"What should we do?"
To Wang Jian’s surprise, after seeing the situation in the deserted village, his master Xu Changqing took a compass out of his cloth pouch. He then began to check the magnetic orientation of the surroundings. The compass needle spun wildly at first, clearly influenced by the nearby environnt. But when Wang Jian felt a surge of Qigong from Xu Changqing, the needle gradually stabilized. Wang Jian then watched as Xu Changqing began walking in the direction the compass indicated.
I have no other options, so I can only follow behind.
With Xu Changqing’s guidance, they didn’t have to walk far before reaching the back of the village, where they discovered an entrance resembling a cellar door.
"Master, how co I’ve never seen you use this thod before?" Seeing the entrance appear, Wang Jian couldn’t help but ask, "Is this so kind of Taoism you learned at the Daoist Temple?"
Xu Changqing paused, put the compass away, and turned to look at Wang Jian, rolling his eyes. "Taoism? Don’t be ridiculous. We must adhere to science, you understand? This is just how a compass reacts to a magnetic field. How can you call that Taoism?"
"I have to remind you again, Xiao Jian. This world runs on science, so don’t bring up that other stuff. So-called ’Gu Technique’ is just ancient bioscience, and this is just a compass. Got it? Don’t talk nonsense."
After speaking, Xu Changqing shot Wang Jian a aningful look. The ssage was clear enough without him needing to elaborate.
Wang Jian returned his gaze. I thought the sa thing at first, but now... I’m not so sure.
Wang Jian followed Xu Changqing inside. What he initially thought was a simple cellar suddenly opened up into a huge, hollowed-out space after a short corridor. The area was clearly ventilated, as there was no musty sll upon entering.
However, the scene before him made Wang Jian’s heart tremble. He finally knew where all the villagers from the deserted village had gone.
In this underground space, desiccated corpses were seated on the ground in a peculiar formation. Although their positions seed irregular at first glance, Wang Jian imdiately recognized it as the Eight Trigrams. Moreover, considering the distribution and gender of the corpses, the arrangent also adhered to the principles of the Yin Yang Dao. Connecting this to the clues about the Five Elents they had found in the village earlier, it was obvious this layout was ant to align with the principles of the Five Elents and Yin Yang.
And then I realized sothing—we haven’t slled any strange odors since coming inside. There are only two possibilities: either these people haven’t been dead for long, or a special thod was used.
In the middle of the desiccated corpses stood a high altar. On it were six figures. Wang Jian recognized at a glance that the four people sitting at the cardinal points were Feng Yan and his group. In the center of the altar, sitting cross-legged, were Gao Yang and a middle-aged man.
"As expected..." Xu Changqing said solemnly. Wang Jian turned his head just in ti to see his master’s grim expression. "This bastard is actually using human lives to refine Life Extending Pills to prolong his own life."
"Heretical and depraved."
...
Wang Jian was bewildered. After that whole speech about sticking to science, you say sothing like this? Really?
Noticing Wang Jian’s confusion, Xu Changqing pointed to the altar and the strange runes carved into the floor. "The high platform they’re on is an altar. And see those grooves on the floor where the villagers are? Those are actually runes designed to concentrate a person’s Qi. I’ve always had you practice Qi Cultivation, mainly so you could grasp the secrets of Ancient dicine, but the uses of Qi go far beyond that..." Xu Changqing paused before continuing, "You’ve likely already felt so of the benefits of Qi. When cultivated to a deep level, it can extend one’s life. But in truth, everyone has Qi in their body. What these two are doing is using Gu Technique and formation arrays to concentrate everyone else’s Qi to satisfy their selfish desires—creating human pills to extend their own lives."
Seeing Wang Jian’s skeptical look, Xu Changqing quickly added, "To put it in scientific terms, it’s like they’re gathering the life force of others to create a kind of dicine that enhances their own bodies. Think of it like the gene potions in sci-fi movies. Except their thod isn’t remotely as humane as a scientist’s. These guys are just stealing other people’s lives and vitality for themselves.
"These villagers are deader than dead. Their bodies have crumbled to dust; they’d disintegrate at the slightest touch. That’s why there’s no odor in this entire underground space."
Wang Jian was speechless. So that’s considered science? The primary cause of a corpse’s odor is protein decomposition. According to my master’s explanation, these desiccated remains couldn’t even be called bodies anymore. ’Sand sculptures’ would be a more fitting term. And since when does sand have a sll?
After hearing all this, Wang Jian’s gaze toward the two n on the platform turned fierce. He wished lightning would strike them dead on the spot. As a doctor, he held the utmost respect for life; if there was even the slightest chance, he would do everything in his power to save soone. But Gao Yang and that so-called Mr. Chen—Chen Xi—showed no respect for life at all. People like them were a waste of air.
"What about Feng Yan and the others?" Wang Jian asked quietly. "They seem normal right now. They haven’t been hard yet, have they?"
Hearing this, Xu Changqing glanced toward the high altar, his gaze eting Chen Xi’s.
"How did you get here?" Chen Xi looked astonished. The arrival of Wang Jian and his master hadn’t triggered any of his Gu Worms; he hadn’t received a single warning. Next to him, Gao Yang remained unmoving with his eyes closed, just like Feng Yan and the others. "But it doesn’t matter... Now that you’re here, you can stay and beco part of my offerings."
Chen Xi’s face was filled with madness; he didn’t seem to care at all about their arrival. After a mont of surprise, his expression shifted to that of a man looking at corpses. Noticing Wang Jian’s glare, Chen Xi laughed. "Oh, it seems you ca for these four. I knew ssing with those soldiers would bring backup, but is it just the two of you?"
"Two is more than enough to deal with you," Wang Jian said coldly.
"Young man, don’t be so confident." Chen Xi glanced at Wang Jian dismissively. His real focus was on Xu Changqing. Though the old man looked harmless, Chen Xi’s Gu Worms were screaming a warning, a profound sense of crisis. However, after carefully sensing him, Chen Xi discovered that Xu Changqing, like himself, carried an aura of decay. He imdiately broke into a grin. "This old fellow by your side is on death’s door too. If you’re willing to cooperate, I can give you a human pill. With it, extending your life will no longer be just a dream."
As soon as he finished speaking, Feng Yan and the other three stood up unsteadily, their eyes still shut. Clearly, Chen Xi was ready to fight if they didn’t agree to his terms.
But his words fell on deaf ears. Xu Changqing chuckled. "This old man has lived long enough; what’s there to fear about dying? If I cooperated with an inhuman monster like you, I’m afraid my old comrades would laugh themselves sick in the afterlife."
Seeing this, Wang Jian finally understood how Chen Xi had discovered their identities. With his ability to control people, it would have been easy to extract their background information from them. No wonder they’d been captured.
Hearing Xu Changqing’s refusal, Chen Xi snorted coldly. Before they could react, he commanded Feng Yan’s team to raise their guns and fire directly at the two of them.
This was where Wang Jian and Xu Changqing’s Qi Cultivation foundation ca into play. The instant Feng Yan’s team raised their weapons, the pair dashed from their spots, moving at extre speed around the altar.
If Feng Yan and his team were conscious, I would be terrified of their marksmanship. But as they are now, re puppets controlled by parasites, it would be a miracle if they hit anything.
As they darted away, the bullets all struck the ground where they had just been standing.
Seeing this, Chen Xi’s expression changed slightly. He clearly realized he was facing two troubleso opponents. They can dodge bullets. They must be practitioners, just like .
Chen Xi no longer bothered controlling Feng Yan’s team and charged out himself. He shot straight for Xu Changqing, and the two clashed imdiately.
A single palm strike from Xu Changqing sent Chen Xi stumbling back four steps. Chen Xi’s face contorted in shock as he heard Xu Changqing say, "Young man, if this old Daoist weren’t so decrepit, that one palm would have been enough to send you to et your ancestors."
With a dark expression, Chen Xi let out a strange cackle. His body began to tremble violently as hordes of insects crawled out from his sleeves. At the sa ti, insects of all kinds sward from every direction, converging on him. His body swelled, transforming him into a monstrous Insect Man.
Seeing this, Wang Jian was about to shout a warning to his master when he froze. He watched, stunned, as Xu Changqing pulled a fist-sized iron sphere from his cloth pouch. He then saw his master pull a pin from it and hurl it directly at Chen Xi.
Engulfed by the swarm of insects, Chen Xi finally reacted just in ti to catch the object. For an instant, he was dumbfounded. "A... a grenade?"
Fuck. Who brings a grenade to a fistfight?! No honor at all!
Before Chen Xi could react further, Xu Changqing had already grabbed Wang Jian and leaped back more than ten ters. A loud explosion erupted behind them, followed by a flash of fire. Smoke filled the air, and the entire underground space began to tremble.
"Go! This place is collapsing! Let’s get Feng Yan and the others first!" Xu Changqing shouted before Wang Jian could even speak.
Wang Jian was still dazed from the explosion. Even though he had jumped far away, he had still been caught in the blast wave. He couldn’t believe Xu Changqing would carry sothing like that.
But Xu Changqing was right. Wang Jian snapped back to his senses and imdiately rushed forward. He skirted the blast zone and made a beeline for the altar. He and Xu Changqing each grabbed two people and started carrying them out. As for Gao Yang, a quick glance confird he was already dead—apparently, he had also beco fuel for Chen Xi’s ritual.
Wang Jian carried Feng Yan and Cai Kai toward the exit. Xu Changqing lingered on the altar for a mont, his eyes fixed on the dicine Pill that had ford there. Without hesitation, he snatched it and stuffed it into his cloth pouch. Then, hoisting the two n as if they weighed nothing, he followed Wang Jian out of the cellar.
The mont they scrambled out, the entire village collapsed into the ground behind them.
Wang Jian and Xu Changqing didn’t dare to linger, taking a mountain path around to the village entrance before finally stopping. Looking at the deserted village, now just a giant sinkhole, the two stood in silence.
Wang Jian quickly checked on Feng Yan and his team. For whatever reason—perhaps because the grenade had killed Chen Xi—he found no trace of any Gu Worms on them.
"Is that man dead?" Wang Jian asked.
Xu Changqing patted the dust off his clothes. "Even if the blast didn’t kill him, the cave-in did. Don’t worry."
After saying this, he reached into his cloth pouch. "Open your mouth!" he said suddenly to Wang Jian.
"What?"
Wang Jian was still baffled when his vision blurred. Xu Changqing had stuffed sothing into his mouth. A cool sensation washed over him, and the foreign object was gone.
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