Chapter 501: Doubts about the Ancient Clan

It's here!

Li Yan gripped the hook-warrant, carefully concealing his aura.

This demonic Qi was quite unique compared to the several others he had encountered.

The others either hid themselves or stirred up trouble, but they all darted about chaotically, making it extremely difficult to track their movements.

Yet this Zuo Shouquan had acted like a tiger holding down its territory.

Li Yan was also very curious about what kind of existence this fellow was.

Whoosh~

A cold wind whistled, and thick fog gradually rose within the village.

This was born purely from Yin Sha Qi.

Such conditions occasionally appeared in wild mountain forests, not only attracting nearby lonely ghosts and wandering spirits but also causing strange phenomena like "ghosts building walls."

Yet in this village, it was exceptionally dense.

In just the blink of an eye, the thick fog filled his vision; everything became hazy, and various strange sounds could be vaguely heard.

Li Yan pinched a magic seal, exerting his supernatural powers to the fullest.

He suddenly turned his head to look at the west side of the village, where a dense corpse Qi and messy footsteps were coming from.

They were packed densely, at least several hundred of them.

Not only that, but the sound of a tiger's roar could also be vaguely heard in his ears.

Inside the village ancestral hall, the Du family members had also heard it.

It was as if they had encountered their nemesis; their whole bodies trembled, they knelt with their foreheads pressed to the ground, kowtowing continuously toward the statue while muttering incantations.

As for those cold-faced death soldiers, they didn't care at all.

While the Du family kowtowed, they lowered their heads and busied themselves.

Two large carts of goods were filled with all kinds of offerings, even including ritual music bronze chimes, using the most solemn "Tai Lao" ritual.

After finishing this, they took sections of blood-stained red rope from a box and tied them around the necks of the unconscious drivers.

Li Yan had naturally already noticed all of this.

He was not in a hurry, secretly restraining his aura while waiting.

These unlucky drivers were clearly living sacrifices offered by the Du family to the Huang Moshen; they would just happen to lure the Huang Moshen out, and then he could directly use the hook-warrant to detain the target.

But after waiting for a while, Li Yan sensed something was wrong.

The corpse Qi surging from outside the village was getting heavier, and the messy, dense footsteps were also moving from afar to near.

Soon, they saw what these things looked like.

It was a group of headless corpses, their clothes messy and skin ulcerated, like an army, walking toward the ancestral hall with stiff steps.

They were walking corpses!

So-called walking corpses were corpses that could walk.

When common folk held funerals, occasionally due to clashing with malevolent energy, the corpse sitting in the coffin would suddenly stand up, which was called "corpse fraud."

It was startling and would give people a fright.

After the fraud, most would lie back down, but there were some that would stand up and walk around the house.

Especially in places they were familiar with while alive.

This was triggered by the combination of post-mortem obsession and Yin Sha Qi.

Compared to zombies, walking corpses were much less dangerous; two or three ordinary people could pin one down.

But the ones before his eyes were clearly somewhat different.

Not only was their number terrifyingly large, but their bodies were filled with dense Yin Qi, only slightly inferior to zombies, and their movements were quite agile.

This was precisely the ability of the evil god Zuo Shouquan: collecting ghost-servants.

A large group of ghost-servant walking corpses surged in and entered the ancestral hall.

Not only the Du family members but even those death soldiers knelt on the ground, foreheads pressed to the floor, eyes tightly shut, as if afraid of offending some taboo.

Slap! Slap!

The heavy sound of footsteps rang right in his ears.

The stench carried by the corpse Qi made these people feel nauseous, but no one dared to open their eyes to look.

Subsequently, these headless walking corpses actually grabbed the hands and feet of the carriage drivers in groups of four and headed toward the stage opposite.

Li Yan was completely bewildered.

The evil god hadn't appeared yet; he sure had a big ego.

Could it be that to enjoy the offerings,

one had to watch a play?

Clang, clang!

Before Li Yan could react, a dim yellow light vaguely lit up on the stage opposite, and the sound of gongs and drums rang out.

Several blurry figures wearing theatrical costumes turned around on it, as if they had really invited a theatrical troupe.

Of course, Li Yan saw through the trick at a glance.

This was purely an illusion.

It only appeared exceptionally realistic because the Yin Sha Qi was dense.

Subsequently, those carriage drivers were carried onto the stage, while the densely packed headless walking corpses stood under the stage, looking exactly like an audience.

The scene before him was truly bizarre.

Li Yan also had a vague guess in his heart.

Theater was originally meant to entertain the gods.

This sacrifice by the Du family had triggered such a strange phenomenon.

It seemed the location where the evil god would appear was most likely the stage.

Thinking of this, Li Yan narrowed his eyes, once again operating the Profound Water Escape, and under the cover of the "Dragon Snake Tablet," he circled from the side toward the stage.

But before he could get close, his expression sank.

He saw that with the sound of gongs and drums, several people from the Du family also had movement; they slowly stood up, working together to carry that huge iron basin toward the stage.

There were also people holding curved blades in their hands.

As they approached, the headless corpses under the stage turned around one after another.

But these few Du family members now had no fear in their eyes; their eyes were dazed, and they had completely lost themselves.

The licentious sacrifice Zuo Shouquan, who practiced the "Headless Longevity Art," had the biggest side effect of turning into the evil god's ghost-servant.

They looked free, but in reality, they had long since become puppets.

They were going up to kill and sacrifice.

The evil god would not appear.

Li Yan made a judgment in his heart, and a fierce light rose in his eyes.

Originally, the best method was to wait for the evil god to appear, use the hook-warrant to suppress it, and remove the source; then these monsters and demons before him would naturally vanish into smoke.

But now that things had come to this, he could only take action to force it out.

Clang!

Without the slightest hesitation, the moment the Du family members stepped onto the stage, Li Yan drew his blade and leaped onto the stage with a swoosh.

Blade light flashed, and blood exploded.

Before the two middle-aged Du family men could react, their heads had already flown up, rolling onto the ground, their eyes filled with fear and confusion.

Five people had come on this trip for the Du family.

Three middle-aged men and two old men.

After the two middle-aged men following behind were killed, the remaining three turned around suddenly, their faces ferocious, with a faint red light in their eyes.

Black smoke began to seep from their necks, and their heads slowly rose.

This was the "Headless Longevity Art," which was usually very secretive and even difficult to detect as a sorcerer; once the head was severed, it was like a flying-head barbarian, capable of casting various evil arts to harm people.

Especially the curse techniques, which were specifically targeted at the soul and were extremely fierce.

How could Li Yan give them time?

Two soul-severing flying blades whistled out, and with two soft thuds, the hearts of the two bodies that had fallen to the ground were directly pierced.

The weakness of this kind of thing was not the head.

Even if the head were destroyed, it would turn into an evil object and continue to cause trouble.

With their hearts pierced, the two heads also fell to the ground.

At the same time, Li Yan had already leaped out, his right hand wielding the Dust-Severing Blade in a flourish, stabbing downward fiercely.

"Slow!"

The last old man seemed to have regained a bit of clarity, his head flying up and down, gritting his teeth and saying: "This is the ancestral god's holy land. If you destroy the sacrifice, you will definitely bring down the ancestral god's punishment. Spare this old man, and you should flee quickly!"

Just as he was speaking, the headless corpses under the stage surged up crazily, and those Du family death soldiers also rushed out from the ancestral hall with blades.

The old man was precisely the Du family's Jian Sanye.

He was shrewd, and his soft words were actually meant to use the riot of the corpse horde to force Li Yan away.

After all, speaking tough words at this time would only make him fear Li Yan would drag them down with him.

"Hahaha!"

Li Yan naturally guessed his intentions, murderous intent flickering in his eyes, and he laughed loudly: "I only fear he can come, but cannot leave!"

After saying this, his right hand exerted force suddenly. "No—!"

The Du family's Jian Sanye shrieked miserably, suddenly opening his mouth to bite at Li Yan.

Unfortunately, halfway through the flight, his heart had already been pierced, and his flying head also fell to the ground, smoke rising from his seven orifices, his eyes gradually losing their luster.

And Li Yan couldn't care about that at this moment.

The walking corpses under the stage had completely rioted.

The ones in front had already climbed onto the stage, while the ones behind were squeezed into a mass, the Yin Sha Qi on their bodies forming black smoke, actually leaping up with a swoosh.

"Hmph!"

Li Yan gave a cold snort and let go to slaughter them.

Firstly, there were still many carriage drivers on the stage; he would save them if he could.

Secondly, it was just the right time to force that evil god out.

=9+Shu_ba

Facing these evil objects, the Soul-Hooking Chain displayed its great power.

The so-called walking corpses were nothing more than a wisp of essence obsession that had formed by drawing on Yin Sha Qi; the Soul-Hooking Chain was precisely their nemesis.

Clatter!

The sound of chains rang out, and two Soul-Hooking Chains flew up and down.

The tiny bit of essence within the walking corpses could be easily hooked out.

Because they were intangible objects, one could only see that whenever a walking corpse approached, its body would emit black smoke and collapse to the ground.

Li Yan also simultaneously used thunder techniques, the Dust-Severing Blade flicking left, slashing right, and chopping upward, his left fist flickering with thunder light.

Before long, he was surrounded by piles of broken corpses.

But as the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands; even though a walking corpse could be destroyed in one move for him, more and more surged onto the stage.

As blade light flashed, Li Yan gradually retreated.

Swish, swish, swish!

Several sharp arrows whistled over.

It was those Du family death soldiers; seeing the corpse horde under the stage crowded, they simply climbed onto the dougong brackets on both sides of the stage, hooking their legs around the brackets to draw bows and shoot arrows.

Li Yan didn't know what kind of brainwashing these death soldiers had received; even after the Du family members died, they still wouldn't give up.

But at this moment, he couldn't care about thinking about that.

Li Yan casually pulled out the flintlock pistol from his waist, not aiming at anyone, but pulling the trigger toward the stage pillars.

Boom!

With a loud bang, wood fragments splattered everywhere.

The pillars were broken at the waist, and coupled with the weight of those death soldiers, the dougong brackets creaked and tilted, and tiles also clattered down.

With his supernatural powers, it was easy for him to find the weak points of this old stage and achieve this.

Those death soldiers lost their balance and could only jump down helplessly, landing directly in the crowded corpse horde.

They were not believers of the evil god and were immediately attacked by the walking corpses; although they resisted with all their might, they were disemboweled by pairs of mud-covered palms.

The falling stones and bricks also slightly eased the offensive of the corpse horde.

Just at this moment, Li Yan suddenly felt a palpitation.

He could feel that he seemed to be targeted by something, and at the same time, the sound of tiger roars rang in his ears.

This tiger roar carried a strange deterrent power.

Li Yan only felt that he was like a frog targeted by a venomous snake; his heart palpitated and turned cold, and his brain became numb, unable to move.

It was a curse technique!

Fortunately, those walking corpses stopped attacking upon hearing the tiger roar, all lying on the ground as if welcoming something.

In the distance, the thick fog surged, and a tall human figure appeared hazily, holding a blade in one hand and a head in the other.

This black shadow couldn't be seen clearly, only its eyes were flickering with red light.

The hook-warrant became increasingly scalding and clearly pointed out the direction.

Li Yan had been waiting for this moment; he didn't hesitate anymore, operating the Great Luo Dharma Body to dispel the curse technique, while simultaneously gripping the hook-warrant and saying loudly: "Heaven has discipline, Earth has order, the False False Yin Si detains souls, mortals avoid!"

"Roar!"

The tiger roar in the distance rose again, carrying rage and panic.

The thick fog surged, and that black shadow turned and fled.

However, everything was too late.

The moment Li Yan finished chanting the incantation, the surroundings immediately fell into darkness.

The sound of chains, the sound of armor, the sound of blades and spears rubbing…

Various sounds rang in Li Yan's ears.

Subsequently, the darkness dissipated rapidly.

Li Yan was somewhat stunned, looking into the distance.

The False False Yin Si troops had already moved far away, indicating that the opponent had fled very quickly; this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

Clatter!

The walking corpses around the stage also went crazy.

No longer caring about Li Yan, they raised rolling black smoke and ran crazily toward the east entrance of the village, seemingly wanting to save their master.

But after running less than a hundred meters, the corpse horde collapsed one after another, black smoke emitting from their bodies, and the dense Yin Sha Qi even caused thick white frost to condense on the surrounding ground.

At the same time, a divine gang-qi appeared in the hook-warrant.

Captured?!

Li Yan was first stunned, then shook his head slightly.

Living Yin-messengers were indeed just False False Yin Si scouts; as long as the target was confirmed, the False False Yin Si troops would naturally capture them.

He hadn't even seen the process.

Although that was the case, there were still many questions in his heart.

Li Yan leaped off the stage and followed the direction from which the corpse horde had come, tracking by scent.

The hiding place of the evil god was somewhat unexpected.

It was a quarry far from the village.

This quarry was somewhat strange.

The exposed rocks outside were all mixed with pebbles and were winding and undulating.

Looking from afar, it looked like dragon scales.

Li Yan remembered what Du Yuanguang had said.

This village was named Stone Dragon Village precisely because of this special terrain, which was considered an exposed dragon vein.

It was because of digging the mountain to open the stone that the evil god Zuo Shouquan was awakened.

This evil god should have escaped from the False False Yin Si in a more ancient era; why exactly was it hiding here?

Li Yan searched carefully along the scent and indeed discovered a cave exposed by a mountain rock collapse.

The footprints along the way were dense, indicating that the corpse horde had been hiding here.

And the cave was filled with cold frost, which was a sign of the Yin soldiers passing through.

Li Yan followed the cave and went deeper and deeper.

Soon, he discovered densely packed heads, all with disheveled hair, pitch-black and ferocious faces, and fangs.

The further in he went, the more there were, simply piled up like a mountain.

There were also some whose skin even showed signs of petrification.

Seeing this, Li Yan couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

He vaguely guessed that this demon god was likely far more powerful than he had imagined; previously outside the stage, it was just its Yin soul wandering out to kill.

Further in, the scene changed accordingly.

Inside the cave, there were traces of artificial carving, and there were also skulls pierced by copper spikes engraved with runes, densely nailed to the wall.

This had been suppressed by someone!

Seeing this, Li Yan immediately understood.

Ever since he learned of Zhao Changsheng's background, he had specifically collected relevant intelligence.

This person came from the Zhu family of the Jiangzuo evil path.

And the Zhu family had a deep relationship with the Flying-Head Barbarian clan.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the Eastern Wu general Zhu Huan discovered a maid hidden in his mansion who was a Flying-Head Barbarian, capable of flying her head to harm people.

He captured this woman and just bragged about it as a rare occurrence.

However, some people in the Zhu family were tempted, and taking the opportunity to search for Flying-Head Barbarians, they studied evil arts and became the leaders of the evil path at that time.

The famous "Livestock Creation Art" originated from the Jiangzuo Zhu family.

And according to the intelligence Li Yan collected.

The Flying-Head Barbarian clan had records since the Qin and Han dynasties, but at that time they were rampant in the Baiyue region, and later they likely went to sea with sorcerers, heading to Dongying and becoming one of the famous monsters there.

During the Tang Dynasty, this alien race was active for a period of time, but later disappeared inexplicably.

By the Northern Song Dynasty, the official historian in the "New Book of Tang" clarified the habitat range of the Luotou clan in the Tang Dynasty, which was approximately in the area of modern-day Chongqing, then called "Nanping Barbarian."

Could it be that this was the inexplicably disappeared Flying-Head Barbarian tribe?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 502 =====