Chapter 228: Corpse Transformation in the Night (Please Subscribe)

"That is correct; the changes are being uploaded. The key is that this change is far too normal. Whether living or dead, one cannot find any problems with their bodies..."

While Du En was silently pondering, Commandant Zhen's reply also rang out: "The situation is clearly deteriorating. Liu Hong's actions like this have actually happened many times. Next, he will take the corpses to a certain place in the mountains, and then return by himself."

There was a slight pause in the middle of his words, appearing to imply something, as if he had suddenly had a flash of inspiration or had long intended to use this to lure Du En into saying something, thereby exposing his own intentions.

In any case, it was hard to guess, and Du En couldn't be bothered to guess. He simply went with the flow and said: "If the Commandant trusts me, we can agree on a method of contact. We will split up to act; you continue to watch this Golden Core stage manager, and I will go to track the destination of the corpses."

Commandant Zhen's difficulty was obvious; he was unable to be in two places at once. He could either watch Liu Hong or guard the corpses.

If Du En had not guessed wrong, his subordinate, Gray Falcon, must have been sent to tail the flow of the corpses, but perhaps some accident occurred, or perhaps they encountered other circumstances.

In short, since the tail of the clue had been grasped, one should continue to investigate.

Moreover, one could not ignore that possibility; if Gray Falcon were to be harmed, it would be impossible to fulfill Shi Lei's dying wish.

"There is no need to agree on any contact method. If you really find anything, it would be best if you, Traveling Inspector Du, would inform me afterwards."

Although Commandant Zhen also wanted to take the opportunity to leave some mark on Du En to control his whereabouts and indirectly learn the flow of the corpses, he decided against it after careful consideration.

After all, if Du En really had ulterior motives, then running around with a mark, or setting an ambush based on it, would instead lead one into a trap.

Therefore, it was better to pretend to be open!

Of course, after they separated, he would certainly have to do something to guard against Du En finding him directly again.

Commandant Zhen thought silently, his expression remaining calm.

The two of them followed Liu Hong, watching him take the corpses away, arrive alone at a certain place in the Chiwu Mountain Range, dump the corpses there with disdain, and then leave with hurried steps.

Du En stayed behind quite naturally, watching the figure of Commandant Zhen, who was as calm as an old stone, leave while walking backwards. The wariness in his heart dissipated slightly, and only after observing for a while longer did he quietly depart.

"That manager acts in a high-profile manner; perhaps he is actually just a flashy piece of bait, and there is someone on the shore fishing. Hmm... this possibility is simply self-evident, yet this Commandant still acts this way. It seems the roots of the anomaly here are buried quite deep, leaving the Inspection Guard so passive, as if they are biting the hook."

Looking at the pile of corpses in front of him, Du En pondered silently, then immediately thought of another point: "But then again, if the Inspection Guard really wanted to solve the problem, they wouldn't just send one Golden Core stage Commandant. Or is it that there is actually a Nascent Soul stage Inspection Vice-Commander hidden in the dark? But that doesn't seem right either; if a Nascent Soul stage expert had come, why would they be dragging their feet and investigating in secret?"

The situation with the Inspection Guard also seemed to have some problems; the inside and outside of this Chiwu City were now filled with various anomalies, both large and small.

One needed to act with even more caution and prudence.

Du En confirmed that Commandant Zhen had left, immediately made a move to relocate and hide, and raised his mastery of the Ice Breath Art to fully conceal himself.

Ice Breath, Ice Breath; at this moment, he was like a piece of ice that had not melted for a thousand years, freezing his own breath and vitality entirely, so that nothing leaked out, avoiding the detection of others' divine sense.

Thus, he squatted and waited silently, waiting until the dead of night.

The bright, full moon rose, spilling down cold, clear radiance, spreading it over the place where the corpses were piled.

This place was actually a bare, sun-facing hilltop surrounded by red-leafed parasol trees.

Bald Peak—because it was bare and stood out from the crowd, it got such a name.

Du En was currently hiding under the peak, pressed against the rock wall, and unexpectedly, the feeling he gave was that he was a part of it. He waited silently and quietly, and then, he waited for the anomaly to begin to appear.

*Swoosh—*

The faint, rustling sound heralded a change in the situation.

He did not need divine sense at all, nor did he need to look with his eyes; just by relying on his keen, comprehensive senses, he could replicate the situation on the peak in his mind through the sound, the ripples in the air, the disturbance of spiritual energy, and other factors, synchronizing the changes in real-time.

This replication told him: the corpses were moving!

Those corpses that had been dumped here and were already rotting and stinking began to squirm under the moonlight. Soon, they were all moving, like a mass of insects, struggling to crawl apart, and finally, they all stood firm and swayed away.

They left in a scattered manner.

"Their vigilance is not light. Since that is the case, then I shall beat the grass to startle the snake."

Du En made a decisive choice, raised his hand to point upward, and unleashed the Wood Spirit Entanglement at the beginner level.

In an instant, emerald fluorescent vines drawing in wood-element spiritual energy broke directly through the soil, precisely binding the three hundred or so living corpses firmly.

With his current strength, even at the beginner level, the power far exceeded the situation when Ren Li used it at the Qi Refining perfection stage.

At that time, Ren Li's Wood Spirit Entanglement could bind even a first-rank perfect-stage demonic beast for a moment. Du En was now targeting these living corpses who were only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining in life and had dropped in level after death, so it was naturally easy; no matter how they struggled, they would definitely not be able to break free!

"Hiss..."

"Woo woo woo..."

"Uh uh uh..."

The living corpses were unable to move. As time passed, the corpse-change became more obvious, and they began to emit various strange cries.

And as the corpse-change continued, the mana, blood energy, and spiritual essence remaining in their bodies gathered and blended into corpse Qi, and the rotting corpses therefore became stiff and solid.

"Zombies? Is someone raising and refining corpses?"

Du En could be considered knowledgeable and experienced now; he knew various things about raising and refining corpses, as well as evil, sinister creatures like zombies, so he recognized it immediately.

"If this is the case, one point makes sense."

Immortal cultivators at the early stage of Qi Refining, because their residues dissipated too quickly after death, could not possibly successfully transform into zombies, so the person behind the scenes could only raise their cultivation first.

"However, zombie transformation does not just require this prerequisite; there are many other conditions. Not to mention anything else, this mountain peak is bare and exposed to the scorching sun during the day, making it difficult for evil to exist; it is simply not a suitable place for raising corpses."

"So, is the key in that house in Red Leaf Garden? We all got the target wrong... No, whether it was the technique of seeking spirits or my own various senses, when that manager opened the door to take the corpses, I didn't discover any anomalies. It is unlikely to be there..."

It seemed as if he had figured things out, but in fact, if one thought about it carefully, he hadn't at all; it was still full of doubts.

(End of chapter)