The Rain Pavilion Master said with vexation, "I didn't think so much! Back then, when designing the Rain Pavilion, I made preparations for any eventuality."

"When I discovered my physical body was sealed, in my desperation, I activated the mechanism, sinking the coffin into the secret chamber below the building, but...but I discovered I had lost contact with my physical body."

"You..." For a moment, I didn't know what to say.

I tried to calm myself, "Forget it, say no more. I'll take you to find your physical body."

Cang Tianji said, "What's your name, and what are your birth details?"

The Rain Pavilion Master said, "My name is Hou Qing Youxin, vanguard of the Emperor's Left Four Guards."

"Hou Qing the corpse!" I said in shock, "No wonder your divine sense is so strong."

According to legend, Hou Qing, one of the Four Great Zombies, sacrificed his soul to the Hou to transform into a zombie.

Hou Qing was skilled in soul transference and blood sucking, capable of not only sucking human blood but also human souls, even turning people into his own kind.

Legend has it that before Hou Qing transformed into a zombie and was killed by the Yellow Emperor's forces, he set a curse – those who die with resentment can be transformed into zombies.

It was precisely because of this that Hou Qing became one of the progenitors of the Four Great Zombies.

I said in a deep voice, "What is your purpose in coming to the Miao region?"

Hou Qing Youxin said, "I was ordered to wait in the Miao region for the Emperor's call, to lead three thousand zombie soldiers back."

The Miao region's geographical location and climate made it easier to produce zombies. Coupled with Hou Qing Youxin's secret methods, raising an elite legion of three thousand wouldn't be difficult.

It seemed someone was deliberately plotting against Hou Qing Youxin.

I pondered for a moment before saying, "Cang Tianji, have you calculated the location of Hou Qing Youxin's corpse?"

"I have!" Cang Tianji said, "Two *li* north from here, twenty *zhang* underground."

I asked Hou Qing Youxin again, "If I enter the Rain Pavilion from the waterway, where should I appear?"

Hou Qing Youxin said, "Going from the left waterway, you'll appear right here. Going from the right side..."

Before Hou Qing Youxin could finish speaking, I heard a series of footsteps coming from the entrance of the underground tomb. When I turned my head to look, the corpses that had been sitting in the courtyard had stood up at some point, stiffly blocking the tomb entrance.

The skin of the leading corpses, originally pale from being soaked in the rain, was losing moisture at a visible rate, as if it had been forcibly dried.

Before long, their faces had turned into skeletons covered in waxy yellow human skin, with only a pair of eyeballs protruding from their sockets, still overflowing with resentment.

Hou Qing Youxin roared, "Hanba Hong, get out here!"

"Don't shout!" I said quickly, "Your companions are probably being controlled."

I had been wondering why Hou Qing Youxin left the bodies of the Miao witches in Ghost Wind Valley to accumulate resentment after killing them all.

Now, I finally understood that Hou Qing Youxin intended to refine them into a zombie army.

Unfortunately, before he could act, Zhu Zining seized the initiative and used the Hanba corpse to control the zombie legion, transforming them all into Hanba corpses.

In ancient times, there was only one "Hanba," which was known as "Ba," one of the Four Great Zombie Progenitors.

By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the term had changed somewhat. Ordinary people referred to all incorruptible corpses as Hanba.

Legend has it that when a Hanba appears in a graveyard, water will bubble up from the grave. At night, the Hanba will come out to carry the water away, so that within hundreds or thousands of *li*, it will no longer rain. Only by digging the Hanba out of the grave and burning it can rain be requested.

Now, the corpses standing outside the tomb entrance were such Hanba corpses.

As the evaporated water vapor rolled around the corpses, the drizzle in the sky gradually stopped, and even the accumulated water on the ground was constantly evaporating.

Where the Hanba is, the land turns red for a thousand *li*.

Zhu Zining was using Hanba to restrain the Rain Pavilion.

Hou Qing Youxin almost went crazy, "If my body was still here..."

I shouted angrily, "Stop talking nonsense, you all retreat, find a way out, I'll hold this place."

As soon as I drew my twin blades, Cang Tianji spoke, "Life lies to the left, only three minutes."

Without a word, Wang Butcher plunged into the water and swam quickly to the left in the water filled with coffins.

At this moment, Yun Shang drew a flute made of some kind of bone from her body and began to play a mournful tune.

Yun Shang's flute could only produce a few notes, but the sound it produced was like a demon's low chant, enough to make one's hair stand on end.

All the coffins in the tomb floated to the surface at the same time, and the sound of hands patting the coffins came from all directions.

It wasn't that the people in the coffins were alive, but that Yun Shang was using her flute to control the Gu worms on the corpses.

Among the inheritance Yun Shang received, there were only poisons and no Gu worms, but there was a Gu expert in Liangjie Tang – Hei Ye Xiao.

Hei Ye Xiao was also a great shaman when he was alive. Although he couldn't use Gu poison after death, it didn't prevent him from teaching Yun Shang how to use Gu.

As Yun Shang controlled the Gu worms, the sound of knocking on the coffins suddenly stopped – was the person truly controlling the Gu worms also nearby?

Was she vying with Yun Shang for control of the Gu worms?