Chapter 375: The Cruel Body Trick (Three-in-One)

This strange python had vines growing from its head and flowers blooming all over its body.

When Li Shu ordered several Rank Dan Xiu to dissect the corpse, they discovered again that this evil spirit's scales were as hard as rock.

"I understand..." Li Shu slapped his forehead: "This thing usually hides among the Stone Forest, standing its body upright, disguising itself as a stone..."

This was the first time they had encountered an evil spirit with such a "quirky" habit, and they all found it extremely astonishing.

But for Xu Yuan, it was nothing strange.

There was something similar in the mountains near Seven Grain Terrace Town.

The strange python was extremely thick, with its head lying flat on the ground reaching over a person's height.

Relatively speaking, its length was not very exaggerated, about five or six zhang.

Several Rank Dan Xiu activated their sword pills, and later ordered Wu Xiu to step forward to help; after a bit more than an hour, they completely dissected this massive corpse.

Skin, flesh, bones, internal organs, and so on were neatly arranged on a patch of ground, like pork sold in a butcher shop.

Li Shu and Rongrong observed carefully.

"Is something missing?" Li Shu asked.

Although he was elderly and experienced, there were indeed certain matters he understood less well than Rongrong, who followed the Princess Consort.

Rongrong's face wore a solemn expression; she said to Li Shu, "Have everyone withdraw thirty zhang away."

"Very well!"

After driving his subordinates away, Rongrong took out a lantern.

Upon seeing this lantern, Li Shu's face changed; he was very reluctant but could not refuse.

The lantern's cover was made of sheep horn.

The oil lamp inside had only a wick, no lamp oil.

Li Shu, his face full of heartache, released one of his Seventh-Rank Yin Soldiers.

Rongrong said, "One is probably not enough."

"Ah?"

Rongrong earnestly added, "Li Shu, this matter is of great importance!"

Li Shu had no choice but to take out another one.

The two Yin Soldiers were sent into the lantern; Rongrong lit the wick, and the Yin Soldiers painfully twisted and struggled, screaming silently, before being turned into lamp oil!

The lantern's light blazed intensely, so bright it made people unable to open their eyes.

The objects illuminated by the light, their shadows were sent back before the Princess Consort!

"Your Highness, please look." Rongrong held up the lantern, illuminating every part of the strange python's corpse.

The Princess Consort immediately distinguished: "All the parts are present; instead, a segment of the 'abnormal root' on that vine atop its head is missing.

Ordinary people would not even know that inside this evil spirit's body, there exists such a short segment of abnormal root."

Rongrong nodded: "Your Highness observes with the acuity of autumn."

That segment of abnormal root was only half a chi long, as thick as a finger.

Compared to the massive size of the strange python, it was indeed very easy to overlook.

For example, Li Shu; if you asked him to reassemble the corpse's various parts and then disassemble them, repeating this ten times, he still would not discover exactly what was missing.

Because he simply did not know that such a thing as an "abnormal root" existed.

The intense light consumed a huge amount; the two Seventh-Rank Yin Soldiers burned extremely quickly, and it was evident they were about to be exhausted.

The Princess Consort's voice came through in the final light: "That person... has already reached the step of growing horns.

Find him and bring him back..."

The light extinguished completely; the two Seventh-Rank Yin Soldiers that Li Shu had painstakingly captured and refined were exchanged for merely this brief period of remote communication lasting a dozen or so breaths.

But Rongrong felt it was worth it.

The Princess Consort had already given clear instructions.

"Have everyone scatter and search for traces in the surroundings!"

Xu Yuan and Tian Jing, working together, easily slew this strange python.

Xu Yuan intentionally took only that segment of "abnormal root."

After feeding such things to the Dragon-Transformation Art, it can promote the practitioner's "growing horns on the head."

And "growing horns on the head" is precisely the mark of advancing from Sixth-Rank to Fifth-Rank.

The Princess Consort can use this to determine the level of the person secretly practicing the Dragon-Transformation Art.

If he is still Sixth-Rank, Rongrong and Li Shu can handle him.

Calculating it, this is normal: if one counts the time since the Dragon-Transformation Art was lost from the moment of Lady Fu Shuanghui's death, it has been merely two months.

This hidden culprit, having obtained many supplements from Lady Fu Shuanghui and Fu Chongjiu, reaching Sixth-Rank was indeed the limit.

The Princess Consort entrusted this matter to Rongrong and Li Shu; although she felt it was sufficient, her heart was still not entirely at ease.

After thinking for a moment, she gave another order: "Xiao Si, you need not guard by my side; go to support Rongrong."

Xiao Si shared the same origin as Xiao Wu and was already Fifth-Rank.

"Your Highness, if I leave, there will not be enough people by your side."

"Rest assured, there is also Seventeenth Uncle providing covert support."

Xiao Si made no further sound; the Princess Consort knew he had accepted the order and departed.

The Princess Consort could not enter Ghost Wushan for the time being, because she feared that Lord Ruan Tian.

The family generals of the Xiang Wang Fu across generations are addressed by numbers.

The previous generation's family generals were addressed as "Uncle."

An earlier generation was called "Ye."

Nowadays, in the Wang Fu, only one "Ye"-generation retainer remains.

Rongrong and Li Shu quickly discovered some traces, then followed them.

Xu Yuan watched the Shi Lin from afar, quietly.

Seeing the lantern emit a brilliant light.

Inside the red-wood, brass ear-houses, he heard Rongrong conversing with someone—he immediately guessed the lantern's purpose.

My Lord Xu was overjoyed.

If this team could communicate with the Princess at any time, they could relay any "clues" they found to her instantly.

With the Princess controlling all their movements, she would follow his arrangement, step by step confirming that the person secretly practicing the "Dragon-Transformation Art" was hiding in Ghost Wushan.

Only then could she be lured into Ghost Wushan.

The continuation of the "Dragon-Transformation Art" he desired now rested on the Princess!

Tian Jing watched Rongrong and the others follow the clues My Lord Xu deliberately left, heading straight for a certain place, and couldn't help asking, "My Lord, will this method work?"

Xu Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Reality and illusion, illusion and reality; reality within reality, illusion within illusion."

Rongrong and the others quickly discovered a hut.

This hut belonged to Gao Guanzi.

Since My Lord Xu said he needed it, Gao Guanzi naturally contributed it without hesitation.

There were some arrangements inside the hut; Li Shu took one look and said, "This place has been inhabited year-round. According to A Chong's account, this is where mountain runners stay overnight in the mountains."

"That person must be colluding with a certain mountain runner."

Li Shu recalled those memories from A Chong's soul.

"This place is very close to Gao Family Village; it is highly likely that mountain runner named Gao Guanzi."

Rongrong scrutinized everything inside the hut, snorted coldly, and said, "After capturing that person, we will wipe out Gao Family Village too!"

She hadn't even left the mountains yet, and had already decided to exterminate two villages.

Some "twisting" traces left inside the hut.

These were made by Tian Jing at Xu Yuan's instruction.

They looked as if...

... in a dream, "snake form" suddenly appeared, leaving marks of constant rolling and twisting.

"It's a sure thing!" Rongrong rejoiced in her heart; this time, this lady would make a great contribution: "Go capture that Gao Guanzi."

The traces outside the hut were chaotic.

Tracking was no longer possible.

Rongrong immediately made a decision: capture Gao Guanzi directly and pry the whereabouts of that person from his mouth.

Tian Jing followed My Lord Xu, still secretly observing all of this.

He still remembered how yesterday, when My Lord Xu found Gao Guanzi, he didn't mention any matter, but repeatedly promised benefits, all of which could be fulfilled immediately.

For example: all mountain goods from Gao Family Village would be purchased at Qi He Tai for fifty percent more than in other villages!

But this extra fifty percent would be settled separately.

Paid by Tian Jing and Jiao.

In other words, this money came from My Lord Xu personally.

It could be exchanged for anything.

Another example: if newborn infants in the village wanted to be sent outside the mountains to be raised, Xu Yuan could arrange it.

But the prerequisite was that the child must be checked and found to have no "problems."

Another example: regular supplies of medicine pills to cleanse contamination could be provided...

Gao Guanzi had only heard three points before cold sweat poured down him; he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to My Lord Xu: "My Lord, please stop speaking first. What do you need me, Old Gao, to do? Say it first, so I, Old Gao, can weigh it myself and see if this life can be sold to you."

Xu Yuan then explained that he was a part of the "self-harm stratagem" in the entire plan.

Gao Guanzi gritted his teeth: "Can all the conditions Your Lordship mentioned be fulfilled?"

"If you do not trust this official, you should be able to trust Bai Laoyan. He is the witness to this matter, supervising this official's fulfillment of these promises."

Gao Guanzi gave a bitter smile: "Gou Ride sold me out."

Bai Laoyan knew Gao Guanzi had already passed all his skills to his son.

As long as he accumulated more than ten years of experience, his son could take over and become the new mountain runner of Gao Family Village.

Therefore, Gao Guanzi was a suitable candidate.

Xu Yuan shook his head: "It is not that he betrayed you. If you are unwilling to do it, this official certainly will not force you. This official is merely offering the benefits properly; the senior chooses for himself."

Gao Guanzi gritted his teeth again and made another request: "Find a woman outside for my son to have a grandson; this will be the first child raised outside our Gao Family Village."

A normal woman brought from outside, the grandson born from her would very likely be a normal person.

Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment and reluctantly agreed: "It can be done. If the opportunity is suitable, this official will arrange it."

Gao Guanzi kowtowed again: "Good, I, Old Gao, have no more requests; this life is sold to Your Lordship."

Xu Yuan shook his head: "Not so exaggerated; life and death... each has a fifty percent chance."

A Chong had never been to Gao Family Village, because Gao Family Village lay deep within Ghost Wushan.

He had only heard someone give a general direction.

Rongrong led people to search in that direction.

Halfway, they "happened" to meet Gao Guanzi, who had come out hunting.

Gao Guanzi fled for his life.

He acted with great effort.

He was better at archery; he shot all thirty-six arrows he carried, killed two of Rongrong's subordinates, and was only captured after one of his legs was broken.

At first, he was very stubborn, enduring severe torture without confessing.

Later, Rongrong threatened the entire Gao family village and produced Master Ruan Tian's warrant, proving she absolutely had the power to massacre the village.

Only then did Gao Guanzi yield, answering every question.

Xu Yuan, watching from the shadows, felt that Old Gao was not only risking his life but also exerting great effort.

With this entire operation, let alone Rongrong and Li Shu, even he himself would have believed it.

Rongrong asked a question, and Gao Guanzi answered.

She asked when that person had arrived at Ghost Wushan.

Gao Guanzi replied: "About a month ago."

Rongrong calculated in her heart; it was the time Fu Chongjiu was killed.

She asked what special abilities that person possessed.

Gao Guanzi answered: "He controls thunder and spits out lightning. He can also summon clouds and rain on a small scale."

Rongrong became even more certain: these were all the abilities of Fu Chongjiu's "Fish Becomes Dragon."

Afterward, there were some repeated interrogations on details, all of which could corroborate from the side.

The person who fled into Ghost Wushan obtained the "Dragon Transformation Method" from Fu Chongjiu; it was even possible that Fu Chongjiu himself had laid a solid foundation for his own "Dragon Transformation Method."

Rongrong formed her own speculation: according to Xu Yuan's report in the official document, Fu Chongjiu was knocked into the Grand Canal and met his end in the mouth of an evil spirit.

That is to say, no corpse was found.

This person very likely happened to dredge up Fu Chongjiu's corpse from the river.

The more Rongrong thought about it, the more she felt the truth must be so.

Her deduction was very reasonable and could not be wrong.

Yet she did not know this was precisely the result Xu Yuan had intentionally orchestrated.

Xu Yuan's layout this time was to let Rongrong and Li Shu investigate step by step on their own and discover the so-called truth.

People are all like this; they are more willing to believe what they have investigated and analyzed themselves.

What others tell them, they tend to harbor doubts about in their hearts.

And Gao Guanzi's answers were actually trying to "clear" Xu Yuan of suspicion as much as possible.

If the "Dragon Transformation Method" was not obtained from Lady Fu Shuanghui but from Fu Chongjiu, Xu Yuan's suspicion would appear slightly reduced.

As for whether it would have any effect, whether the Princess Consort would let Xu Yuan go because of this...

Trying it would cost nothing.

What if it worked?

After the interrogation was mostly over, Li Shu took over: "What is that person's name?"

"I don't know either; he never told me. He said he offended nobles outside the mountain, so he risked hiding in the mountains. Knowing his name would do me no good, and I thought that made sense."

Gao Guanzi stared with wide eyes, one eye socket bruised and swollen.

"That guy didn't lie to me; aren't you chasing into the mountains now?"

Li Shu frowned: "Why did you protect him?"

"He also promised me that if we survived this calamity, he would give our village a huge reward in the future. Most importantly, I know very well that if you cannot find him, I am still useful and can still live.

Once you find him, I will surely die."

Gao Guanzi proudly raised his head: "Did I say anything wrong?"

Li Shu snorted coldly and did not answer.

Rongrong gave Li Shu a glance, and the two moved aside.

Rongrong asked in a low voice: "Can we really not kill him to interrogate his soul?"

Li Shu shook his head: "This person is heavy with yin energy; if you kill him, his soul will immediately turn sinister."

Rongrong sighed regretfully: "Let him take us to find the person."

"Good."

Li Shu returned before Gao Guanzi, pressed one nostril, and blew outward.

A pitch-black yin soldier, swelling and floating like a bubble, emerged.

This was a sixth-rate yin soldier; with a whoosh, it pounced onto Gao Guanzi's back.

"Take us to find him," Li Shu said coldly. "Do not dream of escaping; you have no chance at all."

Gao Guanzi stood up unsteadily.

That yin soldier on his back, by some unknown sinister technique, though merely a dark shadow, made him feel as if he were carrying a mountain!

Gao Guanzi then led them through the gloomy and terrifying mountains.

Winding left and right, estimating the time was about right, he finally brought them to a place of dead silence.

Within a radius of twenty li, there was not a single sound.

The trees grew twisted and deformed, casting various monstrous, ferocious shadows in Lin Zi.

But there were no birds, no small beasts, not even a single insect in the forest.

Rongrong and Li Shu were somewhat puzzled; this place was too eerie.

Even within Ghost Wushan, it was far too unusual.

Li Shu shifted his thought, and the yin soldier suddenly became infinitely heavy.

With a bang, it pressed Gao Guanzi crashing into the ground.

"What trick are you playing!?"

Gao Guanzi forced out a reply: "What is there to fear? You hold the ticket of that person; the evil spirits in this mountain dare not lay a hand on you."

Rongrong and Li Shu felt this was indeed the logic, but their hearts still felt uneasy.

"How could that person be hiding here?"

"I don't know either," Gao Guanzi said, "Besides my hut, the place he visits most often is a lake ahead."

"I guess... he might be using this place to cultivate?"

"A lake?" Certain stages of the Dragon Transformation Method indeed require cultivation in water.

Rongrong thought for a moment: "Keep moving."

The heavy feeling on Gao Guanzi's back weakened considerably, and he struggled to his feet to continue leading the way.

Another four or five li ahead, the dense forest suddenly vanished, revealing a small lake.

The lake was not large, its water a gloomy, dark green.

The surface was extremely calm; even under the mountain wind, not a single ripple appeared.

It made one suspect this was not water at all, but a massive piece of glazed glass.

Li Shu observed carefully and found the shape of the lake somewhat strange.

It looked somewhat like a maple leaf, or perhaps... a giant claw!

Gao Guanzi was also very nervous; among the group, only he knew this place was the former Qidou Village.

This place was eerie and perilous.

Neither he nor Bai Laoyan had ever approached this lake so closely.

Back then, Qidou Village vanished overnight, leaving only a giant claw mark.

It was as if something had grabbed the entire village and snatched it away.

Afterwards, some villages that had once had good relations with Qidou Village sent their mountain runners to investigate the situation.

Three mountain runners in succession disappeared here for no apparent reason.

Later, when this place became a lake, a mountain runner once saw a mad "Yu" trying to occupy this place.

It dove into the lake, swam just two circles, and then suddenly seemed to be seized by some invisible, colossal entity.

Afterward, it was dragged away to some unknown place.

That Yu never appeared in the mountains again!

My Lord chose this place because it might be the only spot in Ghost Wushan daring enough to attack the holder of Master Ruan Tian's ticket.

Or perhaps, the thing secretly lurking here has no conceptual understanding of so-called Ghost Wushan or Master Ruan Tian.

Gao Guanzi's eyes darted about, wondering if the Lord's arrangement was complete?

The lake surface was so calm; there was absolutely no sign of it.

Rongrong glanced at Gao Guanzi sinisterly and asked, "You go find him."

Gao Guanzi did not want to go, but the Yin Soldier on his back had already extended two cold claws; one gripped his throat, the other pressed on the top of his head.

The claw tips were like blades.

Gao Guanzi could only walk forward step by step, pretending to be very familiar with the place, and stopped twenty zhang from the lakeside—he truly dared not get any closer.

Gao Guanzi called out, "Brother..."

There was no movement in the lake water.

Rongrong and Li Shu immediately grew suspicious—

But immediately after, the lake water rippled slightly.

Something beneath the surface seemed to be rising upward.

Rongrong and Li Shu, hidden in the woods, suddenly widened their eyes.

Especially Li Shu.

His Sixth-Grade Yin Soldier was lying on Gao Guanzi's back.

The Yin Soldier's eyes were his eyes.

He saw it a step before Rongrong: a dragon-shaped object rising from the water's surface!

"That fellow is really cultivating in the lake!" The thought arose in both their minds simultaneously.

Li Shu grabbed the restless Rongrong: "Wait for him to come out! If we startle him and he sinks into the water, it will be harder to deal with."

The "dragon" in the lake, however, seemed to sense something.

Just as it was about to surface completely, it suddenly paused, then swiftly sank back toward the water's surface.

"Not good!" Li Shu shouted: "Act!"

He rushed out of the woods first.

Rongrong and the others followed, leaping out together and diving toward the lake.

While Rongrong was sprinting, she flicked her hand.

A glittering fishing net was cast out, swiftly covering the dragon-shaped object in the lake.

This fishing net was far superior to Lady Fu Shuanghui's.

Splash! The fishing net hit the water and swiftly closed in on the dragon-shaped object.

Seeing that the thing was about to be unable to escape, Rongrong's heart surged with joy: A great achievement!

Swish—

The fishing net covered the thing.

But the thing refused to submit, struggling within the net and continuing to dive toward the lake bottom.

Rongrong's heart was already steady: "You can't escape!"

This fishing net was specially forged by the Fu family to catch dragon-kind.

Her net was further reinforced by master artisans from Nan Du.

Once trapped, none below the Fourth Flow can escape.

Li Shu flared both nostrils wide, spewing a gale that unleashed twelve ghost soldiers.

These ghost soldiers were led by a Sixth Flow great ghost, clad in artisan-crafted battle armor, highly disciplined.

The twelve ghosts charged together toward the lake.

The rest surged out in a frenzied mob.

The once-silent lakeshore instantly descended into chaos.

At this critical moment, Li Shu still remembered the great ghost on Gao Guanzi's back.

With a thought, the yin soldier dug its claws in, slicing open Gao Guanzi's throat and piercing his skull!

Gao Guanzi crashed to the ground with a thud.

Blood quickly pooled beneath him.

The yin soldier soared into the air, following Li Shu toward the lake.

Yet Gao Guanzi suddenly rose to his feet and bolted wildly into the forest.

His body differed from that of a normal person.

The head on his neck was merely decorative.

Or rather, it was meant to hold his ears.

Gao Guanzi plunged into the woods without pausing a moment—his decades of survival among mountain dangers had honed his instinct: something was about to emerge!

Above the lake's surface, the very space twisted violently.

Within a twenty-li radius, this silent zone suddenly brimmed with an intensely furious, repulsive emotion.

As if this void had been sleeping—and had just been violently awakened.

Those rushing toward the lake suddenly felt themselves flung skyward.

Then their entire bodies were crushed by an awful, invisible force.

As if gripped by a colossal claw and squeezed tight.

Puff!

Not flesh and blood spraying—rather, they vanished entirely from this mortal world.

Gone without a trace.

Not even a shred of their soul remained.

Li Shu was also snatched into the sky, all his yin soldiers seized at once.

Li Shu screamed desperately: "Ticket voucher, ticket voucher—"

Rong Rong raised the ticket voucher high, displaying it to the entire void.

But the void showed no reaction—as if it did not recognize the thing at all.

Puff!

Li Shu vanished too.

Rong Rong's eyes widened in terror, her orange-red lips trembling: "How… how dare you? This is Master Ruan Tian's ticket voucher…"

Before she finished speaking, she and the last few survivors were snatched into the air with a whoosh.

As she still had control, Rong Rong rapidly extended the nail on her right index finger to a foot long, then—shhh! —stabbed it into her left eye!

Her left eye burst like a bubble.

Everything seen through this eye would appear in the Princess's eyes!

Immediately after, she too vanished with a puff from this mortal world.

Yet her dying trickery was also snatched by something.

No one knows how many images will reach the Princess.

Around them, silence returned abruptly.

Xu Yuan's Pi Long quietly sank to the lake's bottom.

Far away, ten li from the lake, Xu Yuan's forehead glistened with cold sweat.

Using the Pi Long to disguise himself as one who had cultivated the Dragon Transformation Scripture truly deceived Rong Rong and Li Shu—this was a crucial step in the plan, necessary to lure the Princess.

But after Xu Yuan's strange appearance in Qidou Village, he quietly gripped the Yin-Yang Guillotine.

The Pi Long could share all of Xu Yuan's tricks.

What he saw through his right eye shook Xu Yuan to his core…

(End of Chapter)