Chapter 354: The Old Locust Tree

Ye Lin's expression was somewhat complex.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, these five characters must have been carved into his own palm by Uncle Jiang using his fingernails while he was surrounded by skin-corpses.

At that time, Uncle Jiang must have known he wouldn't survive, and fearing that they wouldn't be able to find the Renhuangqi, he had desperately tried to leave them some information.

Having obtained the useful information, Ye Lin raised his hand and directly devoured the skin-corpse, turning it into his own experience points.

Afterward, he buried Uncle Jiang on the spot, and as soon as dawn broke, he took Xia Qinglan toward the north of the city.

Through questioning, Ye Lin learned from Xia Qinglan that there was only one tree in the north of the city that could be called an old locust tree.

It was a locust tree nearly a thousand years old, and right beneath the tree, there happened to be a small temple!

After brushing past countless existences that were unknown whether they were human or skin-corpses, the two arrived at the north of the city, and from afar, Ye Lin spotted the old locust tree.

Even though it was daytime, the old locust tree with its twisted and intertwined branches still gave Ye Lin a chill.

The brown trunk was covered in mottled moss, and as a breeze blew, the leaves rustled, sounding as if someone were whispering or as if ghosts were weeping, adding a sense of gloom.

Somehow, in a trance, Ye Lin seemed to see countless corpses hanging from the old locust tree, swaying in the wind, but they disappeared just as quickly.

As they drew closer, a heavy sense of oppression pressed down on their hearts, and beneath the old locust tree stood a small temple half a person's height, which had grown together with the tree roots.

The walls, which should have been red, had faded to a dark gray under the polishing of time; the temple door was half-closed, and in front of it sat an incense burner covered in spiderwebs and dust.

Seeing this temple, Ye Lin subconsciously began to scratch his head.

"What are you doing?" Xia Qinglan asked with some confusion.

"Oh, nothing, I've been playing games too much; whenever I see a temple, I want to pluck a hair and pay my respects."

Realizing what he had said, Ye Lin felt a bit awkward and hurriedly changed the subject.

"The temple Uncle Jiang mentioned must be this one, right? Is the other half of the Renhuangqi pole under this temple?"

"It should be. Uncle Jiang didn't tell me, I'll go dig and see." Xia Qinglan stepped forward, intending to start.

"Don't be hasty, this tree and this temple don't seem that simple." Ye Lin frowned slightly.

"That's why I should be the one to dig. Your strength is greater than mine; if there really is any danger, you'll still have time to save me. If you get into danger, I might not be able to save you!"

Xia Qinglan's gaze was sincere, and she then stepped forward to begin searching for the Renhuangqi pole inside the small temple.

Seeing that it wasn't in the temple, she hugged the structure, attempting to pull the entire temple up by the roots.

However, this small temple had long since grown together with the roots of the old locust tree; Xia Qinglan tried several times to no avail, and instead, it seemed to awaken something—the old locust tree moved without wind, and then white locust flowers bloomed on its branches.

The moment the flowers blossomed, imperceptible pollen drifted down in a scatter.

Ye Lin pulled Xia Qinglan away at the first opportunity, but some pollen inevitably landed on them.

This pollen didn't give Ye Lin any uncomfortable sensations, but it caused the scene before his eyes to change!

Ye Lin's pupils shrank violently; he saw that the old locust tree before him was actually hung with countless pale human skins, which were swaying gently and emitting a strong sense of resentment.

Those human skins seemed to be connected to the branches of the old locust tree, and faintly, one could hear the old locust tree emitting low, painful wails.

Although those human skins were eerie, they had no intention of attacking the two of them.

"I think I know... where the skin-corpses that attacked Uncle Jiang came from..."

Ye Lin's scalp tingled; the old locust tree before him was clearly a giant parasite host for skin-corpses!

Those skin-corpses that hadn't found suitable hosts had all parasitized the old locust tree, living by draining its life force.

It stood to reason that when Uncle Jiang hid the pole, it was daytime, which was why he could retreat safely; but when he came to retrieve the pole yesterday, it was at night, which drew the attention of the human skins on the tree, leading to him being devoured and parasitized.

Although skin-corpses can move during the day, their mobility is clearly inferior to that at midnight.

*Creak, creak, creak*—following a series of eerie sounds, the old locust tree suddenly split open a gap.

In the middle of the gap, half a pole stood quietly; merely looking at that pole made one feel the clashing sounds of gold and iron horses.

"It's the other half of the pole!" Ye Lin was overjoyed and moved to take it, but at this moment, the trunk of the old locust tree slowly closed, swallowing the half-pole once again.

"Xie Hong, the old locust tree seems to mean that it wants us to help it," Xia Qinglan said, stating her speculation.

"Help it? Help it get rid of these human skins on the tree?" Ye Lin frowned slightly.

"It should be." Xia Qinglan was also not entirely sure.

At this time, the branches of the old locust tree swayed up and down, as if nodding, which made Ye Lin's scalp tingle. The Demon Realm was truly an eerie place; this old locust tree was likely already a spirit monster!

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll help it solve it right now."

Ye Lin rubbed his hands together. A rough glance at the skin-corpses hanging on the old locust tree showed they were dense and numerous, at least a hundred of them.

If he were to wake them up, their terrifying resentment would definitely be enough for Ye Lin to handle.

Therefore, the best method was to wipe them all out at once!

"Forbidden Spell — Karma Fire Burning the Heavens!"

Following Ye Lin's cordial greeting to the fire element, purple-red, eerie flames ignited from the ground, surging upward and engulfing the entire old locust tree along with all the human skins on it!

The blazing fire burned fiercely; under the burning of the karma fire, the trunk of the old locust tree emitted *pat-pat* sounds, and the painful, low wails from before suddenly became sharp!

And compared to the old locust tree, the skin-corpses hanging on it were even more miserable; under the baptism of the karma fire, they began to curl and twist, and were quickly devoured by the flames, turning into nothingness along with the resentment on their bodies.

"Xie Hong, what are you doing?" Xia Qinglan's face was illuminated by the flickering firelight.

"Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. Even if we help this old locust tree get rid of all the skin-corpses parasitizing it today, it won't be long before new skin-corpses parasitize it again."

"Since that's the case, it's better to solve it once and for all. I'll burn the old locust tree along with them. This way, I guarantee that from now on, no skin-corpses will ever parasitize this old locust tree again, and the old locust tree will never have to suffer the pain of skin-corpse parasitism again."

"Is that reasonable?"

Ye Lin wore a nuclear-friendly smile.

"Um... er..."

Xia Qinglan's brain couldn't quite keep up; she felt that what Ye Lin said seemed to have some logic, but it also felt like something was wrong?

But one thing she was very clear about: if the old locust tree could be reborn, it would definitely rather die than ever ask Ye Lin for help again.