Chapter 197: Swallowed

Xu Yuan raised his hand, and a patch of red rash appeared on the back of his hand, rapidly spreading up his arm.

Looking at the people around him, some had a greenish-black hue surging in their eyes, some had black veins like spiderwebs crawling across their faces, and some already had more than a dozen polyps like whisker-worms growing on their necks...

The surroundings were rapidly turning dark, but this was different from the time the sky leaked last time.

That time, absolute darkness descended in an instant; this time, Xu Yuan felt that something was isolating him and his subordinates from this world.

The people of Shanhe far away had already become nothing but blurred shadows.

But Xu Yuan still saw clearly that the female Captain of Laws, who had never shown herself, had stepped down from the carriage, was gazing toward his side, with a look of satisfaction on her face!

The Captains of Shanhe also noticed the abnormalities over at the Purification Bureau.

So a chorus of exclamations rose, and many instinctively rushed over, wanting to offer rescue.

Lady Fu Shuanghui did not stop them; she even gave Liang Yan a glance.

Liang Yan then strode out and shouted: "Do not panic! Listen to my command; work together to rescue our comrades from the Purification Bureau!"

With his command, the rescue operation indeed achieved nothing.

Lady Fu Shuanghui stood by the carriage the whole time, admiring it all.

Her lower body had already turned back into legs.

Yet there was still a certain "soft" sensation; she had only stood for a moment before she leaned sideways against the carriage, revealing a touch of "frail and sickly" charm.

Liang Yan returned with a face full of "grief," kneeling on one knee before Lady Fu Shuanghui: "Your subordinate is incompetent; I failed to rescue the comrades of the Purification Bureau."

Lady Fu Shuanghui then said coolly: "We did our best."

Only two Inspectors and another three or four Investigative Clerks who frequently handled matters for her knew of her plot.

The rest of Shanhe were kept in the dark.

So the "rescue" of the Purification Bureau still had to be acted out.

That way, it would be easier to brush things off when an investigation came later.

Liang Yan then stood up and said to his subordinates: "Continue digging open that ancient well; as long as we slay that evil spirit, we can still save them!"

The other Inspector, Wei Huchen, brought over the portly Investigative Clerk; Liang Yan exchanged places with him and went to the ancient well to supervise.

Lady Fu Shuanghui asked: "Ma Xinrong, is that hanging-eye rope tied yet?"

The portly Investigative Clerk Ma Xinrong said in a low voice: "My lord, rest assured; it was tied long ago. Your subordinate can now see everything that Di Youzhi sees."

Lady Fu Shuanghui smiled in satisfaction: "Good. The moment you see Xu Yuan die, you must inform this official, so this official can have a good laugh."

"As you command."

Lady Fu Shuanghui took a deep breath, feeling the village's air sweet and fragrant.

After plotting for so long, she had finally found an opportunity to defeat her opponent in one strike, just as her elder brother had taught her!

She added: "Have Liang Yan control the speed; do not dig so fast. Let those people of the Purification Bureau thrash around inside that thing's belly for a while first, to exhaust it."

"Yes." Ma Xinrong then went to find Liang Yan.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves came again from outside the village; Wei Huchen glanced over: "My lord, Wan Yun and the others have arrived. Should we... spare these people? If everyone from the Purification Bureau is dead, it will be hard to explain."

A clear disgust appeared on Lady Fu Shuanghui's face: "Spare what? Deal with them all together! That fool Wan Yun really thought this official held him in special regard?"

"Yes, your subordinate will handle it."

Wan Yun and his squad, even at full sprint, could not catch up; they arrived a bit late.

Every horse had reached its limit.

Their horses were not military horses after all, nor were they fed with great care; galloping full speed for seventy li was becoming too much for them.

Wei Huchen went over and, with just a few words, tricked Wan Yun onto the first open ground.

Xu Yuan and the others had already dug the stake pits here.

They quickly discovered the anomaly upon arriving, but it was already too late.

Lady Fu Shuanghui watched them again as they were "swallowed" by that evil spirit.

During this process, Wan Yun and the others panicked, crashing about in all directions, yet they could not escape at all.

Finally, just like Xu Yuan and the others before them, their forms slowly faded until they vanished completely from this world!

Lady Fu Shuanghui disdainfully gave Wan Yun an assessment: "A pitiful wretch."

Xu Yuan turned the medicinal pill, temporarily suppressing the red rash on the back of his hand.

In the darkness, his subordinates also felt their own abnormalities and began deploying methods to cope.

Xu Yuan secretly gripped the Yin-Yang Guillotine again.

Closing his left eye, he saw everything of the Yin World.

Surprisingly, no Yin ghosts were visible in this darkness.

So he closed his right eye and opened his left.

The Yin-Yang Guillotine's power dispelled the surrounding "illusion"; what Xu Yuan saw was a massive cavern of flesh and blood!

Deep front and back, with no end or origin visible.

The fleshy walls were covered with huge cavities and suckers.

"We have been... swallowed directly into the belly of something?"

Xu Yuan thought of those white bones: "Were they all swallowed by this thing, slowly digested within its body, and finally spat out as bones?"

"But why are there no Yin ghosts in this cavern of flesh and blood?"

"Have the wronged souls also been dissolved, or... has this thing not eaten people much before?"

Xu Yuan held the Yin-Yang Guillotine and walked toward the side.

He walked for several dozen zhang before finally reaching the base of the fleshy wall.

But in the eyes of Fu Jingyu and the others, they saw the Inspector taking three steps forward and five steps back, turning left and right, as if aimless, not knowing where he was going.

Xu Yuan had just reached the flesh wall, not yet had time to examine it closely, when suddenly the cavities opened and gushed out vast amounts of stinking, sticky fluid!

"Ah!" Di Youzhi screamed as some of the fluid splashed onto him.

Instantly, he felt searing pain—his skin burned away in chunks!

The fluid was highly corrosive.

"Stay back!" Xu Yuan shouted.

But the fluid kept spraying.

Suddenly, the front and back of the flesh cavern began to surge and contract, quickly sealing off both ends—everyone was trapped inside.

Then the fluid accumulated more and more, clearly intending to drown them all!

Xu Yuan remembered his previous experience of being swallowed by the Offering Temple.

"Come to me…"

Everyone immediately rushed toward Xu the Lord.

Yet though they were running straight for him, they kept moving farther away!

No matter how they walked, they could not reach Xu Yuan's side.

They had no Yin-Yang Guillotine; they could not break the surrounding "Illusion."

In their eyes, the flesh cavern was invisible—only darkness surrounded them.

Xu Yuan shouted again: "All Dan Xiu, burn with your Fu Zhong Huo!"

Di Youzhi was the first to spit fire at a patch of fluid.

"Fu—"

"Fu—"

"Fu—"

Flames shot out chaotically.

Two of them nearly burned Xu Yuan!

But at least some of the fluid was dried up, temporarily easing the crisis.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, but did not rashly unleash his own Fu Zhong Huo.

When others' Fu Zhong Huo struck Xu Yuan, their low level caused him little harm.

But if Xu Yuan unleashed his Fu Zhong Huo, others, unable to see through the "Illusion," might blindly run straight into the flames—and be reduced to ash on the spot.

Xu Yuan thought again, pulled out a silver note, reinforced it with merchant law, then shoved it unceremoniously into one of the cavities.

The note was worth two hundred taels, but it was not buying the demon's life, nor its ability to secrete fluid.

It was buying control over the cavities.

Two hundred taels—for a creature of such immense size—was all it could buy.

(End of Chapter)