Chapter 170

Chapter 170

When “Zeng Xiao” saw that her younger sister had already fallen victim to that man’s cruelty, resentment surged ceaselessly around her. She paid no mind to the fact that her soul was still attached to someone else’s body and rushed forward, ready to fight the Taoist to the death.

Ge Chuan’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest at the sight.

If anything went wrong, wouldn’t Young Marquis Ren chop his head off on the spot?

“Don’t go…”

He reached out to stop her, but “Zeng Xiao” merely swept her sleeve. A wave of resentment slammed into him, nearly making his vision go black.

Fortunately, the current “Zeng Xiao” was only a wisp of a soul. Otherwise, after taking that blow, Magistrate Ge would have had to find Yan Zhengchu later and ask him to properly drive out the evil energy.

Unable to stop her, Ge Chuan could only watch as Xia Ximo, possessed by Zeng Xiao’s ghost, charged straight toward the Taoist.

But why would the Taoist care about her every move?

His eyes remained fixed on the gu worm inside the box. With a casual flick of his hand, he sent out a Black Talisman, thinking that would be enough to hold her back.

Yet Xia Ximo only paused in place for a moment and lowered her eyes briefly.

A wisp of shadow sprang from her body and entered the Soul-Ferrying Lantern.

The next instant, when those eyes opened again, they were cold and clear.

She slowly raised her hand and tore the Black Talisman from her forehead.

Only then did the Taoist look startled. When his gaze shifted to her, a chill inexplicably crawled up his back.

The aura on this person… was very strange.

How could a living person carry such heavy yin energy?

What exactly was hidden beneath that body?

“Seen enough?”

The moment Xia Ximo spoke, the Taoist involuntarily took a step back.

He quickly realized what was wrong.

It was like… a cold current slipping across a river on a winter night. The water appeared still, yet it was quietly freezing into ice.

Right now, his body was like that river…

The Taoist was horrified. “You…”

Knowing he had encountered a formidable opponent, he did not dare be careless in the slightest.

Before his body could stiffen completely, he took a Black Talisman from his robe, bit open his middle finger, and used his blood to form a seal, protecting his nine orifices.

Then he drew his primordial spirit out of his body and swiftly concealed all trace of himself.

Xia Ximo frowned.

Wuyou could not help saying, “This Taoist really does have some skill. He knew to use this method to escape.”

Indeed, compared to that Taoist surnamed Yan, he was somewhat better.

Inside the circle, Ge Chuan watched with utter confusion, thinking to himself, Why does it look like the Young Marquise has the upper hand?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly noticed the Corpse Worms on the ground beginning to crawl toward Xia Ximo. He could not help blurting out, “Young Marquise, watch out for the worms!”

“Young Marquise?”

Wuyou was amused by the form of address and could not hold back a snort of laughter.

As for Xia Ximo, a strange look flickered between her brows, and her expression faltered slightly.

But it lasted only an instant. As she shifted her footing, she focused and gathered her strength. When the Red Lotus Seal flashed at the center of her brow, a surge of Ghost King Qi from the Netherworld burst forth from within her.

Before the swarm of worms could get close, they scattered in all directions like startled birds.

Seizing the moment, Xia Ximo glanced at Ge Chuan. “Call me that nonsense again, and watch your tongue.”

“…”

Ge Chuan quickly covered his mouth, his heart pounding wildly.

But seeing the Corpse Worms retreat like the tide, he could not help feeling amazed all over again.

Wuyou noticed that the box on the ground was gone and hurriedly said to Xia Ximo, “Mogu, the box holding the gu worm is gone.”

No sooner had the words fallen than Ge Chuan let out a startled cry.

When Xia Ximo turned back, she discovered that the town official surnamed Li was grinning viciously, already holding Ge Chuan hostage.

And the box containing the gu worm had fallen into his hands.

“He’s been possessed and controlled by that Taoist…”
“I know.”

Xia Ximo looked at the “Daoist” who had already used Primordial Spirit Possession to take over Li Cheng’s body and asked coldly, “You don’t want your body anymore?”

The “Daoist” replied, “It’s nothing but a stinking bag of flesh. So what if I don’t?”

“I can see that.” Xia Ximo gave a cold sneer. “Tired of being human, are you? Want to be a ghost instead?”

The “Daoist” continued to laugh in that sinister, chilling way. Then he brought the box to Ge Chuan’s mouth and pinched his jaw with one hand.

Inside the box, the two insects tore each other apart, and the victor lived.

The one that survived still had a shell glowing with an eerie greenish-blue light, but now it had gained a pair of blood-red eyes.

It poked its head out of the box and let out a strange hiss.

At the sound, the other Corpse Worms in the cave began rustling as well, as if in response.

For a moment, that hair-raising noise echoed throughout the entire cavern.

Seeing that the Mother Gu was about to crawl into Ge Chuan’s mouth, Xia Ximo hurriedly gathered soul power at her fingertips and was just about to perform the Bone-Fixing Technique when a Jade Sword came slicing through the air, flying straight toward the “Daoist.”

At the sight of it, the “Daoist” had no choice but to avoid its edge and release Ge Chuan.

“Martial Uncle, even now, are you still going to persist in your mistake?”

Yan Zhengchu arrived with the Jade Sword, Ren Fengjue following beside him.

The moment Lord Ren entered the cave, he immediately locked onto Xia Ximo’s position and quickly walked to her side.

By now, he could already tell from her expression and bearing whether the ghost possessing Xia Ximo had left.

So he naturally asked, “Are you all right?”

Xia Ximo turned her head and glanced at him. For some reason, that cry of “Young Marquise” rang in her mind again.

She withdrew her gaze and quietly widened the distance between them before giving a faint response.

“Mm.”

Seeing this, Ren Fengjue silently closed the distance again, taking a subtle step closer to her.

“That’s good.”

“…”

On the other side, with Yan Zhengchu’s call of “Martial Uncle,” the Daoist’s identity was now perfectly clear.

Ren Fengjue glanced at the Daoist, who was holding a talisman and had already drawn his soul out of his body, clearly somewhat puzzled.

If he was Yan Zhengchu’s martial uncle, how could he be so young?

“So this man is actually Master Tianji’s senior brother?”

Yan Zhengchu gave a soft sigh before explaining, “In his early years, Grandmaster accepted only two disciples. Martial Uncle Tianwen entered the sect one year before my master.”

“Then what about my Little Uncle?”

“He was the closed-door disciple Grandmaster accepted later.”

Ren Fengjue nodded, then looked toward “Daoist Tianwen,” who was possessing Li Cheng.

Unexpectedly, the other man was studying him as well. A cold gleam flickered in his eyes, and his ill intent was obvious.

He also asked, “Ren Yao is actually your Little Uncle? Then your surname is Ren too?”

Ren Fengjue met his gaze calmly. “That’s right.”

Tianwen suddenly burst into loud laughter. “I knew it. That brat Ren Yao was nowhere to be found alive, and his soul was nowhere to be found dead. So it turns out it was because of you.”

Those words made both Ren Fengjue’s and Yan Zhengchu’s expressions change abruptly.

Clearly, when it came to Ren Yao, the other man definitely knew something.

Ren Fengjue suppressed the surge of emotion in his chest and was just about to continue questioning him.

But Yan Zhengchu quietly tugged at his sleeve and said in a low voice, “My Martial Uncle’s mind is corrupt. You can’t put too much faith in what he says.”

As he spoke, he took a step forward, then raised his voice and said, “Master once said that after the battle in the Capital, Grandmaster expelled you from the sect.”

“That day, you swore a venomous oath that you would never again set foot on Mount Yunhe in this life.”

“I never expected that the person committing all these atrocities at the foot of the mountain today would turn out to be you!”