Chapter 211: Bird in a Cage

Inside the abandoned house, the echoes of screams had faded, leaving behind a profound silence.

Xu Qing closed his eyes, sensing that sliver of unique origin energy absorbed by the Jin Wu; although the quantity was too small for him to manifest, it was sufficient for use as a tracking beacon.

"So... after he resurrects again, he will surely be even more terrified. But this level is not enough; he needs to die dozens of times more before it can gradually intensify." Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked down at his shadow.

At this moment, his shadow was spreading across the blood on the ground, covering it before permeating the mummified corpse. After about the time it takes for a few breaths, the shadow returned, and the emotional fluctuations it transmitted pointed in another direction while simultaneously conveying a plea.

"Catch... I am good at... imprisoning..."

The previous torture was, on one hand, due to the baleful energy in Xu Qing's heart, and on the other, for the Jin Wu to devour. Furthermore, it was to give the shadow enough time to consume the target's silhouette, thereby pinpointing its direction more accurately.

In this way, combined with the sliver of origin energy Xu Qing had harvested, he could finally ensure that no matter where the target hid, he would be able to find them accurately.

Feeling the shadow's plea, Xu Qing thought for a moment and nodded.

The shadow immediately radiated joyful emotional fluctuations, as if it found this to be great fun and was very excited.

With a calm expression, Xu Qing turned and vanished into the house. Concealing himself along the way, he had a vague feeling that someone had been observing him over the past two days.

This feeling grew increasingly clear, and since Xu Qing did not want to attract the attention of the Purple Soil, he remained even more hidden.

Half an hour later, outside the east gate of the Purple Soil capital, a large crowd was queuing to leave the city one after another; most were merchant caravans, though there were cultivators as well.

Among them was a youth whose clothing looked somewhat valuable, not like that of an ordinary family, yet he lacked the privilege of exiting the city quickly and had to wait in line, which showed that his bloodline was not noble.

While waiting in line, the youth's face was somewhat pale, his breathing hurried, and he checked his surroundings from time to time; he... was precisely that cultivator of the Ghostly Hidden Tribe.

In the end, he still chose not to immediately use the body outside the city, because once used, if he were hunted down and driven far away, he would be unable to return to the capital after dying.

His innate ability had a range limitation.

And for him, a place with many lives was where his ability could be manifested to the greatest extent, so he did not want to leave easily. At the same time, if that body were to die, the damage to him would be much more severe than with his other bodies.

Therefore, he prepared to use this current body to falsely leave the city, lure the mysterious pursuer away, and then return by using a stepping stone. After all, if this current body died, it died; the impact would not be significant.

Furthermore, being found three times in a row made it very clear to him that the other party must have a way to track him. He did not know what this method was, nor could he guard against it.

This caused the unease in his heart to be extremely intense, especially after that previous death; the cruelty of the other party and that final sentence felt like a cold wind blowing into his mind, lingering for a long time.

Most importantly, after he resurrected this time, he had an indescribable feeling, as if some of the most important things within him had been lost.

This feeling caused a life-and-death crisis to emerge in his heart for the first time.

"It's too sinister, but I simply refuse to believe it! With my methods, how could I possibly be locked onto!"

As these thoughts fluctuated in the youth's mind, he did not notice that in the shadow of a guard at the nearby city gate, an eye appeared and swept over him.

The next instant, just as the youth was about to reach the city gate in the queue, a mosquito flew over, silently landing on the youth's neck. Before the youth could notice, it struck fiercely at the blood vessel in his neck.

Then, a divine sense whispered into his ear.

"My master sends his regards."

Following this, the mosquito exploded, causing the small black insects contained within its body to rapidly burrow into the youth's body.

In an instant, the youth trembled all over and let out a shrill scream. As the crowd scattered in panic, he collapsed to the ground, rolling continuously, until finally, with a bang, his body turned into a smear of blood, scattered all over the ground.

The next moment, a guard at the city gate suddenly shuddered; after his eyelids closed and opened again, he was already a different person.

He turned to leave the city without a word amidst the chaos, but the next instant, his body jolted and became rigid.

Horror appeared in his eyes, and he wanted to lower his head but could not. His body seemed to be out of his own control, and a faint, hair-raising laughter emanated from his mouth.

"Aha, I've done a great service, I've caught you."

As he spoke, the guard's body slowly turned around, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile. After greeting the other guards nearby, he walked forward cheerfully.

As he walked, eyes rapidly vanished from the shadows of all the guards and all the people queuing nearby, merging into the ground beneath his feet.

Everyone here... had evidently been planted with eyes by the shadow. It was clearly adept at hide-and-seek; after finding the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator, it had parasitized everyone within his line of sight, waiting for the target to arrive.

And the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator, having miscalculated, had fallen into the shadow's trap.

At this moment, his eyes were filled with intense terror. He had truly never encountered such a thing in his life; his heart trembled, and his entire emotional state was on the verge of collapse.

For the first time, he was completely afraid.

Because he had fully realized that he had encountered an eerie existence even more terrifying than himself!

Just like that, amidst the shadow's cheerfulness, the guard skipped and hopped away from the crowd, heading into an alleyway toward another abandoned house.

In the Purple Soil capital, there were many abandoned houses, and death was a common occurrence here.

As he walked in, the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator saw, in despair, Xu Qing sitting inside with a calm expression, waiting for him.

Upon seeing Xu Qing, the guard—who had been possessed by the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator and was now controlled by the shadow—thumped to his knees, his hands continuously slapping his own face, one blow after another.

Xu Qing's gaze swept over him, ignoring him, and looked toward the door.

"Since you've come, why don't you come in?" Xu Qing said calmly.

The shadow-controlled guard paused, then continued slapping.

And as Xu Qing spoke, a young man soon walked out from a distortion outside the door.

Dressed in a magnificent robe, wearing a jade pendant emitting a soft light, with a very handsome face and a complex gaze, it was... Chen Chen Feiyuan.

Xu Qing looked at Chen Chen Feiyuan. The aura on the other party was very strange; despite having no strong cultivation fluctuations, he gave Xu Qing a very dangerous feeling, yet his aura was also extremely faint.

This was why even the shadow had not noticed that it was being followed.

"You became a Treasure Keeper?" Xu Qing suddenly asked.

He had sensed where the problem lay: Chen Chen Feiyuan's cultivation was only at Qi Condensation, but the fluctuations on his body seemed to be coursing through his bloodline and clearly emitted a sense of age, as if an item were being stored within his body.

"Not a Treasure Keeper. The direct descendants of the eight great families of Purple Soil can all coexist with their family's unique magic treasure. After I returned, I began to make contact and became partially symbiotic. In fact, this is also the reason why every generation of patriarchs of the eight Purple Soil families possesses astonishing combat power."

"In our cultivation, while the cultivation base is important, the bloodline is even more important." Chen Chen Feiyuan walked in, sat to the side, and glanced at the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator who was still slapping himself.

"A very eerie method of cultivation," Xu Qing said softly.

"The royal family of the Purple Azure Upper Kingdom is the truly eerie one. This is their innate bloodline ability; they can coexist with any magic treasure. Later, it was plundered by our eight families. Over countless years, through captivity and breeding, we finally integrated this bloodline talent into our own bloodlines."

Chen Chen Feiyuan shrugged his shoulders, looking at Xu Qing.

"I haven't congratulated you on your rise in the Seven Blood Eyes."

"You have changed a lot," Xu Qing said earnestly.

The Chen Chen Feiyuan in his memory was not like this. In fact, over the past few days, he had vaguely sensed someone observing him in the dark, but he had found no traces until today, when the other party revealed himself.

"Partly due to my own growth, partly due to the inheritance from my teacher, and partly due to the influence of the magic treasure," Chen Chen Feiyuan shook his head.

"Besides, your changes are not small either. I didn't expect that the little brat from back then would now be a Sequence of the Seven Blood Eyes."

Chen Chen Feiyuan scanned Xu Qing, his gaze falling on the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator who was slapping himself, killing intent filling his eyes.

"Is this him?"

"One of his bodies," Xu Qing nodded.

"I went to that place you were at last time; it reeked of blood. Let me... play with this one." Chen Chen Feiyuan's eyes were filled with cruelty and madness, containing deep hatred as he stared fixedly at the Ghostly Hidden Tribe cultivator.

Xu Qing nodded, stood up, and walked out of the house. The shadow also returned, relinquishing control, and the next instant, shrill screams and wails erupted from inside the room.

This sound lasted for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, and the degree of misery was not much different from when Xu Qing had acted last time.

Finally, Chen Chen Feiyuan walked out of the room. His body was still trembling, as if the baleful energy and madness in his heart could not yet dissipate, and his eyes were bloodshot. After reaching Xu Qing's side, he took a deep breath.

"Tingyu guessed you had come, but I told her you hadn't."

"Xu Qing, the several great families of Purple Soil haven't noticed your arrival yet; I have blocked and concealed it. But my ability is limited, and I can't block it for long. However, I will do my utmost. You should focus on avenging our teacher, and once finished, leave as quickly as possible, otherwise, there will be a great crisis."

"The Sea Corpse Tribe's bounty... those old fellows in Purple Soil who are unwilling to die just like that are very tempted. These people are no longer human; to survive, they are capable of anything."

"Xu Qing, take care of yourself," Chen Chen Feiyuan said in a low voice, and after speaking, he walked toward the distance.

Xu Qing watched Chen Chen Feiyuan and suddenly spoke.

"Senior Brother, take care."

In Chen Chen Feiyuan, Xu Qing saw a trace of Master Bai's temperament—that was the detestation of Purple Soil and the determination to try to change it.

Chen Chen Feiyuan's footsteps paused. He did not look back and continued walking, step by step, becoming increasingly firm until he vanished into the void.

Posted first, edited later.