That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

The girl returned to her tribe alone, where she faced the wrath and punishment of her people, but she probably hadn't given up hope and wanted to wait for him to change his mind.

Unfortunately, he never got to see him again, and in despair, he could only take him with him on his journey.

The Heart-Connecting Gu is truly amazing. One is in the deep mountains and forests of Cenzhou, and the other is far away in the bustling capital of Zhongzhou, yet they can sense each other.

I will search the highest heavens and the deepest hells, and transform into a butterfly to follow you there.

"That's why you must never be lustful at first sight."

Lu Zhao patted Jiang Jingming on the shoulder.

"She seems like a gentle and tender woman, but who knows when she fed you a curse! No wonder everyone says that the women of Cenzhou are as venomous as snakes, and that they would use curses to force you to marry her!"

"Shut up! You can't get it in my mouth even if I try!"

Xie Yunqi stabbed him hard in the back with the scabbard, and Lu Zhao instantly fell to his knees in pain.

"After all, you're already taken! The son-in-law of the Vice Minister of Revenue!"

"..."

Now Lu Zhao not only had back pain, but also chest pain.

Jiang Jingming listened to Lu Zhao's words casually, but his mind was on the second sentence of the letter.

"A corpse cannot serve as a host, there's no need..."

The "host" here likely refers to the host of the Gu worm.

The fact that the words were spoken in the voice of the Ghost Doctor indicates that the Waterfall Manor had proposed the idea of ​​using a corpse as a host, but the Ghost Doctor rejected it.

"The host of a Gu worm must be a living creature, right?"

To confirm that his idea was correct, Jiang Jingming asked Fang Zhiyi a question.

"Yes."

Fang Zhiyi nodded, already knowing that he was thinking about his next sentence.

"The host of Gu worms can be any living thing, but living things other than humans cannot exert the effects of Gu worms. Dead things cannot be used to raise Gu worms, as Gu worms are the most averse to dead things because it goes against their instinct to survive."

"Since Tingpu Manor has already entrusted the Ghost Doctor to cultivate Crimson Bones for them to raise Gu, they must already know this. Why would they still have the idea of ​​using corpses as hosts?"

Jiang Jingming frowned slightly, finding the logic behind this difficult to understand.

"It is indeed a bit strange."

Fang Zhiyi thought for a moment before continuing:

"Given the Ghost Doctor's personality, the second half of the burned sentence would probably be 'No need for wishful thinking' or 'No need for daydreaming'."

"It sounds like you're tired of being asked."

Lu Zhao's evaluation.

It's somewhat like Chen Sha's approval to his subordinates. If a stupid question is asked too many times, he will often say something like this.

"Since that's the case, why not think about it this way?"

Jiang Jingming stroked his chin, pondering for a long time.

"If we are members of the Shun family, why would we go to such lengths to make corpses hosts for the Gu worms? And if the corpses really do become hosts, what benefit would it bring us?"

Thinking about it this way, the problem seems to have taken a new turn.

"The Shun family started with puppetry, but puppetry isn't very effective against truly skilled opponents. So, if they want to advance further..."

Jiang Jingming paused, then suddenly looked up.

"Ghoul!"

"Yes."

Fang Zhiyi nodded quickly, clearly thinking the same thing.

"If we could use corpses to replace puppets and use Gu worms to replace the threads, then we would have an even more brutal and powerful advanced puppet."

Her words caused everyone around her to fall silent.

Having witnessed the Shun family's puppetry skills, Lu Zhao shook his head solemnly for a moment.

"The current silken puppets are already quite troublesome for mid-level masters in the martial arts world. I dare not even think about what would happen if something like a corpse demon suddenly appeared."

"But didn't they fail? Even the Ghost Doctor said it was wishful thinking."

Xie Yunqi frowned, looking puzzled.

"But."

Jiang Jingming spoke in a calm tone:

"If the ghouls haven't been discovered, then what were those things Little Pi saw on the mountain?"

Chapter 114 Heaven and Earth Live Together

Yes.

If Listening Waterfall Manor hadn't succeeded in turning the corpse into a host for the Gu worms...

So, what was that blue-faced, fanged ghoul that Xiao Pi saw on Cuiwei Mountain?

Xie Yunqi shivered for no reason.

"It is rumored that there are indeed secret techniques in the world that can manipulate corpses, but the price to pay for mastering this technique is much greater than that for Gu techniques."

Fang Zhiyi rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

"What secret technique?"

Jiang Jingming frowned slightly; he had never heard of it before.

But considering that the Ghost Doctor could even develop secret techniques like sewing corpses back to life, there must be many more strange and wonderful things in this world.

"The true art of the Corpse Demon uses blood and soul as a catalyst to awaken the souls beneath the Yellow Springs. The Corpse Demon acts according to the master's will, without any external force, making it superior to puppets and Gu worms. It is the most terrifying and powerful secret technique."

Fang Zhiyi shook her head again at this point:

"But that's precisely why the Corpse Demon Technique is just a legend; no one really knows if it exists."

"A bunch of ambitious bastards like those from Tingpu Manor would probably do anything to obtain such a secret technique, no matter the cost, right?"

Lu Zhao poked the extinguished charcoal with his sword sheath and then tossed in a few more files.

The flames, which had reignited, cast an orange-red glow in everyone's eyes.

"According to Little Pi's description, those ghouls were lined up in rows, with blue faces and fangs, and they walked like humans. They didn't sound like real ghouls."

Jiang Jingming felt that the corpses summoned by such a secret technique that only existed in legends should not be so rigid and clumsy.

"Yes, I think it's just a clumsy imitation of the Corpse Demon Technique by the Waterfall Manor."

Fang Zhiyi nodded and deduced accordingly:

"Perhaps they tried many methods without success, so they began to wonder if they could use Gu worms as a means to manipulate corpses as a lower-level alternative to the true Corpse Demon Technique."

"good."

Jiang Jingming agreed with this statement.

After all, it's reasonable to deduce this from the timeline.

A few years ago, Xiao Pi accidentally saw a "corpse demon" on the mountain. In a panic, he ran down the mountain, spread the news, and then disappeared.

At this time, the "corpse demon" was a replica of the Listening Waterfall Manor, and then they found the Ghost Doctor.

Last year, the Ghost Doctor sent a reply to Tingpu Manor, rejecting the idea of ​​manipulating corpses with Gu worms and cultivating Crimson Bones for them.

"But...I have a question."

After a rare period of silence, Xie Yunqi suddenly asked a question in a low voice, causing the others who were deep in thought to turn their attention to her.

"If the Corpse Demon Technique is merely a legend, why are the people of Listening Waterfall Manor so convinced that this technique truly exists in the world? And why do they go to such great lengths to research it?"

"..."

Jiang Jingming's heart skipped a beat.

There is only one answer: they have seen the true art of the Corpse Demon.

......

"It's a secret technique that even my father never touched; it's truly incredible."

Fang Zhiyi casually tucked a few stray strands of long hair behind her ear, a touch of melancholy in her eyes:

"Having traveled so far, I thought most of the evil magic in the world came from him."

"Actually, it's not that much different."

Jiang Jingming's objective evaluation.

"That's true."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhiyi smiled casually.

"There's only one sentence left!"

Xie Yunqi folded the letter to the last section and read it aloud, word by word.

"Poison can be used to make Gu, and medicine can also be made, making one immune to all poisons."

Lu Zhao sat by the fire, head bowed in deep thought.

"This sentence seems easy to understand. The Ghost Doctor believes that poison can be used to refine Gu, so medicine can also be used to refine Gu, and the resulting medicinal Gu is immune to all poisons."

"Yes."

Fang Zhiyi nodded in agreement.

“My father and the people of Cenzhou were at odds. He probably always wanted to refine a Gu that was rarer and more effective than the ones in the tribe, so as to slap them in the face.”

"It seems that Tingpu Manor will provide Ghost Doctor with some support in this regard, which is why they maintain their cooperation."

Jiang Jingming rubbed the acupoints on his forehead and took a deep breath.

The information they obtained from this half-burnt letter far exceeded their expectations.

Incidentally, it also revealed Fang Zhiyi's true identity, which was truly unexpected.

However, she admitted it readily, probably because she never considered it a big secret in the first place.

The only thing that remains unclear is why the Shun family is so obsessed with the Corpse Demon Technique, and whether this matter is related to their massacre.

"For some reason, I always felt that the person who killed my parents was also connected to this family annihilation case..."

Fang Zhiyi lowered her eyes and spoke softly.

"Don't worry, Sister Fang, we will definitely catch the murderer for you, and then everything will be clear."

Xie Yunqi grasped her wrist, applying slight pressure, his expression resolute.

Fang Zhiyi chuckled softly, placed his palm on the back of her hand, and patted it gently as if coaxing a child.

The issue has circled back to the case of the entire family being murdered.

Prior to this, Jiang Jingming had already changed the killer's motive from "framing" to "revenge killing".

Since most of the letters left in the dark room were secret letters between the Shun family head and his subordinates, there might still be some useful information left in them.

"The letters we just looked at were mostly messages about the faction that was at odds with the Shun family being secretly dealt with."

Jiang Jingming frowned, recalling carefully:

"As far as I can recall, no one seems to have escaped successfully; the messages that have come back all say that everything has been dealt with."

"Yes."

Lu Zhao sighed:

"After all, in Fengling City, Tingpu Manor is still too dominant. Even the city lord is one of their people, and very few can escape their clutches."

"It seems that many of the Shun family's own collateral branches also regard the main family as enemies. After all, when they were in trouble, the main family not only did not help them, but also abandoned them like trash."

Fang Zhiyi handed a letter to Jiang Jingming; the paper was slightly yellowed from its age.

Jiang Jingming took it and slowly unfolded it by the firelight.