Chapter 132 The Ghost Soldiers Thirteen
The moment the poison king picked it up, everyone in the shop turned their attention to it.
But the Poison King seemed completely unconcerned. He inserted a coin into the book, unlocked the restriction on accessing the dual cultivation technique, and then began to peruse it with his divine sense as if no one else was around.
The Ghost Market, situated between the underworld and the mortal realm, allows for the unrestricted use of divine sense.
Although True Su and King Zhen share the same five senses, this does not include divine consciousness.
So neither he nor Guiyin knew what the King of Zhen was looking at, but that didn't stop them from guessing until their faces turned red. Meanwhile, the King of Zhen remained upright and elegant, his refined demeanor as he flipped through the pages suggesting that he was reading some important memorial.
After a long pause, feeling uncomfortable under the gazes of those around him, Shinjuku couldn't help but interrupt telepathically, saying, "Your Majesty, if you really want to see it... why not buy it and then..."
The Poison King said, "This technique is not circulated; it can only be viewed in person."
Majutsu fell silent. You really want to see that much?!
Seemingly guessing that Shinju was secretly criticizing him, the King of Poison explained, "This is to become stronger."
Yes! Yes, we must improve their strength as soon as possible.
...But, is this really right?! Shinjuku's true form outside the demon market was practically jumping up and down, his neck completely flushed red.
An eerie silence permeated the entire shop. Everyone spoke in hushed tones when interacting with the shopkeeper, as if afraid of disturbing someone.
In fact, it only took about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. The Poison King quickly flipped through two books, and finally took the other two books on formations. After paying the bill, he left the shop.
Shinjuku and Oni-Gin remained silent until the King of Poison passed by a medicine shop.
Shinjuku spoke up: "Your Majesty, go in and take a look."
Without hesitation, the King of Poison turned around and went into the shop.
Faced with the dazzling array of crystals and the various mana-replenishing pills, yin-replenishing pills, qi-condensing pills, foundation-building pills, and so on, Masaki was surprised that Ghost Silver remained completely still. He couldn't help but call out, "Ghost Silver, are you asleep?"
The silver thumb ring on the King of Poison's hand suddenly spun as a sign of protest.
"Ghost Silver, you put in a lot of effort regarding the Ghost Stone. If there's anything you'd like to buy, just let me know," Shinju thought to himself, as long as the price was affordable.
Oni-Gin's reaction was lukewarm, which caught Shinjuku's attention.
"Don't you want the mana replenishment pill?" Shinju asked.
Ghost Silver is actually a demon, and Shinjuku does not yet know how it absorbs demonic energy to maintain its demonic power.
He spun the silver thumb ring and muttered to himself, "If you're really going to give me something, just give me money. The mana-replenishing pills here aren't very good, and they dare to sell low-grade ones for such high prices!"
Shinju had no choice but to leave him some money, but he still kept it for him. He entrusted the King of Zhen to set aside a compartment for it in his Qiankun Bag, which made the King of Zhen suddenly start stroking the silver thumb ring.
The man with the silver thumb ring felt a sudden tightness all over his body and instantly pretended to be dead, too afraid to move.
Zhen Su sensed the tension between the human and the demon, so he gestured for Zhen Wang to also set aside a compartment, where he placed the scarlet sachet that Zhen Wang had given him from his Qiankun bag, as well as the attendant's waist tag with Zhen Wang's inscription, into the compartment.
The King of Zhen's expression softened, but he still refused, saying only, "That was a gift from me, so of course it should be kept with you."
Guiyin felt the terrifying pressure on his body finally dissipate.
Finally, Shinjuku asked the King of Poison to help him buy some pure but marginal minerals. In this way, the cost was not too outrageous, but the amount he bought was extremely considerable.
He thought that the Purple Mansion Restriction, even with the right dosage to break through, might not be effective, but it was still a form of insurance. The enemy could attack at any time; it was always good to be prepared.
Shinju was not wrong. After being summoned back by the Demonic Sect, Phoenix Feather Demon Lord did not put the matter of capturing Shinju out of his mind.
He watched the battle between the righteous and demonic factions below. The righteous faction had the upper hand and was practically beating the demonic faction's brains out. Feng Ling's arrogant face showed anger. "Do you think we demonic factions are easy targets? Your constant actions are really annoying."
The strange Taoist priest, standing bowing to one side, said with righteous indignation, "This time, it's Duan Wenyang and Song Wei working together to block the disciples of the three major sects of the demonic path for many days..."
Clearly, this was aimed at him. Phoenix Feather Demon Lord scoffed, "Do you really think I wouldn't dare to fight the righteous path for the sake of Suspicious Lotus? Heh, brainless idiot."
"Let your men fight freely," he ordered, his eyes sharp.
The strange Taoist paused, but finally couldn't help but voice his concerns, "If this happens, it will be difficult to explain to True Monarch Yilian..." The strange Taoist knew all too well the Demon Lord's obsession with Yilian, but Yilian was on the righteous side, and his actions had been hampered in many ways before.
Unexpectedly, Feng Ling looked up and laughed, "What's there to be afraid of? With Ji Qing in my hands, how could Yi Lian turn against me?"
"I, the Demon Lord, am merely cleaning up his annoying dogs; he should be thanking me." That wicked seed is probably already fed up with those guys who dream about him every day, indulging in their dramatic struggles for true love.
That's ridiculous.
The Phoenix Feather Demon Lord grinned wickedly, stepped onto the railing, and was about to jump down to the fiercely contested arena when he suddenly remembered something. He turned to the strange Taoist and instructed, "Oh, right, go to the underworld for me..."
.
The Underworld, the Department of Soul Reapers.
The True Monk, summoned by the Yin Soldier Talisman, happened to run into A-Gui.
Shinju returned the money for the veil, but Agui waved his hand, saying, "It's just an old thing, you don't need it anymore."
Even so, Masaya didn't want to owe anyone a favor, and when Agui saw his insistence, she asked him to look after her. It was only then that she realized she hadn't conscripted men, but rather latched onto a powerful figure.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the office, they found that he and Agui had been assigned different tasks. But the strangest thing was that this time they were not going to Yilian Village, but to other ordinary soul-collecting tasks.
"Why not go to Yilian?" Zhen Su asked.
The officials did not answer.
Agui scratched his droopy ear. "Actually, it was strange that we were assigned to Yilian in a row before. Only those big cases are handled by fixed teams of Black and White Impermanence and Ox-Head and Horse-Face. Ghost soldiers like us are usually assigned randomly."
Therefore, his previous missions were probably deliberately arranged by someone behind the scenes.
So why has it been restored now?
Masaki couldn't help but feel anxious. The case of the missing soul in Yilian Village was about to reach its final stage. All the clues had pointed to a certain answer, and all that was left was to lure out the mastermind behind it all.
Who would have thought that at the very last moment, he would be assigned to another task?
Shinju wanted to summon the King of Hell, but the King of Hell had gone to his inauguration ceremony. People like the Black and White Impermanence, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the Judge, and even the City God had all gone to the Yama Palace. So he couldn't disturb the King of Hell's good deed.
"Alright, I'll go then." He only dispatched three Yin soldiers for this mission, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Zhen Su walked towards the black coffin, the Yin soldier talisman lit up, and the teleportation array was about to be activated.
Just then, a hand grabbed Shinju's upper arm and pulled him away from the teleportation array of the coffin.
When Shinju turned around, he saw that it was King Zhen, who was wearing a crown with black beads hanging down his head and a black robe that trailed on the ground, with a tense and stern expression.
"Your Majesty?" Shinju called out habitually, then realized his mistake and corrected himself, "Lord Yama."
Before the King of Poison could reply, a large group of people came chasing after him.
Shinju looked closely and discovered that all the high-ranking officials of the Soul-Snatching Division who had attended the ceremony were there. Among them, the Black and White Impermanence stood at the front, all looking at their newly appointed King of Hell with shock, who had suddenly "escaped" from the ceremony to "catch" Shinju.
The King of Poison withdrew his hand, leaned close to the True Monk's ear, and asked, "What happened?"
Shinju's golden eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting how the King of Poison knew; he had not chanted any incantations to summon the other party.
The King of Poison transmitted his voice, saying, "The dual cultivation has only just ended, and I can sense Qing'er's emotions even from afar."
Shinju was startled by the King of Zhen's recklessness, his pupils dilated in shock, and he hurriedly changed the subject, truthfully telling the King of Zhen that he had been reassigned to another mission.
Upon hearing this, the King of Poison glanced discreetly at the City God standing behind him.
The King of Poison accepted the Yin Soldier Talisman from Zhen Su, changed the destination, and ordered Ox-Headed Ghost to accompany Zhen Su to Yi Lian Village to thoroughly investigate the case of the missing soul and to bring Lou Lan to justice.
This sounds somewhat contrary to the Heavenly Gang. After all, Zhen Su is just a ghost soldier. For Yama to openly order Ox-Head and Horse-Face to obey Zhen Su's commands, this Yama King's heart is truly outrageously biased.
"Yes, sir!!"
Seeing that Ox-Head and Horse-Face had agreed, the Black and White Impermanence's expressions became even more indescribable. Their gazes darted between Yama and Shinju, unable to understand why the position of Yama, which had been vacant for decades, had suddenly been occupied, and why this strangely appearing superior was inexplicably so close to Shinju. An unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped the two of them.
"I won't go. Summon me if you need anything, my lord." After transmitting his voice, the King of Poison raised his hand and beckoned everyone to follow him back to the Yama Palace to continue the ceremony. Although he apologized, his tone was clearly unrepentant. His arrogant and domineering manner left a deep impression on the officials of the underworld.
Although Shinju was not used to having his authority abused to favor him, in the end, the King of Zhen's actions did indeed solve his immediate problem. He could not possibly embarrass the King of Zhen, so he eventually complied with the King of Zhen's arrangement and stepped into the teleportation coffin bound for Yilian Village.
Upon arriving at the village, Zhen Su never imagined that Yilian Village would have fallen into such a state.
Yilian Village is mostly low-lying and prone to flooding. Normal travel relied on bamboo rafts or small wooden boats. What was once a unique and beautiful landscape has now become—
Wherever there was water, it became a world of ice and snow. Women drawing water from the well had their intestines pierced by icicles formed from the frozen water, leaving them hanging high above; boatmen rowing with bamboo poles were frozen into huge blocks of ice by water seeping from the gaps in their bamboo rafts, their expressions frozen in a state of near-fear; a large family at the dinner table had their throats pierced by icy sap from the vegetables in their bowls or chopsticks; if this was the case for those upstream, the situation was even more unbearable for those downstream.
The waterfall, frozen solid, had its white waves, which crashed against the rocks, frozen in time, like ice flowers in jade. The waterfall itself seemed to extend numerous icicles, twisting and turning as it attacked everything it could reach.
"What exactly is this...?"
Shinjuku and Ox-Head and Horse-Face were both stunned.
The entire Yilian Village was filled with a chill, but above that, there was an even thicker, more impenetrable aura of death.
"Was it done by Ghost Owl?" Horse-Face murmured to himself.
Shinjuku didn't say anything, but went straight up and cut the ice in an attempt to save the people. Unfortunately, as expected, those people had already stopped breathing, and he only managed to "save" a corpse.
As he witnessed more and more villagers being brutally murdered, Masakatsu became increasingly silent, his eyes like the sandstorm-swept desert, where something was brewing beneath the turbulent surface. The three of them, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, were also in a similar state, tirelessly searching the village, digging and laying down everyone they encountered from the ice, their expressions frighteningly grave.
After saving another girl, a faint "thank you" suddenly came from the side.
Shinjuku and Ox-Head and Horse-Face immediately looked in the direction of the sound.
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