Jiang Yun frowned at the thick white fog outside. He could sense something eerie about it.
Yet here, he couldn't sense any Demonic Qi or Evil Qi.
There were only two possibilities.
The people who had gone missing by the lake had nothing to do with an Evil Spirit; it was the work of humans.
The other possibility was that this Evil Spirit had learned to completely conceal its Demonic Qi.
"Brother Jiang, I say we should head back for now." Qian Bochou looked at the fog all around them, feeling a faint chill creep over him.
When Jiang Yun didn't object, he turned the carriage around and headed back the way they had come.
But strangely, the road was still the same road, yet no matter what they did, they couldn't drive the carriage out of the fog.
Cold sweat beaded on Qian Bochou's forehead. Remembering the ordeal he had suffered in the jail, he couldn't help thinking, Don't tell me I'm going through that again.
Jiang Yun leaned out of the carriage and asked, "Can't get out?"
Qian Bochou raised a hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "No. It's just like the Ghost Wall we ran into last time."
"We keep going around in circles in the fog."
"If only we'd listened to me. We could've had a drink at the county yamen and slept comfortably through the night..."
"Stop." Jiang Yun suddenly spoke.
"Whoa!" Qian Bochou pulled the reins, bringing the carriage to a halt.
Jiang Yun jumped down and surveyed their surroundings. The thick fog still made it hard to see.
He looked down. The ground beneath his feet was covered in grass; it wasn't the road they had come by.
Jiang Yun went to the horse and glanced at its eyes.
At last, he understood. "It's not a Ghost Wall. The horse has been blinded by some kind of illusion."
Jiang Yun climbed into the carriage and took out his shoulder bag. From it, he pulled a pouch of black powder.
Qian Bochou leaned over curiously and sniffed it. "What's this stuff? It smells strange."
As he spoke, he even reached out a finger, dipped it in the powder, and prepared to lick it.
"Dried pig dung."
At that, Qian Bochou hastily clapped his hands together, knocking off the powder.
Jiang Yun went to the horse, pinched up a little, and intoned solemnly, "Horse, horse, heed my song; what your blinded eyes see is swamp and mire. What you see is but illusion; open your eyes, and the road lies clear."
He tossed the black ash into the air and blew gently, scattering it into the horse's eyes.
In an instant, the horse's cloudy eyes cleared.
"That's all it takes?" Qian Bochou asked curiously. "Dried pig dung actually works?"
Jiang Yun tossed the pouch onto the carriage. "Pig dung's just one ingredient. You also have to mix in cinnabar, dog blood, and other things."
"It's good for warding off evil and Baleful Intent."
Qian Bochou's heart stirred. He picked up the pouch and, not caring how disgusting it was, grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Hyah!"
The two of them prepared to set off again and leave this cursed place.
Suddenly, figures staggered out of the fog around them—more than a dozen 'people.'
They wore ragged clothes, their bodies covered in rotting flesh, and stank of decay. Their movements were stiff.
"Living Corpses?" Jiang Yun was startled. Could someone be practicing corpse sorcery here?
The Living Corpses had already closed in around the carriage.
They were immensely strong. With nothing but their bare hands, they tore the horse apart, spraying blood everywhere.
Jiang Yun and Qian Bochou hurriedly jumped down, but the horde quickly surrounded them.
Jiang Yun bit his finger and swiftly drew a talisman in his palm. Stepping through the Seven Star Gang Steps, he shouted, "General Bai Yi, appear!"
Then he slapped his palm against the forehead of the nearest corpse.
Ordinary corpse fiends, struck by this spell, had the corpse qi inside them congeal, leaving them utterly unable to move.
But to his surprise, the corpse was completely unaffected by the spell and reached for Jiang Yun's neck.
Jiang Yun hurriedly backed away and turned to look. Qian Bochou was swinging his steel saber, but he was no better at handling the corpses.
"We're done for, we're done for!" Qian Bochou said through clenched teeth, sweat covering his forehead. "Brother, why isn't your spell working?"
Jiang Yun's heart sank. Could it be that I can't summon General Bai Yi in this world?
No, something was strange about these Living Corpses. Qian Bochou swung his saber at them.
But even when the blade struck their bodies, it couldn't kill them.
Jiang Yun hurriedly took a bamboo tube of black-dog blood from his bag and splashed it over Qian Bochou's saber. "Try again!"
Qian Bochou nodded and swung hard once more.
This time, he cleanly hacked the Living Corpse's head off.
"It works, it works!" Qian Bochou cried in delight. Rolling up his sleeves, he brought his saber down hard on another Living Corpse's shoulder.
To his surprise, the blade lodged firmly in the shoulder bone, and Qian Bochou couldn't pull it free.
He had no choice but to abandon the saber and retreat with Jiang Yun.
But the Living Corpses had them completely surrounded. There was nowhere left to go.
Jiang Yun's expression darkened. This is bad.
Just then...
A long sword fell from the sky and embedded itself in the ground between them and the Living Corpses.
A familiar voice rang out above their heads.
"Heroes rise amid the winds of change; once in the jianghu, the years fly by."
"Conquering the realm is mere talk and laughter; life's best enjoyed with a cup of wine."
As the last words fell, Xu Xiaogang leaped down.
He pulled the sword from the ground. Its blade shimmered faintly, imbued with Magic Power.
He rushed forward, darting and weaving, his sword flashing in the air.
The Living Corpses were stiff and slow. They were no match for Xu Xiaogang.
In moments, he had cut every last one of them down.
"Whew! Now that's a real master!" Qian Bochou's eyes widened at the sight.
Xu Xiaogang, having finished off the Living Corpses, stole a glance at him.
Seeing Qian Bochou's astonished expression, Xu Xiaogang felt immensely pleased with himself.
He had been lying on top of the carriage the whole time. Who knew how long he'd been up there?
He had waited so long that he'd nearly fallen asleep.
At last, danger had arrived.
Qian Bochou hurried over and laid on the flattery. "As expected of a master from the capital, Lord Xu. You've truly opened my eyes."
Xu Xiaogang slowly tilted his head back at a forty-five-degree angle and gazed up at the sky. "Master or no master, I have no interest in such empty titles."
Meanwhile, Jiang Yun crouched beside a corpse, trying to figure out why his Daoist Arts had failed against these Living Corpses.
Suddenly, a delicate fragrance drifted by, interrupting his train of thought.
"That smells wonderful." Jiang Yun sniffed the air, puzzled. Why did a fragrance suddenly waft over?
Xu Xiaogang chuckled and shot Jiang Yun a sidelong glance. "Shows how little you know. Judging by the smell, it should be rosemary. We have some in the Imperial Guards."
Jiang Yun nodded. "That's a nice-sounding name. What's it for?"
"What else would rosemary be for? Knocking people out, of course. I'm telling you, even a cow would drop the instant it smelled this."
"The Imperial Guards once caught a notorious rapist in the capital who liked to carry it around."
Jiang Yun nodded, understanding. "So that's what it is."
"Shit."
Jiang Yun hurriedly clapped a hand over his nose. Why hadn't that bastard said so sooner?
But it was already too late.
A wave of dizziness soon washed over them. Jiang Yun, Qian Bochou, and even the smiling Xu Xiaogang rolled their eyes and collapsed to the ground.
After the three of them passed out, a woman in a white mink coat slowly approached with her subordinates.
"Miss, what should we do with these three?"
"Take them to the dining hall!"
"Yes."
Before you continue