In the Ping'an Village mass grave, I stood opposite Qu Ruilin and saw the corpse behind him that had turned its head. I felt my hair stand on end.

Seeing the change in my expression, Qu Ruilin couldn't help but feel a little angry: "I've already explained things to you. The corpse just collapsed on its own. Believe it or not!"

At that moment, I had no time to pay attention to Qu Ruilin's words. Seeing that the corpse behind him was actually moving, I grabbed his arm and shouted, "Run! Run!"

Historical records contain numerous accounts of corpses rising from the dead.

Aside from those legends, many archaeological teams have encountered similar situations. When Sun Dianying looted Emperor Qianlong's Yuling Mausoleum, a female corpse made groaning sounds, scaring the soldiers out of their wits. When Empress Dowager Cixi's coffin was opened, she also opened her eyes.

According to the records in the Judge's Records, there have been countless cases of corpses coming back to life throughout history. However, in most cases, the corpses would exhibit some subtle movements, such as the kind of zombies that could jump out of the coffin and chase people around. These are basically based on the same principle as corpse puppets, where other things parasitize the corpse.

Before arriving at Ping'an Village, I had always firmly believed in the records in the Judge's Record.

Until we encountered the paper figures who stole our things in the woods outside.

Although I kept reassuring everyone that those paper figures were just a kind of puppetry, this excuse could comfort others, but it couldn't fool myself.

A remote mountain village.

A group of people who are out of step with the world.

The method of burial using wax seals exists underground and is not recorded in any historical materials.

All of this made me wary and cautious about this place.

So when I saw the abnormality of the corpses, even I couldn't figure out whether the place was really haunted or whether these corpses had been subjected to some kind of evil magic.

But I am clear that no matter which situation we encounter, the situation we are facing right now is extremely dangerous.

Qu Ruilin was caught off guard and I pulled him away, shouting after him, "Duan Shenxing, what's wrong with you?"

Before I could speak, Wei Shengnan, who was guarding above, answered for me: "The corpses behind you are moving! Hurry up and climb up!"

I weaved through a group of corpses and rushed to the edge of the pit at great speed. After grabbing the rope, before I could even climb up, Manjing used brute force to pull me up.

After I "flew" from the bottom of the pit to the top, while the others were pulling Qu Ruilin up, I shone my flashlight into the pit.

Among the corpses that were originally arranged neatly like terracotta warriors, several figures were now swaying.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, one corpse pushed over the one next to it.

I shone my flashlight in that direction and found that the waxy coating on the body of the fallen corpse had been shattered by the impact.

The corpses below were spaced far apart, so there was no domino effect. However, the corpses that were able to move were like programmed robots, constantly repeating the action of pushing other corpses over.

Although the scene here was eerie, everyone also noticed that the corpses below were not actually aggressive.

Seeing this, the monkey looked on with curiosity: "Young Master Duan, what's going on? After those corpses came back to life, why are they only concerned with destroying their companions' bodies? Could it be that they were ostracized in the village when they were alive, and now that they've been resurrected, they're too resentful and don't want others to live? But that doesn't make sense, aren't these just a bunch of dead people to begin with?"

"At such a crucial moment, can you please stop making me answer these brain-dead questions?"

Looking at the corpses falling one after another below, I waved my hands repeatedly to everyone: "Something's wrong here. Before things get any worse, everyone get out of here as quickly as possible. Nobody stay here, hurry!"

As soon as I finished speaking, I took Monkey and Manjing and headed straight for the exit.

Just as I was running towards the exit, the monkey suddenly said, "Young Master Duan, did you hear any strange noises? It sounds like someone is grinding their teeth!"

I kept walking, my eyes fixed on the exit in the distance: "I heard it. Perhaps we've triggered other mechanisms here. It's the sound of machinery running."

"Squeak—"

Just as I was running, a sharp scraping sound suddenly came from the pit of corpses ahead.

That harsh sound was like glass scraping across a blackboard, which was extremely unpleasant to listen to.

Before I could find the source of the sound, a figure suddenly rushed up the pit of corpses and pounced straight at me.

Seeing this, Manjing grabbed my shoulder and shielded me behind him, then threw a punch, yelling, "Big brother, watch out!"

When I saw Manjing's actions, I immediately spoke up to stop him.

These corpses have remained intact underground for so many years without decomposing, which must have involved the use of special chemicals. They would also have become a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses, so touching them without proper knowledge carries a significant risk.

However, Manjing's punches were much faster than my speech. Before I could even finish my sentence, his fist had already slammed into the corpse's head.

Under Manjing's immense force, the corpse was sent flying by a single punch, its head flattened, leaving only its body writhing.

To prevent the corpse from making any further moves, I swung the machete in my hand and slashed fiercely at its leg.

The knife fell without any resistance; the corpse seemed boneless, and the feedback felt like striking cardboard. The immense inertia even made my body stagger.

I shone my flashlight on the body and discovered that it was empty.

To be precise, it's the same as the paper dolls we've seen in the woods, except that it's a wooden frame covered with a layer of human skin.

Just as I was stunned, a dark figure suddenly ran out from where the doll's leg was broken.

"Pfft!"

Manjing reacted quickly, stabbing the thing with his knife.

When I shone my flashlight on it, I almost threw up.

This thing looks like a large, pinkish "worm" about the length of an arm. Its skin is pink, like that of a newborn mouse. Through its translucent skin, you can see the blood vessels and internal organs underneath.

Although it's called an insect, this thing has several legs, but not four like an animal; it has six in total.

Besides that, this guy's eyes are also strange. There are two fleshy membranes on his face with two black dots inside. And his nose is very pointed with only one nostril at the front.

Upon closer inspection, this creature's skin is covered with small fleshy growths, and it surprisingly has no mouth, or rather, its nose and mouth are probably just the round hole at the very front.

It looks extremely strange!