Zombie Life Begins in Hongxi Village

The car traveled southwest from Yun County for most of the day, and the road became increasingly remote.

Turning from the county road onto a dirt road, and then from the dirt road into a mountain road, the mountains on both sides became steeper and the trees denser, and there were almost no pedestrians or vehicles on the road.

As evening approached, the car rounded a bend in the mountain road, and a breathtaking view suddenly opened up before us—

A small, gray town lies nestled in the valley. It's not a large town, with only about a hundred households. The houses have blue tiles and earthen walls, and wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys, giving it a peaceful appearance.

But the cliff in front of the town made Ren Tingting unconsciously move closer to Lin Yi.

The cliff was dozens of meters high, and its walls were densely covered with coffins.

Some are perched on protruding rocks, some hang horizontally in carved caves, and some are simply suspended from the cliff face by iron chains, casting long and short shadows in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Hundreds of coffins were arranged at varying heights, like scales growing out of a cliff.

Some coffins on the cliff face have rotted and cracked, and you can vaguely see the white bones inside.

Ren Tingting instinctively gripped Lin Yi's sleeve, her delicate brows furrowing tightly: "So many coffins hanging on the cliff face, it's really uncomfortable to look at. Why don't the local villagers bury them in the ground?"

Lin Yi's gaze swept across the cliff face, then she looked down at the ground beneath her feet and casually remarked:

"The feng shui of this place is special. The accumulation of corpse energy underground has formed an extremely yin vein, and the soil contains hidden yin energy."

If the coffin is buried underground, the corpse will be eroded by evil spirits and undergo strange changes overnight.

Therefore, they adopted the method of hanging coffins, using the sunlight from high above to suppress the corpse's energy inside the coffin and isolate it from the earth's yin energy.

He pointed to several coffins with the largest cracks on the cliff face, "It's just that they've been around for too long, many of the coffins are rotten, the bones are touching the ground, and the evil energy has begun to leak out."

If this isn't dealt with soon, something bad is bound to happen.

Ren Tingting blinked, looked up at him, and asked with a hint of admiration in her eyes, "Ayi, you even know about feng shui?"

"That's right." Lin Yi was not modest at all.

He possessed Wang Teng's lifelong expertise in feng shui and had also acquired half a volume of "The Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Techniques," making his insight far superior to that of ordinary feng shui masters.

What others might see as a sinister and terrifying cliff, he saw as an open map, clearly marking the direction of the earth's veins, the yin-yang balance, and the locations where malevolent energy accumulated.

This mountain range is chaotic and low, except for the central main peak which rises alone, surrounded by layers of mountains on both sides, forming a nine-fold barrier. The water outlet is firmly sealed off by the low mountains on both sides, preventing the earth's energy from escaping.

This is a standard layout for a royal burial site. King Ai of Zhou must have been buried in the very center of the main peak.

What's even more remarkable is that this pattern wasn't innate, but rather evolved after the earthquake.

King Ai of Zhou came first, and this feng shui formation was created through crustal movements.

Unfortunately, King Ai of Zhou had already turned into a zombie, and thousands of other zombies buried with him occupied the mountainside, turning what should have been a prime royal burial site into an extremely yin place for raising corpses.

Otherwise, it would be good to move Ren Fa's ashes here.

Lin Yi asked Wang Daniu to drive the car to the town entrance, then jumped out and walked towards the Hanging Coffin Cliff.

Ren Tingting followed, walking half a step behind him.

The air around was cold and damp, the soil underfoot felt soft and saggy, and the stones by the roadside were covered with dark green moss.

Most people would feel uncomfortable after walking this far, but Ren Tingting felt as if she were soaking in a pool of warm water, with every pore on her body relaxing.

She was afraid Lin Yi would overthink things, so she didn't voice her feelings.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

A young man suddenly emerged from behind a large roadside rock, a yellow talisman affixed to his chest and a handful of talisman papers in his hand. "This is a burial ground for corpses; the yin energy here is very heavy. You'd better not go near it!"

The guard, Ma Dayong, strode forward and said gruffly, "Are you blind? This is Commander Lin from Yun County! Get out of the way, don't block our commander's way!"

"Dayong, don't be so rude." Lin Yi glared at him with displeasure, then turned to look at the young man, her tone softening.

"Young man, I'm sorry, Dayong is a rough man and doesn't watch his words. Please don't take it to heart."

What's your name?

The young man, initially annoyed by Ma Dayong's outburst, calmed down upon seeing Lin Yi's courteous attitude and quickly replied:

"Hello, Commander Lin. My name is A-Guang, and I'm a disciple of the Maoshan Academy. I have some exorcism talismans here, personally drawn by my master, Maoshan Jian. Would you like them?"

He was quite carefree; as he spoke, he handed the talisman in his hand forward, turning it into a sales pitch for talismans.

Lin Yi's lips curved slightly.

Mao Shanjian's disciples are selling talismans in this desolate wilderness—the scene is exactly the same as in the movie.

He nodded, his tone gentle: "I've heard that Master Jian of Maoshan is a highly skilled sorcerer, his talismans must be excellent. I'll buy them."

Ah Guang's eyes lit up, and he pulled out five talismans, handing them over with great enthusiasm:

"These five talismans would normally sell for two silver dollars, but I'll only charge you one. General, you should prepare a few more; this place is indeed quite unsafe, better safe than sorry!"

Lin Yi took the talisman and examined it—yellow paper, cinnabar, and neatly arranged runes; Mao Shanjian's craftsmanship was indeed excellent.

He distributed the tokens to Ren Tingting, Ma Dayong, and Wang Daniu, then turned to Ma Dayong and said, "Give the little brother two silver dollars."

"General, he said he'd only get one silver dollar—" Ah Guang said anxiously, holding up one finger.

Lin Yi waved his hand to interrupt him and said in a serious tone, "As the commander-in-chief, I must set an example and not take a single needle or thread from the common people for nothing."

Looking at Lin Yi, A Guang felt a deep respect in his heart. Everyone in the town said that Commander Lin was fair and loved the people. Seeing him today, he realized that it was indeed true. It was a blessing for all the people of Xuanguan Town to be under the jurisdiction of Yun County.

Before parting, Ah Guang repeatedly reminded him not to linger too long at the edge of the cliff, even if he had brought the exorcism talisman. Only after saying this did he turn around and go down the mountain back to Maoshan School.

After taking a few steps, Ren Tingting looked down at the exorcism talisman in her hand, her expression somewhat subtle.

Holding the talisman in my hand, the comfortable feeling I had just experienced disappeared, as if I had suddenly been pulled out of a clear spring.

She hesitated for a moment, and while Lin Yi wasn't paying attention, she quietly tore a small hole in the talisman—that feeling of comfort returned.

She stuffed the torn talisman into her sleeve and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Lin Yi didn't notice her little actions.

He was standing at the foot of the hanging coffin cliff, looking up at the densely packed coffins on the cliff face, his brows slightly furrowed.

The malevolent energy in this place was far more severe than he had anticipated.

He was considering how to resolve the negative energy feng shui arrangement here.

As mentioned before, the evil energy here has begun to leak out, and it could endanger the town's residents at any time.

Although he wasn't a good person, as an official, he had the ability to solve the problem and naturally wouldn't stand idly by.

Moreover, this would completely change the storyline of Maoshan Academy, which would also benefit himself.

He mentally flipped through half of the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Techniques," and the chapter on the "Yi Long Jing" in the Transformation Scripture quickly unfolded before his eyes.

A pure Yin dragon's lair is a dead dragon's lair. Isolated Yin cannot produce life, and solitary Yang cannot grow. To break this situation, one must open nine earth vein acupoints, nurture the dragon vein and replenish the sand, guide Yang to aid Yin, and reshape the life cycle of mountains and rivers.

This is a large undertaking; we need to find people to dig it up.

"However, before we can modify the earth's veins, we must first deal with King Ai of Zhou deep within the cave."

Lin Yi secretly made her own plans.

The potential of this ancient corpse was not fully revealed in the movie.

It slept underground for over two thousand years, never consuming a single drop of fresh human blood for those two millennia. Yet, upon awakening, it still managed to put Maoshan Jian and his disciples in perilous situations.

Ordinary third- or fourth-generation zombies would experience a significant decline in strength if they did not replenish their bodies with living blood for a long time. However, King Ai of Zhou has not eaten or drunk for over two thousand years and still maintains a strong corpse, demonstrating extraordinary talent.

Moreover, when King Ai of Zhou turned into a zombie, all the people and sorcerers in the city were scratched and transformed into secondary zombies. Those ancient sorcerers were not weaklings, which shows how powerful he was at the beginning of his zombie transformation.

This week, King Ai definitely has the potential to become incorruptible!

Lin Yi still possesses a complete set of corpse refining techniques, but he hasn't been able to find a suitable vessel for it.

If King Ai of Zhou could be subdued and trained into an incorruptible being, it would be equivalent to gaining a combatant comparable to a second-generation zombie out of thin air.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi turned to Wang Daniu and instructed him:

"You immediately drive back to the county town and bring over a hundred strong and healthy soldiers, along with entrenching tools, shovels, and rock-drilling equipment."

Go find Qian Youcai and have him prepare nine ten-year-old, dark coffin nails, a set of five-emperor coins of various sizes, and nine sun-facing peach saplings, and send them all to the Hanging Coffin Town.

"Understood, I'll set off immediately!" Wang Daniu didn't dare to delay, quickly ran back to his car, roared the engine, and sped off towards Yun County.

After Wang Daniu left, Lin Yi took Ren Tingting and Ma Dayong back to Xuanguan Town and found a clean inn to stay in, where they booked two guest rooms.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, a series of suona sounds came from the stone-paved road outside the inn.

Following this were scattered footsteps and the cries of women and children—not the kind of heart-wrenching wailing, but more like routine procedures being carried out according to regulations.

An old voice called out from the front, and people behind responded with their own voices, some loud and some soft, creating a chaotic sound.

Lin Yi called Ma Dayong over: "Go and find out what's going on."

Ma Dayong responded and ran downstairs, quickly returning panting heavily.

"Reporting to the commander, the people in town say that a family surnamed Chen at the end of the street is holding a funeral. The person died a violent death, and the funeral has been held for three days. Today is the day for the body to be placed in the coffin and taken up the mountain."

Violent death, climbing the mountain —

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat.

Is this the plot of Da Sha going up the mountain?

In the movie, it was Maoshan Jian's apprentice who disturbed King Ai of Zhou by rummaging around on the hanging coffin cliff, thus waking it from its slumber.

If this timing happens to coincide, then he must go to the Hanging Coffin Cliff today.