Chapter 129: Take turns taking it
Chang Xile didn't actually know why she carried the black bell with her. Perhaps she subconsciously thought that since she and Wessel had first met at Changle Mountain, she might have returned the bell to him there.
Wessel's previously sluggish pupils suddenly regained clarity. He could hear a shrill scream, which disturbed him. However, upon closer inspection, he found that the scream was not coming from anywhere else, but from within his spiritual center.
The woman's voice he'd heard in his hazy state echoed repeatedly in his mind, its tone of command undeniable. This was a contract he'd once made to someone; if they made a wish, he'd obey, even at the cost of his life.
The screams in his ears gradually became weaker, and Wessel's originally heavy body suddenly relaxed, as if something invisible left him.
The black bell in Chang Xile's hand turned into mist and dissipated, and then Wessel's right little finger grew back visibly.
"Has the vixen left you, Weasel, Weasel?"
Hearing the call from the real world, Wessel finally regained consciousness. He realized that he had been pushing Chang Xile to the ground, and his sharp nails had scratched her skin. Without even glancing at his lost little finger, Wessel immediately pulled Chang Xile up.
But Chang Xile didn't have time to catch up with him. She asked anxiously, "You said before that even if it's not a wish, it's okay to ask you for help simply as a friend, right?"
Weatherill was stunned for a moment and said, "That's natural."
"Okay, please take care of me." Chang Xile tilted her body as she spoke. If Wessel hadn't supported her in time, she would have fallen headfirst to the ground.
Her body temperature dropped at a noticeable rate. Wessel felt a little panicked, but he couldn't just leave her body behind. So he drew a circle and sat inside it with Chang Xile.
After Little Finger returned, he had repaid his debt and could finally unleash his full magical powers. However, Wessel knew that this was far from over.
He stretched out his hand and cast a magic circle to protect Chang Xile from getting wet by the rain, while he himself looked up and quietly felt the heavy rain, as if waiting for something.
"Master...it's raining so hard." As Shunian was speaking, a flash of lightning appeared in the sky, followed by a deafening roar of lightning that frightened him and made him shiver. "Are Sister Xile and the others okay?"
Tang You sat at the entrance of the Taoist temple and did not answer. She just ordered him: "Go in and close the door."
"But……"
Shu Nian wanted to say more, but Tang You gave him a sidelong glance: "My words are useless now, right?"
He immediately hid back in the Taoist temple.
Tang You withdrew her gaze, then raised her hand, and the huge Taoist temple covering an area of 100 acres was held in her palm.
Yang Guisi stood aside, holding an umbrella for her, and asked, "Master, what's wrong?"
Tang You handed the shrunken Guan Yu to her and said, "Take them away, the sooner the better."
Although Yang Guisi had many questions to ask, she knew now was not the right time to ask them. She nodded vigorously and quickly left with Paperweight Guanyu.
After Yang Guisi left, a man slowly approached from a distance. When he saw Tang You, he was surprised for a moment, then smiled and said, "I was going to say what a coincidence, but it looks like you were waiting for me to come?"
"Yes." Tang You answered him indifferently.
"Aren't you hiding from me anymore?" Xie Wuya asked again.
"I've been hiding for so many years, it's boring now." Tang You looked up at the night sky filled with lightning and thunder and asked him, "What are you doing here?"
Xie Wuya raised his finger and pointed at the Soul-Catching Rope on his wrist, which was now flashing red light. "If I say that something seems to be wrong with my descendant, would you believe me if I come to take a look?"
Tang You tilted her head: "So you have another excuse."
Xie Wuya deserves it straightforwardly.
The two of them were silent in the rain for a while before Xie Wuya spoke. His voice was cold and mechanical, as if he was rehearsing a line he had performed countless times in a stage play:
"Chang Xile, female, from Yangcheng. Born on October 21, 2002, died on December 23, 2024. Location: Xiaoyu Mountain, Mountain City."
Tang You slowly turned her head to look at him, her mouth dry. "What did you say?"
Xie Wuya didn't say it again, but just looked at her indifferently and said, "You have heard it clearly."
Some of the rules of the underworld are widely known, even written down in storybooks and becoming a source of entertainment. But some rules are passed down only by word of mouth, and even the living, or even the recently deceased, may not know them.
When a living person passes away in the world of the living, they are called "Huo Wu Chang." If a living person's lifespan in the world of the living ends, the Wu Chang who brought them in will be responsible for receiving their soul. On this day, Huo Wu Chang is at the boundary between the living and the dead, and is no longer under the control of the Wu Chang.
In a split second, Tang You had vanished from his sight. Xie Wuya paused, then crouched down. He could sense that this place had housed over a hundred wandering souls just moments before.
He clearly felt the direction in which the group of wandering souls left, but he closed his eyes and did not chase them.
"Tonight I will only take one soul back to the underworld, and I will let you go."
Even as Yang Guisi hurried along, he sensed something was amiss with the Guanyu in his arms. Though small, it had been glowing and vibrating non-stop since a while ago, making it difficult to ignore.
"Be quiet, be quiet! Master is too busy to take care of us now." Yang Guisi scolded in a low voice.
But from the temple came over a hundred even louder voices. Yang Guisi listened carefully and vaguely heard the words "joy," "save people," and "danger."
Suddenly, an unusually bright light erupted from Guanyu, blinding Yang Guisi. When she opened her eyes again, the paperweight Guanyu was no longer glowing or moving, only the air around her had plummeted in temperature.
On the other side, Chang Xile was chasing the soul of the flatterer.
Weatherill's body can no longer be returned, and the other body of Chen Moxin is still on the top of the mountain. Ninghu must rush back to seize the right to use that body.
Before that, Chang Xile would tie it up with a soul-catching rope and take it back to the underworld for execution.
Although the fox's spirit was already quite powerful, it still could not stay outside for too long. Therefore, even though it knew that Chang Xile was chasing it closely, it had no time to deal with her.
Chang Xile saw the perfect moment and used the Soul Hook to bind the fox's spirit. This time, he truly locked it up. The fox roared in anger and then struggled violently.
Perhaps it had truly reached a certain level of cultivation, or perhaps the red moon's radiance had suddenly made it stronger, but Chang Xile felt the weariness of his restraints wearing it out not long after he'd bound it. The red rope around his wrist faded, and in the next second, it vanished into thin air.
The fox was already ferocious. After all, it was a wild beast and had not yet cultivated a human form. At this moment, it didn't even bother to rush back to its body as soon as possible, but just pounced on Chang Xile viciously.
You possess the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, a place where blessings converge. I was truly blinded to leave behind such a precious child like you. I have missed you so much over the years!
The fox's eyes flashed with ferocity. It thought that although it was very difficult to live without a body, if it could eat Chang Xile's soul, it might be able to hold on for a while longer.
Chang Xile sensed its intention and immediately understood the current situation. She should prioritize self-preservation and immediately fled in the opposite direction.
Although she didn't know why, Chang Xile felt that her connection with the underworld seemed to have been suddenly severed. Her soul could not stay outside for long and had to return to her body as soon as possible.
When she possessed the Soul-Catching Rope, Chang Xile naturally feared nothing. But now, she was like a child brimming with wealth but unable to protect herself, parading through the streets. Not only sycophants, but any wandering ghosts would probably want a piece of the action.
What's more, the soul of the fox is so powerful. Seeing that the distance between the two is getting closer and closer, there is always a way out.
Chang Xile only felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She turned around and saw the fox had pounced on her back, drooling, ready to have a feast.
This was completely different from an ordinary injury. The pain of a soul injury was hundreds of times more painful than the same physical injury. She felt as if her soul had dissipated for a moment.
Chang Xile endured the excruciating pain and turned back to shake the fox off, but it was like a leech, refusing to let go. If this continued, it would only be a matter of time before it completely devoured him.
But in the blink of an eye, Chang Xile felt a lightness on his back. The fox was knocked to the ground by an invisible force and couldn't get up for a long time.
Anping came.
"It's you again!" The fox growled at him angrily, "You always come to ruin my plans!"
Anping protected Chang Xile behind him. Without saying anything more, he pointed to the southwest and told her, "Run towards that direction, and you will see your body."
Chang Xile knew that returning to his body would be the only way to truly help him, so he didn't say much to him and endured the pain as he rushed in the direction he pointed.
Anping looked at Chang Xile with a very complicated look. She was too weak now and too easy to be coveted by ghosts. If possible, he should send her back to her body personally.
But he turned and looked at the fox ghost, now mad with greed. After absorbing the moonlight and devouring part of Chang Xile's soul, it had become even more powerful. Anping alone could only barely hold it back.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but the thunder and lightning rolling in the sky are appearing more and more frequently, and the sound is getting louder and louder.
An Ping said to Ning Hu, "With your current soul strength, can you withstand the heavenly tribulation?"
The foxy man paused, then said in a vicious voice, "Why, are you trying to pull your old tricks again? Don't try to scare me with that heavenly tribulation trick. Once I've dealt with you, I'll return to that Chen fellow's body, and nothing will be able to harm me anymore!"
"Really?" An Ping said coldly, "Then it depends on whether you have the ability to go back."
Chang Xile stumbled all the way to the southwest, not knowing how far her destination was. The seemingly short distance seemed endless because of the pain.
What's worse is that when she looked around, she saw countless pairs of eyes in the darkness, staring at her hungrily.
As if noticing her inability to fight back, the demons and monsters could no longer hold back and attacked. They inflicted many wounds on Chang Xile's body, leaving her soul burning. Touching her was actually quite painful.
But it was so delicious. The ghosts were like moths to a flame, and Chang Xile's steps became slower and slower as they delayed him.
After an unknown amount of time, Chang Xile felt a sharp chill. She weakly lifted her legs and took a step, unable to even look up to confirm what kind of ghosts had arrived.
"Bold monster!"
"What are you doing to our ever-optimistic jewel in the palm of your hand!"
"Die!"
"Just wait for our Master to come and take you all in!"
Chang Xile stumbled and fell into a cold embrace. She raised her eyes and met Master Nianci's gentle gaze.
"Child, we'll take you back."
The sight of three hundred wandering spirits blocking the road was a truly spectacular sight, leaving ordinary ghosts with no chance of approaching. If a passerby had passed by that day, they would have likely seen countless will-o'-the-wisp lights flickering through the forest.
Only from time to time could a sound be heard from this group of wandering souls.
"Hot, hot, hot, why is her soul so hot?"
"Let's take turns holding her. Master Aunt is not here. How can we, as the elders, let the child stay here alone?"
"She's been badly hurt, poor thing."
Wessel sat next to Chang Xile. He kept paying attention to her breath - it was almost inaudible, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was dead.
But his ears suddenly pricked up as he heard the sound of several people talking from the southeast. He stood up alertly, put his arms around Chang Xile, and was ready to take her to another position at any time.
But soon he saw a cluster of red figures among the souls glowing with faint blue light. It was Chang Xile who was almost unconscious.
"Hey! We found her body!" Everyone cheered and took Chang Xile over, carefully putting her soul back into her body.
But Chang Xile did not wake up immediately.
"She was badly injured." Someone sighed.
After hearing this, Wessel immediately said, "I'll take her to the hospital."
"The hospital can only cure superficial injuries. No matter how good the doctor is, he cannot repair the damage to the soul." Master Nianci said with a sad look on her face.
Before Weatherill could say anything else, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck from between the trees, almost wiping out the soul of a Taoist nun.
Everyone looked in confusion and saw that the land struck by lightning was charred black.
Coincidentally, another bolt of lightning struck a tree fifty meters away from them, causing screams.
This is definitely not an ordinary thunderstorm.
They have lived in Changle Mountain for so many years and have never seen such a scene.
Nianci placed her hands on the ground, then moved to a nearby tree, where she had lived the longest and had seen the most. She said:
"The mountain god is angry."
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