Chapter 908: Human-Shaped Black Hole

You must know that now the maple leaves are just beginning to turn red, and the daytime at Blade Harbor is still a bit warm. Fortunately, the Soul-Splitting Pill has already taken effect; although everyone feels their hands and feet are cold as they circulate their true qi, they have at least not been overcome by external forces. These gray mists swirl around people, specifically seeking out mouths, noses, eyes, and ears, as if they harbor ill intent.

Ling Guang said worriedly, "The Yin-Sha is so thick even on the sea surface; I fear it will be difficult for us to land on the island."

Dragon Spine Island is the source of the earth vein, and it fears the efficacy of the Soul-Splitting Pill might not hold up.

As for the medicinal effect, it has its limits.

Before He He Lingchuan could speak, the divine bone necklace at his throat suddenly grew hot.

This thing had been dormant for too long; he couldn't even remember the last time it had reacted.

The next instant, the hole in the center of the pendant began to absorb the mist.

In the eyes of his four companions—eighteen eyes in total—the gray mist suddenly surged madly toward He He Lingchuan, as if something behind it were driving it, and then—

And then it vanished.

Young Master He was like a human-shaped black hole; once any gray mist approached, it would disappear without a trace.

Even Zhu Zhu Xiuer, an ancient great demon accustomed to strange occurrences, was astonished: "What is going on here?"

He He Lingchuan raised his left wrist, splaying his five fingers and then closing them. Although his entire body was wrapped in thick fog, he felt no discomfort; the thick fog was sucked away by the divine bone necklace before it could even touch him.

The reaction of the divine bone was like a person just waking up, taking a long, deep breath.

But outsiders could not see the true destination of the mist, thinking only that it vanished upon approaching his body.

"Squeak, this is bad!" Ling Guang grabbed his wrist pulse, worried he had been overcome by the gray mist. The invasion of Yin-Sha turbid qi into the body—and at this concentration and magnitude—was no joke! It had heard that some corpses buried in places of Yin-Sha would, over time, become zombies.

And that was only a place of Yin-Sha, not an earth vein! Several methods for dispelling Sha were already racing through Ling Guang's mind, but the first priority was to separate its master from the Yin-Sha!

Fearing that it would suddenly stuff a bunch of pills into his mouth, He He Lingchuan gently shook off its claws: "It's fine, the Yin-Sha is no hindrance to me."

Ling Guang had already felt his pulse and indeed sensed no abnormalities; the pulse was steady and strong, with no signs of evil qi entering the body.

Although it didn't quite understand, it breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone subconsciously stepped back two paces, unwilling to be touched by the gray mist. They watched the Yin-Sha turbid qi madly pounce toward He He Lingchuan, while the latter remained completely calm and composed; the contrast was stark, and the scene... was also somewhat eerie.

All who watched were horrified.

Even the Earth-Sha could do nothing to him; He He Lingchuan's image in the eyes of his subordinates became even more unfathomable.

Tao Ran asked directly: "My lord, are you alright?"

"I'm doing just fine." He He Lingchuan let out a long laugh, in high spirits, "Just as I expected!"

The others did not understand the underlying reason, but seeing his confident demeanor, they set their minds at ease.

The Young Master could even collect the Yin-Sha turbid qi from the earth vein; no matter what method he used, it was incredibly impressive.

Zhu Zhu Xiuer, however, was very calm. It had caused a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace with He He Lingchuan and left Xushan together with him; it knew this fellow's great achievements best. It seemed commonplace for strange things to happen to him.

And He He Lingchuan had rushed to the Yangshan Archipelago precisely to test a thought in his mind.

When Lu Xun described the Yangshan Archipelago to him, the moment "Earth-Sha" was mentioned, He He Lingchuan immediately thought of the Panlong Desert and the former lands of the Yuan Kingdom.

The destruction of the Panlong Desert, where millions of soldiers and civilians died, led to the sandstorm seasons that lasted for over a hundred years afterward.

Not to mention the former lands of the Yuan Kingdom; the Earth-Sha in Thousand Star City was so intense that even Taozi, a "Child of Earth-Sha," was further catalyzed into a little monster—a Ba.

But after He He Lingchuan arrived at Lingxu City, he learned from Fu Fu Shanyue that the Earth-Sha in Thousand Star City had greatly diminished, and vegetation had already begun to grow.

Why did such a change suddenly occur in a place of absolute Earth-Sha that had existed for nearly two hundred years? It wasn't that He He Lingchuan was vain, but after thinking it over, could the change have something to do with himself?

Was this something the Great Great Great Fanghu had done?

He didn't mind verifying it once, which was why he had asked his original body's ancestor, Lu Xun, so particularly carefully.

At this moment, the heavy stone hanging in his heart was finally set down: the Great Great Great Fanghu not only required Yin-Sha, but it also devoured it greedily, showing extreme gluttony!

This harmful thing was, to it, actually a good thing? In an instant, the gray mist within a radius of twenty miles was sucked dry by it, with astonishing efficiency, and the view ahead became clear once again.

The small boat gradually approached the direction from which the gray mist came, which was Dragon Spine Island; along the way, the human-shaped Young Master—no, the human-shaped black hole—was passively clearing the shipping lane.

The looks the others gave him were now knowing.

Young Master He must be wearing some kind of treasure that could absorb Yin-Sha.

He wouldn't say, and that was his privacy; no one would take the initiative to ask.

But this treasure... its efficacy was a bit potent.

The clouds in the sky shifted away again, and sunlight shone on the sea surface once more; those gray mists were instantly scorched into nothingness.

Seeing this, everyone roughly understood that Yin-Sha could not tolerate sunlight, but during the day, gray mist still hid in the shadows of the island's mountains, dissipating when the weather was overcast.

They moved faster than the boats, and once the sunlight disappeared, travelers on the sea would still be struck; that was why neither merchant ships nor pirates dared to approach this area.

And the night was the home turf of the Yin-Sha; no wonder the boatman warned Tao Ran that they must find a place to dock and go ashore as soon as night fell.

By the time they moored the boat and stepped onto the island, looking back, they saw only a clear sky and bright scenery, with water shimmering like gold—a boundless beauty. Who could imagine that this shipping route had been a slaughterhouse for sea vessels just a few dozen breaths ago?

Everyone followed the winding hillside and climbed onto Dragon Spine Island.

The tall grass and reeds were at least a zhang high, and there were flattened, tall plants everywhere.

Tao Ran suddenly said: "This place has hardly been visited by anyone; how could there be a ready-made path?"

There was a path on the ground, about three feet wide, just enough for one person to pass.

A simple path appearing here was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Given the vigorous growth of plants on Dragon Spine Island, if such a path hadn't been walked on for a month, it would have long since been filled in by vegetation.

How could there be living people on an island covered in Yin-Sha?

"This is a beast trail; the grass has been flattened," Qiu Hu squatted down to observe carefully, "There is a light gray viscous substance on the grass leaves by the side of the road, and the smell—"

He intentionally took a sniff, immediately felt nauseated, and hurriedly covered his nose: "Salty and fishy!"

Ling Guang also jumped down to take a look: "If you hadn't taken the Soul-Splitting Pill, you would be vomiting uncontrollably by now."

He He Lingchuan stroked his chin and said: "I heard there are living creatures on this island called Yin-Hui; could it be that these things trampled this out?"

Ling Guang worried: "These monsters are immersed in Yin-Sha all day long; if one is bitten by them, I fear it will be difficult to treat."

Tao Ran looked up at the sky: "It's still early before the sun sets; we are temporarily safe."

He He Lingchuan took the lead: "Let's go, just keep your guard up."

He observed the terrain as he walked. The cliffs were on the other side of the island; the slope from the beach where their boat docked to the hillside was not steep, and it was not difficult to walk.

(End of chapter)