I'm quite unlucky; everyone else is fine.
It's just me, splashed on the thigh by that corpse poison water.
It had seeped into my skin, causing me to be poisoned.
But it's also fortunate that if it had been any higher, the consequences would have been unimaginable...
Master and Daoist Tang have seen much worse.
Even though I was poisoned, they quickly treated me, successfully stopping the spread of the poison.
Once we return, Master can use glutinous rice and its water to draw out the poison.
At this moment, Mo Ting supported me as we followed Master and Daoist Tang towards the demonic cultivator's corpse.
The demonic cultivator's body lay still on the ground.
But its stomach had a large hole.
Corrosive, poisonous black water was everywhere.
As we approached the corpse, we found that the demonic cultivator itself had been disfigured by the poisonous black water.
It was bloody and exuded a foul stench.
Especially its stomach, which had completely burst open.
It was hollow inside.
We stood before the corpse, observing it closely.
Although the demonic cultivator was disfigured, as if a layer of skin had been peeled off,
its flesh didn't look right at all.
It was far from fresh, more like a corpse that had been dead for many days.
Just as I thought this, Daoist Tang, standing in front of me, frowned and said,
"This is just a long-dead corpse, not the true body of that demonic cultivator."
As soon as Daoist Tang finished speaking, my Master nodded,
"No wonder that demonic cultivator was so audacious; it was controlling a puppet corpse."
After saying that, he pulled off the corpse's shoes.
Revealing the sole of the demonic cultivator's foot.
In the center of each sole, nails were driven in, piercing deep into the flesh.
"Just as I suspected! This is corpse manipulation, it's merely a corpse puppet."
Daoist Tang exclaimed in surprise upon seeing this.
Mo Ting and I could only stand by quietly, watching our masters examine and analyze.
I had read about this corpse manipulation technique in an old book at the shop.
It was said to be a technique from the Miao region.
A branch of the broader "corpse driving" arts.
Special talismans were inserted into the soles of the corpse's feet.
And through specific incantations, the corpse could be controlled.
I never expected to encounter it here today.
Our masters quickly examined the corpse from bottom to top, all the way to its head.
Its face had been corroded by the black water, the flesh mangled, and its eyes tightly shut.
Master and Daoist Tang glanced at it briefly, not paying much attention.
Then I heard my Master say,
"You old scoundrel, go find some firewood and burn this corpse.
If we leave it here, it might turn into a zombie, and that would be trouble."
Daoist Tang's expression darkened upon hearing this,
"You damn idiot, why should I go? Don't you have hands?"
As a result, the two old men began arguing again over who would fetch the firewood to burn the corpse.
Mo Ting and I watched, not bothering to intervene.
Because it was useless, and we had grown accustomed to it.
We could only stand there awkwardly, smiling wryly.
However, at that moment, my peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the demonic cultivator's corpse.
I noticed the corpse's eyelids seemed to twitch.
This sudden anomaly alerted me.
I quickly looked back at the corpse.
The corpse lay still, its body putrid, a large hole in its stomach.
Its face was even more mangled.
But as I looked closely at the corpse's eyes,
I realized its eyelids were indeed twitching.
It was as if the corpse was trying to open its eyes.
Straining to control its flesh...
I was somewhat surprised and quickly said,
"Master, Daoist Tang, this corpse seems to be moving."
"Huh! This corpse is really moving, Master, could it be reanimating?"
Mo Ting also shouted.
Master and Daoist Tang, who were arguing, turned their heads upon hearing us.
"Moving?"
"How is that possible!"
Both of them looked incredulous and leaned closer.
Upon closer inspection, they saw that the corpse's eyelids were indeed twitching, as if it were alive.
"What's going on? There's no corpse energy, it doesn't seem like it's about to reanimate."
Daoist Tang frowned in confusion.
My Master's expression also darkened,
"When things are abnormal, there's usually a reason. Everyone step back, let's take a look!"
But as soon as my Master finished speaking,
the mangled face's eyes suddenly snapped open.
The blank, white eyes stared directly at the four of us.
Not only that, its closed mouth also opened in an instant.
Before the four of us could react, with four "swishing" sounds, four nails shot out, heading straight for us.
Master and Daoist Tang were greatly alarmed.
They didn't even have time to shout a warning and could only wave their hands to block.
With two "bangs," they deflected the nails aimed at them.
But Mo Ting and I, due to our lower cultivation, truly couldn't react in time.
We only felt a sharp pain in our chests as the nails burrowed into our hearts.
In that instant, our chests tightened.
As if struck by electricity.
"Ah!"
We both clutched our chests, unable to stand upright.
"Xiao Qin!"
"Disciple!"
Master and Daoist Tang looked at us in panic.
This sudden turn of events, let alone us, even our masters hadn't foreseen it.
And these two nails, after piercing our chests, apart from the electric shock,
even more bizarrely, were accompanied by waves of coldness.
It began from our chests and rapidly spread throughout our bodies...