Chapter 1: The Haunted Yōlin (Part 1)

  The two of them continued to hang there, with Ding Lingxu's head spinning and his brain swelling as Zhang Shanyi told him the whole story:

  Just now in Yan Wang's temple, Ding Ling was about to say the third point that could prove their innocence when he suddenly lost consciousness.

  But the others present did not know what had happened to Ding Lingxiu. Afterwards, Ding Lingxiu, who had lost consciousness, suddenly became tongue-tied and unexpectedly admitted that he was actually fabricating lies to deceive everyone, and finally confessed his guilt.

  Ding Lingshu was shocked after Zhang Shanyi finished telling him what had happened, he thought he just fainted, but didn't expect to be manipulated.

  Zhang Shanyi sighed helplessly and muttered:

  "This can't be helped, at the time I clearly knew you were under a demonic spell, your mind was controlled by some kind of power, but I was powerless to do anything. Since you've already admitted it yourself, I have nothing more to say."

  Ding Lingxiu sighed endlessly, her brows tightly furrowed in worry.

  Zhang Shanyi looked at him and suddenly thought of something, asking:

  "By the way, what was the third point you were going to say at the time?"

  Ding Lingxiu shook his head and sighed:

  "This third point is obvious, didn't you listen carefully to the time of the crime in that indictment?"

  Zhang Shanyi thought for a moment and muttered:

  "The first count of crime? Time? Ji Chou year February 5th? Is there a problem with February 5th?"

  Ding Lingxiu shook his head and said:

  "No, the problem lies in the time of taking away the five-colored stone pillar in the indictment."

  Zhang Shanyi thought for a moment and muttered:

  "What's the date of the colorful stone pillar? Um... April 21st?"

  Zhang Shanyi had just spoken halfway when he suddenly thought of something and scolded himself, gritting his teeth in frustration, saying:

  "Oh no! April 21st, April 21st, how could I have forgotten?!"

  Ding Lingxiu couldn't help but smile bitterly:

  "Never mind, everyone has their own fate. There's no need to regret what happened in the past. It was normal that you couldn't think of it at that time. If they hadn't mentioned Da Liguang Wang, I wouldn't have thought of it either. The two demons robbed the Five-Colored Stone Pillar on April 21st, which is exactly when Da Liguang Wang and we caught the Food Corpse Ghost."

  "Ah..." Zhang Shanyi slapped his forehead, filled with regret.

  Ding Lingshu looked around and gritted his teeth, saying:

  "It doesn't matter, even if the third point wasn't mentioned, we still have a way out. I have the Wu Guang stone pillar in my backpack, and Huang Niu Jing is also in the Bai Gui diagram. These can also prove that we are being framed."

  Zhang Shanyi listened and his facial expression didn't change much, he just stared blankly at Ding Lingxiu, wanting to speak but hesitating.

  Ding Lingxiu looked at him and seemed to have guessed what he wanted to say, asking:

  "Could it be... could it be that they've already taken away my backpack?"

  Zhang Shanyi nodded and said:

  "Of course, now we're left with just the clothes on our backs."

  Ding Lingxiu remained silent, turning his head to glance around. He found that the cell where they were being held was very spacious and unusually quiet. They weren't locked up with other prisoners, but rather seemed to be in a solitary confinement room. Outside the cell, two prison guards were on duty, leaning against the wall and also dozing off.

  "Are we the only two being locked up here?" Ding Lingxiu asked.

  Zhang Shanyi nodded and said:

  "It shouldn't be wrong, I've been locked up for so long and haven't found anyone else being locked in this cell. Except for the two gatekeepers occasionally chatting, there's not even any sound here."

  "When we were brought in just now, did you take a clear look at the layout of this place?" asked Ding Lingyu.

  Zhang Shanyi thought for a moment and said:

  "Well, after you confessed, Ox Head led the four ghostly guards who escorted us here. This place should also be in the underworld. We were walking around that corridor for a while before we arrived at this room, so I'm not sure about the exact location either. However, I remember there are many rooms similar to ours nearby, but they seem to be separate cells."

  Ding Ling's heart sank as he said, "It doesn't look good. It seems that the real mastermind behind this is afraid that we'll find an opportunity to escape, so they've locked us up in this single room. And now, with both his and Zhang Shanyi's spiritual energy completely suppressed, it's not just a matter of escaping from here, but whether they can even hold on for a little while longer."

  Just as the two were at their wit's end, the bronze gate outside the cell block creaked with a screeching sound. The two drowsy jailers also perked up, whispering something to each other and straightening their backs.

  The sound of the door opening was extremely jarring, like the creaking sound of an old tree breaking. Immediately afterwards, a few extremely heavy footsteps echoed through the empty corridor, these dull thuds sounding as if large iron blocks were falling from a high-rise building to the ground.

  "Head..."

  "Head..."

  Two little jailers bowed and nodded, as if a big shot had come into the cell.

  "Ah, what's going on between you two?"

  "Yes, the leader, both of them have passed out, it seems they haven't woken up yet." A prison guard said in a low voice, his tone seemingly extremely fearful of this person he called "leader".

  "Alright, then let's go, take me to them."

  "Yes."

  The footsteps kept getting closer, and both Ding Lingxiu and Zhang Shanyi narrowed their eyes, pretending to pass out. But what made them tremble with fear was that the heavy footsteps seemed to be accompanied not by an ordinary demon, but by a gigantic monster. The momentum was like a great mountain moving.

  As the mountain approached, Ding Lingxiu and Zhang Shanyi were shocked beyond measure. Hanging upside down, they had difficulty controlling themselves, their excessive shock made them unable to narrow their eyes, staring with bulging, bloodshot eyes at the mountain.

  This enormous monster was a gigantic green-haired zombie, and the reason why Ding Lingyu's first impression of this huge demon in front of him was that of a zombie came from its ash-gray skin. The zombie's body had patches similar to corpse spots that were stiff and black, although it looked like it had already lost water and shrunk, but it was extremely massive, and the stench was unbearable. This smell made you feel an abnormal smoothness in your nostrils, and you couldn't tolerate it at all.

  Ding Lingxiu had been hanging upside down for so long, and he was already feeling a bit queasy. When this giant green-haired zombie walked in, it made him vomit immediately. However, after vomiting for half the day, nothing came out. It wasn't until then that he remembered his current form was just a soul formed from his yuan Shen, without any physical body.

  The green-haired giant zombie's turbid eyeballs sized them up, and Ding Ling suddenly realized what this thing was - a Corpse Puppet. Ding Ling never thought that the head of the underworld prison guards would be such a disgusting Corpse Puppet?

  Jiangdun is a type of malevolent spirit that originates from the corpses of wealthy and obese individuals who were buried in a specific type of soil. Over time, these spirits become infused with evil energy and transform into powerful ghosts. Unlike other types of undead creatures, Jiangdun must constantly feed on corpses to sustain themselves, similar to ghouls. However, they are extremely picky eaters and only consume corpses that are on the verge of decay or have already begun to rot. As a result, if a Jiangdun is present in an area where corpses are buried, it will devour all the other undead creatures, leaving none behind. Many inexperienced Taoist priests or demon hunters who venture into these areas in search of zombies often find themselves facing empty graves, unaware that they have stumbled upon a Jiangdun's territory. Those with experience usually choose to leave immediately, while novices who persist in their search ultimately meet their demise at the hands of the Jiangdun.

  Ding Lingxiu was terrified, and he took a glance at the terrifying corpse, then looked at Zhang Shanyi, only to find that his eyes were also wide with fear, clearly shaken by the stench of the huge corpse.

  The corpse's big eyeballs rolled around, the yellowish sticky substance in its eyes kept rolling, some even squeezed out of the eye sockets, extremely disgusting.

  It seems to be somewhat curious about Ding Lingxiu's human form, and opens its mouth full of black teeth to ask:

  "These two are probably the two primordial spirits that Lord Jinzhong said should be directly eliminated."

  "Yes, head, the prison officer said it was them two." The jailer replied with a nod.

  Jiang Dun's mouth was filled with foul air, making Ding Lingyu's head spin and his brain swell. At such a close distance, Jiang Dun's massive body emitted sounds that were like thunderclaps to Ding Lingyu's ears, leaving him speechless with suffering.

  Despite this, Ding Lingxiu still managed to catch the two words "wipe out" with his ears, and he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

  Is it possible that the mastermind behind the scenes is afraid of being caught and didn't plan to send him and Zhang Shanyi to the fiery depths, but instead wants to secretly execute them in this very cell?

  Ding Lingxiu gritted his teeth, feeling an unprecedented sense of fear in his heart. The underworld was not like the human world; here, the two men's spiritual energy was completely suppressed, making them as helpless as floating duckweed. Facing these demons and ghosts, they were utterly powerless. The two had never expected things to turn out this way when they came to the underworld. At this moment, they couldn't even rely on each other, because they didn't even have their physical bodies.

  Ding Lingxiu instinctively made a dying struggle, and as someone who was already dead, it seemed more fitting to say that he was making a desperate struggle. Zhang Shanyi also seemed to have become frantic, this fear of impending destruction had made him unable to think calmly, the two of them began to frantically twist their bodies, trying to break free from the handcuffs and leg chains.

  The zombie stared at the two people who were struggling frantically and couldn't help but burst out laughing:

  "Haha... These mortal primordial spirits are indeed lively, still wriggling about. The flavor must be excellent. Lord Xing is really generous to have chosen such a delicious snack as a reward for me."

  Ding Lingshu was stunned after hearing this, thinking to herself: "How can this stiff corpse still eat Yuanshen? According to the records of demon history, although this stiff corpse has a huge body and extremely strong demonic powers, it is very picky about food, not even eating living people or newly deceased ones, so how can it still eat Yuanshen?"

  "Hey... prison head, we don't taste good at all, do you only eat zombies? We're not one of them, if you eat us, you'll get indigestion and diarrhea." Ding Lingxiu shouted with difficulty in the stench, forcing himself to hold back his urge to vomit with every word.

  Jiang Dun burst out laughing again, and a foul smell spewed from that ugly mouth, making Ding Lingfu wish he was dead, also to avoid this sin.

  "You two mortals know nothing. Do you know why I don't eat living people and those who have just died? It's because the primordial spirit of a living person is wrapped in flesh, with yang energy and spiritual energy mixed together, it's really disgusting. As for those who have just died, some have already escaped their primordial spirit, while others still have lingering yang energy and spiritual energy, how can I eat them? Only the primordial spirit of a zombie will directly attach itself to a body without yang energy and spiritual energy, that's when it's truly delicious."

  Ding Ling's hair stood on end because he knew what Jia Ren was going to say next.

  The corpse's mouth was full of foul air as he continued to speak:

  "So, I've been eating Yuan Shen all along, and your kind of pure Yuan Shen that doesn't even have a physical body is simply amazing!"