Zhao Zhuang's voice hadn't even faded when the rat, unable to turn in time, slammed headfirst into a rock, its entire body transforming into a phosphorescent flame.

I said in a low voice, "This is what I mean by a road divided into yin and yang. One wrong step and you'll find yourself on the road to the Yellow Springs (the underworld). By then, even if you want to return, you won't be able to."

The boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead is only a hair's breadth away. Many people brush shoulders with ghosts every day without even realizing it.

But sorcerers can use the iron rule of the術道 (shù dào, the Dao of Occultism) – "the physical body cannot enter the yin realm, but ghosts can walk the yang realm" – to perform secret arts. The "Yin-Yang Road" is one of them. The caster uses secret techniques to open the boundary between yin and yang, turning an ordinary path into a place of hidden dangers.

The prey walking on the Yin-Yang Road doesn't know that they are surrounded by a mix of yin and yang. Once they take a wrong step, their physical body is blocked by the yin-yang barrier, and their soul leaves their body. By the time they realize what's happening, the yin-yang barrier has already shifted, and without someone to guide them, they can never return to their body.

To think that I would encounter a legendary secret art, a legendary formation, in such a desolate place.

Ding Zhong said, his face pale, "Uncle Liu, you've been to Yuanshan Village before. Are there any other roads nearby? Can we绕 (rào, detour) around it?"

Old Liu shook his head. "Back then, the people of this village hid in the deep mountains to escape the ravages of war. Yuanshan Village is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if we绕 (rào, detour) from somewhere else, we won't be able to get into the village."

Ding Yi squatted down, clutching his head in his hands. "What are we going to do? We've been out for half a day. I wonder how things are back in the village?"

Ding Zhong pulled out his axe. "Stop crying! The worst that can happen is that we go back and fight those things in the water. I don't believe that two or thirty men in the village can't handle one female ghost."

"Shut up!" Zhao Zhuang roared. "All of you shut your mouths! Do you think things aren't chaotic enough? Let's hear what Master Li has to say."

I said in a deep voice, "There is no unbreakable secret art in this world. It's just that we haven't found a way to破解 (pò jiě, decipher) it yet. Old Liu, think carefully. When that old man took you along the mountain path into the village, did he get close to the Coffin Stone? Specifically, where did he stand?"

To set up a secret art like the Yin-Yang Road, you must have a magic artifact that can搅动 (jiǎo dòng, stir up) the yin-yang barrier.

After I opened the formation with one kick, the only thing that wasn't affected was that Coffin Stone. That Coffin Stone is the formation core of the Yin-Yang Road.

However, the Coffin Stone is located in the middle section of the Yin-Yang Road. I can't even touch the Coffin Stone without passing through the Yin-Yang Road.

Old Liu thought for a moment and said, "Every time I came, that old guy would sit on the Coffin Stone and smoke a pipe before leaving. Every single time. He even dragged me to sit with him a few times. I thought it was bad luck to sit under the Celestial Coffin, so I didn't go too close."

"Celestial Coffin?" I seemed to have heard that term from my master.

Yes! My master mentioned "Celestial Coffin" once, unintentionally, but he stopped halfway through his sentence.

He said at the time: the "Coffin Gate" (棺材门, Guan Cai Men) records contain information about the "Celestial Coffin." The origin of the Coffin Gate (棺材门, Guan Cai Men) is also due to a Celestial Coffin. Later, when I wanted to ask him what "Celestial Coffin" meant, he refused to say more.

He got annoyed by my questions and finally said: the secrets of the Celestial Coffin are related to the survival of the Coffin Gate (棺材门, Guan Cai Men). What you are destined to know, you will definitely know. As for the fate that has nothing to do with you, you won't encounter it even if you travel the world.

Did I encounter a Celestial Coffin on my first venture into the martial world?

Old Liu thought I didn't know what "Celestial Coffin" meant and explained from the side, "I heard about the Celestial Coffin from my grandfather."

"He said that coffins aren't all made by people. Some coffins are already placed there by heaven, waiting for someone to lie in them. If you encounter something that naturally looks like a coffin, don't go near it, or you might end up lying in it yourself."

"When I saw that Coffin Stone, I thought it looked like a Celestial Coffin, so I never dared to get close."

Old Liu hesitated for a moment. "I also reminded that old man, but the old fool said that their ancestors had been resting under the stone and it didn't matter."

Old Liu suddenly remembered something. "That's right! Every time that old guy got up from the side of the coffin, he would knock his pipe on the corner of the coffin three times. Like he was knocking out ash. If you stand on my side, you can see that corner."

I stood where Old Liu pointed, and the purple light in my eyes surged, the vision of my鬼眼 (guǐ yǎn, ghost eyes) spanning a hundred meters, landing on the corner of the coffin. I also saw a figure leaning against the Coffin Stone.

The other party deliberately revealed half of his body from behind the stone, letting me see his position, but not meeting my gaze directly.

The moment my gaze landed on his wrist, my eyes couldn't help but sink slightly: I had seen a silver bracelet on his wrist once before, on the hand of that water ghost.

Li Yu Lan?

Wang Li Shi?

How could a Wang family媳妇 (xífù, daughter-in-law) not have the Wang family token?

The two people wearing the exact same bracelet... the person guarding Yuanshan Village is the man who pulled Wang Li Shi out of the water back then, her husband.

I can't miss the secret of Fish Basket Village again. I must capture this person!