Chapter 55

"Stench of corpses... is it a zombie?"

Hearing Li Yan speak, Wang Fu immediately became vigilant.

Zombies were not easy to deal with, especially in these deep mountains, where they absorbed moonlight and yin-evil energy. After a long time, they would become impervious to blades and spears, and even if their heads were cut off, they would still pounce on people, unless their fierce souls were scattered.

Li Yan shook his head. "No, it's dead people."

"You stay here, I'll sneak over and take a look."

Having said that, he lowered his body, slipped into the bushes, and disappeared.

"Coo-coo!"

Not long after, a bird call came from the distance.

This was the secret signal they had agreed upon beforehand.

Two calls meant safety, while three meant danger and to hide.

Wang Fu and the others hurriedly followed, and under Zhao Zhao Lu Zi's guidance, they quickly found Li Yan.

They saw Li Yan standing under an old tree, bending down to examine a corpse.

The corpse was already highly decomposed, black muscles mixed with mud, and after drying and shrinking, it revealed a stark white gum line, looking extremely ferocious.

Sha Lifei looked at the wooden frame hidden in the tree and said, "It's a bandit's secret sentry. Why is no one collecting the body even after death?"

Having said that, he was about to reach out and flip it over.

"Don't move!"

Li Yan stopped him with a solemn expression, then pointed to the surroundings.

They saw that beside the corpse, there were many insect and ant shells, and even a few dead rats in the distance.

"What a powerful poison!"

Sha Lifei gasped. "No wonder it wasn't dragged away by wild beasts."

Li Yan stood up, sniffed the air a few more times, and said in a deep voice, "This bandit lair has probably been wiped out long ago."

"Let's go, let's go see what's going on."

The group did not object and snuck toward the bandit lair under the cover of night.

Going to investigate was not meddling in other people's business.

This gang of bandits under Yan Laojiu had been able to remain standing after multiple encirclements and suppressions by government troops, so naturally, they were not easy to deal with.

And now, they had died silently in this place.

Figuring out the reason, in case there was some evil thing at work, they could be prepared when they headed to Leopard Gully later.

With Zhao Zhao Lu Zi and Li Yan, the pitch-black mountain forest was no obstacle at all.

Along the way, they saw several more corpses.

Some were the same as the one just now, poisoned to death.

Others had been torn to pieces by wild beasts, indicating they hadn't been poisoned.

Soon, the bandit lair appeared before their eyes.

This was a lair built on a mountain cliff, with rammed earth walls and wooden stakes used to build bunkers; it looked extremely crude.

The entire residence was permeated with a rich stench of corpses.

The lair gate was wide open, and one could see the mess inside; there were corpses everywhere. A rough count revealed forty or fifty of them, all lying on the ground clutching their sword hilts.

"Shh!"

Sha Lifei suddenly signaled for everyone to be quiet, pointing to the large house on the right side of the lair, and said in a low voice, "Listen, what is that sound?"

The deep night was silent, and the moonlight covered the entire lair in a layer of white frost. Although the room was pitch black, a *gurgle-gurgle* sound came from within.

It sounded like someone smacking their lips.

Suddenly, the sound stopped.

With a *creak*, the wooden room door slowly opened, and a thing crawled out. A head of messy hair covered its face, and it crawled with difficulty using both hands.

Moreover, it only had half a body!

Under the moonlight, it looked exceptionally terrifying.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Sha Lifei's forehead. He jumped behind Wang Fu and stammered, "Th-this... what is this thing?"

"Don't worry, if it were a ghost, you wouldn't be able to see it."

Li Yan shook his head with a solemn expression. "It's a person!"

"A person?"

Hearing it was a person, Sha Lifei immediately regained his soul. He was furious and cursed as he stepped forward. "Are you sick? Pretending to be a ghost in the middle of the night to scare people!"

As he spoke, he grabbed the other person's head.

Under the messy hair, a pair of eyes were nothing but black holes. The face was withered and thin, with only bones left, looking almost like a ghost.

However, Sha Lifei was stunned:

"Zhao Tongling!"

……

The only living person in the lair was indeed Zhao Cheng.

This top disciple of the Zhao Family Fist and Zhao Tongling of the Lu Family's guards had had his eyes gouged out and his legs chopped off, living alone in the lair like a malevolent ghost. Wang Fu and Li Yan looked at each other in dismay.

Wasn't this Zhao Tongling supposed to have turned traitor, had an affair with that red-clad concubine, and then cheated them of a sum of money before fleeing with the funds?

Why did he appear in this place?

……

"Cuilan and I were both forced!"

Zhao Cheng learned the identities of Li Yan and the others. He was first shocked that they had escaped the disaster, then spoke in a raspy voice, recounting the original cause with anger.

"The real traitor was that white-clad concubine!"

"Her name was Yulian, but it must have been a fake name. Now that I think about it, her many methods were clearly the 'Demon Black' of the Yanmen!"

Li Yan was lost in thought upon hearing this.

Among the Eight Dark Sects, the Bee, Hemp, Yan, and Que were all scammers.

!.

"Bee" referred to organized scammer groups, "Hemp" were old scammers acting alone, "Yan" used female beauty to commit fraud, and "Que" were professional criminal gangs.

The Bee, Hemp, and Yan sects mostly targeted money, while the "Que" sect was unscrupulous, with high-level methods, committing fraud for money while also harming lives.

As for the Yanmen's "Demon Black," it referred to young women.

They had two types of methods:

One was to use children of four or five years old, pretending they were lost and crying, to encounter those with compassion who would bring them home. The woman would then claim to be the child's mother and come to the door to inquire about the child's whereabouts. After receiving the child, she would be extremely grateful, and the next day she would prepare a thank-you gift to visit, secretly keeping an eye on things that could be stolen and the layout of the house. That night, thieves would visit.

The second was to use pretty women, pretending they were being abused by their parents-in-law or husband and had run away from home. They would act pitiful to win the favor of wealthy families, stay for a few days as servants, and once familiar, they would coordinate from the inside and outside to plunder.

There were old seniors of the Liu Sect who knew these methods but found it difficult to point them out, so they compiled legendary stories about fox demons and fierce ghosts using "painted skins" to disguise themselves as women and infiltrate homes to cause trouble.

The so-called painted skin was exactly a beautiful exterior with a demonic heart.

Of course, there was an even more extreme method: relying on beauty to marry into a wealthy family, then summoning a large group of Yanmen sisters to indulge in debauchery day and night. Before long, the wealthy man would die, and they would openly seize the family property.

Sha Lifei also asked curiously, "The 'Demon Black' usually only takes money, so why did they collude with bandits?"

Zhao Cheng said miserably, "Cuilan and I had an affair. She said she would go and drug the master so we could escape at night. We were even grateful to her at the time."

"After the bandits entered the residence, they killed everyone and demanded the whereabouts of an ancient painting belonging to Squire Lu. Squire Lu was afraid, so he took them to the treasure vault. Unfortunately, the painting had already been stolen by Yulian and its whereabouts were unknown."

"Later, when we went to report to the officials and scam money, it was also under the coercion of the bandits. We were forced to take poison, and there were people monitoring us, so we didn't dare to act rashly. The goal was to lure Yulian out!"

"Later, when it didn't succeed, Yan Laojiu brought us up the mountain, chopped off my legs, and peeled Cuilan's skin. He is a beast!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but wail loudly.

Seeing this man who was once high-spirited being forced into this state of neither human nor ghost, everyone felt a sense of shared sorrow.

Li Yan steadied his mind and looked around. "What happened here?"

Zhao Cheng muttered, "I'm not clear either."

"My eyes were gouged out by them, and I was used for amusement all day long. I had long since wished for death."

"That night, the bandit camp suddenly exploded in chaos. Someone screamed 'Cockscomb Snake,' and then there was a burst of confusion. In less than half an hour, everyone was dead."

"I heard a man approach and ask me what happened. I told him the whole story. He said I betrayed my master and deserved this retribution, said he wanted me to taste this feeling too, and then he left."

"I survived until now by catching and eating rats that ate human flesh. I held onto one breath, hoping someone could tell the truth about Guishui Village!"

"The ones who did it were several gangs of bandits from Guanzhong, as well as horse thieves from Qilu. I overheard that they gathered under the orders of someone in the capital called 'Master Luo'!"

Having said that, he gave a miserable laugh. "Master, this disciple has disappointed you!"

*Bang! *

As soon as the words fell, he used all his strength to slam his head against a stone, his brains splattered, and he breathed his last.

Everyone shook their heads slightly and did not stop him.

This person lived like a malevolent ghost; I fear that once his wish was fulfilled, he no longer had the will to live.

"Cockscomb Snake?"

Sha Lifei suddenly spoke. "Is it the one we encountered on the road?"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi was clearly shocked by this bizarre tragedy and shook his head. "Cockscomb Snakes are mostly hidden in ancient tombs. I heard my father say that among the treasure seekers, the Seclusion-Seeking lineage has people who inherited Immortality Seekers evil arts and can drive Cockscomb Snakes."

Sha Lifei shivered and cursed, "Damn, that sounds truly evil. What kind of ancient painting could lead to so many things? It must be worth a fortune!"

"No matter how good it is, it's a source of disaster."

Wang Fu shook his head. "Let's go. This happened a long time ago; that person has probably left long ago. This place is not suitable for staying long."

Li Yan nodded, then pinched the Yang Seal again, enduring the stench of corpses on the ground, took a deep breath, and pointed to the main hall of the bandit lair:

"Uncle Sha, there's something good under the tree on the right side of the main hall!"

Sha Lifei knew Li Yan's ability, so his eyes lit up. He took the iron pick off his back and rushed over.

*Ding! *

After a frantic digging, the sound of metal colliding rang out.

Buried under the soil was a small box, only half a foot long.

Sha Lifei was initially a bit disappointed, but when he split the iron lock and lifted the box, his eyes widened, and he muttered, "We're rich..."

Inside the box were neat little gold bars!

(End of chapter)