Великий божественный суд династии Цин

Глава 10

Just as I was turning back, perhaps my footsteps startled the local animals. I saw a hare leap out of its burrow beside me. Seeing that it was still early to return to camp, and considering that our rations were running low after so many days of searching in the mountains, I decided to hunt a hare for tonight's meal. Since we had agreed to only fire warning shots in special circumstances, I slung my rifle over my shoulder, pulled out a military folding knife, and prepared to kill the hare. From our previous hunting experiences, we knew that because few people frequented these mountains, the animals weren't particularly afraid of humans; they would only reluctantly run away when we got very close. So I figured that if I was a little agile, killing a hare with a knife shouldn't be too difficult.

I followed the hare, weaving left and right for a while, and when it stopped just two meters away, I felt a surge of joy. I thought, "Now I can finally make my move." If I quickly threw the folding knife in my hand, I should be able to hit the target at such close range.

Just as I raised my folding knife to throw, the rabbit seemed to sense my presence and darted away. I immediately gave chase. I didn't want to let the meat that was almost in my mouth slip away. I ran after it for a short while, then suddenly it darted down the cliff and disappeared. I ran over immediately and discovered a cave entrance, more than half a person's height, in the rock face at the bottom of the cliff. Judging from the decaying support pillars holding the entrance and ceiling, the cave was likely man-made. The discarded digging and carrying tools on the ground near the entrance suggested it was an abandoned old mine.

How deep is this mine? Is there another exit that can help us cross this cliff, bypass that meadow, and finally find another path leading to that towering altar in the mountains? Thinking about this, I could no longer contain myself. I turned on the wolf-eye flashlight I had brought with me and crouched down to crawl into the mine.

The tunnel, abandoned and neglected for years, was littered with discarded tools and equipment. Huge spiderwebs completely sealed it off. Based on my assessment, the entire mine tunnel sloped downwards at approximately a 30-degree angle. I wandered around for a while without finding any other passages. When I saw several oil drums piled up inside, I worried about the oxygen levels inside. So, I pried open the drums with a knife, made a torch from discarded sticks and rags, soaked it in oil, and lit it. The torch burned brightly, indicating sufficient oxygen. Reassured, I continued deeper into the tunnel, torch in hand.

I walked about five or six hundred meters deeper, and the torchlight startled a few bats resting at the top of the tunnel. They fluttered down above my head with a "whoosh." Although I didn't encounter any real danger, I couldn't help feeling a little scared because I was alone in this dark and unfamiliar environment. I picked up my hunting rifle to bolster my courage, wondering what new discoveries Dunzi might have made. If he had also wandered alone into this dark and unfamiliar place, I wondered what he would be like, given his timid nature.

As I walked along, lost in thought, a sharp "squeak" suddenly came from beneath my feet, as if I had stepped on something soft. The sudden scream startled me. I looked down and saw it was a mountain rat. I kicked it hard, trying to move it aside. But this kick only brought more squeaking from the edge of the tunnel. I held my torch closer and, oh my god, the ground at the edge of the tunnel was swarming with countless black mountain rats. And beneath them lay a skeleton, completely gnawed clean. The sight made me nauseous; I almost vomited. Even this abandoned mine had a corpse; it seemed this place wasn't clean after all. I quickened my pace, continuing deeper into the tunnel, hoping to find an exit and escape this repulsive place as soon as possible.

After walking about a hundred meters further down, groundwater began to seep from the mine floor. I waded through the water, thinking to myself, "I've been walking for so long and haven't seen any other exit. I'm really unlucky; I've stumbled upon a dead end with no other way out." I also figured it was getting dark, and Jenny and the others might worry if I didn't get back soon. So I decided to stop and hurriedly turn back towards the mine entrance. But as soon as I turned around, I was shocked to see that the tunnel behind me had split into two passages. I remembered there was only one passage when I came in; when did it become two? Now I panicked. I had no idea which passage to take back.

Left with no other choice, I chose to explore one of the tunnels first. I thought that perhaps when I saw some unusual objects inside the tunnel, such as abandoned tools and equipment, or those disgusting dead rats, I would remember whether I had come from this tunnel.

But after walking only a few steps, something strange happened. Two more tunnel entrances, almost identical in size and shape, appeared in front of me. Having no other choice, I randomly chose one and continued walking. In this way, I passed through eight or nine such double-entrance tunnels in total. Finally, I found myself back in the original tunnel where groundwater seeped out.

At first, I wasn't discouraged; I thought it was just bad luck that I'd chosen a roundabout path. So I continued searching for another passage and moving forward. But after trying at least five or six times, I always ended up back here without exception.

That's when panic started to set in. I never imagined that the mine, which I'd thought had only one passage, was actually an underground labyrinth. Even more unbelievable was that I had no idea when these branching paths had appeared. Following them one by one, I had no idea when I'd ever find my way out. It was then that I realized the corpse I'd seen earlier had probably wandered into this mine and become trapped. The thought sent a shiver down my spine. I never imagined this abandoned mine would be my final resting place.

At that moment, I began to despair. I plopped down on the ground, not wanting to get up again. Leaning against the inner wall of the mine tunnel, I recalled the time I accidentally obtained the Tomb Raider Seal in the mass grave when I was young, the Taoist priest who patrolled the mountain taught me Taoist arts at Zhenyuan Temple, and the treasure hunt I had been doing with Jenny and Dunzi these past few days. Lost in thought, I unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but I had a dream in my deep sleep. I dreamt that the jade cicada carved on my tomb-raiding seal suddenly came to life, flying around in front of me, refusing to leave. So I followed it. It then carried me all the way to the outside of the mine. When I saw the blue sky and white clouds outside, I was overjoyed and couldn't help but jump up. But with that jump, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the top of my head. Opening my eyes, I realized that when I jumped, my head was at the top of the mine. I then realized that what I had just seen was just a dream. But at that moment, I suddenly had an inspiration and thought of a way to get out.

53. Lightning Dragon Shadow

I took the half-pack of compressed rations out of my pocket, broke off a small piece, crushed it, and placed it in the dry square of food stored in the tunnel. Then I continued to sit on the ground, waiting to see how things would unfold. Sure enough, the mountain rats in the tunnel had an incredibly keen sense of smell. In less than half an hour, two or three rats, drawn by the aroma of the compressed rations, crawled over. They quickly devoured the rations. After searching around again to make sure there was no other food left, they slowly turned and left. Seeing that my time was right, I immediately got up and followed them, crouching low, out of the tunnel.

About an hour later, I finally arrived at the place where many mountain rats had gathered. The hideous and terrifying skeleton still lay there motionless. By this time, I could walk out of the mine based on my memory of how I came. So I quickened my pace and headed out of the mine.

When I reached the outside of the mine, I saw a full moon overhead, dotted with countless stars. Thinking of the skeleton inside, I felt truly saddened for him. He must have expended a great deal of time and energy to reach that place, only to die from exhaustion in the mine tunnels. I wonder what he would have thought if he knew that if he had just persisted for another two or three hundred meters, he could have escaped this labyrinthine mine.

Although I had just escaped death, I knew that Jenny and Dunzi must be worried about me, so I didn't dare to rest for a moment and hurried back to the campsite where Jenny and Dunzi were in the direction I came from.

Halfway through my walk, I suddenly saw a dark shadow dart out of the woods. My heart skipped a beat; judging from its size, could it be a black bear? (Black bear is what the locals call a black bear, sometimes also called a bear-blind). In a flash, I quickly raised my hunting rifle, ready to aim and fire, when I suddenly heard the clanging of metal pulling back the bolt. It was a person! I immediately shouted, "Hey, is anyone up ahead? Don't shoot!" Just as I finished speaking, a familiar voice came from the other side, "Damn it, where did you go? We've been looking for you everywhere!" I recognized the voice—it was Dunzi! So, I happily ran over.

As we walked towards the campsite, I told him what had happened in the mine. This made Dunzi laugh out loud and say, "Haha, you're really something, coming up with such an idea. I tell you, you're a lucky man."

With our companion by our side, we became bolder and our steps lighter. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, we were back at our campsite by the meadow. By then, Leopard had also woken up. Jenny and Leopard were overjoyed to see us both safe and sound. Jenny handed me my water bottle and asked why I had been gone so long, wondering if I had found anything. After I recounted what had happened in the abandoned mine, they were both relieved that I had returned safely.

Then, Dunzi told me that he had found a stream on the left side of the lawn, and that following the stream would lead around the lawn and into the woods on the other side. Hearing this, I was overjoyed. I thought to myself, "I never expected that Dunzi would find the way to Lingtai first; life is truly unpredictable!"

On the way back, Dunzi caught two fish in the stream. At first, everyone was worried about my safety and anxious to find me, so no one was in the mood to eat. Now that everyone is back safe and sound, we started to scale and gut the fish and roast them over the fire.

The next day, led by Dunzi, we set off along the left edge of the lawn. Abao hadn't fully recovered and walking wasn't quite easy for him, so I supported him as he walked in the middle, with Jenny at the very back. After walking for an hour, we arrived at the stream Dunzi had mentioned. The stream was about two meters wide on average, with clear mountain spring water and schools of fish swimming in it. Since the fish we ate the night before was so delicious, Dunzi and I couldn't resist rolling up our trousers and jumping into the stream to catch a few fresh soft-shelled turtles for lunch.

In the afternoon, we finally bypassed the wide lawn and entered the dense forest opposite it. To verify that we were heading in the right direction towards the tall altar, I found a relatively tall tree, climbed to the top with binoculars, and searched for the location of the altar.

When I first looked up, I saw a massive altar rising from the dense forest, standing tall deep within the woods. I raised my binoculars and examined it closely. The altar was about seven or eight kilometers away, roughly the height of a ten-story building. The entire altar appeared to be constructed of black rock, with several nearly rotten tree trunks supporting the top, giving it a lifeless appearance and making it extremely incongruous with the lush, vibrant forest around it.

Just as I was carefully observing the tall altar in the dense forest, for some reason, the once clear sky suddenly turned into a thick cloud cover. A moment later, thunder and lightning flashed. I wondered what kind of weather this was; could some evil spirit have appeared again? It was a pity it was daytime, otherwise I would have definitely used the celestial observation techniques in the *Five Planets Divination* to investigate.

Then I realized that being under such tall trees was the easiest place to be struck by lightning. If I were to be struck by lightning, it would be no joke. With that in mind, I hurriedly packed away my binoculars and prepared to climb down the tree first before making any further plans.

Just as I was about to climb down the tree, I suddenly saw a flash of golden light after a bolt of lightning. Then, in the distance, I saw something that looked like a golden dragon, gleaming with golden light, fly down from the sky and quickly disappear into the dark spiritual platform. At first, I thought I was seeing things, so I didn't pay much attention. When the second lightning flashed, I quickly slid down the tree trunk.

As soon as Dunzi saw me land, he asked, "How did it go? Did you find the platform?" "Yes, but we should find somewhere to take shelter quickly," I hurriedly replied. "It's easiest to get struck by lightning under these tall trees." "Right, let's find somewhere to take shelter first," Jenny added. We quickly left the big tree and found a low-lying area in the mountains. We laid a tarpaulin in a crevice between several large rocks and temporarily sheltered ourselves from the wind, rain, and lightning.

While sheltering from the wind and rain in the crevice of the rocks, I remembered the strange thing I had seen in the big tree earlier, so I told everyone about it. Dunzi laughed when he heard it and said, "Brother, were you struck by lightning? Where would you find a real dragon in this world?" Jenny didn't say anything, but nodded slightly, as if she didn't believe that dragons really existed.

Seeing their disapproval, and considering my own limited understanding and even doubts about whether I was seeing things, I stopped arguing. But I thought to myself, how many strange things and monsters have we encountered along the way? Even if a dragon really did appear, it wouldn't be surprising. There was just one thing I didn't understand: if it wasn't a dragon, what was it? And if it truly was a dragon, why did it choose to enter that mysterious spiritual platform we were about to reach?

54. The Illusory Realm of the Spirit Platform

After a long and difficult time until the thunderstorm finally stopped, we managed to crawl out of the crevice in the rocks. After packing our belongings, we set off towards the tall altar I had seen. As we got closer to the altar, we realized that even the insects, birds, and animals we usually saw along the way had vanished, as if they had suddenly disappeared.

Because there were no insects or animals in the entire forest, the fruits of the tall trees had all fallen to the ground due to their ripeness. Over time, the fruits and fallen leaves gradually rotted, eventually forming a thick layer of humus on the ground. This humus was soft to begin with, and because it had just rained, our feet sank into it almost immediately, making the journey very difficult.

As we walked, Dunzi muttered, "Where did all this mud come from? It's making our journey as difficult as the Red Army crossing the grasslands back then." I pondered for a moment and said, "This layer of humus is formed from the accumulated decay of fruit and leaves from these trees over thousands of years. Because insects and animals seem to be very scarce here, almost all the fruit and leaves have rotted on the ground because they weren't eaten. Therefore, the humus layer here is much thicker than in other forests." I continued, "It's said that the natural environment around Nianzishan is very well-preserved, a paradise for insects and animals. We've seen plenty of wild animals of all sizes and types along the way. But what I don't understand is why we haven't seen them at all in this particular forest?"

They all found my words a bit strange and thought it might not be a good sign. But even so, we still had to keep going. We couldn't just give up halfway and turn back because of this. So we trudged through the muddy, decaying soil, heading towards the altar.

As dusk approached, we reached a small, elevated hillside. Through the canopy of the trees, we could finally see the towering altar in the distance. The altar, like a colossal tower, pierced the sky. A setting sun, blood-red, shone brightly on its lower half. In the distance, patches of fiery clouds, like raging flames, bathed the entire backdrop in a golden-red hue.

When we arrived at the foot of the Lingtai, we found it to be even larger than we had imagined. The Lingtai is built on an open space roughly the size of two football fields. Due to its age, much of the Lingtai has collapsed. The fallen black boulders are scattered across the open space around the Lingtai, varying in size and shape, like a undulating, shrinking mountain range.

It was already late, but we were eager to find more clues about the treasure cave, so we didn't rest and began searching for clues near the Lingtai. According to the treasure poem, we had already passed "Sishui" and "Wushan," and if I wasn't mistaken, this tall Lingtai in front of us was the "Deer Terrace" mentioned in the poem. Then, how should we interpret the "Taiji Roundness"? What was this clue in the poem trying to tell us? I pondered as I examined the area around the Lingtai. I carefully examined the rocks, the vegetation, and even the soil, but I still couldn't find a single clue.

After searching for most of the day, it seemed everyone had found nothing. So they gathered around a relatively flat rock to rest and eat some compressed rations. "We've searched this area thoroughly, but there don't seem to be any useful clues," I said, swallowing a mouthful of rations. "Next, we'll have to look inside this spirit altar for answers." As I spoke, I glanced briefly at the tall, dark spirit altar beside me. To be honest, ever since I saw a dragon-like object fly into the spirit altar, I'd felt it exuded an eerie aura. Unless absolutely necessary, I really didn't want to risk going in to investigate.

Hearing what I said, Dunzi replied, "That's the only thing we can do, try our luck. But I was just curious and walked around this altar, and I didn't seem to find any doors or windows to go in. I really don't know how to get inside." "Even if it's solid, we have to find a way to get to the top and take a look," Jenny said from the side. "Otherwise, it would be really frustrating to just let the clues go cold like this."

Just as we were intensely discussing our next plan, we suddenly noticed a thin layer of fog rising around us. Fearing it might be some kind of poisonous gas, we quickly took out our gas masks and put them on. The fog thickened, eventually completely obscuring the open space. As we wondered where the fog had suddenly come from, we suddenly seemed to hear the melodious, clear sounds of bells, chimes, and zithers drifting towards us. Looking in the direction of the music, we saw that the tall, dark altar was no longer as dilapidated as before; it looked brand new, as if it had just been rebuilt. The altar was brightly lit, prayer flags fluttered, and at the top, there seemed to be many beautiful women dressed in ancient clothing, adorned with ornaments, dancing gracefully to the music.

Dunzi stared at the beautiful woman on the mysterious altar, his face full of surprise, and asked, "How come there's suddenly a beautiful woman dressed in ancient clothes on there?" Upon seeing this, I suddenly remembered the records in the *Exorcism Techniques*, and my heart skipped a beat. I cried out, "Oh no!" "What's wrong?" "The *Exorcism Techniques* records that in the deep mountains and wilderness, in places where yin energy is extremely strong, at night, some brightly lit scenes with bustling crowds will appear. Actually, this is just an illusion called 'The Illusion of the Underworld.'" I swallowed hard and continued, "The lamps and incense in the illusion are actually 'ghost fires' from the underworld. They ignite easily and can turn a person to ashes in no time. And those people coming and going, especially those stunning beauties, are actually vicious ghosts from the depths of the underworld, who specialize in bewitching passersby, feeding on their hearts and souls. Their cruelty and ruthlessness are unparalleled. Those who are harmed to death by them will be sunk into the abyss of hell because of their yin energy, never to be reincarnated."

Dunzi, sweating profusely from my explanation, swallowed hard several times, momentarily speechless with fear. Abao, after hearing my explanation, said angrily, "We originally wanted to go up and find clues about the treasure's location, but now it seems this platform is nothing short of a living hell, a haven for ghosts and demons. We might as well burn it down and be done with it, to prevent it from harming humanity." "Burning it down is inevitable, but the key is that we haven't even found our only clue yet. It would be best to find the clue we're looking for first, and then destroy it." I thought for a moment, then said, "But right now, I can't think of a good way to check if what we're looking for is actually on this platform."

After speaking, I couldn't help but glance at the towering, brightly lit altar before me. What I saw on the altar was even more astonishing. Perhaps the evil spirits, seeing that the poisonous mist and yin energy had no effect on us, transformed into celestial maidens and descended from the sky, gently landing on the open space below the altar.

55. Jade Corpse Demon

As the group of enchanting women swayed their graceful figures and slowly moved towards us, I was momentarily at a loss for what to do. I don't know why, even though I knew they were hellish ghosts approaching, I couldn't bring myself to attack, forgetting that I should retaliate immediately. Just then, a gunshot jolted me from my reverie. Looking up, I saw Jenny had raised her German-made hunting rifle and fired a shot at the women. Only then did I realize that I had fallen under their spell. Perhaps because Jenny was a woman, she was more resistant to such beauty than we were, and hadn't been immediately bewitched. However, we watched helplessly as the bullet passed through them, as if through a curtain of water; the bullet holes shrank within a second, then returned to normal, having had absolutely no effect.

At that moment, Dunzi and the others, like me, were awakened by Jenny's gunshot and were greatly surprised by the scene. Dunzi's eyes widened, and he asked me in astonishment, "Damn it, how do we shoot them? Bullets don't seem to work on them." Seeing that the group of evil spirits and demonic women were slowly approaching us, waiting like this would put us all in grave danger. I gritted my teeth and said, "There's no other way now. I'll have to use the magic from the 'Exorcism Technique' to deal with them." Before they could say anything, I stood up, stepped over a rock, and slowly walked towards the group of demonic women.

The two sides stopped about ten meters apart. Fearing they might use some other bewitching magic, I silently recited the "Heart-Guarding Mantra" to protect my heart. After about four or five seconds, they suddenly scattered in all directions, then quickly gathered again, trapping me firmly in their midst. Then one of the female demons swung her cloud-like sleeve at me. I dodged to the side, quickly biting my index finger and writing a talisman on my palm. Then, I reached out and grabbed the sleeve. The sleeve, suppressed by the talisman in my palm, immediately emitted a thick, foul-smelling black smoke, then revealed its true form.

I looked closely and realized that the cloud sleeve I was holding was actually a long, thin, slimy, intestine-like object. I thought to myself, "This must be the intestine from some wronged soul in the underworld," and I felt a wave of nausea. I let go of it. When the demoness saw me suddenly release her grip, she quickly retracted the intestine and wrapped it around her arm.

Seeing that I had broken their illusion, the witches were enraged. After a puff of black smoke, they all revealed their true forms—as expected, shriveled zombies and headless monsters. The most conspicuous among them was a strange, slightly translucent, emerald-green, jade-carved, wet corpse. Seeing this, I frankly panicked a little, my legs starting to feel weak. I was truly unsure whether the rudimentary spells I had learned in the "Soul Exorcism Technique" would be enough to handle the situation.

Just as I was frantically trying to figure out if I could deal with these evil creatures, they suddenly howled and lunged at me with their ghostly claws outstretched. Damn it, I was now surrounded on all sides, completely vulnerable. There was no other way; I could only take it one step at a time. I stretched out my palms, palms facing each other with a talisman. The "Three Primal Heaven-Opening Talisman" created by Zhang Tianshi was indeed powerful. The demons, seeing it for the first time, couldn't help but tremble and dodge away.

This blood talisman is an extremely yang object, possessing the power to suppress yin and evil. Now, in this place teeming with demonic energy and haunted by ghosts, it radiates an even brighter red light, unstoppable. For a short time, although the demons are numerous, they cannot harm me. Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, the strange, slightly translucent, emerald-green wet corpse that had been standing far to the side observing suddenly flew towards me with a gust of yin wind, and abruptly extended its hands, covered in nails like steel spikes, aiming to stab at my chest.

So-called wet corpses are ancient corpses formed when a person dies and their body remains incorrupt for thousands of years due to special burial conditions. Most ancient corpses are mummies, such as those created through artificial preservation, like the mummies buried in the Egyptian pyramids. Alternatively, the unique geographical environment of the burial site can cause the rapid evaporation of moisture from the body, resulting in mummies, such as the ancient Loulan mummies found in the desert. Wet corpses are much rarer because they don't appear shriveled and lifeless like typical mummies. The bodies of wet corpses are well-preserved, retaining all moisture, resulting in elastic muscles. Despite being thousands of years old, they appear as if they had just died. These wet corpses are often found on icy mountains. This is because when someone perished in the snow, the extremely low temperatures caused the body to freeze rapidly, preserving the moisture. Even well-preserved wet corpses like the Western Han Dynasty Mawangdui female mummy are extremely rare in the world today. The wet corpse in front of me was not only wet, but also completely green and slightly transparent, which was obviously extraordinary.

I knew this wet corpse must be someone important, so I dared not be careless. I thought to myself, these little devils had already left me with no power to fight back, and now a ghost general has appeared. If I don't escape now, when will I? So I quickly dodged the sudden stab from the jade wet corpse, and then used the blood talisman in my hand to open an opening among the demons surrounding me, and escaped.

However, while I was fast, the jade-covered corpse was even faster. Seeing that I had broken free of the encirclement, it leaped forward and landed right in front of me, colliding face-to-face. Instantly, I felt a chill run down my spine. A shiver ran through my body. I realized that the corpse's skin was hard and devoid of any flesh, as if it weren't made of meat, but rather as if it were truly carved from jade.

At that moment, the jade-green corpse's eyes were directly facing mine, less than ten centimeters away. At such close range, I saw that the pupils of its white eyeballs were a yellowish-brown, and a yellowish-brown liquid was oozing from the corners of its eyes, making it utterly repulsive. I quickly raised my palms and struck its chest with a "bang." I thought that having been hit by two "Three Elements Heaven-Opening Talismans" at once would surely give it a good beating. But to my surprise, when I withdrew my palms, there wasn't a single trace of the talisman on its body. Moreover, it stood calmly before me, neither dodging nor resisting, with a smug expression.

Now I was truly panicked. Was I really at my wit's end? I dared not think any further. At that moment, Dunzi and the others behind me had witnessed everything and knew I was facing the greatest crisis of my life. Although Dunzi was also terrified, he was more worried about losing me as his brother, so he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brother, don't hold on! If you can't beat us, run!" Run? Where could I run to in this desolate wilderness? I'd be caught no matter where I went, wouldn't I? I thought to myself, this guy doesn't even use his brain. So I ignored Dunzi and rolled away to get away first.

Seeing that I couldn't subdue it, the jade corpse grew even more arrogant, spreading its five fingers and lunging at me again. Meanwhile, the other demons, seeing Dunzi shouting and yelling from behind the boulder, became enraged and turned their attention towards Dunzi and his group. Dunzi and his companions fired several more shots at the oncoming demons, but to no avail. Seeing them closing in, they had no choice but to scatter and flee as Dunzi had suggested.

As Dunzi ran, he kept glancing back anxiously. He watched as one of the headless, desiccated corpses charged at him, its long, thin, sharp claws like withered branches. His legs went weak, and he tripped over a protruding rock, losing his balance and falling to the ground with a thud. Instinctively, he turned around quickly, only to see the headless corpse already in front of him, suddenly extending its two claws to stab at Dunzi's chest. Seeing this, Dunzi knew he was helpless and could only accept his fate. He closed his eyes and shouted, "Brothers, take care! I, Qi Dadun, am going first!"

56. Peace Talisman

Just as Dunzi closed his eyes, preparing to die, he suddenly heard an extremely piercing scream. The sound was even more unbearable than the sound of metal scraping against glass. Dunzi instinctively covered his ears, opened one eye, and peeked out. He saw a burst of flames before him. The headless, mummified corpse was engulfed in flames, writhing in agony in the scorching heat, rolling on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

Dunzi, witnessing all this suddenly unfolding before him, couldn't believe it was real. At first, he thought perhaps I had saved him, but when he saw himself being chased relentlessly by the jade-like corpse in the distance, how could he have had time to save him? Looking at Abao and the others, who were also dodging and weaving away from the demons' attacks, offering no chance to help him, he became even more confused. He lowered his head and patted his forehead, utterly bewildered by this inexplicable turn of events. Just as he looked down, he noticed a large hole burned in the left side of his shirt, revealing two amulets tucked into the pocket.

Upon seeing the two amulets, Dunzi remembered that he had sincerely obtained them from the Zhenyuan Temple, where the patrolling Taoist priest resided, during his first visit there. He had carried them with him ever since. He never imagined that these amulets would possess such power to exorcise ghosts and subdue demons. The headless, mummified corpse must have accidentally touched the amulets when its demonic claws pierced Dunzi's chest, thus being subdued by the talismans and igniting pure yang fire.

Realizing this, Dunzi suddenly understood. Forgetting the pain in his sprained ankle, he quickly stood up. Seeing Jenny and Ah Bao cornered by the evil spirits, their lives hanging in the balance, Dunzi thought, "If I don't help them now, they might not survive." Now that he had two powerful amulets, he no longer needed to fear these demons. He quickly grabbed the amulets and ran towards them, shouting, "Miss Jenny, hang in there! I'm coming to help you!"

Jenny and Ah Bao were cornered by two hairy zombies, one on each side, next to a giant rock. They were helpless as the two zombies closed in. Suddenly, they heard Dunzi shout and saw him running towards them rapidly, which surprised them greatly. They thought, "Just now, I saw Dunzi being chased around by that headless corpse, even shouting his last words, and he was about to be killed by the headless corpse. How could he have escaped the headless corpse's attack in the blink of an eye and be running to help others?" Although they couldn't understand it at first, when Jenny and Ah Bao heard that Dunzi was coming to help them, they thought that perhaps Dunzi had accidentally found a way to subdue these evil spirits. Thus, the flame of hope that had almost been extinguished was rekindled in their hearts.

As the two hairy zombies opened their arms to grab Jenny and the others, Jenny and Ah Bao mustered their last bit of strength and charged at them. Although it felt like hitting a tree trunk, leaving their shoulders numb and their vision blurry, the impact was completely unexpected by the two zombies, and they were both knocked to the ground.

Just then, Dunzi arrived at Jenny's side. Seeing the two hairy corpses lying on the ground trying to get up, he quickly and decisively struck them with two amulets. Two flashes of golden light appeared, and suddenly flames seemed to erupt from the corpses' bellies, quickly engulfing their entire bodies. In an instant, they became two fireballs. The two hairy corpses writhed in agony in the flames, emitting pitiful cries. Soon, they were reduced to two piles of charred remains.

Then Dunzi handed Jenny a talisman and said, "I didn't expect these bastards to be afraid of these two talismans I have." As he spoke, he looked back nervously at me, who was dodging left and right in the distance, and then said, "You guys use this talisman to deal with them, and I'll use this other talisman to help Sinan out of that situation." Jenny took the talisman from Dunzi and replied, "Okay, be careful."

As soon as he finished speaking, two more withered corpse monsters rushed over from afar, accompanied by gusts of eerie wind. Jenny and Ah Bao immediately stepped forward to meet them. Seeing that Jenny was protected by the safety talisman and should be safe for the time being, Dunzi immediately turned and ran towards me. At this moment, I was being entangled by the jade-green corpse and had used every trick in the book to escape. I had already used spells such as the "Three Elements Heaven-Opening Talisman" and the "Crimson Blood Universe Curse," but these spells inexplicably lost their effectiveness when they hit its body. Now I could only use the "Big Dipper Shifting Technique" to constantly change my position in order to avoid the jade-green corpse's attacks.

At this moment, my attention was completely focused on the jade corpse, and I couldn't possibly notice anything else happening around me. When Dunzi suddenly rushed in front of me, I was startled and asked, "Hey, what are you doing here? It's too dangerous here, go back quickly." Dunzi stood beside me, raised his hands in an extremely elegant pose, and said with a smile, "Brother, I'm here to help you. Just watch." After saying that, he pinched the peace talisman and struck the jade corpse. Seeing that another reckless fellow had come, the jade corpse retracted its ghostly claws and stood still, letting Dunzi raise his hand to strike. There was a "smack," and Dunzi hit the jade corpse hard in the chest. However, after a long time, it was as if nothing had happened.

Dunzi was dumbfounded, utterly surprised. He thought, "How could this amulet suddenly stop working? It was perfectly fine just a moment ago, how could it stop working so quickly?" As he stood there, stunned, the jade-green corpse launched a counterattack, extending a ghostly claw towards Dunzi's neck. Seeing Dunzi in danger, I quickly used the "Big Dipper Shifting Technique" again to move beside him, then forcefully shoved him aside. I rolled away as well, landing beside Dunzi.

At this moment, Jenny and Ah Bao, having finally dealt with the remaining evil spirits thanks to the amulet, were worried for us as we were still struggling to rid ourselves of the jade-green corpse. So, they rushed over to help us. Like Dunzi at first, Jenny and Ah Bao thought the amulet would subdue the jade-green corpse, but to their surprise, it remained completely unharmed when the amulet struck it. Then, the jade-green corpse swung its hands, sweeping across Jenny and Ah Bao, knocking them to the ground as well.

Jenny and Ah Bao rolled over to me and Dunzi. Jenny frowned and said, "Strange, why isn't it working anymore?" Hearing her say that, I replied, "Yes, my exorcism spell doesn't work on it either." "I exchanged a few blows with it just now, and I found that its body surface is very hard, like it has a hard shell," Ah Bao said. His words reminded me. I immediately realized that I had overlooked this point. Generally speaking, the body of a wet corpse should be elastic and have a strong fleshy feel. However, the body surface of the jade wet corpse in front of us is almost as hard as stone, as if it is indeed wrapped in something. Thinking of this, I began to have a better understanding. It turns out that the reason why this jade wet corpse is so powerful is simply because of this protective object on its body. As long as we can find a way to remove this hard shell, this jade wet corpse probably won't be as terrifying as it is now.

57. Collapsed Cave

Seeing that all four of us were lying on the ground, the Jade Corpse seemed to have our lives in its grasp. So it wasn't in a hurry and slowly approached us step by step. Before the Jade Corpse reached us, I told everyone the secret I had just discovered. Dunzi immediately asked, "Then how do we get that thing off its body?" I thought for a moment and replied, "If we want it to take it off itself, there's only one way—burn it." "Burn? But we have neither fuel nor a flame, how can we burn it?" Dunzi continued. "I do know that in the 'Exorcism Technique,' there's a Taoist spell called 'Hun Yuan Lie Yan' that can summon pure Yang fire, but..." I replied. "But what?" Dunzi asked eagerly, sensing an opportunity. "However, this spell requires two different pure yang items to be cast. But where are we going to find those two items right now..." Before he could finish speaking, the jade-green corpse appeared before us. Without further ado, we quickly got up and continued our battle with the jade-green corpse.

We were struggling with the jade corpse when we suddenly heard Jenny shout, "I have an idea! Just hold on!" Then, taking advantage of the corpse's inattention, she dashed away. We were puzzled, wondering what brilliant idea she had come up with, when Jenny hurriedly returned. Seeing this, I asked in surprise, "What brilliant idea did you come up with?" Jenny, panting heavily, said between breaths, "You—look, I—I brought you—this." She then opened her tightly clenched fingers.

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a tomb raider's seal. She said, "My grandfather once told me that this thing is a pure yang object. It can ward off evil spirits, and it saved his life many times when he was a tomb raider." Hearing Jenny say this, Dunzi, while running alongside us, quickly handed over the peace talisman he was holding, saying, "This talisman is what we got from 'Zhenyuan Temple' the other day. It's also a pure yang object that can ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune. Take it and quickly cast the spell."

Holding two pure yang items in my hands, I was overjoyed, thinking, "Truly, heaven is helping me!" So I stopped and silently recited the "Primordial Blazing Flame" mantra from the "Exorcism Technique." The jade-green corpse had been chasing us for quite some time and was now extremely annoyed. Suddenly seeing me stop, it unleashed all its anger on me, clenching its fist and bringing a gust of cold wind with it, smashing it hard towards my face.

Having finished reciting the incantation, I saw the fist, as big as a bucket, come crashing down. Immediately, I clasped my two pure yang objects together in one hand, and with the other, I raised my index finger and gently pointed it at the jade corpse. In an instant, a flame shot out from my fingertip, instantly engulfing the jade corpse in flames. Soon, the jade corpse became a fireball. It seemed that if it continued to burn, the jade corpse would surely be reduced to charred remains. Then, with a deafening roar, the fireball split in two, flying to the left and right, crashing to the ground with two thuds.

Looking again at the jade-green corpse, it had now shed its hard shell, revealing its true form. Its entire body was white, slightly translucent. Through its semi-transparent white skin, one could vaguely see its internal organs. At this moment, because we had broken its magical artifact, the corpse was filled with rage, its ghostly claws cracking as it gripped the bones. Its eyes blazed with intense fury. There's a saying, "Better to mess with the King of Hell than to provoke a little devil." Now, we had truly angered this little devil before us.

After a brief pause, the wet corpse seemed to gather all its strength, opening its mouth to reveal a row of jagged black teeth. Then, it raised its steel-spiky, ghostly claws and lunged at us. Seeing its ferocious attack and immense power, I dared not meet it head-on, instead dodging its assault. Then, I flipped my hands, striking the wet corpse with the two Heavenly Master Blood Talismans from my palms. With a "crack," they struck firmly into the corpse's body. The two crimson talismans immediately took effect upon contact with this extremely yin body. A flash of red light, and two blood-red marks remained on the wet corpse's body. The wet corpse, struck simultaneously by these two "Three Elements Heaven-Opening Talismans," felt as if burned by red iron, as if bitten by a thousand ants, experiencing excruciating pain. It couldn't help but cry out to the sky, letting out a piercing wail. Not to be outdone, Ah Bao took the peace talisman from Jenny's hand and, taking advantage of the wet corpse's cries, quickly moved forward and struck the talisman onto the corpse. Suddenly, a burst of flames appeared before their eyes. The damp corpse was firmly enveloped by the pure yang fire, burning it until it cried out in agony.

We stood silently around, watching the wet corpse writhe in the raging fire until it was gradually reduced to a charred corpse. The thick black smoke billowed out, spreading around us with a strange, pungent stench of burning flesh.

Looking at the charred bodies lying haphazardly on the open ground, we breathed a long sigh of relief. Only after confirming there were no further disturbances did we remove our gas masks. After this fierce battle, everyone had suffered minor injuries of varying degrees—scratches and bruises, but nothing serious. Dunzi had played a crucial role in this confrontation. He was quite proud and couldn't contain himself, starting to boast again. He said, "I never thought the amulets from 'Zhenyuan Temple' could actually ward off evil spirits and ensure safety! I'll go back and get a few more next time. If I hadn't brought these two amulets with me, the four of us would probably be lying on the ground right now."

I didn't want to listen to Dunzi's pointless boasting, so I turned my head and glanced at the tall altar. In that instant, I saw that the once bright and clear altar had returned to its original state, looking utterly dilapidated. The ground not far from it had collapsed at some point, revealing a large hole. I felt strange; I felt that a hole couldn't have appeared here for no reason. There must be some hidden secret here.

So I patted Dunzi on the shoulder to stop him for a moment, then pointed to the collapsed ground and said to everyone, "Look, why did that suddenly collapse? The fight just now shouldn't have been that intense. It's impossible for such a large chunk of the ground to have collapsed." Dunzi turned around to look at the collapsed hole I mentioned, scratched his head, and said, "Yeah, I don't remember hearing any explosion. How could the ground just collapse like that?"

So we decided to go and take a closer look. Jenny and Ah Bao retrieved everyone's belongings from the original campsite, and we carefully carried them back towards the collapsed hole, which was about five or six meters in diameter. When we reached the entrance, we looked down carefully by the moonlight. We found that the collapsed hole didn't seem very deep. Because the surface soil had collapsed, it revealed a building that had been buried underground. What we saw now was probably the roof of that brick and stone building. Judging from its location and the direction it extended, it should be part of the tall altar on the ground.

We were all quite surprised to see it. We hadn't expected there to be a section buried beneath the altar; no wonder we hadn't found any clues on it before. Could useful clues be hidden in this underground part of the altar? We discussed it and all thought it was very possible. So we planned to go down and investigate. However, after carefully examining it for a long time, we found that the exposed top of the underground structure had no entrance, and we didn't know how to get in. "We've already done one tomb raiding operation, surely this underground thing won't be difficult for us?" Dunzi said, stepping on the sturdy structure. "Let's just use those plastic explosives in our bags and blast a way out."