Chapter 44
Lured by such an irresistible aroma, the Corpse-Eating Beast could not await Wei Jie’s command. It howled impatiently, wrenching free from the leash to reveal its ferocious true form, pouncing straight towards the attendant Zhuer beside Prince Can.
This attendant Zhuer was the daughter of the renegade Wei Di from the Wei Family, so she naturally knew the beast’s formidability.
To protect herself, the panicked Zhuer blew the whistle concealed in her mouth, activating all the worms she had planted at the banquet while also flinging countless poison-tipped darts.
These darts could instantly inflict lethal toxins upon breaking the skin, and when combined with the puppet worms, the venom would spread through the bloodstream, amplifying the worms’ domineering power!
Although a few of those present had only recently been inflicted, being struck by the darts would render them no different from those long-inflicted.
For those already poisoned, the barrage of darts Zhuer flung was akin to commanding their demise.
Fortunately, the Wei Family members including Wei Jie were clad in protective silver armor, rendering those poisoned darts useless.
However, this whistle blast had awakened the dormant swarm of worms. The disciples of the Four Great Sects seemed possessed, collectively charging the Corpse-Eating Beast in a bid to protect their worm master.
Among them, several deeply cultivated experts were even struck by the darts. The venom stimulated an explosive surge of their dantian’s qi, shredding their very robes into flying strips of cloth.
Although the Wei Family’s silver-armored soldiers were quick to subdue major cultivators like Qin He and the Heavenly Heart Sect’s elders by clamping silver rings on them, preventing the worms from reaching their hearts and inducing a killing rampage, the poison had already provoked the worms into frenzied volatility beyond such simple suppression.
At this point, Prince Can could no longer deny his involvement, as this attendant had long been kept by his side. Moreover, these inflicted individuals had all consumed the wine she had served, undoubtedly laced with worm seeds during the toast.
Seeing some of his subordinate disciples losing control of the worms to the whistle’s influence, unable to withstand the Corpse-Eating Beast’s onslaught as they coughed up blood and perished one by one, the few elders from the Four Great Sects who had abstained from wine narrowly escaped this fate. Their eyes brimming with anguish, they gripped their swords, intent on seizing the treacherous prince.
However, Prince Can had already retreated under the protection of his formidable subordinates when the situation became uncontrollable, his whereabouts unknown.
The puppet worm cultivator Zhuer had also intended to flee alongside Prince Can.
Unfortunately, the Corpse-Eating Beast suddenly turned invisible, catching Zhuer off guard as it tore off half her arm in a blood-spraying ambush. She was then pinned to the ground by the Wei Family’s silver-armored troops, forced to surrender.
Zhuer was in too much agonizing pain to speak, watching helplessly as her arm gradually disappeared into the beast’s invisible maw, devouring it with relish. She could only wail in despair, “Father! Your Highness, save me…”
But her father and the prince had long since vanished without a trace. As Zhuer let out another anguished scream, it seemed something had bitten into one of her feet…
The Wei Family Patriarch Wei Jingfeng remained behind to handle the aftermath, for those frenzied experts from the Four Great Sects had erupted into unrestrained killing rampages, drenching the area in a bloody storm. Left unchecked, they would undoubtedly massacre any nearby villages.
Meanwhile, Wei Jie led a contingent of Wei Family soldiers in pursuit of the treacherous prince. However, midway they encountered the discarded Tang Youshu, so they brought him along to continue the chase.
But as they closed in on Luoyi City ahead, Prince Can and his entourage had vanished without a trace.
When Wei Jie’s group entered the city, they found it eerily silent like a ghost town.
Soon, Wei Jie also detected the city’s unsettling inversions, deducing that this could not be the true Luoyi City.
Yet as they prepared to depart, they encountered illusory doppelgangers identical to themselves.
Naturally, they immediately engaged the illusions in heated battle, though each pair’s circumstances differed slightly.
The fights involving Wei Jie and the Wei Family guards were exceptionally fierce, while the bout between Tang Youshu and his illusory self was a complete chicken fight from start to finish – the real and fake versions flailing at each other with bamboo poles, eventually resorting to whacking each other’s buttocks in a comical exchange.
Though Tang wore a helmet, the illusory blows still left his head ringing. Fortunately, Wei Jie was the first to notice their spiritual energy seemed to be draining, ordering everyone to cease fighting the “illusions” immediately.
However, just as they prepared to exit the city, they found the gates sealed while hearing voices from within.
Following the sounds, they unexpectedly witnessed an utterly bizarre scene at the entrance of the Wealth God Temple – the frigid, aloof Young Master Qin Lingxiao was intimately embracing and kissing their own Talisman Sect’s petite mentor!
Upon hearing this account, Xiao Xiao grasped the key detail. In a low voice, she asked Tang Youshu, “So you never had a chance to show my master the letter I wrote?”
Tang Youshu nodded.
This time, Xiao Xiao truly breathed a sigh of relief. If so, then the teetering master-disciple bond could still be salvaged.
After all, she had written those words under the assumption that she and Wei Jie would never reunite, believing their inevitable parting should be accompanied by harsh sentiments befitting his usually vexing conduct.
However, since Wei Jie had not read the letter, why had he been sulking with such a sour face, as if she owed him a vast fortune?
As Tang continued his account eagerly, hoping his grand-master would explain her relationship with the Young Master Qin, he was suddenly pulled aside by Qin Lingxiao for questioning…
Now understanding that Wei Jie had yet to read her harsh farewell letter, the Talisman Sect Master regained her confidence.
Xiao Xiao cleared her throat and strolled over to her beloved disciple leaning against a pillar, bumping his arm with her shoulder. “Enough with the posturing. Isn’t it tiring to keep scowling like that?”
Wei Jie looked down at his much shorter master and asked flatly, “Aren’t you the one who didn’t want to be with me? Why are you talking to me again?”
Ah, this… Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes. “I only said I didn’t want to be bound together, which was the absolute truth! After all, who wants to be literally tied to someone when relieving themselves?”
As she spoke, Xiao Xiao made an effort to widen her large eyes, appearing more self-righteous.
Yet Wei Jie remained unmoved, coldly asking, “But you did want to be with him, even agreeing to return to Soaring Cloud Pavilion with him? Or did you regret not marrying him earlier to become the esteemed Young Madame?”
The “him” Wei Jie referred to was clearly Qin Lingxiao, who was questioning Tang Youshu nearby with an ashen expression, grabbing his collar as if inquiring about his father Qin He’s condition.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao’s nose wrinkled in displeasure. “Enough of that already! Being stuck with him for those few days nearly starved Ling’er and me to death! With his icy demeanor, who would want to be with him? Stop dragging me into this!”
Her heartfelt aversion clearly pleased her frosty disciple, who finally revealed a hint of fang as he smiled down at his petite master, bending slightly to bring his face close as he asked in a deep voice, “What’s wrong? He didn’t feed you?”
At that moment, Yu Ling’er rushed over, frantically waving her sword as she shouted, “Stop arguing! Hurry! We really can’t hold on much longer…”
Seeing their injured companions, the longtime adversaries Wei Jie and Qin Lingxiao exchanged silent glances.
The two men finally crouched down, begrudgingly grasping each other’s hands in mutual disdain.
The petite Cui Xiao Xiao stepped onto their joined hands, placing her own on their shoulders before softly counting, “One, two, three – launch!”
Channeling their spiritual energy, the four arms powerfully propelled Xiao Xiao skyward, hurtling her towards the “sun”!
Even before launching, Xiao Xiao had gripped the “Defying the Heavens” sword, extending it like an arrow to pierce that illusory sun.
The men’s immense strength launched her remarkably high! However, midway through her ascent, Xiao Xiao clearly felt a resisting force, as if lead weights were shackling her feet, attempting to drag her back down.
Evidently, the formation was still stubbornly resisting, striving to pull Xiao Xiao back.
At that moment, Xiao Xiao closed her eyes and channeled her spiritual energy, achieving unity with the sword to propel the “Defying the Heavens” onward towards the “sun.”
These past few days of needing to climb trees for fruit had allowed Xiao Xiao to masterfully apply the principles of uniting with her sword.
Now, with the surge of her spiritual force, the “Defying the Heavens” seemed like a powerful hand dragging Xiao Xiao forward relentlessly.
Wherever the icy sword’s brilliance touched, it seemed to cleave through the viscous, nebulous “sunlight.”
How could a mere false sun withstand the chilling radiance of this heaven-punishing sword?
As the resistance waned, the blade swiftly carried Xiao Xiao onward before viciously striking that ominously crimson “sunset”!
An ear-splitting shattering sound rang out as the “sun” slowly cracked like a mirror’s surface, unleashing an agonized, demonic wail from the fissures.
Xiao Xiao clearly witnessed a stunned face emerging between those mirror-like cracks…
Though it flashed by in an instant, Xiao Xiao immediately recognized that person…
Then, a scorching wave erupted from the fissures, causing the entire mirror city to crumble bit by bit into dust. Those ferocious urban ghosts and illusory selves melted away like hot wax, dissolving into the cracked ground…
Amid the swirling debris, the backlash from shattering the formation slammed Xiao Xiao back towards the earth.
At that moment, the two towering men on the rooftop sprang up, reaching out to catch her.
Unfortunately, Qin Lingxiao’s movements were slightly slower, unable to beat Wei Jie, who securely caught Xiao Xiao in his embrace before landing back on the ground.
Looking around, they were now clearly in the outskirts of Luoyi City.
The night breeze carried the chirping of insects and distant howling of jackals, enveloping them in refreshing, vivifying air…
This vibrant reality instilled a sense of being reborn after a brush with death.
It was now deep into the night, with twinkling stars and a half-moon veiled by wispy clouds. Luoyi City lay ahead in the distance, its gates tightly shut in a curfew-like state.
Yu Ling’er was the first to react, stumbling forward to grasp a handful of grass and stuff it into her mouth.
After chewing for a moment, the grassy tang spread across her tongue. With a face of utter delight, Yu Ling’er spat out the fibrous remains and exclaimed loudly, “This grass is edible! We’ve finally escaped that hellish place!”
However, the ordeal was not yet over.
Cui Xiao Xiao scanned their surroundings and quickly noticed ash markings on the ground, as if someone had used talisman papers to burn lines tracing the layout of a city’s streets.
These lines depicted an area no larger than a few acres!
In other words, they had essentially been trapped within this tiny space, going around in circles endlessly.
It was highly likely a temporary formation hastily erected by one of Prince Can’s subordinate experts to delay the pursuing Wei Jie and his men as they fled.
But if this was the city, where was the “sun”?
Xiao Xiao looked around and soon spotted a large, cracked bronze mirror hanging from a towering tree branch, with shattered fragments littering the roots below.
Evidently, the previous illusory city had been manifested by someone adjusting the angle of this bronze mirror to reflect and distort the image of the true Luoyi City.
Beside the mirror hung a lantern emanating an eerie red glow – the “sunset” light they had perceived within the city was likely just an illusion cast by this lantern’s reflection in the bronze mirror.
Wei Jie led two Wei Family guards to retrieve the mirror and lantern for examination.
However, after taking a whiff of the lantern oil, they immediately recoiled in disgust.
The oil was greasy and overwhelmingly foul-smelling.
As members of the Wei Family tasked with guarding the underworld, they could easily identify this as human tallow.
As the name suggests, human tallow was oil rendered from corpses, though this batch seemed mixed with other substances.
Upon closer inspection, Wei Jie immediately recognized remnants of saliva from the demonic beast(邪兽蜃-xieshoushen).
The Xieshou(illusory monster) beast excelled at conjuring illusions, and adding its saliva to the lantern oil would inadvertently induce hallucinations in anyone entering the formation when ignited.
