Chapter 51: Shedding the Old and Emerging Anew Part 1

The service station staff had been scared off, so the group had no choice but to fend for themselves. Wang Cheng’an pulled out the one hundred yuan Wang Ya had given him from his pocket, placed it on the cashier counter, and happily dashed toward the shelves stocked with snacks. Wang Ya saw Zhang Qingshui, Old Tang, and Huang Qi huddled by the counter’s phone, calling to report that they were safe and arranging for someone to pick them up. She turned and headed to the restroom. She had no one to report her safety to, no one to ask for help. The only family she could rely on was Grandma, and the only close relative was Second Uncle—but for the safety of Second Uncle’s family, she couldn’t contact him anymore.

Wang Ya entered the restroom, twisted open the faucet, and first splashed some water on her face. As she looked up, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and immediately froze. She stared blankly at the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Seal on her forehead between her brows, about the size of a thumbnail, with talisman patterns flowing with power. She recalled how her dad had shouted by the underground dark river that there was a flower on her face, and how Old Tang and the others had looked at her with horrified and astonished expressions. She realized then that the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Seal on her forehead had already appeared by that time. Was this the mark of her obtaining the power of the Yellow Springs Other Shore Demon Flower? Or something else? Wang Ya also remembered seeing a faint Other Shore Flower Mark on the forehead of the Azure Scale Monster in the mausoleum. The difference was that its flower was dim, while the one on her forehead was vibrant and dazzling. She clearly remembered that upon seeing the Other Shore Flower Mark on the Azure Scale Monster’s forehead, she knew it couldn’t be eaten. The Azure Scale Monster had accused her of killing its subordinates and breaking the agreement, declaring she deserved to die. That mausoleum and the Myriad Coffins Array were detailed in the Dragon-Seeking Formation-Breaking Art: Nine Chapters passed down by her Grandma.

She wasn’t skilled in divination and found studying arrays extremely difficult. Her Grandma had noticed she truly lacked talent for arrays and settled for having her memorize the Dragon-Seeking Formation-Breaking Art until she could recite it backward and forward. The preface of the Dragon-Seeking Formation-Breaking Art stated: The Hidden Dragon conceals nine abysses, each abyss ruled by a king; Await the millennial flowering, to upheave mountains and rivers, heavens and earth; First Abyss of Hidden Dragon, Azure Dragon suppresses Yellow Springs…

They had been dragged into the mausoleum from the Yellow Springs by the Leaf Demon of the Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower. The Azure Scale Monster they encountered there, with two horny fleshy tumors on its head and a scaled tail from its rear, must have been the “Azure Dragon suppresses Yellow Springs” from the Dragon-Seeking Formation-Breaking Art. The first formula of the Dragon-Seeking Formation-Breaking Art was precisely the Array-Breaking Formula for the Myriad Coffins Array, matching exactly what she had seen—even the phrase “Ink Jade Mysterious Coffin Refining Corpse Pill” aligned. That pigeon-egg-sized item emitting faint golden light, refined by the demonic power she released from her body, was undoubtedly the Corpse Dan.

Wang Ya had no doubt that mausoleum, even if not built by the Feng Family, was deeply connected to them. And wasn’t she herself inextricably linked to the Feng Family? The Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Demon, the Yin Spirit Scroll, the First Abyss of Hidden Dragon she had destroyed, the Corpse Dan refined by the demonic power released from her body… and that Yellow Springs Other Shore Flower Leaf Demon. Wang Ya now firmly believed the Leaf Demon had deliberately dragged them from the Yellow Springs into that mausoleum! It had yanked them in, put on a fierce show as if to kill her and trap them all to death, forcing them to activate the mausoleum’s Restrictive Seal against the Leaf Demon. Once the Restrictive Seal activated, the things buried in the mausoleum would awaken, but the Leaf Demon had slipped away cleanly, not leaving even a single root tendril!

She had gained quite a few benefits: first, she now knew Grandma’s whereabouts; she possessed a body full of demonic power and had consumed a supremely nourishing Corpse Dan. But she had also gnawed on a mouthful of corpses, eaten crocodile meat roasted in a coffin pretending to hold a corpse, and now sported an extra flower on her forehead.

If Ye Zi stood before her now, Wang Ya had no doubt she would grab a whip and lash her just as Ye Zi had done to her— that root cause of all this trouble!

Wang Ya looked at herself in the mirror and could only sum it up in four words: demonic to the core!

She admitted she came from the countryside, her temperament still carrying the simple purity of rural folk, not as fashionable and fresh as Huang Qi or Zhang Qingshui. But she had been a pretty girl with delicate features, a good figure, and a lively charm, right?

Now, looking at herself in the mirror—if she didn’t know the person reflected was herself, Wang Ya would have whipped out the Ghost Collecting Bell and ancient bronze coin to capture the demon! The woman in the mirror had exquisitely beautiful features without a single flaw, the epitome of a stunning beauty, brimming with vitality. Yet an aura of demonic allure seeped from her very bones, even her refined and proper countenance steeped in seductive charm. Even standing still, she exuded a bewitching, seductive allure. Even knowing it was herself, Wang Ya truly wanted to point and declare: This woman is a demon, not human!