Chapter One Hundred and Four: Ye Family Village

“Shuanglong Town, Ye Family Village?”

I hurriedly pulled out my phone and checked the map. The place was in a fairly remote area of Bashu, about twenty kilometers from the main urban district. Yet Ye Family Village did not appear on the map at all.

“It’s probably a village that was abandoned a long time ago,” Wang Feiyang explained over the phone. “Those people deliberately chose it as the site for refining corpses in order to keep their activities hidden. They searched all over Bashu for people born with the Five Elements Unified destiny, then brought them all to Ye Family Village to refine Five Elements Corpses!”

“How many of them are there?” I continued asking.

“About ten. Their leader is called Sheng Jun, and there’s also a paper effigy craftsman named Li Fuan. He made that paper puppet. The others are responsible for refining the corpses and searching various places throughout Bashu for people with the Five Elements Unified destiny.”

“Then how many Five Elements Corpses have they refined so far?”

“Thirteen. Nine Iron-Armored Corpses and four Bronze-Armored Corpses. After deducting the one we destroyed earlier, three Bronze-Armored Corpses remain!”

When I heard that, my brows immediately furrowed. Although the number was more or less in line with Qin Yu and the others’ analysis, it was still several more than we had expected. More importantly, they still had three Bronze-Armored Corpses. That would make things rather difficult.

Still, when I remembered that Peng Li was sending armed police officers there, I felt somewhat reassured.

After getting all the details, I did not ask further questions. Instead, I told Wang Feiyang to come over at once and said that we would wait for him at the Sanhua Mystic Hall. I also asked in passing whether Yan Fei would be coming.

Wang Feiyang replied that Yan Fei would not be joining us. That meant he would have to deal with the paper effigy craftsman, Li Fuan, on his own.

My expression tightened. At first, I had assumed Yan Fei would come and help, so I could not help feeling disappointed. But after thinking it over, I was relieved. Yan Fei clearly placed great importance on Wang Feiyang. Since he had decided not to intervene this time, he must have confidence in Wang Feiyang. Perhaps this was also a test Yan Fei had arranged for him.

Wang Feiyang said that he was already on his way to the Sanhua Mystic Hall, then hung up. I immediately relayed the situation to Qin Yu and the others.

Their expressions changed slightly when they heard the news. It seemed that even they had not expected the other side to refine thirteen Five Elements Corpses within a single year, including four Bronze-Armored Corpses.

“It seems that there must be an even larger organization behind them,” Qin Yu said. “Otherwise, those few people could never have refined so many Five Elements Corpses in only one year. And the fact that they are refining them on such a large scale means they must have some purpose. Who would go to such lengths to create these monsters for no reason?”

“Regardless of what kind of massive organization stands behind them, Sheng Jun and his people must be wiped out tonight,” I said.

“Agreed.”

Qin Yu nodded and picked up her short sword, the Jade Maiden. She then turned to the several Maoshan Taoists beside her and said, “Tonight’s mission will undoubtedly be extremely dangerous. You must not let your guard down.”

The Maoshan Taoists were all in their early twenties. Judging by their appearance, they had been specially sent out by Maoshan for training. When the matter concerning the Five Elements Corpses arose, Qin Yu had specifically brought them along to help.

They all nodded solemnly.

“Don’t worry, Senior Sister. We’ll protect ourselves.”

A little over ten minutes later, Wang Feiyang arrived at the entrance of the Sanhua Mystic Hall. He immediately tossed the jade bottle containing the man’s three souls and seven spirits back to Qin Yu.

Qin Yu caught the bottle and examined Wang Feiyang with intense curiosity, staring at him for nearly ten seconds.

Bai Rushuang immediately began teasing her.

“Sister Yu, why are you staring at him without blinking? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for this handsome guy?”

Her words instantly made Qin Yu’s face flush. Realizing that she had lost her composure, Qin Yu hurriedly looked away and glared at Bai Rushuang.

“Get lost, you brat.”

Bai Rushuang then turned to Wang Feiyang.

“I’m curious. What did you do to make that man confess everything?”

Wang Feiyang glanced at Qin Yu but did not answer her at all. He simply turned and walked toward the entrance, asking when we would be leaving.

Qin Yu looked somewhat awkward. Apparently, she had not expected Wang Feiyang to be so cold. I quickly smiled at her.

“Don’t take it personally, Sister Yu. That’s just the way he is.”

Then I bumped my shoulder against Wang Feiyang’s.

“Brother Yang, can’t you change that personality of yours? Why do you always have to act so cool?”

“I separated his three souls and seven spirits, then made them into ten paper figures.”

After saying something that left us utterly bewildered, Wang Feiyang stopped speaking. Qin Yu did not ask any further questions either.

Another ten minutes or so passed before three seven-seat police vehicles arrived and stopped outside the Sanhua Mystic Hall behind Peng Li’s BYD SUV.

“Let’s go!”

I was the first to climb into Peng Li’s BYD. Wang Feiyang and two of the Maoshan Taoists followed me inside, while Qin Yu and the other two Taoists got into Bai Rushuang’s Golf. We then set off toward Ye Family Village in Shuanglong Town.

By the time we reached Shuanglong Town and located the exact position of Ye Family Village, it was nearly one in the morning. Just as we had expected, Ye Family Village had actually been abandoned many years ago. The entire settlement was shrouded in darkness. From a distance, it looked like a cluster of desolate graves scattered across the land.

We parked the vehicles at the foot of a small hill about one kilometer from Ye Family Village. Peng Li then took out a night-vision scope, climbed the hill, and looked toward the village.

About five minutes later, Peng Li climbed back down, his brows furrowed.

“It’s a little too far away. And since it’s nighttime, visibility is poor. There isn’t a single light in the village, and we can’t determine exactly where those people are. It looks like we’ll have to send someone in first to scout the area.”

He turned toward the more than twenty fully armed special police officers.

“Zhang Chao, Wang Peng. You two were reconnaissance soldiers, right? Any problem?”

Zhang Chao and Wang Peng nodded.

“No problem.”

They were about to sneak into Ye Family Village when Peng Li warned them repeatedly before they left.

“Remember, no matter what you find, don’t act recklessly. Once you locate where those people are hiding, inform us immediately. Do not make any rash moves!”

Before long, Zhang Chao and Wang Peng disappeared from our sight. As reconnaissance-trained officers, they should have found such a task fairly easy, so we were not overly worried. Instead, we kept our attention on the walkie-talkie in our hands. The moment they discovered where Sheng Jun’s people were hiding, we would charge in at once.

The reconnaissance lasted nearly half an hour. During that time, we repeatedly heard Zhang Chao and Wang Peng reporting over the walkie-talkie:

“Nothing yet.”

As time passed and two in the morning drew near, those of us waiting outside grew increasingly anxious. I glanced at Wang Feiyang, who had been constantly wiping the Silent Edge in his hand with a white cloth.

“Brother Yang, you weren’t tricked by that man, were you? What if Sheng Jun and the others aren’t in Ye Family Village at all?”

Wang Feiyang did not answer. He continued wiping the Silent Edge.

Then, all at once, Wang Peng’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

“Captain Peng, we’ve found a mortuary temple. There’s a faint candlelight inside!”

The news instantly jolted everyone to attention. Peng Li immediately spoke into the walkie-talkie.

“Have you seen any signs of human activity?”

“Not yet,” Wang Peng replied. “But Ah Chao and I can try sneaking inside to confirm the situation.”

“Don’t let them go in!”

Before Peng Li could respond, Qin Yu suddenly spoke anxiously.

“Tell them to withdraw immediately!”

Her abrupt reaction startled us all. Before we had time to understand what was happening, a piercing scream suddenly rang out from the walkie-talkie.