Chapter 360: Lost Soul

"The west end of the county, by Mo Chouhu." Gan Sanye Gan looked left and right. "Are we in the west of the county?"

There were only a few abandoned small thatched huts here, not far from the county center, and He Lingchuan had casually brought him here.

"Go, don't play any tricks." He Lingchuan said sternly. "Your eldest brother was right; this Sorceress is not a good thing, and you, a fool, will definitely suffer if you deal with her."

The two rode their horses westward.

The oblique wind and drizzle along the way were all the breath of early summer.

The official road ended, and Gan Sanye Gan guided him into a small path in the forest.

"Where is this going?"

Not long after, the front opened up, and there was a small stilted building on the hillside, hidden by bamboo forests.

Behind the building was a lake, which was probably the Mo Chouhu Gan Sanye Gan had mentioned.

Living in a hut by the lake, listening to the bamboo sea and rain waves, logically it was quite artistic, but in the dark and rainy night, the bamboo shadows were swaying, hitting the outer wall of this lonely small building, instead looking like evil ghosts baring fangs and brandishing claws.

The small courtyard outside the building was separated by a simple bamboo fence, the courtyard was full of flowers, and on the simple bamboo gate were three words: Quiet Abode.

He Lingchuan dismounted and pushed Gan Sanye Gan forward, who had to bite the bullet and call out:

"Is the Sorceress home?"

Except for the wind blowing and trees shaking, there was no other response.

Gan Sanye Gan could only call out twice more, and even added the word "please."

"Creak," the bamboo gate opened by itself.

The two walked through the empty courtyard and climbed the bamboo ladder. He Lingchuan pushed open the room door and saw the furnishings in the room were very simple: a table, a chair.

On the table was an oil lamp, and a bronze mirror, with some patterns on the edge of the mirror.

Sitting on the chair was a middle-aged woman.

She sat upright, both hands folded on her knees, her eyes staring straight at the two guests who had just entered.

As soon as the door opened, the night wind blew in with a "whoosh," blowing the lamp flame crooked, and also making the woman's face look uncertain.

She had a good appearance, and her figure was still a bit plump; it seemed she was no different from an ordinary woman. At this moment, she looked at the two and smiled slightly: "Why did Gan Sanye Gan come in the middle of the night? And who is this?"

"Luo..." Gan Sanye Gan only said one word before finding his throat was hoarse, so he had to cough twice. "Has Luo Xunyi been here?"

"He has been here and conveyed your last request." The Sorceress asked him, "Is there anything wrong?"

"I, I want to cancel the mission." Gan Sanye Gan looked at He Lingchuan. "Cancel it immediately!"

"That was not a mission, but a request." The Sorceress's smile remained unchanged. "Gan Sanye Gan has already made three requests; if you want to cancel, that would be the fourth request. I'm sorry, I don't accept it."

"Hey! You can't do that." Gan Sanye Gan hit a nail and his face turned pale.

"Are you the target?" The Sorceress looked at He Lingchuan and slowly stood up. "I intended to find you tomorrow, but I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to my door; very good, very good."

He Lingchuan grabbed Gan Sanye Gan's neck, squeezing until his eyes rolled back: "If you don't cancel, I'll kill Gan Sanye Gan. Does that not matter either?"

"Since he has opened his mouth, this request must be completed." The Sorceress turned the mirror on the table. "Regardless of his life or death."

He Lingchuan was fully prepared, and at this moment, he subconsciously threw out two flying knives, one aiming at the Sorceress's throat, and the other hitting the bronze mirror on the table.

After months of hard practice, he finally mastered the essence, able to achieve what Hu Min said: "Where the eyes look, the knife and arrow point."

However, a behemoth actually rushed out of the mirror, immediately blocking the two flying knives.

This was a sharp-horned ox, almost as huge as the wild ox monster he had seen in Zhao Pan's army, and its two horns were forward-facing, as if they had been specially sharpened.

Such a behemoth could be released from such a small mirror; the visual effect was extremely shocking, and He Lingchuan was also startled.

The two flying knives poked into its body like toothpicks poking into a person, causing no fatal damage other than increasing pain and anger.

So it lowered its head and charged toward the two of them, actually including Gan Sanye Gan in the attack range.

He Lingchuan had no choice but to jump up while carrying Gan Sanye Gan.

The giant ox rushed past under their feet, smashing the door frame with a crash.

Before the two could land in mid-air, a knight actually rushed out of the bronze mirror, crashing into them with his horse.

He Lingchuan found it difficult to dodge in mid-air, so he simply used Gan Sanye Gan as a human shield.

Amidst Gan Sanye Gan's terrified howl, with a "bang," the two were knocked flying together, breaking out of the hut.

Gan Sanye Gan vomited blood upon landing, while He Lingchuan did a backflip and landed on the flat ground outside the courtyard.

After the knight landed, he changed direction and continued to charge at He Lingchuan; at this time, a second, third, and fourth knight also appeared, clearly still sending things out from the mirror continuously.

What the hell, was there an entire cavalry hidden in there?

And in He Lingchuan's eyes, whether it was the giant ox or the knights, black Qi was swirling around them, and several evil ghosts were clinging to their bodies.

Yes, it was the same kind of thing that had once attached to the long-tusked pig.

Clearly, these evil ghosts were controlling their every move, like manipulating puppets.

New things kept appearing from the mirror, such as foxes, wolves, birds, and even two hungry tigers, all rushing toward He Lingchuan like this.

Even if he could avoid the ones on the ground, he might not be able to dodge the ones in the sky.

The most fatal thing was that they surrounded the bamboo building, using their bodies as a barrier, making it impossible for He Lingchuan to get close.

But just at this moment, the Sorceress in the room suddenly felt a shadow flash across the beam out of the corner of her eye.

She was also alert, picking up the bronze mirror on the table and preparing to retreat.

However, the person on the beam had already pounced, moving faster than a swallow skimming the air; while still in mid-air, the blade light had already arrived.

The Sorceress, along with the mirror in her arms, was cut in two with one blade!

It was He Lingchuan's clone that had succeeded in one strike.

Just now, while he was using Gan Sanye Gan as a meat shield in front of him, he had also quietly summoned his clone to leap onto the beams. It was just that at that moment, the cavalryman and his horse had made a high jump, which happened to block the vision of the shamaness behind them. She never saw the other "He Lingchuan" become a gentleman on the beams.

For a monster that could summon minions like this, He Lingchuan had long known that to capture the bandits, one must first capture the leader; if the boss wasn't killed, the small monsters and small demons would be endless.

Sure enough, this blade slashed down, and the Sorceress screamed and fell to the ground, the mirror in her arms also splitting into two halves.

Clean and neat.

She stared at He Lingchuan's clone, her face full of resentment: "You can't escape, you will soon die without a burial place!"

After saying this, her body turned into flying ash, leaving only two pieces of broken mirror on the ground.

He Lingchuan grabbed the mirror and found that it had lost its effectiveness; it was just a broken mirror.

Looking outside again, the evil ghosts entangled on the beasts and people had already disappeared, and everyone looked at each other for a long time, the air stagnant.

But in the blink of an eye, the beasts dispersed, the birds flew to the sky, and even the two tigers scurried into the mountains and disappeared.

The wind blew and the clouds dispersed, nothing more than this.

The seven or eight knights looked left and right with blank expressions, as if they didn't know where they were.

Gan Sanye Gan lay on the ground, seeing He Lingchuan approach, he cursed, but after two curses, he felt chest tightness and coughed several times before he could continue cursing.

Damn it, he actually used him as a meat shield.

He Lingchuan saw that although he was covered in blood, his breath was still strong, as if there was no major problem, so he lifted him and jumped into the bamboo building that was already swaying and about to fall, pointing at the hall and asking him:

"The Sorceress turned into ash after being slashed by me; what other entanglements do you have with her?" Otherwise, why would a dying monster still be so confident, saying He Lingchuan would die soon? Damn it, this ominous sentence reminded him of the old turtle monster's prophecy.

"How would I know?" Gan Sanye Gan replied, then cursed again. He Lingchuan found a piece of broken cloth from the next room and stuffed his mouth.

He went out again, and those knights were still in place, neither the horses nor the knights had moved much, and the people on the horses seemed a bit wooden.

He Lingchuan walked over and asked: "Do you gentlemen have nowhere to go?"

One of them responded: "Where is this?"

"Fu Nation, Wu Ze County. How were you possessed by evil ghosts?"

These people looked at each other, and the person who spoke just now said: "We were on official business, and suddenly we were taken advantage of by monsters; what happened afterward, it seems we don't remember."

He Lingchuan looked at their wooden reactions and couldn't help but frown: "The evil ghosts are gone; have you gentlemen not come back to your senses yet?"

"I don't know why, my head is dizzy, and it's difficult to concentrate." The man thought for a moment and said, "Our mission, has it not been completed yet?"

The companions all nodded.

He Lingchuan faced these living people who were like puppets and felt helpless but also vigilant: "Can you gentlemen report your names first?"

The Sorceress was dead; could it be that the supernatural power that trapped these people hadn't been eliminated? These people didn't hide anything, and they pieced together a rough idea for He Lingchuan. This matter was also linked to Sha Cong, the Grand Tutor of the Treasure Tree King of Beijia Kingdom, and his son Sha Xinghai had been absent-minded since returning from the Fu Nation.

After investigation, it was determined that Sha Xinghai had actually lost one soul and one spirit.

The Grand Tutor's mansion was shocked, so they sent this group of men to investigate, and they must find the things the young master had lost.

These people investigated all the way to the vicinity of Wu Ze County, encountered the Sorceress, and as a result, they were also captured.

During the time they were possessed by evil ghosts, their memories were almost completely blank, and they couldn't remember anything.

He Lingchuan looked at them and said: "Not to mention the young master, I think you gentlemen also seem to have lost one soul and one spirit."

Why did he feel that Sha Xinghai was the "distinguished guest" that Master Gan had asked the Sorceress to deal with? Look, he was also from Beijia Kingdom. What was strange about a dignified Grand Tutor's son coming to a small county in the Fu Nation and looking at people with his nostrils? The leader, Wu Jingsong, said himself: "That's true, we were clearly moving freely, but our perception of the outside world was like being separated by a thick gauze, and we couldn't feel joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. Although the Sorceress is dead, the lost souls haven't returned; could they be hidden somewhere?"

Everyone said: "Let's look around the lake again."

In the middle of the night, He Lingchuan didn't intend to stay here to help them find their souls, so he took Gan Sanye Gan and set off on the return journey.

Wu Jingsong and the others still remembered to bow and thank him, and the two sides parted ways there.

He Lingchuan walked more than ten feet, and before entering the bamboo forest, he looked back, seeing the fence had fallen, the small building was half-destroyed, and the bamboo gate was lying on the ground.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 361 =====