Chapter 00032: Don’t Look Back
# Don’t Look Back
Chapter 32
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 32: Don’t Look Back
He Lingchuan, of course, heard it too.
He held his breath, focusing his gaze on his nose, and his mind on his heart.
No matter what he heard, he remained as still as an old monk in deep meditation, refusing to react.
Seeing that he didn’t respond, the voice changed.
It became soft, sweet, and coquettish, like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl pouring her heart out.
As He Lingchuan listened, it started to sound more and more like the girl he had a crush on when he was young.
He scoffed inwardly.
That girl hadn’t even finished her studies before she ran off with a rich kid from her hometown.
Within three years, she had two children.
Every time he saw those snot-nosed kids, he felt like he had been a complete fool back then.
This Three Corpse Worm clearly hadn’t done its homework—it didn’t know that the past was gone and couldn’t be reclaimed.
Just then, the boat suddenly shook, as if some massive creature had climbed aboard.
Immediately after, there were shouts of alarm, screams of pain from the soldiers, curses from the sand bandits, and the metallic clang of swords being drawn.
A fierce battle had broken out behind him.
The most recent scream came from right behind He Lingchuan.
He thought he had even spoken to that soldier earlier.
Then, the monster charged straight toward him, its heavy footsteps sounding like they were stomping directly on his chest.
Was this a trick by the Three Corpse Worm to make him turn around?
But if it was real, staying still like this would likely turn him into the monster’s snack.
This was the Coiling Dragon Desert, after all, a place teeming with strange beasts.
Who could guarantee that one or two hadn’t climbed onto the boat to feast on humans?
It was getting closer! The oppressive weight of its presence made the hairs on He Lingchuan’s back stand on end.
He quickly glanced at He Chunhua, his father.
Since they were facing each other, his father should be able to see what was behind him.
He Chunhua’s facial muscles twitched slightly, and his expression even looked a bit ferocious, but his eyes were empty.
He Lingchuan found this expression unfamiliar and had no idea what his father was hearing.
How could they communicate their intentions just through eye contact?
But with the Three Corpse Worm nearby, neither dared to speak.
Fortunately, He Chunhua suddenly snapped out of it, staring straight at his eldest son.
It was as if he had heard He Lingchuan’s thoughts, because he suddenly winked with his right eye.
This gesture, coming from the dignified prefect, was rare, but it instantly broke the tense and terrifying atmosphere.
He Lingchuan let out a quiet sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease.
It was fake!
His father was trying to tell him that whatever he was hearing was fake!
Sure enough, the monster’s footsteps rushed right up to the back of his head.
He could even hear its heavy breathing, but in the next second, it vanished.
All that was left in his ears was the howling wind.
The wisps of smoke around him also lost interest, swaying and drifting off elsewhere.
He Lingchuan had passed the test.
He winked back at his father.
Earlier, everyone had taken a small red pill, specially concocted by Imperial Preceptor Sun for this journey.
The main ingredient was Heartrot Grass, which grew in extremely yin places.
After taking it, humans could not only see “unclean things” for a short time but also temporarily mask their living aura.
As long as the Three Corpse Worm didn’t enter the nine orifices of the body, it would only see them as lifeless objects.
But the biggest weakness of this method was that you couldn’t easily turn your head!
A person’s upper body is surrounded by three life flames, which protect the heart and repel external evils.
But if you’re being watched by the Three Corpse Worm and you turn your head, the life flames weaken instantly, and you can no longer hide from it.
This wasn’t Imperial Preceptor Sun’s unique invention.
It was a method recorded in the notes of a sorcerer from the Xianyou Kingdom.
After all, your greatest understanding often comes from your enemies.
The Xianyou Kingdom had been at war with Coiling Dragon City for over thirty years, so they must have spent a lot of time figuring out how to deal with the Three Corpse Worm.
In fact, incidents like this often happened in the wild forests and fields at night.
Travelers would hear someone calling them from behind, and if they carelessly turned their heads, their life flames would weaken, allowing evil spirits to invade.
When He Lingchuan first received the pill, he had a fleeting thought.
The Xianyou Kingdom had been destroyed a hundred years ago, so obtaining the sorcerer’s notes from that time couldn’t have been easy.
Moreover, Heartrot Grass was a rare ingredient, with strict growing conditions.
It couldn’t be cultivated or mass-produced.
Just gathering the materials to make enough Dispersing Soul Powder for three hundred people must have taken an enormous amount of effort.
Had the Grand Marshal and Imperial Preceptor Sun really only started preparing to explore the Coiling Dragon Ruins half a year ago?
Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind, and He Lingchuan didn’t dwell on it.
He saw that He Chunhua’s expression had returned to its usual calm, and the Three Corpse Worms around him had scattered, indicating that his father had also passed the test.
But when his gaze swept over the soldiers behind He Chunhua, he suddenly froze. “Hey, don’t…”
One of the soldiers had red eyes, filled with tears.
Before He Lingchuan could finish his sentence, the soldier turned his head.
He Lingchuan watched in horror as the life flame on the soldier’s left shoulder flickered and went out.
The other two flames dimmed instantly.
The Three Corpse Worm hovering nearby, like a shark smelling blood, flicked its tail and burrowed into the soldier’s ears and nose!
The soldier’s eyes immediately glazed over.
Seeing his eldest son’s expression change drastically as he stared behind him, the veins on He Chunhua’s neck bulged.
It was clear he was using all his strength to resist the instinct to turn around.
Instead of turning, he lunged forward two steps.
This was a textbook example of self-preservation, because the soldier suddenly drew the long sword at his waist and swung it down with all his might toward He Chunhua’s head, aiming to split it like a watermelon.
The blade was less than two inches from He Chunhua’s skull when it stopped.
He Lingchuan had already moved past his father, charging into the soldier’s chest with a single step, knocking both the man and his sword down.
The soldier’s movements halted immediately, a blade tip protruding from his back.
He Chunhua, having narrowly escaped death, took several deep breaths before suddenly staring ahead and saying, “Lingchuan, turn around slowly. I’ll deal with these puppets.”
He Lingchuan pushed the corpse aside and saw a wisp of shadow emerge from the dead man’s seven orifices, drifting back into the air and swimming leisurely away.
Once the person died, the Three Corpse Worm couldn’t stay inside and had to come out.
He kept his neck still, using his waist and legs to slowly turn around.
This way, the life flames on his shoulders remained intact and wouldn’t be extinguished by his own movements.
But the boat was already in chaos.
The soldier wasn’t the only one.
Despite repeated warnings and reminders, seven or eight people had been tempted by the voices in their ears, extinguishing their own life flames and falling prey to the Three Corpse Worms.
Once possessed, they became unrecognizable, attacking anyone in sight.
In just a few moments, chaos had erupted on the boat.
Four or five people were injured, and one unlucky soul had half his head sliced off.
He Chunhua went straight for the killers.
One of them was a sand bandit who, even after being possessed by a Three Corpse Worm, remained agile.
Instead of engaging in direct combat, he played a game of cat and mouse in the crowd, occasionally slashing at one or two people.
If you constantly reminded yourself not to turn your head, your flexibility would inevitably suffer.
He Chunhua felt as stiff as a zombie, his movements three beats slower, and he just couldn’t catch up to this slippery opponent.
Just as he was about to cast a spell, a dagger flew from behind, “whooshing” through the air and embedding itself in the killer’s right eye.
It pierced through and exploded in a spray of blood.
(End of Chapter)