Volume Two: The Secret Burial of the Cliff Valley - Chapter 149: The Escaped Fish

I nodded. The reason Chu Liuyan’s case had stalled for so long was precisely because they could not locate South Willow Village. Now that Third Uncle had explained that the century-old withered tree was the key to maintaining the village's mysterious existence, with the tree destroyed, South Willow Village could naturally be found.

Third Uncle continued, "I have already called Chu Liuyan and filled him in on the details. He will take over this matter immediately, and I expect we will have some breakthrough soon. Let's not go anywhere these past couple of days; we'll stay right here at the company and wait for news."

With that, Third Uncle crossed his legs, looking utterly drained as he began to regulate his breathing through meditation.

I looked at Third Uncle's face, which seemed to have aged several years in an instant. It appeared that this operation had taken a heavy toll on his physical body. Whenever Third Uncle was with me, he rarely acted like an elder, often cracking moderate jokes. Yet over the past few days, he had grown remarkably composed, as if he were a completely different person. I knew it was due to his physical condition, and that he was merely forcing himself to endure.

However, there was nothing I could do to help. Based on my limited theoretical knowledge, Third Uncle’s condition was definitely not as mild as he claimed. It was likely that after that strand of residual soul left his body, it suffered damage, and upon returning to its host, it remained a wounded soul. While physical injuries to the human body could be healed and recovered from, a wounded soul was by no means a simple matter.

This suddenly made me think of myself. Third Uncle had once said that one of my natal lamps had gone out, and since one lamp represented one soul, it meant there was also something wrong with my soul—it was either damaged or gone. When Third Uncle first told me about this, I understood nothing about souls and spirits, so I had listened in utter confusion and never quite figured it out in the end. Later on, through continuous studying and reading, I managed to cram some knowledge in this area.

I diagnosed myself: my entire soul probably wasn't lost. It was likely that, much like Third Uncle, I had lost a single strand of residual soul, and an incomplete soul caused the lamp to extinguish. I only had an extinguished lamp. That was why Third Uncle had been so ecstatic upon obtaining the Five-Emperor Buddha Lamp. With these Five-Emperor Lamps, it would be possible to replicate the natal flame and help me complete my missing residual soul.

Yet, I too had lost a strand of residual soul; why hadn't I reacted as violently as Third Uncle? All along, I had lived just like an ordinary person without anything affecting me. For a very long time, I even suspected that Third Uncle was just pulling my leg. All that talk about natal lamps going out and souls being lost sounded like complete lies.

Though I now believed Third Uncle would never joke about such a matter, it was true that my body hadn't shown any severe reactions.

Third Uncle said we were waiting for news over the next couple of days, and I figured we were waiting for word from two fronts. One was from Chu Liuyan’s side, and the other was from Ma Su’s. Ma Su had taken the earth mirage away, claiming he needed to study and extract the dragon gallbladder sand from it. If Third Uncle and Chu Liuyan wished to be cured of their half-corpse syndrome, all their hopes rested on this dragon gallbladder sand. We had no choice but to trust Ma Su, to believe that he was an upright and selfless person. Otherwise, once that dragon gallbladder sand was refined, it would represent a massive fortune. If he turned his back and refused to acknowledge our agreement, there was nothing we could do.

Of course, these were just my wild speculations. I knew Old Ma’s character very well and trusted him one hundred percent.

Following Third Uncle’s arrangements, I stayed on guard at the company. Every day, Third Uncle asked me to prepare a porridge made of five grains for him. Apart from eating this porridge, he touched nothing else. Yet five days had passed, and his condition showed little improvement; his complexion remained pale, and every word and movement of his was feeble.

On the evening of the fifth day, news finally arrived from Chu Liuyan's side.

Wearing his large bamboo hat as usual, Chu Liuyan rushed to our company late at night. Upon seeing Third Uncle’s appearance, Chu Liuyan paused in shock and quickly asked, "Has your soul been injured?"

Third Uncle nodded and said flatly, "It's nothing serious. Do you have news from your end?"

Chu Liuyan looked at Third Uncle, then glanced at me, and said, "I have news. I've also managed to figure out the whole story from beginning to end. Based on the clues you provided, we conducted a thorough investigation on Zhou Zheng, looking into his residence as well as his relatives and friends. Evidence shows that he began preparing for this matter several years ago. Those express packages sent to South Willow Village and the couriers born under yin hours were all the results of his meticulous planning. In the safe at Zhou Zheng’s home, we also found an ancient book called *The Encyclopedia of Insects*. It recorded that the Insect King Zou Baizu, though stiffened, was not truly dead; he needed the blood of eighteen living people born under yin hours to nourish him, and he would revive from his rigidity. Zhou Zheng managed to lure seventeen people born under yin hours over one after another, taking their blood to nourish Zou Baizu."

"Seventeen? That number still isn't enough..." I asked.

"Ma Su was the eighteenth," Chu Liuyan said.

"Old Ma? Zhou Zheng didn't even spare his own teacher."

"You already know what happened next. Because Xing Mo and you intervened, that plan fell through."

I doubted this and asked, "That can't be right. Zou Baizu was already alive at the time, and he even attacked us."

Chu Liuyan shook his head. "He was rigid, not dead. So when he moved, it wasn't a resurrection—he was simply being controlled by Zhou Zheng."

Third Uncle asked, "What would have happened if Zou Baizu had truly been resurrected?"

Chu Liuyan replied, "I believe Zhou Zheng had two objectives in going to South Willow Village: one was the massive amount of dragon gallbladder sand, and the other was Zou Baizu's body after his resurrection. It is highly likely that he wanted the organs from Zou Baizu's body. Of course, these are just guesses. Zou Baizu's zombie corpse has already been destroyed by fire. The golden cicada silk garment on his body was fire-resistant, but for some reason, his body was still burned beyond recognition. We only managed to confirm through DNA testing that he was indeed a man from several centuries ago."

Third Uncle said, "I spat a mouthful of primordial vital blood at him back then; that must have broken the golden cicada silk garment."

Chu Liuyan slapped his thigh. "That settles it then! No wonder I thought... What? You spat primordial vital blood? Are you out of your mind? That consumes a massive amount of primordial spirit! No wonder you are currently..."

Third Uncle smiled bitterly. "The situation was urgent at the time, and I couldn't think of any other way. What about Zhou Zheng? Did you find him?"

Chu Liuyan shook his head. "We cleared out that entire expanse of ruins and did find seventeen bodies inside—they were all the couriers and the people born under yin hours that Zhou Zheng had lured away. But Zhou Zheng has vanished. We are currently issuing a cooperative investigation notice and preparing to put out a national manhunt..."

I suddenly recalled that Zhou Zheng had also been wearing the exact same clothing as Zou Baizu, so I reminded them, "He was also wearing a golden cicada silk garment. Since it can resist fire, could he have taken the opportunity to escape during the chaos?"

Chu Liuyan nodded. "That is indeed a strong possibility."

Third Uncle sighed. "It seems Zhou Zheng has slipped through the net. That is the real trouble facing us now. Zhou Zheng is malicious by nature, and everything he painstakingly plotted has been ruined by us. None of his objectives were met, so he surely won't let this rest easily."