Jade Insect Flute

The Corpse Puppet Technique is a method of controlling corpses recorded in the Formless Secret Scroll.

The Corpse Puppet Technique is not the same as corpse refining; to put it plainly, it is merely a spell that treats a corpse as a puppet to be manipulated.

Corpse baleful intent or walking corpses do not become stiffened corpses simply because they held too much resentment in life; rather, it is because they were buried in a location with yin earth and baleful acupuncture points by some twist of fate, absorbing an excessive amount of yin energy.

Even the weakest wandering corpse or walking corpse is not something an ordinary person can handle, yet the corpses manipulated by the Corpse Puppet Technique are merely hollow shells, possessing no formidable strength.

"After all, if the goal is purely to kill, using paper dolls or wooden demon puppets is far more convenient. Furthermore, with the skills of these people, they wouldn't be able to block my 'Milo Blade'..."

When it comes to methods of killing, the "Milo Blade," which can pluck strings from afar and slice through metal and jade, is far superior. However, He Ping was not here simply to kill this time.

This time, He Ping used the "He Mansion members" manipulated by the Corpse Puppet Technique as bait, and by deliberately traveling along the east road into the mountains with the Long Wind Society, he intended to feign weakness to see exactly what Xiao Hao of the Long Wind Society was planning...

As it turned out, Xiao Hao and his subordinates fell straight into his trap. When the Long Wind Society members saw the murdered He Mansion staff return to life, they were so terrified that their souls flew away, leaving them with little courage to fight back... In the end, they were either intercepted by the corpse puppets and killed by the wooden demon puppet in the sedan, or captured on the spot.

The Long Wind Society could be considered a prominent power in Suian City, but having lost their leader Xiao Hao and their core elite, they would henceforth be erased from North Prefecture.

"The next step is to deal with these Long Wind Society members. There were over seventy people who came to ambush me, and another fifty or sixty remaining on guard near Pingding Valley; those people can be ignored for now."

Nearly a third of the Long Wind Society members brought by Xiao Hao were dead, and the rest were bound.

However, He Ping did not intend to spare their lives. This group had no great utility, and he planned to turn them all into corpse puppets once he had extracted the necessary intelligence, as manipulating them through the Corpse Puppet Technique would facilitate his future actions.

After He Ping captured Yan the Second, a leader of the Long Wind Society, he began a brutal interrogation, obtaining much secret information from the man.

"The Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders are not subordinates of Prefect Sheng... These people come from a faction called 'Chongyang Palace'..."

Yan the Second was a subordinate of Xiao Hao, and because of his connection to Xiao Hao, he knew some intelligence regarding the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders.

These so-called Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders were neither martial retainers under Prefect Sheng nor house guards of the Sheng Family.

"'Chongyang Palace'... This should be a cultivation sect, not a gang from the martial arts world. The black iron armor worn by the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders alone is something no martial arts sect could produce..."

He Ping recalled that the armor plates of the black iron armor worn by Purple-Complexioned Face and Qi Huiying were engraved with complex runes, counting as "rune armor" from the cultivation world.

Rune armor does not necessarily require a cultivator to wear it; even an ordinary person donning the armor can activate the runes to generate a protective spiritual light.

With Purple-Complexioned Face and his companions wearing such quasi-magical artifacts, they could achieve a state of being impervious to blades and arrows, and resistant to water and fire. Their strength and defense would be enhanced, and if placed on a battlefield, the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders would likely be meat grinders relying on this armor.

"Looking at it this way, these Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders are only slightly inferior to that One-Horned Mountain Demon. Dealing with them wouldn't be too difficult with my current strength, but it would be a loss to do so. It would be better to let this group fight that One-Horned Mountain Demon, so as to weaken that monster..."

He Ping began to calculate. He glanced at Yan the Second, who was tied to a tree, and asked again.

"Since you say that 'Smiling Leopard' Xiao Hao is a confidant of Prefect Sheng and a secret piece planted in Suian City, he must know a lot about Sheng Qingzhi. I ask you, what is the relationship between Sheng Qingzhi and this Chongyang Palace?"

The rise of the Long Wind Society was closely related to Sheng Qingzhi, and Xiao Hao was a sycophant of the Prefect—a fact known to everyone in Suian City. However, what outsiders absolutely did not know was:

Xiao Hao was originally a servant from the Sheng Family where Sheng Qingzhi resided. In essence, "Smiling Leopard" was not a hunting dog raised by the Prefect outside, but a "house dog" from his private residence.

This was a secret told personally by Yan the Second, the second-in-command of the Long Wind Society. Hearing this, He Ping's heart stirred.

(Come to think of it, what exactly is Sheng Qingzhi's identity? He is merely a prefect, a government official—how did he get involved with a cultivation sect like Chongyang Palace...)

"Th-this, I am not clear on this either."

Yan the Second looked at the black-robed man in the ghost mask before him, his heart pounding with nervousness.

Even in the eyes of an old veteran who had seen great storms, this black-robed man was a vicious and evil arch-fiend.

Ever since he captured them, this fiend had used cruel tortures to torment him and the Long Wind Society members. What was even more terrifying was that the fiend clearly possessed an evil art, capable of returning the souls of the living after killing them and refining them into existence like corpse-ghost monsters.

The fiend even demonstrated it directly in front of Yan the Second. He first grabbed two subordinates, took two four-inch-long golden needles, and pierced their crown and Dazhui acupuncture points. The two subordinates died on the spot, but not long after, they "woke up" again. Only, after returning from the dead, they had no vitality at all, having become existence like walking corpses.

What was confusing and eerie was that—after the fiend turned them into this state, he could control their movements as if manipulating marionettes.

"Among you, only those who are useful to me and can provide me with valuable intelligence have a chance to live. Otherwise, there is only the chance of being turned into a corpse puppet..."

The black-robed man's words were cold, his voice hoarse and low. Judging by his tone, he seemed to have no hesitation in turning living people into corpse puppets.

"Opportunities are for the smart, Yan the Second. Do you know, or do you not know?!"

"I'll speak, I'll speak..."

Yan the Second's heart gave a violent jolt, and he spoke hurriedly.

"Boss Xiao said that the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders belong to a senior martial brother of Prefect Sheng. That man is a Daoist, and Prefect Sheng requested these thirteen riders from his command."

"Where has that Daoist gone now?"

After putting on the mask, He Ping used "ventriloquism" to speak.

His voice carried an indescribable strangeness. Back on Earth, this tone of voice was jokingly called "throat cancer voice," the kind of weird, gravelly tone a certain famous superhero in movies would use whenever he fought crime at night.

"The Daoist seemed to have an urgent matter and has already left Beizhou Prefecture."

Yan the Second answered honestly.

He Ping questioned the man further and learned from him that the Long Wind Society had a secret method of contacting the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders, which was a communication item used to ensure they could be summoned in time when capturing Cheng Zhi.

"That communication item is still on Xiao Hao's body. That thing is called the 'Jade Insect Flute.' It is said that as long as one plays the Jade Insect Flute, the Thirteen Flying Cloud Riders will know his location and arrive quickly."

Hearing Yan the Second say this, He Ping immediately had the wooden demon puppet search Xiao Hao's corpse. Sure enough, he found a verdant jade flute—this jade flute was crafted with extreme beauty, and at one end of the flute tube, a skilled craftsman had carved a jade cicada with four thin wings.

He Ping toyed with the "Jade Insect Flute" while casually suggesting to Yan the Second.

"Listen well. Next, I will give you a chance to do something for me. If you do this well, I will give you a chance to live."