Right now, Zhang Yunliang was squeezing my neck tightly.
I had initially thought he was possessed by something unclean, so I used the Tianpeng Ruler to strike him a couple of times.
To my surprise, the ruler had no effect on him whatsoever.
Only now did I realize that Zhang Yunliang wasn't possessed by any ghost.
Otherwise, the Tianpeng Ruler would have had an effect.
Zhang Yunliang's grip on my neck was getting tighter, making it harder for me to breathe.
He kept growling like a beast, drool dripping from his mouth, almost landing on my face.
I struggled to dodge it – it was too disgusting.
At that moment, I suddenly noticed a thin white line in Zhang Yunliang's eyes, particularly in the area of the eyeballs, which were filled with bloodshot veins.
Seeing this, I finally understood.
No wonder the Tianpeng Ruler wasn't working on him.
It turned out Zhang Yunliang had been controlled by a dark spell.
In other words, someone nearby was controlling Zhang Yunliang.
Since I had been training in martial arts with my master since I was a kid, I had considerable strength, but still not as much as Zhang Yunliang.
Because when someone is controlled by a dark spell, their body's kinetic energy is squeezed to the limit.
It's like how a person's strength can increase tenfold when they are about to die.
That's why many people who drown are often able to drag their rescuers into the water and drown them – a person in their death throes will grab onto anything they can, holding on with immense force, like they've grasped their last lifeline.
Seeing that I was about to suffocate, Zhang Yunyao finally snapped out of it.
She picked up a stone from the ground and walked towards me.
She aimed it at Zhang Yunliang's head several times, but she couldn't bring herself to strike.
After all, that was her own brother, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She was also worried about killing him.
Even in this situation, she still had so many reservations.
I used every ounce of strength I had left to force a single word out of my throat: "Smash!"
That word seemed to give Zhang Yunyao immense courage.
She closed her eyes and smashed the stone against Zhang Yunliang's head.
Because she was so panicked, Zhang Yunyao didn't have much force behind her swing.
The stone basically just fell onto Zhang Yunliang's head.
However, it was enough at that crucial moment.
The moment the stone hit Zhang Yunliang's head, his body convulsed, and his hand that was strangling my neck suddenly loosened.
This gave me a chance to breathe.
I took a deep breath, freed my hands, and quickly formed the Outer Lion Seal.
I muttered the Mantra of the Golden Scepter Bodhisattva, and with a swift motion, struck Zhang Yunliang in the chest.
The strike sent Zhang Yunliang flying four or five meters back, landing on the ground.
I flipped over, quickly got to my feet, rushed to Zhang Yunliang's side, and before he could get up, I stepped on his chest.
I formed the Outer Binding Seal again, chanting the Mantra of the Golden Scepter Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and yelled out "All!"
This Outer Binding Seal represents the sensation of crisis, it manifests the ability to know people's minds and manipulate them, to break free from any entanglements.
At this moment, Zhang Yunliang was controlled, his mind was under someone else's control.
Only this seal could break it.
The seal landed directly on Zhang Yunliang's forehead.
Zhang Yunliang shuddered, his eyes rolled back, his body shook for a moment, and then he lay motionless on the ground.
Just as I had dealt with Zhang Yunliang's problem, Zhang Yunyao suddenly screamed in terror, "Wu Master, that corpse... it seems to be moving!"
I followed Zhang Yunyao's gaze and saw that the corpse of the Zhang family ancestor leaning against the tree had not only opened its eyes, but also its mouth.
It exhaled a puff of black air, and its body began to shake violently.
I took a closer look and couldn't help but shudder in fright.
The corpse's mouth had actually revealed a set of large fangs, and its hands were quickly growing long fingernails.
Those nails weren't there before, but now they were already seven or eight centimeters long, sharp and black.
My worst fear had come to fruition.
The corpses buried in the Shady Corpse Ground, they never rotted or decayed for thousands of years.
These corpses were the most prone to reanimation.
There were many reasons why this corpse might have reanimated.
First, the Zhang family's ancestral tomb had been tampered with;
second, Zhang Yunliang had been mind-controlled, using candles to roast the corpse's chin and smearing the oil on his own face, transferring his own vitality to the corpse, which could also have triggered its reanimation.
Seeing this, my heart started pounding.
You get what you fear.
I finally understood why the eight-tailed fox in my body had told me not to come to the Zhang family's ancestral tomb.
It turned out that this place was truly perilous.
No matter what, I had to face this, if this thing went crazy, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Zhang , run! Wait for me in the car!" I shouted to Zhang Yunyao.
I picked up the Tianpeng Ruler on the ground and charged directly at the now-moving zombie.
Before I could reach the reanimated corpse, the corpse let out a muffled roar and leaped towards me.
A foul wind rushed at my face, filled with evil energy.
The zombie jumped four or five meters, landing right next to me.
It extended its sharp claws and swiped at me.
I raised the Tianpeng Ruler in my hand and struck the zombie.
The ruler landed squarely on the zombie's shoulder.
A muffled thud echoed, the zombie staggered and took a few steps back.
In the blink of an eye, the zombie leaped again, jumping towards me.
Its hands swung horizontally, striking towards me.
This thing was incredibly fast, even stronger than Zhang Yunliang had been.
I continued to swing the Tianpeng Ruler against it, the ruler hit its body, but I was also struck by the zombie's arms.
We were both knocked back several meters.
The zombie's arms were as hard as iron.
When they hit my shoulder, I felt a numbness in my arm, and I could barely hold onto the Tianpeng Ruler.
I gritted my teeth and flipped back to my feet.
I hardened my heart, "Damn it, I'll fight it!"