Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 142

The good news is that although Lin Shuyou was carrying a bamboo pole in the corpse-driving team, he was able to open his eyes and seemed to retain a certain degree of self-awareness.

This means that he may not have been "picked up" to join the team, but joined the team on his own initiative.

But the problem is, although Lin Shuyou occasionally has a brain short circuit, he is still very obedient when his face is not opened, especially when he is arranged to be in a team with Yin Meng.

Under normal circumstances, the two of them would never sneakily do something free-wheeling during an existing mission.

What my team pays most attention to is team discipline.

So, something unexpected happened in the middle of the process, causing both of them to be involved?

The bad news is, they are entering the water.

The sound of the bell in the hands of the yellow-robed Taoist priest walking in front gradually faded away, and the sound of water rose. Li Zhuiyuan had good hearing and could hear the sound of them walking into the lake one by one.

Li Zhuiyuan pursed his lips and began to think quickly.

Because... time is running out.

Right now, Lin Shuyou still retains a certain degree of self-awareness. Although Yin Meng was unable to observe it, it is highly likely that he is not in the worst state.

But now is now, what about one day later?
Tomorrow, eight teams will leave the lake and set out again, but by then, each team should be in the standard three-person formation of "two people carrying one person".

The eight teams will return around this time tomorrow, which is twenty-four hours from now.

During this day and night, can Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou still be safe under the lake?

Therefore, if one chooses to wait another 24 hours, it would be almost equivalent to giving up on the rescue and hoping that they could create a miracle and come out alive.

And if you want to do something, your only chance is that there is a dark shadow in front of you, the eighth team is about to come.

Sneak into the eighth team and get into the water!

Li Zhuiyuan made up his mind.

In the young man's dictionary, there is no option of lighting the lamp a second time and walking across the river to admit defeat.

Therefore, sooner or later, he would have to go down to the water.

So based on this, if we don't go down to join the rescue while Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou still retain their self-awareness, do we have to wait until they are both dead?

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and looked at Xiong Shan.

Xiong Shan has been there before, so he has experience.

Whether from the perspective of guidance or team cooperation, if Xiong Shan could go down together, it would undoubtedly greatly increase the success rate of rescuing people on their side.

There was a struggle in Xiong Shan's eyes now.

Li Zhuiyuan was unable to gauge the specific relationship between Xiong Shan and his brothers, but Xiong Shan had previously revealed his intention to stop after lighting the lamp a second time.

When a person actively expresses this kind of emotion, it means that his inner dam has actually been riddled with holes.

Moreover, it was his brother who went down, and he and his wife and children who stayed above. If the configuration had been reversed, his struggle might not have been so strong.

The situation has obviously gotten out of control. Xiong Shan can now light the lamp again, declare defeat directly, and then spend the rest of his life with his wife and children. At most, when he wakes up in the middle of the night, he will think of the two brothers he abandoned and feel a little condemnation in his heart.

"Ding-ling-ling... Ding-ling-ling... Ding-ling-ling..."

The bell of the eighth team is approaching.

Xiong Shan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the struggle in his eyes had disappeared.

He looked at Li Zhuiyuan, but he reached out his hand and patted his wife lightly, saying, "Let's go save the second and third sons."

Lihua breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on her face. She bent down and kissed her son, then hung the swaddle around herself, holding the child tight against her body, thus completely freeing her hands.

Facing Xiong Shan's gaze, Li Zhuiyuan replied calmly:

"Together."

Xiong Shan smiled: "I was defeated by you, little brother. You are more sentimental."

Li Zhuiyuan: “What should we do next?”

Xiong Shan had previously talked about methods of sneaking into the team, but he did not tell the actual details of the operation, in order to deliberately keep it secret.

"When they are about to enter or leave the 'inn', quickly blend into the group and throw away the paper money at the same time, so that you can successfully sneak in without alerting them.

After entering there, when the bamboo pole starts to turn, let go, stand still and pretend to be dead.

There is an eye there. Do not move when it is open. Wait until it is closed."

"Did you succeed in one go last time?"

“I am considered half a local. After I killed that evil cultivator, I also learned the Chenzhou Talisman he left behind. I have some understanding of the taboos and methods of corpse-driving.

If you are interested, little brother, I have some Chenzhou Talisman fragments in my hand. If we can all make it out alive this time, I can lend them to you to take a look. "

"I'm not interested in this."

"Yes, you are worried that this will affect my karma in the martial arts world."

Li Zhuiyuan did not explain further.

The eighth team had only three people, which meant that this team did not receive anyone.

Xiong Shan: "The three of us will go first, and the three of you will go later."

His words obviously included his son as one.

Li Zhuiyuan: “Okay.”

The boy looked at Runsheng and Tan Wenbin, and they nodded in response.

The eighth team arrived and everyone bowed their heads collectively.

When the team adjusted the angle and began to circle around the "Yin Yang Road Inn", which is the so-called "entering the inn", Xiong Shan and Lihua quickly stood up, one on each side, grabbed the bamboo pole with one hand, and held it up on their shoulders.

Three pieces of paper money fell from them.

When the team was about to "leave the station", Li Zhuiyuan and the other two quickly stood up.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin imitated Xiong Shan and the others' actions, while Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Runsheng's clothes.

Three pieces of paper money, throw them away quickly.

In an instant, I felt that my entire perspective had changed.

The surrounding environment became blurry, and only behind him, there seemed to be the shadow of an inn with lights on.

Although we were moving step by step, the speed was a bit exaggerated, and there was a weird sense of spatial dislocation.

Lin Shuyou must have sensed something before, so he opened his eyes to look for him, but he was in the corpse-driving team, while Li Zhuiyuan and others were in the inn holding paper money, which was equivalent to being in another barrier, so it was normal that Lin Shuyou failed to find anyone.

It is better to walk at the back of the team than at the front.

Because you have to avoid the one in the middle whose feet are not touching the ground and you can't look at it.

Therefore, Xiong Shan and others who were walking in front could look forward more freely, while Li Zhuiyuan and the other three who were walking behind could only look left and right.

But who can blame him for being experienced? The tour guide walked in front, so there was really nothing to say.

There was the sound of water splashing under my feet.

It's time to enter the water.

The front end enters first, followed by the back end.

The water was a little cold, but after being completely immersed in it, there was a suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe, but this was more of a psychological feeling and there was no real physical suffocation.

It's very uncomfortable, but I can't drown.

This should be another characteristic of this corpse-driving team.

It turns out that this is how Brother Liangliang felt every time he went to see the Queen of the Bai family.

Even though he had to go through this pain twice each time, it did not stop him from traveling back and forth to Nantong frequently.

The team was moving along the bottom of the lake, and the two bamboo poles were like a boat, holding it very steadily.

As he walked, Li Zhuiyuan saw an underwater village that was submerged in water. This should be Taohua Village.

The underwater Taohua Village still retains most of its original features, and the team walked through the middle of the village road.

After leaving the village, the team continued to move downwards. This should be the real Drinking Horse Lake.

Down, down, and down again, this should be heading towards the center of the lake.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan felt that his feet had missed the target, and the entire team began to descend vertically.

But even so, the "corpse driver" behind him continued to swing his legs back and forth at the original frequency, and everyone followed his rhythm and continued to swing their legs.

Sink, sink, and sink again...

"Wow!"

It’s your first experience of that feeling of floating to the surface after sinking, and the dirty yet real air rushes into your nasal cavity and begins to soothe your heart and lungs.

Here is an underwater pool.

There were many people standing in front of the pool.

Everyone stood with their lower body in the water, eyes closed, steady and motionless.

At this time, the bamboo pole began to turn.

Xiong Shan and Lihua let go of their hands and stood where they were. Runsheng and Tan Wenbin also let go of their hands and stood where they were.

The standard three-person corpse-driving team seemed to have completed the unloading here and then moved on.

There is an ancient and heavy stone gate on the pond. Only half of the stone gate on the left is left, and the stone gate on the right is full of cracks. There is a big pit on the steps leading to the stone gate, with four thick dents on the edge, as if it was smashed out by a fist.

There should have been elaborate murals painted on the surrounding rock walls, resembling an arc dome structure, but now these murals are covered with black stains of varying shades, which should be blood splashed on them.

A great war had taken place here, and many people had died.

Suddenly, the "sky" brightened.

A ball of red will-o'-the-wisp appeared above my head.

Will-o'-the-wisp is usually not this color, but in this ball of fire, it really looks like there is an eye, scanning below, bringing tremendous pressure.

These "eyes" gave Li Zhuiyuan a strong sense of familiarity.

The corpse-driving team, having unloaded the people, began to walk into the stone gate. As they walked, faint flames kept rubbing against each other around them, but were suppressed and extinguished by another force.

They shouldn't have moved. Under the ghost's eyes, any unnecessary movement would be regarded as heresy and lead to being burned at the stake.

But either the ghost eye has been destroyed, or it has been modified artificially, or both. In short, this ghost eye has no effect on the corpse driver.

The corpse drivers can enter and exit here freely, but other people cannot enjoy this treatment.

Even if there hadn't been a reminder from Xiong Shan on the shore, no one would have moved at this moment. The warning from Guiyan was so strong that it was almost tangible.

There were many rows of people standing in front. Li Zhuiyuan was short and could see some details of the front row through the gaps between the legs of the people below.

He found that he could see the backs of the heads of the people in the first two rows. Judging from the shape of their heads, they were all adults.

Moreover, the overall height clearly shows a trend of gradually increasing from the front row to the back.

This means that it's not because the first two rows are filled with people with dwarfism and large heads, it's because they were melted.

This pool of water is like a candlestick. The "people" brought here will melt and become wax to maintain the existence of the ghost eye.

But the problem is, although this technique is clever, it seems too out of place when placed next to the majestic ghost eye.

Wei Zhengdao once criticized the evil formation in detail and severely.

The young man agreed with this.

Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan knew that an ordinary evil formation could indeed disguise itself as a righteous aura to trick people into entering, but the more sophisticated the evil formation, the more difficult it would be to conceal its true aura. Moreover, there was no need to do so, because the person who was worthy of your careful preparation and arrangement would not be able to fail to see through this simple sleight of hand, which seemed a bit like taking off your pants to fart.

Moreover, if one wants to keep the ghost eye burning, it is too troublesome to rely on a team of corpse drivers to keep picking up people from outside to use as lamp oil. It is like relying on horses to pull a locomotive.

If I were to set up this ghost eye... isn't there a lake above? I can just use the tides of the lake to connect it with the ghost eye. As long as the lake does not dry up, the ghost eye can exist endlessly.

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan's eyes lit up.

No wonder I feel so familiar with it. After putting my own thoughts into it, isn't the operating principle of this ghost eye the Qin family's dragon-watching method? And isn't this formation itself the Qin family's Dragon Eye Locking Gate Formation?

It’s just that the way it maintains its existence has changed, and where there was originally a pair of ghost eyes, now there is only one left.

This kind of formation was set up in the Qin family's old house where they used to retreat, to prevent being disturbed by the outside world during the retreat; this formation was also set up in some special forbidden areas, so that if anyone was not brave enough to find their way here, he would be burned to death, and it would not be unfair at all.

It seems that this is the work of a Dragon King of the Qin family.

It was he who gathered the four great families of Laotianmen and suppressed the general here.

To be honest, this was Li Zhuiyuan's first visit to the "ancestors' relics".

Although this relic has been destroyed and modified beyond recognition.

At this moment, the ghost eye gradually dimmed.

This should be what Xiong Shan said before, wait for it to close its eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan's breathing became heavier. You can change it if you want, but you have lowered the level of this formation.

Whose formation in the forbidden area allows people to close their eyes and doze off?
Finally, the ghost eye was completely extinguished.

Xiong Shan moved, and Lihua followed suit. The two left their original location and began to search forward for the second and third members of their team.

"try to find!"

Li Zhuiyuan, Runsheng and Tan Wenbin also moved and began to search for Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou.

There were a lot of people in the pool and the light was not bright enough, so it was really troublesome to search.

Fortunately, everyone can start with the height and only search in the last two rows. After all, they are just sent in and will not melt and become shorter.

But at this time, Li Zhuiyuan was confused. He didn't know what was going on with Yin Meng, but Lin Shuyou should be able to move freely. It was understandable that he didn't dare to move when the ghost eye was open before, but now that the ghost eye was closed, why hasn't Lin Shuyou moved yet?
There were only five sounds moving in the pool, not counting the child on Lihua's chest.

Secondly, if it was just a simple "open your eyes and close your eyes" taboo, then the difficulty here would undoubtedly be too low, and Xiong Shan would not have said that he almost died in there the last time he came in.

So, the entrance and exit of this place are not in the same place?
If you want to get out from here, you have to go through that stone gate?
The young man knew clearly that even if he asked Xiong Shan now, he would not tell him clearly that their internal brotherhood was brotherhood, but when dealing with outsiders, they would not be unclear or ambiguous.

"stop!"

Li Zhuiyuan reminded.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin stopped moving immediately.

Xiong Shan and Lihua continued searching. Lihua heard the reminder from Li Zhuiyuan, but when she saw that her husband did not respond, she did not stop.

The ghost eye had indeed not lit up yet. After a long while, new light appeared. Xiong Shan then took his wife's hand, and the two of them stopped moving.

Li Zhuiyuan predicted it half a minute earlier and asked Tan Wenbin and Runsheng to accompany him and play the role of the wooden man for a while longer.

This was Li Zhuiyuan's mistake, because he substituted the correct running rhythm into an incorrect formation.

After another period of waiting, when the ghost eye went out again, the five people moved at the same time.

Li Zhuiyuan still couldn't find Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng, not only that, he didn't even see Brother Hu and his two companions.

However, Tan Wenbin found the second and third brothers, who were standing in the middle of the second to last row, with their eyes closed and motionless.

Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuiyuan.

Find their people first. What if they take the people away and don't help us find people? They may even leave first.

Li Zhuiyuan took the initiative to shout: "Found it!"

The difficulty is not finding people, but how to get such a group of people out safely. In addition, Xiong Shan should still be thinking about sealing the general.

People are not so short-sighted.

Xiong Shan and Lihua waded over immediately.

Lihua: "Second brother, third brother!"

When called, the second and third brothers still kept their eyes closed and showed no response, as if they were already dead.

Li Zhuiyuan was ready to try to wake him up, but seeing that Xiong Shan was already taking the talisman and making the seal, he did not interfere.

After making the seal, Xiong Shan pasted a Chenzhou talisman on the second brother's forehead and slid his thumb down along the talisman paper.

A black mist emanated from Lao Er's nostrils, and his eyes slowly opened. However, he could only move his eyeballs after opening them, but could not speak or move.

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes narrowed instantly: He was under a restriction!
Xiong Shan: "Hahaha, Lao Er, luckily you are not dead. Wait, I will help you remove the restriction..."

Xiong Shan stopped talking, he also found the problem, who put the restriction on the second brother, and what was the purpose of the restriction?
The second brother's eyes began to move quickly to the side, which was exactly where the third brother was.

Xiong Shan: "Old Third, what happened to him?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "He's telling you to run!"

The second brother had his eyes closed before, so how could he know that the third brother was standing next to him? And even if he opened his eyes, he couldn't see the third brother's location without turning his head.

This was just a coincidence. When he made eye contact, he happened to glance in the direction of the third brother, which made Xiong Shan confused.

"Brother Runsheng!"

The young man reached out and grabbed Runsheng's arm. Runsheng habitually threw Li Zhuiyuan onto his back, then grabbed Tan Wenbin's arm with his other hand. The valve opened, and Runsheng started running wildly under the guidance of the young man.

After Xiong Shanjing's reminder, he finally came to his senses and ran back while hugging his wife.

A blue light appeared in the second brother's clothes, and there seemed to be talismans hanging inside, with chains wrapped around them. Black air was wrapped in the chains, which were rubbing violently against the power of the talismans. All of this officially began as the host opened his eyes.

"Crack! Crack!"

Electric snakes were running all over Lao Er's body, and black flames were spewing out of his eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

Not only the outside, but his inside was also filled with something.

This was definitely not done by the "corpse driver". It could only be that the person who placed the ban on the two of them made some reservations for them, allowing them to bring these things and be brought here by the corpse driver.

The eruption of black flames around the second brother ignited the third brother. A blue light first appeared on the third brother's body, and then black flames spewed out of his mouth.

These black flames are corpse fires, which are made by refining corpse oil using a special method. Once ignited, they can easily attract corpse gas and burn the surrounding corpses.

"what!!!"

"what!!!"

As the corpse fire in the second and third brothers' bodies continued to erupt, the restrictions on them were also wiped out. However, the two of them only had time to turn around and take a look at the eldest brother before their heads fell off. Their bodies quickly melted, the containers shattered, and the corpse fire poured out, beginning to spread over a large area.

After the other people were contaminated by the corpse fire, even the dead began to twist and tremble, just like when a crematorium is lit, the corpses will deform and make some movements.

For a moment, most of the pond area was like a group of demons dancing wildly.

"Second brother, third brother!"

Xiong Shan called out to them with tears in his eyes, while pulling his wife and running towards the stone gate.

As for Li Zhuiyuan, he didn't even look back.

After the Runqi Qi gate was opened, the force and speed were too terrifying. After all, Tan Wenbin had the body of an ordinary person, and there was no chance for him to be possessed by a ghost. After following for a while with all his strength, he finally couldn't hold on and fell down.

However, Runsheng still pulled him to continue running, and Tan Wenbin's body was like a stone skipping on the river bank, "Snap! Snap! Snap!" and was being carried away.

Binbin started to slide using his hands and feet, trying to help as much as possible, while keeping his mouth closed to prevent dirty water from pouring into him.

But it is useless to just close your mouth, because you cannot close your nose and ears, especially the nose, which is facing the direction of the sprint. The strong impact force brings water pressure, which drives the pool water into the nasal cavity.

But even so, I still can't stop.

If you don't run now, it will be too late.

Because the ghost eye is about to open.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan and the other two reached the shore first. Tan Wenbin knelt on the ground. His stomach was churning and he felt a heat coming out of his nostrils. He must be bleeding from his nose.

At this time, the ghost's eyes were gradually opening.

Xiong Shan slapped two Chenzhou talismans on himself and his wife respectively, which increased their speed.

But they were delayed by many factors. Xiong Shan was already injured and Lihua had a child in her arms, so the two of them were still some distance away from the shore. They should be able to catch up, but there was a certain degree of danger.

On the shore, Li Zhuiyuan said, "Help them."

Upon hearing this, Tan Wenbin immediately pulled out a seven-star hook from his backpack, swung it forward, and the hook quickly extended, and then he quickly handed it to Runsheng.

Xiong Shan and Lihua grabbed the hook, and Runsheng, who was standing on the shore, exerted force and pulled the couple up like fishing.

I have to say, both of them have really good kung fu and they both landed very steadily.

Lihua began to sob and turned around with her back to the lake.

Xiong Shan's eyes flushed as he looked at Li Zhuiyuan first, nodded to him, and then growled in his throat: "Xie Family, Bu Family!"

The ghost eyes opened.

The corpses below were all "dancing" under the corpse fire.

Flames fell from above, hitting all the corpses.
Suddenly, the entire pool of water was engulfed in flames and began to boil violently, like hell on earth.

The people standing on the shore did not move, but even so, they could feel the horrible heat waves constantly hitting their bodies.

Finally, the fire burned out, the pool was almost dry, and all the corpses turned to ashes.

The ghost's eyes dimmed a little, and then it was time for it to close its eyes, gradually closing.

Xiong Shan: "I'm sorry, I'm going to bury your people too..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Sorry, my people are not here."

---

The flu has weakened my condition, and I'm not in a good state to write anymore. As usual, I'll post half of it first and continue writing. There will be another chapter tomorrow during the day.

(End of this chapter)