Chapter Fifty-Nine: Entering the Formation

“Deal!” Long Shaoxian’s face darkened as she was about to refuse, but Luo Longyu was interrupted by Luo Longyu’s decisive words. He looked at her in disbelief and scolded angrily, “Nonsense! Do you have any idea how many secrets are hidden within the Path of Corpses? If you allow them to conduct reverse research, and the secrets of the Path of Corpses are revealed, it will be a catastrophe. Throughout history, how many zombies have appeared because of failed research into the Path of Corpses?”

“I am the Path of Corpses. What I say goes.” Luo Longyu glanced at Long Shaoxian, her tone unwavering.

Those words left Long Shaoxian speechless. She opened her mouth but could not find anything to say. Luo Mengxuan’s face was pale; she spoke weakly, “Longyu, on this point I agree with Sister Long. The Path of Corpses is currently the grandest and most profound creation—an ultimate weapon against the Void Spirits, developed with the painstaking efforts of all the gods. Although I don’t know much about the Burial Clan, I believe that, with their level of civilization alone, they cannot possibly succeed in reverse engineering the Path of Corpses. In the end, they’ll only bring disaster upon themselves, possibly even creating hordes of powerful zombies. No matter who suffers, it will be a catastrophe for both us and them.”

Luo Longyu smiled. “If they’re not afraid of becoming zombies themselves, why should I worry? No matter how powerful, a zombie is just a failed product of the Path of Corpses. As a successful one, why should I be afraid of a bunch of failures? Besides, our enemies are already formidable enough—what’s a few more zombies to fear?”

Zang Wusheng looked at Long Shaoxian and Luo Mengxuan with amusement. “Have you finished your discussion?”

“I have. It’s a deal,” Luo Longyu said.

“Good! I like straightforward answers. But to prevent you from playing me for a fool, I think it’s necessary to implant something in you, so you can’t turn your back on our agreement later.” Zang Wusheng jumped down from the giant stone.

Luo Longyu nodded without hesitation. “That’s absolutely fine. But first, I need you to answer something for me.”

“Ask.”

“You’ve been here repairing the seal for some time. You must know the demons’ movements very well. So tell me, why did they steal the body of the Xuanyuan Clan? What are they after?” Luo Longyu asked.

Zang Wusheng narrowed his eyes at Luo Longyu. “Are you referring to your mother’s remains? I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. All I can say is, those who stole your mother’s body were not the real Satans. From the very start, your investigation went in the wrong direction. That’s also why I stopped you. You misunderstand much of history. If you want to know the whole story, you’ll have to ask the Satan you just encountered. What he knows is precisely what you’re so desperate to find out.”

Luo Longyu looked at the stone cliff nearby, at the faintly glowing seal upon it, and confirmed once more, “If I agree to your terms, you can get me through the seal, correct?”

“Yes. But let me be clear—this is a seal of light. I can only use dark energy to neutralize the seal’s light energy, not break it open. That means, out of everyone present, only you can go in. Only the Path of Corpses fuses yin and yang, light and darkness. The seal won’t detect your presence. Anyone else, including myself, would be immediately discovered by the seal, and its code sequence would automatically shuffle and reconstruct itself.” Zang Wusheng spoke frankly.

Long Shaoxian quietly glanced at Froyer for confirmation. Froyer nodded, indicating Zang Wusheng was telling the truth.

Just as Luo Longyu was about to make the deal with Zang Wusheng, Long Shaoxian stepped forward and grabbed her arm, her face expressionless. “Wait.” With that, she connected to the Xuan Yi Center communications. “Team One calling in. The situation has changed.”

At Xuan Yi Center, Elder Xuan listened to Long Shaoxian’s report, his white brows knitted tightly together. He took a long breath. Military commander Zhuo Yong was also silent, lost in thought. The two decision-makers could not come to a conclusion—this concerned the core secrets of the Path of Corpses. Allowing the Burial Clan to study these secrets, regardless of success or failure, would risk leaking vital information. Any mishap would be disastrous, and no one could bear that responsibility.

“We need to consult the Supreme Commander,” Zhuo Yong said.

Elder Xuan was about to speak, when the communications officer suddenly reported, “Sir, there’s an unknown signal attempting to forcibly breach the communications network.”

Before he finished, the command center’s main screen and all communication panels flickered, replaced by a silver radiance—the same as Luo Longyu’s silver pupil ring.

“It’s a Path of Corpses transmission—Luo Longyu,” Elder Xuan noted, signaling Zhuo Yong to stay calm, then spoke, “Luo Longyu, do you realize that unauthorized intrusion into the military network is punishable by execution?”

“I do now,” came Luo Longyu’s voice. Zhuo Yong took a deep breath; his expression was dark, but he had to admit that, with current human technology, there was no way to block the Path of Corpses from infiltrating their systems.

“What do you want to say?” Zhuo Yong asked.

“I’ve already agreed to Zang Wusheng’s conditions. I know the Path of Corpses is our final line of defense against the Void Spirits and is highly valued. I also know that, even though I’ve inherited it, this weapon does not belong to me alone. My point is, we’ve come this far, we shouldn’t give up lightly. The Path of Corpses is merely a weapon—we cannot see it as our only solution to invasion. Since inheriting it, I’ve realized that what we lack most compared to the Void Spirits isn’t power, but understanding—of ourselves, our history, and the truth. We don’t even know why we exist. How can we possibly resist invasion?”

“You want to speak with the Satan?” Elder Xuan asked.

“Yes. The history we know is the history certain powers want us to know. But the real history, we know very little of. What Satan knows is the truth we’re missing. I want to redefine friend and foe. In the face of truth, the Path of Corpses is not so important. I believe the Path of Corpses was created for the sake of truth. Without understanding the truth, the Path of Corpses is lost—just like a zombie,” Luo Longyu’s voice was calm.

Zhuo Yong and Elder Xuan exchanged glances. Finally, Elder Xuan spoke, “If that’s your decision, then do as you think best. I trust, as the inheritor of the Path of Corpses, you have your own understanding of history and your own pursuit of truth. Go ahead—give it your all.”

“Thank you. Luo Longyu signing off.” As soon as Luo Longyu finished, the command center’s communications returned to normal.

Watching the restored screens, Zhuo Yong sat down with a sigh. “That child is different from before.”

“Yes, more mature, with his own ideas. He’s right—what we know of history is only what certain powers want us to know. But how much of the real story do we truly understand? Are our current enemies genuine, or were they chosen for us to fight?” Elder Xuan mused.

“Exactly. After all that’s happened, I can’t help but wonder—this war that spans several great epochs, what role are we, in the Fifth Epoch, really playing?” Zhuo Yong leaned back, lost in thought, then got up. “Elder Xuan, you should rest too. You haven’t taken a break since coming back from the secret realm. I’m going out for a smoke.”

Elder Xuan smiled and said nothing.

At Kubakbu, the Marine Corps had established a defensive perimeter around the stone cliff, on alert for any potential threats. Meanwhile, they notified the Iraqi government forces to prepare to take over the region. Ironically, instead of the Iraqi troops, the Chinese Marines were met by American forces—but that is another story.

Zang Wusheng pressed a black mark into Luo Longyu’s brow. The moment the mark sank in, Luo Longyu felt as if her head was splitting open; she clutched her head, dazed by the pain. After a moment, she recovered and asked through gritted teeth, “What is this?”

“The Burial Clan’s Linked Burial Mark. It’s embedded directly into the core of your corpse-body. I can track your location at any time, and if I die, the Linked Burial Mark will drag you down with me. And by ‘burial,’ I don’t mean interment in the traditional sense, but casting you into absolute darkness—from which you will never escape,” Zang Wusheng replied with a sinister smile.

Long Shaoxian folded her arms and glanced sideways. “Something like black hole oblivion?”

“Similar, but more terrifying. If you’re strong enough, you might escape a black hole. Absolute darkness, however, is the law of the Underworld—the dark plane you speak of. To be buried in absolute darkness is to be devoured by the Underworld itself, turning you into dark matter—the invisible energy you only theorize about.” Zang Wusheng spoke lightly, but the chill in his words made Luo Mengxuan and the others shudder. Zuo Baixing whispered to Bai Li Zhuihun, “That’s brutal.”

“It’s not me being brutal. When dealing with beings like you, unconventional methods are necessary. Who’s to say you won’t kill me once our deal is done?” Zang Wusheng laughed boisterously.

When the pain receded, Luo Longyu said, “Enough talk. Let me in.”

“Wait.” Having planted the Linked Burial Mark, Zang Wusheng felt more at ease. He approached the seal array, the smile fading from his face, his eyes turning jet black as an inexplicable force spiraled out from within him.

“Dark protocol initiated. Copying matrix sequence. Verifying genetic sequence. Sequence fusion. Fusion complete. Light and darkness neutralized.” As Zang Wusheng recited these machine-like phrases, the glow of the seal quickly faded; the runic codes on the pentagram twisted and reformed, perfectly matching Zang Wusheng’s genetic sequence. At that moment, Zang Wusheng was the seal itself.

“It’s done. Go in quickly. Remember, I can only maintain this for half an hour—my limit. After that, my dark energy will be overwhelmed by the light energy, and the seal will reactivate. If you’re not out in time, you’ll be sealed inside.” Thick black mist billowed around Zang Wusheng, his entire body becoming vaporous.

“Understood.” Luo Longyu nodded and glanced at Long Shaoxian and the others. Just as she was about to step in, Long Shaoxian suddenly called out, “Luo Longyu!”

Luo Longyu turned to her. Long Shaoxian’s lips moved, but at last she simply said, “Be careful.”

“We’ll be waiting for you, Luo Longyu. Don’t make us break the seal to get you out,” Luo Mengxuan managed a faint smile despite her frailty.

Luo Longyu smiled, ruffled Luo Mengxuan’s hair, then turned to Long Shaoxian. “Half an hour is plenty of time.” With that, she glanced at the worried faces of Tong Wusha and the others, gave them a thumbs-up, and stepped through the stone gate—vanishing into the darkness.