I frowned and looked at Yi Lu for a good while, then said, "Ye Yang, nail the clothes down. We'll go upstream and take a look."

Ye Yang used four coffin nails to secure the sleeves and the bottom corners of the shirt to the edge of the riverbank, with the collar facing the water, but maintaining a distance of about two steps.

Ye Yang was preventing the water ghost from entering the water. When the sun rose, the water ghost wouldn't be able to withstand the exposure and would be unable to return to the water, forcing it to call for its companions to save it.

This was a common tactic used by sorcerers against water ghosts.

I gave Ye Yang a look, and he quietly pocketed the nail that should have been hammered into the center of the shirt, standing silently behind me as we stepped into the water and moved upstream.

As he walked, Ye Yang quietly transmitted his voice to me, "Going to the upper village now, we don't have enough manpower."

I replied expressionlessly, "Don't worry! Hei Ye Xiao is coming."

At this moment, Hei Ye Xiao had already led hundreds of zombies to the outskirts of Da Meng Village.

The Emperor's four vanguard generals should each command three thousand zombies. Hei Ye Xiao's corpse, which had remained in Yan Yu Pavilion, hadn't turned into a zombie. This time, he only brought his earliest zombie guards from Miao territory.

Although this group of zombies wasn't large in number, it was enough to sweep through ordinary sorcerer sects.

They could even put up a fight against cultivators from the major sects.

Before I came to Da Meng Village, Hei Ye Xiao's guards hadn't arrived yet. As soon as Hei Ye Xiao's men arrived, they approached Da Meng Village and surrounded Old Man Zuo, who was waiting outside.

Old Man Zuo pleaded and begged until Old Liu believed that he was there waiting for my signal, and only then did he escape being devoured by the zombies.

However, he was so frightened that he didn't dare to get close to Old Liu anymore, keeping his distance.

Old Liu didn't take Old Man Zuo seriously, either, and chatting with Hei Ye Xiao with a smile as he waved his fan, "Old Hei! Thanks to you! Our Liang Jie Tang is finally living in prosperity."

"Since I arrived at Liang Jie Tang, I've never commanded more than a hundred people. Now that's all changed, a full one hundred and fifty."

Hei Ye Xiao rarely joked with Old Liu, "Look at your lack of ambition! If Tangzhu (Hall Master) obtains the ghost-god army left behind by the Emperor, wouldn't you be ecstatic?"

Old Liu's eyes lit up, "Ghost-god army, how many people are there?"

"Conservatively estimated, there are fifty thousand ghost-gods!" Hei Ye Xiao said, "Those are the elite troops left behind by the Emperor! Besides that, there are more than five thousand Xing Tian Guards."

Old Liu didn't recover for a long time, "This... so many?"

Hei Ye Xiao shook his head, "Too few!"

"When the Heavenly Prison opens, the Heavenly Souls impacting Liang Jie Mountain will number in the millions, and their cultivation will be powerful."

"If the Underworld doesn't send troops, how many people can we mobilize?"

"It's uncertain whether we can stop the Heavenly Souls with the assets left behind by the Emperor, plus the two strong armies of the Coffin Gate."

"It's hateful that the people in the sorcerer's world know that the Heavenly Tribulation is coming, but they are all playing their own games."

Hei Ye Xiao gritted his teeth, "Don't those people who are criticizing Tangzhu (Hall Master) see the truth?"

"This is so simple, anyone who isn't an idiot can see it clearly."

"But, has anyone clarified things for Tangzhu (Hall Master)? Has anyone stood up and said a word for Tangzhu (Hall Master)?"

Hei Ye Xiao sighed, "I know what they want to do."

"They want Liang Jie Tang and the Coffin Gate, these fearless fools, to stand at the front and fight the Heavenly Souls."

"But, have they thought about it? If all the elites of the sorcerer's world are wiped out, who will stop the Heavenly Souls from descending?"

Old Liu shook his head, "We can't completely blame them!"

"After all, no one wants to be cannon fodder."

Hei Ye Xiao was silent for a long time, finally sighing, "I heard that the Confucian's Repentant Soul is lobbying the sorcerer's sects. I wonder what the result will be?"

Old Liu shook his head again, "It's useless. Repentant Soul's righteousness won't move the people of the sorcerer's world. Repentant Soul is destined to return heartbroken from this trip. Unless..."

Old Liu stopped halfway, and Hei Ye Xiao asked anxiously, "Unless what?"

Old Liu said, "Unless we use a poisonous scheme. But, that's a last resort. Once things are exposed, without the Heavenly Souls, the sorcerer's world will be destroyed directly."

"Seeking victory in danger is not the great path after all! We should avoid it if we can."

Old Liu sighed, "Sometimes, I really want to be like the lord and recklessly kill everything without considering the consequences. Unfortunately, strategists can't be so impulsive."

"I don't understand you strategists!" Hei Ye Xiao muttered before saying, "By the way, how are you going to deal with those people outside? They're all coming to risk their lives against Tangzhu (Hall Master)!"

Old Liu said, "How else can we deal with them? Let them make noise if they want to. They can't cause any trouble anyway!"

"Xie Ban Gui's side has sent out the ghost police and divine catchers to investigate the case. Zhu Zi Ning's shrimp soldiers and crab generals aren't their opponents."

"However, this Da Meng Village feels a bit strange to me."

Hei Ye Xiao looked up, "I have an old friend in Da Meng Village."

"A zombie?" Old Liu looked at Hei Ye Xiao in horror, "Jiang Chen, Ying Gou, who is in Da Meng Village?"

Hei Ye Xiao shook his head, "I smell the aura of Di Xiansheng."

"I used to be unwilling to recall my past, I was afraid of remembering Luo Luo."

"Recently, I have been thinking about everything in Yan Yu Pavilion."

"But the more I think about it, the more I feel that there are many doubts."