Youbao Chapter 21: Earth-nourishing Corpse Pill (10)
Before his death, the old Taoist priest's master left a secret letter, telling him that a corpse would appear in a certain place in a certain year and he must kill it. The old Taoist priest was very traditional, so he followed his master's order and stayed in Xishuangbanna to wait for the corpse to appear. But he didn't expect the corpse to be so clever and ran away as soon as it appeared. Otherwise, there would be no story of me being taken to Xishuangbanna by him.
Three days passed quickly, and the old Taoist priest's injuries were mostly healed. His complexion gradually became rosy, and his energy was full. Seeing him like this, I felt more and more relaxed. As long as the old Taoist priest was fine, even if there was a cliff in front of him... I would definitely not jump.
On the way to the Wei family, the old Taoist priest talked about some rules of this lineage.
The biggest common point of the Tianshi lineage is that they are taboo about inquiring into the identity of the corpse they are refining.
Because in order to ensure that the corpse can exert its maximum ability, the three souls and seven spirits of the corpse will be scattered, and all the life experiences and emotions will be abandoned. Most of what is left is the instinct of the warrior. In this way, the corpse can grow to the strongest. Of course, there are also cases where the soul left a trace of memory, leading to the rebellion of transcending the control of the corpse refiner.
This matter is also a secret in the Tianshi lineage, just like the Zhou family lost the sword and dared not say a word for 70 years, it is a shame. It is like a dog that you have raised for ten years and then it comes back to bite you. It is too shameful to tell others about it.
In addition, new corpses are very vulnerable to disturbance, so we can't go into the rooms randomly. Otherwise, it's easy to cause death. If such trouble happens, let alone the Wei family's help, I'm afraid the old Taoist priest and I won't be able to leave the doorstep.
The last point is that the people of the Wei family started practicing martial arts at a young age, and they have a hot temper. So, they should speak less, look less at others, and do less, so as not to cause trouble. Although the old Taoist priest is not afraid of it, I am not. I may be slapped to death at any time.
When the old Taoist said this, he looked at me as if I were a fly.
Damn old man, how do I look like a fly? I don’t look like one, and I don’t talk like one! I didn’t even say you look like a fly swatter.
This is my second visit to Xishuangbanna. What happened to Gamu has cast a shadow on my mind about this beautiful pure land.
I suddenly remembered asking the old Taoist priest why everyone in the mountain village was so cold, but Gamu was the only one who was so warm. The old Taoist priest answered me at that time that he was different. This was a question that came to my mind inadvertently, to kill time.
When asked this question for the second time, the old Taoist priest pondered for a while and said: Gamu was actually originally from the Wei family. Fifty years ago, he was adopted by the head of the Wei family's corpse-catching hall. But later he rebelled against the Wei family because of some things. This kind of family has very strict requirements for disciples. Once they rebel, they will not be killed but all their skills will be abolished to prevent them from being spread outside. But Gamu was not punished, and the Wei family tacitly accepted his departure.
This incident was also told to the old Taoist priest by Gamu, and it is hard to tell whether it is true or not. But what is certain is that there must be some story behind it.
When talking about Gamu, the old Taoist's face was calm, but his tone was always a little unnatural. I know that he is still entangled in the fact that Gamu deceived him. What's more, the bronze corpse formation almost killed him. For such a person, the old Taoist didn't hate him to death, which was an unusually broad-minded thing.
It was noon when we arrived at Wei's house.
The sun was shining, and the birds were singing and the flowers were fragrant. The Wei family was located deep in the mountains, and they had opened up a clearing in a valley to house their house and clansmen.
This was originally to avoid the Mongolian cavalry, and they had no choice but to hide here. No matter how powerful the cavalry was, they were just eagles without claws and beaks in the mountains.
The old Taoist priest told me that this area of several hundred kilometers all belonged to the Wei family. No one was allowed to fight here, lest they disturb the corpse. Violators would be fine if they were acquaintances, but strangers would be killed and fed to the dogs.
Oh, by the way, the Wei family has no dog...
We came here from a slightly higher path, and the moment I saw the Wei family house, I was deeply shocked.
In this dense jungle, there is a clearing. Classical houses are placed in various places in an orderly manner, and in the center is the three-story main house with a height of 15 meters. This momentum is like a group of stars surrounding the moon, which makes people hold their breath. It is like an ancient beast lying dormant in front of you. Once it is disturbed, it will surely shock the world!
According to the old Taoist priest, somewhere deep in the mountains, the Wei family had dug out a temple. The mountain, which was more than 100 meters high, was almost completely hollowed out.
Such a huge project was beyond human efforts. It was built by the strongest ancient corpses of the Wei family hundreds of years ago. On that day, the corpse gas that surged into the sky almost corroded the area within a radius of 100 miles. The old Taoist said that even his master was deeply awed when he talked about this part.
These words made me feel inexplicably fearful of the Wei family.
Such a family is much stronger than the Zhou family. For hundreds of years, even when the Wei family was at its weakest, no one dared to provoke it.
I can't imagine how powerful they must have been more than a thousand years ago when the Heavenly Corpse was still united and even the First Emperor couldn't do anything to them. Not to mention subverting the entire earth, it should have been easy to seize the throne.
However, the Tianshi lineage did not do so, and even the old Taoist priest could not explain the reason. That era was too old, and perhaps many surprising things happened. After all, the names of the Qigong practitioners in the pre-Qin period were mentioned in many places. The First Emperor, who could ascend the throne and dominate the world in that chaotic era, was unlikely to be an ordinary person.
I followed the old Taoist priest along the path, and not far away, I got on the main road. The Wei family built three main roads in front of the house, each about ten meters wide. They were flat and solid, and it was very comfortable to walk on.
This shows how powerful the Wei family is in this area, comparable to the monarchs of small countries in ancient times.
Suddenly, seven or eight people rushed out of the reception house in front of us. They ran towards us quickly. I was a little nervous and reminded them quietly. The old Taoist priest put his hands behind his back and walked slowly, saying: It’s okay, I have already told them that they are here to welcome us.
Sure enough, the leader of the group was a burly man. He ran up to us and respectfully bowed his head slightly and asked: Are you a senior master of the Five Elements Meridian?
The old Taoist nodded: Where is old man Wei?
The strong man was even more respectful: "The hall master is busy with the master of the house, so he asked me to come and meet you." He said, "Please come over as soon as you see me."
The old Taoist nodded again and let them lead the way. I walked and watched from behind, and became more and more amazed at the old Taoist. Is this old man really that powerful? Even the Wei family is so hospitable.
The Yingbin Residence is just an ordinary house, but the most spectacular part is the gate, which is seven meters high and seven meters wide. It is made of yellow pear wood covered with copper plates, and the gate weighs at least several thousand kilograms.
Seven times high and seven times wide, seven times seven equals forty-nine, which is the so-called Dayan number. I didn't expect that the Corpse Refining Family also attaches so much importance to this thing.
On the way, the man invited us to go while introducing us in a low voice.
The old Taoist priest seemed to have not been here for a long time. He nodded and looked around from time to time.
After entering the welcoming house, there is a gravel road, 20 meters wide. The main house is the place where the head of the Wei family, the heads of the various halls, and the elders of the family live and discuss matters.
The Wei family has four halls: corpse refining, corpse catching, corpse hiding, and punishment.
Corpse refining is not the traditional kind of corpse refining. After all, as a branch of the Heavenly Corpse Clan, every member of the family can refine corpses. The main job of this hall is to disperse the three souls and seven spirits that may not have dissipated after bringing back new corpses from the Corpse Catching Hall, do some basic refining, and then hand them over to the family members who need them.
As the name suggests, the Corpse Catching Hall is for catching corpses. Some people may ask, why do we need to catch corpses if they are dead? We can just carry them back. In fact, all four types of living corpses, including the red-haired green ghosts, the natural and natural living corpses that the old Taoist priest mentioned, can be refined, but it is extremely troublesome to refine them.
Some corpses, although not zombies, have the ability to move and attack, and some are only slightly worse than the five zombies. Therefore, the Corpse Catching Hall was put to use.
As for the Corpse Collection Hall, it is naturally used to collect corpses. Because the Corpse Collection Hall may capture some gifted corpses at any time, some ordinary warrior corpses will be left idle. The Corpse Collection Hall will classify and store them in special ways to ensure that their bodies are not damaged, and they can also exercise their body strength at all times, so that when they are used in the future, they will have a very high starting point.
It's a bit like a wine cellar, the longer the wine is stored, the better it gets.
The Punishment Hall is in charge of family punishments. All four major clans have this hall. Sometimes when they encounter things that require coordination, they will communicate and cooperate with each other.
The passages we passed through were all inhabited by ordinary people. Along the way, I saw many people looking at me and the old Taoist priest curiously, and some were in awe of the strong man leading the way. So I just watched from a distance and occasionally talked in a low voice.
Finally, we arrived in front of the main house.
Observing the main house up close, the awe in my heart deepened.
The highest point is fifteen meters, covering an area of more than ten square kilometers. According to the family status, the head of the family is the highest, followed by the head of the hall, and then the elder. When the Tianshi lineage was unified and adhered to the principle, the one who gave vitality to the family was the one with the highest status. Therefore, after the old head of the family abdicated and became an elder, he was still not as good as the new head of the family, even if this was his grandson.
The main house is not magnificent or antique, it looks very ordinary. But I know that any one of the people living here can cause a massacre in a big city.
After bringing us here, everyone except the strong man retreated.
Entering the main house, the candles were lit in the house, not very bright, and there was always a chilly atmosphere. I glanced at the old Taoist priest, who walked forward with a natural look, not looking sideways.
This old man is really brave. After sighing, I saw a few people standing in the lobby in front of me. They were gathered around a table, seemingly discussing something.
The strong man took a few quick steps to report. Several people turned around, walked over and said enthusiastically: Master of the Five Elements Meridians, we finally see you again.
The old Taoist priest bowed and said: Mutual, mutual.
It was the first time I saw the old Taoist priest being so polite, but then I thought, the Wei family is so powerful, so there was nothing wrong for the old Taoist priest to do so.
The person who was most familiar with the old Taoist priest was a gray-haired, extremely thin old man in seventies or eighties. When he saw the old Taoist priest, he laughed and slapped the old Taoist priest on the shoulder: You idiot, you don't even know to drink with me when you have nothing to do. I helped you a few times many years ago.
