Gou Zai, a corpse sewn into a spirit in a mortuary during the Republic of China era, became a spirit

Snake eggs, small bone snakes...

Upon hearing these unfamiliar words, Roberta scratched her head and looked completely bewildered. But she still counted them down on her fingers, and finally grabbed the bone and ran off.

Then, Radish rushed to the riverbank, raised the bone in her hand high towards the giant snake, and began to gesture with her hands and feet, presumably communicating in their own unique way.

The giant snake raised its enormous head and initially swayed its tail happily. However, after hearing the message conveyed by the carrot, its tail gradually stopped moving, and its body stiffened, clearly indicating its displeasure.

Luo Bosi immediately panicked, but she didn't give up. She continued to gesture wildly and try to persuade Xie An with the logic he had instructed her to use...

After a while, the serpent's serious expression slowly turned into a joyful one. Then, it used its tail to curl up the bone and plunged into the river, creating waves as it swam towards Mount Laojun on the opposite bank.

About fifteen minutes later, the surface of the Qinghe River began to ripple again. As the waves approached the shore, suddenly, with a "splash," the giant snake emerged from the water, raising its head high. After getting close to the shredded radish, it opened its mouth and spat out a gray sphere with a "whoosh."

The sphere was about the size of a bowl, roughly the size of an ostrich egg. It didn't break when it rolled onto the ground.

Then the giant snake raised its tail, gently stroked Radish's shoulder, opened and closed its mouth with a few "crack" sounds, and then disappeared into the river.

Luo Bosi was overjoyed. Holding the large egg in both hands, she ran back to Xie An's side, raised the egg with both hands, and made a crisp sound as she opened and closed her mouth, extremely excited.

Xie An took the large egg; it was quite heavy and cool to the touch. He gently shook it, and there was a slight tremor inside…

Open the panel.

[29+ Ghoul Essence Detected]

[Absorbable]

[Target to be controlled detected.]

Ok?

Xie An was filled with curiosity.

This is the first time I've seen a "+" sign after "Ghoul Essence." It means this Ghoul Essence can grow... which fits the characteristics of a snake egg. After all, there's a life inside, and it will hatch into a small bone snake... As the bone snake grows, the Ghoul Essence will also gradually increase.

and many more……

Is this a snake egg?

That giant skeletal snake really lays eggs? It doesn't seem very likely...

Xie An carefully hugged the large egg and asked Radish, "Did Snake Second Brother say what kind of egg this is?"

While gesturing with her hands and feet, Luo Bosi transmitted a message through the mental link:

The second snake didn't know what kind of egg it was, only saying it was one it had randomly picked up from its lair. There were several more eggs like this. The second snake would eat one whenever it was extremely hungry. It knew it was wrong, but it couldn't resist. That's why it desperately wanted to make a deal with Xie An to switch to eating people…

Snake Brother Two also said: "I'm eager to reach the next deal as soon as possible. Giving Big Egg this time is just a token of our sincerity."

Xie An was speechless for a while... But all things considered, this second snake was indeed a respectable snake who followed the rules.

He picked up the large egg and shook it again, and a crisp rattling sound came from inside... not the sound of an egg yolk rattling, but the sound of a hard object hitting the eggshell.

Based on Xie An's experience, there should be a baby inside, and it's about to hatch.

Whether it's a small snake or not, the system showing it's waiting to be controlled... is ultimately a good thing.

Xie An took off his coat, wrapped the large egg in it, and carried it on his back. "Luo Bosi is very good. You sneak back to the vicinity of the mortuary and check the situation. Send me a message if you need to. If there are no outsiders at the mortuary, hide in the old mass grave. I'll find a chance to evolve you later."

Luo Bosi nodded in agreement and then hurriedly left.

Xie An didn't rush to the cave, but waited there for a while. Soon after, Luo Bosi sent a message: everything at the mortuary was normal.

Xie An finally breathed a sigh of relief and ran towards the cave with his gun.

……

The fire inside the cave had gone out.

Everyone took their rifles and went to the cave entrance, looking around warily in the golden morning light.

Bang!

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing first gunshot rang out from ahead.

Everyone shuddered violently, their faces turned pale, and their hands gripping the gun handles were covered in sweat.

Bang bang bang!

Immediately afterwards, a series of gunshots rang out in the woods.

People were tense, so tense they could hardly breathe.

Xie Bingxiang, in particular, stared anxiously in the direction of the gunshots. Each gunshot pierced his heartstrings, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

The intense gunfire continued for a long time before it subsided.

After waiting for a while longer, no more gunshots were heard, and everyone finally relaxed.

Li Erniu breathed a sigh of relief. "Brother Tiger, was that rapid rattling sound from a machine gun?"

Liu Hu swallowed hard. "Probably. I really didn't expect that beast Shen Qianjun, dressed in official robes, would even bring a Maxim machine gun. I wonder how the young master is doing..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Hu saw Xie Bingxiang sitting on a rock to the side, smoking his pipe hard, his brows furrowed and his hands and feet trembling.

Liu Hu's heart warmed. "Boss, the gunfire has stopped. I'll go check the situation. If the soldiers spot us, I'll whistle loudly. Boss, once you hear the whistle, immediately lead your men across the river and hide in Laojun Mountain for refuge."

Li Erniu gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Hu, I'll go with you."

A resolute look appeared in Liu Hu's eyes. "I'm at least a martial artist who has reached the Skin Membrane Realm. You can't help much by coming here. You're still young, so take good care of the shopkeeper's men."

After saying that, Liu Hu was about to leave.

Just then, a shadow appeared in the distant dawn, slowly walking towards them against the light.

At first, everyone thought it was a soldier coming, and they all raised their Hanyang rifles and aimed them forward. It was Liu Hu, who had sharp eyes, who was the first to see the man's appearance clearly and shouted, "It's the young master, put your gun down quickly."

Everyone put down their guns and looked at the boy walking against the light.

Xie An walked up to the crowd and threw the twenty-odd rifles and Maxim machine guns bound with vines onto the ground, making a dull thud.

He stood in the morning light at the cave entrance, his face smeared with mud and dried, blackened blood, his blood-stained robes tattered and torn, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, as if washed clean by the night rain of blood and fire, shedding the last trace of youthful naiveté.

"Young Master!"

"Maintain the status quo!"

Li Erniu, Zhou Xuli, Xu Chun, Zhang Da, and Liu Hu swarmed around. Then, as if remembering something, they all made way for them.

Xie Bingxiang rushed forward, examining Xie An as he asked in a hoarse voice, "Where are you hurt? How badly? Let your father... let your father take a look..."

Looking at the fear and heartache that almost overflowed in his father's eyes, Xie An felt as if something had hit him hard in the heart, making him feel both sore and swollen.

He softened his voice and chuckled, "It's just a superficial wound, nothing serious."

Xie Bingxiang was still worried, so he looked Xie An up and down to make sure that Xie An was not missing any limbs or had any obvious external injuries before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright. Where are Shen Qianjun's soldiers?"

Xie An said, "I've taken all the guns, and the people... are all dead."

Everyone gasped and looked at Xie An. Besides disbelief, they felt a surge of...fear.

Xie An was exhausted and didn't give anyone a chance to ask questions. He said directly, "I checked the manor, and it's unharmed. Everyone who knew about it is dead. Pack your things and we'll talk when we get back to the manor. Tiger and Erniu, you two wrap these guns up tightly so they won't be seen on the way back. Hide them at the mortuary; they'll be used for self-defense later."

Liu Hu gave a sheepish smile: "Young Master, just call me Hu Zi. Brother Hu is too much of a compliment. I don't deserve it."

This remark drew laughter from everyone.

The group packed their belongings, wrapped up their weapons, and left the woods under the morning light, heading towards the mortuary.

Xie An, on the other hand, walked behind, carrying a large egg wrapped in clothes.

As Xie An reached the edge of the mass grave, he suddenly felt the large egg in his arms move noticeably, almost slipping to the ground. Xie An quickly hugged the egg tightly. The next moment, he heard an extremely eerie and chilling song...

"Heaven...and Earth...possess...righteous...energy..."

"Miscellaneous... naturally... endowed with... flowing... form..."

Xie An suddenly stopped in his tracks. This was... the righteous song that his father had mentioned earlier about the guardian soldiers who had perished overnight?

He turned to look at the men in front of him and found them chatting and laughing.

Xie An called out to Li Erniu, "Erniu, did you hear any strange noises?"

Li Erniu, carrying large and small bags, looked around and then forced a smile: "No, it's just the young master's stomach growling. When we get back to the estate, I'll prepare a feast for him."

Xie An: "..."

He took two more steps forward.

"Heaven...and Earth...possess...righteous...energy..."

"Miscellaneous... naturally... endowed with... flowing... form..."

The sound was much clearer this time.

These sounds seemed to seep out from the depths of the earth, from the cracks in every desolate grave, and from the shadows of those jagged rocks.

It's not about one person, nor is it about one direction.

It was as if countless voices overlapped and converged in an extremely eerie way, forming a grand yet hollow chant...