Chapter 17 Hunting It looked at him as if it were smiling.

In the blink of an eye, the flames that filled the sky vanished completely.

An old man dressed in white, with white hair and a ruddy complexion, suddenly stood in front of the Suanni.

The old man raised his hand and waved his sleeve, which unfolded like a fan, completely blocking the flames that the Suanni had just conjured, and even leaving room to grab the little zombie's skull.

The old man's hands were thin and bony, but the wind he generated was as powerful as the sea. If someone were caught by that hand, they would most likely die.

"stop!"

With that angry shout, something opened the old man's hand, spun around, and flew into a pale, trembling hand.

A woman with mostly disheveled hair stood to the side and behind the old man; she was the same woman who had escaped with the little zombie for most of the night.

The Suanni, which was dragging the little zombie by the collar, let go and shouted, "Didn't I tell you to leave? What are you doing here?!"

At this moment, the woman's forehead was covered in sweat, and her gray cloth clothes were stained with large patches of blood, almost turning the clothes black and red.

The woman had lost too much blood and was so weak that her lips had turned blue and white, yet she still stared intently at the old man as if she wanted to bite off a piece of his flesh.

"Leave? With all this blood on my body, where can I go?"

She said sadly, "As long as I live, my husband and children could be killed at any time, and I will never have a peaceful day in my life."

She suddenly raised her voice and stared fiercely at the old man: "I want him dead!"

The old man merely turned his sleeves behind his back, not even glancing at the woman with his triangular eyes, and coldly said, "Unfilial descendants."

The next moment, the woman was suddenly lifted up as if grabbed by an invisible hand, her dangling feet struggling in the air.

The woman's face turned purple, and she forced a ferocious smile.

"Unfilial descendants? What do you mean by filial piety? Do you want me to dig out your bones to make incense, or drain your blood to prolong your life? Unfilial, unfilial! You monster, how dare you talk about propriety?!"

The old man roared in anger, "Insolence!"

He turned to face the woman, and just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his wrist.

Five short fingers gripped the old man's wrist bone. The small, bluish-gray hand was incredibly strong, even crushing the old man's wrist.

Anger flashed across the old man's face. He immediately threw away the woman in his hand and turned to attack the little zombie, only to find that his body suddenly could not move.

He yelled at the woman, "What have you done!"

The woman, thrown to the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and sneered, "Don't you like using living people to refine formations? Today you'll experience what it feels like to be refined yourself!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a blood-red array appeared beneath the old man's feet.

The scarlet color and oppressive atmosphere clearly indicated how sinister the formation was.

Zombies are always a beat slow to react. Even though the formation was about to be activated, the little zombie was still holding onto the old man's hand tightly.

The woman rushed forward: "Child, let go!"

Just as the woman was protecting the little zombie as she retreated, the red patterns seemed to come alive and instantly crawled up the old man's body.

His flesh began to peel away bit by bit, like melting candle wax, and in just two or three minutes, only bones covered with skin remained. He was clearly beyond saving.

The woman, seeing his miserable state, began to laugh maniacally.

But her laughter turned into tears, and in the end she could only hang her head and sob softly.

A soft footstep sounded beside her ear. The woman slowly raised her head and saw the little zombie staring intently at her.

The little zombie's eyes were pitch black, not letting in a single ray of light, cold and eerie, but the woman showed no fear, and simply hugged him tightly.

The little zombie's body was always cold, stiff, and thin, just like the child who died in her arms more than a decade ago.

For so many years, she has hated herself every moment. If she hadn't been so cowardly and afraid of death back then, she might have been able to escape from here with her son sooner, and her son wouldn't have died.

But it was all too late.

Now, all she could say to the child-like zombie was, "It's alright, come on, Auntie will take you home..."

At this moment, a powerful pressure suddenly burst forth from the old man's "corpse".

A sickening rustling sound rang out, and something bulged out of the old man's skeleton. It turned out that a perfectly intact hand had grown out from where the ribs were!

That monster possessed immense palm power, having actually broken through the bloodline refining technique. In an instant, it unleashed a palm strike that sent the woman flying, and then grabbed the little zombie with its other hand.

At the same time, the old man's two arms flipped over and struck the little zombie's head with a "bang".

It all happened so fast, in the blink of an eye, that the little zombie's neck went limp like a noodle.

The woman coughed up blood, letting out a mournful cry of pain.

"You killed him! You killed him! You killed my child too—"

The veins on her forehead were bulging, her eyes were bloodshot, and most of the whites of her eyes were stained red.

The woman's aura reversed and her mind became confused, clearly signs of demonic possession.

But the old man, now just a skeleton, sighed, "How can this be called killing? This is an offering."

He earnestly advised him as if he were teaching a disobedient junior: "You share the same blood, so why can't you be as filial as your father? Back then, when he was asked to offer up his wife and children, he immediately gave them to him. Why can't you do the same?"

The woman's face turned deathly pale: "W-what... Mother and sister, she... they were also..."

Overwhelmed with anger, she coughed up dark purple blood and finally collapsed.

An old man, supported by his skeletal frame, walked over and said, "Humans are as insignificant as ants. If you have never even glimpsed them, how could you possibly understand the profound mysteries of the Great Dao?"

He looked at the woman and said, "It is your good fortune that you can become nourishment for me and live as long as heaven and earth."

He uttered these compassionate words, but his actions were anything but slow. His hand, like lightning, grabbed at the woman's spine behind her neck, clearly intending to tear her bones out alive!

With a "crack," the old man's hand bones were broken.

"You... how are you still alive?!"

The old man stared at the little child in front of him with a murderous look, while the little zombie just blinked innocently.

After being teased by a child so many times, the old man had completely lost his patience. All his pity and reluctance vanished in an instant, and his withered, wrinkled face twisted into a ball, looking just like a wrung-out rag.

Suddenly, the old man shuddered, and a palm strike carrying immense spiritual power swept towards the little zombie.

"I've shattered all your meridians and dantian; you're probably struggling to even stand right now, aren't you? If you, you monster, were to offer up your inner core, I might be able to give them a quick death—"

Before the old man could finish speaking, his bones folded in half and he flew out horizontally.

The little zombie caught up, grabbed the old man's extra arm under his ribs with one hand, and kicked him repeatedly with both feet.

The little zombies moved incredibly fast. Every time the old man tried to defend or dodge, the little zombies would immediately change their angle, always managing to land a kick right into the old man's blind spot.

The old man was being kicked repeatedly, his bones pounding away, and he looked like he was about to fall apart.

Just then, a bolt of lightning as thick as a wrist struck the little zombie, causing it to momentarily freeze in place.

"Ancestor! We've come to help you!"

A series of shouts arose, indicating that the cultivators who had been blocked outside the house by the Suanni flames had arrived.

Taking advantage of the moment, the old man slapped the little zombie hard, creating distance between them as he slammed it into the ground.

The next moment, countless spells, magical artifacts, and talismans were thrown at the ground as if they were free, creating a deafening roar that nearly shattered eardrums.

However, just when everyone thought they had succeeded, they saw the short figure stand up.

The child, completely naked, walked out step by step from the raging fire and lightning. He had lost an arm, his neck was broken, and his head drooped to one side, yet he could still move freely.

A glint of light flashed in the old man's eyes.

He immediately collapsed as if exhausted. A woman next to him was stunned for a moment, but she also knelt down immediately.

With red eyes, she pleaded with the little zombie, "Please, Your Excellency, have mercy! We are willing to offer three top-grade magic treasures and countless top-grade spirit stones and pills. Please give us a chance to repent..."

After saying that, she pulled a timid-looking boy over and hugged him, saying that she and her son did not seek immortality or ascension to heaven, but only wanted to live, and begged them to be spared this time.

Those around immediately echoed, throwing down their weapons and kneeling to beg, and for a moment, cries filled the air.

The Suanni had taken advantage of the chaos to rescue the unconscious woman and the red fish, and now it had returned and was standing at the little zombie's feet.

His beard twitched. "Little one, what do you intend to do? Let them go?"

The little zombie looked at the woman who was protecting her son and crying pitifully, its mouth opening and closing again.

The Suanni immediately understood what the little zombie was thinking.

He wanted to say that these people were just acting, that they showed no remorse whatsoever, and that the filthy atmosphere in the dungeon made him want to vomit, wondering how many lives they had tortured and killed inside.

In the end, however, Suanni said nothing.

He sighed and gently patted the little zombie's back with his tail: "Alright, alright, we've got that energy thing now, let's go back."

The little zombie responded, its limp neck drooping, and followed the Suanni.

After all footsteps ceased to be heard, the woman who had been sobbing slowly raised her head.

There was no trace of remorse or sorrow in her eyes; she only coldly stared in the direction the little zombie had left: "Ancestor, the great formation can be activated at any time."

The old man, who had previously been referred to as "Ancestor," now bowed his head respectfully and said, "After such a long delay, we have finally waited for the great formation to be activated. Please do not let him go."

But the unassuming, trembling boy slowly stood up, surrounded by the crowd.

He licked his lips: "Once the great formation is activated, they will all have to be bled out obediently. After that, you can do whatever you want with their skin, flesh, and bones."

"Our ancestors were wise!"

"Thank you, Ancestor!"

All the cultivators present showed expressions of gratitude, clearly immersed in their enjoyment of "advancing in cultivation level".

So none of them noticed that the wisps of blood and resentment in the dungeon were constantly converging in a certain direction.

While people were busy tidying up the surroundings and preparing ritual implements, the boy, who was being flattered by his clansmen, was looking at his palm with utter boredom.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

Before he could even utter the word "bad," he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and abdomen, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

At this moment, everyone except him was lying prostrate on the ground in the ruins of the mansion.

The pressure was like a torrent, pressing down on their heads. Some of the weaker cultivators even bled from their seven orifices and died.

"Thump—thump—"

A drum-like sound approached them, and with each beat, several more dead bodies appeared around them.

By the time the drumbeats reached the boy's face, his complexion was ashen.

A black mist-like object stood before him, so large that it almost covered the entire sky.

The young man bit his tongue, forcing out a drop of blood, and said with difficulty, "I implore you, Your Excellency..."

He recounted the family's treasures one by one, saying that if he were spared, he would offer up his cultivation and become the other party's slave.

Upon hearing this, the black mist actually stopped making any further moves.

The boy thought he had persuaded the other person and was looking up with glee when he suddenly saw a mouth.

A huge mouth that stretches wide to both sides.

It was facing him, as if it were smiling.