Charles Quinn also burst out laughing: "That's right! But I didn't pay much attention—not that I wasn't concerned, but my family left a branch of descendants in Changping City as early as three hundred years ago. Although we couldn't do much in big matters, we always offered some care in small ones. Over these three hundred years, whenever it came time to find wives for the descendants of your The Langs family among the criminal households, we always picked women who were healthy and blessed with good fortune for their offspring. In this way, we've managed to preserve the bloodline of the The Lang Family..."

Henry Lang blinked, a bit at a loss for words.

"Of course, those things weren't my responsibility, and I don't know much about them." Charles Quinn added, "I didn't know your identity at first. Later, after meeting Evelyn Wynn and checking your household registration, everything became clear."

"Sir... big brother... no, better stick with sir—there's still something fishy about this!" Isaac Lowell pondered aloud, "The laws against criminal households are harsh, but they're only for crimes like murder, robbery, and banditry. Mr. Lang's status, background, and influence are all well-known. If they really wanted to punish him, they should have wiped out his entire line. Why would they leave any of his bloodline behind?"

Charles Quinn snorted, "Mr. Lang had a high reputation in both court and among the people, and was a founding hero. The court wanted to leave a branch of his bloodline, first to show imperial grace and magnanimity, and second to calm the people's hearts!"

For a moment, the mine tunnel fell silent. Charles Quinn reached out and patted Henry Lang's shoulder: "It's too early for you to worry about all this. For now, just focus on finding a way to get out alive!"

He hadn't finished speaking when, with a sudden "puff," all the torches and oil lamps in the mine tunnel, which had just been lit, went out at once. Henry Lang and Isaac Lowell stomped their feet in unison and exclaimed, "Here we go again!"

Without needing to be told, both of them instinctively jumped to stand to the left and right behind Charles Quinn.

Chapter Seven: The Twin Jade Fiends

Just like last time, a faint light slowly appeared in front of Charles Quinn. But this time, he didn't draw his bow—the light came from the silver-headed human figurine lamp at his waist. This spirit lamp was something Charles Quinn had retrieved from his own pack while braving the wild attacks of N/A.

The bronze lamp, over a foot long, looked at first glance like a silver figurine with a pained expression. Atop the figurine's head was a bright red wick. When darkness suddenly fell in the mine, the figurine lamp glowed without fire, silently casting a faint blue light that enveloped all three of them.

Henry Lang was amazed, not expecting Charles Quinn to have such a treasure.

At that moment, Charles Quinn was also grinning with secret delight. He turned to the two behind him and chuckled in a low voice. Though he looked like a man in his forties, the pride of youth was still strikingly evident in his brows: "This is a treasure given to me by Emily Green. Normally, I keep it in my pack and can't bear to take it out... What are you two doing?"

Henry Lang and Isaac Lowell moved in perfect unison, disregarding rank or status, and in their urgency both reached out to cover his mouth.

But Charles Quinn didn't shut up—instead, he burst out laughing: "This lamp is a treasure of Emily Green's sect, called 'Nether Concealment.' Within its light, evil spirits and fiends can't detect us. Relax, talk and laugh as you please—it's fine!"

At this, the other two finally relaxed completely. Isaac Lowell grinned at Henry Lang and said, "Miss Emily Green is sir's own younger sister. Gifted since childhood, she caught the eye of an immortal from N/A and was taken as a disciple."

N/A refers to Qianshan on the eastern seashore, home to the famous Qianshan Daoist sect.

At the mention of his sister, Charles Quinn's face was full of joy and pride. He was about to boast a bit more when his expression suddenly darkened, and he quickly gestured for Henry Lang and Isaac Lowell to be silent.

Henry Lang clamped his mouth shut and, by the faint light of the spirit lamp, looked around. What he saw made every pore on his body tremble violently—he froze in place, not daring to move a muscle!

Crack, crack... In the faint sounds, the rubble in the mine began to roll and shift. The people who had died earlier in the mine—whether Nine Dragons Green or N/A's men—all clumsily stood up. Some were missing half their heads, some a shoulder, some had a gaping hole in their chests...

Their postures were all bizarre: arms hanging, backs bent, heads lowered, hair hanging down in messy strands. Slowly, they 'walked' from where they had died toward the jade wall at the end of the pit. Behind each 'person' trailed a murky red line of blood.

Given their posture, they could only see their own knees. Their feet weren't really walking, but dragging weakly along the ground.

Henry Lang felt his heart was about to leap out of his throat. At that moment, Charles Quinn suddenly sneered, "Don't be afraid, they're not zombies—it's corpse-carrying!"

Thinking over Charles Quinn's words and looking more closely at the corpses, Henry Lang suddenly understood: under each corpse was a hunched little ghost carrying it. But these little ghosts were half-phantom in form. The spirit lamp's light was dim, so if you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't notice them.

Charles Quinn's face was frosty as he held the spirit lamp and slowly followed behind the group of corpse-carrying little ghosts, muttering under his breath, "They even eat corpses? They must be starving."

Getting closer to the stone wall, they could see more clearly. Besides those carrying corpses, there was a large group of little ghosts in front of the wall, wandering around expressionlessly.

But even as they wandered, these little ghosts avoided the exposed veins of ominous stone in the ground.