Chapter 39: Buried in the Ground

  When I woke up, Master finally let out a long sigh of relief, but after the excitement, he scowled and looked at me with a heavy hum: "You little brat, you're simply looking for death. I've been to that place before, it's a cursed land, and there's something in that pool that even I don't dare touch lightly. You, a newly entered disciple, just went ahead and interfered, this is reckless, you're lucky to have escaped with your life -"

  I smiled and ignored the master's scolding, the master was just worried about me. However, I became interested in what the master said, and with great effort, I sat up straight, rubbed my face and asked: "Master, what is a ghost land? Why haven't I seen any records of it?"

  Master glared at me, hummed, and was very dissatisfied with my lazy attitude. However, he still explained to me: "Yin Di, also known as Yin Qu, if there is water in a place where many people are buried, it will form a Yin Di. This place was originally a martyr's cemetery, burying a large number of dead soldiers, and before that, the tombs were chaotic. As a result, there are thousands of ghosts and wild ghosts here. This kind of place is inherently a Yin place. Coincidentally, there is a pool of water here, which makes it an excellent place to nurture hidden Yin energy. Water is the master of Yin, and under this pond is an underground river, so the water here is flowing. Moreover, next to it is a drainage ditch, forming a double Yin horizontal momentum. If that were all, it would be fine, but some idiot designed the landscape of the residential area, encircling the pool with willow trees, blocking the outward flow of Yin energy, thus forming a great killing field..."

  The master stood up, walked back and forth several times, obviously very annoyed, hesitated for a moment before coldly humming: "These are not the problem, if it were just like this I could crack it, but I've noticed that the entire neighborhood seems to be built according to the eight trigrams, with six-story buildings plus attics all around, while the central eight buildings are all very short. Because of this eight trigram arrangement, all the yin energy is trapped inside and can't flow out, so the yin energy becomes heavier and heavier. The center of the entire layout is that pond, which has become a place of extreme yin, where all the yin energy converges. If I'm not mistaken, this is clearly a place for raising corpses, and it's possible that it was deliberately built by someone who practices Taoist magic."

  "How can this be resolved? If not, then people won't be able to live here anymore?" Sun Chuanming was very concerned about this matter, the key point being that his house was located in that area, and if things continued like this, how could he still live there.

  The master glared at him and snorted, "This place has become a land of extreme yin, where all the ghosts originally couldn't leave. Over time, the resentment grew heavier, and this place became a land of great evil. If ordinary people lived here, they would lightly fall ill, and in severe cases, their lives would be in danger. This place is inhabited by both humans and ghosts, and over time, any ghost will perish. If you're not afraid of death, you can still go back and live there. As for the method to break the curse..."

  Seeing that the master had a way, Sun Chuanming couldn't care about being teased by the master and just dryly laughed: "Master, you're an accomplished person, can't you just share your understanding with me? Just say how to crack it."

  "It's simple, the buildings here are all built according to the Bagua layout, so just demolish two buildings and that's it. Otherwise, the yin energy will spread out and eventually gather in these eight buildings, turning all the ghosts into fierce spirits. By then, everyone in this neighborhood will be doomed." The master's face grew increasingly somber, this matter was clearly manipulated by someone behind the scenes, otherwise there wouldn't be so many coincidences.

  Sun Chuanming was stunned, thinking that demolishing the building was impossible. He didn't even need to think about it to know it wouldn't work. A whole building costs a lot of money! He stood there stupidly for a while, then suddenly spat out in hatred: "Damn it, I'll go find the developer. If he doesn't give me a refund or demolish the building, I'll make them regret it, those sons of bitches!"

  I couldn't help but feel sorry for Sun Chuanming, I woke up from my contemplation, the master said it was very likely what he thought, I felt that it was highly possible, after a moment's thought, I just said in a low voice: "Master, I also think you're right, this should be man-made, I've seen the situation underwater, going down 7 or 8 meters are all green bricks piled up, on top there are many strange symbols, and at the very bottom there are three corpses carrying a copper coffin, locked in chains on three dragon-shaped copper pillars——”

  "What——" The master exclaimed, his face suddenly changed. This was the first time I saw the master so panicked. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't say another word. After a long while, he managed to say: "That is San Shi Gang Guan——"

  "What's this 'Three Corpses Carrying a Coffin' thing?" I couldn't help but ask, it sounded like something serious, and indeed it was.

  The master waited for a while, then let out a sigh, his face turned gloomy, and he lightly sighed: "So-called three corpses carrying a coffin, is actually a means of cultivating magic, this is a means created by the people of the demonic path to prove the magical immortal body, legend has it that as early as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the demon god Chi You was achieved through this means, becoming the most powerful demon in history, should say is the demon god, have you guys heard of Chi You?"

  It's been a long time since I've heard of this, and it feels a bit unreal. However, the master didn't dwell on it and shook his head with a bitter smile: "This method should have been lost long ago, but unexpectedly, I see it again today. The so-called 'Three Corpses' represent the three evil desires within the human body, namely selfish desire, gluttony, and lust. The Taoist book 'Dream of the Three Corpses' says: 'There are three corpse worms in the human body.' Specifically, they include the upper corpse's three worms, the middle corpse's three worms, and the lower corpse's three worms, hence the name 'Three Corpses Nine Worms'. To achieve immortality, one must eliminate the root of the Three Corpses. Cutting off the Three Corpses means becoming a Golden Immortal. This idea led ancient people to become obsessed with alchemy and taking medicine to kill the Three Corpse Worms. In the past, the demon god Chi You used this method to suppress the Three Corpses in three corpses, while he himself was inside a copper coffin. When he left the copper coffin, it was the time when he cut off the Three Corpses, which was also the moment he became a demon god. I suppose the three copper pillars you mentioned should be the Locking Dragon Pillars. It's not that becoming a demon god is easy; even now, the Three Corpses' Coffin is not something an ordinary cultivator can handle. No, at this time, I must hurry back to the ancestral court and report this, and unite the three teachings and six paths to eliminate the Three Corpses' Coffin."

  As soon as the words fell, Master was already anxious, and when I heard him say it, I only knew the severity of the matter. Thinking back now, I really didn't know what I was doing last night by daring to touch the three corpses carrying coffins. To put it bluntly, I was ignorant of life and death. However, after hesitating for a moment, I said in a low voice: "Master, maybe it's not that serious. Last night, I saw those heroic spirits from before suppressing that three corpses carrying coffins, and they were even struck by lightning. Maybe..."

  "What?" The master who was about to fold the paper crane was stunned, his face full of surprise as he looked at me back and forth, grabbing my hand and whispering, "Tell me carefully what happened last night. No, I even used my heavenly eye to investigate that pond today, but it's impossible to dive in more than half a meter, how did you know so clearly...

  I scratched my head, feeling embarrassed, and then carefully recalled the situation from last night, explaining everything in detail. The master's face changed color constantly as he listened, his gaze becoming very strange. In the end, he sighed: "You little scoundrel is really helpless, compared to you, this old man has lived a useless life."

  After I finished speaking, the master sighed and said: "Those martyrs' spirits must have known that this thing would come out and harm people. Relying on their military instincts to protect their homes and country, they have been constantly suppressing the three corpses carrying coffins. If not, perhaps the three corpses carrying coffins could have made a breakthrough as soon as possible. Unfortunately, these martyrs' spirits are just ordinary yin souls. Even if they were lined up in an army formation, it was only because of their large numbers and strictness. They didn't have many means, or maybe the three corpses carrying coffins didn't plan to care about them much. But you little scoundrel enraged the three corpses carrying coffins last night."

  It's embarrassing to mention this, just as I was about to speak, the master tossed me an octagonal mirror, which was exactly the one I lost last night. The master couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of water at my expression: "Look at you, even the thing that saves your life is lost, it's lucky for you to be alive."

  "Master, it's not like that. I was just guessing, but last night's lightning should have been brought down by the soul-gathering charm I drew..." Feeling disdained, I felt a bit indignant.

  But as soon as he said this, the master's face turned solemn, and he looked me up and down: "Can you be certain? Attracting heavenly thunder is a method that only gods can use, at least it requires a land god. If you really can replicate that kind of thing, it would be an extraordinary matter. Moreover, the curse originated from the Tianwu clan, actually it's a method used by the Tianwu clan to borrow the power of heaven and earth. But the Tianwu clan has long since declined, how could Chen Xiang possibly have such a method?"

  I didn't dare to confirm, so I didn't dare say anything else. However, the master didn't press for an answer, apparently not believing in this method either. After a moment of contemplation, he still handed me a paper crane, which transformed into a flying dove and flew away. He let out a long sigh: "It's better to ask the sect to send some more experts here to have some confidence. Xiaohai, tonight you'll follow me to investigate the Three Corpses Carrying Coffins."

  He nodded, but for now he still needed to recover his strength, so he went down with Sun Chuanming and Zhang Jianhua to eat something. It wasn't until then that I remembered Zhang Jianjun, and couldn't help but be surprised: "How did Captain Zhang end up here?"

  I finally remembered him, Zhang Jianchen smiled and said: "Liu Hai, I thought you couldn't remember me. Actually, I came to bring you some news. I have a good piece of news for you. Li Chengdong has been caught and confessed to all his crimes. It's estimated that he will be brought to justice soon. That scoundrel finally got what was coming to him."

  Li Chengdong was caught, I was stunned for a moment and didn't react at all. But Zhang Jianchen didn't notice my abnormality, still with an excited face: "Let me tell you, it's Li Chengdong's father who personally sent him in, just this confession is enough to make no one able to save him, he's done for this time."