The people from the two neighboring villages had all gathered in the central village.
They congregated around the mountain god temple, trying to stay as close to it as possible.
This, however, led to numerous conflicts within the village.
With six people dead last night and the ongoing zombie incident, the villagers were now extremely jumpy and filled with dread.
Ling Feng and his companions were their only refuge, so to get closer to the mountain god temple, many had resorted to fighting, even falling out with their own relatives.
"This can't go on like this!"
The mysterious young girl couldn't help but shake her head as she watched the chaotic scene unfold.
The villagers were currently in a state of panic and fear. If they couldn't be appeased, no amount of talking would be effective.
All eyes fell on Ling Feng.
However, Ling Feng seemed oblivious to it all, remaining silent, and eventually even closed his eyes.
His attitude left everyone bewildered.
"Senior Ling Feng, what should we do now..."
Guan Ya, looking at Ling Feng, could no longer contain himself.
"The boss is thinking. Don't disturb him," Yang Fei interrupted Guan Ya directly.
Unable to get an answer, Guan Ya could only sit aside, feeling frustrated.
In this situation, weren't they just waiting to die?
Their hearts grew even more anxious.
They naturally didn't know what Ling Feng was thinking, but they didn't dare to ask too many questions.
"Immortal Master Lin, please help us find a solution!"
"Immortal Master Lin, I'm the village chief. Let me in. You must have a way to solve this!"
Just past noon, the white-haired village chief was implored by the villagers to seek a solution from Immortal Master Lin.
Those who had lost the bodies of their loved ones no longer dared to speak of finding them.
Or rather, they were now afraid that those corpses would come back to find them.
"Brother, I... I should at least do something, right?"
Listening to the villagers' pleas from outside, Lin Shuai Nan also couldn't sit still.
Ling Feng, however, remained as cold and somber as ice, unmoved by the surrounding noise, sitting as steady as a mountain.
Except for Saintess Ji Yun Yue and Yang Fei, who sat in quiet contemplation, the others were restless. Lin Shuai Nan was already extremely anxious, to the point of scratching his ears and cheeks.
They endured this way until dusk.
During this time, Lin Shuai Nan had no choice but to brace himself and try to appease the villagers at the temple entrance. He even procured cinnabar and talismans, giving them to everyone as protective charms.
This managed to calm the villagers down a little.
"Ah, that's more like it! It's good that the village chief is thinking ahead, leading the village's young and strong laborers to work in the fields."
Lin Shuai Nan said with a relieved expression after returning to the temple.
Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
Ling Feng, however, suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Lin Shuai Nan, asking in a deep voice, "What did you say?"
"Uh... Big Brother, what's wrong?"
"You said the village chief took people to work in the fields?" Ling Feng stood up.
"Yes! The village chief led a group of strong laborers, each holding a hoe, a shovel, and the like. They seemed to be heading up the mountain to clear new land."
Lin Shuai Nan's heart skipped a beat at Ling Feng's tense demeanor, and he responded instinctively.
The others around them, hearing Lin Shuai Nan's words, also realized the seriousness of the situation.
Ji Yun Yue looked at the sky outside.
"That's not right! It's almost dusk and sunset. Why would they go to clear new land?"
"They weren't going to work in the fields... then what could they be doing?"
Lin Shuai Nan was stunned.
Upon closer thought, something was indeed not quite right.
Ling Feng's gaze fell upon the table, where a water basin was placed.
He strode over, lowered his head, and saw that a piece of tile, which Ling Feng had discarded the previous night, was pressed beneath the water basin.
This tile... wasn't it the central area of the sacrificial ritual he had drawn the previous night!
A flicker of anger flashed in Ling Feng's eyes. With a sweep of his hand, he smashed the water basin and turned to glare at Yang Fei, reprimanding him, "What is going on here?"
Yang Fei trembled violently and explained in terror, "This, this is water brought by the villagers. They said it was for us to wash up. I saw it was just a young girl, so I let her place the water basin on the table."
"When was this?"
"This morning, when you all went to the graves on the mountain!"
Yang Fei replied nervously, completely bewildered as to why Ling Feng was suddenly so furious.
Ji Yun Yue and the others had already walked over and looked at the shattered tile. Their expressions changed simultaneously!
"Oh no, could it be that the little girl who brought the water saw the diagram on the tile, and that's why..."
Guan Ya said repeatedly.
Ling Feng had already rushed out with his people.
"Split up!"
"Alright!"
With Ling Feng's command, everyone separated, heading towards three different villages and locations!
But as soon as they spread out, they saw what the villagers were digging.
Yang Fei, following behind Ling Feng, saw from a distance that a large millstone in the millstone area had been moved, and a large hole had been dug beneath it.
Standing beside it was the white-haired village chief!
"Stop!"
Yang Fei shouted angrily.
The village chief and the others were startled by this. Several burly men instinctively released the ropes in their hands.
*Swish, thud!*
The ropes loosened, and the heavy object crashed back into the pit.
At this moment, Ling Feng had already arrived beside the pit, looking down into the dark abyss.
It was about five to six meters deep, and one could vaguely discern a coffin within.
A massive bronze sarcophagus.
"There's... a coffin buried underneath!"
Yang Fei exclaimed in astonishment.
Ling Feng's expression grew even more somber. When he had previously studied the ancient corpse蛊術 (gu shu - a type of dark magic involving insects and corpses), he had already had some suspicions about these things, but had not yet acted.
He had originally planned to inspect and verify things here after all the villagers had taken their herbal medicine and fallen asleep.
Unfortunately, he was a step too late.
"Who told you to dig things up!"
Yang Fei knew that something bad had happened and immediately berated the village chief.
The village chief shrank his neck, then, instead, glared at Yang Fei angrily and questioned him.
"You dare to question me, old man? Tell me, who exactly are you people? How did you know there was a coffin buried underground? Did you cause the zombies in our village?"