Chapter 146

The good news is that although Lin Shu You is carrying the bamboo pole in the corpse-driving team, he can open his eyes and seems to retain a certain degree of self-awareness.

This means he might not have been "picked up" but entered this team voluntarily.

But the problem is, although Lin Shu You occasionally has a short circuit in his brain, he is still very obedient when he hasn't opened his face, especially since he was arranged to be in a team with Yin Meng.

Under normal circumstances, the two of them would absolutely not sneak around to do some free-style things during an existing mission.

His team values team discipline the most.

So, did a change occur halfway, or did some accident happen that forced them to get involved?

The bad news is that they are entering the water.

The sound of the bell in the hands of the yellow-robed Daoist priest at the front gradually faded, the sound of water rose, and Li Zhuiyuan, with his good hearing, could hear the sound of them walking into the lake one by one.

Li Zhuiyuan pursed his lips and began to think quickly.

Because... there wasn't much time left.

Right now, Lin Shu You retains a certain degree of self-awareness, and although Yin Meng could not be observed, it is highly likely that she is not in the worst state.

But right now is right now; what about a day later?

Tomorrow, eight teams will leave the lake surface and set off again, but at that time, each team should be in the standard three-person formation of "two carrying one."

Eight teams returning will also be around this time tomorrow, which is twenty-four hours from now.

In this day and night, can Yin Meng and Lin Shu You guarantee their safety under the lake?

Therefore, if he chooses to wait another twenty-four hours, it is almost equivalent to giving up the rescue and expecting them to create a miracle and survive.

And if you want to do something, the only opportunity is the eighth team that has already appeared in the shadows and is about to come over.

Sneak into that eighth team and go down into the water!

Li Zhuiyuan made up his mind.

In the young man's dictionary, there is no option to admit defeat after the second lamp-lighting ends and the river-walking is over.

Therefore, he would go down into this water sooner or later.

So on this basis, why not go down and meet up for rescue while Yin Meng and Lin Shu You still retain self-awareness, instead of waiting until they are cold?

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and looked at Xiong Shan.

Xiong Shan has been down; he has experience.

Whether from the perspective of a guide or team coordination, if Xiong Shan could go down together, it would undoubtedly greatly increase the success rate of his rescue.

Xiong Shan is now showing a struggle in his eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan cannot specifically measure the feelings between Xiong Shan and his brothers, but Xiong Shan has already revealed the intention of wanting to light the lamp a second time and quit.

When a person actively reveals this emotion, it means his inner dam has long been riddled with holes.

And it is his brothers who went down, while he and his wife and child remain above. If this configuration were swapped, his struggle might not have been so intense.

The development of the situation has clearly spiraled out of control. Xiong Shan could light the lamp a second time now, directly declare defeat, and then spend the rest of his life with his wife and child, at most bearing a little inner condemnation when thinking of the two brothers he abandoned without saving in his midnight dreams.

"Ding-a-ling... ding-a-ling... ding-a-ling..."

The sound of the eighth team's bell approached.

Xiong Shan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the struggle in his eyes dissipated.

He looked at Li Zhuiyuan, but reached out and patted his wife, saying: "We are going to save Second and Third."

Lihua let out a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on her face. She first lowered her head and kissed her son, then tied the swaddling clothes to her body, letting the child press tightly against her, thereby completely freeing her hands.

Facing Xiong Shan's gaze, Li Zhuiyuan replied very calmly:

"Together."

Xiong Shan smiled: "It really makes you, little brother, outshine me; you are indeed more sentimental."

Li Zhuiyuan: "What should we do next?"

Xiong Shan had talked about the method of sneaking into the team before, but he didn't talk about the real operational details, which was also to deliberately hide a hand.

"When they are about to enter and exit the 'Inn,' quickly mix into the team, and at the same time discard the paper money. This way, you can successfully mix in without alerting them."

"After getting in there, when the bamboo pole starts to rotate, let go, stand still, and pretend to be a dead person."

"There is an eye there; don't move when it opens, and wait for it to close before finding an opportunity."

"You succeeded on the first try last time?"

"I am half a local. After killing that evil cultivator back then, I also learned the Chenzhou talismans he left behind, and I know a little about the taboos and methods of the corpse-drivers."

"If you are interested, little brother, I have some fragments of Chenzhou talismans. If we can all get out alive this time, I can lend them to you to take a look."

"I am not interested in this."

"Also, you are worried that this will contaminate you with my river and lake karma."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't explain further.

The eighth team, only three people, meaning this team didn't pick up anyone.

Xiong Shan: "We three go up first, you three go up later."

His sentence obviously counted his son as one.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Good."

The young man cast his gaze toward Runsheng and Tan Wenbin, who nodded in response.

The eighth team arrived, and everyone lowered their heads collectively first.

When this team adjusted their angle and began to circle around the "Yin-Yang Road Inn," the so-called "entering the inn," Xiong Shan and Lihua quickly stood up, one on each side, grabbed the bamboo pole with one hand, and lifted it with their shoulders.

Three pieces of paper money fell from their bodies.

When the team was about to "exit the inn," Li Zhuiyuan and his two companions also quickly stood up.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin learned their movements, while Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Runsheng's clothes and followed behind him.

Three pieces of paper money were quickly discarded.

In an instant, he only felt that his entire perspective had changed.

The surrounding environment became blurry, and only behind him, there seemed to be a phantom of an inn with lights on.

Although they were walking step by step, the speed of travel was somewhat exaggerated, and there was a strange sense of spatial dislocation.

Lin Shu You seemed to have sensed something earlier, so he opened his eyes to search, but he was in the corpse-driving team, while Li Zhuiyuan and the others were in the "Yin-Yang Road Inn" barrier, which was equivalent to being in another barrier, so it was normal that Lin Shu You couldn't find anyone.

Walking at the back of the team is not as good as walking at the front.

Because you have to avoid the one in the middle whose feet don't touch the ground, and you cannot look at it.

Therefore, Xiong Shan and the others walking in front could look forward more freely, while Li Zhuiyuan and his two companions at the back could only look left and right.

But since the guide is walking in front, there is really nothing to say.

Under his feet came the sound of splashing water.

They were about to enter the water.

The front end enters first, followed by the back end.

The water was a bit cold, but after being completely submerged in it, there was a feeling of stuffiness that made it impossible to breathe, but this was mostly just a psychological feeling, and there was no real strong physiological suffocation.

It was very uncomfortable, very unpleasant, but it couldn't drown you.

This should be another characteristic of this corpse-driving team.

So, this is the feeling Brother Liangliang has every time he goes to find the White Family Lady.

Even though he has to experience this pain twice every time, it cannot stop his footsteps of frequently traveling back and forth to Nantong.

The team traveled at the bottom of the lake, and the two bamboo poles were like a ship, pressed very steadily.

As they walked, Li Zhuiyuan saw an underwater village; it was submerged at the bottom of the water, and this should be Peach Blossom Village.

The underwater Peach Blossom Village still retained most of its original appearance, and the team also walked through the middle of the village road.

After leaving the village, the team continued to travel downward; this should be the real Yinma Lake.

Downward, downward, and further downward; this should be heading toward the heart of the lake.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan perceived that his feet were empty, and the entire team began to descend vertically.

But even so, the "corpse-drivers" behind continued to swing back and forth at the original frequency, so everyone followed their rhythm and continued to swing their legs.

Sinking, sinking, and sinking further...

"Splash!"

For the first time, he experienced the feeling of surfacing after sinking; the turbid yet real air rushed into his nasal cavity, beginning to soothe his heart and lungs.

Here, it was a water pool located under the water.

In front of the water pool, many people were standing.

Everyone was standing in the water with their lower bodies, eyes closed, steady, and motionless.

At this time, the bamboo pole began to rotate.

Xiong Shan and Lihua let go and stood on the spot; Runsheng and Tan Wenbin also let go and stood on the spot.

The standard three-person corpse-driving team seemed to have finished unloading here and then continued to move forward.

On the water pool, there was an ancient and thick stone gate. The stone gate on the left only had half left, while the stone gate on the right was full of cracks. On the steps leading to the stone gate, there was a large pit, with four thick indentations on the edge, as if it had been smashed out by a fist.

The murals that should have been carefully depicted on the surrounding rock walls were similar to an arc dome layout, but now these murals were covered with black stains of varying depths, which should be blood splashed on them.

Here, a great battle had taken place, and many people had died.

Suddenly, the "sky" brightened.

Above his head, a ball of red ghost fire appeared.

Ghost fire is generally not this color, but in this ball of flame, there really seemed to be an eye, scanning the bottom, bringing immense pressure.

This "eye" gave Li Zhuiyuan an extremely strong sense of familiarity.

The corpse-driving team that had unloaded the people began to walk into the stone gate. During their march, faint flames kept rubbing and generating beside them, but they were suppressed and extinguished by another force.

They shouldn't have moved; under the ghost eye, any extra movement would be regarded as heresy, and fire punishment would descend.

But either the ghost eye had been damaged, or it had been artificially modified, or both. In short, this ghost eye had no effect on the corpse-drivers.

Corpse-drivers could freely enter and exit here, but others could not enjoy this treatment.

Even without Xiong Shan's reminder on the shore, no one would move around at this time; the warning from the ghost eye was so thick it was almost substantial.

There were still many rows of people standing in front; Li Zhuiyuan was short, so he could see some details of the front row through the gaps between the legs of the people below.

He discovered that he could see the back of the heads of the first two rows of people. Judging from the head shape, they were all adults.

And from the front row to the back, the overall height clearly showed a trend of gradually increasing.

This means it was not because the first two rows were patients with dwarfism and macrocephaly, but because they had been melted.

This water pool was like a candle holder; the "people" picked up here would melt here and become candle oil to maintain the existence of that ghost eye.

But the problem is, while this technique is clever, putting it together with this majestic ghost eye makes it look a bit out of place.

Wei Zhengdao had once carefully and severely criticized evil formations.

The young man deeply agreed.

Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan knew that ordinary evil formations could indeed disguise a bright and upright aura to deceive people into entering, but the more sophisticated the evil formation, the harder it is to conceal its essential aura, and there is no need to do so, because people worth your such careful arrangement cannot fail to see through this simple blindfold, which makes it look a bit like taking off your pants to fart.

Moreover, wanting to keep the ghost eye burning forever by relying on corpse-driving teams to constantly pick people up from outside to serve as lamp oil is really too troublesome; it feels like relying on horses to pull a locomotive.

If he were to set up this ghost eye... isn't there a lake above? Directly borrow the tides of the lake water to connect with the ghost eye; as long as the lake water doesn't dry up, the ghost eye can exist endlessly.

!. Read

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan's eyes lit up.

No wonder he had such a strong sense of familiarity. After substituting his own train of thought, isn't the operating principle of this ghost eye the "Qin Family Dragon-Watching Method"? And isn't the formation itself the "Dragon Eye Locking Gate Formation" of the Qin family?

It's just that the way of maintaining existence has been changed, and originally there should have been a pair of ghost eyes, but now only one remains.

In the seclusion area of the Qin family's old house, this kind of formation would be set up to prevent being disturbed during seclusion; it would also be set up in some special forbidden areas, meaning that if anyone without eyes managed to find their way here, being burned and melted would not be unjust at all.

It seems this was the work of a Qin family Dragon King.

Back then, it was he who gathered the four great families of the Old Heaven Gate to suppress the General here.

To be honest, this was Li Zhuiyuan's first time coming to a "relic of the ancestors."

Although this relic had been damaged and modified to the point of being unrecognizable.

Just at this time, the ghost eye gradually became dim.

This should be what Xiong Shan mentioned earlier, waiting for it to close its eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan's breathing became heavier. You can modify it if you want, but why did you lower the grade of this formation so much?

Which family's forbidden area formation still takes naps with its eyes closed?

Finally, the ghost eye was completely extinguished.

Xiong Shan moved, Lihua moved with him, and the two left their original positions, beginning to search forward for Second and Third from their team.

"Search!"

Li Zhuiyuan took Runsheng and Tan Wenbin and moved as well, beginning to search for Yin Meng and Lin Shu You.

There were many people in the water pool, and the brightness was not enough, so searching was really troublesome.

Fortunately, everyone could start from the height, only searching in the last two rows; after all, they were people who had just been sent in, so they wouldn't have melted and become shorter yet.

But at this time, Li Zhuiyuan had doubts in his heart. He didn't know Yin Meng's situation, but Lin Shu You should be able to move freely. He could understand that he didn't dare to move when the ghost eye opened earlier, but now that the ghost eye had closed, why hadn't Lin Shu You moved yet?

In the water pool, the sound of activity now, not counting the child in Lihua's arms, had always been only five sounds.

Secondly, if it was just a simple taboo of "opening eyes and closing eyes," then the difficulty here was undoubtedly too low, and Xiong Shan wouldn't have said that he almost lost his life when he came in last time.

So, the location for entering and exiting this place is not in the same position?

To get out of here, you have to enter that stone gate?

The young man knew that even if he asked Xiong Shan now, the other party wouldn't tell him clearly. Brotherhood is brotherhood, but when dealing with outsiders, they wouldn't be confused or ambiguous in the slightest.

"Stop!"

Li Zhuiyuan reminded.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin immediately stopped moving.

Xiong Shan and Lihua continued to search. Lihua heard the reminder from Li Zhuiyuan, but seeing that her husband didn't react, she didn't stop.

The ghost eye indeed hadn't lit up yet. After waiting for another long while, new light appeared, and only then did Xiong Shan pull his wife's hand, and the two stopped moving.

Li Zhuiyuan's prediction was half a minute early, letting Tan Wenbin and Runsheng accompany him to play the role of wooden people for a while longer.

This was Li Zhuiyuan's mistake, because he had substituted the correct operating rhythm into an incorrect formation.

After another period of waiting, when the ghost eye extinguished again, the five people moved at the same time.

Li Zhuiyuan still couldn't find Lin Shu You and Yin Meng, and not only that, he couldn't even see Brother Hu and the three of them.

However, Tan Wenbin found Second and Third; these two were standing in the center of the second-to-last row, eyes closed, motionless.

Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuiyuan.

Finding their people first, what if they don't help them find their people after they take their people away? They might even leave first.

Li Zhuiyuan took the initiative to shout: "Found them!"

The difficulty is not in finding people, but in how to safely take such a group of people out, and Xiong Shan, in his heart, should still be thinking about sealing the General.

They shouldn't be that short-sighted.

Xiong Shan and Lihua immediately waded over.

Lihua: "Second, Third!"

Facing the call, Second and Third still had their eyes closed, without any reaction, as if they were already dead.

Li Zhuiyuan prepared to try to wake them up, but seeing that Xiong Shan was already taking out talismans and forming seals, he didn't interfere.

After forming the seal, Xiong Shan stuck a Chenzhou talisman on Second's forehead and slid his thumb down along the talisman paper.

A black mist overflowed from Second's nostrils, and his eyes also slowly opened, but he could only turn his eyeballs after opening his eyes, and could not speak or move.

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes instantly narrowed: He had been placed under a restriction!

Xiong Shan: "Hahaha, Second, fortunately, you are not dead. Wait, I will help you solve the restriction..."

Xiong Shan's voice stopped; he also discovered the problem. Who placed the restriction on Second, and what was the purpose of placing the restriction?

Second's eyeballs began to move rapidly toward the side, which happened to be Third's position.

Xiong Shan: "Third, what happened to him?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "He is telling you to run quickly!"

Second had been keeping his eyes closed earlier; how did he know Third was standing beside him? And even after opening his eyes, he couldn't see Third's position without turning his head.

This happened to be a coincidence; when he made the eye gesture, he happened to glance in Third's direction, making Xiong Shan a bystander who couldn't see the truth.

"Brother Runsheng!"

The young man reached out and grabbed Runsheng's arm. Runsheng habitually swung, throwing Li Zhuiyuan onto his back, and then grabbed Tan Wenbin's arm with his other hand. His Qi gates opened, and under the young man's direction, Runsheng began to sprint.

After the reminder, Xiong Shan finally realized, and hugged his wife and ran backward.

Inside Second's clothes, blue light shone out. It seemed there were talisman papers hanging inside, and even more chains wrapped around, wrapped with black Qi, which was rubbing violently against the power of the talisman papers. All of this began officially with the host opening his eyes.

"Crackle! Crackle!"

Electric snakes scurried on Second's body, and black flames also sprayed from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

Not only on the outside, but his body was also filled with things.

This was definitely not done by the "corpse-drivers"; it could only be the handiwork left by the person who placed the restriction on them, allowing them to be picked up and brought here by the corpse-drivers while carrying these.

The eruption of black flames around Second ignited Third; blue light also appeared on Third first, and then black flames sprayed from his mouth.

These black flames were corpse flames, refined from corpse oil using special methods. Once ignited, they could easily trigger corpse Qi and ignite the surrounding corpses together.

"Ah!!!"

"Ah!!!"

Accompanied by the further eruption of corpse flames in Second and Third's bodies, the restrictions on them were also erased, but the two only had time to turn their heads and look at their boss before their heads fell off, their bodies melted rapidly, the containers shattered, and the corpse flames poured out, beginning to spread over a large area.

After the other corpses were contaminated with corpse flames, even if they were dead, they began to twist and shake, just like when a crematorium is ignited, the corpses will also deform and make some movements.

For a time, most of the water pool area was like a dance of demons.

"Second, Third!"

Xiong Shan shouted for them with tears in his eyes while pulling his wife and running toward the stone gate.

As for Li Zhuiyuan's side, he didn't look back at all.

After Runsheng's Qi gates opened, his strength and speed were truly too terrifying. Tan Wenbin was an ordinary person's body, and he had no chance to invite a ghost to possess him right now. After following with all his might for a while, he finally couldn't hold on and fell down.

However, Runsheng still pulled him and continued to run. Tan Wenbin's body flew like a stone skipping on the water, "Pat! Pat! Pat!" being carried along.

Binbin began to slide with his hands and feet, helping as much as he could, while keeping his mouth closed to prevent being poured with dirty water.

But just keeping his mouth closed was useless, because his nose and ears couldn't be closed, especially his nose, which was facing the direction of the charge. The powerful impact brought water pressure, forcing this pool water into his nasal cavity.

But even so, they couldn't stop.

If they didn't run, it would be too late.

Because the ghost eye was about to open.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan and his two companions arrived on the shore first. Tan Wenbin knelt on the ground, his stomach churning, and at the same time, a hot sensation flowed from his nostrils; it should be a nosebleed.

At this time, the ghost eye was also gradually opening.

Xiong Shan slapped two Chenzhou talismans on himself and his wife, and their speed was enhanced.

But after all, they had been delayed by various factors, and Xiong Shan himself was injured, and Lihua had a child, so the two of them were still a little distance from the shore. They should be able to make it, but there was also a certain danger.

On the shore, Li Zhuiyuan said: "Help them."

Hearing this, Tan Wenbin immediately pulled out a seven-star hook from his backpack, swung it forward, the hook extended rapidly, and then he quickly handed it to Runsheng.

Xiong Shan and Lihua grabbed the hook, and Runsheng, standing on the shore, exerted force, pulling the couple up like fishing.

It must be said that the couple's kung fu was truly good, and they landed steadily.

Lihua began to sob, turned around, and faced away from the pool water.

Xiong Shan's eyes turned red; he first looked at Li Zhuiyuan, nodded at him, and then a low roar came from his throat: "Xie family, Bu family!"

The ghost eye opened.

Below, the corpses were all "dancing" under the corpse flames.

Streams of flames descended from above, smashing into all the corpses.

For a time, raging flames burned on the entire water pool, and the water pool began to boil violently, like a purgatory on earth.

Everyone standing on the shore was motionless, but even so, they could feel the terrifying heat waves constantly hitting them.

Finally, the big fire burned out, the water pool was almost dried up, and all the corpses turned into flying ash.

The ghost eye faded a bit, and then it reached the time to close its eyes, gradually closing.

Xiong Shan: "Sorry, let your people also be buried..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Sorry, my people are not here."

———

I've been weakened by the flu, so my writing state is poor. Following the old rules, I'll post half first. I'll continue writing, and there will be another chapter tomorrow during the day.

(End of chapter)