Chapter 113 The Ghost Soldiers
Black Impermanence was captivated; this secluded place was like a paradise. River lanterns floated on the surface of the underground river, their light reflecting the joyful expressions of the women. The flowing ribbons of their clothes were tinged with the iridescent colors of the stalactites and stalagmites, and their silvery laughter echoed continuously within the cave.
After regaining his senses, Black Impermanence, with deep doubt between his brows, slowly walked to the center of the cave. The ripples on the water and the rustling of the water plants disturbed by his black boots did not attract the attention of the women.
Further in, he saw with his own eyes numerous caves nestled within, where dressing tables, everyday clothes, bedding, pots and pans were all neatly arranged and quietly placed. He had never imagined that women lived here.
If one were to seek seclusion, there would be a bustling village right above this cave. If it were for cultivation, however, no one could sense how much spiritual energy was gathered here, and the women's internal energy was mixed and disordered. Clearly, none of them had reached the Qi Refining stage; they were merely ordinary mortals.
Why live in this cave?
The Black Impermanence could not understand it.
The banquet was still going on, and Black Impermanence showed no signs of ending. Unable to find any information related to the hundred and eighty souls inside the cave, he returned to the entrance and decisively left the place.
Black Impermanence used his spiritual vision to scan the surroundings, but still could not find any trace of White Impermanence.
“That guy…” Although he was always doing whatever he wanted, I had never seen him act like this when he was doing his soul-stealing business. He didn’t inform me of anything.
However, Black Impermanence couldn't help but think of the previous battle. The fierce battle was still vivid in his mind. White Impermanence had half of his body cut off by that ghost general, his soul shattered and scattered. He had to stay in the underworld for several days to recover.
Since then, Bai Wuchang seems to have changed his personality, becoming easily angered and filled with resentment...
Black Impermanence sighed, deciding to ignore him for now. He then took out a string of white bells from his sleeve, and with a gentle flick of his wrist, the flower-like bells rippled out like the tide.
The next moment, everything went black before Shinju's eyes in the distance. When he opened them again, he found himself on another mountain. If he hadn't recognized the scene he had scanned with his divine sense, he might have panicked and thought he had been captured by someone and taken to some dangerous place.
Then he met the gaze of the Black Impermanence who had summoned him. Seeing that the Black Impermanence had looked him over calmly for a few moments, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but he didn't look away, since that would only arouse suspicion.
Fortunately, the rest of the ghost soldiers were soon summoned, each one taller than the last, and they all stood in front of him, blocking Black Impermanence's view.
Black Impermanence merely frowned slightly, feeling a strange sense of familiarity about the young man he had just seen. But then he thought that he must have only seen him in the Soul-Hooking Division, so he didn't pay any more attention to it and began to draw a magic array. He ordered the Yin Soldiers to take their positions, he was responsible for controlling the array, sixteen Yin Soldiers were responsible for entering the dream, and the rest were to guard and keep watch.
It was still early, but many villagers had already fallen asleep. Because of the fact that the little one had been arranged by the Black Impermanence to enter a dream, he closed his eyes and sank into a villager's dream in a few breaths.
The dream was quite peaceful. It would be very easy for Shinju to get information out of the dreamer, but it also meant that the dreamer probably didn't have any valuable information, because if the dreamer knew about the disappearance of a large number of villagers' souls, it would be difficult for him to remain so calm.
The dreamer's name is Liu Luo, a native of Yilian Village. He has two elderly parents, a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren. His wife is a refugee from another village and is very beautiful. She keeps appearing in Liu Luo's dreams, and he always sees her in her younger days.
The Liu family has been in the timber business for generations. Yilian Village is rich in moisture-resistant and sturdy timber, and most of the land where timber is planted is controlled by the Liu family. Therefore, the Liu family's house is among the most prestigious in the beautiful and fertile Yilian Village.
The other sons had all separated from the family, and Liu Luo, as the eldest son, lived with his parents in the old house. This information was obtained by Shinju through coaxing Liu Luo to answer, but at the same time, some strange things were uncontrollably poured directly into Shinju's secondary dantian.
At first, Zhen Su didn't know what these were, but after he analyzed them in his Purple Mansion, he realized that they were Liu Luo's thoughts, which could be called obsessions or infatuations.
“I want to go back to my old town to take a look… Husband, I just want to go back and see my mother’s grave. I’ll be back soon.”
"Don't leave."
"Husband...don't you believe me?"
"...Sigh, I'll take Liu An with me, otherwise I won't feel at ease."
"Yes, my love! You're the best to me of all!!"
As he thought about it, Liu's gaze followed the departing carriage carrying his wife and younger brother.
At this moment, his wife looked just like the face that often appeared in Liu Luo's dreams; she appeared to be in her early twenties, very young.
The scene shifts to Liu Luo's daughter, who inherited his wife's good looks, arguing heatedly with Liu Luo.
"I will not get married!! I will never get married in my life unless Brother Fu Zhuo comes back!! My daughter refuses!!"
"How many times have I told you? That boy has settled down in Yuya Valley, why are you still so stubborn?! Could it be that you two have secretly pledged your lives to each other?!"
"..."
"You... don't tell your father this is true!! How could I have such a shameless daughter! You unfilial daughter!!"
"Smack—"
"You hit me?!"
"Why can't I hit you?! I'm your father!! For a girl to be shameless is a grave offense. How can I, your father, hold my head high in the village after this?!"
"Mother... Waaah, Mother... I don't want Father, I want Mother..."
"……you!!"
The scene shifts again in my mind: the daughter, wearing a red veil, is carried into a floating sedan chair made of the best wood in the Liu family amidst a joyous celebration of gongs and drums. Then, she rides the water down the waterfall and plunges straight into a ten-zhang deep pool.
The white foam from the rushing waterfall churned and churned, completely submerging the red veil and scattered pieces of wood to the bottom of the pool.
Upon witnessing this, Shinju's heart, like those pieces of wood, couldn't help but sink.
However, Shinju didn't forget his purpose for tonight. His usually clear and melodious voice, like the sound of a chime, became a little deep and sharp, with a hint of persuasion, as he slowly asked Liu Luo in his dream, "Have any strange things happened in the village recently?"
"There's nothing strange about it, but cypress wood has been selling exceptionally well lately, and coffin shops have placed orders in large quantities, which is rather unusual."
"...Do you know if anyone has gone missing or died in the village recently?" Shinjuku asked again.
"There were two happy funerals, both involving the passing of elderly people; I don't know about the others."
The dreamer is generally unaware that they are not dreaming. Even if they subconsciously try to avoid or conceal certain things, it is not something that a person of low cultivation level can do.
Liu Luo's cultivation level was far lower than that of Zhen Su, barely reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.
Therefore, Shinjuku did not doubt whether his reply was true.
The dream has ended.
When Shinjuku opened his eyes, the light from the lanterns hanging outside the nearby houses slightly stung his eyes.
Shinju rubbed his eyes and realized that he was the only one left on the magic circle.
Of the sixteen Yin soldiers who entered the dream, only he stood outside the magic array. Black Impermanence kept an eye on True Monk while listening to the other Yin soldiers report the information they had gathered.
Soon, they had located the whereabouts of more than a hundred of them.
Shinjuku also got up and went over.
The magic circle on the ground rapidly converged, and red light condensed from the lines into dots, disappearing into the long, dark fingernails of the Black Impermanence. The dots faded to dark, forming circular patterns that blended seamlessly with the fingernails.
Finally, after combining the information brought by Shinjuku, everyone realized that it could not shake their previous conclusions, nor could they see any new direction.
It is said that Yilian Village and a neighboring village jointly held a triennial wine tasting banquet. The neighboring village is famous for its rice, while Yilian is famous for its spiritual spring water. They have been jointly operating a winery and distillery business for many years, and have sincerely invited many independent cultivators and minor sects to come and taste and buy wine. Therefore, both villages attach great importance to this event, and Yilian Village naturally sent seventy or eighty people to the neighboring village to prepare for the banquet.
After the wine tasting banquet ended, these people did not return to the village for a long time and were nowhere to be found.
Therefore, Black Impermanence planned to gather all the Yin soldiers, as well as Ox-Head, Horse-Face, and White Impermanence, and set off to explore the outer village.
Unfortunately, the token failed to summon the White Impermanence, and about ten of the ghost soldiers were missing, including A-Gui.
"This is bad. Could there be something sinister here?" someone remarked.
"Evil?" Some people didn't understand.
"Evil spirits and malevolent forces can create a Soul Domain at the level of evil souls, which can sever summoning or teleportation and greatly amplify the evil soul's own power."
"A malevolent spirit...that's troublesome! It means there's a malevolent ghost or a vengeful spirit here!!"
Upon hearing this, the faces of the Yin soldiers all turned grim, except for Zhen Su, whose golden eyes lit up, his joy almost overflowing.
He pondered that fierce ghosts were second only to ghost generals, while evil ghosts were slightly inferior to fierce ghosts. He was currently at a loss when facing ghost generals, but he should be able to control fierce ghosts or evil ghosts.
If we can subdue it, then we might have a fighting chance to subdue that arrogant and lecherous ghost general.
Shinju's fighting spirit soared, and he expanded his divine sense in an attempt to find the Domain of Evil Souls.
However, at this moment, Black Impermanence had already broken the pure black token in two, plunging the sharp end straight into the heart—
On a mountaintop not far away, another pure white token emitted an unusual light. Immediately afterwards, a tall, black figure and a petite figure standing beside him appeared out of thin air in front of the pure white token.
Just as Black Impermanence was teleporting him in reverse with the token, Shinju reached out and grabbed Black Impermanence by the collar, thus being teleported to White Impermanence's side as well.
Black Impermanence was filled with astonishment, and even forgot to remove the token still stuck in his heart.
The evil spirit immediately let out a deafening shriek, whether it was indignant at someone trespassing into its territory or excited that someone had walked right into its trap.
White Impermanence didn't even glance at Black Impermanence and True Monk. He brandished his soul-hooking lock with lightning speed, fiercely fighting against the man wielding a long sword and shrouded in a thick aura of killing intent.
The Soul-Hooking Lock, wielded by the White Impermanence, possessed an unparalleled mastery, with countless white arcs of light flashing and dancing across the sky. Such an extremely high-speed strike from the Soul-Hooking Lock could likely slice through iron like mud, reducing a person to shreds. Furthermore, the Soul-Hooking Lock, a magical artifact specifically designed to target wandering spirits, would inflict pain equivalent to having its bones and tendons ripped out, its soul torn apart, and its spirit shaken so violently that it could never regain its form, utterly annihilating its soul and condemning it to eternal damnation.
This is the strength of Bai Wuchang of the Tenth Division, far surpassing that of Bai Wuchang of other divisions. He is known as a genius and is highly anticipated by Shangguan.
The evil spirit seemed to hold back somewhat out of fear, which emboldened Bai Wuchang to attack even more aggressively, forcing the evil spirit to retreat steadily. However, Bai Wuchang was blinded by rage and failed to notice that the evil spirit was actually deliberately using "weaknesses" to lure him into a trap.
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Author's note: It's late, sorry [crying emoji] I only finished writing this morning.
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