Chapter 206

Zhong Ting felt he should reconsider whether to let Chu Danqing help him find the Corpse Centipede.

Just a moment ago, he saw a Demon Grudge Corpse stripped bare and thrown out of Chu Danqing's room.

This wasn't much of a big deal, after all, a group of Blind Servants had gathered around it again.

The puppets or figurines buried in tombs as funerary objects are called Blind Servants; the word "blind" is synonymous with "dead," hence the name.

Normally, these things pose no threat at all; they are just inanimate objects.

However, many nobles and aristocrats felt that Blind Servants made of fired clay lacked spirituality—how would they serve them in the underworld later?

So, they would chop up real boys and girls, mix them in, and fire them into Blind Servants to be used as funerary objects.

After staying in the tomb for a long time and being soaked in yin energy and malevolence, these Blind Servants become ominous entities.

As for why they weren't buried alive directly, it was naturally because they didn't qualify.

It's not just anyone who can use humans as funerary offerings; only people like emperors and princes have that qualification.

By chopping up living people and firing them into the Blind Servants, the nobles and aristocrats bypassed this transgression.

Of course, that wasn't the point; the point was that a group of even fiercer things had rushed out of Chu Danqing's room.

They had forcibly dragged the Blind Servants into the room, and he wasn't very clear on what the situation was now.

While chatting with Chu Danqing earlier, he had indeed sensed that some kind of great ominous entity seemed to be hidden in Chu Danqing's shadow.

"It wouldn't be a Corpse Puppet, would it?" Zhong Ting muttered, only able to watch as the Blind Servants on the scene were all dragged into Chu Danqing's room.

"I can only say, as expected of the outskirts of the Vast Guling, you can see all sorts of messy things."

Zhong Ting had truly seen it all: the Corpse Centipede that fled here, and the Demon Grudge Corpse that accidentally reanimated due to the Grave Robbers.

As for this group of Blind Servants, they were likely from some noble's grand tomb nearby.

The culprit behind the knocking on doors at night and leaving bloody handprints that the old village chief mentioned earlier was the Blind Servants.

The least threatening things here were the Blind Servants; as long as you didn't open the door and your house was sturdy enough when they knocked, nothing would happen.

Zhong Ting had never been to the Vast Guling; knowing it was an ominous place, why would he come here for no reason?

Before so many tombs were buried here, the Vast Guling was actually a geomantic treasure land; later, many emperors and generals settled here, which led their descendants to follow.

With the precedents of their predecessors, later generations vied to place their own tombs here.

Some did it to pray for the dynasty's favorable weather and long-lasting reign, while others dreamed of ascending to immortality.

In any case, this was a blessed land; bury them first, and then slowly arrange everything according to geomancy later.

The Vast Guling was indeed vast, but it couldn't withstand such tossing by emperors and generals through the ages.

The alteration of geomancy combined with the clusters of tombs resulted in its final appearance.

If not for the life-saving Corpse Centipede Pearl, he wouldn't have come here either.

Although the Corpse Centipede is fierce, it is also extremely rare; giving up on this one and trying to find another would not be easy.

He could only bite the bullet and come.

"Mr. Zhong, still awake?" Suddenly, Chu Danqing's voice reached his ears.

This gave Zhong Ting a start.

He had clearly used the secret art of the Kui Star Kicking the Dipper to suppress his aura to the lowest level; how had he still been detected by the other party?

However, since he had been exposed, he didn't intend to hide.

So he said directly: "Just getting up for the night, about to go back to sleep."

Zhong Ting casually made up an excuse, then hurriedly retreated, feeling extremely vigilant.

He had thought Chu Danqing would press the issue, but after he said this, there was no movement.

It wasn't until dawn, when the village roosters crowed, that there was any further action.

This inevitably made him feel suspicious.

When he went out again, Chu Danqing was already at the entrance talking to the village chief.

"So this group of grave robbers might not be dead yet?"

"Where exactly are they? I'll go send them on their way," Chu Danqing said.

According to the village chief, he learned that the clay figurine dolls were originally funerary objects for the Fox-Headed Corpse.

This Fox-Headed Corpse was either a princess or a noblewoman in her lifetime, favored but because she was a woman.

So this geomantic treasure land could only be grazed at the edge.

Therefore, not only in the tomb, but also inside the coffin, there should be a large amount of gold and silver jewelry used as funerary objects.

Chu Danqing had only obtained one embroidered shoe, which meant the items inside had already been taken by the grave robbers.

This meant that there were still survivors among the grave robbers.

"It's probably too late now," Zhong Ting interjected after hearing the gist: "If they stayed in the wild last night, the Corpse Centipede definitely wouldn't have let them go."

"If they didn't have some means, they've probably already become part of the Corpse Centipede."

Hearing this, Chu Danqing asked: "Does Mr. Zhong know the origins of these two things?"

The identity's geomancy knowledge was limited, so Chu Danqing didn't know.

Zhong Ting didn't hide it either, but explained the origins of the Demon Grudge Corpse and the Blind Servants.

He was also puzzled in his heart; logically, if you can control such ominous things, how could you not know this?

Actually, Zhong Ting envied Chu Danqing.

His own Kui Star Kicking the Dipper meant that dealing with firearms and cannons was equivalent to suicide for a flesh-and-blood body.

But Chu Danqing was different; if he could control such ominous things, it meant he possessed enough martial power to be transcendent.

However, the price must be high; after all, ominous things are malevolent and unlucky, and one might be backlashed to death if not careful.

"They committed sins; they deserve to die in such a non-human, non-ghost state," Chu Danqing replied.

Using humans as funerary objects was, in Chu Danqing's view, a stain.

It might not have been the tomb owner's doing, but the premise that "misfortune does not extend to the family" is that "kindness does not extend to the children," so if he encounters them, he will kill them without a shred of mercy.

As for him also killing people?

Chu Danqing allows others to kill him; as long as they can kill him, Chu Danqing deserves to die.

This kind of thing is mutual, and Chu Danqing had long been prepared for a future where he would die and vanish.

"By the way, what's the situation with your Corpse Centipede?" Chu Danqing shifted the topic to Zhong Ting.

He still had a D-rank mission.

The difficulty wasn't high, but if he failed, he would have to lose Paradise Points, which Chu Danqing naturally couldn't accept.

"If nothing goes wrong, it should be in the tomb of that Demon Grudge Corpse."

"The Grave Robbers only care about wealth; they definitely took the things in the coffin, but they wouldn't bring the coffin out of the tomb."

"That job is thankless and exhausting."

"So this matter is eight or nine times out of ten the work of the Corpse Centipede."

"The Corpse Centipede also likes yin and cold; this tomb with broken energy is the most suitable," Zhong Ting analyzed for Chu Danqing.

After all, he was someone who practiced the Kui Star Kicking the Dipper, specializing in dealing with these ominous things.

Plus, being middle-aged, his experience and knowledge were not lacking.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go. I'll help you slaughter the Corpse Centipede first, and then you help me afterwards," Chu Danqing said, preparing to move.

However, Zhong Ting didn't move, saying helplessly: "I don't know where that tomb is."

Both he and Chu Danqing were newcomers, so how could they know the location?

So he looked at the village chief.

The village suffered this disaster because the village chief told the grave robbers the location.

Otherwise, without the tomb being broken, the Blind Servants wouldn't have come out, and the Red-Robed Female Corpse wouldn't have reanimated on a stormy day.

The Corpse Centipede wouldn't have been attracted by this tomb to arrive here either.

Furthermore, because of this, the surrounding geomancy changed; if not resolved, it would gradually become an ominous place.

More and more ominous things would be attracted here by the aura of living people.

The final outcome would be death or destruction.

Hearing this, the village chief hurriedly said: "I will have someone lead you up the mountain."

If it were before, he definitely wouldn't want to touch this unlucky business again.

But he couldn't resist Chu Danqing, who had come early in the morning carrying the Fox-Headed Corpse and a large package of flesh, bone, and mud, asking where the dead were usually buried.

The village chief saw at a glance that Chu Danqing had helped resolve the hidden danger, and his favorability increased instantly.

Secondly, he heard Zhong Ting say that there was a monster called a Corpse Centipede in the tomb on the mountain.

If this wasn't resolved, it would be fatal when it came down the mountain one day.

Now that Chu Danqing had volunteered to resolve it, he naturally had to do his best.

After all, it was to save his own life.

"Easy, I'll trouble you, old man," Zhong Ting was just waiting for these words from the village chief.

Upon hearing this, the old village chief immediately went to arrange for someone to lead the way.

"Strange, how come these warlord soldiers haven't gotten up at this hour? They wouldn't be dead, would they?" Chu Danqing knew they had rested very early yesterday.

It was about time for them to wake up.

"Young Master Chu, I think we shouldn't create extra trouble," Zhong Ting suddenly said: "They have guns in their hands, and they can endure when they are tired and hungry."

"Once they are full and satisfied, they might not be willing to reason with us."

It's not that Zhong Ting hadn't dealt with warlord soldiers; you can't say there are no good people, but the saying 'thieves come like a comb, soldiers come like a rake, officials come like a razor' is not empty talk.

Even Chu Danqing himself carried a sharp blade and had a heart for killing, let alone soldiers in such chaotic times who had no thoughts of their own.

"Let's go check the situation," Chu Danqing said, and a Ghost Grudge Infant crawled out of his shadow, heading straight for the warlord soldiers' room.

Seeing this scene, Zhong Ting felt a bit suffocated.

No matter how fierce ominous things are, most fear the sun.

Yet the ominous thing in Chu Danqing's shadow crawled out so openly.

He couldn't help but swallow, realizing that Chu Danqing was becoming increasingly mysterious.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Chu Danqing also sensed the other party's psychological change, so he asked.

"Young Master Chu, keeping ominous things is inauspicious; it's better to touch them less," Zhong Ting reminded Chu Danqing.

You're young now, and your vitality is strong enough to suppress them.

But when you get older, you definitely won't be able to suppress them, and the ominous things will inevitably backlash.

Not only will you die, but it might also implicate your relatives and friends through your bloodline.

"Misunderstanding, I'm not keeping them," Chu Danqing explained: "They are actually my employees; I'm just fulfilling my duty of care."

Zhong Ting didn't understand Chu Danqing's meaning; after all, their worldviews were different, and the two couldn't be mentioned in the same breath.

(End of chapter)