Chapter 155

Yang falls, Yin rises; all things return and hide.

Mu Yi and his group informed Lin Xuan, the garrison commander of East Dao Prefecture, in detail about the destruction of the Yin Temple.

"Thank you!" Lin Xuan solemnly saluted the several people.

If a flying stiff corpse were really allowed to be born, he would have to lead troops to suppress it; letting a flying stiff corpse run rampant in East Dao Prefecture would cause destruction unimaginable.

Especially after Mu Yi and his group pointed out that there was a traitor inside East Dao Prefecture, Lin Xuan broke out in a cold sweat.

The other side was definitely trying to draw the tiger away from the mountain; thinking of this, Lin Xuan couldn't help but feel chills all over, and he had learned the detailed course from each person's mouth.

It can be certain that if it weren't for Mu Yi displaying great divine might to destroy the flying stiff corpse ritual and behead the haired stiff corpse residing with dragon qi, East Dao Prefecture would certainly face great trouble.

"I have already reported the intelligence to the Prefecture Lord; soon another colonel will bring elite troops to reinforce!" Lin Xuan again thanked everyone.

"By then, all jumping clowns will understand what heavenly soldier divine might is!"

Although Lin Xuan spoke lightly, Su Meiniang and the others couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on their foreheads.

"Inside the prefecture there are artisans skilled in this way, and materials are not a problem..."

Brother Mu Yi, don't take it to heart; those who are unaware are not to blame. Your circumstances are special, so they simply cannot be compared.

"Greetings, Commander!" the old man's expression instantly turned respectful.

Su Meiniang's eyebrows rose with delight; braving such great danger was precisely for this.

Had he not known that Mu Yi was not a person of this realm, he might have already turned hostile; spreading this would be a slap to the Dongdao Prefecture's face.

This item is more useful than an imperial edict within Dongdao Prefecture's territory; obtaining it almost proves that one's hall has been recognized by the prefecture, allowing one to harness the prefecture's reputation to gather incense offerings.

From just this tip of the iceberg, he could see Lin Xuan's ability to command troops; although his personal martial prowess isn't high, he certainly has outstanding qualities, so it's no wonder he was left to garrison a prefecture.

Brother Mu Yi, you're seriously underestimating our Dongdao Prefecture; just saying it would suffice—why would you need to use this token?

"..." Mu Yi froze for a moment, seeing the surrounding people's exasperated looks, he involuntarily scratched his head; he seemed to have indeed underestimated the token's function a bit.

It was my rashness; please forgive me, Brother Lin!

The old man sighed, tossed the stiff corpse to the ground, "A useless thing!"

Just casually handling a few rites for others would be enough to make her hall prosperous; Dongdao Prefecture is a blank incense market—grabbing a handful would let her eat till her mouth waters.

The others also smiled; the world bustles, all coming for profit, the world throngs, all going for profit—they are not living Buddhas, so taking such risks naturally seeks this.

"Brother Mu Yi, do you have any requests?" Lin Xuan, though slightly surprised, asked candidly.

After arriving, the guards bowed and then left without any hesitation; Mu Yi couldn't help but praise.

Having said that, Lin Xuan took out several small swords and handed them to everyone.

"The new commander!" Mu Yi waved his identity token; Lin Xuan had told him to return when needed, and now was a good time to use it.

You have all rendered great service to Dongdao Prefecture; this is the token issued by the prefecture. Holding it, the prefecture can, within its capacity, handle one matter for you—please accept it!

Heaven knows what kind of slaughter these soldier barbarians will cause this time.

"Can it be repaired?" Mu Yi asked again; the corpse's invulnerable body stirred him a bit—if he had such an aide, battles could save him much trouble.

Mu Yi bade farewell, then followed the guards out, winding through turns until they finally stopped at a corner of the city.

And in the central hall, an astonishing yin aura emanated, like a graveyard.

Using killing to stop killing is indeed the prefecture's supreme maxim.

"A stiff?" the old man blinked, then took the red-haired corpse and began examining it.

Lin Xuan didn't mind either, having someone take Mu Yi to find an artisan.

Within Dongdao Prefecture, nobles and officials find commanders less useful.

Hearing a response, Mu Yi pushed the door open.

Although he had come on a sect mission, Lin Xuan handled this flawlessly, making one inevitably feel favorably toward him.

"Can this thing be fixed?" Mu Yi wasn't polite, directly lifting the red-haired corpse.

Lin Xuan blinked, hesitated and nodded, then gave a wry smile.

Mu Yi knocked on the door.

The entire cottage's buildings were made of black stone, each slab feeling heavy, many bearing yin-carved reliefs that exuded a yin aura, as if an icy hell.

Enter!

I still have official duties; I cannot accompany you, Brother Mu Yi—please follow my guards to find an artisan!

Certainly possible, but… this corpse lacks a soul; even if repaired it would still be a dead body. To give it sentience would likely take seventy or eighty years!

Could you find someone to help me fix it? I can provide the materials! Mu Yi pondered a moment, then drew the red-haired corpse from the Six Paths barrier.

Who are you? an old man popped out of a coffin.

Mu Yi entered the central hall, which seemed like a mortuary, coffins everywhere, heavy yin air; he frowned—having just left the yin temple, he felt no fondness for this sensation.

So, I can cash it in now, right?" Mu Yi asked, holding the small sword; he hadn't expected to be able to obtain it himself.

How rare—the soul scattered, yet the body remains unblemished, preserving integrity to the utmost! The old man flipped the red-haired corpse over, examining it.

Frankly, without dragon energy, those Daoists could subdue a stiff in minutes.

Mu Yi pointed at the red-haired corpse; an Asura warrior stepped from the barrier, covering the corpse, and the previously prone stiff miraculously rose to its feet.

This is also Mu Yi's main reason for wanting to repair it: it can be used as a puppet, but the wound he cut on its neck continuously leaks corpse qi; at this rate, within a month the stiff will gradually degenerate.

The old man looked somewhat surprised at the Asura warrior, but said nothing more; since Mu Yi could use the corpse, he didn't waste words, pulled out a bunch of items, formed various hand seals, and began repairing the corpse's wound.

Mu Yi watched the old man's actions with some curiosity.

Zongwang Prompt: You have activated the Tenfold Talent Effect!... You have gained some insight from observation.

In observation and imitation, you have mastered the new ability 【Corpse Sewing】, and you have received partial information about the basic profession 【Corpse Sewer】.

Mu Yi scratched his head; he hadn't expected the talent effect to trigger now, actually stealing the other's technique directly.

Soon after, the old man had repaired the gap in the red-haired corpse's neck.

For now it's only a surface patch, staunching the yin qi leakage; to fully heal it, it still needs to absorb earth vein qi and lunar essence, then be buried in a suitable spot.

"When people get old, they're no good!" The old man wiped the sweat from his head, then started seeing off guests.

"No reward?" Mu Yi wondered.

"You're a colonel, so the bill naturally comes from the East Circuit Prefecture!" The old man waved his hand and said.

"Soft mouth from eating others' food, short hand from taking others' things—since I'm both eating and taking, I'd feel bad just leaving!"

Mu Yi looked up at the bright moon above the dome, sighed, his moral standards were too high, which sometimes wasn't a good thing.

"Forget it, help someone to the end, stay two days just in case!"

"But... speaking of investigation, Chu Yi should be able to help, right?"

Mu Yi thought, and summoned Chu Yi into this world via the comprehensive network.

Holding the dizzy Chu Yi from the spatial transfer, Mu Yi walked toward the temporary lodging arranged by Lin Xuan.

"Ow?"

Chu Yi tilted its head, looking at Mu Yi, not knowing why Mu Yi had suddenly summoned it, while it was still taking care of that rare treasure.

"Help me out, see if there are any enemies in this city!"

Chu Yi nodded, jumped from Mu Yi's arms, pressed its head to the ground, and activated its ability—Son of the Earth Deity.

Without interference, it could grasp information on the earth; if on Mount Lofty, it could detect any stir of wind or grass.

The next moment, Chu Yi opened its eyes and ran with Mu Yi in a certain direction.

"Huh?" When Chu Yi stopped, it happened to be in front of an inn; Mu Yi narrowed his eyes, and via the mental link, Chu Yi told him that inside gathered a large number of non-human beings.

From the outside, however, this place seemed perfectly normal.

Suddenly he saw an acquaintance who had just parted not long ago—Su Meiniang.

At this moment, Su Meiniang's pupils were almond-shaped, as if she were tracking something, but from her looking left and right, it seemed the trail had been cut off.

"Colonel Mu!"

The next moment, Su Meiniang walked over and greeted Mu Yi.

"What's this?"

"Colonel Lin commissioned me to covertly investigate in the city, but I don't know why, the leads all broke off when I reached this inn."

Obviously, Lin Xuan wasn't just waiting idly for reinforcements to return.

Su Meiniang felt a bit frustrated; earlier her combat wasn't great, she had thought relying on Su Erjie's investigative skills she could score another gain here, but instead she faced setback after setback, and the leads were cut off right here.

"Go back and find Colonel Lin, have him send troops over!"

Mu Yi handed over his token to Su Meiniang; Chu Yi's supernatural ability far exceeded imagination, while Su Erjie was still following the map, Chu Yi had already located the enemy at its source.

Su Meiniang stared, then took the token without changing expression, her excitement spilling over—she had obviously just struck lucky again.

Seeing Su Meiniang off, Mu Yi thought for a moment, then headed straight into the inn.

Although the moon was in the branches now, the inn was noisy with voices and the braying of mules and horses, clearly many people were staying there.

He sensed nothing strange at all, just as peaceful as an ordinary inn.

"Snarl!" Chu Yi had already bared its teeth, ready to attack.

"Chu Yi!" Mu Yi called softly, patting Chu Yi to signal it to relax.

Seeing Mu Yi enter, many gazes fell on him, then quickly shifted away; the attendant hurried forward with a simple smile:

"Guests arrive just in time, there are still a few rooms available..."

"Give me one!" Mu Yi smiled, rubbing Chu Yi's head, and told the attendant.

The attendant led Mu Yi to the rear courtyard; lights flickered faintly, the gate was locked, everything was dark.

"It's dark, watch your step, sir!"

The attendant stepped forward, opened the door, lit the lantern, after a bit of bustle bowed and said: "Hot water will be brought shortly, would you like some food and drink, sir?"

"Just bring whatever."

After the attendant left, Mu Yi frowned deeply; Chu Yi couldn't be firing blindly, this attendant definitely wasn't human, but no matter how he sensed him, the other was purely human, showing no flaw at all.

"Grr!" Chu Yi glared with ferocity and let out a low growl at Mu Yi.

"No living people?" Mu Yi was genuinely surprised this time.

Such a large inn, yet no living people—how could this be done? One or two might be called a special skill, but this inn surely has over a hundred people, all of them turned into monster barbarians?

"Guest, your food and drink are here!" The attendant brought in a plate of food and entered.

"How exactly did you manage this? The whole inn doesn't have a single living person!"

After knowing the inn had no living people, Mu Yi also stopped bothering to hide; Chu Yi had sensed a large troop approaching from that direction, and he had also noticed that the city's Cloud Energy Grand Formation was secretly ready, not yet activated.

Simply put, Mu Yi laid his cards bare with the attendant, wanting to see what method could achieve such perfection.

"Sir, what are you saying—" the attendant's astonished words weren't finished when Mu Yi's blade already chopped toward his head.

The attendant collapsed straight away; Mu Yi narrowed his eyes, Chu Yi's judgment was indeed correct—his head was cut off but no soul appeared, this isn't something an ordinary person could do.

"Still not coming out?" Mu Yi tapped the attendant's spine with his blade.

"How did you discover it?"

A bloody parasitic organism burst from the attendant's corpse, then took on his appearance, looking at Mu Yi with puzzlement.

"I couldn't tell, I was bluffing you!" Mu Yi's face remained calm.

Without Chu Yi, he wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with the attendant.

What the hell is this thing? It looks nothing like a traditional demon, more like some kind of plant mycelium.

"You..."

The attendant's face changed, and in frustration he thrust countless filamentous strands from his palm at Mu Yi.

A flash of lightning, and the attendant instantly turned to charcoal and collapsed, as fragile as an ordinary person.

But Mu Yi's face darkened, as if because the cause had been exposed, everyone in the inn rushed at him all at once.

And from above the ground, a huge plant pierced the earth, stretching toward the heavenly dome.

Countless tiny spores shot out in all directions, and Mu Yi finally understood what method the other side used to control humans.

The people inside the inn had already been completely controlled; at least Mu Yi didn't think that someone without a soul could still be called human.

He just said it felt somewhat familiar— isn't this the heavenly snowfall from the White Lotus World?

Unlike the snow, these spores, after parasitizing, can actually devour the original host's soul and memories, completely replacing the host.

Although I don't know why such a heaven-defying ability would still lurk, Mu Yi is certain that if Lin Xuan leaves the city, Dong Dao Fu might truly become a human purgatory.

This is the real killer move; by then, even if Dong Dao Fu's battle power is heaven-defying, facing their own kin and friends, could they really bring themselves to strike?

Moreover, after all the common folk of Dong Dao Fu die unnatural deaths, could Dong Dao Fu really continue to exist?

This is digging up the roots of Dong Dao Fu.