Chapter 17: “I’m hungry, you got anything to eat?”

Pang Da pressed his hands against Black Sky Tyrant’s shoulders, ducking behind him, his legs trembling uncontrollably. “V-Village Chief! What’s wrong with this ghost?!”

Corpse puppets originally had no eyes. They relied on the residual masterless souls within their flesh to form a bond with the grand array, driven by the formation to attack any living creature that entered it indiscriminately.

But now, it had actually grown a pair of eyes.

“What are you panicking for?!” Black Sky Tyrant’s face twitched. The hand clutching the yellow talisman was slick with cold sweat, yet his mouth still said, “We hold spirit talismans with the same origin as the beast blood! We won’t be targeted by the corpse puppet! What are you afraid of?!”

“R-Really?” Pang Da’s throat bobbed. He felt a sinister wind whistling at his back.

The corpse puppet stopped attacking Yan Zhao. It turned around and stared at them for a moment, then moved its feet, walking towards them.

Pang Da let out a strange scream. “Unreliable! It’s clearly coming for us!”

The corpse puppet’s steps seemed slow, but with a single stride, it was suddenly right in front of them.

Pang Da shrieked and tried to run, but Black Sky Tyrant was a step ahead, snatching his clothes and yanking him forward.

By the time Pang Da recovered his senses, a sharp pain had already split him in two.

Pang Da’s eyes bulged wide, his expression filled with terror as he looked down at his own body.

A deep wound, revealing bone, stretched from his left shoulder all the way to his right hip. His stomach was ripped open by the corpse puppet’s razor-sharp nails, his entrails spilling out with a wet, sloshing sound.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Black Sky Tyrant shoved him hard from behind. Losing his balance, Pang Da lurched forward uncontrollably.

With a muffled thud, the corpse puppet’s strike pierced straight through his chest and abdomen.

Impaled on the corpse puppet’s arm, Pang Da’s body convulsed a few times before his final breath left him.

The corpse puppet flicked its arm casually. His corpse flew back, smashing onto the ground and tumbling head over heels several times, finally landing face up. His face was covered in yellow mud, his body drenched in blood, his eyes wide with a ghastly, tragic death stare.

Black Sky Tyrant cursed under his breath. One moment he held the winning hand, and in the blink of an eye, the corpse puppet had suddenly gone berserk!

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Yan Zhao behind the corpse puppet.

By sheer coincidence, he met a pair of eyes flickering with a dark red light.

Behind her disheveled hair, Yan Zhao’s face was gaunt, her skin ghastly pale, as if she too were a demon crawling out from the underworld.

A thought sparked in Black Sky Tyrant’s mind. In a flash of lightning, he dimly understood.

It was her! This girl was up to something!

Somehow, she had found a way to control the corpse puppet!

The spirit talisman crumpled in his tightly clenched fist. Black Sky Tyrant frantically thought of countermeasures.

If he wanted to survive the corpse puppet, he absolutely had to kill Yan Zhao!

The corpse puppet discarded Pang Da and immediately locked its gaze onto Black Sky Tyrant.

Having made up his mind, Black Sky Tyrant pushed off the ground with both feet, executing a backflip to dodge the corpse puppet’s attack.

His seemingly old body moved with surprising speed. Upon landing, he shoved two fingers into his mouth, pinning his tongue down, and whistled.

The venomous snakes filling the courtyard had already retreated to its edges. Hearing the whistle now, they stirred to life again. Not daring to approach the corpse puppet, they surged en masse towards Yan Zhao and Feng Jin.

Feng Jin had just taken a direct blow from the corpse puppet’s claw. Her limbs were still numb, the numbing force not yet receded, making it difficult for her to rise.

The venomous snakes gathered, surrounding her. She grabbed scattered pebbles from the ground, snapping her fingers to flick them and repelling the snakes drawing near.

But there were too many venomous snakes in the courtyard. Pebbles were not like sword qi, which could be summoned at will. The stones near her hands were ultimately limited, and soon she was about to be drowned by the serpents.

Suddenly, a green vine as thick as an arm burst from the earth, shaking off the snakes surrounding Feng Jin, coiling around her, and tossing her into the air.

Feng Jin was slightly stunned. Turning her head, she saw a flash of blue light streak across the sky.

At the same time, Ah Ling’s voice drifted on the wind. “Boss!”

“Ah Ling?” Feng Jin was shocked. “How did you get here?!”

Bi Lan arrived riding her sword, hovering just outside the courtyard. She cast a telekinesis spell, catching Feng Jin.

Once Feng Jin landed and regrouped with Ah Ling, Bi Lan looked into the courtyard and was immediately shocked. “Junior Sister Yan? A corpse puppet? What in the world happened here?!”

The compass in her hand detected an extremely dense concentration of evil qi. Her magical artifact was nearly overwhelmed, vibrating violently with a loud clattering sound.

“It’s too much to explain in a few words.” Free from the grand array, Feng Jin’s suppressed dharma power rapidly recovered. “Quick, find a way to break the formation! You can’t use dharma power inside the array, and Miss Yan is still in there!”

She summoned the bow from Ah Ling’s back with a gesture, instructing: “You stay right here. Absolutely do not go near that courtyard!”

Before Ah Ling could even nod, Feng Jin rode her sword into the air, flying high and drawing her bowstring, searching for the array core.

From outside the courtyard wall, Bi Lan called out, “Junior Sister Yan!”

Inside the courtyard, Yan Zhao acted as if she hadn’t heard.

She stood with her back to Bi Lan, still clutching the fox tight against her chest. No matter how it struggled, she refused to let go.

One after another, venomous snakes shot towards her. But as soon as they came within a zhang of Yan Zhao, they all stopped in unison.

At first, only one or two snakes suddenly collapsed, rolling and struggling on the ground. Soon, all the venomous snakes lay prostrate and submissive, coiled around Yan Zhao’s feet.

The little fox struggled to lift its head, getting a look at Yan Zhao’s face.

Yan Zhao was expressionless.

Deep within those ink-black, secluded pupils, a faintly flickering firelight was eerily abnormal, making one’s heart tremble.

Abruptly, she stepped forward, walking towards Black Sky Tyrant.

The snakes covering the ground seemed to sense their monarch’s summons, wagging their tails one after another as they followed.

Black Sky Tyrant retreated again and again. When he was forced into a corner by the corpse puppet, his foot landed on a venomous snake. The snake whipped its tail and bit down on his ankle.

“Hiss!” Black Sky Tyrant grunted in pain, shaking his leg violently to dislodge the snake, yelling furiously, “Beast!”

But the venomous snakes at his feet were fearless, lunging to bite him one after another.

Black Sky Tyrant couldn’t dodge in time. Tangled up by the snakes, his movement slowed for an instant, and then he heard a slicing sound. His leg was severed cleanly at the knee, along with the snake clinging to it, cut in half.

His body toppled backward. He could still see his own calf standing alone amidst the pile of snakes.

Agony struck, and Black Sky Tyrant’s pupils contracted.

His old face twisted grotesquely, finally consumed by a terror he could no longer hide.

He collapsed with a thud. Blood still gushed from the severed stump of his leg. As he struggled backward, a long, trailing bloodstain dragged across the ground, looking exactly like the brush strokes he had made while painting the array earlier.

Yan Zhao held the little fox tighter, one hand covering its eyes.

At the same time, she raised her other hand high.

Black Sky Tyrant’s vision dimmed as a shadow fell over him.

The corpse puppet raised its right arm, its nails several inches long, like blade edges, reflecting a sinister, cold gleam in the moonlight.

Quite unexpectedly, he met Yan Zhao’s eyes.

Those dark, cold eyes held not a single trace of human warmth.

Black Sky Tyrant finally understood what kind of monster he had provoked.

His facial features twisted together, and he screamed in terror, “I was wrong! I was truly wrong! Spare me! Spare my life! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

That night, the screams coming from the abandoned courtyard at the edge of the village made every hair on the bodies of the Zhuangan Village villagers stand on end.

Outside the small courtyard, the expressions on Feng Jin and Bi Lan’s faces shifted from shock to numbness.

Ah Ling’s vantage point was too low to see the scene inside the courtyard, but hearing the chilling screams continuously, she was also trembling with fear.

Bi Lan’s hand holding the compass was shaking.

Feng Jin remained silent for a moment, then suddenly shifted the direction of her bow, aiming the sight at Yan Zhao.

Bi Lan reacted instantly, her form flashing to block Feng Jin’s path. “Don’t shoot!”

Feng Jin’s voice was deep. “You saw it too! She is absolutely no ordinary person!”

Not only could she control corpse puppets and command a courtyard full of venomous snakes, but her methods were also excessively cruel.

“I don’t know the whole story, but I believe in Junior Sister Yan!”

Bi Lan recalled the scene when she first met Yan Zhao. Treated that way by her own fellow sect members, Yan Zhao hadn’t fought back or harmed anyone. If she truly were a bloodthirsty killer, would scum like Luo Qi and Lin Chao still have survived?!

Feng Jin’s expression wavered.

Just then, the screams in the courtyard ceased. The tragic play had come to an end.

Feng Jin and Bi Lan turned back simultaneously.

The courtyard gate creaked open. The effectiveness of the formation waned as Yan Zhao turned and walked out.

Behind her, the corpse puppet and the swarm of snakes followed like shadows.

At the courtyard gate, Yan Zhao stopped and said to them, “Don’t follow me.”

The corpse puppet’s arms dropped to its sides. It stood woodenly, watching Yan Zhao step out of the gate.

After a moment, it turned back into the courtyard and actually lay down in its coffin. The scattered earth and stones filled back in on their own, and the black coffin sank with the loosened soil, returning to the depths beneath the ground.

The venomous snakes shook their heads, regaining their senses. They all looked in unison at Yan Zhao’s retreating back until she left the courtyard.

Entangling no more, they hissed, flicking their tongues, and scattered in all directions.

In mid-air, Feng Jin and Bi Lan looked at each other, speechless.

“Junior Sister Yan!”

Bi Lan jumped from the height, landing before Yan Zhao. “Are you hurt?”

Yan Zhao blinked, somewhat surprised.

But as always, Yan Zhao ignored her. Acting as if she hadn’t seen her, she walked straight past her.

Bi Lan sighed helplessly.

She had undoubtedly completely offended Junior Sister Yan.

Passing by Feng Jin and Ah Ling, Yan Zhao paused slightly.

Feng Jin was fully alert, moving half a step to shield Ah Ling. If Yan Zhao made any dangerous move, she would act immediately.

Yan Zhao sensed the hostility radiating from Feng Jin and held the fox tighter instinctively.

The two stared at each other, silently testing wills.

Feng Jin was so tense that cold sweat began to seep from her palms.

Given the power Yan Zhao had just displayed, she wasn’t sure if she could be her match right now.

After a moment, Yan Zhao pursed her lips.

Feng Jin secretly gathered her breath.

Then she saw Yan Zhao’s lips move slightly, speaking rather reluctantly.

“I’m hungry, you got anything to eat?”