Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

"You killed those people in Tujia Village?!"

Although Li Cheng was filled with fear, he couldn't help but question the truth upon hearing it.

Having witnessed the horrific scene firsthand, he found it hard to believe that the murderer was the same frail woman who had begged him to overturn his case.

Ren Fengjue then asked, "After you failed to get justice for your sister from Magistrate Li, you were filled with resentment and created this 'Corpse Gu' to avenge your sister by killing the people of Tujia Village."

"And who taught you to concoct this Gu?"

Zeng Qiao seemed somewhat surprised to hear him mention the Corpse Gu, but still answered truthfully, "He is a wandering Taoist priest."

Li Cheng and Ge Chuan were both startled. "Also a Taoist?"

Zeng Qiao nodded.

The person she spoke to in the rain that day was a Taoist priest.

His words intensified Zeng Qiao's hatred.

So when the other party told her that there was a way for her to help her sister take revenge, she agreed without hesitation.

That method was none other than "corpse gu".

The Taoist priest said that the pregnant woman had died unjustly.

Therefore, her corpse was the best vessel for the Corpse-Refining Gu.

Once this item is successfully refined, it can kill not only the Tu family, but also the entire village without any problem.

More importantly, the Gu worms kill invisibly, and given the government's tendency to only want to quell the matter, even if it happens, it will be difficult to find out the cause.

Zeng Qiao inexplicably believed the Taoist's words without question, and following the method he gave her, she dug her sister's body out of the soil and secretly brought it home.

The mother Gu needs to be fed with the blood of living people.

So she took blood from her father every day to feed the Gu worms in her sister's body.

After resting for forty-nine days, my sister's belly began to swell.

The corpse worms then began to crawl out of her mouth and nose, shed their shells, and then reattach themselves to the corpse.

As time went on, the sister's body began to decompose, and the stench aroused suspicion among the neighbors.

The Taoist priest, however, had his own way.

He gave Zeng Qiao a bottle of talisman water and told her to sprinkle it around the corpse regularly.

He also told her that once the Corpse Gu was refined, if she wanted to control these corpse worms, she would have to swallow the mother Gu whole and merge with it.

Zeng Qiao was also frightened after hearing this, but when she thought of her sister's death and the scene in her dream, she felt an overwhelming hatred in her heart.

She forced herself to cut open her sister's stomach with a sharp knife, take out the mother Gu, and swallow it whole.

The Taoist priest said that after the mother Gu enters a living person's body, the host will not die, but will have to live on the blood of living people from then on.

Zeng's father died from excessive blood loss after using it to refine corpse gu.

So Zeng Qiao began to take blood from her mother.

Just like the past sixteen years, they have been taking "blood" from the two sisters.

That night, half a month ago, she controlled the corpse worms to infiltrate Tu Family Village.

Once the corpse worms entered their bodies, those people died instantly, their bodies becoming like puppets, controlled by the corpse worms.

She then manipulated the corpse worms to come to the village entrance, watching them lose their humanity, devour each other, and gradually rot and stink.

One after another, empty skeletons wrapped in human skin lay on the ground, gradually becoming indistinguishable from each other.

After listening to Zeng Qiao's explanation and recalling the scene from that day, Ge Chuan and Li Cheng felt a chill run down their spines.

Xia Ximo then spoke up, asking, "Do you know that you've been used?"

These words startled Zeng Qiao, who had clearly been hit the nail on the head.

But then, she nonchalantly retorted, "As long as revenge is possible, what's the point of using me?"

Xia Ximo remained aloof: "You only know that you suffered a backlash from the Gu worms, but you don't know that your sister was also affected."

Zeng Qiao was taken aback. "What do you mean by that?"

After taking her revenge, her body gradually began to fester and emit a foul odor.

So she had no choice but to go to the Taoist priest and ask for talisman water.

But the Taoist priest's attitude changed; he demanded silver before giving her the talisman water.

A bottle of talisman water costs ten taels of silver, which is an astronomical price.

However, the effect of the talisman water is only enough to last for three days.

Once three days have passed, she will have to continue exchanging money.

Zeng Qiao realized she was being used, so she tried to use the Corpse Gu to deal with the Taoist, but she was no match for him at all.

The talismanic water can mask the stench, but it can only slow down the rate at which the body rots.

Her appearance began to change, becoming neither human nor ghostly, and she couldn't even be seen in the light.

When the sun shines on my body, I feel a burning sensation.

Zeng Qiao knew that this was what the Taoist had meant when he said that the Corpse Gu had completely fused with its host body.

But she began to feel afraid.

Three days ago, the Taoist priest disappeared in the town.

Last night, Zeng Qiao saw Yan Zhengchu inside the money exchange.

When Yan Zhengchu sneaked into her yard, she had a bad feeling and realized that she would soon be exposed.

So, she took her sister's body and left Yunxia Town, arriving at this cave, intending to hide there for a while.

But to my surprise, they found me after only one night.

Xia Ximo didn't answer her question, but instead asked, "Do you know who brought me here?"

Zeng Qiao hesitated and dared not answer her.

"It was Zeng Xiao's ghost who came to me, begging me to help you."

These words startled the three people except Ren Fengjue.

Do ghosts really exist in this world?

Xia Ximo looked at Zeng Qiao and continued, "There are many more truths you don't know."

"Shortly after your sister died, her soul was scattered."

"For a period of time, you were often plagued by nightmares. In fact, it was that person who took advantage of the telepathic connection between you twins, letting her scattered soul enter your dreams, creating an illusion for you."

Zeng Qiao froze again, her eyes filled with panic: "How is this possible? It was clearly my sister who appeared to me in a dream..."

"Your sister did not appear in your dreams."

"But one thing is true: she was indeed killed by her in-laws and then faked as if she had hanged herself."

"Zeng Xiao has been trying to stop you from doing what you've been doing, so she came to me."

Zeng Qiao's mind gradually cleared, yet she remained skeptical: "Can you really see my sister's spirit?"

Xia Ximo gently stroked the Soul-Ferrying Lamp inside the pouch: "It has always been by your side, but you just can't see it."

"But now, you have a chance to speak to her."

Zeng Qiao glanced at the rotting corpse on the ground, her eyes filled with tears, and her emotions became agitated.

"Really? You're not lying to me?"

Xia Ximo didn't answer, but only glanced at Ren Fengjue.

The latter immediately understood her meaning and gestured for Ge Chuan and Li Cheng to take a few steps back together.

The two did not understand what he meant.

Of course, they couldn't see that at this moment, a wisp of shadow floated out from the Soul-Crossing Lamp and quickly entered Xia Ximo's body.

But when she lowered her head slightly and looked up again, the feeling throughout her body changed.

"Ah Qiao".

Upon hearing this claim, Zeng Qiao's eyes instantly reddened.