Chapter 340: The Dead Kowtows

Chapter 340: The Dead Kowtows

Have you actually seen any one of these taboos coming true with your own eyes? Chu Nianjiu countered.

Qi Xuanyun turned a little red. In fact, I have.

During my journey, I saw a family paying their respects to a dead relative. For some reason, one of the three incense sticks they burned was conspicuously long compared to the others. They either didnt know about the taboo or didnt take it to heart, but the next day, the whole family of five all died a sudden, inexplicable death.

Lin Yuhuai smiled. When it comes to these things, its better to believe that its real than otherwise. Plus, the gathas arent complete nonsense. Cats, dogs, crows and cocks are all naturally spiritual animals who are especially sensitive toward evils and filth.

Fine, forget what I said. Chu Nianjiu shrugged.

They continued to navigate through the forest following Peng Hus group, but as they walked, the crows began cawing again.

Caw! Caw!

Caw! Caw!

Strange. I keep hearing caws, but why cant I see a single crow? Qi Xuanyun muttered under his breath when he heard the caws again.

What did you just say? Ye Qing abruptly stiffened like a statue.

B Brother Ye? Whats wrong? His reaction was so intense that it caught Qi Xuanyun off guard.

I was wondering why I keep feeling like something isnt right. Now I understand.

Qi Xuanyun was just talking to himself, but his words lifted a strange worry that had been plaguing Ye Qing since he heard the caws. His eyes abruptly turned pitch black as he tapped the space in front of him.

Buzz!

His demonic thought rippled, and the scenery around them abruptly shattered like glass.

They werent walking in the middle of a forest, rain and vapor. No, they were standing just a few steps away from a cliff.

As for Peng Hu, the situation was far worse. Half of his foot was sticking out of the cliffs edge. Just one more step, and he would fall straight to his death.

For some reason, Peng Hu couldnt seem to perceive the danger he was in. He lifted his foot to take another step forward.

PENG HU! Chu Nianjiu yelled at the top of his lungs.

Someone moved faster than his voice could travel. Ye Qing abruptly appeared next to Peng Hu like a ghost and caught his shoulder in a firm grip, forcing him to stop.

Ye Qing looked down and saw a man hanging on the cliff with both hands. His body was completely broken, his head was shattered so badly that brain matter was leaking all over the place, and his body was covered in blood and brain matter. Right now, the man was glaring at Ye Qing while sticking out his long, long tongue.

Is this the Cliff Ghost? exclaimed Lin Yuhuai as he appeared next to Ye Qing.

Did it blind us with an illusion?! Chu Nianjiu asked.

Yeah. Ye Qing nodded.

The Cliff Ghost was a person who fell off a cliff and died, but they refused to pass away into the afterlife due to overwhelming hatred or resentment. So, they turned into an evil ghost.

A Cliff Ghost normally clung to the cliffside waiting for preys to pass through the area. Then, it would blind its prey with illusions and cause them to fall off a cliff and die.

The more people it killed, the stronger it would become. The Cliff Ghost in front of them was a Hatred-class Stranger.

Uwargh!

Seeing that its ploy had failed, the Cliff Ghost let out a weird scream and tried to attack Ye Qing.

Palm Thunder

But before Ye Qing could even do anything, Qi Xuanyun fired a Palm Thunder at it and removed it from existence.

Objectively speaking, a Cliff Ghost was terrible in a straight fight. Its true strength lay in its ability to seamlessly trap its victims within its illusions.

Crackle!

Unfortunately, the outcome was the same. The yellow talisman was halfway to Peng Chuans forehead when it abruptly burned into ash.

The coffin!

Ye Qing chose to tackle the coffin and slapped his hand over the body. An unbelievably cold and evil stream of energy immediately poured into his body.

Using his astral qi as the fuel and his body as the furnace, Ye Qing refined the yin energy pouring into his body and surrounded the coffin in Burning Wind at the same time.

The Burning Wind was one of the hottest and most yang astral qi in the world. It was slowly but surely neutralizing the yin energy inside the coffin.

The problem was that Peng Chuan was still leaking muddy water from his orifices. His skin was starting to bloat and turn pale like that of a drowned body.

What do we do? Peng Hu was so anxious that his eyes were bloodshot.

We open the coffin! Ye Qing replied without hesitation. He was hoping that suppressing the entity within the coffin would be enough to eliminate Peng Chuans symptoms, but it hadnt worked at all.

The only way to save Peng Chuan now was to open the coffin and check what the hell was going on inside.

No! You cant do that! Peng Hu cried.

Ye Qings eyes glinted dangerously. Who is more important, the living or the dead?

But thats Peng Hu looked conflicted.

Are you serious right now? Is preserving tradition more important than saving your brother? Chu Nianjius face looked ugly as well. Are you really going to watch him die!?

I Peng Hu was paralyzed with indecision.

Ye Qing didnt care to wait for Peng Hu to arrive at a decision. Every wasted second was a second Peng Chuan came closer to death. He unleashed his force and threw the coffin lid into the air.

Professionalism was a positive trait, but blind professionalism was just stupid.

Sometimes, that stupidity could even claim a persons life.

You!

Shocked and angry, Peng Hu was about to rebuke Ye Qing when he saw what was inside the coffin. Whatever words he was going to say died in his throat.

He had imagined all kinds of scenarios about what might be inside the coffin. The corpse couldve turned into a zombie, it couldve been possessed by some sort of evil, or it couldve transformed into a Stranger. However, he never imagined that the body would have shifted to a kneeling position.

When did it happen, and how was this even possible? The coffin was only as tall as a child. It wouldve been impossible for a living adult to kneel inside the coffin, much less a dead one.

In reality, the body had shifted to a kneeling position. Its joints were completely bent, and its chest and waist were compressed together by an unknown power, so much so that some of its rib bones were literally sticking out of its chest. That was how it managed to kneel inside the coffin.

Not only that, the bodys head would knock against the bottom every three breaths three times in a row. Such was its force that its head was shattered, and blood caked the wooden board.

It was kowtowing. The body was kowtowing toward a paper doll placed at the end of the coffin. It was unusual to say the least.

How How can this be? Peng Hu and the rest of the coffin hauliers stared at the strange sight, flabbergasted.

The strange bangs we heard earlier is probably the sound of the body kowtowing toward the paper doll, declared Ye Qing while narrowing his eyes. That, and the body shifting to a kneeling position.

He was one hundred percent certain that the coffin hauliers deaths had something to do with its kowtowing.

Ye Qings first thought was to control the body, but when his demonic thought wrapped around it, he couldnt sense any anomalous energy from it.

Is it that paper doll?

Ye Qing immediately scanned the paper doll with his demonic thought, but the moment he made contact, his mind shook, and he suddenly felt unbelievably hot. He flushed as red as blood as an invisible fire had suddenly burst into life inside his body. His unusual reaction caught everyone by surprise.

Hmph! Ye Qing grunted and channeled his astral qi to suppress the unnatural heat. Then, he said, Its the paper doll thats causing the problem.

1. Carpenter's straight line marker (an inked cord stretched tight then lowered onto timber).