Chapter 479: A Wooden Subst.i.tute!
“Shen Xingye, do you still remember me?”
Facing Ye Chen’s question, the copper-armored corpse looked at Ye Chen with a blank expression.
For some reason, the copper-armored corpse felt as if the person before him was vaguely familiar. It was a mysterious feeling.
His face was very… very infuriating!
Roar!
It roared angrily, baring two sharp fangs through the corners of its mouth. Wisps of black gas were spewing out of its mouth. It then lunged to fearlessly attack Ye Chen.
The fingernails on its hands grew as the intense black gas enveloped the two.
“It seems that you don’t remember me at all!”
Ye Chen shook his head slightly, somewhat disappointed. Zombies were the outcast creatures of the six paths and the three realms. They were shunned by everyone, wandering around aimlessly with no purpose in life.
It could be said that no one was willing to become a Zombie. Even if Shen Xingye were still alive, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to be one.
“Fine, let me set you free!”
Ye Chen sighed softly. He seemed to be taking pity on it. The indifference in his face had returned once more, striking a five thunder talisman towards the sky and shouting, “Thunder!”
Rumble!
A terrifyingly powerful bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the copper-armored corpse. The copper-armored corpse’s features had contorted in horror, the desire to run away evident in his expression.
This was the power of the Heavens!
It was designed to counter evil!
Even an undead Zombie was no exception!
Boom!
It had been stunned by the lightning attack, where could it run? In an instant, another bolt of lightning that was as thick as an infant’s arm struck the corpse.
Roar!
A pain-filled roar filled the air. Qi Qingfeng, Tang Ning and the others who were standing a good distance away were shocked. They took a closer look and realized that the area where the copper-armored corpse had been was engulfed in flames.
After the flames had died down, a hole had caved into the ground. Apart from that, nothing was left in its wake.
Tang Ning and the others stared blankly at the figure in front of them, swelling with pride.
“Was that the Celestial Master’s Lightning Technique?”
Qi Qingfeng muttered to himself, “No, not even people from Mount Fu Long, the birthplace of the Celestial Master’s technique, would be able to do that.”
He was from the spell world, so naturally he knew about the celestial master’s abilities of being able to summon thunder. To do so, one would need to set up an altar, place offerings, burn sacrificial texts, and even chant scriptures.
Moreover, the power wasn’t nearly as terrifying as what he had just witnessed.
“Fortunately, the master did not use this move on me earlier!” Yins.h.i.+ was shocked, but he also felt a wave of giddy relief.
If Ye Chen had used the lightning technique to deal with him earlier, he would have died ages ago. After all, no matter how strong his physical body was, it couldn’t possibly be stronger than the copper-armored corpse!
The moment the copper-armored corpse was defeated, the black gas that had surrounded Shun Yeung Peak dissipated. It didn’t take long before everything had returned to its former glory.
“Ok, you can come over now!” Ye Chen said as he turned around.
Only then did Tang Ning and the others walk over. Tang Yuanshan looked around and couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Ye, is there anything else that’s wrong with the Tang family’s ancestral grave?”
At his age, wealth and power were like pa.s.sing clouds. Only his ancestors remained a significant part of his life. If anything were to happen to the ancestral family grave, he wouldn’t have the gall to face them even in death.
“The zombies are all dead. We should be fine now, right?” Tang Ning felt a lingering fear.
“No!”
However, Ye Chen shook his head, “Elder Tang, the Feng Shui of the area has been destroyed. If you want to ensure that the Tang family lives on, you will need to relocate the ancestral grave!”
“THAT’S RIGHT!”
Qi Qingfeng nodded, “Elder Tang, Master Ye is right. The only thing we can do now is relocate the grave. We need to do it as soon as possible. This place has been suffering from a drought for a few days now. I’m guessing there will be a storm tonight. I suggest we remove the bones first.”
It was only then when Tang Yuanshan realized the seriousness of the matter. He immediately asked Tang Guodong to make a call. Soon after, more than a dozen people from the Tang family had rushed over with the necessary tools.
Pus.h.i.+ng tombstones and digging graves, they toiled for more than half an hour before a horridly decomposed corpse was taken out of the Tang family’s ancestral grave. Presumably, it was also an ancestor of the Tang family.
However, when everyone opened the next coffin, they couldn’t help but exclaim, “Master, there is no corpse in the coffin!”
As soon as these words were said.
Tang Yuanshan immediately walked over to see it for himself, “That’s impossible. This is Master Xiao’s tomb. How can there be no corpse? Could it have been stolen?”
When everyone got closer, they saw a wooden figure lying in the purple coffin. The wooden figure was made of Phoebe zhennan wood. Many yellow talismans had been stuck onto it.
The wooden person and the coffin showed no signs of decay, as though it had only been recently placed into the tomb.
“How did this happen?”
Tang Yuanshan was in utter disbelief, “This is obviously Master Xiao’s tomb. Why is there a wooden figure inside of it?”
Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t the only one. Everyone else was also in shock. Tang Ning couldn’t help but ask, “Grandfather, are you sure Master Xiao is supposed to be lying inside?”
“I’m 100% sure!” Tang Yuanshan nodded.
Xiao Buyi had pa.s.sed away 30 years ago. Tang Yuanshan had followed Xiao Buyi’s wishes of having him quietly buried in the Tang family’s ancestral grave, instead of organizing a funeral.
He even saw Xiao Buyi’s body being placed into the coffin with his own eyes, watching the coffin as it was lowered and buried.
“Then, how did Master Xiao become a wooden figure?” Tang Guodong was confused.
Ye Chen walked to the coffin and looked at the wooden figure lying inside and the yellow talismans on its body. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that there was something similar to a wooden token in its left hand.
He couldn’t help but pick it up and take a look. He found that the wooden token was about the size of his palm, and was somewhat similar to a turtle sh.e.l.l. However, its material was neither gold nor jade, neither was it wood, copper, nor iron.
Tang Yuanshan asked curiously, “What is this?”
Ye Chen shook his head slightly as he pondered, “Old man, I think that this Master Xiao has been lying to you from the very beginning. He’s actually not dead at all!”
“What? He’s not dead?”
Tang Yuanshan was dumbfounded, “That’s impossible, right? ”
“Nothing is impossible. If I’m not mistaken, the words carved on the wooden figure are all subst.i.tute incantations.”
Ye Chen chuckled lightly before speaking in a rea.s.suring tone, “I think the wooden figure is Xiao Buyi’s subst.i.tute. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Qi Qingfeng and Yins.h.i.+.”
The both of them approached the coffin when they heard this. They sized up the wooden figure in the coffin thoroughly.
Moments later, Qi Qingfeng took a deep breath and said, “Elder Tang, Master Ye’s judgment is correct. The words carved on the wooden figure really are subst.i.tute incantations. I believe this is Master Xiao’s subst.i.tute. ”
Yins.h.i.+ also nodded.
“I saw Master Xiao’s corpse with my own eyes that day. This… this…” Even now, Tang Yuanshan couldn’t accept the truth.
Ye Chen shook his head slightly and said, “It’s very simple. If Xiao Buyi really is as magical as you say, his spells are likely powerful enough that he could easily cast a camouflage spell to deceive your eyes.”
At that point, he spoke once more, “Sometimes, there’s more than meets the eye.”