Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Ren Fengjue walked out of Yongqing Study.

The clear daylight struck his eyes, and for a moment, he found himself unable to adjust.

All of a sudden, a young eunuch came rushing over, shouting as he ran, “G-Ghosts!”

“The bodies in Qianqiu Garden… they’ve come out!”

Xia Ximo had guessed correctly.

Something had indeed happened in Qianqiu Garden.

Ren Fengjue immediately headed for the garden. Along the way, he ran into several palace maids fleeing in a panic.

By the time he arrived, he happened to see several Eastern Palace guards running away in utter disarray.

Only the captain of the guards remained, saber in hand, standing before several corpses.

Though he stood ramrod straight, it was obvious he was terrified. Even the hand gripping his saber was trembling slightly.

“No one is permitted to retreat! Follow me and slay these ghostly things!”

Seeing his men lose their nerve and flee, the guard captain could not help but shout in rebuke.

But faced with a situation like this, how many people could possibly stay calm?

No one listened to him at all.

Instead, the Yin Corpses were drawn by the sound of his voice and immediately lunged at him.

Ren Fengjue saw that the man had some real courage and could not help feeling a bit of admiration.

He quietly approached while holding his breath, clamped a hand over the man’s mouth and nose, and shook his head in warning.

Sure enough, the Yin Corpses instantly lost their target. After pausing for a moment, they really did leave.

Only after Ren Fengjue saw them move away did he lower his voice and repeat what Xia Ximo had explained: “These Yin Corpses have poor eyesight. They locate things by sound. Try not to make any noise. If necessary, cover your mouth and nose.”

The guard captain was clearly astonished to see Ren Fengjue.

The moment Lord Ren released him, he could not help asking, “Why is the Young Marquis here?”

However, as soon as the words left his mouth, the Yin Corpses that had just walked away immediately turned back and charged at them.

“Lend me your saber.”

Ren Fengjue’s gaze sharpened. He took the saber from the guard captain’s hand, rushed forward in a single swift step, and chopped off a Yin Corpse’s head with one strike.

But strangely, after the head hit the ground and rolled away, it rolled back on its own.

At the sight, Lord Ren did not hesitate. He sent it flying with a kick.

Yet the instant his body touched the head, the headless Yin Corpse abruptly collapsed to the ground for no reason, turning into a wisp of black mist that fled away.

Seeing the Young Marquis act with such ferocity, the guard captain’s eyes filled with reverence.

As expected of the “Living Yama,” he thought. He can even subdue ghosts!

At that moment, the other Yin Corpses seemed to be affected as well and began retreating one after another back into the garden.

Then a teasing voice suddenly rang out. “This Daoist Master’s first visit to the Eastern Palace, and I get to see something like this. How rare!”

The newcomer was none other than Yan Zhengchu. He immediately pulled a handful of paper cranes folded from yellow talismans out of his pocket and tossed them toward the swarm of corpses.

Then he began chanting an incantation, each word crisp and deliberate.

Under the effect of the talismans, the corpses immediately collapsed to the ground, transformed into several wisps of black mist, and rapidly retreated into Qianqiu Garden.

Yan Zhengchu was just about to give chase when Ren Fengjue stopped him. After returning the saber to the guard captain beside him, he ordered, “I’ll leave this place to you.”

Then he turned back and said solemnly, “Daoist Yan, come with me.”

–

Inside the secret chamber.

Xia Ximo raised her ten slender fingers. Her eyes flickered faintly, the mark between her brows revealed itself, and the corners of her eyes grew even redder.

She generally did not use the Bone Art lightly, because this technique was often accompanied by murderous intent.

Whenever the mark between her brows deepened, it was a sign of demonic corruption. When killing intent surged in her heart, even if she wanted to stop, she could not.

At that moment, her jade-like fingers looked delicate and graceful, but with every finger she extended, the “person” in the blood pool could feel both body and soul tightly bound by an invisible force.

There was no room to break free.

Once all five fingers had opened in succession, no matter how Murong Chen struggled, he could not exert the slightest bit of strength.

Even the “evil energy” attached to his soul was sealed off with no way out.
“What… what did you do to me?”

Even with the Blood Array empowering him, he was like a lamb waiting for slaughter.

The person before him looked down at him from above, her face lost in shadow. Yet in those eyes, Murong Chen faintly saw his own end.

Death.

Dying all over again.

“No!”

Murong Chen refused to accept it.

The Yin-Yang Fiend had been only one step away from completion!

All under heaven had been only one step from falling into his grasp!

And the person he cared about most had been only one step from being “reborn”!

Yet it was precisely that one step he had fallen short!

Fury consumed him. Baleful Qi surged from his eyes, mouth, and nose in a terrifying torrent, but it failed to harm the person suspended in midair in the slightest.

No matter how “vicious” a Vengeful Ghost in this world might be, how could it compare to even half of a Nine Abyss Soul Prisoner?

Xia Ximo looked down at him coldly. “I gave you your chance.”

Just as she was about to open her other hand, the man below suddenly let out a roar. At last, his soul broke free of his body.

But the Vengeful Ghost that had escaped its restraints had no intention of admitting defeat.

It transformed into a mass of black mist and lunged at Xia Ximo in midair. From the force of it, it clearly meant to drag her down with it.

The mist was as thick as ink that would not dissolve, and in an instant, it wrapped tightly around her entire body.

Seeing that she did not counterattack, Murong Chen thought he had succeeded.

For a moment, his savage, arrogant laughter rang out without end.

But he had only been triumphant for a brief instant before he felt a searing pain that was all too real tear through his soul.

A crimson figure blazed within the black mist, flickering in and out of sight like raging fire.

At first, Murong Chen felt as though he were being burned alive. Then his soul began to be ripped apart, inch by inch…

In a daze, it was as if he had been locked once more inside that pitch-black secret chamber, surrounded on all sides by a deathly silence.

Tormented by endless fear and despair, all he could do was claw at the stone door.

“Imperial Father, let me out! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”

And now, that feeling had returned…

Murong Chen screamed in agony.

The next second, a fiery-red figure pierced through the black mist and hovered in midair. That scorching red, like blazing flame, illuminated the entire secret chamber as if it were broad daylight.

The black mist collapsed in utter defeat and plunged straight into the blood pool. Very quickly, it merged with the Yin Soul below until they could no longer be told apart.

Xia Ximo had exhausted too much soul power. Seeing that she was about to fall into the pool as well, the Soul-Ferrying Lantern caught her and carried her to the bank.

Wuyou could not help nagging, “The soul power the Earth Lord gave you wasn’t meant to be used like this! What if it backlashes on you?”

Xia Ximo had yet to recover her breath. She collapsed weakly onto the ground, yet replied icily, “I felt like it.”

Fine, fine, fine.

There really was no reasoning with her.

Even if the King of Heaven himself came down, he would probably get snapped at too.

Wuyou was at a loss for words when footsteps suddenly sounded not far away.

Then Ren Fengjue and Yan Zhengchu appeared one after another at the entrance to the secret chamber.

Lord Ren caught sight of the figure on the ground at once. His expression changed sharply, and he hurried forward.

“Miss Xia?”

He reached out, intending to check on her condition.

But she grabbed his hand tightly before he could.

Ren Fengjue understood at once. With one hand clasping hers firmly, he supported her body with the other and smoothly gathered her into his arms.

Yan Zhengchu, who had followed close behind, swept a glance over the two of them and was just about to speak when his attention was immediately drawn to the blood pool beside them.

“So this is what the Blood Array used to refine the Yin-Yang Fiend looks like?!”

“The Yang Spirit is a Living Soul? Then what exactly is the monster that eats the Living Soul?”

“Besides that, am I missing something else?”

Daoist Yan muttered to himself as he frowned in deep thought.

Just then, a corpse silently floated up from the blood pool.