zhao Yi back would have. He only knew it would have *some* effect.

Zhao Yi's original strategy of "sitting back and watching two 'immortals' fight" couldn't be called wrong; it should have been the safest and most secure option. To be a good key, ride the river's flow, do what needed to be done, help the Bodhisattva open the Ghost Gate, and then let the "immortals" fight their battle while they themselves sang their way home.

However, Li Zhuiyuan felt that this path of serving the great while playing both sides was only suitable for a stage where both parties were in a stalemate and couldn't overpower each other. Now, they were on the verge of reaching a phased outcome, in a white-hot, anxious struggle. Trying to offend neither side would likely result in whoever won coming to settle accounts with you. There was no other way; at this point, he had to completely side with one party.

After the boat docked, the owner insisted on taking Tan Wenbin for a drink. At the night market stalls by the pier, with small tables and stools, the Ghost Street above, and the river view beside them, prices were very affordable. Sitting down and leaning back brought immense comfort. Li Zhuiyuan ordered a clear-soup wonton, freshly wrapped by the stall owner; it tasted delicious. After eating, Li Zhuiyuan didn't rush Tan Wenbin back, letting him continue to chat with the boat owner.

After they had eaten, drunk, and chatted to their hearts' content, when it was time to pay, Tan Wenbin inevitably had a playful tussle with the boat owner. The boat owner, relying on his middle-aged boatman's strength, tried to overpower Tan Wenbin first, but unfortunately, Tan Wenbin was now full of bestial vigor and directly delivered a body block to the owner. After paying, Tan Wenbin and Li Zhuiyuan left, leaving the boat owner behind, muttering curses in a mixture of anger and amusement.

By the time they returned to the guesthouse, it was late night, almost 1 AM. Arriving downstairs at their building, they looked up and saw someone standing at the edge of the rooftop—a familiar figure, Elder Zhai.

"Brother Bin, you stay down here, I'll go up.""Understood."Li Zhuiyuan ran into the building. Tan Wenbin stepped back a few paces, then took off his jacket and held it open. By the window of a room, Lin Shuyou leaned there, smiling and waving to Tan Wenbin in greeting. Tan Wenbin pointed to the rooftop. Lin Shuyou was confused. Grabbing the window edge, he twisted his entire body out to look, only then seeing the person standing up there. This sight startled Lin Shuyou so much that he didn't even bother to retract himself, instead scrambling like a gecko up the wall using both his hands and feet. It truly wasn't Lin Shuyou's carelessness. He was solely focused on guarding against external invasions. Who would have thought that one of their own would run up there and possibly jump off?

After reaching the spot directly below where Elder Zhai stood, Lin Shuyou stopped. If Elder Zhai were to jump next, the moment he leaped, Lin Shuyou would be able to catch him instantly. Li Zhuiyuan ran to the rooftop and, seeing Elder Zhai standing there with his hands behind his back, understood in his heart that the old man wasn't about to jump; he was probably just enjoying the view.

"Grandpa Zhai, why are you here? It's cold at night, and windy on the roof.""Probably because I had hotpot tonight; I feel hot and can't sleep, so I thought I'd come up for some fresh air."

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Elder Zhai and said, "Then next time we gather for a meal, let's choose something lighter." Elder Zhai replied, "There are light dishes in Sichuan cuisine, but you have to consider your teacher's wallet and the meal standard for public expense reimbursement." As he spoke, Elder Zhai reached out and patted the young man's back, "Hehe, sorry, I scared you and made you worry."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Not at all. You're not a fragile person."Elder Zhai: "Then what kind of person do you think I am?"Li Zhuiyuan: "You are a useful person."Elder Zhai: "I'm just an old man who's afraid of death."

After speaking, Elder Zhai turned and walked downstairs. Li Zhuiyuan accompanied him, leaving the rooftop and going down, until he had seen him back to his room and closed the door for him. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Zheng Hua emerge from the adjacent room, carrying a thermos.

"Little Yuan, I'm going to get some water. Could you please watch my door? The lock is broken, and it's hard to open with the key once closed. The front desk hasn't sent anyone to fix it today.""Okay."Li Zhuiyuan entered Zheng Hua's room. Although Zheng Hua presented himself as a disciple to Elder Zhai, his actual rank was not low, and he enjoyed the privilege of a single room. A stack of documents lay on the table. Li Zhuiyuan didn't intend to peek, but after a glance, he saw photos of Qian Ying and Wu Lan. Then, he decided to peek.

On the surface, they died at the hands of the old monk in the temple, but since it occurred during work, pension and compensation procedures still needed to be followed. These documents were mostly faxed. Zheng Hua was handling this matter for his junior brother and sister.

"Both orphans, and from the same orphanage?" Li Zhuiyuan looked at their files and discovered something unusual. The two must have known each other since childhood, having lived together in the orphanage for a period before each found adoptive parents. No wonder after joining a team with the same teacher, their relationship quickly warmed and they became a couple. But were there really such coincidences in the world? From the perspective of those involved, this might truly be "destiny."

Li Zhuiyuan saw the archived orphanage photos of Qian Ying and Wu Lan. They were faxed and somewhat blurry, but Li Zhuiyuan could mentally fill in the details. The young man's gaze slightly narrowed. Their facial features were too poor, clearly indicating a destiny of weak family ties and solitude. The records also stated that they were not abandoned; their parents had died, and no relatives were willing to raise them. Combining this with their birth dates, a rough calculation showed everything matched up. Physiognomy and birth charts weren't necessarily accurate. Li Zhuiyuan was skilled in this but wasn't superstitious about it; in his eyes, it was merely a probabilistic generalization. But the problem was, when he had met Qian Ying and Wu Lan, he hadn't noticed any issues with their facial features. Placing their childhood photos next to their adult ID photos, taken after they started working, it was very clear that their facial features had changed. Their fates had been altered by someone.

Zheng Hua returned with hot water. Li Zhuiyuan didn't avoid him and continued to stand by the table, watching."Sigh, I only just found out that my junior brother and sister lived in an orphanage. It's so pitiful. I didn't take good care of them. I should have gone up the mountain with them that day.""Brother Zheng, you don't need to blame yourself. Nobody wants accidents to happen."By age, Zheng Hua was considerably older than Li Lan. Although Li Zhuiyuan called Elder Zhai "Grandpa," Elder Zhai and Engineer Luo were of the same generation; thus, Li Zhuiyuan could only call Zheng Hua "Brother" here.

"Mm." Zheng Hua took out cups, made himself a glass of orange crystal drink, and prepared a cup of powdered milk for Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan took the milk and sipped it. Zheng Hua picked up a bag of documents from the floor, placed it on the table, and said, "Little Yuan, could you do me a favor? I need to handle my junior brother and sister's affairs first. Could you help me organize this? It's the teacher's resume. It needs to be condensed into an introductory brochure. Please summarize it, focusing on engineering projects in this area."

"Is it for an award?""I don't know, the teacher just asked me to organize it.""Okay."Generally, before a formal meeting, the speaker's resume would be compiled into a booklet and distributed to attendees. The important meeting was in two days, but the presenter was Engineer Luo, not Elder Zhai. Li Zhuiyuan quickly flipped through the documents, asking as he read, "Brother Zheng, do you carry these things with you all the time?" How much admiration must one have for their teacher to carry their resume around constantly?

"No, they were mailed here long ago. They arrived a few days before us."Li Zhuiyuan nodded, but soon, as he flipped to a certain part of the resume, past memories began to flood the young man's mind. These projects were all surprisingly overseen by Elder Zhai. Li Zhuiyuan remembered several special tomb discoveries from his childhood when he was with Li Lan, which had kept Li Lan extremely busy on multiple occasions. Elder Zhai's resume naturally wouldn't detail what tombs were discovered or what strange things happened during those periods, but when the times and locations overlapped, it was clear that these things must have occurred during construction. If construction had been in Guanzhong or the Central Plains, finding nothing would be abnormal. But the problem was that these construction sites were not historically known burial areas, yet major tombs that gave Li Lan headaches were frequently unearthed. Was Elder Zhai genuinely working on engineering projects... or was he using the projects as a pretext to search for something himself? Most likely, it was a combination of both, without conflict.

"I've organized them, Brother Zheng, take a look.""Good, mm, very good, excellent." Zheng Hua nodded in satisfaction. "You've worked hard, Little Yuan. It's getting late, you should go back and rest.""You too, Brother Zheng, get some sleep."

Leaving Zheng Hua's room and heading to the next floor, Li Zhuiyuan heard sounds from Lin Shuyou's room. He pushed the door open and saw Tan Wenbin standing by the bed, while Lin Shuyou sat cross-legged on the bed.

"Little Yuan Ge, I just got here, and I saw A-You like this. I tried to check him, couldn't find any problems, but I just can't wake him up."Indeed, there were no energy fluctuations on Lin Shuyou's body; he looked as if he had entered meditation and fallen asleep. Li Zhuiyuan got onto the bed, stood before A-You, gently pried open his eyelids—his spirit seemed normal. Then he pressed his thumb against Lin Shuyou's glabella—his body seemed normal. He knocked with his knuckles, as if knocking on a door. The next moment, Lin Shuyou's vertical pupil opened; this was the response from the Divine Child. Li Zhuiyuan nodded, and the vertical pupil disappeared. The Divine Child was also normal.

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's indeed not A-You's problem."Yet A-You clearly had a problem.

After waiting about five more minutes, Lin Shuyou slowly awoke."Little Yuan Ge, Brother Bin, I just had a dream. In the dream, I came to a grand and solemn temple, and someone there was talking to me, saying many, many things..."Tan Wenbin: "What exactly did they say?"Lin Shuyou: "Then suddenly a voice behind me shouted: 'I am the Bodhisattva! Don't listen to Him!'"He paused, then scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, saying, "Then I woke up, and all those words I heard earlier were completely forgotten. I can't remember a single word."

Li Zhuiyuan: "That one got anxious."Tan Wenbin: "The Bodhisattva?"Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "Yes. Nominally, A-You is under its command, though only nominally."That being wanted to influence and interfere with Lin Shuyou in this way. But it failed. Because between Lin Shuyou and that being, there was still Sun Baishen. It was Sun Baishen who interrupted this influence process, which meant that Lin Shuyou, as a Zhenjun, was actually not controlled by that Bodhisattva at all; even whispering was impossible.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Alright, it's nothing. Get some rest."

Back in his room, Li Zhuiyuan took a shower and lay down on the bed. The young man remained awake, but Tan Wenbin was the first to fall asleep, snoring loudly. Once accustomed to the snoring, it no longer bothered him. Moreover, when outside, a teammate's snoring could provide a sense of security. But as the snoring continued, it suddenly stopped short. Li Zhuiyuan sat up. Without turning on the light, he used the moonlight streaming through the window to look at Tan Wenbin, who appeared to be in some pain.

"Sure enough, A-You wasn't the last; this is just the beginning. Are you finally showing your true intentions?"Li Zhuiyuan knew what the Bodhisattva was doing: it was attempting to further infiltrate his entire team in its own unique way. However, there was no panic in the young man's eyes, not even a trace of worry.

In his dream, Tan Wenbin saw his four spirit beasts. They stood on a wide path, with golden petals continuously falling on both sides and Sanskrit chants resounding. The four spirit beasts gradually walked into Tan Wenbin's body, merging as they would in reality. The moment they merged, this solemn and majestic scene began to distort, then collapsed. Tan Wenbin didn't experience anything significant; he just rolled over and continued to snore. If it had been the Tan Wenbin of the past, when he only had two spirit beasts, he would certainly have been affected. But "The Five Sense Diagram" was created by Wei Zhengdao himself, and it was intrinsically a solid seal.

Meanwhile, below the dark cliff, Liang Yan's figure continuously groped her way down from above, approaching this spot. Below, Runsheng lay in the bushes, holding Yin Meng. He had borne almost all the impact from the fall.

"Phew... I finally found you two." Liang Yan looked at the two pierced by the stick. First, both were breathing and still alive. Pulling out the stick was difficult, and she didn't dare. It wasn't just a matter of treating injuries; remembering the terrifying sight of Yin Meng crawling out of the grave, Liang Yan didn't dare act on her own. Upon inspection, Liang Yan found that the stick had pierced Yin Meng's chest in a way that avoided vital points, but Runsheng's condition was very serious. She remembered that during the day, Runsheng had swung the shovel at Yin Meng without hesitation each time, yet he had still protected her to the best of his ability. The former, Liang Yan could understand: in that situation, letting her go would have been most detrimental to her. Any extra kindness would only bring greater cruelty to Yin Meng. The latter, Liang Yan envied greatly. She even imagined that it was she and Zhao Yi lying there now, skewered together by a stick.

At this moment, Yin Meng slowly opened her eyes. Liang Yan was startled and immediately retreated. She certainly didn't want to endure that terrifying illusion a second time. The haze in Yin Meng's eyes showed a tendency to re-condense. But at this moment, Runsheng's blood flowed along the stick onto Yin Meng's body. The haze in Yin Meng's eyes was dispersed by the malevolent qi, and her eyes closed again.

In Yin Meng's consciousness, she was lying in cold, deep water, her soul completely sealed. Before her stood a towering statue, identical to those seen everywhere in the ghost city. Its back was that of the Great Emperor of Fengdu. However, on the side Yin Meng couldn't see—the front of the statue—was a compassionate Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva's golden body was continuously shattering, irregularly cracking and flaking off section by section. It was as if someone was furiously beating it with a shovel.

After Tan Wenbin returned to normal, Li Zhuiyuan also closed his eyes and fell asleep. The dream came. The young man felt himself sitting on a palanquin, swaying slightly up and down. In front, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou walked arm-in-arm, chatting and laughing. Behind, Runsheng and Yin Meng walked side-by-side; Runsheng carried many items, while Yin Meng happily ate local snacks she had just bought. The young man lowered his head and saw that he was being carried by skeletal figures.

The palanquin was moving upward. The surrounding shops gradually closed, and pedestrians and tourists became fewer and fewer. Eventually, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, and the others also disappeared. Yet the palanquin was carried even more steadily than before, and the view became much higher. The young man looked down again and found that the skeletal figures who had previously served as sedan bearers were now all wearing official robes and caps, and all were on stilts. Orange-red lanterns hung from both sides of the street. As he passed, the lanterns continuously floated upwards, drifting into the air, like eyes watching from above.

A massive gate appeared before Li Zhuiyuan. It wasn't tall, yet it gave an impression of towering height that even mountains couldn't match. It wasn't wide, yet it separated Yin and Yang. This was the Ghost Gate. A gate that could only appear in one's perception, yet defied any written description.

"Click..." The Ghost Gate was opening. The surging fear from outside the gate and the wailing despair from within collided with immense impact at that instant, creating swirling clouds of hysterical mist. Through the newly opened crack in the gate, Li Zhuiyuan looked inside. With just one glance, the young man felt a tearing sensation, as if his soul was being stripped away.

"Buzz!" The dream ended, and the sky outside brightened. This was not just a dream, but a clue from the waves. Unlike previous times when he had to probe and discern, this time, the waves practically slapped him in the face without any concealment. To complete this wave, the Ghost Gate had to be opened. This gate, not only did the Bodhisattva want it opened, but it also reflected the river's attitude.

Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed to wash up. Tan Wenbin also woke up, called Lin Shuyou, and the three of them went to the restaurant for breakfast. After eating, they went outside to get some fresh air. The sky was overcast, blocking out the sun, as if the recent morning had been a mistake, and it was about to revert to deep night.

"Bang!" A collision sound came from afar. Someone ran to the guesthouse entrance, waving their hands: "There's a car accident down there, quick, come help lift the car!" Xue Liangliang and Engineer Luo, who were eating breakfast, dropped their chopsticks and ran out. Li Zhuiyuan and Lin Shuyou followed, while Tan Wenbin stayed at the guesthouse.

On the road below the guesthouse, a sedan and a truck had collided. The front of the sedan was wedged into the truck's undercarriage, and the driver inside was covered in blood but couldn't get out. Everyone worked together to pull the car out. At first, not many people came, so some ran back to call for more help. But after Lin Shuyou began to exert his strength, with several long scraping sounds, the car was dragged out. The driver was not seriously injured, only his face was scraped, which looked bad.

"Damn it, that son of a bitch suddenly appeared on the road, scared me so much I had to swerve. Should've just run him over!" The driver was very angry; if someone hadn't suddenly darted out, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation. Li Zhuiyuan looked in the direction the driver was cursing. No one was there. After walking over, the young man lowered his head and found wet shoe prints on the ground—they were cloth shoes. He rubbed his boot sole on them; they felt a bit sticky. His nose also caught a faint scent of corpse decay—the familiar smell of a "dead-fallen" being, which he hadn't smelled for quite a while.

Following the footprints, Li Zhuiyuan started walking downhill. Once Lin Shuyou was done, he quickly ran to catch up. The footprints weren't on the main road, but from that spot, by continuously sliding down the slope, one could descend the mountain. After pursuing for some distance, they found the footprints led to Ghost Street. However, they didn't go from bottom to top or top to bottom, but rather entered from a middle section.

"Little Yuan Ge, this 'dead-fallen' can really walk far.""Yes."It was also because there was no sun that morning; if there had been sunlight, the footprints and corpse smell would have long disappeared. Following the footprints, they arrived at Ghost Street. The footprints clearly led to the entrance of a clothing store. The shop door was tightly closed. Someone inside was breathing rapidly and weakly.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Ram the door."Lin Shuyou shoulder-charged, shattering a door panel, while also controlling the sound volume. Walking inside, they saw Zhang Chi, holding a disciplinary ruler, covered in blood, fallen into his sister Zhang Xiuxiu's arms. He had fought, but he had lost. The "dead-fallen" being hadn't intended to kill him, or rather, had no clear malicious intent. The reason was simple: if it had, Zhang Chi and Zhang Xiuxiu would certainly be dead by now.

"Give him the pill, the one for corpse poison.""Okay."Lin Shuyou took out a pill and handed it to Zhang Xiuxiu. Zhang Xiuxiu pointed to the inner room: "It, it, it's inside!"Li Zhuiyuan: "He's not there anymore. He's gone."The young man entered the inner room. The clothes rack inside had collapsed, and clothes were scattered all over the floor. On the side against the wall, there was a human-shaped water stain, indicating that the "dead-fallen" being had just been lying there. In his memory, the first time he came to Fengdu, Yin Meng's grandfather's coffin was placed right here. The "dead-fallen" being might have instinctively returned home following old habits, or it might have come specifically to relive the past. It could now be confirmed: that "dead-fallen" being was Yin Meng's grandfather. He had clearly been personally sent into the Yin family's ancestral tomb, yet now he had emerged and returned home. He was the previous owner of this place, just coming back to look. Zhang Chi actually didn't need to stop him; it was a case of not acting when he should have, and acting recklessly when he shouldn't have.

The footprints continued outside into a courtyard, which had a coal stove, a clothesline, and a well. Li Zhuiyuan walked to the edge of the well and looked down. Yin Meng's grandfather must have gone down into the well.

"Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!" At that moment, a series of crisp sounds came from below the well opening, and the well water began to churn. Fish, many fish, astonishingly surged upwards from the bottom of the well.

"It's a fish tide! Go see! It's a fish tide!""So many fish, so many fish!"Someone on the street shouted excitedly, and many people ran to the pier. On the river surface directly opposite the pier, countless fish were thrashing. Normally, such a sight was only seen when a fishpond was drained and nets were cast, but how could draining a pond compare to the spectacle before their eyes?

Li Zhuiyuan and Lin Shuyou came to the street. Even without going down to the pier, they could still see the extraordinary sight on the distant river surface. Just then, the thick layer of dark clouds above the river surface suddenly thinned and gradually dispersed, as if a hole had been punched in the sky. Sunlight, long obscured, shone down from there, spilling onto the river. The fish scales reflected the light, turning golden, like a frenzied dance of golden scales, adding another layer of astonishing wonder to an already spectacular scene.

In contrast to the surrounding crowd's excitement, Li Zhuiyuan remained calm. He knew that this spectacle was not caused by the weather or a fish run. Deep beneath the water, the golden Buddha statue, buried under shackles, was shedding its layers. What it attracted was not just the vast schools of fish above.

The first procession arrived. In a sedan chair, a handsome man was carried, his eyes closed. The sixteen bearers were all delicate women. According to custom, this procession would disembark after nightfall, when all was silent, and proceed up Ghost Street to pay homage to Fengdu. Shackles floated up, locking them all in place. Then, streaks of golden light entered their bodies. The man in the sedan, whose eyes had been closed, opened them. Instead of allure, his hands were pressed together in a prayer gesture.

Next came the second, third, fourth... processions. Lin Shuyou cleared a path, pushing through the crowd. Li Zhuiyuan reached the pier's edge and touched the river water. An ordinary person's eyes couldn't perceive it, but from the perspective of an "Underworld Walker," the nearby waters were as black as ink.

Tonight,A hundred ghosts would charge the gate.