stjorthotic Chapter 43 Initial Strategy
Chapter 43 Initial Strategy
The room was pitch black and completely silent.
Outside the brightly lit room, there was a great deal of noise.
"Chu Ming, what are you still standing there for?"
"Fool, hurry up and follow me. Master is leaving..."
An inexplicable call came through the crack, and there were rustling sounds inside the room, as if someone was moving about.
"Whom are they calling for?"
"I don't know, I've never heard of this accent before..."
'Squeak...'
房门
It's been opened...
"Master...Senior Brother..."
In a daze, Chen Ming pushed open the door without realizing it, and all the drowned ghosts outside focused their gaze on the dark doorway.
"This is bad!"
Ruan Huaizhong was so frightened that he scrambled under the bed. He was curled up in a ball, trembling violently. His teeth were chattering with fear.
Chen Qinghe pulled Chen Ming back into the house. The monk kicked away the drowned ghost that was about to pounce on him, and then slammed the door shut.
"If we stay any longer, this place will be our final resting place. We must go out and seek survival!" The monk spoke faster and faster, more and more urgently.
The wooden door behind it was rickety and could collapse at any moment.
"Go through the window, and you'll find a direct path to the alleyway!"
Chen Qinghe carried his father on his back and fled. Ruan Huaizhong, who was under the bed, quickly crawled out and jumped out of the window, tears streaming down his face.
A faint aura of blood once again surrounded the monk, and his large, fan-shaped hands burst forth with golden light. With a ferocious expression, Zezhiyuan resembled an angry Vajra, smashing the drowned ghosts who had come forward to fight him to pieces.
The drowned ghosts here are nothing more than resentment condensed with the river water, so how can they be eliminated? All of this is just a way to prolong their lives.
"If one can reach a state of consummate skill, even without magic, one can use the power of the Soaring Sky Blood Qi to utterly annihilate these evil spirits..."
The monk was unwilling to accept this, but he could only think of a way to escape.
Boom!
The entire earthen wall was knocked down by the monk, and broken earthen bricks flew everywhere.
The sudden commotion broke the silence of the night, and the scattered drowned ghosts on the street turned around and gathered in the direction of the four people.
"Ouch..."
Ruan Huaizhong rubbed his bleeding nose in pain, feeling dizzy and disoriented, as if he had been hit on the head.
"Qinghe...why did you stop...?"
Chen Qinghe, standing in front, took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
Setting Chen Ming down from behind, he stared intently ahead, the inexplicable tranquility bringing Ruan Huaizhong a sense of security.
"Huaizhong, I have always considered you a brother. I also regarded your deceased parents as my godparents."
From now on, my father entrusts all authority to you..."
"Qinghe, what nonsense are you talking about... We still have..."
The words he was about to say were abruptly cut off in his throat. Ruan Huaizhong stared blankly ahead, as if all the strength had been drained from his body.
on the street
The drowned ghosts, shoulder to shoulder, surrounded the three hesitant figures, all eyeing them intently.
"Uncle Ban... Uncle Ji... Aunt Zhang..."
All the neighbors who had pooled their money to participate were here...
As dawn broke, the night was pierced by the first light of day, and the east began to faintly turn white.
Strands of golden light streamed down onto the earth through the cracks along the edge.
The sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking echoed through the village, like a final farewell song before the curtain falls.
The ashen-faced monk caught up at this moment, followed by the drowned ghosts who were moving at a leisurely pace.
"Did you remember what I told you?"
"Qinghe...you..."
Despite his deep fear of evil spirits and ghosts, the continuous stimulation gave even the timid Ruan Huaizhong a touch of fearlessness in the face of death.
Ruan Huaizhong did not make any promises, but nodded heavily.
Chen Qinghe suddenly shouted, as if to bolster his voice. His echoing voice reverberated through the deserted street, receiving a slight response.
"The Corpse Carrier"
The horde of drowned ghosts vanished in an instant.
Chen Qinghe, nearly overwhelmed, had a ferocious expression and bloodshot eyes. Veins bulged all over his body, as if he were under immense pressure.
The dense mass of drowned ghosts piled up above Chen Qinghe, writhing and struggling, yet unable to move an inch.
"Such a terrifying mound of corpses has been created! What kind of powerful magic is this?! How come I've never heard of it before!"
The monk was also so shocked that he was speechless for a long time.
As the sun rose, the sunlight shone on the Jingguan (a mound of stones) like pure white snow in springtime, while wisps of white mist carrying a fishy stench rose up.
The agonizing drowned ghosts cried out in unison, their eerie screams echoing around the alleyway.
"Hang in there a little longer, the sun will rise soon!"
Chen Qinghe felt his consciousness growing increasingly blurred, as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He could no longer feel anything in his body!
"I'm such a mess as a transmigrator..."
Ruan Huaizhong's eyes were bloodshot as he roared and charged towards the Jingguan (a mound of corpses). He endured the chilling cold and forcibly threw Chen Qinghe out of the Jingguan.
The surviving drowned ghosts then dragged him in...
"My parents passed away when I was young, and no one taught me how to care for others... Uncle Chen... you'll have to take care of yourself..."
Apart from a pool of blood on the ground that proved the danger of last night, everything else seemed like a bubble, vanishing without a trace.
Chen Qinghe remained silent for a long time, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
The foul-smelling river water blew in with the wind.
port
Dozens of corpses floated on the water's surface, all of them swollen from being soaked and pale.
Upon regaining consciousness, Chen Ming sighed deeply and used a cloth bag he had somehow acquired to collect Ruan Huaizhong's remains.
"Go home and make some preparations...noon is the perfect time to open the altar..."
Chen Qinghe silently followed behind his father. The monk also followed, but kept a slight distance from the two of them.
"My son and I have some private matters to discuss. Perhaps the Venerable One could stay here for a moment...?"
"Amitabha.."
...
In the shadows in the distance
The masked, burly man at the head of the group stared with great satisfaction at the father and son walking back to their house, while another thin man approached from the side.
"Boss, it seems the body retriever here is qualified..."
"Hopefully so. We've already failed twice. If this doesn't work either, then we'll never be able to retrieve that coffin..."
"Go and prepare; it's time to purify this place."
...
"Take this. If you encounter a crisis, throw it out; it might buy you a moment of respite."
Chen Ming dragged out a box from under the bed, and handed it to Chen Qinghe along with a half-finished scroll and a reddish straw figure.
"This is half of the secret manual passed down by your master. If you encounter other corpse retrievers in the future, you can complete the inheritance."
"Remember, do not trust outsiders..."
Chen Qinghe accepted them all, somewhat at a loss. For some reason, he felt that his father was giving his final instructions.
"That coffin has surfaced again. This time, when we go out to retrieve the body from the river, I'm afraid we're in grave danger."
Chen Ming wore a smile, but the sorrow in his voice was impossible to conceal. His lips curled upwards, his eyes reddened, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Chen Qinghe silently packed his things, all his resentment directed at the drowned ghost he had yet to meet.