Chapter 269: Thanks to Milili's Crown, I Meet Wu Fei Again

With a creak, the heavy door was pushed open by me. This is an old-fashioned house, but from the moment I stepped inside, I sharply sensed a strange, detailed odor emanating from the house—a smell formed by the accumulation of the odor of dead people.

Spiderwebs spread across the eaves; the top of the beams bore a mural I couldn't understand. In contrast, the corner of the hall held two ice sculptures resembling human figures.

"It's Pangzi and Han Duo!" my eyes widened enormously; in an instant I recognized them.

I had no time to think too much; acting almost on instinct, I subconsciously rushed toward them. At that moment, a heavy breathing sound suddenly rang in my ears—a deep exhalation, accompanied by a fierce strike that split the air.

There was no time to think; relying on instinct, I barely dodged backward. When I steadied myself, I noticed my face felt icy; I reached out and touched some small ice particles.

Another ice corpse; when I dodged backward and steadied myself, I already realized there was an extra person behind me. This person was exactly like the one I had bumped into on the back mountain. His whole body was covered with a thin layer of ice, and even his breath carried a chill.

Han Duo's guess was indeed correct—the problem really lay inside this haunted house.

"Come out..." I shouted at the empty house, eyes fixed warily on the ice corpse. The corpse before me was just a corpse; the true mastermind must be someone else.

"I never expected... it would be you!" The moment I finished speaking, a hoarse voice came from upstairs.

A person walked out from the upstairs corridor; when I turned to look at him, I couldn't help but be thoroughly startled.

"How could it be you?" I widened my eyes, unable to believe. The person who emerged was actually my fellow Yin Mountain Sect disciple, Wu Fei.

"These... these things are all your doing, no, it's the aura on your body?" The moment I saw him, I was furious, yet the next instant I was completely stunned.

Wu Fei's body had both vital energy and deathly energy, with deathly energy outweighing the vital; his face was covered in black spots. These are corpse spots, which appear only after a person dies.

Why is his face covered in corpse spots? Why has he become a half‑human, half‑corpse monster? I have too many questions; I remember that when he was in Yichang, I had already broken his soul‑separation technique, yet when I next saw this fellow disciple, he had already turned into a half‑human, half‑corpse.

My first thought was that he was practicing evil arts, using stolen infant souls to prolong his life. I immediately glared at him and shouted: "You..."

"If you want to save your two friends, hand over the Wu Mu Legacy you hold." Wu Fei stared at me, speaking without joy or sorrow.

Those words stunned me instantly; the angry shout I had been about to utter died in my throat. My heart was jolted—what on earth is going on, and how does Wu Fei know about the Wu Mu Legacy?

Now it seems this matter is absolutely not as simple as I had just imagined!

"How... how do you know about the Wu Mu Legacy? And how did you become like this? Tell me, what is all this, and who are you working for?" I clutched my chest, forcing myself to stay calm.

Wu Fei didn't answer me; instead, he slowly closed his eyes. After a moment, he reopened them, but his gaze held a trace of weariness.

"Don't worry about why I know so much—I have no choice. You only need to know that if you want to save people, hand over the five Wu Mu Legacy gold plaques you hold." Wu Fei said in a hoarse voice, expressionless.

"Five? I don't have five—I only have three in my hand!"

"No," Wu Fei stated flatly: "Five—you got two from Han Duo, one from Chen Zheng, and the two your master Li Feng gave you."

"My master never gave me any gold plaques, and I don't even know where he is now," I argued with Wu Fei, but he firmly replied: "Who said that? Your master left you a ruler, and inside that ruler are two gold plaques."

Wu Fei's words left me utterly stunned—how does he know my master left me a ruler? Could it really be as he said, that the Ding Lan Ruler my master gave me contains two Wu Mu Legacy gold plaques?

"Remember, if you want to save people, bring the five gold plaques here by tomorrow. Also, you must not tell Wang QingSong and Yang Qiye. Otherwise..." Wu Fei's icy eyes locked onto me as he threatened harshly: "Otherwise, I cannot guarantee the safety of your two friends."

Wu Fei's words infuriated me completely, yet in the next instant my anger turned into shock.

"You... you've become an insect‑fed corpse?" I pointed at his forehead and shouted in disbelief. At the moment Wu Fei threatened me, his bangs were blown up by the cold air from his own breath, exposing his forehead—a tiny black dot, unmistakably the sign of an insect‑fed corpse.

As I uttered the three words 'insect‑fed corpse,' Wu Fei's expression flickered with pain. I suddenly recalled his earlier words: "I have no choice."

At the same time, my mind conjured the black‑robed figure I had seen at Chen Zheng's ancestral home—mysterious and unfathomable, with strange powers. The black‑robed person excels at using insects, and Wu Fei has now become an insect‑fed corpse; could there be a connection between them?

This question is not the time to be answered; at least, given Wu Fei's stubbornness, he will certainly not tell me.

After a moment, I calmed my agitated chest and stared at Wu Fei, saying: "I know you won't tell me, but I hope you, considering we are fellow Yin Mountain Sect disciples, will treat my friends well. Tomorrow I will deliver the gold plaques on time."

I glanced at the two ice sculptures in the corner, then, worried, I reluctantly left the haunted house. Perhaps I should fight Wu Fei, hoping to defeat him and rescue Han Duo and Pangzi.

But after realizing Wu Fei was an insect‑fed corpse, I completely abandoned that idea. Wu Fei isn't frightening, yet the black‑robed person lurking in the shadows harbors too many unknowns; I don't know whether my intervention would implicate Han Duo and Pangzi.

After leaving the haunted house, I immediately ran to the street, went into a phone booth, and dialed Chen Zheng's number. As soon as the call connected, I shouted at Chen Zheng: "Brother Zheng, you must get that gold plaque to me before tonight—whether you smash or snatch it, be sure to pull it out of the safe and give it to me."

I didn't explain much, only telling Chen Zheng this was a matter of life and death. The key to his safe is in my hand, but a round‑trip to Aomen in one day is simply not enough time. I can only urge Chen Zheng to use any means possible to get the gold plaque into my hands.

I hailed a taxi that took me back to Chan Yi Hall. The first thing I did was pull from the cabinet the copper ruler my master had left me. I examined it closely and indeed found a seam in the middle; I poked a small knife into the two gaps and pried it open. With a clang, two square gold plaques fell from the ruler's interior, each bearing an ancient seal‑script character.

At that moment my hands and feet turned ice‑cold, as if struck by electricity; past events slowly replayed in my mind. Back in Aomen, QingSongShu had told me not to get involved in this affair, his face showing that strange expression.

When Elder Yang Qiye saw the ice corpse, his exposed face showed gravity and worry. Now, the copper ruler my master left me actually contains two gold plaques of the Wu Mu Legacy.

This means... the matter of the Wu Mu Legacy is known to Elder Yang Qiye, to QingSongShu, and to my missing master; only I and Pangzi, the junior disciples, have been kept in the dark.

My mind was in turmoil, unable to settle for a long time. I sat dazed in Chan Yi Hall for most of the night, yet I could not calm my confused heart.

QingSongShu and Elder Yang Qiye still hadn't appeared; I worried about Pangzi and Han Duo in the haunted house, and my anxiety grew. The next morning, the dust‑covered Chen Zheng and Fan Wuchang arrived at Chan Yi Hall.

The gate of Chan Yi Hall stood open; Chen Zheng and Fan Wuchang saw me at the entrance and walked in without hesitation.

"Hai Sheng, why are you so desperate for that gold plaque? What's happened?" Chen Zheng asked anxiously as soon as he entered the room, with Fan Wuchang and several trained aides close behind.

"Well, Pangzi and a friend of mine have been seized by a Yin Mountain Sect disciple; he wants the Wu Mu Legacy." I took the box from Chen Zheng's hand, pulled out the gold plaque, and added it to the ones I already had.

"Could it be related to that mysterious black‑robed person?" Chen Zheng's keen intuition matched my suspicion.

I nodded, then shook my head: "It's still too early to draw conclusions; all I can do is send over the gold plaques I have first and talk later."

Chen Zheng pondered for a moment, then got straight to the point: "What can I and Ah Chang do to help?"

I shook my head: "It's useless; this is a war among Daoists—even if you went, you couldn't help much."

"Tch, don't look down on us little gangsters. What's so special about Daoists? Even a top‑notch Daoist is still a person and still fears bullets," Fan Wuchang said, puffing on a cigarette, unconvinced: "Besides, don't forget I still have this in my hand."

He drew a military dagger from his pocket; seeing it, my eyes lit up instantly.

Exactly—he has this lethal weapon, and Chen Zheng is still a master of internal martial arts who has cultivated his force. Others might not be able to help much, but he and Chen Zheng together might.

Furthermore, Fan Wuchang makes a good point: we are merely mortals, and even high‑level spellcasters fear artillery shells. Perhaps the eerie arts and corpse control cannot be resisted by guns and cannons, but a corpse‑controlling spellcaster's flesh cannot be as insensate as a corpse.