Chapter 52: The Return of Little Chubby

"Oh, you mean that female corpse? It's right in the middle of the village committee courtyard," the village chief said, pointing toward the village committee building to signal Yang Xuan to follow.

Yang Xuan nodded and walked toward the village committee.

Pushing open the door, a pungent, moldy odor wafted out from inside.

Yang Xuan could not help coughing twice.

"Master Lin, Huang Erya's body is right here."

With that, the village chief took a few steps back.

Lifting his gaze, Yang Xuan saw that a coffin was indeed placed in the center of the room.

The coffin lid was half-open, and inside lay a pale white female corpse.

The corpse wore a bright red dress. Her complexion was exceptionally pale, her skin withered and wrinkled, her eyes devoid of expression, and her mouth slightly agape, as if whispering some unspeakable secret.

Even with Yang Xuan's extensive experience with all sorts of bizarre scenes, seeing Huang Erya in this state was somewhat hard to stomach.

"Sigh, I really don't understand how those bastards could bring themselves to do this." The village chief sighed, then turned to ask Yang Xuan, "Master Lin, is there anything you need me to do?"

Yang Xuan remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "I am about to begin."

"Understood." The village chief nodded and retreated to the side.

With a deep breath, Yang Xuan formed a hand seal with his right hand and pointed his left hand in a sword-finger gesture, pressing it firmly against Huang Erya's forehead!

A wisp of black smoke drifted up from Huang Erya's mind.

The black smoke gradually took the form of a young girl, who scrambled away in sheer terror, only to be instantly grabbed by Yang Xuan.

"Are you the ghost of Huang Erya?" Yang Xuan asked indifferently, sensing the overwhelming resentment boiling within the girl.

Huang Erya struggled, attempting to break free from Yang Xuan's grip, but her efforts were entirely in vain.

"Hmph, if you dare to touch me, you will surely face retribution."

Yang Xuan shook his head with a cold smile. "I am here to help you. If you miss this chance, your soul might scatter into nothingness."

Hearing this, Huang Erya stopped struggling and looked at Yang Xuan, her eyes filled with doubt and incomprehension.

"I have already told you, I am here to save you, so I hope you will cooperate."

With those words, Yang Xuan abruptly swept his sword-finger forward, instantly drawing Huang Erya into his magical gourd vessel.

Glancing at the artifact, Yang Xuan turned and walked away.

This village reeked of strangeness and was no place for a prolonged stay. Since the village chief had already paid the deposit, he would receive the final payment once Huang Erya's affair was resolved.

There was no need to rush.

Just as Yang Xuan stepped outside, he ran straight into Fatty coming the other way.

"I'm not trying to complain, Brother Lin, but this isn't fair. We agreed to work together, and yet you just abandoned me there."

Hearing Fatty's resentful words, Yang Xuan suddenly remembered what he had left behind.

Ever since Fatty had been possessed by that malevolent spirit the other day, his mind had been entirely focused on fooling the demoness into leaving.

Fatty had been left stranded all this time in the Xihua Valley.

"My apologies, my apologies. That was my miscalculation." Yang Xuan scratched his head and hurriedly offered an apology.

"Alright, enough chatter. Let's get out of here right now." Fatty grabbed Yang Xuan's arm and began pulling him away.

Just then, the village chief chased after them.

"Master Lin, please wait."

Yang Xuan turned around, looking at the village chief in confusion.

"You... are you leaving?"

"Yes, there is a matter that requires my attention, but there is no need to worry."

"Then... I wish Master Lin success in his endeavor." The village chief rubbed his hands together, clearly holding something back.

Noticing the village chief's unspoken hesitation, Yang Xuan chose not to pry further.

"Safe travels, Master Lin."

Fatty also waved a hand at Yang Xuan.

Shortly after, Yang Xuan led Fatty away from the village.

Along the way, Fatty kept glancing sideways at Yang Xuan, as if trying to discern something from his expression.

Yet his attempts were utterly fruitless, for Yang Xuan's exterior revealed not the slightest flaw.

"Hey, Master Lin, tell me, what did that village chief want with you earlier?"

"He wanted me to perform rites of passage for Huang Erya. There are quite a few wandering lone ghosts in this village."

"Huh? You have to perform rites for them too?"

"Well, what else? What would you suggest? Should I just exterminate them?" Yang Xuan curled his lip.

At this, Fatty promptly clamped his mouth shut.

The world of these young practitioners was truly beyond his comprehension.

After walking for a long time, the two finally halted near a secluded mountain foothill.

A clear stream flowed past the base of the mountain, its banks shaded by several tall trees.

"Yang Xuan, are you saying there's something strange about the base of this mountain?" Fatty asked abruptly, gazing down at the slope.

"Mmm." Yang Xuan nodded, his expression turning solemn as he fixed his eyes on the foothill.

"What could possibly be strange about it?" Fatty asked, utterly mystified.

"If I'm not mistaken, this mountain is known as Yin-Yang Ravine, a burial ground for the dead. The resentment here is exceptionally heavy, and fierce ghosts roam these parts year-round. There might even be powerful evil entities of the Ghost King tier," Yang Xuan said in a deep voice.

"A Ghost King?!" Fatty's eyes widened in horror.

Yang Xuan nodded. "Look at the surrounding feng shui layout, coupled with the dense ominous vapors all around. If my guess is correct, this place was likely a massive ancient cemetery."

"Hiss..." Fatty drew in a sharp breath of cold air, a shiver of terror running down his spine.

The memories of the day he had been possessed by the wicked spirit were still fresh in his mind.

This place turned out to be an ancient graveyard! Had he not just waltzed right into things he had no business touching?

"Master Lin, since this is a graveyard, shouldn't we take a detour?" Fatty urged nervously.

"A detour? The word detour does not exist in my dictionary," Yang Xuan said coldly.

Though he was no blind zealot of ghosts and gods, encountering such affairs meant he would never choose to back down!

After all, the path of cultivation was one of defying the heavens; how could escape ever be that simple?

"This is a graveyard! What if a zombie crawls out of here?" Fatty's legs trembled uncontrollably, turning to jelly with fright.

Glancing sideways at Fatty, Yang Xuan strode forward directly toward Yin-Yang Ravine.

After a brief hesitation, Fatty gritted his teeth and hurried to follow.

The moment Yang Xuan stepped into Yin-Yang Ravine, he immediately felt the surrounding temperature plummet drastically.

"Whoosh..."

A gust of wind swept past, causing Fatty to shiver violently.

"Oh, mother!"

Letting out a shriek, Fatty whipped around, desperate to run back, but it was already too late.

A withered, white skeleton blocked his path.

"Holy crap!"

Trembling from head to toe, Fatty collapsed onto the ground, sitting flat on the dirt in sheer panic.

"Don't be afraid." Yang Xuan patted Fatty's shoulder and rose to his feet.

As Yang Xuan looked up, he saw a female figure clad in crimson garments and disheveled hair, fixing her icy gaze directly upon him.

Yang Xuan frowned.

"Master Lin..."

Trembling uncontrollably, Fatty cowered close to Yang Xuan. He felt as though he was on the verge of tears, thoroughly terrified out of his wits.

Sighing, Yang Xuan spent five thousand merit points from the Yin Dramaturge System to exchange for an Eight-Trigram Mirror.

Clutching the mirror, Yang Xuan let out a low shout and tossed it into mid-air.

The Eight-Trigram Mirror hovered aloft, radiating a soft, gentle luminescence.

With a flick of his hand, the mirror began to spin rapidly.

A wisp of deep blue flame surged forth from the mirror, transforming into a colossal, blossoming lotus.