Chapter 38 The Mist (Part 5) Oh, an acquaintance?
At the southwestern end of the Blood Peach Forest, there is a large lake. The lake is a hundred feet deep, but from a distance, it appears to be a deep blue-green. When the sunlight shines on it, the surface of the water sparkles, and because there is no wind in this area all year round, the lake surface appears even smoother, like the finest jade. Therefore, people call it "Jade Lake".
Due to the presence of demonic creatures, the area within a hundred miles of Emerald Lake was deserted. No one knew that near the bottom of the lake lay many caves, where Jiu Qu Chen and the others, who had disappeared, were separated and imprisoned.
"Oh, someone I know?"
When Wenren Xi was tied up with silk threads and thrown into a cave, the first thing she heard was this sentence, which was six parts irrelevant and four parts concerned.
He looked up, straining his neck to look at the source of the sound.
Jiu Qu Chen was being pulled by the silk threads, forced to stand upright with his arms outstretched, and was being pulled and moved around from time to time. He himself did not feel uncomfortable at all, and even raised one eyebrow, looking at him with a fake smile.
"...Greetings, Uncle-Master." Wenren Xi truly admired his attitude.
"Don't lie through your teeth. Look at me, what's wrong with me?" Jiu Qu Chen said, showing him his stiff limbs and the glowing threads above him, and complained, "I'm telling you, you puppet cultivators, all you do is tie things up. Last time your master made me an ugly doll, and this time you encountered some villains and inexplicably turned me into this. What a tragedy!"
“Uncle-Master, that’s a bit of a generalization.” Wenren Xi was both amused and exasperated. He didn’t know where Jiu Qu Chen got such a big prejudice from, but he weakly defended himself, “Not everyone is like that, is he?”
"Of course, not everyone is like that. My apprentice is different. He's quiet and well-behaved, always polite to others. He's so well-behaved." Thinking of Qingxing, Jiuquchen sighed softly.
The guy named Duanmu Rui only came out to say hello before locking them up, and in separate lockers. He had been hanging there alone for a long time, and now that someone had finally come, it wasn't Qingxing. He didn't know whether to be happy or worried.
Jiu Quchen thought with a worried expression, hoping that she was alright.
But he was optimistic by nature, and after worrying for a short while, he began to comfort himself again: Qingxing is so smart and has such a strong talent for formations, she will definitely be alright!
As he pondered this, he nodded slightly, still under the control of the silk threads.
right!
Wenren Xi had no idea what Jiu Qu Chen was thinking. He was just wondering why his junior uncle had suddenly mentioned Qing Xing. He stared at him and saw that Jiu Qu Chen's expression was sometimes sunny and sometimes stormy. He understood and guessed that he was probably worried. So he comforted him, "Uncle, there's no need to worry too much. Junior sister is exceptionally talented. She will surely turn misfortune into good fortune and return safely."
“Of course she will,” Jiu Qu Chen said with certainty. He glanced at Wenren Xi, who was lying on the ground with her clothes disheveled. He hadn’t paid close attention before, but now he noticed that the little disciple’s face and body were covered in blood.
He asked in confusion, "By the way, how did you get here? And why are you in this state?"
"Ah, it's a long story." Wenren Xi smiled wryly. "To put it simply, Elder Qinghe and I probably accidentally entered some kind of magic array. We were walking along when a group of people with the surname 'Duanmu' suddenly appeared in front of us, saying that they were sent by the patriarch."
"The leader was called 'Duanmu Rui.' He kept laughing, and before I saw him fire a single shot, a pile of smoke inexplicably appeared. The elders and I fought them for a few rounds, but they outnumbered us and, for some reason, a pile of silk threads fell from the sky, and I was instantly tied up and brought here."
He was somewhat puzzled: "Although I'm not the kind of person who's so diligent that I don't eat or drink, to be honest, I consider myself to be pretty good at 'puppetry.' It's strange, though, that someone can still find a loophole in my skills."
The man was so fast that by the time he reacted, the silk threads were already wrapped all over his body.
"There are always mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people." Jiu Qu Chen was used to it. He looked at the empty space next to Wenren Xi, hissed, and asked curiously, "Where's Elder Qinghe? Wasn't he with you?"
Wenren Xi was trying to break free when he heard this and said nonchalantly, "Oh, the elder's cultivation is deeper than mine, he'll probably be here soon."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a huge white silkworm cocoon appeared beside Wenren Xi with a "bang".
The silkworm pupa struggled and made a "whooshing" sound.
"Hello, Elder Qinghe." Jiuquchen smiled. "Don't resist so fiercely, or the rope will only get tighter."
The "silkworm pupa" froze instantly, then turned around with difficulty, glaring at Jiu Quchen.
Jiu Qu Chen then realized that Qing He's mouth had been sealed with a silencing spell.
Perhaps the person who set the puppet strings was afraid that Qinghe would break free easily, so they used several loops of silk thread. Qinghe was still wearing a blue and white elder's robe, and being tied up like this, with the sides narrow and the middle wide, he really looked like a big silkworm cocoon.
"Did the elders go too far with their insults?" Wenren Xi turned to face him, their eyes meeting. "They didn't even silence me."
Qinghe glared at him, her eyes filled with anger and accusation.
"Wenren Xi, move aside a bit," Jiu Qu Chen reminded him. "What kind of image are these two grown men having? It's an eyesore."
Wenren Xi: "...Okay."
He throbbed his body, rubbing backward repeatedly.
"You can still laugh? Looks like I've been too lenient with you."
A woman in purple walked into the cave. She was backlit, and Jiu Quchen could only see her disheveled long hair.
The three were arguing when her appearance was like a bucket of ice water, dousing the entire cave from beginning to end, instantly chilling the atmosphere by five degrees. For a moment, no one uttered a sound, and they watched the woman approach until she stood before Jiu Quchen.
“A-Rui is really soft-hearted.”
She laughed, her skin and flesh squeezed together, her whole face swollen as if it had been soaking in water for decades.
Jiu Qu Chen trembled with fright. His gaze darted around, and he simply closed his eyes, speaking in a trembling voice, "Sir, let's talk this out. You're giving us such a hard time right from the start. Isn't that going to hurt our harmony?"
The woman in purple seemed to have heard something amusing, and she scoffed, "Harmony?"
"You trespassed on my territory, disrupted my plans, and now you want to talk to me about 'peace'?"
She reached out and grabbed the end of the thread in the air, pulling it sharply. The threads binding Jiu Quchen tightened instantly, and he felt his internal organs being squeezed, causing him to gasp in pain.
Wenren Xi had been hesitant to speak, but seeing how ruthless the newcomer was, he obediently shut his mouth, deciding not to invite further trouble.
Jiu Qu Chen persisted: "May I ask, sir, what plan of yours did we interrupt?"
"Where do you get such a thick skin?!"
The woman in purple was enraged. She lifted Wenren Xi and Qinghe from the ground, subjecting them to the same torment of the silk threads as Jiu Qu Chen. When Wenren Xi finally succumbed and fainted, she grabbed Wenren Xi's hair and suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
The laughter was shrill, sounding like a million ants crawling into his ears and slowly gnawing at his earlobe. Jiu Quchen felt a chill run down his spine. He secretly tried to circulate his spiritual energy while regretting his actions: This person's personality is so strange; I should have known better than to provoke her.
On the other side, Qinghe was making "woo-woo" noises. Although he couldn't say anything specific, Jiuquchen could tell that he was swearing very filthyly.
He secretly drew spiritual power from the spiritual network and transmitted a secret message to Qinghe.
[Elder Qinghe, this is terrifying! With your high cultivation level, do you have any way to shut her up?]
For those who are not very familiar with him, "transmitting secret messages" is a somewhat offensive act. So when Jiu Quchen's urgent voice suddenly rang in Qinghe's mind, his eyes widened and he cursed him a thousand times in his mind.
He had only used four-tenths of his ability to curse; the next moment, another sentence came from Jiuquchen, his tone full of helplessness:
Stop cursing, Elder, I can hear you.
Qinghe:……
Jiu Quchen felt a deep silence in his heart upon hearing this, and was about to ask again when the woman in purple finished laughing and spoke to them.
"Since you're so eager to know why, then I'll show you." She wrapped three threads around her fingers, ignoring how bloody and mangled they were, and dragged the three of them slowly toward the cave entrance, saying as she went, "So you can die knowing why."
There was no wind at the cave entrance, and the closer they got, the stronger the smell of the sea became. They were like rag dolls being manipulated, completely unaware of what awaited them next.
thump!
Stepping out of the cave, an endless expanse of blue comes into view, with sandy ground below and a few rotten logs standing askew among them.
The woman in purple casually tossed the three of them aside like bricks. While Jiu Quchen was still in mid-air, a purple thread reached down from below, wrapped around him, and firmly bound him to the wooden stake.
He glanced over and saw that the other two were doing the same.
Looking up again, all you see is a clear lake.
The lake was too deep for sunlight to penetrate. No one knew what method this person had used to carve out a separate space here, allowing them to breathe without using magic.
"What are you looking at!"
The woman in purple kicked the wooden stake behind Jiu Quchen. When he turned around, she clapped her hands with a smile. The water in front of them split into two streams with a "whoosh," and one after another, coffins flew in and stopped in front of them.
"If you want to hear my plan, I'll show it to you!" She clapped her hands again, and the coffin lid opened with a thud. "All I want are the children of the Duanmu family. You all don't know what's good for you and insisted on coming along!"
One by one, intact human skins floated slowly out of the coffin, circling around Jiu Quchen and Qinghe. The stench unique to the dead filled their nostrils, and chunks of raw flesh were laid out before them. Jiu Quchen frowned, and after a wave of nausea, he closed his eyes again.
"Didn't you want to see?" the woman in purple laughed shrilly, causing the silk threads to cover Jiu Quchen's face, seeping in little by little, forcibly opening his eyes.
Jiu Quchen felt as if dozens of fine needles were pricking his eyes, causing him unbearable pain. Helpless, he had no choice but to open his eyes and look at the woman in purple.
The woman in purple raised her hand and summoned three more coffins.
Click.
When the coffin was opened, instead of human skin, lay Shen Wan, Xie Yuzhou, and Duanmu Tingzhu.
Their eyes were tightly closed, as if they were asleep.
The woman in purple held three red threads in her hand, the ends of which were on the tops of their heads.
The red line was dazzling, like fresh blood.
The scene before him was so shocking that Jiu Quchen immediately exploded: "Why did you harm three children? Come at me!"
"You? You're not usually this obedient, are you?" The woman in purple laughed, lightly tapping Duanmu Tingzhu. The latter straightened up from the coffin and slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes were vacant, and two streams of blood hung below him. Although it had only been a few days, he had become skin and bones.
Duanmu Tingzhu opened his mouth, and Jiuqu Chen heard him call out, "Mother."
The voice was weak, like the person speaking on the verge of death.
Jiu Quchen's breathing became rapid instantly. He struggled a few times, and with a few "ripping" sounds, his snow-white skin was cut open, staining his pink clothes red.
Not far away, Qinghe was in even worse shape; there were hardly any good pieces of flesh left on his body.
The woman in purple was very satisfied with their reaction. She put her arm around Tingzhu's shoulder and softly replied, "Mother is here."
It appears to be a scene of "a loving mother and filial son," yet it is chilling.
"Take this and give it to the brother in the white clothes." The woman in purple handed Duanmu a bottle of white medicine and said gently, "Make sure he listens to you."
Duanmu Tingzhu lowered his eyes, and with trembling hands, he reached out. The moment his fingertips touched the porcelain bottle, a beam of green light descended from the sky and shattered the bottle with a "bang".
White medicine splattered, splashing all over the woman in purple's face.
She froze for a moment, then suddenly looked up, her hair practically standing on end with rage. A split second later, she opened her two sharp claws and "whoosh!" flew toward the source of the blue light.
Just as she flew halfway up, another beam of blue light appeared, even brighter than before.
The woman in purple raised her hand to block the attack. She squinted and saw a woman in white, holding a staff, rushing towards her from the shadows of the sun.
Qingxing had already clearly seen the three people, Jiuquchen and the others, who were tied up below, as well as Shen Wan and Xie Yuzhou lying in the coffin.
Her face was expressionless, and the words she spoke carried a chill:
"You'd better have some extraordinary skills to show for yourself since you harmed my fellow disciples."
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