The Curse of the Undying and the Embers
The moment the black rope wrapped around Zhao Yu's neck, the forgotten fragment of the evil core in his arms suddenly felt hot—not the cold heat of evil energy, but a warm, scorching heat, like the remaining soul of Su Xiao struggling. The fragment slipped from his clothes and hit the black vines binding his feet. A red light suddenly appeared, and the vines sizzled, instantly curling up into a charred ball.
Zhao Yu seized the opportunity to stumble to his feet, leaning on his broken sword. He saw the black-robed figure within the old locust tree stump already halfway out. The black energy entangled in the roots had solidified into a physical hand, reaching for him. Even more terrifying, the zombies emerging from the soil began to mutate, their skin cracking, revealing the writhing white insects within. These were the mother worms the black-robed figure had hidden within their bodies. Once they broke free, the entire Meixi Town (formerly Qingwu Town) would be engulfed by the swarm of insects.
"Trying to run?" the black-robed figure sneered. The black energy in his palm transformed into countless fine needles, shooting towards Zhao Yu's back. At that moment, a muffled sound suddenly came from the direction of the volcano. A streak of crimson-gold light pierced the morning mist and plummeted down onto the locust wood stake. The black-robed figure screamed, and the newly formed physical hand instantly dissipated. Half of his body retracted into the stake, leaving only a resentful roar: "I curse this town! Curse this land! Within a hundred years, anyone who enters this town will be annihilated! There will never be peace in Meixi Town—!"
A crimson-gold light fell to the ground, transforming into a broken token. Inscribed on it were the characters "Chi Yang," the very same pattern found on Su Xiao's Chi Yang Gu box. Zhao Yu reached out to touch it, but the token crumbled into ash, scattered by the wind into the soil of Meixi Town. The mutated zombies froze in place, the insects no longer moving, slowly turning to black ash. The black vines that had entwined the house also lost their vitality, withering into fragments.
Only the locust wood stake still oozed black fluid, its surface covered in dense blood-red incantations, like a net enveloping Meixi Town. Zhao Yu stared at the empty streets and the lingering corpse worm shells on the ground, and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood. The black-robed man's soul curse had penetrated his meridians, and he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.
He staggered to the town entrance and carved a line of words on the crooked wooden sign that read "Meixi Town": "There is a curse hidden in this town, corpse poison is devouring souls, do not enter for a hundred years." After carving the last stroke, Zhao Yu's body stiffened and he slowly fell beside the sign. His palm fell into the mud and was covered by the morning dew along with the fragment of the evil core.
The morning mist in Meixi Town rose again. This time, there were no more cries of villagers in the mist. Only occasional whispers came from the locust wood stakes, as if waiting for the next sacrifice.
Chapter 59: The Hundred-Year Curse and the Descendants of Chiyang
A century passed in the blink of an eye, and Meixi Town became known within a hundred miles as a "dead town." Rumor has it that some, skeptical of superstition, entered the town in groups searching for treasure, but never emerged. Some said they saw their bones outside the town, crawling with white insects. Others said they passed by the town entrance at night and heard a woman singing a mournful tune in the fog, the last note of which sounded like the crawling of insects.
In the early autumn of that year, a carriage carrying seven people stopped at the entrance of Meixi Town. The curtains opened, and the first person to jump out was a girl in red shorts. Hanging from her waist was a palm-sized copper box with the word "Chiyang" engraved on it. It was the same style as Su Xiao's Chiyang Gu box from those days.
"Su Nian, don't touch anything!" A steady male voice came from the carriage, and then a young man holding a compass walked out. The compass needle spun wildly, pointing in the direction of the town. "The evil spirit in this town is more than ten times stronger than recorded."
Su Nian, a third-generation descendant of Su Xiao, grew up listening to stories of her ancestors "protecting the town with their souls." This time, she brought six members of her clan to Meixi Town, firstly to break the century-old curse, and secondly to search for clues to the Red Sun Gu left by her ancestors. She touched the copper box at her waist, and a subtle vibration echoed from within, as if responding to a certain aura within the town.
"What are you afraid of?" Su Nian raised an eyebrow and pulled out a specially made mahogany dagger from his backpack. The blade was coated with cinnabar and rooster blood. "If our ancestors could burn the Huai soul, how can we be afraid of this century-old curse? Let's go to the town center first."
As the seven of them entered the town, the morning mist suddenly thickened and refused to dissipate. A dripping sound reached their ears—not dew, but some liquid dripping onto leaves. Su Nian looked up, her pupils constricting. Hanging from the old branches overhead were more than a dozen dried corpses, dressed in century-old clothing, their ankles bound with faded red ropes. Each had a tiny hole in its neck, from which dripped a black liquid that, upon falling to the ground, solidified into white insect eggs.
"It was someone who entered the town a hundred years ago." The young man holding the compass turned pale, and the compass needle suddenly reversed, pointing behind him. "Be careful! Something is following us!"
Su Nian turned sharply and saw a dozen blurry figures emerging from the fog. These legless figures floated in mid-air, their bodies entangled in white silkworm threads—these were "Silk Soul Ghosts," planted by the black-robed man a century ago. They feed on the souls of the living, and if entangled by the silkworms, they will lose their three souls and seven spirits. Even more terrifying, the faces of the figures gradually became clear. They were the treasure hunters who had entered the town earlier. Their eyes were sewn shut with silkworm threads, but they wore eerie grins as they drifted towards the seven people.
"Light it!" Su Nian called out, pulling out a tinderbox and lighting the mahogany dagger. As the flames began to rise, a sharp hissing echoed through the fog, and the silken ghosts retreated. Their silk threads ignited upon contact with the fire, turning into black ash. But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the earth beneath their feet suddenly bulged, and pale hands emerged, each one bearing blood-red incantations. These were the zombies Zhao Yu had seen a hundred years ago, yet they were even more powerful than before. Their nails shone with a poisonous bluish-black light, and the grass withered instantly upon contact.
"These aren't ordinary zombies!" exclaimed an elder from the tribe who knew witchcraft, pointing at the zombies' wrists. "The spells on their wrists are the Black Robe Man's 'Soul-Raising Curse'! For centuries, the Black Robe Man has been using the evil energy in the town to nourish these ghosts. Now, Meixi Town is a giant ghost-raising altar!"
The copper box at Su Nian's waist vibrated even more violently. The lid opened slightly, and a faint crimson flame drifted out, landing on her mahogany dagger. The flames instantly swelled, transforming into a crimson-gold hue, illuminating the surrounding fog. She gripped the dagger and stabbed at the nearest zombie. The moment the blade penetrated, a shrill scream erupted from within the corpse, and a wisp of black soul was forced out. As it floated into the air, it was incinerated to ash by the crimson flames.
"I see." Su Nian's eyes lit up. "The Red Sun Fire can burn souls! Everyone, follow me and go to the old locust tree stump in the center of town first—the black-robed man's curse must be there!"
The seven of them formed a formation and advanced toward the town center. More and more Silk Soul Ghosts appeared in the fog, and zombies continued to emerge from the ground. Even several enormous "worm corpses" blocked their path—the carcasses of wild boars infested by a mother corpse insect, their tusks festooned with shredded flesh, and white corpse insects continuously emerged from their stomachs. Although Su Nian's Red Sun Fire was able to contain the attacks, the flames within the box were slowly fading. She knew the true danger awaited them in the town center.
At this moment, beside the old locust tree stump in the town center, black sap seeping from the soil was forming a vague human figure, with a scar faintly visible under his left eye. After a hundred years, the black-robed man's soul curse finally found a sacrifice that could "tame" him.
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