Chapter 78: A Stunning Revelation
Normally, corpses in the morgue were not stored for long. Once the family confirmed their identity, the bodies were sent to the crematorium for incineration. Otherwise, with too many corpses and limited space, it would have been impossible to manage.
The morgue was a freezer, meant to prevent the bodies from decomposing. Otherwise, the entire hospital would have reeked of rot, and no one could have stood it. What they saw now were stiff corpses—no, even the caretakers here had turned into the living dead.
The so-called "living dead" were people who had already died, yet their souls remained trapped inside their rotting bodies, forced to watch helplessly as their flesh decayed. Of course, imprisoning a soul within its own corpse was an extremely cruel form of dark sorcery.
"Who are you?" A rotting corpse, one eyeball already dangling loose, growled at them. The moment Mu Lichuan opened the door, he was hit by an overwhelming stench of decay, nearly vomiting on the spot, his face turning red from holding it in.
Among the group, only Mi Shen’s eyelid twitched slightly, the others’ expressions were truly "spectacular."
The gray-robed Taoist priest shouted, "Since you are dead, why linger in the world of the living? Go where you belong!" As soon as he finished speaking, he slapped a spirit-quelling talisman onto the rotting corpse’s forehead. The flesh visibly deteriorated further, but as for the hidden corpse inside, Mu Lichuan wasn’t entirely sure of its condition.
"I’m not dead! Get out!" the old man roared, his limbs already rotting and emitting a foul odor.
Perhaps because he had been confined to the morgue, his decay had been slow. But now, under the influence of the talisman, the process accelerated rapidly.
"Stubborn fool!" The gray-robed Taoist priest clearly despised such beings. He unleashed his ultimate technique, forcibly exorcising the ghost from the rotting corpse.
With the soul gone, the rotting flesh rapidly dissolved into a pool of blood.
The gatekeeper had been completely eliminated. The group cautiously entered the morgue, where besides the frozen corpses in the refrigeration units, there were also bodies laid out on beds.
"Why don’t you work together to set up a barrier and just burn this place down? Wouldn’t that be simpler?" Mi Shen kicked away a corpse lunging at him. With a loud thud, the body collapsed but then stiffly tried to rise again.
The others had no response. "You think it’s that easy? Ordinary fire can’t destroy them. These corpses have undergone corpse mutation." As for their exact level or how many intact bodies had been stolen, they had no way of knowing.
Mu Lichuan’s words made Mi Shen frown. "But if you just suppress them with talismans, won’t they break free and cause chaos later?" In his view, if they were going to solve the problem, they should do it thoroughly—not leave loose ends that could bring disaster to the nation.
"What else can we do? Our cultivation isn’t strong enough," Mu Lichuan said, his forehead creased with frustration.
Typical young master, his thinking is completely different from ours.
For now, they would suppress the corpses and then figure out a permanent solution. As for other methods, even the talismans in his spatial storage couldn’t possibly destroy so many mutated corpses.
These corpses moved stiffly, their limbs rigid and uncoordinated. Mu Lichuan found it strange, perhaps the ones that had developed intelligence were no longer in the morgue. The remaining ones were just ordinary corpses tainted by too much yin energy, posing little real threat.
"Wait, why are there still so many corpses coming at us even after we’ve suppressed so many?" someone suddenly shouted, their face deathly pale.
Only a legendary "spatial expansion" could achieve this, meaning the morgue had been enlarged countless times. How big it truly was might be beyond what their eyes could perceive.
"First, we seal this place completely, then retreat," Mu Lichuan ordered loudly. He knew the horror of spatial distortions, if these corpses escaped, the consequences for ordinary people would be deadly. The incident at Ai Village was proof enough.
The government hadn’t used fire to cleanse Ai Village—instead, they had completely sealed it off, letting the corpses slowly rot under the sun for years. Even now, the place was likely still steeped in sinister energy.
If the Ren'ai Hospital’s morgue truly became another Ai Village, with people eating people, the disaster would spread across the entire capital. The repercussions would be unimaginable.
Mu Lichuan used a barrier to seal the area. Unless they obtained "mystical fire," there was no way to burn everything here. He glanced at Mi Shen, worried that if this man fell here, it would affect the nation’s fate.
The group was battered and exhausted, their faces grim from expending too much spiritual energy. Only Mi Shen seemed relatively unaffected, aside from slightly labored breathing.
"Let’s go back for now," Mu Lichuan said calmly. There were many things in this world beyond their power, it was up to the state to decide what to do next.
As they left the hospital, Mi Rong, who had been rescued earlier, wore a crazed expression. Even if he died, he would drag the Mi family down with him. "Master, what now?"
The masked man replied in a low voice, "The spatial distortion holds countless corpses, enough to wear them down. If they use ordinary fire, the resentment and yin energy from the corpses will be released, inevitably causing a plague among ordinary people."
A river of blood would greatly benefit his own cultivation.
He knew, however, that the true cultivators of this nation had yet to reveal themselves. Otherwise, he would already rule this land. The question was whether those old masters would emerge—after all, if the dragon veins were destroyed, they would suffer too.
[Dragon veins (龙脉, lóng mài): the "energy highways" of the land, hidden paths of power that flow through mountains, rivers, and the earth itself. They decide a nation’s luck and stability.]
[Dragon Energy (龙气, lóng qì): the actual power that comes from these veins - a golden, protective force that surrounds rulers and strong cultivators. If the veins weaken, the energy fades, bringing disaster. Strong veins = Strong energy = A safe, prosperous kingdom]
"Excellent!" Mi Rong laughed wildly. The sacrifice of ninety children’s blood had indeed been effective. He could also sense the masked man’s power growing.
"Mm. I leave the rest to you. I must go into seclusion." Some things had already spiraled out of control, there was no point staying and risking exposure.
For the past twenty years, aside from occasionally aiding this middle-aged man, he had focused solely on cultivation. Few knew of his existence.
"Go ahead, Master," Mi Rong said respectfully. The formation was already in place, let’s see how they could possibly undo it.
Mi Shen looked at the group. "Do you know any other powerful individuals?" He was clueless about these esoteric matters and had no idea how to proceed.
The old Taoist priests shook their heads. "Perhaps we should check Tiger Head Mountain. There might be a recluse cultivator there."
True masters rarely interfered in worldly affairs, it held no benefit for them. Only half-baked practitioners like them wandered the mortal realm.
Mi Shen’s expression darkened further. Mu Lichuan suggested, "Why not explain everything to your father and then inform the ruler?"
In his view, a nation protected by dragon energy must have hidden cultivators. Otherwise, it would have been overrun long ago.
Lao Deng, the current ruler, might know things even high-ranking officials didn’t. But it depended on Mi Shen’s influence.
Ren'ai Hospital had been completely sealed, not even a fly could enter. Once a bustling private hospital, it now stood desolate and abandoned.
Mu Lichuan returned to school, the rest was beyond his capabilities. As a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, one misstep could mean death. And if he died, retrieving his mother’s soul would become impossible.
Final exams arrived. Mu Lichuan’s classmates looked like walking corpses. When they saw him submit his paper so early, they sneered in disdain.
Only an hour had passed, they guessed that this "Mu" had given up and turned in a blank sheet. Even the invigilator thought so, until she saw the densely written answers. Her eyes nearly bulged out.
Another invigilator came over, puzzled at what was so interesting about a blank paper.
"This…" They were veteran teachers. Even without the answer key, they could tell most of his responses were correct.
"Eyes on your own papers!" one teacher barked, noticing the students’ reactions.
Class 1-1 was the worst in the grade. Who would’ve thought it hid a genius? Mu Lichuan skipped class often, only money kept him from expulsion. Yet now…
They assumed a poor student turning in early was normal. But surprisingly, he had aced it. Even his essay was flawless, deserving full marks.
The math invigilator watched him closely in the afternoon. He wrote at lightning speed, submitting his paper the moment time was up. Not necessarily perfect, but definitely high-scoring.
Three days of exams turned the unnoticed Mu Lichuan into a teacher’s obsession. Without surveillance and witnesses, no one would believe such a student existed.
"Even the top student in the elite class can’t compare, full marks in everything," a grader muttered, jealous of Class 1-1’s homeroom teacher’s luck.
The homeroom teacher felt like she’d won the lottery. She had braced for the principal’s scolding, only for fate to flip the script.
Mu Lichuan paid no attention to the school’s uproar. When he saw the guests at his home, he sensed their power—this oppressive aura was something he’d never experienced before.
"Fellow Daoist," the two elderly men, dressed in ancient Taoist robes (they’d be seen as lunatics outside), greeted him.
"You’re here about Ren'ai Hospital?" Mu Lichuan cut straight to the point.
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