Qiqi's eyes reddened, and she hugged Huo Yuwei tightly. "Thank you, big brother, and little brother Jiu. It's so good to have you all here."
"Silly girl." Huo Yuwei patted her head. "Rest a little longer. There's still a tough battle to fight after dawn."
Qiqi nodded, leaned against him, and closed her eyes.
But in her hand, she still tightly clutched the jade pendant that Qingyangzi had given her.
The jade pendant was constantly getting slightly warm, conveying some kind of message.
In fact, Qiqi didn't tell the whole truth.
Just now in the car, she not only sensed Qingyangzi's reminder, but also saw more scenes.
She saw the true situation at Eagle's Beak Cliff.
There wasn't just one Nine Nether Soul Locking Array there, but three large arrays nested together.
The outermost layer is the Misty Illusion Array, the middle layer is the Blood Sacrifice Array, and the innermost layer is the Nine Nether Soul Locking Array that trapped Qingyangzi.
She also saw the true face of the Netherworld Venerable.
It was a gaunt old man with strange black markings on his face.
His eyes were completely black, with no whites.
Deep within Eagle's Beak Cliff lies a bottomless black hole.
The black hole exudes a chilling, malevolent aura, as if connected to some indescribable entity.
What terrified her most was that she saw a pair of eyes in that black hole.
Those eyes were enormous, filled with greed, tyranny, and a destructive desire.
When those eyes "looked" at her, Qiqi felt her soul tremble.
Is that the "master" that the Netherworld Palace has been trying to awaken?
Qiqi wasn't sure.
But she knew that existence was extremely dangerous, far beyond what she could currently confront.
Therefore, she must recover her spiritual power as soon as possible and rescue Qingyangzi and the other children before the night of the alignment of the seven stars.
otherwise……
Qiqi dared not think any further.
She quietly took a small porcelain bottle out of her bag.
This is a "Resurrection Pill" that she had secretly refined before.
This pill can restore a person's full spiritual power in a short time, and even allow them to make a breakthrough, but the price is that they will be weak for a whole month afterward, and their foundation will be damaged.
This is a drug that depletes a person's potential and vitality; it should never be used unless it is a matter of life and death.
But now, shouldn't we be at a life-or-death juncture?
Qiqi gripped the porcelain bottle tightly, her heart filled with hesitation.
As dawn broke, the convoy set off again.
There are still 20 kilometers to go before reaching Eagle's Beak Cliff, but this is the most difficult part of the journey.
The roads are all rugged mountain paths, and in some places you even have to get out of the car and walk.
At nine o'clock in the morning, they encountered their third interception.
This time it wasn't a formation, but people.
Ten men in black robes blocked the middle of the mountain road, each holding a magical artifact and exuding a strong aura of yin energy.
The leader was a one-eyed old man who held a skull-shaped cane.
It looks a lot like the Netherworld Venerable, but it's a size smaller.
“This is the Left Protector of the Netherworld Palace, Ghost Eye.” Lin Wei recognized him. “He is the junior brother of the Netherworld Venerable and is skilled in controlling corpse puppets and poisons.”
Ghost Eye scanned the crowd with its single eye, finally fixing its gaze on Qi Qi in Huo Yuwei's arms, revealing a greedy smile.
"Pure Yin Body, we've finally found you. The Venerable One was right, you will indeed walk this path."
He raised his cane. "Hand over that little girl, and I might spare the rest of you. Otherwise..."
Green light suddenly emanated from the eye sockets of the skull on the cane, and the surrounding ground began to shake.
More than thirty rotting corpses crawled out from the ground and surrounded the convoy.
“An army of corpse puppets!” Yun Songzi’s expression turned grave. “These corpses have been specially crafted and are impervious to blades and spears. Only by destroying their core can they be completely eliminated.”
The special task force members immediately went into battle mode, but faced with a far greater number of corpse puppets than they could muster, and everyone looked grim.
Qiqi peeked out from Huo Yuwei's arms, looking at the corpse puppets, her little face pale.
She could sense that these corpse puppets were ordinary people in their previous lives.
After death, they were controlled by evil magic, their souls trapped in their decaying bodies, enduring endless pain.
"They are so pitiful," Qiqi murmured.
Ghost Eyes laughed loudly, "Pitiful? It's their honor to serve the Netherworld Palace! Little girl, if you obediently come with me, I can make these corpse puppets behave and not harm your companions. Otherwise, don't blame me for unleashing a massacre!"
With a wave of his hand, the corpse puppet roared and approached the group.
Huo Yuwei handed Qiqi to Yun Songzi, saying, "Protect her well."
He turned to face the corpse puppet, and a powerful aura suddenly erupted from his body.
That was the aura of a steely soldier who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. His overwhelming righteousness was the nemesis of all evil and malevolent forces.
"Such strong merit and righteousness! If I could turn you into a corpse puppet, you would be incredibly powerful." Ghost Eyes was slightly surprised. "Unfortunately, it's not enough!"
He slammed his cane down, and the corpse puppets pounced at the same time.
The special unit members are highly trained, working in groups of three with excellent teamwork, specializing in attacking the joints and head of the corpse puppets.
However, the corpse puppets are unaware of pain and will continue to fight unless they are completely destroyed.
Huo Yuwei moved like a tiger among sheep, each punch and kick carrying the ferocity of a battle. The corpse puppets he struck emitted black smoke from their wounds and their movements became noticeably slower.
However, there were too many corpse puppets, and the group was gradually surrounded.
Qiqi watched the battle unfold with growing anxiety.
Soon, she noticed that each corpse puppet had a black crystal on its chest, which should be its core.
However, the core is protected by a thick layer of decaying flesh, making it very difficult to hit.
Suddenly, Qiqi thought of something.
She pulled a stack of talismans from her bag; these were "soul-purifying talismans" she had secretly drawn in the car the night before.
Although the effect is greatly reduced due to insufficient spiritual energy, it should still be useful.
"Grandpa Yun Songzi, please help Qiqi throw these talismans out and onto the corpse puppet!" Qiqi handed the talisman papers to Yun Songzi.
Yun Songzi was taken aback, but then he understood what Qi Qi meant.
He took the talisman, channeled his spiritual power, and launched it like a dart.
The talisman was precisely affixed to the corpse puppet. Although it did not directly hit the core, the purifying power on the talisman began to take effect.
The corpse puppet's movements became noticeably slower, and the yin energy on its body dissipated.
"It works!" Lin Wei's eyes lit up. "Attack those corpse puppets with talismans on them!"
The group concentrated their firepower and quickly eliminated several corpse puppets.
Seeing this, Ghost Eye's single eye flashed with anger. "Little girl, you're asking for death!"
He personally took action, and the skull cane transformed into a streak of black light, shooting straight at Qiqi.
Yun Songzi and Qingyin tried to intercept it at the same time, but the black light was unpredictable and bypassed their defenses, continuing to shoot towards Qiqi.
At the critical moment, Huo Yuwei flashed in front of Qiqi and punched the black light.
boom!
The black light exploded, and Huo Yuwei staggered back three steps. A black wound appeared on his fist, and the flesh around the wound was rapidly turning black and rotting.
"Poison!" Huo Yuwei's expression changed, and he staggered, almost falling over.
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