Corpse Retriever

Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud, tears welling in his eyes.

Tonight was already bizarre enough, but Runsheng-ge had somehow managed to add another layer of weirdness to it all.

Runsheng continued shouting, “Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist! Recognize your crimes and turn yourselves in—it’s the righteous path!”

“Fuck, are these two idiots?”

“Get them!”

Three villagers finally lost their patience and broke from the crowd, charging up the steps toward the Ancestral Hall.

Runsheng didn’t waste a word. He swung the steel pipe at them in a relentless barrage. The three hadn’t expected this big fool to be so vicious or so strong. Even though they carried hammers and hatchets, they couldn’t stand up to the terrifying force of Runsheng’s blows. All three were beaten down, their heads cracked and bleeding.

That brutal display caused the rest of the villagers to freeze in place.

Then Li Zhuiyuan saw the village chief take a hunting rifle from someone behind him.

“Runsheng-ge!”Runsheng immediately shoved Li Zhuiyuan aside and dodged to the other side himself.

“Bang!”

The gun fired. It missed both Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng, but the woman—too slow to react—was struck in the chest. The blast tore her into a bloodied mess.

“Runsheng-ge, close the door and come over.”

“Got it!”

Runsheng slammed the door shut, dropped the latch into place, then ran into the main hall.

Only once Runsheng was inside did Li Zhuiyuan insert the red stone into the slot.

“I’m acting in self-defense. This is justified self-preservation. They’re trying to kill me—I’m simply following a normal human survival instinct.”

Even the Qí Clan ancestors who set this up probably never expected that beneath the layout of this blessed land, there would be so many corpses brimming with resentment.

When the formation here was thrown into extreme imbalance, it was like tossing a firecracker into an overfull cesspit.

The wind rose—bitterly cold. Frost instantly covered the courtyard ground, spreading rapidly. Even the main hall began to freeze, and snow began to fall outside.

Li Zhuiyuan’s heart dropped. This wasn’t good—the area of effect was much larger than expected!

When the resentment of the dead was triggered, each Dead Sinker was equivalent to a red-dressed ghost girl. No—Dead Sinkers were far more terrifying, their negative effects even greater.

Back during the Little Oriole incident, Li Sanjiang had warned Li Weihan that if the Dead Sinkers weren’t banished, the entire household would suffer.

Now, with so many Dead Sinkers below, their awakening triggered a surge of hatred that could snuff out the three life-lamps on every living person in the area.

Once those life-lamps were extinguished, people would enter the Spatial Rift. Li Zhuiyuan had no intention of letting himself or Runsheng be pulled in.

While the people outside were pounding the door and climbing the walls, Li Zhuiyuan picked up incense from the altar and handed some to Runsheng.

“Don’t eat this.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Li Zhuiyuan spoke solemnly: “Injustice has its perpetrator, debts have their collector. You helped me—I’m helping you. Please open your eyes and see clearly who your real enemies are!”

The white frost on the ground had already covered the entire Ancestral Hall and was spreading far beyond.

Only the area beneath Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng’s feet remained clear.

Below, the waterlogged corpses in the pool began to shift from lying flat to standing upright. Water seeped from their bodies as they slowly rose.

Above, the Ancestral Hall doors were smashed open. Villagers poured in, the village chief leading them with his hunting rifle raised, his gaze icy. He sneered when his eyes landed on the two of them:

“Praying to incense for protection now? Too late!”

In the next instant, all the Dead Sinkers below raised their heads.

Thick, almost visible clouds of black resentment shot up from the ground, wrapping around the intruders.

Suddenly—

The villagers who had just rushed in realized that their two targets—the outsiders in the main hall—had vanished.

“Where did they go?”

“Where’d they run off to?”

“Are they hiding somewhere?”

“Am I seeing things? They were right here just a second ago!”

The Spatial Rift mirrored reality. They didn’t realize they had entered the wrong dimension—just like Li Zhuiyuan and his group had at the beginning.

The village chief shouted, “Search! They must still be here!”

…

Reality. The true Ancestral Hall.

Runsheng stood dumbfounded, still clutching the incense, about to toss it aside and grab his steel pipe for a last stand. But in the blink of an eye, the intruders had all vanished.

He looked down at Li Zhuiyuan in front of him. He understood—it was all Xiaoyuan’s doing.

Once again, Runsheng was awestruck by the power of knowledge.

But quickly, he was overwhelmed by a different fear—the stench of Dead Sinkers thickened to the point of suffocating.

“Xiaoyuan! So many Dead Sinkers!”

But in the next moment, the stench disappeared, as if it had never existed.

“Uh… Xiaoyuan, the Dead Sinkers… they’re gone?”

“Runsheng-ge.”

“Yeah?”

“They went in too.”

“This…”

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at the Tai chi symbol in the courtyard. “Runsheng-ge, take your tool and smash that for me!”

That was the exit. If they destroyed it, the Spatial Rift would be sealed off completely.

“Alright!”

“And one more thing, Runsheng-ge. Half an hour.”

“Huh?” Runsheng didn’t understand at first. But when he saw Li Zhuiyuan sit cross-legged and close his eyes, realization dawned.

“Xiaoyuan, you’re going to walk the shade for that long?”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded lightly.

“A rare opportunity. I intend to enjoy it.”

With that, the boy raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

“Snap!”

When he opened his eyes again, he was still in the Ancestral Hall.

But he saw the villagers rifling through the hall—yet they could no longer see him.

No wonder the Qí Clan ancestors couldn’t resist hiding here to study this place. It truly was fascinating. What a shame…

If he didn’t absolutely have to destroy the exit, he’d love to claim this place for himself. Study it, cultivate it—even if it meant bearing heavy risks.

Li Zhuiyuan casually walked through the crowd. As he passed the village chief, he paused for a long look.

Then he exited the Ancestral Hall and stood on the steps.

From the cave below, a swarm of Dead Sinkers had begun their slow ascent—countless in number.

Water streamed from their bodies, their hatred thick and bestial.

Li Zhuiyuan stepped aside with a grin and bowed deeply toward the Ancestral Hall door, arms outstretched like the most professional doorman at a high-end restaurant in the capital:

“Gentlemen, please enter.”

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