The entire corpse storage room was shrouded in darkness, with beams of flashlight light crisscrossing, creating a chaotic illumination. The corner where the fat man was located was far from us, and even when the flashlight shone that way, the surrounding bodies obstructed our view, casting overlapping shadows. Even if we could see clearly, it would still be hard to make out the details.

However, the purplish hue on the fat man’s face was unmistakable. His expression was eerily wooden and ghostly, resembling the bodies nearby far too much, which sent chills down our spines. Panzi initially thought the fat man was just messing around and called out to him again, but the fat man remained unresponsive, as still as a statue. Panzi sensed something was off and said to us, “It seems something’s wrong?”

I frowned, unsure how to respond. The fat man’s expression and demeanor were so similar to the corpses here that if he wasn’t playing a prank on us, something was definitely wrong. But since everyone else seemed fine, why was it just him? Looking at his condition, could it be that he was possessed by the spirits here? Or had he fallen victim to a shaman’s curse?

We gradually slid down the steep slope towards the spot where the fat man was squatting, but we didn’t see anything unusual around him compared to other places—all we saw were the purplish, fanged corpses. When we were about four or five meters away from him, Panzi waved his hand, signaling us to stop, and made a gesture to Huashan.

In Chen Pi’s team, Lang Feng was a vanguard type like the fat man, Huashan was the strategist, and Ye Cheng was more of a jack-of-all-trades. Each of them had their own special abilities. Now that Lang Feng was dead, Huashan’s abilities were still formidable, which was why Panzi signaled him.

I felt the difference. In our team, there were many who could take the lead, but I was too weak to be a strategist. I thought about how, after the absence of the Silent Oil Bottle, if the other side didn’t have Huashan, I would have to step up if something happened, and my abilities were far inferior to Huashan’s.

Seeing Panzi’s gesture, Huashan nodded. The two of them each pulled out their hunting knives, gripped them in reverse, and stealthily approached the fat man.

They quickly reached the fat man’s side, but he didn’t turn to look at them. He remained motionless, like a street performer posing as a statue. My palms were sweaty, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. At that moment, the two in front suddenly stopped, with Panzi almost close enough to touch the fat man. Yet, they suddenly waved their hands to signal us not to come closer and began to back away.

My heart started racing, unsure of what they had seen. I watched as Panzi retreated to my side and turned to us, saying, “This is bad. The corpse behind him has a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” I asked. “Is it the big zongzi?”

Panzi gestured for us not to ask questions and signaled for us to follow him.

We followed him through several corpses and descended a few tiers, reaching the side of the fat man. He pointed, and I looked in the direction he indicated. Behind the fat man sat several dark blue-black corpses, but one of them was distinctly different from the others!

I saw that the head of this corpse was extremely large, almost three times the size of an ordinary person’s, and its facial features were indistinguishable, resembling the head of an underdeveloped baby. A strange tongue was protruding from the mouth of the corpse, coiling around the neck of a fat man.

I was instantly overwhelmed, my scalp tingling, my heart racing, and my neck felt stiff. I covered my mouth to suppress a scream and whispered, “What is that?”

“This might be a corpse fetus. The location of the corpse is definitely the corpse nurturing cave of the entire spiritual palace. This corpse is right at that point, and over time, it has undergone changes and turned into this. In a few hundred years, it might even become a spirit,” Chen Pi A Si said softly from the other side. After saying this, his expression suddenly became strange, as if he had thought of something, and he added, “No! But isn’t this dragon vein fake? How could a corpse nurturing cave appear here? This…”

When Huaheshang saw Chen Pi A Si’s odd expression, he seemed to suddenly understand as well, and his expression changed (I felt that Huaheshang had probably thought of this long ago, but out of consideration for Chen Pi A Si’s feelings, he often waited for Chen Pi A Si to come to a realization before reacting). He asked Chen Pi A Si, “Old man, could this be a ‘linked chain’?”

A “linked chain” is a type of trickery, a scheme used by those who cheat in the gambling game of “sparrow” in the outer eight trades. It involves turning something real into something fake, then back into something real, and leaving a small flaw for others to see, making them think that the outermost “real” layer is fake, when in fact, the item is indeed real. It is a type of empty city strategy.

Chen Pi A Si sneered, “Yes, how could there be a corpse nurturing cave on a fake dragon vein? That old bastard Wang Canghai is quite skilled at playing the ‘linked chain’, but unfortunately, he was too meticulous and finally made a mistake.”

I still didn’t understand and asked Huaheshang what was going on.

Huaheshang explained, “It’s really too suspenseful; we almost got tricked. Luckily, we stumbled upon this place. Do you remember that after we discovered the position was faked, we thought this dragon vein was fake? However, the appearance of the corpse fetus here means that a fake dragon vein cannot possibly have a corpse fetus. This reveals a flaw. It seems that the magnetic turtle is also part of Wang Canghai’s trap, meant to make us think we were deceived, believing that the entire dragon vein was fake. In reality, the dragon vein is real, but the layout is not that of a three-headed dragon. That magnetic turtle simply modified an ordinary dragon vein layout into the ultimate configuration of a constellation of dragons, which is actually quite easy.”

I exclaimed in realization, suddenly grasping the situation. The feng shui orientation is crucial in determining the quality of a dragon vein. For example, if there is a one-eyed dragon running from west to east, it is a rising dragon; if it turns towards the west, it becomes a resting dragon. If you bury a magnetic turtle and change the local feng shui orientation, that resting dragon can disguise itself as a rising dragon.

(Later, I looked up the constellation of the Three Dragons, and it turns out that all three dragon heads must face east to be called the constellation of the Three Dragons. However, the three sacred mountain ranges of Changbai Mountain all face north, so only the middle one, the Three Saints Mountain, can be considered the dragon head. The other two on the sides are called the Twin Serpents Guarding, which are also auspicious locations, but not suitable for burial; instead, they are more appropriate for building temples. When the magnetic turtle is placed there, north becomes east, which is why Chen Pi Ah Si made the wrong judgment.)

I couldn’t help but marvel at such a complex setup; the level of cunning involved was simply unbelievable. Just think, we had been completely deceived earlier. If it weren’t for discovering the corpse fetus here, we would have certainly returned in disgrace.

We were separated from Wang Cang Hai by a thousand years. But suddenly, I felt as if his thoughts were flowing right in front of me. The strategy he devised a thousand years ago could still lead us around in circles. Who exactly was this person?

Pan Zi quietly said from the side, “You still have the mind to discuss this? What about the fat man now? Will the black donkey’s hoof work against this thing?”

Chen Pi Ah Si shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know. Monk Hua also frowned, clearly unsure of how to deal with it.

This was the most frustrating time; we didn’t know whether the fat man twisting his tongue like that would pose any danger. But if we rashly went to save him, we feared it would worsen the situation. Both sides were at a loss. Pan Zi and I were sweating profusely, not knowing what to do.

Unexpectedly, while we didn’t move, the fat man reacted first. We saw him suddenly fall to the ground and then start to be dragged away. That large-headed corpse fetus curled up and crawled, using its tongue to pull the fat man, rapidly dragging him down the steep slope. The fat man was as stiff as a stone, offering no resistance whatsoever.

If it got him down there, the fat man would be doomed. The situation escalated instantly. Pan Zi shouted to pursue, and we immediately rushed down.

Seeing us rushing down, the large-headed corpse fetus accelerated, and the fat man began to roll down the slope, crashing into the corpses scattered around. We couldn’t run on the slope, so we simply slid down like we were on a slide.

In no time, we chased down several meters. Suddenly, we saw the fat man disappear on the slope, vanishing in an instant. Startled, we rushed to the spot and immediately saw that there was a hole on the slope. The fat man had already been dragged into the hole, with only his feet sticking out.

Pan Zi leaped up and pounced like a tiger, grabbing the fat man’s feet and pulling with all his might. I slid over, kicking my legs wildly to scramble back and help. Then Ye Cheng, Shun Zi, and Monk Hua also rushed down. Monk Hua tore off a climbing rope and tied it to the fat man’s legs. This way, unless we pulled the fat man apart, that corpse fetus would never be able to win against us.

With so many of us, the fat man was soon pulled up with great effort. The tongue was tightly wrapped around the fat man’s throat, almost digging into the flesh. The fat man’s veins bulged, his eyes rolled back, and he was nearly done for. Pan Zi pulled out a military knife and made a swift cut. Instantly, a woman’s scream echoed from the hole, the tongue severed, and the fat man loosened, allowing us to pull him out.

We quickly tore off that severed tongue and threw it into the hole, then pressed on the fat guy’s chest. He immediately started to move, gasping and coughing as he touched his neck. Panzi was afraid that thing would jump out again, so he pulled out a shovel and went to the hole, shining a flashlight inside. But after a while, he put down the weapon, as if the corpse fetus had already crawled down.

We all breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to pat the fat guy’s back. After a long time, he finally recovered, looking at the hole with lingering fear and said, “Thank you, thank you, heroes.” I asked the fat guy what had happened, how he had become motionless like the Laughing Buddha.

The fat guy himself didn’t know, saying he just felt a chill in his neck and then couldn’t move. He could see and hear, but his body just wouldn’t respond, as if it had been frozen in ice. He was there trying to exert himself, but he couldn’t even move his eyeballs, which made him anxious.

Panzi laughed heartily, “Did you hear that scream just now? That’s a female corpse fetus. She must have been too lonely down here and saw that you resemble her, wanting to drag you down to keep her company. That’s what you call a hellish pickup line.”

The fat guy forced a smile and pushed him, saying, “You look more like her, you bastard.”

Panzi laughed and dodged his push. As he leaned back, unexpectedly, that huge fetal head suddenly poked out of the hole, covered in blood, and bit down on Panzi’s foot. Panzi didn’t even have time to react before he was violently dragged into the hole.