The wooden structure was severely decayed, with beams broken and cobwebs everywhere.

Dozens of coffins were messily stacked, some with their lids tilted open revealing pitch-black interiors, while others were tightly sealed with Jiang Family notes attached.

The ground was littered with yellowing paper money and broken tiles, the only light source was the pale moonlight streaming through the damaged window lattice.

Above the main entrance hung a crooked plaque, with the word "Station" written in large, mottled vermillion characters.

A young man with a slicked-back hairstyle and rimless glasses stood at the doorway.

Neither his ordinary outfit of a T-shirt and jeans nor his gentle appearance had any relation to the word "monster."

Upon seeing the sinister coffins, the young man displayed fear.

Just as he intended to retreat and leave, someone appeared behind him wearing cloth shoes.

The young man swiftly turned around but did not attack, instinctively placing his hands in front of him.

This defensive stance revealed a rift in the palm of his left hand, shielding against the elder's thrown Corpse Refining Talisman.

The talisman paper was directly devoured by the rift, chewed and swallowed.

"Oh? Your courage is somewhat lacking, and the plant is just at the germination stage, but your hand is quite special.

Fortunately, Jiang Mansion is short on staff recently. Feel free to come if you wish... if not, you can leave directly."

The elder's lips curled into a smile, with sharp teeth enveloped in sinister energy faintly visible.

"How do I get there?"

"Lie in the coffin, and by the time you wake up, you will naturally arrive at Jiang Mansion.

Don't worry, the coffin will provide you with a very good sleep and also alter your physique to some extent, making it easier to enter Jiang Mansion."

"Alright, my name is..."

The elder interrupted the young man's introduction, "There's no need to tell me anything about yourself. I only handle transport, bringing promising young Huaxia talents like yourself... whether you get selected later is none of my business."

"Understood."

The young man stepped into the eerie station's interior, shivering in the extremely cold environment, without venturing further, he directly found a nearby coffin and laid inside.

Just as his body settled in, the coffin lid closed by itself.

A special seal dropped onto the coffin lid, with strands of sinister energy beginning to seep inside like eerie black hair slipping into pores.

A strong drowsiness swept over,

Strangely, the young man did not fall asleep, the penetrating sinister energy had no effect on him.

Instead, it was absorbed by pre-embedded tentacles throughout his body, allowing them to express corresponding sinister aura.

Achieving environmental adaptation while remaining unaffected.

The young man's disguise was Luo Di.

This was a joint creation by Gust and Wu Wen, a work capable of deceiving Outer Gods, naturally able to fool Jiang Mansion.

Luo Di wanted to be recruited as an ordinary personnel, to directly observe the essence of Jiang Mansion. If he discovered no means to repair weapons or encountered extreme danger, he would choose to leave immediately.

Lying inside the coffin, Luo Di began to ponder:

'With so many coffins, how will they be transported? If by carriage, it would require several… moreover, why use such a method? Is it to conceal Jiang Mansion's location?

Upon reflection, Jiang Mansion appears to be very mysterious.

During the Outer Realm invasion, Jiang Mansion neither participated nor was affected. Could the entire organization be situated in a secret space that cannot be revealed?'

At that moment.

Ding ding! A sound of copper bell ringing came from outside.

Followed immediately by the elder's cry:

"Time is up, funeral procession!"

Luo Di stopped musing, promptly releasing his taste sense to perceive the exterior situation through tongue sensation.

Contrary to expectations, the image of all coffins being loaded onto carriages didn't happen, instead, the entire ground began to tremble… the so-called station cabin seemed to be alive.

With the elder's bell ringing, the station building appeared to awaken.

Black hairs sprouting from the surface of the walls, tooth-like structures growing atop the doorstep.

Then,

Several rotting, blackened giant arms emerged from the underground, lifting the entire station, causing it to crawl.

The elder responsible for recruiting newcomers was actually connected to the door via an extended spine from his back, like the structure of an anglerfish.

Or rather,

From beginning to end, the recruiter had been this station, the elder merely an external structure.

The station's movement speed was astonishing, about twice that of the Sisterhood's living bus.

Luo Di was equally surprised upon reading this building's structure: "Green Door Monster, matured plant… and it seems like this monster underwent some kind of splicing, not born like this.

Could a monster responsible for receiving newcomers possess such a caliber?"

Hours passed.

The station arrived at a dense forest deep.

The trees here became distorted, overall presenting a dark hue, thick and large.

The trees' height already surpassed the station itself, but they were sparsely distributed, with a width just enough to allow the station to pass through.

Corpses hanging from some branches are shrouded in white life-and-death banners.

The lower ends of the corpses constantly emit sinister energy, causing the forest area to be enveloped in a layer of black sinister energy, with extremely low visibility.

Unlike a dense fog,

this sinister energy not only interferes with vision but also affects living beings.

If ordinary people are contaminated even slightly, they will immediately fall ill, suffer from prolonged coldness, and easily attract filthy things.

Luo Di also sensed something amiss.

'Unlike the straightforward route taken earlier, the paths here have become strange and are constantly turning… To reach the Jiang Mansion, must one advance through the forest along a specific fixed route?'

Luo Di silently memorized this route map in his mind,

but as he recalled it, these routes sketched something very familiar in his brain— a Chinese character.

[屍]

As the character was completed,

Jingle! Jingle!

The elder at the inn door rang the copper bell in his hand again.

The two crooked trees in front took the initiative to move aside, transitioning the ground from the damp forest soil to cement.

A huge archway stood in front.

[姜]

Looking deeper beyond the archway, a dense cluster of family-style buildings spread out here, with white walls and black tiles.

The most striking thing was directly ahead.

In a vast central courtyard, a huge mansion completely shrouded in sinister energy sat there; it must be the core building of the Jiang Mansion, where the so-called Elder Jiang resides.

The courtyard gate was wide open,

allowing entry from the inn.

The building tilted, and all the coffins had been tipped over into the front yard area.

Due to this violent collision, all the other "newcomers" who had fallen into slumber awakened one by one, opening their coffins and rising.

Another peal of bell rang.

The sound of the door opening came from the central mansion, as an elder over four meters tall, his face seemingly smeared with windproof yellow wax, came before everyone.

He pointed his hand towards five people.

"You five come with me, the rest may leave… Wait, you come too! Young enough, with some nurturing you can manage."

The last finger pointed at Luo Di.

Six monstrous individuals of Huaxia descent followed the old butler into the mansion's interior; even as they came close, the specifics of the mansion's appearance remained unclear.

The only visible thing was a massive door deep within the sinister energy, ink-black and profound, with no return.

As they were about to step through the front door,

various screams erupted from behind.

Luo Di's expression shifted slightly, his nostrils picking up a particular stench. The other's actions clearly crossed his bottom line; they claimed that those not selected could leave, yet they turned around and wiped them out.

This malice allowed Luo Di to nearly characterize this Jiang Mansion.

Inside the hall.

Six prayer mats were neatly laid out.

Following the old butler's instructions, they knelt down and bowed their heads.

The curtains lifted,

a black foot wrapped with some bandages, decayed and oozing, stepped out.

The scent of rich traditional medicine mixed with intense corpse stench emanated from the person's body.

Luo Di had already restrained his curiosity; he dared not continue to savor here; any means of perception could be detected.

The black foot came close, with an ancient voice like nails embedded into the eardrums:

"You… rise!"

Luo Di hesitated, but still steadied his mind.

He slowly rose and looked up at the so-called Elder Jiang.

Strangely,

what appeared before him was not an elder but a youth who seemed no older than thirty, with quite a robust physique.

Only this youth was covered all over with traditional medicine, with the entire right arm detached, his body seeming to decay rapidly.

A layer made from the eyelids of the deceased covered the area below his nose, adorned with indecipherable text, the purpose unknown.

"Your hand is somewhat special, skilled at tasting, aren't you? In the corner, there's a powerful monster with similar abilities to yours.

Later, let Uncle Neck arrange a side room for you, to live alone… Your flesh is fresh and unique, only far too tender, requiring proper cultivation."

"Thank you… Master."

"From now on, you will be the corpses of the Jiang Mansion. Utilize your bloodline well, strive to make the Jiang Mansion the Corner's leading organization, cough cough."

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