Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Li Miao nodded, then shook his head.
In a strange tone, he said, “I can’t exactly call it trouble… It’s simply very strange. This handkerchief belonged to the female corpse, and it did establish an intangible connection with something beneath the river. But whenever the connection was about to form completely, a force interrupted it. It was almost as though something were deliberately obstructing us.”
I understood.
With a sigh, I said, “We could more or less have expected this. All the current signs indicate Zhou Min was murdered, and whoever killed her must also be an esoteric practitioner–and a fairly powerful one. They may have suppressed her somewhere on the riverbed.”
Li Miao nodded.
“You’re right, Young Brother Wu. That’s my view as well. But I never expected anyone could suppress her so thoroughly. That female corpse can emerge on an overcast afternoon, so her cultivation must be very strong. Yet even the resonance with her own possession can’t draw her up from the riverbed. Whoever did this…”
His voice trailed off.
But I understood his meaning.
Such a person must be extremely powerful. If I insisted on pursuing the investigation, I could encounter tremendous danger.
I spread my hands with a bitter smile.
“Of course I understand all that, Brother Li. But what else can I do? Zhou Min tricked me by handing over her corpse core without warning, effectively forcing the deal on me. But I really did receive an incredible benefit. Without the power of that corpse core, how could I possibly possess my current strength?”
“That’s true.”
Li Miao nodded slightly, his brow tightly furrowed.
Whoosh!
The night wind blew.
After circling in the air for a while, Zhou Min’s handkerchief unexpectedly flew back on its own and dropped into the boat.
It appeared that this method of searching for Zhou Min’s corpse had failed.
I stared at the handkerchief for a moment, then spoke in a distant tone.
“Something just occurred to me, Brother Li.”
Li Miao froze.
“What?”
“We know Zhou Min died only about two months ago and hasn’t killed anyone. How could she become so powerful in only two months? Her exceptionally powerful form as a vicious corpse must have been deliberately created.”
“You’re right, Young Brother Wu. She bore no tremendous resentment, did not die an exceptionally horrible death, and hasn’t killed continuously. I can’t imagine how a female corpse could become this powerful under those circumstances.”
I nodded. “Exactly. There must have been an external force involved. And lately, another yin being has transformed because of an outside force…”
The realization struck Li Miao.
“The living corpse Xiao Sheng!”
“That’s right. Both drowned, and both became abnormal corpse-fiends due to an external force. One is a living corpse. The other is irrationally powerful yet suppressed beneath the river.”
I took a deep breath and stated my judgment.
“I suspect the two cases are connected. The link between them is that rare treasure on the bed of the Chuan River outside Xiaowan Village–the treasure even the River God covets! I even suspect the evil practitioner who ambushed Old Cao, Uncle Yuan Fei, and me near the Killer Demon Tree is involved.”
The more I said, the deeper Li Miao frowned.
He had only experienced the incident with the living corpse Xiao Sheng. I had experienced far more!
If I included the grave-hill feng shui formation for cultivating the Golden-Thread Netherbloom, which we had discovered after Wang Dachun suffered spirit possession by the Dry Immortal, there were at least four strange incidents.
The feng shui formation on the grave-covered hill had cultivated a Golden-Thread Netherbloom.
Victims had gone of their own accord to hang themselves in the Killer Demon Tree’s canopy, and an evil practitioner had attacked us when we investigated.
Zhou Min had died strangely and become a top-tier vicious corpse in two months without any other apparent means.
Then there was the living corpse Xiao Sheng several days ago.
For now, I had no definitive evidence proving that these four incidents possessed any logical connection.
It was only a theory, an intuition!
But I felt they were all closely connected.
I had discussed the possibility in general terms with Old Cao, though never as clearly as I was explaining it to Li Miao now.
At that moment, sitting in a small wooden boat on the Chuan River at night with the river breeze blowing around us, I organized my thoughts and told Li Miao.
The more I spoke, the more alarmed I became.
These no longer seemed like separate, isolated uncanny incidents.
They resembled… a conspiracy hidden in the depths.
I felt as though I had dimly glimpsed the outline of an enormous conspiracy.
It was like a distant mountain on a pitch-black night: I could see its immense outline and feel its oppressive presence, but could not make out a single detail.
After hearing my analysis, Li Miao rubbed his chin.
“If that’s true, then we only need to find a breakthrough in one of these incidents. We might be able to follow the clues and unravel the entire mystery step by step!”
I agreed. “Exactly. It’s like a tangled ball of yarn. Find one loose end and follow it, and you can undo the whole thing.”
Then I spread my hands with a bitter smile. “But that’s our biggest problem. We don’t have a single clue in any of the four cases. What a headache.”
Li Miao sighed as well. “That’s certainly true.”
One of a corpse retriever’s core abilities was locating corpses in the water.
The problem was that an extremely powerful force was interfering now.
Zhou Min’s possession could not establish a definite connection with her corpse. Otherwise, even if she could not rise to the surface herself, Li Miao could have located her precise position and attempted to dive down to investigate.
Now we did not even have that opportunity!
We fell silent for a while.
Li Miao probably had not expected the situation to become increasingly complex.
I had an even bigger headache!
While handling all these matters, I could not neglect my grades. I truly had to split my attention between two worlds.
At last, I broke the silence.
“Why don’t we leave it here for tonight, Brother Li? Let’s head back.”
Li Miao looked at me. “But… you paid two thousand yuan for the corpse retrieval. That’s a very high fee, and I haven’t helped you at all. Should I return it?”
I smiled and waved. “There’s no need. Paying you at least keeps you from becoming too deeply involved in Zhou Min’s matter. As for tonight’s failure, we’ll simply say the commission isn’t finished. I’ll come find you when I need you again.”
Li Miao considered it, then agreed.
“Don’t stand on ceremony in the future, Young Brother Wu. If you need anything, just say so.”
“Of course! I’m only afraid I’ll trouble you so much that I wear you out.”
“Hahaha! That won’t happen. I’m still young and strong.”
He deliberately flexed an arm, showing off his biceps.
I laughed too.
But suddenly!
From the corner of my eye, I saw a hand abruptly grip the gunwale behind him!
A deathly pale hand.