Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

When the four entered the ancestral hall for the first time, the black tiger did not appear.

It wasn't until Ge Dalong triggered the underground mechanism that Black Tiger suddenly appeared, blocking the way. Zhang Shi sensed that the ancestral hall's subterranean chamber might hold a secret. While the two sides were fighting in the courtyard, he had already swaggered deep into the underground passage.

The secret passage was not deep. After going down more than ten steps, a faint light appeared in front of Zhang Shi's eyes.

In front of me was a spacious stone chamber with glowing gems inlaid on the walls, exactly the same as the underground palace beneath Huo Youming's tomb.

Inside the stone chamber, countless memorial tablets were densely packed, and beneath each was a porcelain pot. The pot's material was unknown, but it shone with a faint green light in the dim stone chamber.

Zhang Shi checked the stone chamber and found no danger, so he opened a porcelain pot to check.

When the porcelain lid was opened, a black mist gushed out of the pot, which was very similar to the lost fog surrounding the village.

Zhang Shi was well aware of the dangers of these porcelain pots and the black mist. After taking a look inside the porcelain pot, he carefully put it back in place to prevent more mist from escaping.

Glancing over, Zhang Shi saw a face distorted to the point of near-deformation. He realized that these porcelain pots might contain creatures like souls, and that the mist might be of the same origin as the lost fog outside.

Knowing that the tablet was not on him, Zhang Shi did not dare to touch the porcelain pot easily, so he set his eyes on the tablet.

Most of the names on the tablets were surnamed Huo, with the exception of one placed in the middle, which caught Zhang Shi's attention.

"The seat of Lord An"

Zhang Shi looked at the tablet suspiciously. Although he knew little about the etiquette and taboos in this area, he could understand from the literal meaning that this Mr. An had an extraordinary status.

"Why would the Huo family ancestral hall enshrine a person with a different surname?"

The tablets in this stone chamber are made of the same materials and in the same sizes, but their placement is rather particular.

The tablet of the ancestor Lord An is in the middle, surrounded by the tablets of other descendants of the Huo family. From a distance, the eight directions are surrounded by neatly arranged tablets, which looks a bit like a formation.

Zhang Shi hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and carefully opened the porcelain pot a crack. To his surprise, the pot was empty, without a soul or mist.

Zhang Shi had experienced many strange things and was not afraid of these trivial things. Seeing that the room was empty, he took in Master An's tablet and the porcelain pot and examined them carefully, but in the end he did not find any clues.

He put the items back intact. Although he could see that the person setting up this formation had a big plan, Zhang Shi didn't destroy it for the time being. The four people outside were still fighting the black tiger, and he didn't want to alert the enemy so early.

Zhang Shi searched for a long time but didn't find any secret passage or place where he needed a key, so he turned around and left.

As soon as he came up, he just happened to catch the holy silver crossbow arrow hitting the black tiger.

This time, Zhang Shi saw the black tiger's behavior differently. Its body seemed to melt, transforming into a pool of black sewage. Wisps of mist drifted through the sky, but they didn't dissipate. Instead, they seemed to be drawn westward, as if by some force.

Zhang Shi's eyes lit up. He ignored the people in the courtyard and strode towards the direction of the drifting fog.

When Zhang Shigang arrived at the foot of the low hill west of the village, what caught his eye was the dense crowds of figures covering the hill.

These figures wandered unconsciously on the hills and did not react to Zhang Shi's arrival.

Zhang Shi had anticipated this and walked directly through the cemetery. Standing at the highest point of the hill, he saw a dark figure holding a porcelain pot of the same style, collecting the black mist and occasionally chuckling.

Zhang Shi walked in slowly and stood in front of the phantom, staring at it with sharp eyes, clenching and releasing the old Duan in his hand.

After a moment, the black mist was completely absorbed by the porcelain pot, and the shadow walked quickly towards a tombstone.

Zhang Shi took a look and saw that the owner of the tombstone was called "Huo Linjian".

The shadow knocked rhythmically on the tombstone a few times, and a secret compartment appeared in front of the tombstone. He carefully placed the porcelain pot in it, knocked on the tombstone a few more times, and the secret compartment closed. The shadow did not forget to sprinkle some dust on it to cover it up.

Zhang Shi noticed that there was another tablet in the secret compartment, which also belonged to Huo Linjian.

After doing this, the phantom began to giggle again, its body unexpectedly becoming somewhat more solid. It then grabbed an evil spirit and swallowed it. The phantom then transformed into a pool of sewage, seeping into the ground and disappearing.

Zhang Shi looked at Huo Linjian's coffin, which was also empty.

"A soul wanders in the dark woods. Master An, Lin Jian, is this another pun?"

Zhang Shi thought of the couplet on the wooden door at the entrance of the village, wondering what it implied.

After waiting for a while, the group of four appeared in Zhang Shi's sight.

The events unfolded just as Zhang Shi remembered. Several people went deep into the cemetery and attracted the attention of the evil spirit.

Among them, an evil spirit followed closely behind Zhang Shi, a member of the four-person group, and opened its big mouth to swallow him.

At the critical moment, Zhang Shi held Lao Duan and hit the evil spirit with the blade.

Old Duan hit the evil spirit on the head with a strong wind, knocking it unconscious.

Zhang Shi, a member of the four-member group, also realized that something was wrong. He turned around, chopped the evil spirit in half with a knife, and ran away with everyone.

Zhang Shi looked at the four people, waiting for the opportunity, wanting to conduct an experiment.

Soon after, the four began to attack the evil spirits. Wu Qing took out a red pepper and threw it towards the place where the evil spirits were gathered.

Zhang Shi took the opportunity to flash in front of an evil spirit and slashed it with a knife before the explosion happened.

"Wow!"

When Lao Duan came into contact with the evil spirit, he split it in half like cutting tofu.

"It seems that I can influence what comes into my memory through my actions."

Zhang Shi calmed himself down and did not take any more action after the test. Instead, he just stood there as a bystander, waiting for the four-man team to enter the crypt under Huo Youming's tomb.

Things went as expected. The foursome cleared the evil spirits from the cemetery, and Zhang Shi once again divided the experience points equally.

Afterwards, the foursome discovered the coffin under Huo Youming's tomb, pushed open the stone cover, and entered the underground cave.

Zhang Shi did not follow in immediately, but stood at the entrance of the sarcophagus and waited.

Sure enough, not long after, two mud monsters appeared in front of the sarcophagus, and bursts of black mist emanated from their bodies. In just a moment, the black mist corroded the protective shield left by Ge Dalong and spread towards the cave.

Zhang Shi stopped watching and quickly dispatched the mud monsters one by one. Seeing that the fog had not dissipated, Zhang Shi went into the crypt and closed the stone coffin.

Zhang Shi’s current condition is as if he has night vision ability. Even in a dim environment, he can still see the road ahead clearly.

Soon, Zhang Shi caught up with the group of four, followed them all the way down, and followed the four back to the mysterious altar again.

This time, Zhang Shi focused all his attention on Zhao Feng, trying to figure out how he suddenly disappeared.