Chapter 697: Demons

Entering the back village, in the suffocating silence, the group walked several hundred steps before arriving at a mud pit.

In the mud pit, stagnant water soaked thick sludge, reeking of a foul, fishy stench, deep red and muddy.

Scattered stones were embedded atop the mud pit, broken and intermittent, stretching into the distance.

By stepping on the stones, one could cross the mud pit.

Master She said nothing, as if nothing were amiss, and stepped onto the stones to walk forward.

Mo Hua followed behind, his eyelids twitching violently.

To Gu An and the others, this was merely a somewhat disgusting mud pit.

Master She sneered, "Then what? Shall we not cross at all? Let those two children rot slowly…"

But in but a moment, the blood gradually dried, flesh slowly writhed, and the wounds began healing.

Master She suddenly smiled, "Young Master, what, are you going to convert to the Divine Lord?"

In Master She's grotesque eyes, resentment flared, then he unleashed his full power, veins bulging; within two breaths, he broke free from the Water Prison spell.

Master She flew into a rage.

"Are there still experts among the Dao Ting Si?"

Mo Hua frowned, a sense of déjà vu gnawing at him—as if he had seen this scene before.

Yu Dahe held the two children, keeping his distance.

"Answer what I ask, why waste breath with so much chatter?"

This is a leech pit.

In but a moment, when the group looked up again, they saw the ritual ground surrounded by a dense throng of deformed, monstrous fish-human demons.

"Boom!"

The arrangement of these fishing huts was too perfectly orderly.

These strange noises grew louder, accompanied by eerie, unpleasant cries—no one knew what made them.

The fishing huts were tightly shut, sealed tight, hiding whatever lay inside.

Never mind, no need to rush.

Gu An and the others no longer held back, slashing with full force.

Mo Hua frowned, about to use a formation to clear a path and test whether they could break through the ritual ground, when his gaze caught a Gu clan cultivator being cornered by a fish-human demon.

Then suddenly, a mournful, fish-demon-like "hiss" rang out, and the demons—some with human heads and fish bodies and fish legs, others with fish heads and human bodies and feet—went berserk, charging toward Mo Hua and the others.

And in the next instant, the situation shifted abruptly.

A water-binding technique?

"Who's sabotaging me?"

And these fishing huts… arranged so perfectly, like…

Master She was leading the way ahead when suddenly a fireball whizzed past his ear, scorching a few strands of his hair.

The evil formation within the ritual ground resembled Lu Chengyun's "Ten Thousand Corpses Formation."

The group knew the situation was dire and no longer hesitated, retreating while covering each other.

Mo Hua used spells to plug gaps and repel the attacking demons.

Mo Hua's gaze turned cold, and he murmured softly:

Mo Hua's pupils contracted, and he shouted:

"Old bastard!"

Gu An's blade was pressed against his throat.

Master She seethed inwardly:

"Damn it, this brat guessed everything wrong—but did everything right… it's just fucking insane!"

Master She was suddenly restrained, lost his balance, and crashed face-first into the mud.

Mo Hua's heart jolted, and he frowned:

"No… this isn't how 'preaching' works…"

Strange array patterns on the short blade began to glow.

The blade cut halfway through, and blood gushed forth.

Mo Hua lifted his head again, taking in the surrounding fishing huts one by one, and suddenly noticed something off.

These demons can absorb spiritual awareness?!

Then it let out a deafening roar, eyes bloodshot, demonic aura surging further; it punched back Gu Quan, swept away two Gu clan cultivators with a claw, took Gu An's blade squarely on its back, then surged forward at high speed, trying to break through the encirclement.

Mo Hua followed behind, walking while deep in thought.

Caskets!

But Mo Hua suddenly said, "Wait." He looked around, then asked Master She, "What is this ritual ground used for?"

"Kill it!"

These demons were horrifying in form, individually weak, but fearless and relentless.

The so-called ritual ground should be the River God's—or rather, the Great Wasteland's demonic god's—preaching ground.

The short blade plunged into Master She's chest, like a demon's mouthpart, frantically sucking blood, turning bright red.

Mo Hua glanced around, his expression puzzled, unable to articulate why—but he insisted, "Something's just wrong!"

Master She's heart skipped, and he asked calmly, "What's wrong?"

Lose a thigh, crawl on the ground; lose an arm, bite with teeth; lose the head, still writhe and crawl.

All the half-human, half-fish demons stared coldly, eyes crimson, fixed on Mo Hua and the others—the only living beings in the vast ritual ground.

The group could not catch up.

He transformed into a demon, powerful though not nearly as insurmountable as Huo Fotuo.

Everyone followed as usual, entering the dao hall guarded by tightly clustered fishing huts.

Mo Hua felt a chill.

This was a bizarre, monstrous demon.

This kind of entanglement won't do…

Alchemists are weak in actual combat.

There was no sign of anyone using spellcraft.

Squelching footsteps, like a mermaid walking on land, rose and fell in succession.

Everyone stared hard, then drew in a sharp breath.

From the surrounding fishing huts, strange noises emerged, as if something had awakened from centuries of dust.

Yet this evil array was now sealed in dust.

"What kind of Dao is the Path of the Divine Lord?" Mo Hua pressed.

Master She swallowed his finger into his belly, as if ingesting a demonic pill—his aura surged violently, his body grew taller, layers of flesh bulged, hair turned black and lengthened, until he became a grotesque half-human, half-demon monster.

Mo Hua was deeply displeased.

This kind of demon looked extremely familiar to him—especially its half-human, half-demon, deformed form, whose very structure matched exactly the "demons" from Yu'er's nightmares.

Then, using the explosion as cover, he used his spiritual sense to lay a second-rank, sixteen-pattern Earth-Slaying Array on the ground.

Master She's voice was hoarse, no longer human, his face twisted in a cruel grin: "... I meant to leave you whole corpses, but you've chosen your own deaths…"

Master She's gaze hardened. "No more delays!"

The entire structure was grotesquely malformed.

He tried to flee again, but Gu Quan and the others had already surrounded him, drawing blades and slashing at him.

Mo Hua's expression changed instantly, and he shouted:

Mo Hua walked at the rear, so he could watch the group closely for anyone who might accidentally stray and have a blood leech burrow into their spiritual sea.

The second-to-last was Gu Quan—he was to protect Mo Hua's safety.

"But the River God is an incarnation of the Divine Lord, exalted and remote—his will is beyond the comprehension of mortals like us. Whether you gain the River God's grace depends on these two children's fortune…"

This move was abrupt; Gu An and the others all froze.

The other Gu family cultivators, seeing this, also drew blades and rushed forward to subdue Master She—but Master She, now monstrous and vastly strengthened, avoided prolonged combat, striking once and retreating instantly.

They were Dao Ting Si cultivators, accustomed to dealing with criminal, demonic, and evil cultivators; their experience was considerable.

Master She's heart turned cold.

The Ten Thousand Corpses Array used coffins as its medium, refining "corpses"; this dao hall's evil array used fishing huts as its medium, refining "flesh demons" born of human and demon hybridization.

But no matter how fast it was, it wasn't faster than Mo Hua.

Yet the demons in Yu'er's nightmares were malevolent spirits.

Mo Hua thought silently.

Beneath the ground, the ancient, bloody qi began to boil.

In truth, it was a blood-refining array using humans as material and Yan Yinzi as the catalyst to forge demons.

With Mo Hua covering their rear, no accidents occurred along the way, and they passed through the terrifying mudflat teeming with floating blood leeches.

In a sense, it resembled the traits of "walking corpses"—wounding it was not fatal.

This little brat has a sharp mind…

Everyone rushed to block before Mo Hua, blades flashing into a curtain as they clashed with the charging demons.

On the surface, this was a divine preaching ground.

At that moment, Mo Hua glanced and saw Master She pressing his palms together, then, unnoticed, slipping a finger into his mouth.

Above the temple, bloodlight surged violently; even from afar, one could sense terrifying slaughter and majesty.

Demon qi rose to the heavens, killing intent surging.

Master She was startled, then turned to glare at Mo Hua:

"Who?!"

Master She said calmly: "Naturally, for preaching."

Master She thought silently, then, face cold, stepped forward one stone slab at a time.

But Master She moved first, pulling out a sacrificial short knife and stabbing it into his own heart meridian.

Fortunately, Master She knew the danger of this blood-leech mudflat and dared not act recklessly; he made no trouble and led the way obediently.

Gu An's expression hardened; he tightened his wrist, pressing the blade along Master She's nape and carving a shallow cut that bled.

Gu An and the others abandoned Master She and immediately clustered around Mo Hua, forming a defensive formation with him at the center.

Its body was human, its feet transformed from gills, its hands like claws, its head like a water demon, its teeth like spirit fish.

He released his spiritual sense, then froze—looking down, he saw the stone tiles subtly aligning into a certain pattern.

Squelching footsteps came from the dark interior; a figure appeared at the doorway.

Blades clashed chaotically, spells flashed repeatedly; the group fought and retreated.

Gu An's blade was embedded in Master She's neck, unable to cut deeper—he pulled hard, dragging the blade sideways and tearing off a large chunk of flesh.

But Mo Hua could see the dense, crimson malevolent blood leeches floating in the air.

At a distance of two palms, the demon sucked in through its lips and directly pulled out the cultivator's spiritual sense.

Yu Dahe, concerned for his children, also remembered Mo Hua's instructions.

Mo Hua's heart jolted; he instantly formed two fingers into a fireball and hurled it, blasting the demon back, then declared decisively:

"Fall back!"

Two Gu-family cultivators escorted two black-clad figures.

Suddenly, a memory surfaced in his mind.

Master She winced in pain, his face contorting, yet still clasped his palms together and said:

"Those who do not believe in me do not understand the Divine Lord's doctrine."

At that moment, a blue flash appeared, and another icy chain solidified, interrupting its movement and trapping it in place.

Neatly, as if…

The Gu-family cultivator wore a pained expression.

And these demons were made of real flesh and blood.

It was black and yellow, with a beast-like vertical pupil scanning the surroundings, spotting the young nobleman—"Little Good-for-Nothing"—standing motionless with his hands behind his back.

The Ten Thousand Corpses Array uses dark array patterns to link each coffin, combining corpse cultivation, corpse nourishment, and corpse qi stabilization into one extremely advanced dark array.

This array pattern was like a key, unlocking the entire array.

Gu An's face was as cold as water; he said sternly: "Protect the Young Master!"

Gu Shuji gave me the secret order and sent Gu-family people to assist—I must get everyone back safely.

Mo Hua was familiar with this Ten Thousand Corpses Array.

A Water Prison spell instantly solidified, chains wrapping around him, binding the already accelerating Master She tightly halfway through his charge.

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened. "What doctrine are you preaching?"

The doors of the fishing huts opened one by one.

Upon hearing this, Gu An and the others immediately moved away from Master She.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically.

After speaking, Master She walked forward.

"Simply pass through this ritual ground, enter the temple, place the offering on the altar, then kneel and beg the River God for grace."

"Have the old bastard walk ahead. We follow him—step exactly where he steps, not a single tile out of place."

Mo Hua sensed the array's aura and the flow of dark energy once more, and a glimmer of understanding dawned in his mind.

"Spread out!"

And there were too many of them—killing them only brought more.

Everyone felt a faint unease.

It was an array.

Far away, Mo Hua stood calmly in place, his two small hands hidden in his sleeves, clasped behind his back, fingers curling slightly.

But Mo Hua's pupils contracted sharply.

And the layout of this ritual ground now bore a resemblance to the Ten Thousand Corpses Array.

Mo Hua exhaled slightly in relief.

The two highest-ranked cultivators, Gu An and Gu Quan, held the rear, blocking the horde of demonic creatures.

They had seen walking corpses, iron corpses, mountain and water demons, and corpse-corrupted cultivators—but never anything like this: grotesque, malformed, as if stitched together from severed limbs.

Then this ritual ground must have been built long ago.

"This old bastard may not see these leeches, but he certainly knows the danger of this mudflat—he's trying to trap us with it…"

"I never wanted to go through all this trouble…"

As Mo Hua pondered, the demonic aura around him grew denser.

The demonized Master She revealed black-green flesh and red-green blood along his neck.

This aura was subtle, ancient, bloody, cold, and sinister—like a dark array that had existed for ages, soaked in human blood.

He might as well intervene.

Master She thrust his little finger into his mouth, bit down hard, and with a wet *plosch*, black blood spurted as his fingertip severed.

Every stone tile on the ground—if stepped on wrongly—would summon countless blood leeches burrowing into the mind-sea, corrupting the spirit.

The Gu-family cultivators obeyed orders without hesitation.

Mo Hua had no patience for his rambling and said: "Enough. Saving lives comes first. Let him lead."

Before Mo Hua's eyes, he could almost see the scenes of what had once transpired.

He still wished to avoid battle; after taking a few slashes, he spotted an opening and tried again to escape.

"Little brat, what are you doing?"

Ten Thousand Corpses Array!

In the mines of Nan Yue City, within the Corpse Hall, Lu Chengyun, head of the Lu family, had intended to construct the dark corpse cultivation array—the Ten Thousand Corpses Array.

Mo Hua sensed something amiss and immediately narrowed his eyes:

Master She strained violently, shattering the water-energy chains around him, slowly rising to his feet, his eyes blazing red.

The demon's flesh was as hard as iron.

Master She turned back, gave Mo Hua a strange smile, then continued walking forward.

Master She's gaze darkened.

Mo Hua feigned deep thought, then said:

"I suspect either this mudflat is poisonous, or these tiles conceal a hidden array…"

Master She was furious. Now that things had come to this, he knew that as long as that treacherous water-array cultivator remained, he would never escape today.

Gu An and the others also wore solemn expressions.

Between the crowd and the temple stretched a vast village square, surrounded by hundreds of identical fishing huts.

Taking advantage of the moment, Gu An and the others fully encircled him.

A monster stitched together from chopped-up humans, water spirits, and spirit fish—something more than just that.

Lu Chengyun once threatened me to construct the core of the Ten Thousand Corpses Revival Array for him.

Master She's face was reverent, "The Path of the Divine Lord."

Master She's demonic transformation resembled that of Huo Fotuo's.

A demonic array?

Mo Hua snorted coldly and declared: "Something's wrong here!"

Once, the villagers of the fishing hamlet lived in the nearby fishing huts, and each morning or evening, they would leave one by one to gather in this ritual ground and listen to the gods' sermons?

In just a moment, all these scenes were torn apart.

After crossing the Leech Pool, the group walked forward for an unknown length of time, until faintly, in the distance, a gloomy and solemn temple shrouded in blood mist became visible.

A Gu family cultivator's face turned slightly pale, and he stammered:

"What… exactly are these things?"

But his cultivation and strength paled in comparison to Huo Fotuo's; even as a demon, he could not make up for too many shortcomings.

A messenger of the River God preached to the villagers here.

Just as Master She was about to escape, a pale blue waterlight suddenly appeared, coalescing into water chains that precisely bound Master She in place.

Master She said: "That distant temple is the River God Temple; the altar is built inside…"

It was like…

Master She was struck by several blades, but his hide was as hard as armor, and the wounds were shallow.

The Earth Killing Array exploded instantly—earth-born killing energy surged, and the earth's spiritual energy surged violently, slaughtering a large group of demons outright.

Mo Hua told the other Gu family cultivators: "Follow me. I'll cover the rear."

Master She's face darkened, but Gu An had already pressed his blade to his throat, forcing him forward.

Gu An, who was escorting Master She, froze at the words, immediately sensing something amiss—he instantly unleashed his strength, driving his single blade downward to sever Master She's neck.

Retreating to the narrow pass, Mo Hua casually tossed a Fire Earth Array array plate, detonating it to repel a few demons and stir up a cloud of smoke.

Master She remained calm, as if treating it as nothing more than a simple mud pit, though his gaze held a faintly venomous edge.

Before they could even steady themselves, Master She's body suddenly exploded, spewing thick blood mist that splattered across the ground.

Yu Dahe nervously glanced at Mo Hua.

This Master She was both an alchemist and possibly an array master, so he had little time or energy to refine his blood qi and spiritual energy.

One by one, things related to the demonic path flashed through Mo Hua's mind.

These bloods seeped into the ground, then wound themselves along the ground's patterns, eventually coalescing into a vast crimson array pattern.

"If the River God permits, he will allow the souls of these two children to survive."

At the same time, beneath the stone bricks, the aura of an array could be felt.

At the same time, a series of piercing "squeak-squeak" sounds arose.

The other Gu family cultivators didn't understand, but on missions, the most important thing was to obey orders—so they cautiously followed behind Master She, step by step.

Mo Hua's spiritual sense locked onto it tightly.

Mo Hua glanced again at Master She.

The group seized a moment to catch their breath and ultimately withdrew from the ritual ground.

As they withdrew, Mo Hua's spiritual sense was sharp—he pierced through the throngs of demons and saw Master She, who had burst into a cloud of blood mist, shed his demonic skin, sneer bitterly, then turn and flee toward the distant River God Temple.

(End of Chapter)