Chapter 134 Gathering of Ghost Soldiers
As soon as they approached the cave, Shinju sensed the presence of human presence.
However, after expanding his divine sense, he could not detect any trace of living people, not even the Insect Puppet Cave Woman.
As Zhen Su cautiously stepped into the cave, concealing all his presence, he saw a large amount of spiritual energy permeating the underground river within. As he ventured deeper into the cave, the spiritual energy became even more concentrated, so concentrated that everything within his divine sense was a bluish-green expanse.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Water condenses and drips from the inverted stone pillars hanging from the top of the cave.
"Waaaaah."
"Ha, that's not enough?"
"Brother Fu Zhuo, you're all I have left. You promised to marry me, so please don't go back on your word!"
"Marry me, marry me, marry me. If I don't marry you, who else can I marry? Once I've recovered from my injuries, I'll get rid of that madwoman, the Ghost Mother... On our wedding night, I won't be so gentle with you as I am now. Hurry up."
Then came the sound of splashing water, the surging of the underground river. Shinjuku and Oni-Gin, hiding in the shadows, were suddenly caught in a dilemma: to leave or not to leave.
However, Shinjuku, having been corrupted by the King of Venom, remained calm and composed even in the face of such matters. Oni-Gin, on the other hand, was not so composed. Despite watching several times, he still couldn't get used to it, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he secretly peeked at the scene several times, thinking he was being discreet.
"Ah, Brother Fu, Fu Zhuo, are you really going to kill the Venerable... Ghost Mother?"
"What are you pretending for? You're the one who stole her heart and betrayed her, Liu Dieyan. What, you're having second thoughts now?"
"How could that be! Brother Fu Zhu can do whatever he wants."
"Is that so?" The man chuckled maliciously.
While listening intently to everything around him, Shinju moved among the stone pillars behind him. He hadn't expected such an unexpected gain; he overheard information about Lou Lan. A quick glance revealed that although the man and woman in the pool were completely naked, there were clothes on the stone bench beside them.
Among them were the clothes of the female cultivators under Lou Lan's command.
The female cultivator looked somewhat familiar; Zhen Su vaguely remembered her, feeling as if he had seen her somewhere before. However, since she was one of Lou Lan's subordinates, it wasn't surprising; he had most likely seen her during the battle between the Poison King and Lou Lan.
Besides this important clue, Masakatsu also discovered a truly unexpected surprise.
He saw a bundle placed in a basket, floating on the rise and fall of the spiritual water.
Shinjuku's breathing suddenly quickened, prompting Oni-Gin to secretly ask him what was happening. Shinjuku pointed in that direction, and upon closer inspection, Oni-Gin nearly flew away as well after realizing what it was.
Just as they were about to take advantage of the two men's inattention to reach the basket, a sudden change occurred!
The man called Fu Zhuo suddenly grabbed Liu Dieyan by the neck—
“Brother Fu… Brother, why…” Liu Dieyan’s face was full of disbelief, her pupils dilated with despair.
"The healing power of this spiritual spring water is still not fast enough. Since you were able to betray the Ghost Mother, you might also betray me. Do you think I would allow someone like you to share my fate?"
"Besides, you said I could do anything, so let me make you nourishment for my demonic soul." Fu Zhuo's palm instantly burst out with black energy, and Liu Dieyan's entire body was covered with densely etched orchid patterns.
"No, no!!"
A shrill scream abruptly stopped, but Fu Zhuo did not feel the filling of his soul. He opened his eyes in surprise and saw that the person in his hand had been rescued by a tall man with beast ears and a beast tail.
The man slowly turned his captivatingly handsome face, almost mesmerizing Fu Zhuo.
"Who are you? How did you break in?" Fu Zhuo finally found his voice after a long while and asked accusingly.
Shinjuku didn't waste any words with him, and simply asked, "Why did you kill her?"
"Mind your own business!" Fu Zhuo had originally wanted to get information out of the other party. If he was an innocent bystander, he would be kind enough to let him go, considering how handsome he was. However, given Masaki's forceful intervention, it was clear that things wouldn't end there.
Fu Zhuo was so enraged that he sucked all the clothes on the side into his hands, put them on one by one, and then quickly approached Zhen Su and struck out with a palm of resentment.
Shinju didn't expect his opponent to be a martial arts fighter. He calmly countered with a single palm strike, and Fu Zhuo was so badly beaten that he coughed up blood. As he retreated, he smashed two stone pillars and rolled around in the water several times before finally stopping.
He stared at Shinjuku with a horrified expression, his chest heaving, "How can he be so strong—"
Fu Zhuo glared fiercely at Zhen Su, his teeth gradually elongating and turning into a set of ferocious, saw-like fangs.
But he didn't open his mouth. Instead, he held a teleportation talisman between his fingertips, waved it, and disappeared in an instant.
Masaki didn't chase after her, and quickly returned to Liu Dieyan's side. Guiyin had already covered her with clothes, but it was clear from her exposed hands and feet that the markings on her body showed no signs of disappearing.
The person was also very weak.
Her half-open eyes were filled with tears.
A hint of shock flashed across Shinjuku's golden eyes. He suddenly remembered where he had seen her before.
"You are Liu Luo's daughter." Shinju said it not with doubt, but with certainty.
In Liu Luo's dream, Zhen Su clearly remembered that the girl in front of him was wearing a red veil, sitting in a water sedan chair, and then plunged down into the bottom of the waterfall.
Hearing her family members' names for the first time in a long time, Liu Dieyan suddenly smiled and said, "Yes."
Her blinked tears flowed into the river, her face a mixture of hatred, relief, and irony, a complex array of emotions that distorted her features. "He died, and I didn't even feel sad for him. Perhaps this is the fate I deserve."
Although she didn't name names, Shinju inexplicably knew that she was referring to Liu Luo.
Liu Luo did not escape this massacre in the frozen land and was taken back by Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
Liu Dieyan laboriously raised her hand, pointed to the basket that was still floating not far away, and said weakly, "Please help return the young master to the Venerable Master, Venerable Master Lou Lan."
Having said that, her hand completely lost its strength, and before Shinju could even support her, her body had already turned into fireflies and starlight, disappearing into the cave.
Guiyin immediately screamed, "Aaaaaah! So close!! The demonic energy was almost completely dispelled!!"
Shinju knew that from the moment before, Oni-gold had transformed into a silver sword flower, stuck in Liu Dieyan's etched pattern, desperately trying to save her.
Knowing that he had used it in a critical moment and could no longer hide it, Ghost Silver honestly told Shinju that it was a method for absorbing demonic energy.
Sword flowers parasitize flower-shaped tattoos, stealing the demonic energy nutrients within. The only drawback is that they take effect relatively slowly, but that's how they absorb the demonic energy from Shinjuku's body.
"..." No wonder Guiyin looked down on the Demon-Replenishing Pill; he was secretly stealing his demonic energy. No wonder he was almost down to the second level. He just didn't know when Guiyin did it; he hadn't even noticed. It was completely undetectable.
Guiyin dared not say that he actually took advantage of the two being at their most vulnerable during their "intense battle" on the bed to secretly transfer demonic energy. He didn't dare to transfer the demonic energy to Zhenwang, but only to Shinjuku.
Anyway, he owes it!
Shinju didn't hold it against it; the disappearance of the demonic energy was a good thing for him. And since the ghost silver hadn't saved anyone, he was also partly responsible. Shinju lowered his eyes, staring blankly at the spot where Liu Dieyan had disappeared for a while before taking the bundle out of the basket.
The pale yellow bundle remained completely still, without the slightest ripple.
"Dead?" Masakatsu asked, puzzled.
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Author's note: Yay, I've finished this week's work. There shouldn't be any rankings next week. If not, I'll take a couple of days off. [Lemon emoji]
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