113: Chapter 113 The Past of the Perilous Miao Territory

Leng Yue, sitting in the shadows of the corridor, heard Lin Ye's analysis, and a trace of profound ripples stirred in her deep red eyes.

As a Drought Demon, she held an awe stemming from the depths of her bloodline for such an existence standing at the pinnacle of the corpse path.

Ayugu was originally crouching at the doorway playing with ants.

After hearing Lin Ye's account, she threw away the branch in her hand and walked quickly to the Eight Immortals table.

The Miaojiang girl's face was as pale as paper, and even her lips lost all color.

"Manager Lin, I warned you long ago that that place is very dangerous. Even the people on our side don't dare to approach it easily."

Ayugu pressed her hands on the table surface, her voice trembling.

Lin Ye turned his head to look at her: "What is the specific situation of this place?"

Ayugu swallowed a mouthful of saliva and began to speak.

"The successive High Priests of the Eighteen Villages of Miaojiang have passed down a taboo by word of mouth."

"Deep within the Ten Thousand Mountains, there is a canyon cursed by the God of Death. That place is the ultimate graveyard for all venomous insects in our Miaojiang."

The silver ring on her neck made a subtle sound.

"Before the venomous creatures in the mountains reach the end of their lifespans, they will be summoned by some mysterious power."

"Swarms of centipedes, poisonous snakes, and toads will all instinctively crawl into that canyon to wait for death. For thousands of years, countless venomous insect corpses have rotted in the soil."

"If you grab a handful of soil from there, the toxicity could knock down an adult elephant."

Ayugu gripped the edge of the table tightly.

"At the bottom of that canyon is the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Cave. If a living person goes in, even their bone fragments will be corroded into yellow water by the poisonous miasma."

The hall fell into a long silence.

The sunlight was still bright, but the few people beside the Eight Immortals table felt a bone-chilling coldness.

A feng shui dead end combined with a highly toxic demon cave.

This trip could be described as a desperate situation with zero chance of survival.

Lin Ye did not shrink back.

He took out the small bronze box blackened by lightning from the interlayer of his tactical backpack.

"Old Bai, put away the ancient books on the table."

Lin Ye placed the bronze box flat in the center of the Eight Immortals table.

Bai Yu extremely quickly stuffed those precious county chronicle archives back into the kraft paper box and stepped back two steps.

Lin Ye's fingers latched onto the clasp of the bronze box.

"Click."

The box lid was lifted open.

A strong, pungent smell of aged antiseptic spices mixed with corpse stench permeated the hall.

At the bottom of the bronze box, the severed finger wrapped in gold foil lay quietly.

Lin Ye did not reach out to touch it.

The moment he removed the lid, the withered, dark cyan severed finger was directly exposed to the abundant midday sunlight.

An unexpected change suddenly occurred.

The moment this severed finger came into contact with the rich yang energy in the air, not only was it not burned by the utmost-rigid energy of the sunlight, but instead it was like an enraged beast.

"Click! Click click!"

The blackened fingernail at the front of the severed finger forcefully extended forward by half an inch in front of everyone.

The nail was curved like a hook, sharp enough to emit a metallic cold light.

It scraped harshly against the base of the bronze box, yet its fingertips still rigidly pointed towards the southwest.

"Bring a mirror." Lin Ye instructed without raising his head.

Fatty Wang hurriedly pulled open the counter drawer, fished out an ordinary Bagua mirror bought on the market for dozens of yuan, and handed it to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye pinched the edge of the Bagua mirror and slowly brought the mirror surface close to the severed finger.

It was still half a foot away from the severed finger.

"Bang!"

A crisp sound.

The glass mirror surface right in the center of the Bagua mirror shattered without warning.

Countless shards of broken glass splashed onto the wooden table.

The mirror holder, die-cast from brass, was eroded pitch-black throughout by an invisible evil aura within a mere three seconds, emitting a burnt, strange odor.

"Such a terrifying evil might."

Bai Yu drew in a breath of cold air and retreated repeatedly.

"Merely a severed finger, having gone through two thousand years, can actually directly shatter modern magical instruments."

Lin Ye threw the scrapped Bagua mirror into the trash can, casually snapped the lid of the bronze box shut, isolating the captivating fierce evil.

He turned his head to look at Fatty Wang and Bai Yu.

"Facing an evil land of this level, the yellow paper and ordinary cinnabar we usually use are simply not enough. Before entering the mountains, we must carry out heavy-duty procurement."

Lin Ye pulled over the white paper and carbon pen on the table, the pen tip rustling across the paper surface, quickly listing a long procurement checklist.

He slapped the first list in front of Fatty Wang.

"Fatty Wang, you are responsible for sweeping the goods at the major rice shops in the old city."

"Prepare fifty catties of aged glutinous rice with an age of over fifty years for me. Remember, it must be plump-grained and shade-dried in a dry cellar; not a single grain of damp and moldy glutinous rice is wanted."

Lin Ye continued to write the second line of words.

"Go to the slaughterhouse in the suburbs and find me a black donkey hoof of over thirty years."

"It must be the front hoof, the hair on the hoof cannot be shaved, and it must carry the original earthy stench."

Fatty Wang took the list and nodded repeatedly.

"Leave it to me. I'll pay extra to make them search overnight and guarantee to gather it for you by tomorrow morning."

Lin Ye turned around and handed the second list to Bai Yu.

"Old Bai, you have wide connections in the antique industry. We can only rely on you to hunt down this item."

Bai Yu lowered his head to look at the paper surface, on which only six words were written.

Five Emperors Corpse-Suppressing Coins.

"Those fake copper coins made of brass cast and aged on the market are completely useless against such a thousand-year-old evil object."

Lin Ye stared intently at Bai Yu with burning eyes.

"I want a true set of Five Emperors Coins—Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing."

"These five copper coins must be genuine original items that were truly buried with the dead, stained with the terrestrial aura in a netherworld underground palace, and brought out from the soil by a Mojin Captain."

Bai Yu pushed up his glasses, knowing full well the difficulty of this task.

"Antique shops dare not accept such original copper coins stained with the resentment of the dead; only grave robbers in the underground black market have stock in hand."

Bai Yu folded the list well and stuffed it into his pocket, his tone solemn.

"Rest assured, Mr. Lin. I will contact several familiar dens and spare no cost to help you gather these five coins."

Lin Ye patted Bai Yu's shoulder with satisfaction.

"Besides Xuanmen magical instruments, modern survival equipment cannot be lacking either. That demon cave is full of miasma and venomous insects, so a full set of gas masks is indispensable."

"High-intensity explosion-proof flashlights, polymer high-strength climbing ropes. Old Bai, find a way to help me get a few sets of military portable oxygen circulation equipment; ordinary filter elements cannot withstand the toxic soil of Miaojiang."

"No problem, the equipment application for scientific research and inspection will be handled by me within two days." Bai Yu readily agreed.

The two capable generals in charge of logistics received their tasks and each got busy.

Fatty Wang went to the backyard to drive out that commercial vehicle, carrying Bai Yu straight to the major black markets of Jiangzhou City.

The Funeral Shop returned to tranquility once again.

The sunlight shone obliquely into the indoor space along the glass door.

Lin Ye sat beside the Eight Immortals table, not looking at those mountainous ancient books and archives.

He closed his eyes, continuously deducing the degree of danger of this Miaojiang trip in his mind.

Ayugu walked to the side of the table, looked at the locked small bronze box, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Manager Lin, do you really plan to take the finger left behind by that monster into the mountains? What if it comes back to life halfway?"

Lin Ye opened his eyes, a sense of unyielding resolve shining deep within his eyes.

"It is the best guiding luopan; that Unfading Bone is calling to it. If we want to find the true entrance to the Netherworld Underground Palace, we must bring it along."

He stood up and walked to the shadow of the corridor.

Leng Yue stood there quietly, her gaze constantly following him.

Lin Ye reached out and grasped her cool, delicate hand.

"Wife, this trip to Miaojiang is likely to be a hard-fought battle."

Leng Yue gripped his palm in reverse.

On her cold, peerlessly gorgeous face, there bloomed an extremely beautiful smile sufficient to subdue the years.

"Wherever Husband goes, this concubine shall go. Mountains of blades and seas of fire, this concubine will flatten them out for Husband."