Chapter 480: Chapter 444: Pursuit
The construction site at the foot of the mountain is within the Qinzhou territory, and the only things that could attack the site are evil spirits and zombies.
Zhao Yunshu took Sang Que to the northwest side of the attacked area to inspect. Many parts of the enclosing wall had collapsed, and Zheng Xuan personally led a team to guard this place. There were also many people temporarily reassigned to rebuild the wall.
Zhao Yunshu said, "Most of those who attacked us were zombies. Judging by the clothes left on their bodies, they should be the original residents living nearby, with their strength between that of a white-haired zombie and a black zombie. We repelled them using flame sprayers and specially designed bullets. There were no casualties, and the remaining bodies have been burned."
"Besides, there are still some evil spirits that are not easy to deal with. Fortunately, the Smoke Ghost controlled by Zheng Xuan was able to create a large area of smoke, impairing the perception of the evil spirits. They were eventually dispersed and dealt with one by one by the Yin Walkers in the mobile team. The problem now lies with these evil spirits. I remember you told me before that turning into an evil spirit after death requires a strong obsession, and not everyone can become one after death, right?"
Sang Que nodded, according to her current experience, it is indeed the case.
Zhao Yunshu took out a stack of photographs and handed them to Sang Que, "This camera, which can capture ghosts, was found in your village in Yu City, the one you had dealt with before. Have a look at these photos first."
Sang Que flipped through the nearly black-and-white photos one by one. Wisps of smoke lingered in the photos, some people with disheveled hair, like walking corpses, were scattered in the smoke. These people’s bodies appeared semi-transparent, indicating they were souls, not corpses.
Most importantly, these people were all wearing the same kind of clothes, similar to the prison garb worn by prisoners in government dungeons around various places.
Zhao Yunshu asked Sang Que, "How likely is it for so many people to simultaneously become evil spirits?"
Sang Que understood Zhao Yunshu’s concern. She was worried that some unknown changes in the vicinity might threaten the base they were building.
Sang Que walked back and forth along the damaged walls, using the Ghost Eye to view the scene of the attack, which indeed matched the photos.
Moreover, the number of zombies was quite substantial, and they had come attracted by the scent of living people.
This also demonstrated that the thing in the center of Qinzhou that once attracted evil spirits, ghosts, and zombies truly had disappeared, causing the ghosts wandering within the Qinzhou Death Domain to roam aimlessly.
Sang Que called Xia Chan together, tracking along the direction from which the zombies came, heading northwest for investigation.
After Xia Chan advanced this time, she was no longer afraid of the surrounding blood fog. Not only did it not harm Xia Chan, but it also excited her as she absorbed more of it.
Sang Que and Xia Chan traveling together remained relatively safe.
They traveled and searched by instant teleportation, finding that within a thirty-mile range outside the construction site, the blood fog was quite thin, and since it was daytime, there was nothing but large areas of abandoned farmland visible.
Beyond thirty miles, the blood fog grew denser, and some evil spirits began to appear, particularly the Blood Robe Evils, which were especially abundant, often hanging from tree branches like red-clothed hanged ghosts.
Sang Que and Xia Chan spent more than two hours walking to the riverside. The once-clear river had turned into a Blood River due to the disaster in Qinzhou, the bright red water still flowed ceaselessly, with a higher water level than before, almost overflowing the riverbanks.
Sang Que stared at the river for a while, then raised her head to continue looking into the northwest direction, into the blood fog so dense it was almost impossible to see anything.
"Those zombies came from across the river. Quite a few were swept away while crossing it; otherwise, there would have been even more zombies reaching our base."
Xia Chan asked puzzledly, "Where did these zombies come from?"
Sang Que’s eyes were somber, "They were once the people of Qinzhou. Now almost all of the corpses of these citizens have undergone zombification. If they all gather together, the consequences will be unimaginable, and we indeed need to think of a solution."
Sang Que immediately thought of the Gu Master, who could control corpses using Gu, which was more powerful than a Daoist who commanded corpses. The Yin Child likely could do the same.
Just as she was ready to withdraw her gaze, Sang Que saw once again, among the zombies, the human-shaped evil spirits in prison garb as seen in the photos, in considerable numbers. The key point was that she seemed to recognize these evil spirits, feeling as if she had seen them before.
But at the moment, Sang Que couldn’t recall from where. She was only seeing these evil spirits through the Ghost Eye, not witnessing them in reality, preventing further tracking.
The prolonged usage of the Ghost Eye made Sang Que’s eyes feel somewhat sore and strained.
Meow!
Xuan Yu warned as Sang Que took a step back, protecting Xia Chan, when suddenly a dead man’s hand reached out of the river, grasping exactly where Sang Que had been standing.
"Foul Water Ghost!"
Xia Chan, angry, thrust red hair from the back of her head, curling around the dead hand with force, flinging a swollen corpse far away onto the ground.
The clothing on the corpse had already vanished under the pressure of the fast-flowing river. Now, it lay bare-chested, wearing only black pants, with wounds torn by sharp rocks oozing blood.
As soon as the corpse hit the ground, it quickly got up again, lunging towards Sang Que and Xia Chan.
Meow!
Without the need for intervention from the two, Xuan Yu transformed into a streak of black lightning, charging forward.
Sang Que was about to draw her sword to deal with it when she suddenly noticed two black characters on the left chest of the corpse. Although the swollen skin and flesh were deformed, she had just seen these two characters and could recognize them at a glance.
Impermanence!
"Xuan Yu, come back!"
Xuan Yu pinned the corpse down, heard Sang Que’s command, retracted its raised paw, and swiftly returned to Sang Que’s side.
Before the corpse could get back up, a flash of blood-red blade light severed its head.
The headless body continued to twitch and wriggle on the ground. Sang Que walked over, pressing it down with her foot, bending over to examine the characters on the left chest more closely, confirming they were the same as those restored on the Yin Child’s Heart.
This time, Sang Que directly used the Qian Trigram Eye-Opening to explore the origins of this corpse.
In an instant, everything in Sang Que’s vision began to rewind rapidly. Within just three seconds, she traversed over a year and most of Qinzhou, finally landing in a dark, crypt-like main hall.
A bronze door was carved with the facade of Black and White Impermanence, their expressions smirking yet mirthless. Above it hung a black plaque with three large characters inscribed.
Impermanent Bureau.
Just as Sang Que attempted further entry to observe the interior, the Black and White Impermanence on the door suddenly came alive. Their sideways heads snapped straight, eyes locking onto hers, and Sang Que immediately felt her soul being drawn out by an irresistible force.
Luckily, the Qian Trigram Eye-Opening had a three-second protection mechanism. Sang Que’s eyes stung sharply; she quickly turned away and closed her eyes, shaking off the pulling force.
Sang Que’s body trembled, overwhelmed with fear and dread, but this was not her own feeling. It was the Yin Child’s instinctual reaction to seeing the Impermanent Bureau through her eyes.
If Sang Que guessed correctly, that place was where the Yin Child had been turned into what it was today.
