Wen Yan thought of this, looking at the walking corpse whose head had already been straightened, and felt a chill in his heart.
Can someone really go this far?
To achieve his goal, let his own father die?
He wanted to think the best of people, to believe this was just coincidence, but there were just too many coincidences—no matter how he looked at it, it was all meticulously planned.
Predicted that the director would surely act according to the rules, and with that, predicted the director's choice, ensuring this walking corpse would definitely be sent to the old ice warehouse.
And also sure that everyone had an unquestionable trust in the old ice warehouse.
Either way, if there's a suspicion, go check. He took out his phone to call Feng Yao.
"Hey, Feng Yao, check the ride-hailing car I just took. Can you track where it is now?"
"Tracked it. He's coming from the west side of the funeral home. Looks like he's going to circle back to the city from here. Is something wrong with him?"
"Are you sure you guys checked everything thoroughly?"
"Yes. All his siblings came home today. They had a fight at home, so he went out to drive, picked up the rejected ride near your place. There were only two cars around at the time, the system assigned it automatically, no problems at all. He dropped you off and left, but since you think there could be a problem, I'll stop him just in case."
"His father's tongue was already cut out, but now, turned into a walking corpse, after his body's mostly recovered, I kept hearing him mutter about helping his son. Who do you think this son is? What kind of son would need a Wooden Armor Mask?"
"Hm? Hiss..." Feng Yao pondered this, sharply sucking in a breath.
During their routine investigation, they had surely checked up on Mo Zhicheng already—nothing wrong. Worked hard every day as a ride-hailing driver, mainly made money carpooling people to the airport. If there were no long-distance rides, he'd pick up short orders in Virtue City.
A life trajectory clear from childhood, still caring for his elderly parents—a filial son. Who would suspect he'd orchestrate all this?
Even Mo Zhicheng's father's death was an indisputable accident.
But now, hearing Wen Yan bring it up, Feng Yao also felt it was just too much coincidence. To be safe, they'd better detain him first.
"Got it."
"Be careful."
Wen Yan hung up the call.
The walking corpse's murmuring was getting clearer and clearer; the slightly trembling voice was growing ever more resolute, and its speed of absorbing the Wooden Armor Mask's power was accelerating. It was about to complete an evolution.
Just as the walking corpse was about to step out of the funeral home, Zhang Laoxi arrived, driving his pickup truck.
Zhang Laoxi, clad in a yellow Taoist robe, jumped out of the car, instructing his two disciples to set up the altar.
He hurried to the main entrance, glanced at the Wooden Armor Walking Corpse—just a look at those vacant eyes, and hearing the endless muttering from its mouth, his expression immediately changed.
"Old brother, can you handle it?"
"If it's just an ordinary walking corpse at this level, no big problem. But this one, I'm afraid it'll be tough. Has it completely ignored you and started evolving, and is that evolution going extremely fast?"
"Yes, it hasn't hurt anyone, just grabbed something and walked out."
"I see. There's no viciousness or killing intent in its eyes, only emptiness—no soul, no will, only that one thing it keeps repeating; evolving extremely fast as well. This is a long-lost, forbidden left-hand path sorcery.
His mind is boiling with obsessions, and if he willingly sacrifices his own soul, his own life, and everything else, killing himself, he turns into a Big Executor's obsession."
He's left with only this final obsession—his last unfinished business.
Unless he's destroyed completely at the very beginning, the more you block him, the fiercer he gets. The more you hinder him, the stronger he becomes.
Until he completes his last deed, the obsession will dissolve by itself.
When I was at Fuyu Mountain, I read a book called 'Examination of the Corpse Land'—it's all recorded inside.
If someone loses their entire clan and can't take revenge, and their hatred reaches its peak, if they're willing to give up everything, they'll use this ritual to get revenge."
Old Xi spoke rapidly, quickly explaining to Wen Yan and the director standing by.
At this point, the walking corpse was moving faster and faster, now stepping out the funeral home doors.
The walking corpse paid no mind to anyone, eyes still hollow, continued striding forward.
Zhang Laoxi's altar wasn't even set up, so he grabbed a Wooden Sword, stamped a Yu Step, chanted a curse scripture, opened the blade with a drop of blood, then stabbed the sword straight at the walking corpse's heart.
The walking corpse neither dodged nor even glanced at him—the Wooden Sword, after slight resistance, plunged straight through its heart.
The walking corpse paused, surging Yang energy burst forth from its chest. The gray air constantly cycling between its nose and mouth billowed out, spewing forward fiercely.
Zhang Laoxi let go of the Wooden Sword, leaped backward twice, retreating several meters away.
The walking corpse stood still, reached out with a hand to grasp the sword, sizzling sounds ringing out non-stop, the blazing heat and the force within the corpse clashing violently.
Just then, a black dog dashed from the flowerbed, leapt up, and bit down on the Wooden Armor Mask held in the walking corpse's right hand, then bolted into the roadside field, disappearing without a trace.
At this moment, the gray air on the walking corpse churned even more violently. It gripped the sword hilt with both hands—the power inside the hilt faded away, turning to black ash and falling. The walking corpse inhaled, and the gray air swirled back into him. All his wounds healed, and his skin turned completely ashy white.
The sudden turn of events left everyone caught off guard.
No one expected that a black dog would suddenly appear to snatch the mask away.
By this time, the walking corpse was slowly turning its head, staring at Zhang Laoxi.
"It's already completed one evolution. Also, it seems to think I stole the thing from its hand..." Zhang Laoxi backed up slowly, face grim.
Wen Yan hadn't expected things to go this way either—clearly, someone had banked on the director not daring to act inside the funeral home, and was ready outside to intercept.
According to the director, they planned to wait until the walking corpse left the funeral home before taking action to handle it.
They were on guard against people—not expecting the handler would be a common stray dog, which then left them with a huge headache: a lightning-fast, evolving walking corpse.
Wen Yan's thoughts churned rapidly, searching for a solution, when suddenly, the walking corpse surged forward at incredible speed—covering several meters in a single bound, charging straight for Zhang Laoxi.
Zhang Laoxi took a step back, his Taoist robe flying outward and transforming into a barrier-like wall blocking the way.
The next instant, the glow on the robe flashed—the walking corpse stretched out both arms and tore it to shreds.
At this moment, Zhang Laoxi's altar wasn't even set up yet; his tools of the trade weren't even ready. Never had he fought so hastily.
Just then, Wen Yan strode forward, shouting loudly.
"Your son's thing was snatched—aren't you going after it? Aren't you going to help your son?"
The Wooden Armor Walking Corpse that had just evolved, in Wen Yan's eyes, now displayed a new prompt.
"Wooden Armor Hopping Corpse (Big Executor).
Don't bother looking, it's already at least an elite monster. You'd better keep a safe distance right now.
Temporary Ability: Scorching Sun."
With Wen Yan's words, triggering the keywords, the hopping corpse halted, hollow eyes on Zhang Laoxi, still mumbling under its breath.
"I must help my son..."
Then it slowly turned its body, gazing toward the direction where the black dog had disappeared.
Its frame rigid, suddenly lurched forward, leaping seven or eight meters in a single bound, diving into the wild grass by the roadside.