I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

Chapter 267 231 Excuses

Tian Lin didn't say anything more; he too carried the black coffin, silently telling Zhou Jin the answer with his actions.

A group of three, they quietly left.

As they returned to Huilong Village, Elder Ran made arrangements for someone to watch over the black coffin while he brewed tea for himself.

As soon as he sat down, he explained to Tian Lin and Zhou Jin:

"Such 'Funeral Teams' occur every year within the territory of the Xiangxi Sect. And these funeral teams are 'organized' by the Affiliated Sects under the Xiangxi Sect.

These Affiliated Sects would, after each Clan Leader's death, send their corpses along with their coffins, escorted by the Corpse Slaves they accumulated while alive, as offerings to the Xiangxi Sect.

The funeral team we just saw was from the Wu family of Wuliang Mountain."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jin looked at Tian Lin and said, "What do you think Elder Gao wants with the Red Coffin?"

In fact, there was no need to question it broadly—it was obviously for the sake of deceased Senior Brother Xue.

Tian Lin expressed his confusion, "Death cannot be reversed; Senior Brother Xue's soul has long dispersed. Only his corpse remains now. Even if this corpse can move freely, can it still be considered 'Senior Brother Xue'? It's nothing but a walking corpse."

Hearing Tian Lin's words, Elder Ran beside them shook his head and said,

"My friend Tian, your words are not quite right! As long as the body exists, it can eventually give birth to new consciousness. Once new consciousness arises, new souls can be born. It's merely the loss of former memories—

Corpse chasers like us always believe that the soul is but a temporary memory. If the body can regenerate consciousness and live for ten thousand years, then a temporary memory is but a speck in the ocean of one's life. If it's lost, what is there to regret?"

Tian Lin knew that the corpse chasers and the Xiangxi Sect's philosophy differed from other sects, so he didn't bother to argue with Elder Ran.

He said, "The key issue now is whether Elder Gao's visit to the Xiangxi Sect's territory was merely a pretext to train us, with her main goal being the Red Coffin. Or was it because of the training that she happened upon the Red Coffin and made a spur-of-the-moment decision?

If it's the former, what will happen after we get our hands on the Red Coffin—or if we fail to secure it? Will we be returning to the Wendaos Sect?

If it's the latter, regardless of whether or not we get the Red Coffin, we will still have to stay in the Xiangxi Sect's territory for a while."

Having said that, Zhou Jin sighed and continued, "Elder Gao, who is over a thousand years old, has only one son, Senior Brother Xue. She neglected her own cultivation for his sake.

Now that Senior Brother Xue is dead, I think she must be suffering a lot."

Tian Lin glanced at Zhou Jin. It was indisputable that Elder Gao was suffering.

But her suffering didn't mean she could act recklessly. It was fine if she acted recklessly, just as long as it didn't drag them into it.

"We still need to gather some intelligence to check on the situation over there. If something seems off, we might have to report back to the Wendaos Sect."

After Tian Lin finished speaking, someone knocked on the door.

After Elder Ran allowed the person to come in, the villager reported, "Elder Ren of the Xiangxi Sect has already taken the Red Coffin and the Undead back to their sect."

Tian Lin asked the villager, "What about Elder Gao?"

"That female elder has also returned to the Tower Ship. She seemed to be injured, but fortunately, it's not a serious injury."

Both Tian Lin and Zhou Jin breathed a sigh of relief, and Elder Ran smiled and said,

"That's the best outcome. The Xiangxi Sect and the Wendaos Sect are both major immortal cultivation sects; it's best not to stir up any trouble over small matters."

Huilong Village is on the periphery of the Xiangxi Sect's territory. If the Wendaos Sect were to attack the Xiangxi Sect, Huilong Village would inevitably be involved.

Similarly, Tian Lin and Zhou Jin also didn't want conflict between the two immortal gates.

When those higher-ups start a fight, it's often their kind who end up as cannon fodder.

Even more tragic is that after these cannon fodder die, the higher-ups can often settle things amicably at the negotiation table.

The night passed without further words, and the next morning, Tian Lin and the others went out to the Chaotic Burial Forest as usual.

In the following days, they finally captured two more Undead after three days.

In just under seven days, Elder Ran had visibly aged a lot, and even Zhou Jin's complexion was ashen, clearly suffering from lingering Corpse Poison.

But looking at the Undead in front of them, not only was Elder Ran delighted, but Zhou Jin also felt a sense of achievement. He joked, "What do you say, in the future if we rely on selling Undead to make money, might we get rich?"

Tian Lin shook his head, "You, Senior Brother Zhou, might not think much of such a trade. Over time, ordinary people can't withstand it."

With that, Tian Lin said to Elder Ran, "Once we bring the Undead back to meet Elder Gao, we'll sell the Undead to you, friend Ran."

Elder Ran touched the white hair on his face, his smile brimming with pleasure, "Rest assured, friends Tian and Zhou. We've shared hardships together; I certainly won't let you two suffer losses."

He helped Tian Lin and Zhou Jin carry the two black coffins down to the bottom of the Tower Ship. In the valley below the Tower Ship, black coffins were everywhere.

Twenty neatly stacked black coffins—many people had already bought Undead and had been waiting quietly for some time.

Zhou Jin tugged at Tian Lin's sleeve, his eyes glancing towards Senior Brother Changxue not far away.

Tian Lin understood his meaning. Zhou Jin's demeanor was his way of laughing at Senior Brother Changxue for finally 'getting wise' and knowing to spend money to cheat.

But looking around at the people present, the majority had purchased Undead with Spirit Stones, and very few, like Tian Lin and Zhou Jin, attempted to capture Undead on their own to complete the task.

At this moment, Zhou Mengjiao walked over.

She glanced at Tian Lin, then looked at Zhou Jin and said, "Brother, what's wrong? Looking at you now, it seems like you've been injured?"

Zhou Jin shook his head, pridefully saying, "Catching Undead, who doesn't get hurt?"

Zhou Mengjiao, however, turned to look at Tian Lin, "Then why are the others not injured?"

Zhou Jin's face could hardly maintain composure, Tian, with his mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, was merely tasked with guarding the Array on the periphery.

But in this regard, his performance was far inferior to that of Tian Lin, a Cultivator of the Early-stage Foundation Establishment.

Zhou Mengjiao didn't press further, she merely said, "A gentleman born into wealth does not sit below a collapsing hall. If it can be solved with Spirit Stones, Brother, why risk your life? Don't end up being sold out and even help count the money for them."

After speaking, she took another glance at Tian Lin before leaving.

Zhou Jin's face flushed even more, he said to Tian Lin, "My sister has been spoiled since childhood, Tian, please do not take offense."

Tian Lin shook his head and smiled, saying, "It's all because you, Senior Brother, are recklessly matchmaking, that has led Senior Sister Zhou to have such a bias against me."

Upon mention of the matchmaking matter, Zhou Jin's thoughts stirred.

He had initially extinguished the thought of marrying his sister to Tian Lin, but after observing Tian Lin's performance in the past few days, that extinguished thought began to rekindle.

"Elder Gao has descended, silence all around."

Senior Brother Changxue, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes and spoke, everyone looked up at the Tower Ship slowly descending from the sky.

The Tower Ship stopped in a hollow, snapping who knows how many trees.

Elder Gao stepped off from the Tower Ship, her injuries had healed in just a few days, and apart from Tian Lin and Zhou Jin, no one knew that she had been injured from a great battle just a short time ago.

"Good, you put the coffins on the second floor of the Tower Ship."

Elder Gao, always aloof and sparing with words, this time looked at a female Disciple among the students and asked, "Bai Qian, how is your injury now?"

The woman called Bai Qian was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied to Elder Gao, "Disciple has taken a Detoxification Pill, and the injuries are almost healed now."

Elder Gao nodded and said,

"That day in the Academy, I had your Senior Brother Xue come out, just to let the students understand the importance of Funeral Science. However, you really need to improve your adaptability. You inhaled too much Corpse Qi in the face of danger, otherwise, you wouldn't have been injured."

Bai Qian, upon hearing her words, felt both ashamed and secretly annoyed.

But then she saw Elder Gao suddenly changing the subject, saying, "You will rest in my attic these two days, there's no need for you to undertake any tasks temporarily."

These words not only left Bai Qian somewhat stunned, but even the Disciples who had just carried the coffins down from the Tower Ship were surprised.

Bai Qian was overjoyed and quickly thanked Elder Gao, "Thank you, Elder, for your mercy."

Zhou Jin tugged at Tian Lin's sleeve and whispered to him, "What do you say, if I tell Elder Gao that I'm also injured, could I receive the same treatment?"

Tian Lin shook his head and whispered back,

"Judging from Elder Gao's intentions, the upcoming tasks are likely to be even more difficult. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let Bai Qian off. If push comes to shove, let's not admit to any real illness, we'd even feign illness if we needed to refuse."

While the two whispered, Elder Gao turned around and addressed the crowd,

"For the next twenty days, whatever you do will count as the monthly exam at the end of the month. But as for what specifically needs to be done, the Disciples should rest for two days first, I will tell you then."

Zhou Jin whispered to Tian Lin, "What is it that we're going to do that requires us to rest for two days? Or, has Elder Gao not yet decided what to assign us?"

Tian Lin shook his head and said, "Elder Gao asked us to move the Undead to the Tower Ship, it looks like she's not planning to return the Undead to us."

A low-class Undead is worth several hundred top-grade Spirit Stones.

Twenty Undead, plus all those black coffins, how much in Spirit Stones would that be worth?

"We've actually incurred a loss on this trip— not only is it difficult to ask for the Undead back, we also have to compensate Elder Ran for the coffins."

Zhou Jin then asked, "What does Elder Gao want with so many Undead?"

Tian Lin shook his head again, silently speculating, Elder Gao's visit to the Xiangxi Sect's territory was not really for the students to learn Funeral Science.

As a Teaching Elder, she seldom had the opportunity to leave the sect.

Therefore, she concocted a reason to get the students to appreciate Funeral Science and came to the Xiangxi Sect's territory under the guise of 'gathering inspiration'.

Perhaps she already knew that the Wu family of Wuliang Mountain would have Undead carrying a coffin as their Clan Leader had died.

She longed for the Red Coffin and had been waiting on the only path from Wuliang Mountain to the Xiangxi Sect.

Yet failing to secure the Red Coffin, she still refused to leave, undoubtedly harboring other schemes.