Corpse Recovery Diver

The bird was released long ago, but Zhao Yi still hadn't shown up.

Li Zhiyuan wasn't surprised by this.

People couldn't possibly be idling around waiting for your summons. Even if they were to come, they'd have to wrap up their current tasks first. In fact, upon receiving his message, one might assume they'd acquire the broken jade and start making preparations in advance.

The government agency's tour group had left on a bus during the day, and the homestay had returned to silence.

Before dark, Li Zhiyuan went back to his room early and got to work on the seal for the day.

Even though he hated this task, he had to continue doing it. In theory, the later this broken jade erupted, the more advantageous it would be for him.

The exquisite, miniature compass was placed by Li Zhiyuan's side. As he busied himself with his tasks, he would occasionally glance at the compass to check the results.

The location of the corpse energy, representing the third broken jade, began exhibiting more frequent movement after nightfall, and the direction was completely erratic.

This implied it was being fought over repeatedly, and each change in ownership was accompanied by a slaughter.

The next morning, Li Zhiyuan opened the door to welcome the sunlight.

There were a lot of check-outs, and many rooms hadn't been cleaned the day before, so Brother Pang Jin's parents had been busy early in the morning.

His partner returned home the day before because his father fell ill, and Brother Pang Jin planned to visit his future father-in-law with some gifts after wrapping up his current tasks.

"Are you here to stay? Please come in, please come in."

Brother Pang Jin saw four people standing at the entrance and immediately came out to greet them.

The location of his homestay was rather secluded, not in the city, the old town, or the ancient town. On regular days, besides the business he actively sought out through travel agencies, those who managed to find his door were usually returning customers or friends and relatives they recommended. Such guests needed to be received with extra warmth, as he was building a reputation.

However, no matter how warmly he invited them in, the four of them just stood outside the line separating the tiles from the dirt road, not taking a single step forward.

Brother Pang Jin was a little puzzled. Even if they wanted to check the interior and room layout, wouldn't they need to come inside to take a look?

He stepped back out and looked at his sign, wondering if there was some problem with it.

The four people outside weren't unwilling to enter; they were afraid to do so.

Because taking even one more step forward would subject them to the constraints of the array.

Furthermore, this array was of a very high grade, with a complex internal structure and various suppression effects.

The only flaw, perhaps, was that it wasn't concealed or hidden and was placed openly and defiantly.

Of course, this might have been intentional, to prevent any fool from wandering in unawares.

"Young Master, it's here." Sun Yan looked up at the bird circling overhead to confirm.

Xu Ming crossed his arms, his muscles swelling rhythmically, exuding a bronze, oppressive presence in the sunlight. He spoke, "Young Master, is this a case of inviting the fox into the henhouse?"

Behind Zhao Yi stood another person, clad in a black robe with her face veiled. Judging by her figure, she appeared to be a voluptuous woman.

She said, "You shouldn't go in, it's dangerous."

The person capable of arranging such an array was certainly no simple character.

Several mice scurried from the nearby field to Sun Yan's feet, emitting squeaky noises.

Brother Pang Jin immediately fetched a broom to drive them away, hurriedly explaining, "Rest assured, there are no mice in our homestay. We carry out rodent control regularly and inspect and clean every day!"

The mice were driven away by Brother Pang Jin, but to his surprise, the girl was not at all afraid of the mice that had scampered up to her feet and instead turned her head calmly, whispering into the ear of the scar-faced man next to her.

Sun Yan whispered: There have been recent deaths here, multiple deaths, with no remains left. It was the mice that informed me.

Zhao Yi yawned, glanced again at the array in front of him, and then casually tossed his bag behind him, where Xu Ming caught it.

"You all stay here, I'll go in and take a look myself."

Sun Yan, Xu Ming, and the Mountain Girl all leaned forward, wanting to stop his impulsive move.

Zhao Yi's voice dropped, "Behave."

The next moment, the three of them steadied themselves and said nothing more.

Zhao Yi entered the homestay, and Brother Pang Jin followed, planning to introduce the room types.

"My friend stays here; you go ahead. If I need to check in, I'll come find you to handle the paperwork."

"Friend?" Brother Pang Jin saw Li Zhiyuan sitting by the room door and beckoning towards them, then understood, "Alright, you chat; I'll prepare some fruit for you."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Zhao Yi walked up to Li Zhiyuan and smiled at the young man.

It was evident that the young man was in good spirits, not as sickly as when they last met in Guizhou, when Zhao Yi had to feed him medicine personally.

Li Zhiyuan pointed to his own face, gesturing at the scar on Zhao Yi's face, and asked, "Did you make an even bigger Life and Death Door slit for yourself?"

Back then, Zhao Yi's Life and Death Door slit was on his forehead, which he later removed by his own hand, leaving only a barely visible scar.

But now, Zhao Yi had a very deep and wide scar on the left side of his face, extending from beneath his nose across his lips.

Zhao Yi pulled open the buttons on the front of his clothes, exposing his chest.

The scar extended beyond his face, continuing down from his neck to his chest, and finally ending at his heart, where it was covered with a layer of black cloth.

He unveiled the black cloth, revealing a bloodied depression deep inside which lay a palm-sized spider. Accompanying the rhythm of his heartbeat, the spider's abdomen pulsated continuously.