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Chapter 143: The Corpse Worship
Looking at the crowd of ghosts outside the door, I felt an impulse to slap myself seventy or eighty times—just an impulse! If I hadn't acted impulsively, I wouldn't have come to the Underworld. If I hadn't acted impulsively, I wouldn't have listened to that old man's one-sided words to open the coffin. If I hadn't acted impulsively, I wouldn't have released the corpse spirit. If I hadn't released it, I wouldn't have brought Cao Qilong to such a desperate situation.
Seeing Cao Qilong beside me, who had risked his life more than once to help me find Lin Xiaoqi, I felt a wave of emotion and suddenly felt very tired, wanting to just lie down.
Cao Qilong noticed my strange expression and pulled me. Looking into his eyes, a surge of anger rose within me! At the very least, I couldn't let my brother down!
I raised the Emperor's Sword and shouted, "The Imperial Sword is here! The Xiong Prefect's family has already been avenged by me! If you do not retreat now, do you wish to be obliterated?"
After saying this, the crowd of ghosts was certainly stunned by my words. I then pointed at the beheaded ghost and said, "You must be He Er, right? You stood up for your brother and rushed into the government office to assassinate the prefect. I am very pleased and admire such a man like you!"
The beheaded ghost had always been at the front. Upon hearing my words, tears shimmered in his bloodied face that had been splattered by Cao Qilong's Tongue Blood! Who says ghosts are heartless? Seeing He Er's expression, I felt relieved; from Bear Steward's mouth, I learned there was a beheaded ghost, and my bold guess turned out to be correct.
Cao Qilong whispered beside me, "Are you sure the ghosts inside can't come out?"
I quietly replied to Cao Qilong, "The ghosts inside are trapped. I don't know the reason yet but have a guess or two; I'll tell you later."
Just as I was speaking, an old hunchback appeared from among the ghosts, leaning on a bamboo staff. The crowd of ghosts parted for him, clearly showing he was a person of great respect. He approached without fear of my Emperor's Sword and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "What a fine Yin-Yang! Long ago, I warned you not to enter the government office; little did I know your Yin-Yang skills were so remarkable!"
It turned out that this old ghost was the one who had shouted for us not to enter the government office. I quickly cupped my hands in thanks and said, "Thank you for your timely warning; my brother and I are deeply grateful."
The hunchback waved his hand dismissively and said, "No need to thank me. Originally, this place became like this due to your Yin-Yang actions. The townsfolk (the ghosts) wanted to kill you but couldn't let you enter the government office because Yin Yang once said not to let Yin Yang approach this county office. My words were just spoken in haste. Who knew you two were not with that evil faction and even killed that fierce creature in the office? You deserve my respect for that. He Er has a temperament like Cheng Yaojin; please forgive him!"
After he finished speaking, all the ghosts knelt down together. Cao Qilong and I had never seen such a scene before; we hurriedly went to help the hunchback up and urged everyone to stand. Both Cao Qilong and I felt our faces flush; just now my boastful words had blown away all the corpse spirits in the office, yet they were still safely inside along with an even more terrifying infant.
Now it was good; hundreds of ghosts knelt before Cao Qilong and me—a truly spectacular scene—but how could we bear it?
After much effort, I managed to persuade all the ghosts to gather. I asked the Hunchbacked Old Man, "What is the purpose of this?"
The Hunchbacked Old Man led me and Cao Qilong to a tavern in the city, where he had us sit at the honored seats before joining several respected ghosts nearby to recount the events that took place here.
As Cao Qilong listened, he cursed loudly, and I felt like cursing too. It turned out that the despicable Bear Steward had twisted the entire story to deceive us; the history of this ancient city was far more complicated than we had imagined.
It was true that Xiong County had passed the imperial examination and obtained the Heavenly Emperor's Sword, but his actions were false. He had exploited his position, leaving behind a trail of injustice and a terrible reputation, often causing families to be ruined.
Also false was his engagement to Liu Wan'er. Liu Wan'er and Yin Chunlai were originally betrothed since childhood, but due to Yin Chunlai's unique fate, Yin Cheng could never find an auspicious day for their marriage.
When Liu Wan'er was delivering tofu, she caught the eye of the lecherous Xiong Prefect, who forcefully took advantage of her and sent gifts to Tofu Liu, intending to take her as a concubine. In ancient times, feudal ideas were severe; Liu Wan'er could not bear such humiliation and attempted to throw herself into a well but was saved by Tofu Liu. Tofu Liu was a good-hearted person with no malice; he only wanted to quietly resolve this matter. However, feeling that it would be unfair for Liu Wan'er to marry into such a family, he sought out Yin Cheng to annul the engagement.
Upon hearing that Xiong Prefect had sent gifts, Yin Cheng said nothing but asked Tofu Liu one question: "Do you really want to give your daughter to that corrupt official?"
Tofu Liu looked at Yin Cheng, feeling helpless and unable to express his pain. He was not someone who coveted wealth; he could only kneel and hope for forgiveness from Yin Cheng. Yin Cheng waved his hand and left quietly.
Yin Chunlai could not swallow this humiliation. Using the paper crafting skills taught by his father, he secretly caused a ruckus at the magistrate's office one night, laying the groundwork for disaster.
Yin Chunlai's paper crafting skills were not refined; he merely controlled a few Paper Figurines and painted them in a frightening manner to scare the magistrate's family. As a result, Xiong Prefect's favorite concubine was terrified into madness, which infuriated Xiong Prefect to the point of nearly spitting blood.
Initially, Xiong Prefect wanted to send soldiers to capture Yin Chunlai. However, Bear Steward suggested an idea: instead of sending soldiers, why not hire a skilled Paper Effigy Maker to make Yin Cheng's family disappear?
Bear Steward left town overnight on horseback and searched for three days before finally finding a highly skilled Paper Effigy Maker who agreed to help Xiong County for a price of gold. Bear Steward secretly brought him into the county office, waiting for Yin Chunlai to arrive so they could eliminate him.
Yin Cheng was unaware of what Yin Chunlai had done; being kind-hearted, he shut himself away due to Tofu Liu's situation. That night, when Yin Chunlai again controlled Paper Figurines to frighten the magistrate's office, he did not know about the presence of the Paper Effigy Maker and ended up disappearing.
By the next evening, when Yin Chunlai's accomplice and brother He Er noticed that Yin Chunlai had not returned, he stealthily entered the magistrate's office under cover of darkness but was captured and wrongfully accused of attempting to assassinate the magistrate, resulting in his execution. This incident allowed Xiong County to assert its authority over these troublesome commoners.
Unable to find his son, Yin Cheng consulted divination and received an ominous reading indicating danger ahead. He summoned spirits overnight but could not call forth Yin Chunlai’s soul. He even built a paper bridge in hopes of finding his son on the road to the underworld but still found no trace of him. Suspecting that He Er’s actions were somehow related to him, he summoned He Er’s spirit for questioning and learned that his son had gone to cause trouble at the magistrate’s office with Paper Figurines but never returned.
Even the most foolish person would understand what was happening; the grudge of killing one's child is one that cannot be shared. Yin Cheng knew that there were powerful individuals in the government office who had taken his son's soul.
On the day of Xiong Prefect's grand wedding and the taking of concubines, Yin Cheng quietly sneaked into the county office with his companions, only to discover that everyone inside had issues. He found that the county magistrate and his wife, along with their six family members, all appeared dazed and numb. When Yin Cheng activated his Heavenly Eye, he saw that the three flames on the bodies of Xiong Prefect's family had all extinguished, which was extremely strange. Realizing that something was amiss, Yin Cheng quietly returned home.
Who would have thought that that very night, Xiong Prefect's entire family, along with Liu Wan'er, totaling seven people, all died suddenly! This incident made Yin Cheng feel suspicious. Even more puzzling were the subsequent deaths that occurred that day; several people died under similar circumstances, all with their bodies turning dark blue, clearly having succumbed to a potent corpse poison.
Corpse poison is typically found in decaying bodies and is a toxin formed from rotting organs. Generally, it does not lead to death; at most, it causes skin to peel off where contact occurs. However, this type of corpse poison was evidently different; it was a vicious toxin that could kill upon contact.
Could it be the work of a Corpse King? There had never been any reports of such occurrences in the city before. Yin Cheng set aside thoughts of revenge and focused on investigating the source of the corpse poison for the sake of the common people.
By the end of the day, over ten people had died in the city, all from corpse poison. Deaths were reported in every corner—east, south, west, and north. Yin Cheng couldn't keep up with it all. Someone informed him that a person dressed in black with a conical hat had passed through the city; anyone who encountered this person would die within fifteen minutes.
That night, standing atop the tallest building, Yin Cheng searched for this mysterious figure in black. What kind of method could allow someone to inflict such deadly poison so quickly?
With the county magistrate dead and over ten people perishing in a single day, chaos engulfed the city amidst cries of despair. After waiting for a while, Yin Cheng finally spotted a figure in black wearing a conical hat slowly walking down a street. Gripping his peach wood sword tightly, he charged down but was utterly shocked by what he saw.
The figure wore tight-fitting clothing and had their conical hat covered with black gauze; not a single inch of flesh was visible from head to toe. Yin Cheng demanded to know who this evil person was and whether they feared divine retribution for harming innocent lives.
The figure in black said nothing and reached out both hands to grab Yin Cheng. Holding his peach wood sword and clutching an exorcism talisman, Yin Cheng fought back against this mysterious individual. With a flick of his sword, he knocked off the conical hat, revealing none other than his son, Yin Chunlai.
At that moment, Yin Cheng fully understood; he did not know which Paper Craftsman had turned his son's body into a "corpse servant"!
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