"Brother, didn't I tell you not to hurt him?"
The pitch changed, but the voice remained the same.
Enraged, Xiang Wan grabbed the hand and twisted it in the opposite direction. With a "crack," the hand was broken, and its owner fell to the ground, howling in pain.
The corpse in front of him was not bound by the exorcism sword. Instead, it took the opportunity to retreat quickly and pounce on the man surnamed Zou.
When the branch broke, the man surnamed Zou fell down along with it, knocking off the immobilization talisman. Taking advantage of Xiang Wan's momentary lapse in attention, he patted her on the shoulder.
As a corpse-transporter who had traveled many night roads, Xiang Wan didn't believe he was unaware of the taboo against patting someone on the shoulder from behind. To knowingly violate this rule is unforgivable!
A gust of cold wind swept by, and Xiang Wan got goosebumps all over her body. She quickly took out a spirit-guiding talisman, stuck it on her shoulder, and activated her spiritual power to rekindle the extinguished yang fire.
By the time he finished doing all this, the man surnamed Zou had already died.
The corpse bit through his skull, and wisps of white mist entered the corpse's nostrils through the top of his head. The man surnamed Zou's body turned into a dried-up corpse at a visible speed, while the corpse's hair grew a foot long, its fingernails an inch long, its sharp teeth on both sides of its mouth extended to its chin, and its eyes were blood red.
Oh no! It has absorbed the life force of a living person, turning the corpse into a walking corpse. There's also a demon inside, making it even harder to deal with than before.
Xiang Wan began to use the exorcism technique, her hands flying as she formed hand seals to gather spiritual energy. "All laws return to one, gods and ghosts manifest, slay ghosts and ward off evil, awe all directions, settle!"
A yellow light shield flew rapidly toward the corpse, and upon hitting its body, it propelled it three meters away.
The corpse roared, leaped up, turned around, and fled.
If he were to escape, who knows how many more living people he would have to consume.
Xiang Wan quickly threw out several corpse-dissolving talismans, burning the corpse of the man surnamed Zou and other limb remains on the ground to ashes. Then, she quickly chased after the walking corpse.
With the system providing directions, the zombies naturally wouldn't lose their way. She was worried that the zombies would harm people again, and that they would be even more difficult to deal with once their strength increased.
The further they went, the fewer trees there were on either side. Xiang Wan looked closely and saw a cliff ahead, with a rushing river flowing from west to east, its roar echoing through the valley.
The zombie jumped to the edge of the cliff, glanced back at Xiang Wan, and then leaped off.
Xiang Wan ran over quickly and saw a dark figure disappear into the river. Even the "plop" sound of falling into the water was covered by the rushing water.
"Xiao Qi, which way does the river go?"
Xiang Wan didn't dare to jump down rashly; she always felt that this walking corpse was deliberately trying to lure her in.
"Shuiyao Town is ten miles ahead," the system replied.
After confirming the location of the zombies again, Xiang Wan frowned deeply.
She was on her way to Shuiyao Town, and then the walking corpses appeared there. Could it be that the events in Shuiyao Town started with that corpse-driving man?
Looking at the sky, the morning star was already high in the sky. Xiang Wan gathered his strength and hurried back the way he came.
She needed to confirm whether all the corpses were heading towards Shuiyao Town.
After the body was burned, Xiang Wan did not touch the straw and valuables.
After searching through all the remaining items, they found gold, silver, a change of clothes, some hairpins, and a written agreement. The agreement stated that a certain amount of travel expenses would be given for returning the body to a certain family in Shuiyao Town.
In addition, there was a square wooden box, locked with a brass lock.
Xiang Wan found a beaded flower in the hairpin, straightened the looped copper wire at its end, inserted it into the copper lock, fiddled with it for a long time, and finally opened the copper lock.
Inside the wooden box were no decorations, only a woman's hair comb. Holding it in my hand, I smelled it; it was made of golden nanmu wood, inlaid with a blood-red bead. It felt cool to the touch, reflected my image, and was irresistible. The longer I looked at it, the greater my joy became; I wanted to keep it close to my body, never showing it to anyone.
"The Soul-Capturing Comb? How did it get here?"
The system's questioning interrupted the strange desire that had arisen in Xiang Wan's heart.
She put the comb back in the wooden box, locked it again, and affixed a seal to it.
"What is the origin of the Soul-Capturing Comb?"
As he asked questions, Xiang Wan tidied up the things on the ground, wrapped them in a cloth robe, and planned to go to Shuiyao Town to give them to the owner of the written agreement.
The man surnamed Zou and the one called San'er have both perished, but their relatives should still be alive. Giving the remaining gold and silver to their relatives can be considered a way to settle this karmic debt.
"This is a long story, but this system will keep it brief and give a simple explanation."
"The Soul-Capturing Comb wasn't originally called the Soul-Capturing Comb. It was a gift from her fiancé to a young lady from a wealthy family when they got engaged. The young lady loved it dearly and used it to comb her hair every day, hoping that their love would last forever. However, things don't always go as planned. On their wedding night, the young lady's new husband was summoned by the emperor to fight in a war."
"This war lasted for three years. Miss fell ill with longing, and every day she would touch the ruby on her comb, gradually polishing it until it reflected her image. When her husband returned, Miss wept with joy and dragged her ailing body to greet him, only to see another young and beautiful woman beside him. Miss coughed up blood and died with resentment."
"After the young lady died, the comb was not buried with her. Instead, it caught the eye of a woman who served her husband and carried it with her every day. Within a year, the woman became emaciated and died. Later, the man married several more wives, but they all met the same end."
"The man wanted to destroy the comb, but before burning it, he took one last look and couldn't bear to part with it. Later, the man died with a smile on his face, holding the comb. After his death, the comb disappeared without a trace."
"Later, the comb appeared in other people's homes, and in every one of them it was found withered and dead. Over time, people began to call it the Soul-Capturing Comb. I remember the last time this comb appeared was twenty years ago. It's truly unbelievable that it's here now."
Hearing the system's exclamation, Xiang Wan's lips twitched.
To put it simply, the system's long story is not very impressive.
"Alright, you're not suited to telling stories. It's clearly a sad story, but you've made it sound completely devoid of feeling. This comb has gathered a lot of ghosts; a soul-capturing comb is a soul-capturing comb, so it's not surprising at all."
Xiang Wan shouldered two large bundles and hurried towards Shuiyao Town.
It was almost dawn, and the dew was especially heavy. She was thinking of going there to have breakfast or something.
"Huh? Aren't you afraid it will steal your soul?"
"Isn't it you who wants to take the soul inside?" Xiang Wan retorted mercilessly. "Don't scare me. If you frighten me so much that my hand shakes and I accidentally throw it into some corner, that's perfectly normal."
"Tch, this system is too lazy to bother with you."
The system fell silent. Xiang Wan touched her chest and smiled gently.
That person is really something. He clearly doesn't like her, yet he secretly sends her things. Ha!
Shuiyao Town, she was actually quite looking forward to it. What was the reason that the original owner died here?
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