At that moment, goosebumps erupted all over my body. I was all too familiar with that laughter—it was from the smiling corpse!
This thing really was relentless, and I hadn't expected it to follow us all the way to Helian Gui's tomb!
Zhang Jinya obviously recognized the laughter too. Upon hearing it, his face changed instantly, and he cursed, "Just our luck, it's like a leaky roof meeting continuous rain. How did this thing get here?"
Saying this, Zhang Jinya quickly called out to Fatty, who was still busy searching for treasure, "That's enough, we've got a big problem here, we need to get out!"
At this point, we were all prepared to run for our lives. The smiling corpse was filled with a pent-up yin energy and resentment, virtually impervious to weapons. Rosa, skilled with firearms, would surely be ineffective against it. Fatty was just a tomb raider, adept at lighting lamps and searching for gold, not fighting such creatures. And I need not mention myself. Without Qing Yi, only Zhang Jinya could possibly stand a chance against the smiling corpse, but even he might not be a match for it. With Qing Yi trapped in Gao Xianzhi's tomb and his fate uncertain, it's unlikely he would abandon his quest to seal the ninth evil energy point, let alone help us. It seemed we had no better option than to flee.
"Gaga gaga, none of you can leave. Stay here and keep me company!"
A voice filled with resentment rang out at that moment, and a dark, thin figure silently appeared at the entrance of the main burial chamber. With a bang, the tomb door shut tight.
My heart sank. Damn it, with the tomb door closed, it looked like we couldn't escape. The smiling corpse, a cunning and vile creature, even knew to 'shut the door to catch the dog'.
By now, the smiling corpse was slowly walking towards us. Due to the dim light in the main chamber, I could only make out its vague outline at first. It wasn't until it approached us that I could finally see the true face of the smiling corpse.
It looked almost like a normal person, at least its face wasn't a bloody, ferocious mess. There were no corpse spots or cyanotic skin like that of the rice dumpling. Overall, it wasn't frightening. However, it was always smiling, its mouth stretched so wide that even its wisdom teeth were exposed, as if its mouth had been horizontally slit. It looked incredibly eerie. It wore its hair in a bun and was dressed in a deep robe with curved hems, a style that appeared after the Han dynasty. It was about 1.65 to 1.70 meters tall and moved with an eerie lightness, quickly closing the distance to less than thirty meters from us, staring and laughing continuously.
Gaga gaga gaga...
The sinister laughter echoed throughout the entire chamber...
This was the third time I had faced this entity, and the previous two encounters had nearly cost me my life. Now, facing it again, I felt a certain trepidation. But since the tomb door had been closed by the creature, we had no escape and had to confront it. After several deep breaths to calm myself, I spoke with a steady voice, "So this is your true form, isn't it?"
"You... must... die..."
The smiling corpse glared at me with a face full of resentment, "If you don't die, many... many will be unhappy..."
Hearing the smiling corpse's words, my eyebrows raised in surprise. It seemed... the series of events I had encountered were orchestrated by someone, or something, that wanted me dead!
"Since it's come to this, can you tell me who exactly wants me dead?"
I stared at the smiling corpse and asked the question that most intrigued me. I really couldn't understand why, as just an ordinary guy, so many vile entities were after my life.
Gaga gaga gaga...
At this moment, the smiling corpse let out another sinister laugh, "This is my place, all of you... must die!"
Its speech was disjointed, not as fluent as when it took on someone else's appearance, but I could still understand the gist of it.
This smiling corpse seemed to belong to Helian Gui's tomb!
A rough hypothesis about the smiling corpse suddenly formed in my mind...
Previously, I had mentioned the possible origins of the smiling corpse. It was said that when a person is extremely exhausted, their body enters a special sleep state similar to death as a form of self-regulation. Because this state is so comfortable, the person's face involuntarily smiles in their sleep, but their breathing stops, and they absorb oxygen through their skin pores. This can lead to them being mistaken for dead and nailed into a coffin, then buried alive in a place with strong yin energy. Unable to breathe oxygen in the coffin, they continuously absorb yin energy, which interacts with the yang energy they had before burial, ultimately creating a being that is neither human nor corpse. Buried for thousands of years without decaying, their faces still look lifelike, smiling as they were before being buried. Once the coffin is opened, they immediately awaken, hence the name 'smiling corpse'.
Looking at the deep robe with curved hems worn by the creature, such garments were typically worn by laborers in ancient times.
Combining all this, I guessed that this smiling corpse might have been one of the craftsmen who built Helian Gui's mausoleum! Helian Gui died in his prime and would not have prepared for his own burial in advance, and the Xiongnu did not have such customs. Moreover, he died an unnatural death, so the tomb must have been hastily constructed after his demise. To ensure that Helian Gui was buried before his body decomposed, Helian Bobo's overseers must have ruthlessly exploited the craftsmen, forcing them to work day and night. It was not uncommon for workers to die from exhaustion, and this smiling corpse might have been one of them, except he wasn't truly dead. Under those circumstances, no one would have cared about such details; they would have simply buried him in a hastily dug pit. Here, absorbing the resentment and yin energy of the land of the wailing dragon, and somehow obtaining a breath of yang energy, he rose from the dead and became the smiling corpse.
After seeing the true face of the smiling corpse, I felt my speculation was most likely correct!
"Evil creature! If you want to keep us here, you'll have to get past me first!"
At that moment, Zhang Jinya roared and pulled out a peach wood sword from his backpack. Biting his tongue to draw blood, he formed a hand seal and charged at the smiling corpse.
Rosa was quick to act as well. Seeing Zhang Jinya move, she immediately pulled out a dagger from her boot, smeared it with her own yang blood, and joined the attack in a pincer move with Zhang Jinya and the dog, all of them ganging up on the smiling corpse.
"Zhou family boy, follow me to pry open the tomb door!"
Fatty bellowed, probably having already sealed the evil energy point with the gold talisman. Leaving Helian Gui's coffin, he took advantage of Zhang Jinya's group attacking the smiling corpse and led Zhou Jing to pry open the sealed tomb door.
Their sudden action left me so startled that I didn't even react at first.
Actually, it was mainly because I had a certain fear of the smiling corpse. Seeing it, my legs were stuck to the ground as if rooted, and I was completely flustered. It wasn't until I heard Zhang Jinya's scream that I finally snapped out of it. Turning my head, I saw that Zhang Jinya, Rosa, and the dog were still at a disadvantage against the smiling corpse. The creature was impervious to weapons, and even those stained with yang blood couldn't harm it, and it had struck Zhang Jinya hard enough to make him spit blood.
"What are you dazed for, Xiao Tian?"
After being thrown back, Zhang Jinya got up and charged again, shouting at me, "This thing is too fierce, I miscalculated, I can't handle it. Hurry up and join the fight shoulder to shoulder!"
Join the fight shoulder to shoulder, what's the use?
I muttered to myself, feeling anxious. But a head-on confrontation really wasn't the solution. The smiling corpse had gained some supernatural power, and without Qing Yi's abilities, the few of us rushing in would be like sending sheep to the slaughter. We needed to think of another way!
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in my head—why not use the summoning technique!?
Although I was only a beginner and didn't know what I could summon, I had to try something in this critical moment.
With that thought, I made up my mind. Without a word, I took off my backpack and pulled out a stick of incense. This incense was a special kind used for summoning spirits. I didn't know the exact ingredients, but it smelled similar to sandalwood, yet more refined. Qing Yi had given it to me when I was learning the summoning technique, and there was quite a lot of it—a big pack with a few hundred sticks. Qing Yi said this incense could bridge the world of the living and the netherworld. Light the incense to summon the spirits, and the spirits leave when the incense burns out. If no spirits are summoned during the burning, one must immediately give up, bathe, and fast for forty-nine days before trying again. If one tries immediately, the spirits that already dislike you will come looking for trouble.
I placed the incense in a crack between the floor tiles of the burial chamber and lit it with a lighter. Instantly, a fragrant aroma spread out. It was a very special scent that made me feel completely calm. I also took off the Faqiu Yin hanging on my waist, as having it on would repel evil spirits and be unfavorable for summoning. After all this, I sat cross-legged on the ground and began to change hand seals according to the method taught by Qing Yi. They were Taoist hand seals, the meanings of which I didn't know; I was simply imitating.
At that moment, my mind was exceptionally calm, and all distracting thoughts had vanished. It wasn't long before I felt my consciousness begin to drift, like being drunk, and then I felt as if I had entered a very peculiar world surrounded by mist.
"Muahaha, there's actually a little ghost!"
A terrifying laugh rang in my ears, and a huge ghostly face wrapped in darkness floated in front of me.
Joy filled my heart, knowing I had succeeded. I quickly said, "I, Ge Tianzhong, have encountered evil spirits causing trouble in the world of the living and have come to ask the esteemed predecessors for help in subduing the demon!"
As soon as these words were spoken, sharp cries echoed all around, and clusters of black mist drifted in the distance.
Damn, did I summon so many?
I was stunned. Qing Yi had said that once the summoning technique is used, any spirit willing to show itself to you is definitely willing to help. I hadn't expected my first attempt at this technique to summon so many ghosts. No wonder Qing Yi said that someone with my innate deficiency in yang energy was particularly suited to learn the summoning technique.
"This..."
For a moment, I didn't know how to proceed, so I spoke up, "I have encountered a smiling corpse, may I ask which predecessor can assist me in subduing this demon?"
As soon as I said this, the surrounding black mist vanished in an instant.
Did they all get scared away?
I was taken aback and couldn't help but smile wryly. However, just as I was feeling disappointed, a gloomy voice suddenly sounded, "Oh? You're an interesting little fellow. Well then, Second Master will lend you a hand and accompany you on this trip!"
As the voice faded, a mass of yin energy suddenly emerged from afar. When the yin energy dissipated, a ghostly figure in white clothes hopped towards me, its head topped with a tall hat bearing the words "You have come." A long red tongue hung from its mouth, almost reaching its chest, looking quite ferocious.
At the sight of this figure, I was struck as if by lightning—damn it, had I summoned the White Impermanence, Second Master Bai?