You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

They entered the village together.

The village committee building and the conference room on the third floor.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Yang's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Just as I guessed, the source of this matter is in that tomb, and it has nothing to do with Black Rain at all!"

"It seems these guys were infected by the corpse energy in that tomb... If corpse energy alone can turn people into zombies, that guy's strength must be extremely powerful!"

Wei Rufeng said, "However, that black rain was extremely strange, and we need to investigate it thoroughly."

Hey!
It's endless, right?
Chen Yang's face darkened, and he said, "Wei, the Soul Envoy, a powerful zombie has gone missing and could spread its corpse poison at any time, causing widespread zombie transformation. Yet you insist on focusing on a harmless black rain. What are you thinking?"

Wei Rufeng was startled by Chen Yang's tone and quickly said, "Don't worry, Commander Chen, I will go and meet up with Wang Lin and the others to track down that big guy and find it as soon as possible!"

He transformed into a wisp of yin energy and quickly departed.

After flying out of the village committee, it soared into the sky and sped towards the southern mountainous area of ​​Tongxin County.

Inside the village committee's third-floor meeting room, seven villagers whose bodies had undergone "zombie transformation" lay in a row on the ground, all suppressed by Chen Yang.

He Wanzhong quickly reported the matter to his superiors.

After hanging up the phone, He Wanzhong asked worriedly, "Master Chen, there were quite a few villagers surrounding the village committee earlier. Could they have also been infected with the corpse poison?"

Chen Yang said, "The zombie's corpse poison is usually transmitted through biting people and sucking their blood, or by being scratched or bitten. The reason why these seven people turned into zombies is because the zombie in the tomb was too powerful and had too much corpse energy."

"And these seven zombies are ordinary people who have turned into zombies."

"The corpse aura they produce is not enough to cause people to be poisoned and turn into corpses."

At this point, Chen Yang paused, then added, "However, we still need to be careful. I saw quite a few elderly people and children joining in the fun just now. Their blood and qi are weak, and their yang energy is insufficient. Once they are infected with the corpse energy, although it will not cause them to turn into zombies, it will still make them very sick, and they may not be able to withstand it and die."

He Wanzhong was, after all, a Daoist cultivator, so he could handle this situation.

They immediately found the village chief and arranged for the elderly and children to bask in the sun. They also ordered a large amount of glutinous rice and talisman water to be delivered, firstly to drive away the corpse energy from the elderly and children in the village, and secondly to remove the corpse poison from the seven people who had turned into corpses!

They went mad for several days, and only today did they "turn into zombies," so there is still hope for them.

“You are a Daoist cultivator, so you are better at removing corpse poison than I am. However, you still need to be careful to prevent it from suddenly attacking and harming people.”

Chen Yang planned to go to that "abandoned village" to find out what was going on, but he was afraid that He Wanzhong would not be able to handle seven zombies by himself, so he immediately took out seven talismans and stuck them on the foreheads of the seven zombies.

The seven zombies seemed to be frozen in place, their "corpse aura" suppressed.

"This is……"

"An exorcism talisman?"

He Wanzhong exclaimed in surprise, "This talisman is not one of those common basic talismans. Only masters who are extremely skilled in talisman making in the Dao Realm can make it. I wonder which master made it?"

This unintentional remark pleased Chen Yang, and he smiled and said, "I have recently made some progress in the study of talismans, and I have drawn a lot of talismans in my spare time. I never thought they would come in handy today."

"........."

He Wanzhong's first reaction was "What nonsense!"... The underworld officials and ghost messengers are essentially still ghosts. Even if they become underworld generals, they are still ghosts. How can they draw talismans like ghosts?

Given Chen Yang's status, why would he lie about this matter?
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the talisman was also stamped with the "Yin Shuai Fa Yin" seal, and couldn't help but exclaim, "I never imagined that Master Chen's attainments in the art of talismans were so profound."

Chen Yang laughed and said, "After all, I have studied my family's [Qingwei Yuanjiang Great Method] for a period of time, so it's normal that I know a little about Taoist arts and talismans."

brush!
The next moment, he rose with the wind, flew into the sky and disappeared without a trace.

Once Chen Yang disappeared from sight, He Wanzhong finally realized what was happening and shouted, "Wait... Master Chen, I haven't told you where that great tomb is yet!"

In the blink of an eye, Chen Yang had already traveled dozens of miles away, so he could no longer hear He Wanzhong's voice.
not to mention……

Where is that deserted village where a "black rain" fell? How could Chen Yang not know?

He sped along, heading south.

Below, on the vast plains, people cultivate fields, build villages and towns, construct roads, and dig canals to bring in water. It is already September, and the corn leaves in the fields are beginning to turn yellow, while the apples in the orchards are beginning to blush red. Everything looks thriving.

As we entered Tongxin County and continued south, the greenery on the land below thinned out somewhat.

This area is much drier than the surrounding towns of Wucheng, which are easier to irrigate with water from the Yellow River.

After passing over the county town, it continued south and soon entered the southern mountainous area.

This is a typical Loess Plateau landscape, with one mountain after another. Instead of lush forests, the mountains are covered with large swathes of bare loess.

Some tenacious little grasses have taken root in this arid land.

Some mountains are greener. As early as 2003, the state implemented the "returning farmland to forest" policy here, requisitioning land reclaimed by farmers on the mountains and planting drought-resistant Caragana korshinskii and Jujube trees.

More than 20 years have passed, and these drought-resistant plants have brought a touch of green to these arid and barren lands!
The people living here have been relocated and left this land since 2012 due to various "ecological migration" policies. Flying overhead, you can see the scattered and collapsed rural courtyards below.

Soon, Chen Yang arrived at the "abandoned village".

He did not land immediately, but instead dispersed his spiritual power to scan the area below... Sure enough, he discovered several households of villagers living there.

Because of the relocation of the entire village, the power has been cut off here, and the residents are using solar panels for lighting in their homes.

As for water...

The local people have been drinking water from "water cellars" since ancient times.

Chen Yang found the "great tomb" at the foot of the mountain and descended from the sky.

Wang Lin, Ma Lin, Cao Zepan, and Lin Miao were all outside, currently circulating their qi and blood to suppress the corpse poison in their bodies.

With Chen Yang's keen eyesight, he could naturally see the corpse aura emanating from them.

The corpse energy was too strong and was constantly eroding their flesh and blood... If it is not completely eradicated, sooner or later it will turn them into "corpses" like the seven villagers who "entered the village together".

Fortunately, these people are not ordinary people and can save themselves.

Marin even lay on the ground drawing Taoist talismans.

pity……

He was clearly not good at "talismanic arts," and the talismans he drew were crooked and completely unusable.

Chen Yang landed.

The four were overjoyed and hurriedly came to greet them.

"Master Chen!"

"Master Chen, you've come in person?"

Chen Yang asked, "Where's Wei Rufeng? Hasn't he arrived yet?" "Director Wei?"

Wang Lin: "Is Director Wei here too? I didn't see him!"

Wei Rufeng left Tongjin Village before Chen Yang. At his speed, he should have arrived here about ten minutes earlier. His absence made Chen Yang frown.

However, Chen Yang didn't think much of it.

Wei Rufeng was a martial arts master in life, with an inherently strong martial arts will. After his death, his spirit, after being conferred a title by Chen Yang, reached the level of a ghost king in the human world.

He can't possibly have an accident while flying, can he?
Chen Yang took out two talismans to ward off evil spirits and handed them to Ma Lin, saying, "These are talismans to ward off evil spirits. You can turn them into talisman water and give it to them to drink. It should be able to remove the corpse poison."

The four lit the talisman to ward off evil spirits, dissolved the talisman ash in mineral water, and drank the talisman water. Sure enough, the "corpse poison" on their bodies began to gradually fade away.

Wang Lin twisted his joints, which cracked, and said, "Without the corpse poison, I feel much lighter."

Chen Yang said, "Alright, enough talk, take me to the tomb."

Wang Lin and his companions led the way, and the group once again entered the brick-lined passageway.

They followed the passageway deep into the mountainside, only to find that the mountainside was vast and had been hollowed out by human hands.

In the center of the mountain, there is a stone coffin.

The stone coffin was engraved with intricate Taoist talismans and arrays, and each of the four corners was tied with an iron chain. Upon closer inspection, Chen Yang discovered that the iron chains were also engraved with the patterns of Taoist talismans and arrays.

He has recently been studying the Qingwei Yuanjiang Great Method and has gained some insights into Daoist formations.

"It seems my guess was right after all. This zombie... was suppressed here by someone!"

Chen Yang was extremely curious and asked, "Since it can be suppressed, it shouldn't be difficult to eliminate it. Why go to the trouble of building such a large tomb?"

The Taoist array patterns carved on the stone coffin show signs of human damage.

There were also more than a dozen coffin nails scattered around the stone coffin.

Chen Yang picked up a coffin nail and weighed it in his hand, saying, "Good heavens, even the coffin nail is engraved with Dao arrays... These coffin nails can be used as treasures to suppress evil spirits."

"Really?"

Wang Lin quickly picked up two nails, beaming with joy, and said, "I knew these coffin nails were treasures. It's a pity that Master Chen wasn't here when we came in earlier. We couldn't withstand the corpse energy, so we had to leave quickly."

Yes.

The corpse energy inside the mountain had not yet dissipated, hovering above the stone coffin. It was so dense that it even formed a visible mist.

When Chen Yang entered, he used his cultivation to isolate himself from the corpse energy; otherwise, Wang Lin, Ma Lin, Cao Zepan, and Lin Miao would definitely not have been able to withstand staying in this environment for a long time.

As for the signs of human damage on the stone coffin, they were probably made by the seven villagers who went treasure hunting in the same village.

They probably intended to smash open the stone coffin, but instead destroyed several "Dao patterns" on it, making the array suppressing the creature inside incomplete. This gave the zombie a chance to escape, and it broke free of the coffin nails.

What puzzled Chen Yang was why, having escaped, it didn't kill the seven villagers who were "digging for treasure."

"Could it be..."

"They dug this place up, destroyed the formation, and released it. It didn't kill anyone out of gratitude?"

Chen Yang said, "Zombies have a spirit but no soul, and act entirely on instinct. However, human nature is inherently evil, so zombies are bloodthirsty... But it's not impossible!"

He remembered the "yin-yang master" Yin Zhixin.

Unable to accept the death of his lover, he was eventually bewitched by the remnant soul of an evil god and turned his lover's corpse into a zombie.

Zombies have a spirit but no soul, while the remnant soul of an evil god has a soul but no spirit. After that remnant soul of an evil god possessed the body of a zombie, it became a zombie with consciousness!
"Check everything carefully and see if you can find any clues."

Chen Yang ordered Wang Lin and his men to search the tomb.

When they first came in, they didn't dare to investigate carefully because they were frightened away by the terrifying and dense corpse aura. Now, after searching around, they have indeed made a discovery.

"Master Chen, there is a skeleton here!"

The space inside the mountain is very large, measuring as long as seventy or eighty meters.

At the edge of the cave wall, there is a skeleton.

Because the dense corpse aura turned into mist that obscured visibility, and because Chen Yang hadn't noticed it when he entered, he didn't discover the skeleton. Now, upon approaching, he saw that the flesh and clothing of the skeleton had long since rotted away, leaving only a skeleton.

The skeleton was not broken apart, but rather in a seated position.

Beside the skeleton was a peach wood sword.

After who knows how many years had passed, the peach wood sword had not decayed at all. Marin stepped forward, picked it up, and exclaimed in surprise, "It's actually a magic weapon-level peach wood sword... Such a treasure can probably only be used by the true masters of the major Taoist sects!"

Wang Lin then said, "Peach wood sword... Could this skeleton have been a Taoist priest in life? Was it the zombie he suppressed?"

Unfortunately, apart from that peach wood sword, there were no other useful clues.

Just as Chen Yang was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately flashed outside.

Wang Lin and the others followed behind, running out one after another.

"Master Chen, what's wrong?"

Chen Yang looked into the distance and saw a powerful yin energy and a powerful corpse energy rising into the sky, intertwining and colliding!
Chen Yang recognized that yin energy very well; it was Wei Rufeng.

That aura of death and malevolence was undoubtedly from that zombie.

"It looks like Wei Rufeng has found the zombie... Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Chen Yang took off on the wind and flew swiftly into the distance. Twenty miles away, on a mountaintop, a tall zombie stared intently at Wei Rufeng, who was suspended in mid-air, and roared in a low voice, "Damn it!"

"Why are you underworld officials blocking my way instead of catching ghosts?"

"I am a zombie, born from the resentment of heaven and earth. I was born outside the Three Realms and outside the Five Elements, and I am not under the jurisdiction of your Underworld!"

Wei Rufeng's face was cold as he said, "Whether you are a wandering ghost, a demon, an evil spirit, or a zombie, as long as you dare to harm the human world, this Soul Collector can intervene!"

Wow!

He struck out with his palm, and the yin energy transformed into a giant hand that reached out to grab the zombie from a distance.

The zombie roared, and its astonishing corpse energy and malevolent aura shattered the large hand of yin energy into pieces. It roared, "I have only been awake for a few days and have never harmed anyone. I did not even lay a hand on those tomb raiders who broke into my slumbering place. How could I possibly harm the human world?"

"I turned myself into a zombie merely to prolong my life. Why are you underworld officials so aggressive?" (End of Chapter)