The Ghostly Shadow Under the Sophora Tree and the Curse in the Coffin
When Su Xiao, clutching a dagger, forced the door open, Lin Xi was standing in front of the old patriarch's house, clutching a half-broken peachwood cane, his face pale as paper. The door was ajar, a few dry locust leaves tangled around the hinges. The wind blew, and the leaves scraped against the door, making a soft rustling sound, as if someone was standing on tiptoe outside to peer in.
"When did you find out?" Su Xiao's voice tightened. The Chiyang Gu box felt hot in his arms. The Gu inside the box suddenly stopped hissing, leaving only a dead silence.
"I got up early in the morning to deliver medicine, and when I opened the door..." Lin Xi's fingertips trembled as she pointed inside the house, "Look at the ground."
Su Xiao followed her gaze and saw two lines of footprints on the dirt floor—one was the print of the old patriarch's cloth shoes, while the other contained only half a foot. The marks left by the five toes were sharp and deep, as if dug by fingernails. Black frost coated the edges of the footprints, and even the soil seemed frozen hard. Even more bizarre, the two lines of footprints suddenly disappeared in the center of the room, leaving only a circle of charred marks. Embedded in the marks were a few gray hairs, as if they had been forcibly plucked out.
"Where are Zhao Yu and Meng Meng?" Su Xiao touched the Chiyang Gu box in his arms. A blood-red light seeped out from the cracks in the box, emitting a cold glow in the morning light.
"I asked them to look for it at the west end of the village. The old patriarch said last night that he wanted to go to the locust tree to look at the red prayer silk..." Before Lin Xi finished speaking, Meng Meng's scream suddenly came from the west end of the village. The sound pierced the morning mist, carrying with it heart-wrenching fear, which made people's scalps numb.
The two men took off running. As soon as they crossed the threshing ground, they saw Zhao Yu slumped under an old locust tree, his machete lying beside him, the blade stained with black slime. Meng Meng, clinging tightly to the tree's branches, trembling violently. Her gaze was fixed on the tree's base, as if she had seen something terrifying.
Su Xiao followed her gaze, his heart suddenly tightening. The roots of the old locust tree had been dug up, revealing a blackened coffin. The lid leaned askew to the side. Inside, on a green cloth, lay the body of the old patriarch. His eyes were wide open, a twisted black shadow reflected in his pupils, but a strange grin stretched across his lips, as if he were enjoying something. Even more terrifying, his hands had been severed. There was no blood on the severed ends, only a layer of white frost, as if they had been frozen and torn off by something extremely cold.
"This coffin...wasn't here last night." Zhao Yu's voice trembled as he pointed at the patterns on the coffin lid. "Look at the words on it! They're the incantation of the evil witch god!"
Su Xiao took a closer look. The coffin was engraved with dense, twisting black lines resembling snakes. It was the same totem he had seen on the secret passage's hidden door. A black liquid oozed from the lines, dripping onto the ground with a sizzling sound. The soil instantly turned black, and a foul odor emanated from it.
"No, there's something wrong with the old patriarch's body." Meng Meng suddenly spoke, his voice tinged with tears. "He has the same scar on his neck as the man in black robe!"
Su Xiao immediately looked at the old patriarch's neck. Sure enough, he saw a light gray scar extending from his left ear to his jaw, exactly the same as the scar under the black-robed man's left eye. But when he saw the old patriarch last night, his neck was clearly smooth, without even a trace of scar.
"Is it a substitute technique? Or..." Lin Xi didn't finish his words when a slight sound suddenly came from the coffin. The old patriarch's body suddenly moved, and his fingers curled up slightly, as if he wanted to grab something.
"Be careful!" Su Xiao pushed Lin Xi away abruptly. The Red Sun Gu box flew out of his arms, and the lid opened. The Red Sun Gu transformed into a red flame and flew towards the coffin. However, as the red flame approached the coffin, it was deflected by an invisible force. The edge of the flame instantly turned black, as if it had been swallowed by evil spirits.
The old patriarch within the coffin suddenly sat up, his eyes rolling back as the grin on his lips grew wider and wider, until it stretched from ear to ear. He opened his mouth and let out a sharp hissing sound, identical to the Fire Leech King's. Then, his body began to twist, as if something were wriggling beneath his skin. Soon, his arms grew thicker, his nails lengthened and pointed, and he gradually took on the appearance of the man in the black robe—a scar under his left eye, a pale face, and those eyes shimmering with a dark aura.
"Hahaha, you finally figured it out." The black-robed man's voice came from the "old patriarch's" mouth, with an eerie echo. "From the moment you activated the evil-suppressing formation, you walked into my trap."
Su Xiao gripped the dagger tightly, his heart pounding - it turned out that the black-robed man who was killed by Meng Meng before was just a substitute. The real black-robed man had been hiding in the dark and might have even controlled the old patriarch a long time ago.
"Where did you hide the old patriarch's hands?" Zhao Yu swung his knife forward, the cold light on the blade reflected on the face of the man in black robe.
The black-robed figure didn't dodge. He extended his hand, and the black energy from his fingertips transformed into a black snake, striking Zhao Yu's chest. Su Xiao immediately activated the Red Sun Gu, and the red flame flew out again, entangling the black snake. But this time, the red flame grew weaker, while the black snake grew thicker, quickly engulfing the red flame and pouncing towards Su Xiao.
"Be careful! This evil spirit can restrain the Red Sun Gu!" Meng Meng unfolded the cloth with anti-Gu patterns, and the blue light blocked the black snake, but the silver thread on the cloth turned black in an instant, and the sound of breaking came one after another, as if it would shatter at any time.
The black-robed man seized the opportunity and lunged at Lin Xi. His fingertips were frosted with black, and he was about to grab Lin Xi's shoulder. Lin Xi hurriedly rang the copper bell, and a rapid buzzing sound wave attacked the black-robed man. But the black-robed man did not dodge. The sound wave passed through his body, and his body only shook for a moment, quickly recovering.
"It's useless. My body has merged with the power of the Evil Witch God. Your attacks are useless to me." The black-robed man grinned, the black frost on his fingertips growing thicker. "Now, it's your turn."
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the old locust tree. The branches of the locust tree suddenly shook violently, and countless black vines emerged from the trunk and wrapped around the four people. The vines had sharp thorns and dripped black liquid. When they fell to the ground, the soil instantly turned black and emitted a foul smell.
Su Xiao hurriedly retreated, but the vines entangled her ankles. The sharp thorns pierced her skin, and a chill spread along the wound. Her calves instantly became stiff, as if frozen. Zhao Yu swung his knife to cut the vines, but as soon as the blade touched the vines, it was covered with black frost. The cold made his palms numb and he could hardly hold the knife.
Lin Xi's copper bell suddenly rang, breaking completely apart. She spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. Meng Meng's Gu-repelling fabric had turned completely black, its silver threads completely broken. She stumbled backward, but vines entangled her wrists and pulled her towards the black-robed figure.
"Su Xiao! Use the evil core fragments!" Meng Meng's voice was filled with despair. "The evil core fragments can restrain evil power!"
Su Xiao immediately remembered the fragment of the evil core in her arms. Enduring the sharp pain in her calf, she reached out to touch it, only to find that the fragment had disappeared. She looked down and saw that the fragment was stuck to the coffin, emitting a faint glow, as if fighting against the spell on the coffin.
The black-robed figure saw her intention and swung his hand violently, sending a black snake flying towards the fragments of the evil core, attempting to shatter them. Su Xiao hurriedly activated the Red Sun Gu, its crimson flames transforming into a flaming sword, which she slashed at the black snake. The sword and the snake collided, creating a violent explosion. The blast of air knocked Su Xiao to the ground, impacting her calf. The chill in the wound intensified, and she nearly lost consciousness.
At that moment, the fragments of the evil core on the coffin suddenly erupted with a dazzling light, piercing through the black snake and striking the black-robed figure. The black-robed figure's expression suddenly changed. He tried to dodge, but was entangled in vines, unable to move. The light fell on him, and he let out a shrill scream. His body began to smoke, and the black energy beneath his skin gradually dissipated.
"No! I won't lose!" the black-robed figure roared, his body suddenly exploding, transforming into a ball of black air that flew towards the old locust tree. The black air penetrated the trunk, and the tree suddenly shook violently. Countless eyes sprouted from its branches, staring at the four people like angry prey.
Su Xiao struggled to her feet. The Red Sun Gu flew back into the box, and the cracks on the box grew larger and larger, almost shattering. She looked at Lin Xi and Meng Meng; both were unconscious. Zhao Yu was leaning against a locust tree, his face pale, clearly also seriously injured.
The eyes on the locust tree suddenly blinked, and a crack appeared in the trunk. A black light shone through the crack, and an evil spirit even stronger than before seeped out from the crack, oppressing people so much that they could not breathe. Su Xiao knew that the real crisis had just begun.
She gripped the dagger tightly, cradling the Red Sun Gu Box in her arms, her gaze fixed firmly on the locust tree. No matter what she faced next, she had to defend Qingwu Town and the people around her—even if it cost her her life.
Suddenly, a soft sound came from a crack in the locust tree, and a blurry figure emerged from the gap, holding a pair of bloody hands—the very hands of the old patriarch that had been severed. The figure slowly raised its head, revealing a familiar face. The scar under its left eye and pale skin marked it. It was the man in the black robe.
"The game has just begun." The black-robed man's voice came towards Su Xiao with a strange smile.
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