Chapter 637: Living Dead Positions

The scent of chili and meat mingled, drifting through the courtyard.

Wu Long crouched beneath the table, two black eyes rolling back and forth between Liang Qu and Su Guishan.

Liang Qu picked up a slice of meat with his chopsticks and tossed it to him.

This summer.

In the Jianghuai Jianghuai Daze, celestial dew appeared, accompanied by the phenomenon of an immortal island floating in the clouds.

Later, he asked his uncle-in-law and learned that the founding emperor of Da Li, seeking immortality in his later years, believed the words of alchemists and hoped to use the Xiao Shenlong 's innate ability to exhale mist and conjure dreams, creating a dreamlike imperial dynasty to achieve eternal life.

The outcome was not a good one.

The immortal island shattered, turning real into illusion.

The Xiao Shenlong, near death, fled and vanished without a trace.

Since then, the Jianghuai Jianghuai Daze lost one of its wonders, and the Da Li dynasty suffered a massive blow to its vital energy, its lifespan drastically shortened.

It was like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket—empty effort.

Fortunately, the Inside Ze Ding delivered: the Shenchong obtained the 【Dream Butterfly】 and unearthed this historical relic.

Every seven or eight days, without fail, Liang Qu relied on the Shenchong to enter the immortal island to forge his true qi, while simultaneously training the Shenchong to climb the white jade steps.

He aimed, within the limited time, to reach the summit of the immortal island as soon as possible, to see what the palace looked like, whether any Xiao Shenlong remains remained, or even if any great Shenyao still lived.

Suppose the Ghost Mother Sect created something similar…

Hss!

Immortality?

Can a dying camel still have such power?

Su Guishan's chopsticks never stopped; crimson chili oil dripped into the broth.

"Last year, when your Heposuo dealt with a Huang branch lineage, didn't you encounter a Grand Master who came back from death?"

The Grand Master's divine power was unfathomable; I was too weak back then, couldn't watch closely, didn't see it with my own eyes—I only heard later from Xu Xu Tiling and others that the Grand Master had returned from death and had to be killed again.

Afterward, I, Xiang Fang Su, and Ke Ko Wenbin went to the island and encountered a revived Grand Martial Artist along the way—he acted purely on instinct and brute strength, knew no martial arts, no different from a walking corpse…"

"My lord."

Long Li brought the tray and placed a crystal cup from the case.

Clear juice floated with ice cubes.

Su Guishan fell silent, his gaze dropping to the crystal cup.

Liang Qu had assumed an outsider's presence would make his uncle-in-law reluctant to speak—but the next sentence took a sharp turn.

"Why is your cup so red?"

Liang Qu smiled: "Yours is orange juice; mine is pomegranate juice—both fresh, seasonal fruit."

"Bring me one."

"Bring me another."

Long Li hugged the tray and apologized: "Uncle Su, today I went home and bought few pomegranates."

"Uncle, drink mine—I haven't touched a drop."

Liang Qu offered his chilled juice with both hands.

Su Guishan smiled, stroking his beard: "A worthy youth."

The conversation resumed.

"Do you know about Yin Sha Shui Laomu?"

"Not much." Liang Qu recalled, "It seems to be a minor belief near the Jianghuai Jianghuai Daze. I don't know much about its past, but now almost no villagers worship it—yet why would the Ghost Mother Sect choose her as a totem to deceive the world?"

"No." Su Guishan shook his head. "Those who worship Yin Sha Shui Laomu are not few—in fact, they're as countless as stars in the sky, receiving incense and offerings every year."

Liang Qu frowned.

"How have I never heard of this?"

"Because Laomu herself does not originate from the Jianghuai Jianghuai Daze—her true origin lies in the South Sea!"

"The South Sea?"

"The 'Records of Strange Things' states: 'On Xiao Yu Mountain in the South Sea dwells the Ghost Mother, who gives birth to Heaven, Earth, and Ghosts. She bears ten ghosts at once, gives birth in the morning, eats them at night—today's Cangwu Ghost Gu Spirit is her.' She has a tiger's head, dragon's feet, snake's eyes, and serpent's brows."

Liang Qu understood.

No wonder he'd never heard of her.

So she's an outsider, a wild deity.

"Uncle, why bring this up…"

Su Guishan sighed deeply.

"Once the Shen Dragon turned real into illusion, now the Ghost Mother Sect, through some great divine power and immense cost, reverses the process—turning illusion into reality, fabricating this legendary Ghost Mother and securing ten Living Dead Positions." "Living Dead Positions?"

"Do you remember what I said? 'She bears ten ghosts at once, gives birth in the morning, eats them at night.' Cause and effect cycle: according to Zhao Fatty's words, the Ghost Mother Sect, relying on the Ghost Mother's faith and power, created ten Living Positions and ten Dead Positions, fixed at twenty, unchangeable.

Once the corresponding Living one dies, the soul transfers to a Dead Position; if the number of Dead Positions exceeds the limit, sacrificing many living beings in a short time can displace one Dead Position's bound soul back into a Living Position.

Through this divine power, the Ghost Mother Sect achieves resurrection from death—and the closer the bloodline of the sacrificed, the stronger the effect."

"Same bloodline…"

As the name implies.

Humans sacrifice humans, tigers sacrifice tigers, toads sacrifice toads.

Liang Qu's mind flashed with insight.

"Fetal Pearl Pills!"

"Precisely. Previously, the court didn't understand why the Ghost Mother Sect sacrificed so many civilians to create runaway Martial Artists—or what secret extraction technique they possessed.

Now it's clear: these runaway Martial Artists are merely distractions, carrots to lure outsiders—flesh-and-blood Fetal Pearl Pills are the prepared offerings to the Ghost Mother, like the long incense sticks offered to deities!"

Liang Qu's eyes widened in shock.

Such immense power!

But then he thought again.

"Wait, Uncle—if there are only twenty Living Dead Positions total, why do Grand Martial Artists qualify for resurrection?"

"They don't qualify." Su Guishan shook his head. "Even in decline, the Ghost Mother Sect wouldn't use Grand Martial Artists' heads to fill all twenty Living Dead Positions—even some True Masters might not qualify."

"Then why…"

"If you think the Grand Martial Artists on the island are corpses with only instinct, showing no signs of life—can that truly be called resurrection?"

Liang Qu fell silent.

Indeed.

Based on their behavior, calling them instinct-driven zombies is more accurate—far from true resurrection.

"Perhaps the resurrection of True Masters affected them, pulling their spiritual souls into a brief afterglow. If you leave them alone, they'll collapse soon enough on their own."

Liang Qu nodded silently.

When the smoke enters a Grand Martial Artist, the spiritual soul must merge with blood and qi—when the soul moves, the qi moves. The special nature begins here.

Ghost Mother Sect followers react to calamus and mugwort—directly tied to the Ghost Mother, and the influence is certainly not benign.

Compared to strangers, one's own blood relatives, beloved family—those are truly "same bloodline."

One cup of pomegranate juice exchanged for such a great secret!

Thinking of this,

Liang Qu felt puzzled.

"How does Zhao Fatty know so much?"

The Ghost Mother Sect's illegitimate son captured on Mount Lu, the Hunting Tiger Grand Martial Artist Ning Ning Chaoqing—he likely didn't know as clearly as Zhao Zhao Hongyuan.

After hours of interrogation on the mountain, aside from his own identity, they extracted almost nothing about the Ghost Mother Sect's inner workings.

Not because he was stubborn—he genuinely didn't know.

"Because Zhao Fatty wasn't recruited as an ordinary member—he saved some important figure from a Prince's faction by chance on the road years ago, brought him home, and cared for him well. The man repaid the kindness; Zhao Fatty didn't refuse—he gladly accepted."

Talent!

Liang Qu pictured Zhao Zhao Hongyuan's round, pale, fat face.

That old rascal must've extracted plenty of secrets—he probably planned this moment all along, ready to spill them to save his life.

Huh.

Resurrection.

Difficult.

Probably not without cost—but the margin for error is still far higher than for ordinary people.

"Uncle, why are southern matters so bizarre? First Gu insects, now the Ghost Mother?"

In the afternoon, he learned the Great Shun Grand Martial Artist record-holder died from a love Gu.

In the evening, he learned the Ghost Mother Sect truly possessed resurrection.

"Because they're weak."

"Master?"

Liang Qu turned around.

The old monk stepped out from the western wing, picked up chopsticks and bowl, and ate meat and rice in large bites.