Chapter 513: Escaping with One's Life

Wherever there is deadly poison, within ten li there must be an antidote; this is the principle of yin-yang balance, mutual generation and restriction. The tomb is damp and dark, so it will surely breed corpse qi, but likewise, there must also be a spiritual medicine that detoxifies—'Returning Life Qi.' Just as everyone fell into despair, QingSongShu stroked his beard and murmured.

Hope sparked in everyone's hearts, but who knew QingSongShu would say: 'Only this Returning Life Qi seeps out from the cracks in the coffin, while the Yang family ancestors' coffin is made of bronze, which absolutely cannot have cracks, let alone contain Returning Life Qi.'

In an instant, darkness fell again.

'However, we are not without a sliver of hope.' Seeing everyone lower their heads, QingSongShu stroked his beard and smiled.

Everyone's emotions were tossed up and down by QingSongShu, alternating between despair and hope, hope then despair, then hope again—it was more thrilling than riding a roller coaster.

'Dad, if you have a way, just say it—you've made our feelings like bungee jumping, my little heart almost jumped out!' Pangzi, eyes wet, grabbed QingSongShu's sleeve and wiped his nose.

QingSongShu lowered his head, pondered for a moment, then lifted his head, furrowed his brows, and said: 'Hai Sheng, go over and inhale a bit of the Yang family ancestors' ashes.'

'What? Have me inhale ashes? You're not joking, are you?' I opened my mouth wide and didn't come to my senses for a while.

'Yes, go inhale the Yang family ancestors' ashes!' QingSongShu affirmed again. At that moment, Yao Wenju beside him suddenly frowned and said: 'The Yang family ancestors' ashes are strange.'

Everyone's gazes turned to him; Yao Wenju swept a glance over the crowd and said: 'According to common sense, the Yang ancestors should have long turned to dust; even if the bones were intact, opening the coffin to the wind should have scattered them. Yet the Yang ancestors' white bones are completely unharmed—don't you find that odd?'

Indeed, that's the case. When a person is buried, even if the coffin is sealed as tightly as possible, it cannot preserve the body as perfectly as the Yang ancestors'. Even if a skeleton is visible when the coffin is opened, it would never be as robust as the Yang ancestors'. Just now, Yang Shouyi actually lifted that skeleton with one hand, and when the skeleton was raised, none of its limbs fell off—this is hardly believable.

At that moment, an important thought struck me: why did Yang Shouyi smash the Yang ancestors' skeleton into powder? Even if he truly hated the Yang ancestors, there would be no need to deliberately smash it like that.

Unless he knew something and thus wanted to cut off our retreat.

'Didn't you notice? When we were moving things just now, the whole person was intact, no different from usual. Corpse poison acts swiftly; even if it takes time to corrode a person's extraordinary meridians, it absolutely couldn't drag on this long, could it?' Yao Wenju frowned, then added: 'Unless the Yang ancestors had already blended the antidote for corpse poison into their own bodies.'

'Enough nagging; if we keep thinking, we'll all be finished. Just try it—Hai Sheng, you go out.' Pangzi had just said that when, before I could react, he kicked me out.

With a thump, I traced a semicircular arc in the air and landed in a dog‑eating‑mud pose onto the pile of the Yang ancestors' ashes.

'Damn it, you fat bastard, once I get out I'll beat you to death!' The moment I realized I was airborne, I knew Pangzi had tricked me again. Everything happened so fast and violently that by the time I came to, my mouth had already swallowed the Yang ancestors' ashes.

'Cough cough...' I gripped my throat hard, trying to spit out the ashes I'd swallowed. I often hear people talk about snorting white powder, but I'm not snorting white powder, nor inhaling ashes—I'm eating ashes, which is utterly disgusting.

I gripped my throat and strained to vomit, but the next moment I froze. I felt no discomfort at all; instead, my breathing grew smoother, my mind clear and refreshed.

QingSongShu was indeed correct—the Yang ancestors had truly blended the spirit medicine Returning Soul Fragrance, which dispels corpse qi, into their own bodies, leaving a sliver of life.

It seems we all forgot the Yang ancestors' identity; they too were cultivators, and most cultivators possess a compassionate heart, leaving a sliver of life when laying formations or casting spells, never cutting off all retreat.

'Don't just enjoy yourself—hand it over quickly, we can't hold out much longer!' Pangzi leaned against the coffin's edge and shouted in anguish.

I dared not hesitate; I quickly scooped up a handful of ashes and held it before everyone.

Everyone inhaled those ashes like snorting white powder; what left me speechless was that Yao Wenju inhaled a bit, dispelled the corpse poison, then wrinkled his nose and said, still wanting more: 'Any left? Give me another bite.'

'Damn, this isn't white powder—snorting more does no good. Wrong, snorting white powder does no good either!' I stared speechlessly at Yao Wenju; apparently even inhaling ashes can become addictive.

'Enough talk—Hai Sheng, go bring some of the outside things inside, then take turns switching people out.' QingSongShu glanced over the tomb and ordered me.

I ran to the outside of the coffin, moving the jewels inside the tomb one by one back out. When the weight was about right, I swapped Pangzi out, taking turns replacing everyone, and finally got everyone out.

QingSongShu led the way, Pangzi carried the heartbroken, ashen‑faced Yang Shouren. I supported the mad Ye Qi in the middle, Yao Wenju brought up the rear, following the tomb's path to the outer cave mouth.

'Actually, I should have realized from the start that the Yang tomb has no Three Slaughter Stelae at all. These three naturally carved Dao caverns are the true stelae formation of the Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Slaughters.' QingSongShu gazed at the cavern behind him and sighed from the heart.

The Yang ancestors' methods were indeed heavenly, ingeniously binding the Three Slaughters and the offender‑teacher earth together. So‑called Three Slaughter Stelae actually coexist with the earth; as long as the spirit‑form is not destroyed, the stelae endure forever. The saying 'feng shui only three, earthly fortune three sixty‑year cycles' as a dying warning—perhaps the Yang ancestors didn't want to exhaust the spiritual land's earth qi, and thus admonished their descendants thus.

'Mr. Yao, please take Xiaoqiang back with Brother Yang and Lady Yang; I and Hai Sheng will stay behind, as we still have some matters to attend to.' QingSongShu turned and said to Yao Wenju.

Although no one understood what QingSongShu intended to do by staying, Pangzi and Yao Wenju still carried Yang Shouren and Ye Qi toward the Yang family's direction.

After everyone had left, I asked QingSongShu: 'Uncle, what are we staying behind to do?'

QingSongShu didn't answer me, but simply said: 'Just follow me.'

We walked into the forest at the mountain's base, where QingSongShu, like a conjurer, pulled two sheets of yellow paper from his waist pocket; he tore one into the shape of a paper person, and the other into a paper crane.

Then QingSongShu took a small bunch of someone's hair—whose, I don't know—threaded it through the paper person's mouth, and wrote a name—again, whose, I don't know.

When QingSongShu closed his eyes and began chanting the incantation, I already knew what this spell was.

'Paper Crane Soul‑Seeking Technique?' Using a paper crane to locate the person sought is similar in principle to Yao Wenju tracking the gray‑clad Pangzi, except Yao Wenju's method is slightly odd, merely quicker.

But who is QingSongShu chasing now?

As the paper crane rose, I and QingSongShu closely followed it as we ran out. In the end, QingSongShu simply hoisted me onto his back and followed the crane's direction, for I was utterly exhausted.

We ran all the way down the mountain; the paper crane came to rest in QingSongShu's hand, he hailed a taxi, and directed the driver according to the crane's turning.

I, meanwhile, couldn't help but doze off in the car and fell asleep. There was no way around it—I had expended too much soul power in the Realm of Ease, and my spirit was utterly drained.

'Hai Sheng… wake up,' QingSongShu tapped my face.

'Ah, have we arrived?' I opened my bleary eyes.

'Not yet—let's get out first,' QingSongShu paid the fare and led me out of the car. Only then did I realize we had come to a remote village lane, and the sky had already darkened to night.

'Uncle, could you tell me who you're looking for?' I raised my head doubtfully and glanced at QingSongShu's face. Not looking would have been fine, but upon seeing it I jumped. His face showed tension, plus some hesitation and reluctance. It seemed I had grown this old and still never seen QingSongShu wear such an expression.

Just who are we chasing? The Yang family has suffered such a huge incident, yet QingSongShu actually found the time to pursue him.