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"Damn it! We can't kill them all!"

Wang Meng cleaved the rotting arm in two with a single stroke, the earth beneath his feet churning as three more skeletal claws swarmed towards him like maggots clinging to bones.

The camp had become a battlefield.

The corpse hand, though weak, was endless and carried a nauseating stench.

"what!"

A scream erupted.

An elite soldier was dragged underground by seven or eight corpse hands, leaving behind only a shocking pool of blood and a dark hole.

"Third brother!" Zhao Hu roared, but it was too late to come to the rescue.

He glanced at Chen Qian's tent, which remained as steady as a mountain, then turned to look at Xuan Yin, who was calculating, and shouted sternly:

"Master! You've taken the Zhao family's money, so you have to do your job! If you don't fight now, when will you?"

A hint of heartache flashed in Xuan Yin's long, triangular eyes.

This was one of his trump cards, which he had prepared to deal with the thing in the tomb, but he didn't expect to be forced out of it as soon as he got to the door.

"Amitabha! Since these wretched creatures are courting death, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"

He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the peach wood sword in his hand. He then began to move his feet and chant incantations:

"Heaven is round, earth is square; laws and decrees are in nine chapters. Now I put pen to paper, and all ghosts will cower in fear! So be it!"

With a loud shout, he pulled out a black gourd covered in talismans from his pocket and uncorked it.

"call"

A chilling black wind howled out of the gourd, instantly engulfing the entire camp.

Countless hideous ghost faces could be vaguely seen in the black wind.

They emitted sharp hisses and did not pounce directly on the corpse hand, but instead quickly burrowed into the ground around the camp following a specific trajectory.

"The ghostly soldiers are borrowing a path, break through!"

boom!

As Xuan Yin pointed his long sword, the ground of the entire camp trembled violently.

Those corpse hands that were originally surging out wildly seemed to be suppressed by some invisible force.

It began to crack inch by inch, turning into black water that seeped into the ground.

Not only that.

The chilling black wind formed a strange vortex underground, swallowing up all the yin energy within a hundred meters, creating a "dead zone".

In this dead land, no evil creature can stand except for the living.

Then he had more than a dozen talismans pasted around the area.

"Excellent technique!" Wang Meng was overjoyed, but his gaze towards Xuan Yin Chang now held a hint of apprehension.

This isn't Taoist magic; it's clearly an even more brutal evil technique! Those ghostly faces... they're probably...

The crisis is over.

"Zhao Hu! Take stock of the casualties and treat the wounded!" Zhao Feng roared, his voice suppressing his impending rage.

This sudden attack resulted in the loss of four people; how could one not feel heartbroken?

At this moment, the tightly closed tent curtain was lifted, and Chen Qian slowly walked out.

Instead of checking the scene, he walked straight to a pit dug by the corpse's hand and squatted down.

He stretched out two fingers, picked up a little soil, and smelled it.

A faint, peculiar odor entered my nasal cavity.

"This is not simply the work of evil spirits."

Chen Qian stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and said calmly:

"Something was buried in the soil; this was done by human hands."

"Man-made?" Zhao Feng's murderous aura erupted.

"Great! Excellent!"

At this moment, the Taoist priest Xuanyin also came over. He took out a yellow talisman from his sleeve and threw it into the pit.

"call!"

The yellow talisman ignited without fire, but the flame was not the usual orange-red, but a eerie, pale green.

Xuan Yin Chang's face was gloomy. He nodded and said, "Mr. Chen has a good eye. This was indeed deliberately arranged by someone."

He pointed to the burning green flames and explained in a deep voice:

"This is a corpse-summoning spell, and it's a corpse-nurturing array set up using the terrain. The person who set up the array is extremely insidious. Not only did they utilize the already dense Yin energy of this place, but they also deliberately buried corpse-attracting incense to draw in all the lonely ghosts and wandering spirits within a ten-mile radius."

"Those corpse hands were just severed limbs that were resurrected by the formation."

At this point, the Xuan Yin Master let out a cold laugh:

"This method, this peculiar stench... if I'm not mistaken, it must be the work of that old codger who served the Wang family in the south of the city!"

"The Wang family..." Zhao Feng gritted his teeth.

"It seems we've fallen behind; they've already laid a trap for us," Chen Qian said calmly.

Zhao Feng snorted coldly, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart and regaining his composure:

"Since the Wang family dared to make a move, they must have something to rely on. Now that the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, rushing in rashly will only result in greater losses."

He turned to look at the crowd and said in a deep voice:

"Gentlemen, the situation has changed. It seems that not only are there evil spirits in Niushou Village, but there are also people who want us dead. The road ahead will be fraught with danger."

Wang Meng spat. "What's there to be afraid of! Whoever blocks my path to wealth, I'll chop them down!"

The Taoist priest Xuanyin smiled sinisterly, toying with the black gourd in his hand: "Although I am not skilled in killing, I am somewhat adept at harming people. Since that old man from the Wang family wants to engage in a magical duel, I will play along with him."

"good!"

A ruthless glint flashed in Zhao Feng's eyes:

"Since they've started this, they can't blame me for starting it the next big time."

"Zhao Hu!"

"exist!"

"Take a few brothers and block the road we came from!"

Zhao Feng pulled a porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to Zhao Hu, his tone chilling:

"Pour this bottle of corpse oil under the locust tree along the only path, then dig up those dead brothers..."

He paused, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by ruthlessness:

"Hang their corpses upside down from the trees to create a 'red-clothed evil spirit'!"

"Since the Wang family is resorting to underhanded tactics, then those who come after them shouldn't blame me!"

Zhao Hu trembled, gritted his teeth, and accepted the order.

Chen Qian watched quietly from the side.

Zhao Feng is indeed a ruthless character, even towards his own people.

Using one's own brother's corpse to perform evil deeds is a method even more evil than evil cultivation.

"My dear brother."

After arranging everything, Zhao Feng turned to look at Chen Qian, his tone becoming much more polite.

But there was a hint of probing in his eyes:

"The Wang family has already gained the upper hand. If they lay several more traps, we'll be unable to advance an inch. Do you have a way to break this deadlock, sir?"

Chen Qian looked at the compass in his hand; the needle was still trembling and pointing eastward.

He pointed to the desolate village below the mountain:

"Although the Wang family set up a scheme, they also came for that thing. This Niushou Village is an extremely ominous place, so it won't be easy for them to succeed."

"Our best course of action now is to wait."

"Wait?" Zhao Feng frowned.

"Good, let's wait until dawn."

Chen Qian said calmly:

"The yin energy is too heavy right now. Whether it's a feng shui arrangement or an evil spirit, its power is at its peak. If we rush in, we will not only face the Wang family's trap, but also their unknown tricks."

"By noon tomorrow, when the yang energy is at its peak, the yin energy will retreat, and the power of the Wang family's formation will be greatly reduced."

"Then we'll take advantage of the situation and enter the fray."

Chen Qian's lips curled into a meaningful smile:

"Moreover, I think the Wang family is probably more anxious than we are right now. Since that thing is in the village, they certainly don't want anyone else to get there first, and they might already be scouting the most dangerous route for us."

"When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits."

"But what if they beat us to it?"

Chen Qian added casually, "If it were that simple, wouldn't we have succeeded long ago?"

If that ominous place were this simple, it would be better. It would save us from risking our lives to explore it, and we could just point our guns at the Wang family directly.

"That's right, how could that despicable Wang family have such good fortune?"

Zhao Feng clapped his hands and laughed, all the pent-up frustration in his heart vanishing.

"Pass down the order! Increase security tonight, take turns resting, and report any unusual activity immediately!"

The night was darker.

Although the camp had returned to calm, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and the stench of corpses.

From the distant woods, a few nauseating smells could be faintly heard; it was Zhao Hu making the Red-Clothed Demon.

After discussing tomorrow's matters, Chen Qian returned to his tent and sat cross-legged.

He didn't sleep; instead, he was mentally simulating the situation for tomorrow.

The once small Niushou Village is now surrounded by wolves and has become a giant cauldron of poison.