Chapter 158 [VIP]

Thunder roared.

It was only late afternoon, but the sky already looked like late afternoon, dark and gloomy.

Changfeng lay prone on the ground, panic surging over him like a tidal wave, almost engulfing him.

"No, it won't happen..."

He went from screaming to muttering to himself, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

Why is this happening?

Something went wrong somewhere.

Changfeng's mind was in a mess. He was breathing heavily, his white hair hanging down.

He struggled to get up, but the next moment, his movements froze and his pupils contracted.

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief. The skin on the back of his hand had cracked, become wrinkled, and lost its elasticity, making it look like that of a frail old man.

"Ahhh."

He was terrified, extremely terrified.

It's all true!

The backlash has really come.

Changfeng rolled and crawled on the ground, his tattered Taoist robe covered in blood and mud, his white hair a tangled mess, looking utterly wretched.

"A real person!"

The Prince of Jin snapped out of his daze and hurriedly asked his son, "Yun'er, what happened? Was it the Eastern Depot?"

How could someone be tortured like this in such a short time? The Prince of Jin was filled with doubt and surprise.

He subconsciously looked at Shen Xu, who was sitting there.

Shen Xu chuckled and casually dusted off his sleeves. The intense pain in his chest made him almost speechless, and his back was drenched in cold sweat, but his face remained unchanged except for being slightly pale.

"Lord Shen, you truly have some clever methods, daring to show off your power right here in my Prince's mansion..."

"Your Highness."

Princess Jin called out to him in fear, explaining, "Right after the thunder, it started..." Her voice trembled, "His, his, his hair suddenly turned white, and his face too."

She witnessed it all firsthand.

What kind of evil sorcerer did the prince offend?

The princess had originally hoped that Changfeng would save her son, but seeing that he couldn't even save himself, she couldn't care less about anything else.

The Eastern Depot is here to arrest the evil Taoist priest. Your Highness, don't provoke the Eastern Depot for the sake of this evil Taoist priest!

"Face?"

Upon hearing the princess's words, Prince Jin immediately turned to look, and Changfeng also happened to raise his head at the same time.

Upon seeing this, the Prince of Jin was so frightened that he took several steps back.

Changfeng was over forty years old, but he used to look no more than thirty. Even the Prince of Jin looked older than him. Now, however, deep wrinkles appeared on his face, his skin was dry, his cheeks drooped, and his hair and beard were all white. People would believe he was seventy or eighty years old.

Changfeng looked panicked. He sat on the ground, staring at the Prince of Jin as if he were a drowning man seeing a tree branch floating on the water.

Prince of Jin: "!"

The Prince of Jin swallowed hard and rushed over.

The guards around him glanced at Wu Shang, and when he didn't speak, they stepped back half a step.

The Prince of Jin helped him up and said earnestly, "Master, I will fetch a doctor for you right away..."

"The doctor is useless, this is a backlash..." Changfeng moved his mouth and uttered these words with difficulty. After the hysterical shout, Changfeng's voice was hoarse and rough like that of an old man.

Backlash?!

The Prince of Jin's heart tightened, and he was so frightened that he almost dropped the person he was supporting. He couldn't even finish a sentence: "Y-yes...why would...why would..."

Changfeng also wanted to know why, and where exactly the change had occurred.

"Cough cough."

Changfeng could feel his body gradually decaying.

His aptitude for cultivation was exceptional, a rare talent in the Shangxu Temple for a century. He could master any technique or talisman instantly, even the almost lost art of incantation, which he learned without a teacher. He entered the world of cultivation at the age of thirty, ambitious and determined to become the Grand Preceptor of the Great Qi Kingdom. He was convinced that he was destined to succeed.

However, the Imperial Preceptor, Master Yuncheng, only said one sentence to him: "Heaven does not favor you."

Oh.

Is fate not on my side?

Therefore, he used the ritual held in Blackwater Fortress ten years ago to prove that he could be above the Heavenly Dao.

He decides destiny!

He was unwilling to accept that all the effort he had put in for half his life had been wasted!

"Will...will it backfire?"

The Prince of Jin finally finished speaking, albeit haltingly.

He panicked and licked his dry lips.

Backlash.

If the Prince of Jin had never experienced a backlash, he wouldn't be so afraid.

But then he saw his son's appearance with his own eyes—a grotesque, inhuman figure, a state of unbearable suffering. He was truly terrified. In the days that followed, he regretted countless times letting his son put up those talismans. He should have just found a servant to do it. Regret aside, and heartache aside, the discovery that Changfeng had also suffered the backlash turned his heartache into panic.

Will I be next?

"Why?"

Everything was going smoothly ten years ago.

Changfeng coughed a few more times and said with difficulty, "The Yin family girl is dead."

"The formation has failed."

The formation will fail; there is only one possibility.

A woman from the Yin family?

Dead!?

Shen Xu gripped the armrest of the chair tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, his arm muscles taut as if he would break the armrest. Yue Xia

My sister... she... she's dead?

This terrifying thought disrupted Shen Xu's usual composure. Or rather, because there was nothing in the world that could make him care, no matter how crazy he was or how ruthless he was killing, Shen Xu would never lose this last bit of composure.

Shen Xu felt a sharp pain in his chest, and a metallic taste of blood rose in his throat, as if fresh blood was churning inside him, almost causing him to vomit.

"Master, leave Sister Yin to me."

The voice echoed in my ears, and her phoenix eyes were bright and clear, revealing their depths.

Shen Xu forcefully suppressed the taste of blood in his mouth. He slowly released the armrest of the armchair and instead gripped the small jade pendant. The pendant was icy cold, and the chill seeped into his heart through his palm.

“Go to Taiqing Temple…” Changfeng said weakly, “to find…to find the abbot. Cough cough.”

"well!"

The life, death, honor, and disgrace of the Prince of Jin were tied to Changfeng.

He could never give up on Changfeng.

Just as Prince Jin was about to call his chief secretary and Xie Sheng over to help Changfeng, Shen Xu's lips curled into a chilling smile: "Where does Prince Jin intend to take the prisoner?"

His slow, deliberate tone masked his weakness and the difficulty he was having in speaking.

"You're showing no respect for the Eastern Depot."

Shen Xu rested his cheek on his hand, lounging lazily, his voice weak, but as soon as he spoke, the guards immediately surrounded Prince Jin and Changfeng.

Prince Jin laughed in anger: "Lord Shen, my Prince Jin's mansion has never provoked you. Are you determined to break ties with me?"

"My tolerance of you this time does not mean that I am afraid of your Eastern Depot!"

"Xie Sheng, come here."

Xie Sheng had already shrunk into a corner. Upon hearing this, he timidly came out, his legs trembling with fear. He barely managed to move to the front when a guard drew his sword, and his legs went weak, causing him to fall to the ground.

Shen Xu said calmly, "The Eastern Depot is ordered to arrest this fake Taoist priest. If Your Highness obstructs him, you will be considered an accomplice and punished accordingly."

After Shen Xu finished speaking, Wu Shang shook the imperial edict in his hand and waved it in front of him.

The imperial seal on the edict blinded him, and when he finally saw the contents of the edict, Prince Jin was so angry that his hands trembled.

This imperial edict is so outrageous, it's practically a deliberate attempt to cause trouble!

Shen Xu's voice was even slower, and with each word he spoke, it felt as if a knife was churning in his heart: "Now that Your Highness is here, you shall stay put. No one is allowed to leave without my permission."

The King of Jin was furious, but laughed in anger: "Good, good indeed, how impressive!"

"Your Highness, your hand."

Suddenly, the servant let out a frightened scream, interrupting his questioning.

"What's with all this talk about hands?" Prince Jin glanced at it impatiently, and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

The handkerchief he was wrapping around his hand was a bluish-green color, and the side closest to the back of his hand was stained red with blood. It felt sticky to the touch, as if blood was still seeping out. Despite this, he didn't feel any pain at all.

The Prince of Jin trembled as he untied the handkerchief. The wound on the back of his hand was still the same as before, just a small scratch, the size of a fingernail, which was nothing compared to the arrow wound he had suffered in Yongzhou.

He pressed gently on the wound, and blood immediately gushed out, sticking to his fingertips.

The word "backlash" popped into his mind, and his forehead buzzed.

No way!

He comforted himself, saying it was just a slightly deeper wound and that's all that was bleeding.

What backlash or not?

"What's all the fuss about? What are you yelling about?" The Prince of Jin glared at the Chief Secretary, as if this could suppress the panic in his heart.

The sky was dark and gloomy, with continuous rumbling thunder.

Prince Jin was even more agitated. He casually tossed the blood-stained handkerchief aside and said, "Chen Xu, you should just keep a close eye on your Directorate of Ceremonial. Meddling in other people's business will only lead to bad consequences. All you have under your command are the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a bunch of eunuchs. Ha, do you really think you can turn the world upside down?"

After he finished speaking, he went over to help Changfeng.

A series of muffled claps of thunder rumbled overhead, seemingly growing ever closer.

Shen Xu spoke slowly and deliberately, his tone sinister: "I'm determined to turn the world upside down, so what are you going to do about it?"

The sound faded.

Boom! A thunderous roar suddenly erupted, accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder. A beam of white light suddenly descended, the blinding light causing everyone's vision to go white and their eyes to ache. Even Shen Xu couldn't help but turn his head slightly away.

"Aaaaaah!"

After the thunder, came a series of heart-wrenching screams.

It was as if they were experiencing the most terrible torture in the world, with constant wails of agony.

The lightning flashed by in an instant, and Prince Jin, who was very close to Changfeng, shouted, "Master, are you alright...?"

His voice was swallowed up by the Netherworld, his mouth was wide open, his eyes were wide open in disbelief, and his body was stiff.

As the lightning struck, Wu Shang stepped forward and blocked Shen Xu's path. As the Chief of the Thousand Households in charge of criminal justice, he had witnessed countless instances of skinning and dismemberment in the imperial prison, and even he couldn't help but gasp in horror.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

Wu Shang turned his head and exclaimed, "The Grand Eunuch is truly brilliant! He has indeed turned the world upside down!"

The surrounding crowd cheered: "The Grand Commander is wise!"

Shen Xu suddenly sat up straight.

Huh?

He was surprised to find that the pain in his chest had subsided.

Even the blood that kept gushing from his throat had faded. He had been so weak that he could barely sit up, but now he was gradually regaining some strength, and even when he breathed, there was no longer the knife stabbing wildly in his chest.

This thunderclap was like a sweet dew from heaven to him.

But for Changfeng, it was divine punishment.

Lightning struck Changfeng's right side, burning his arm and right palm into a charred black mass, still emitting wisps of white smoke, and filling the air with a strong, acrid smell of burning.

Even so, Changfeng is still alive!

He screamed in agony.

It was wailing.

He clutched his charred arm, rolling on the ground in agony, the indescribable pain and despair tearing at his soul.

When the pain became unbearable, he even considered ending it all.

But he's still alive!

Such screams sent chills down one's spine. Even Wu Shang, a man who rarely showed his emotions, couldn't help but glance at them a few more times, thinking to himself that if he modified a few sets of torture instruments, he could chop a person up like that and they would surely behave.

Shen Xu's lips moved slightly, his fingers pressed against his forehead, and a low laugh escaped his throat.

His voice was low and husky, carrying a sense of pleasure and a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Real man, real man, don't be afraid, I am here."

The Prince of Jin started shouting again, but his steps were quietly retreating.

Shen Xu moved his finger, signaling the guards to move aside.

So the guards made way for each other.

Prince of Jin: Huh?

Changfeng struggled to raise her head, slowly extending her intact hand towards him, looking at him pleadingly.

"Help, help..."

The Prince of Jin dared not look at the half of his body that had been burned, and could only shift his gaze to the man's face. At this, the hair on the back of his head stood on end in fright.

However, in just a short while, Changfeng looked even older.

The skin on her face was not only dry, but also covered with patches of age spots, some resembling the age marks of aging, but deeper and darker. More like…

Lividity.

When the Prince of Jin was in the army, he had seen those corpses that were not collected in time. Several hours after they died, marks would appear on their bodies, and more and more would appear, just like Changfeng now.

Exactly the same!

Changfeng's Taoist robe was torn to shreds, and his arms, which were not covered by sleeves, were covered with similar black spots, large and small, which were enough to make one's scalp tingle and hair stand on end.

These are markings that only appear on the bodies of the dead.

And Changfeng is still alive! Is he even alive now?

The Prince of Jin was afraid.

"Help me..."

The Prince of Jin subconsciously shook his head and took a step back, one step, two steps, three steps.

Changfeng was just struck by lightning, he's not stupid. Even though he's like a living dead now, his mind is still clear.

He knew all too well what the Prince of Jin's actions meant.

The Prince of Jin is going to abandon him.

Changfeng lowered his hand helplessly and laughed self-deprecatingly.

If it weren't for the Prince of Jin, why would he risk traveling from Shangxu Temple to the capital? If he hadn't left Shangxu Temple, how could he have ended up in such a state?

"Your Highness."

His tongue was injured, making his speech unclear, as if a small knife was rubbing against it. He chuckled, "You still don't understand? The formation failed... The backlash isn't just for me, but for you too!"

"Hehehe."

Changfeng laughed, a weak yet manic laugh, his chest heaving, and even his breath smelled strongly of burning.

Do you think you can escape?

Having his thoughts exposed, the Prince of Jin felt somewhat guilty and asked with a shifty gaze, "Master, what do you mean?"

"You will suffer the same fate as me, a fate worse than death, and after death you will be condemned to eternal hell, your soul restless until you are reduced to ashes. Hehehe, you will be exactly the same as me."

The Prince of Jin thought he must be scaring himself, but his peripheral vision still unconsciously glanced at his own palm.

The wound was still bleeding.

"The Yin family's daughter is dead; there's no way to save her."

Hehehehe.

Changfeng's chest vibrated, emitting a series of buzzing sounds.

"No, there must be another way, right? No way!"

The long wind only laughs.

Such a smile frightened the King of Jin.

Will he die too?

He will also be like the long wind.

Fear gripped the Prince of Jin's heart. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. He thought that he should bring the Yin family woman back, lock her in a dark room, and have her watched over, so that nothing would go wrong.

Why wasn't she arrested? She's just a courtesan... Oh, right. Prince Jin remembered. He had indeed intended to send someone to arrest her, but for some reason, the Eastern Depot was searching for courtesans, questioning and registering them. Prince Jin didn't want to arouse suspicion and fail at the last minute. Changfeng also said that the ninth day was the key.

The Prince of Jin was sweating profusely.

He didn't want to die.

"The Yin family's daughter is dead. Only I can save you. Saving me is the same as saving yourself... Your Highness, hehehe, you'd better take care of yourself..."

"Master Supervisor."

Sheng Jiang rushed in, accompanied by Qing Mei.

"Master." Qingmei curtsied respectfully and said, "The young lady asked me to inform you that the Yin family girl, Da'an."

Shen Xu's expression softened instantly.

"impossible!"

Changfeng cried out in alarm, "The formation is suffering a backlash; the formation's core couldn't possibly still be alive! Absolutely impossible!"

Qingmei scoffed at him, "What do you mean, 'possible' or 'impossible'? Our girl is amazing!"

How could he, a mere sorcerer, possibly compare?

A note from the author: