Chapter 472: Cousins! The Eight Trigrams Tower! The Mysterious Daoist’s Purpose! The Hand Seal of the Liu Ancestral Hall!

The stench of death in this place was overwhelming.

Amid the heap of corpses, two people sat with their eyes tightly closed. They were the two missing exorcists.

So they used the corpse aura of this place to conceal the living aura of their bodies, and employed a method similar to the martial arts technique of ‘Turtle-Breathing Art

[1]

’ to enter a pseudo-death state, blending in and avoiding the attacks of the evil spirits

, Li Yanchu thought to himself.

Suppressing his nausea, he rescued the two monks who had entered this fake-death state from the pile of corpses.

“I didn’t expect we could really find them. Daoist Master Li, how can we wake them up?” Master Zhiqing asked.

Li Yanchu thought for a moment and said, “Use a virgin’s urine to revive them?”

Master Zhiqing drew a deep breath, utterly astonished. “Good heavens, you actually thought of that method?”

He felt a little nervous. “A virgin... you don’t mean me, do you?”

Li Yanchu looked at Master Zhiqing’s expression and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Master Zhiqing, I was just joking. Just go up and slap them in the face,” Li Yanchu said.

Master Zhiqing breathed a sigh of relief. That was much more manageable. Then, he stepped forward, crouched down, and extended his rough, large hands.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

With that, the two monks slowly woke up. From what they told him, one was named Xuming and the other Xuhui, both monks from Lingxi Temple.

Li Yanchu had some acquaintance with Master Huizhen of Lingxi Temple.

“I didn’t expect to end up saving monks from Lingxi Temple,” Li Yanchu said.

Counting the days, after resolving the matter at the Liu ancestral hall, it was also time to attend the ceremony for Master Huizhen becoming the abbot at Lingxi Temple.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The two monks were full of gratitude toward Li Yanchu. Interestingly, These two were senior and junior disciples, and what was even more interesting was that before they became monks, they were also cousins.

Master Xuming[2] came from a martial arts family; besides his strong physical skills, he also knew medicine and poison-making techniques.

Luckily, he had this skill, otherwise, these cousins might not have survived this ordeal.

“Senior, now that the people are saved, how do we get out of here?” Zhang Wei asked.

“We should ask Master Zhiqing, since he brought us here,” Li Yanchu said.

“Ah... Amitabha. I feel ashamed. “I originally thought this was just an ordinary place where yin and yang clashed violently, but I didn’t expect it to be so unusual. All of my techniques and Buddhist cultivation have been forcibly stripped away, and I can no longer open a path to leave,” Master Zhiqing said.

“To untie the bell, one must find the person who tied it[3]. Since the issue originates from the Liu ancestral hall, the answer to leaving likely lies there as well,” Li Yanchu said.

With no other means of escape, everyone agreed with this reasoning. Although going to the Liu ancestral hall was dangerous, it was far better than dying here. Who knew what kind of ghost they might encounter next?

“But we don’t even know where the Liu ancestral hall is,” Zhang Wei said.

Li Yanchu nodded. “I have a way. Halls like this shouldn’t be hard to find.”

He then stepped back, ran lightly, flipped his hands, and climbed onto the wall. Without the added physique of a martial artist, his body was just slightly superior to an ordinary person. He couldn’t run along rooftops or scale walls with ease...

But his agility was still remarkable. Standing on the wall and looking into the distance, he easily spotted an unusual building.

It was an Eight Trigrams Tower. Judging by its style and layout, a feng shui master had clearly been consulted during its construction. This tower’s feng shui was excellent; it could bring prosperity to the family and protect the area.

The surrounding buildings were slightly lower, but the structure matched Li Yanchu’s memory of the Liu ancestral hall.

“Was there originally an Eight Trigrams Tower in the Liu ancestral hall?!” Li Yanchu was surprised.

The ruins of the Liu ancestral hall they had seen previously did not include an Eight Trigrams Tower. This type of tower collects wind and water, promoting the prosperity of the family. When it was first rebuilt, so much effort had been put into consulting a feng shui master. Why did later generations dismantle it, leaving no trace behind?

Li Yanchu’s thoughts raced through his mind like lightning before he lightly leapt down from the wall.

“I’ve found the location of the ancestral hall. Let’s go,” Li Yanchu said.

Their group quickly arrived in front of the Liu ancestral hall. Seeing this familiar building, everyone couldn’t help but hold their breath.

All the strangeness had started from this Liu ancestral hall, and the decline and ruin of the Liu clan also began from here. The speed of their downfall was astonishing.

Even many years later, this ancestral hall continued to curse the descendants of the Liu family; otherwise, Liu Jun’s grandfather, who had escaped, would not have met such a bizarre and tragic death.

In this mysterious town, using his Qi Sight, Li Yanchu observed the energy of the hall and found it extremely contradictory. Indeed, it was a place of great yin-yang conflict and tremendous misfortune. But the malevolence of this place was absurd, filled with overwhelming resentment. It didn’t feel like an ancestral hall meant to honor forebears; it felt more like a temple dedicated to a murderous, life-taking evil deity.

Back then, members of the Liu clan had died under strange circumstances, starting with the elderly; it was a truly bizarre pattern.

“Let’s go inside and see,” Li Yanchu said.

He led the way into the Liu ancestral hall. Unlike its later dilapidated and abandoned state, the hall at this time still retained its original appearance. It was not in ruins; the buildings had not collapsed.

“Holy shit... Senior, look at this!!!” Zhang Wei exclaimed.

Li Yanchu followed the direction of his pointing finger and was also somewhat shocked.

The walls of the Liu ancestral hall were covered with countless handprints, along with chaotic claw marks, as if something had been trapped inside and desperately trying to escape.

“This is way too sinister... what is going on here?” Zhang Wei said, still shivering.

“Everyone, be careful. Don’t get separated. This hall is extremely strange; there must be ghosts inside,” Li Yanchu warned.

Zhang Wei’s face went pale. He wasn’t a cautious person; he loved adventure and treasure hunting, so he had explored many grand tombs.

Once, in the tomb of a marquis, he discovered a stone coffin. When he opened it, he was completely shocked by what he saw.

Inside lay a woman wearing a gold-threaded jade burial suit; her body had already mummified. Yet her hands were both stretched out, bent, and her nails were completely worn down. On the inside of the coffin lid were countless scratches, clearly claw marks made by desperate attempts to escape.

At that moment, he was stunned. This woman had been suffocated alive inside the stone coffin.

Looking at the chaotic, deep scratches and claw marks on the coffin lid, one could imagine just how desperate she must have been, trapped inside, and how heavy her resentment was.

And indeed, that was the case! When the coffin was opened, the woman immediately became possessed, transforming into a terrifying evil corpse.

At the time, Zhang Wei was only in the rudimentary second realm, and his cultivation was still unstable. Fortunately, he survived thanks to the protective talisman he carried.

But the overwhelming resentment of the woman who had been trapped to death left an indelible impression on him, so terrifying that it remained vivid in his memory to this day.

1. Turtle-Breathing Art is a Daoist internal practice that imitates the way turtles breathe. Its purpose is to extend the breathing rhythm through deep inhalation and breath-holding, achieving tranquility and strengthening the body. It belongs to the category of bionic qigong, mainly training internal energy through regulated breathing and inhalation–exhalation exercises. It can improve heart and lung function, boost immunity, and help promote longevity. ☜

2. The character “虚” evokes the Buddhist concept of emptiness, like letting go of ego, desires, and illusions; while “明” suggests clarity, illumination, and insight. To me, the name implies a state in which wisdom arises from inner emptiness, symbolizing a monk who seeks enlightenment through detachment and clarity of mind. ☜

3. The idiom “解铃还须系铃人” literally means “to untie the bell, one must find the person who tied it.” In essence, it expresses the idea that the person who created a problem is the one who must resolve it. The saying emphasizes responsibility, causality, and the importance of addressing issues at their source rather than relying on outsiders or superficial solutions. In stories or real-life situations, it often implies that conflicts, misunderstandings, or troubles can only be truly settled by those directly involved, highlighting both accountability and the need for direct resolution. ☜