Chapter 101 Perfect Resolution
The old man's spirits lifted: "Where is it?"
The crack was rather dark, and unlike Chen Cheng, the old man with white hair didn't have ghost eyes, so he couldn't see very clearly!
"It's right here in this cave!"
Chen Cheng pointed to the cave in front of him and said.
The old man with white hair peered out and saw that the hole was about two meters deep, but he didn't know how big it was inside.
"Brother Bai, I'll go down and take a look first. You prepare the rope so that you can pull me up immediately if anything happens!"
"But that's too dangerous. Let me go with you!"
"No need. At this time, the zombie is in an unconscious state. If I can subdue it with the peach wood sword, we can drag it outside into the sunlight and then burn it down. This mission will then be successfully completed!"
"Alright then, but you'd better be careful!"
"good".
As Chen Cheng spoke, he took out a peach wood sword and several talismans from his cloth bag and held them in his hand. He then leaped into the cave. It was darker inside than outside, but it did not affect Chen Cheng's vision. Looking around, he saw that it was a huge space, at least the size of a basketball court. The zombie was standing straight and blankly facing the mountain wall, with the Soul-Suppressing Nail still on its back!
Not far from it was a rotten coffin. It looked like a cave within a cave. The coffin had been washed here by a flood and scattered all over the ground. The corpses had become zombies after countless years in this excellent burial ground!
Chen Cheng crept closer. Having learned of this guy's strength last night, he couldn't be careless today. Following his master's instructions, he endured the pain, bit his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the peach wood sword. Instantly, the sword shone with golden light. He seized the opportunity and thrust it fiercely into the zombie's back. He felt a blockage in his hand and the zombie's body trembled slightly. He gritted his teeth and shouted. With a "thud," the peach wood sword pierced deeply into the zombie's back.
"Sha!"
The zombie trembled and tried to turn around, but Chen Cheng held the peach wood sword firmly, watching the black energy seep out of its wounds. He knew that this was the yin energy inside the zombie. Once the yin energy was completely released, the zombie would truly become a normal corpse!
The zombie made a final, frantic struggle. At this critical moment, the old man with white hair, still worried, jumped down, listened to the sound, and crept over. He gripped the zombie's neck tightly with both hands until ten minutes later, when the black mist gradually dissipated and the zombie stopped moving. Just to be safe, the two of them held it down for another five minutes before letting go.
The zombie—no, now a corpse—collapsed, its body collapsed. Chen Cheng and his companion dragged the corpse to the cave entrance and tied it with a rope they had dropped. The old man climbed up the rope first, followed by Chen Cheng. The two untied the other end of the rope from the stone pillar and together pulled the corpse up, dragging it through a crack and placing it in the sunlight. It was midday, the yang energy was at its peak, and the corpse emitted a faint wisp of black smoke under the sunlight. Chen Cheng took out the bag of glutinous rice and sprinkled it evenly on the corpse. Glutinous rice was also a highly yang substance, specifically designed to counteract the heavy yin energy of these undead creatures. Then, he took out a purple talisman, silently recited an incantation, and launched a talisman of Taoist karmic fire onto the corpse. Instantly, a raging fire broke out, and half an hour later, the corpse was burned to charcoal. A mountain breeze blew, and the ashes scattered across the sky!
"How do I get out of this corpse-raising area?"
Chen Cheng said, "This is not an array. Only by filling it with a large amount of cinnabar to suppress the yin energy can it remain safe for two hundred years!"
"Yes, what will happen two hundred years from now is not something we should worry about!"
The two voices grew fainter and fainter, gradually disappearing into the tranquil mountain stream.
Back in the village, the old village chief was overjoyed to learn that the matter had been resolved and hurriedly notified several wealthy families in the village to prepare a grand bonfire party that evening. Chen Cheng then called team leader Tian Wenzhong to inform him that the zombies had been dealt with, and that to eliminate the zombie-raising site, a large amount of cinnabar must be used to suppress the place.
Team Leader Tian expressed his approval of their successful completion of the task and said that he would inform the local authorities about the cinnabar, which would be delivered the next day.
As evening approached, men, women, and children of the Miao village gradually arrived at the open space where wooden frames had been set up beforehand. They were not empty-handed; they all brought food, more or less, to share with each other.
As darkness fell, the old village chief, holding a torch, stood beside the wooden frame and shouted, "Fellow villagers, the bear that plagued our village has been dealt with by these two young men sent by the county. From now on, you will no longer live in fear!"
The crowd clapped enthusiastically for a long time.
The old village chief waved his hand again, and after everyone quieted down, he said, "After discussions with higher authorities, the town and county have decided to provide certain compensation for the death of livestock. From now on, we can raise whatever we want. With the government providing a safety net, what are we afraid of?"
Another round of applause erupted from the crowd.
"Finally, I declare that the bonfire party is now in session!"
After saying that, he lit the dry wood soaked in diesel fuel with a torch. Instantly, red flames rose into the boundless night. Those who could play musical instruments began to play, and young men and women sang and danced. Chen Cheng and the old man with white hair sat next to the old village chief and several respected elders. On the table in front of them were delicious food and rice wine. Occasionally, villagers would come to share their homemade snacks with them, and some young people would come to toast them. The scene was grand and lively. If Zhang Qian were here, she would definitely like this atmosphere, Chen Cheng thought to himself.
The bonfire party lasted until after 11 p.m. Although Chen Cheng and Bai Tou Weng had extraordinary physical constitutions and could drink more than others, they couldn't withstand the many toasts offered. In the end, they drank bowl after bowl. Fortunately, the rice wine here had a low alcohol content, but even so, the two of them were still quite tipsy.
The next morning, two pickup trucks arrived at the village entrance and contacted Chen Cheng and his companion, as well as the old village chief, Yang Dashan. Seeing the bags of goods, the old village chief knew in his heart that it wasn't just a simple case of bears, but he didn't say anything, fearing it would cause panic among the villagers. Under his arrangement, he selected a dozen or so strong men, some of whom were also his in-laws, hitched them to two oxcarts, and they followed Chen Cheng and his companion into the mountains. Where the oxcarts couldn't go, everyone carried a bag on their shoulders and followed Chen Cheng and his companion.
Arriving near the crack from yesterday, the ashes of the cremated zombie had long since vanished. As they were carrying cinnabar inside, a burly young man laughed and said, "Even we locals didn't know there was such a large crack here, but you outsiders seem to know quite a lot about it!"
"Hehe, this is our job!"
Following Chen Cheng's instructions, everyone poured bags of cinnabar into the cave. He then personally went down and spread it out, before setting up a Locking Yang Formation on top. He chanted incantations and his hands moved quickly to form hand seals. After injecting Taoist energy, the formation displayed a golden light. Using this formation to suppress the corpse-raising ground was perfect. This was a brilliant idea he had just come up with last night!
After finishing all this, it was already 2 p.m. when they returned to the village. Everyone was exhausted and hungry, but fortunately, the village chief had already arranged for food to be prepared. The two of them ate something to fill their stomachs, exchanged a few pleasantries with everyone, said goodbye to each other, got into their car, and followed the pickup truck from the county that was delivering cinnabar. Amid the old village chief and everyone's reluctant farewell and gratitude, they began their journey home.