Don't Look Back

He Lingchuan had heard it too. He held his breath, eyes fixed forward, and sat as still as a meditating monk, ignoring whatever he heard.

When he didn't react, the voice changed. Now it sounded like a sweet, soft girl of sixteen or seventeen, pouring out her heart in a voice so gentle, adorable, and coquettish that the more He Lingchuan listened, the more it reminded him of the girl he'd had a crush on as a child.

He gave a silent scoff. The sweet girl hadn't even finished school before she ran off with a rich kid from her hometown. In less than three years, she'd given birth to two rich kids of the next generation. Every time he saw those two children with their long, runny noses, he felt he'd been a complete fool back then. This Three-Corpse Insect hadn't done its homework. Had it never heard that the yesterday that abandons you can never be kept?

Just then, the ship suddenly lurched, as though some enormous monster had climbed aboard. A moment later, cries of alarm and screams rang out behind him, along with the sand bandits' curses and the ringing clash of drawn blades.

A battle had broken out behind him, and it was fierce.

The nearest scream sounded right behind He Lingchuan. He thought he'd spoken with that soldier earlier.

Then the monster charged straight toward him, its heavy footsteps pounding as though they were landing directly on his heart.

Was this a trick of the Three-Corpse Insect, trying to lure him into looking back?

But if it was real, staying still would probably make him the monster's next snack. This was the Coiling Dragon Desert, where all kinds of strange beasts roamed. Who could guarantee that one or two hadn't climbed aboard to eat people?

Closer and closer! The crushing pressure made the hairs on He Lingchuan's back stand on end.

He hurriedly looked at He Chunhua. His father was facing him and should be able to see what was behind him.

The muscles in He Chunhua's face twitched, his expression almost savage, but his gaze was vacant. He Lingchuan found the look unfamiliar and had no idea what his father was hearing.

How could they understand each other through eye contact alone?

But with the Three-Corpse Insect right there, neither of them dared open his mouth.

Fortunately, He Chunhua suddenly came to his senses. He stared straight at his eldest son, as though he had heard his thoughts, then abruptly winked at him with his right eye.

It was rare to see a dignified commander like the governor do something like that, but the gesture shattered the tense, terrifying atmosphere. He Lingchuan silently let out a breath, his heart settling.

It was fake!

His father was trying to tell him that whatever he heard, it was all fake!

Sure enough, the monster's footsteps thundered right up behind him. He could even hear its heavy breathing, but in the next instant, it vanished.

Only the mournful wind remained in his ears.

The wisps of phantom smoke beside him lost interest too, bobbing their heads as they drifted elsewhere.

He Lingchuan had passed the test. He winked back at his father.

The little red pills everyone had taken earlier were Soul-Suppressing Powder, specially refined by State Preceptor Sun for this expedition. Its main ingredient was Rot-Heart Grass, which grew in places steeped in extreme yin. After taking it, people could not only see "unclean things" for a short time, but also temporarily use their Life Fire to conceal the presence of the living. As long as the Three-Corpse Insects didn't crawl into their nine orifices above and below, they would take them for dead.

But the greatest weakness of this method was that you couldn't casually look back!

There were three Life Fires around a person's upper body. They protected the heart and kept evil influences out. But if you looked back while a Three-Corpse Insect had its eye on you, your Life Fire would immediately weaken, and you could no longer hide from it.

This wasn't Sun Fuping's original invention, either. The method had been recorded in the notes of a Xianyou Kingdom sorcerer. Your opponent often knew you best. Xianyou Kingdom and Coiling Dragon City had fought for more than thirty years, so the kingdom must have spent every day pondering how to deal with the Three-Corpse Insects.

In fact, this sort of thing often happened at night in wooded wilderness or out in the fields. A traveler would hear someone behind him calling his name, turn without thinking, weaken his Life Lamp, and leave himself open to evil spirits.

When He Lingchuan first received the little pill, a thought had crossed his mind. Xianyou Kingdom had been destroyed a hundred years ago, so the notes of a sorcerer from that time couldn't have been easy to obtain. Besides, Rot-Heart Grass was rare, grew only under harsh conditions, and couldn't be cultivated or mass-produced. Just gathering enough ingredients to make three hundred doses of Soul-Suppressing Powder must have taken an immense amount of effort.

Had the Grand Marshal and State Preceptor Sun really only begun preparing to explore the Coiling Dragon Ruins half a year ago?

The thought had only flashed through his mind, though, and He Lingchuan hadn't dwelled on it.

He saw that He Chunhua's expression had returned to its usual composure. The Three-Corpse Insects around him had scattered, too, which meant his father had passed the test as well.

But when his gaze swept over the guards behind He Chunhua, he suddenly jolted. "Hey, don't—"

The man had red-rimmed eyes, brimming with tears.

The words had barely left his mouth when the guard turned around.

He Lingchuan watched helplessly as the Life Fire on the man's left shoulder went out with a puff.

The light of the other two dimmed at once.

The Three-Corpse Insect hovering nearby flicked its tail like a shark scenting blood and shot into the man's ears and nose!

The guard's gaze immediately went vacant.

Seeing his eldest son staring behind him in alarm, the veins on He Chunhua's neck bulged. He was clearly using every ounce of his strength to resist the instinct to turn around.

He didn't look back. Instead, he lunged forward two steps.

It was a perfect example of saving yourself: the guard suddenly drew the long saber at his waist and brought it crashing down toward the back of He Chunhua's head, cleaving down like an axe splitting West Mountain!

The two men had been only four feet apart, and the guard moved fast. He was trying to split his superior's head like a watermelon.

As the blade came down, it was less than two inches from He Chunhua's skull.

He Lingchuan brushed past his father, took one quick step, and slammed into the guard's arms, along with the blade.

The guard's movement stopped at once, a blade tip now protruding from his back.

Having escaped death, He Chunhua took several deep breaths, then suddenly fixed his gaze ahead. "Chuan'er, turn around slowly. I'll deal with those puppets."

He Lingchuan pushed the corpse aside and saw a wisp of phantom smoke emerge from the dead man's seven orifices. It slipped back into the air and drifted away at an unhurried pace.

Once its host died, the Three-Corpse Insect had nowhere to stay and had to come out.

Keeping his neck still, he slowly turned around by twisting at the waist and legs. That way, the Life Fires on his shoulders wouldn't waver, and he wouldn't blow them out himself.

But the ship had already descended into chaos.

That guard wasn't the only one. Despite all the warnings and repeated reminders beforehand, seven or eight people had been beguiled by the voices beside their ears. They had blown out their own Life Lamps, allowing the Three-Corpse Insects to take advantage.

Once possessed, they recognized neither family nor friend and hacked at anyone they saw.

In only a few breaths, the ship was in an uproar. Four or five people were wounded, and one poor devil had half his head sliced off.

He Chunhua charged at the killer. It was a sand bandit, still nimble even after being possessed by a Three-Corpse Insect. He avoided a direct fight and played a game of hide-and-seek among the crowd, occasionally wounding someone.

Anyone constantly reminding himself not to turn around would inevitably lose a great deal of agility. He Chunhua felt as stiff as a zombie, his pursuit three beats too slow. He just couldn't get around that bastard.

He was about to unleash a spell when a dagger flew from behind and thunked into the killer's right eye.

It pierced straight through, bursting into a spray of blood.