Chapter 60: It's That Simple?

However, Li Yan did not get to feel proud for long before he was practically on the verge of tears.

He looked at the flying corpse. Very quickly, he discovered a terrifying fact.

Even though the flying corpse's neck had already been burned right through, she was still stubbornly alive.

The scene currently greeting Li Yan's eyes was the flying corpse's head lying lonely on the ground, while her body hovered suspended in mid-air.

He felt somewhat like crying.

"How can she still be alive when her neck has been burned away?"

Yet, having no other alternatives, he hastily unleashed the Samadhi True Fire once more, directing it to burn downward upon the flying corpse.

This time, the flying corpse had prepared herself.

Li Yan could no longer hit her.

"It seems I'll have to think of a new method."

Just as Li Yan was lost in thought, Shifou's shout rang out: "Junior Brother, watch out, she's attacking!"

Hearing Shifou's warning, Li Yan snapped back to his senses rapidly.

"That was close. If Senior Brother hadn't reminded me just now, I would have died at her hands long ago."

Gathering every ounce of his concentration, Li Yan began to ponder.

He figured that since neither fire nor thunder could kill her, he might as well try the suppressing needles.

Swiftly, he drew out twelve needles of varying sizes from his bosom.

These needles had originally been given to him by Li Shouhu, just in case the curse within Li Yan's body should ever relapse and the vicious ghost awaken.

Once these needles pierced a target, almost anything would be suppressed.

"I just don't know if these needles will work against a flying corpse."

He had never tested it before.

Nevertheless, without hesitation, he hurled the needles directly at the flying corpse.

Li Yan threw the needles with blistering speed and an unshakeable hand.

The flying corpse was entirely unprepared; she had never expected Li Yan to pull off such a trick.

She made no attempt to dodge whatsoever.

Every single needle pierced into her head and body.

She let out a shriek of agonizing pain, and then began to grow gradually drowsy.

Finally, unable to maintain her flight, she plunged down onto the ground.

Seeing her close her eyes, Li Yan let out a breath of relief.

He descended back to the ground as well.

Hurrying over to Shifou's side, Li Yan said to him, "Senior Brother, let's go and burn all these paper effigies and corpses. Otherwise, they'll surely wreak havoc again."

Yet, even after he spoke at length, Shifou remained in a daze.

With no other choice, Li Yan waved his hand back and forth in front of Shifou, trying to catch his attention.

Only then did Shifou snap back to reality. Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, he stammered, "What did you just say? I was spacing out a bit and didn't hear clearly."

Li Yan smiled and teased Shifou: "Senior Brother, what on earth are you daydreaming about?"

Shifou offered no reply, his complexion already turning somewhat unsightly.

Li Yan felt somewhat baffled, utterly clueless as to what had come over him.

Seeing that Shifou's expression was poor, he dared not say any more, merely repeating everything he had just said.

Only then did Shifou accompany him to handle the burning.

Li Yan gathered some firewood, intending to incinerate both the flying corpse and the leaping corpse.

Yet, right before striking the match, he discovered something strange.

Those paper effigies from earlier had shifted positions on their own.

They had surrounded Li Yan and Shifou once again.

This time, the weapons in their hands were sabers—exceptionally sharp sabers.

Their expressions were fierce and ruthless, appearing startlingly lifelike.

"Why are these paper effigies so unsettling? And how on earth did I fall under an illusion earlier, mistaking them for normal people?"

Li Yan found this utterly incomprehensible, which meant that there had to be someone even more formidable lurking behind the scenes.

Someone manipulating all of this.

No, it might not necessarily be a person.

It could very well be a ghost.

Teaming up, Shifou and Li Yan beat all the paper effigies flat to the ground.

Immediately afterward, they began to examine the paper effigies closely.

On the bodies of these paper effigies was that exact same bizarre pattern.

This pattern looked identical to the corpses inside the mortuary.

Once those paper effigies were beaten down, blue blood began to seep out from their bodies.

With a tacit understanding, Li Yan and Shifou backed away by many paces; they had no desire to test whatever this blue blood might be.

Gradually, the blue blood soaked into the earth.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Li Yan and his companion stepped forward and used fire to burn all the paper effigies to ashes.

The paper effigies burned swiftly, vanishing completely in less than five minutes.

"Good thing no accidents happened. Next are these two corpses."

The two of them walked over to the leaping corpse and the flying corpse together.

Having agreed upon their division of labor, Li Yan would be responsible for starting the fire while Shifou kept watch.

The fire ignited successfully.

However, a bizarre phenomenon occurred once more.

Even though the leaping corpse and the flying corpse had both been beaten into submission and rendered unconscious, the fire extinguished itself shortly after catching.

Feeling helpless, Li Yan lit three sticks of incense, then bowed toward the heavens and the earth.

With utmost piety, he said, "Immortals above, please bless me in exterminating these corpses. If they are not destroyed, the mortal realm will surely plunge into chaos."

Li Yan bowed once more.

Then, he began to observe the incense.

The incense was burning at an exceptionally rapid pace.

Li Yan's heart remained tightly strung with tension.

He proceeded with extreme caution, terrified that in the very next second, the incense would burn down into the exact shape he least wanted to see.

Yet, matters still progressed toward the worst possible outcome.

Not only had Li Yan failed to summon any deities, but the incense had also burned down into two short sticks and one long stick.

Despair washed over him for a moment.

But a thought instantly occurred to him, prompting him to add hastily, "Immortals and ancestors, please assist me in burning the corpses first. Should they harbor any grievances, I have my own ways to investigate and clarify them."

He bowed respectfully once again.

This time, he replaced the three sticks of incense with a fresh set.

He observed them with meticulous care.

The three sticks of incense did not burn rapidly this time.

They burned at an even, steady pace.

Slowly, the incense burned down into three long sticks and two short sticks.

Li Yan finally felt at ease.

The very next second, darkness fell before Li Yan's eyes.

He collapsed unconscious onto the ground.

Shifou stood guard by Li Yan's side throughout.

He was terrified that something unexpected might happen to Li Yan.

Fortunately, Li Yan woke up very quickly.

Upon waking, Li Yan seemed like a completely different person.

His gaze had turned sharp and fierce. Frowning as he looked at Shifou, he asked in a solemn tone, "What is the current situation?"

Seeing Li Yan act like this, Shifou knew the deity invocation had succeeded, and elation filled him.

He respectfully addressed Li Yan, saying, "Here is what happened. Our master, Master Shouhu, ordered us to descend the mountain and help the mortal realm through a crisis.

That is how we ended up in this village.

Along the way, we encountered a hairy corpse, a flying corpse, and a leaping corpse, as well as several paper effigies.

The hairy corpse has already been suppressed by us once more.

We planned to burn the flying corpse and the leaping corpse.

Yet no matter how we tried, we could not keep the fire burning continuously. Once we finish burning them, we still need to burn the hairy corpse as well."

Having heard Shifou's account, Li Yan looked at him with approval and said, "So you are Shouhu's disciples. Very well, I shall lend you a helping hand."

With those words, he waved his sleeve grandly, and the fire roared to life.

Furthermore, the flames burned continuously without faltering, stopping only when the two corpses had been burned down to absolute nothingness.

The hairy corpse from the mortuary was also hauled over and incinerated.

Shifou stood staring in utter bewilderment. It was really that simple?