Corpse Recovery Diver-Chapter 800 - 144:

After all, the only reason he could come here was because the Jie family's ancestor had actively sought him out.

Although the palace was severely damaged, many restrictions and traps still remained.

Lihua, who was assigned to Li Zhiyuan's side, couldn't help but remind him, "My husband has been here. There are many mechanisms inside, be careful."

"Hmm."

Li Zhiyuan responded simply, then picked up a stone and threw it at the damaged stone road ahead.

"Bang!"

"Splash..."

The area in front collapsed, and the foul-smelling sewage quickly filled the gap, spreading outward like a fountain. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

This sewage should have been highly corrosive, but over time its corrosiveness faded, yet, because of the heavy resentment in this environment, it was tainted with another layer of toxicity.

Li Zhiyuan grabbed Run Sheng's clothes and pulled him down slightly.

Run Sheng understood and squatted down, and Lin Shuyou and Lihua behind him also crouched down.

They paused like this for a long time.

Lihua worried that her husband might already be working to stop those unspeakable beings, couldn't help but gently push Lin Shuyou in front of her:

"Why aren't we moving?"

Lin Shuyou turned back and made a "shh" gesture to her.

Lihua asked again, "Are we doing something?"

Lin Shuyou frowned: Was he this annoying when he talked too much before?

Li Zhiyuan finally stood up, walked to the front of the team, pulled Run Sheng's clothes, indicating he would lead the team, while reminding aloud:

"Those at the back, watch where the people in front step, try not to step wrongly."

Lihua: "Got it."

Lin Shuyou: "Understood!"

After that, the team officially entered the palace, and although sometimes even in a straight line they needed to detour, overall they maintained a fast pace, and it was peaceful all the way.

This surprised Lihua, as her husband had said the palace was very dangerous and he almost didn't make it out. But where was the danger, had the young man avoided it all?

Li Zhiyuan had read "The Spring and Autumn of the Qi Family", whose ancestors were masters of the tomb mechanism.

This general's tomb was set in a standard layout, a model design.

The difficulty lay in two points, one being ordinary tomb mechanisms were aimed at intruders, but here it targeted from within;

The other was the changes resulting from severe damage, where mechanisms could deform, even mutate, in this spooky environment, originally nontoxic things could become toxic.

After confirming the solution, Li Zhiyuan led the way while solving the problems, thanks to his quick thinking. An average person, even if educated in these, would have to walk a bit, pause, reflect and verify before daring to continue.

They walked until they reached the deepest and core area of the palace.

Lihua exhaled a long breath of relief. She truly felt it was a pity her husband couldn't experience it himself. While others tread dangerous grounds, the young man walked as if on flat land—what kind of feeling was that?

However, she thought her husband might have anticipated this, which was why he proactively requested to visit the Nantong Li Family.

Corpse Recovery Li, truly is a reclusive family.

Lihua looked down at the child in her arms: Son, perhaps this is your opportunity!

The young man is still young, grow up quickly, maybe you'll meet him when he's lighting the way and traveling the Jianghu!

Every mother has a filter for her own child. In a superficial sense, even if the child looks average, she thinks they're extremely pretty; on a deeper level, she imagines her child was born destined for greatness.

Li Zhiyuan was too focused to know what the woman behind was thinking because he saw the gigantic pit ahead and also saw Jie Shun'an setting up an altar by its edge.

Great, he was here.

At this time, Jie Shun'an was performing a ritual, with two tall white candles burning, their flames shooting high up. The fire was fierce, but the candles did not melt and shorten, instead, they kept growing taller.

Ordinary people set up altars for their ancestors during the holidays as an offering in exchange for peace for the ancestors and any blessings they could give.

But Li Zhiyuan immediately saw that Jie Shun'an wasn't doing traditional worship; he was forcibly borrowing life from his ancestors.

Li Zhiyuan: "Truly filial."

This is a semi-evil technique, and it has the "semi" because it's widespread, often done voluntarily.

For example, if a child is born weak and frequently sick, parents or grandparents might perform this ritual to borrow Luck and lifespan to help the child overcome hardships.

If family members are reluctant or affluent enough, they'd choose another method—marriage to ward off evils.

They would have a fortune-teller find an unmarried person with a favorable destiny but poor family conditions. If the sick person cannot even complete the ritual, the woman holds a rooster, the man takes a paper figure covered with a red scarf, and they perform a marriage ceremony.

What Jie Shun'an was doing now was this act, forcibly extracting his great-grandfather's lifespan for himself, not to extend his own Luck or life, but purely hoping his ancestor would pass away sooner.

From this, Li Zhiyuan inferred that the Jie ancestor was striving to maintain the General's existence because he understood that once the General completely perished, it would signal disastrous events.

He was pitiful too, sacrificing himself back then to suppress the General, enduring centuries of torment in sealing, all to perish alongside the General soon and rid the world of this great evil.