Chapter Seventy-Three: The Fragrance of Corpses

"Wake up, wake up!"

In the midst of utter darkness, Fang You heard someone calling his name.

"Who is it?" Slowly opening his eyes, Fang You found himself enveloped in a mysterious, deep gloom.

"Who is calling me?" Fang You asked.

Suddenly, a blinding light appeared before him, and a divine general clad in golden armor, wielding a three-pointed double-edged blade, with two long phoenix plumes atop his head, stood before Fang You.

"I am Yang Jian, the True Lord Erlang of Guankou."

"Yang Jian?" Fang You steadied himself. "Isn't Yang Jian a divine general of the heavens? How could he be here?"

"The Eastern Divine Lands have been invaded; the Northern gods have trespassed into the East. I, the True Lord, was defeated and my soul scattered, leaving only a wisp of divine spirit. Now, I borrow your body, hiding within your soul. When I restore my golden form, I shall return to the Eastern Divine Lands and battle the Northern gods once more!"

Lost in confusion, Fang You listened as the divine general who called himself the True Lord spoke eloquently, unable to discern truth from illusion.

"A hundred years ago, we were still friends. These are words of heavenly fate. If not for your actions that angered the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Emperor would not have banished you to the mortal realm." The majestic Erlang God regarded Fang You solemnly.

"What did I do?" Fang You gradually cleared his mind, staring at the imposing True Lord Erlang before him, whose divine power seeped forth. It truly seemed a divine general's soul resided within him.

"Alas, I cannot tell you directly. You must see for yourself, and how much you comprehend depends entirely on you." With a wave of Yang Jian's right hand, a massive copper-locked door appeared before them.

Fang You pushed open the door, and the scene that unfolded stunned him.

Before him lay a land covered in white bones, devastation everywhere; starving people knelt in prayer, trees had fallen, beams collapsed, and the earth echoed with cries of misery.

"Did I... do all this?"

Meanwhile, inside the train—

"The Shandong Corpse-Driving Sect?" Li Xinyi looked at the corpse-driver, You Da, before him and frowned.

Li Xinyi harbored little fondness for the Shandong sect; they learned corpse-driving arts from Xiangxi, and in essence, their methods were borrowed and not original.

Moreover, Li Xinyi's journey to Shandong was prompted by a group of ruthless corpse-drivers from the region.

"So, what are you up to now?" Li Xinyi eyed You Da, the Shandong corpse-driver, with a hint of irritation, suspecting some scheme.

"I've recently joined a sect called the Yin-Yang Hall. They've assigned me a task: there are several wealthy passengers in this carriage, and I must kill them silently, make it look like an accident. After some thought, orchestrating a train collision seemed the most convenient."

As they spoke, the train suddenly lurched.

It turned out the conductor had also succumbed to the corpse-hallucination incense, though the soundproof window at the front limited his exposure. Still, the incense seeping through the ventilation beneath the window was enough to make him drowsy.

"Just to kill a few rich folks, you intend to make the entire train pay with their lives?" Li Xinyi broke out in a cold sweat, appalled by the Shandong corpse-driver's cruelty.

"It's unavoidable. Yin-Yang Hall's biggest client right now is Xu Qiang, the tycoon of the North Market. He gave the order!"

"Yin-Yang Hall, being an outsider sect, rarely gets hired. Now that such a wealthy patron is offering money, naturally, we must perform as instructed. Maybe it's just a financial dispute? Who cares—just follow orders and get paid."

You Da spoke as he prepared to climb onto the train roof to escape. "Since we're both corpse-drivers, let me advise you to leave quickly. My corpse-hallucination incense is beyond your capabilities."

"Animated corpses have spirit, animated corpses have nature. Hear my command—return at once!" Li Xinyi hurriedly attempted to summon his corpses stored in the rear carriage's compartment, using his corpse-control arts to force You Da to cure the passengers.

"That's why I say you Xiangxi corpse-drivers are nothing without your corpses. Your arts rely on the body. When I surveyed the train layout earlier, I found the corpses stored in the rear compartment and stabbed their immobilization points with corpse needles. They're immobilized now. I wager you haven't reached the realm of controlling corpses through forced needles?"

By now, You Da had pried open the roof window and was gripping its edge. "Farewell, then!"

"Don't think you can escape!" Suddenly, Li Xinyi pulled out his corpse-control threads. Each thread ended with a black nail designed to pierce a corpse's acupuncture point and control it. "Thread as rope, nail as tool, the art of corpse-driving returns to its origin, all methods united—grant release!" Li Xinyi hurled the threads as weapons, and in his hands, they wriggled like agile serpents, darting toward You Da.

"Not bad, kid. Let me show you the Shandong method!" You Da dodged the attack with a quick sidestep, then pulled a long needle from his coat and, with lightning speed, stabbed it three inches below Li Xinyi's right arm.

Li Xinyi's right side immediately went numb.

Still, his left hand managed to wield the corpse-control threads and launch another attack at You Da.

"Without corpses nearby, you Xiangxi corpse-drivers are powerless!" You Da pulled out another long needle and stabbed it into Li Xinyi's back.

This strike left Li Xinyi completely paralyzed.

You Da flashed yellow teeth in a grin and looked at Li Xinyi. "Heh heh heh, kid, I won't kill you, but I won’t save you either. I've calculated the timing—about ten minutes from now, this train will collide with the one at the southeast corner."

"Don't count on the train crew either. Even if they inhaled less, they should be unconscious by now. I used a heavy dose; even a little inhaled spreads rapidly through the abdomen and into every part of the body. The mind will fade bit by bit until all lose consciousness."

Li Xinyi tried to pull out the long needle from his body, but not only was he unable, the more he struggled, the more paralyzed he became.

"Why bother trying? Forcing your energy will burst your blood vessels. You shouldn't have stopped me earlier. But now, I'm leaving anyway. We Shandong corpse-drivers never care for you Xiangxi types. You only have corpse-control arts. We Shandong have developed many techniques; even without corpses, we can harm people. Learn well! Oh... but it seems you won't have the chance. Goodbye!"

With that, You Da approached the roof window, preparing to leap out and escape.

"Damn it!" Unable to move, Li Xinyi glanced around and suddenly spotted Fang You collapsed nearby. Clinging to his last hope, he shouted toward Fang You on the floor, "Brother Daoist, please get up! Little Daoist Fang You, wake up, I beg you!"