Chapter 402: Doll Nesting (Three-in-One)

"Crack-crack-crack—"

Lightning snakes danced wildly.

Each one was as thick as an arm.

Countless tiny sparks of lightning spread everywhere in the damp air.

Fu Songyu's control over "lightning" far surpassed Fu Chongjiu's; 借着 the spreading sparks, no longer needing Fu Hongyu's instructions, he could already see through the "Dragon Spits Mirage" and easily located the position of that black shadow.

The black shadow was also cunning, like a slippery loach that could not be grasped.

Using all sorts of methods, it forced a path to survival right out of the pincer attack between Fu Songyu and Fu Bai Zhou!

"This thing can no longer be considered human!" Fu Songyu shouted: "Besides the 'Dragon Transformation Art', it possesses other powers on its body."

By this point in the battle, they still had not seen the true face of that black shadow.

Fu Bai Zhou grew even more irritable: "Kill it quickly! Lest the night grows long and dreams multiply!"

No words needed to be spoken; the two brothers understood each other perfectly.

If Luo Gongqiao from behind were to arrive, four fourth-tier experts would surround and kill.

After killing this rascal, who knows whether Luo Gongqiao and the others would obtain the 'Dragon Transformation Art' from this black shadow?

The Fu family still had no way to openly investigate Luo Gongqiao.

Therefore, it was best for the two of them to directly kill this rascal.

That black shadow writhed in the night, its body strong and powerful like a great python, often lunging and charging a hundred zhang away in a single bound.

Fu Songyu condensed a bolt of lightning, secretly hiding it in the palm of his left hand.

At this moment, his left hand had become incredibly thick and muscular; rough dragon scales grew on the skin, his five fingertips were sharp, and it had already transformed into a dragon claw!

Fu Songyu calculated the black shadow's position precisely, and the left hand hidden behind his back suddenly shot out.

Just like a thunder dragon extending its claw!

Lightning crashed down with a boom—

However, this strike that was certain to succeed suddenly changed course midway, bypassing the black shadow's body and smashing into a large tree ten zhang away.

The large tree was instantly pulverized, turning into a rain of burning fire that scattered everywhere.

Although the black shadow was also caught in the blast and flew sideways for more than ten zhang, it actually suffered no injury; it burrowed into the ground and disappeared again.

Fu Songyu suddenly widened his eyes: "This rascal is so cunning! He also cultivates lightning, but has been holding back, dodging this strike at the critical moment."

Just now, that bolt of lightning was diverted to the side at the critical moment, which was the work of the black shadow acting secretly.

The black shadow cultivates lightning, but knowing its own attainment must be far inferior to Fu Songyu's, it had been holding back and never revealed itself.

Fu Hongyu pointed his dragon tail at a certain spot on the ground; Fu Bai Zhou roared and lunged forward dragging a great hammer.

That black shadow had already burst out from the ground in another location and dove straight into the forest.

"Pursue!"

Gao Wanli did not dare to follow.

Not only her, but everyone including Xu Yuan remained in place, panting continuously.

Everyone looked at each other, inevitably feeling somewhat awkward.

No one dared or wanted to pursue to assist in the battle.

Xu Yuan suddenly spoke: "We shall remain here to support my lord Luo Gongqiao!"

Zhu Zhanlei secretly raised his thumb; it had to be my brother Xu!

Even when shirking battle and refusing to advance, one could find such a perfectly suitable excuse.

This way, no one felt awkward anymore.

Gao Wanli quietly breathed a sigh of relief; for the first time in her life, she felt a sliver of goodwill toward Xu Yuan.

Gao Wanli truly did not dare to continue pursuing.

Last time, they kept pursuing and pursuing, only to crash headlong into the poisonous mist of the Copper Coffin Cliff evil spirits...

Zhu Zhanlei suddenly remembered: "Where is the Dragon Sickness? Quickly help me find it; if it is truly lost, Xu... Miaozhi will certainly not let me off."

Zhu Zhanlei roughly remembered the direction where he had dropped it just now, so he immediately went that way to search.

Xu Yuan also followed: "I will go with you."

A Corpse Spar landed silently, hopping stiffly on the ground until it finally saw the piece of "meat" lying there.

Just as it was about to pick it up, it suddenly discovered that countless black illusory threads were condensing and gathering from the void.

One of them even tried to drill into its brain!

The Corpse Spar was startled and quickly hopped aside.

But those threads pursued closely, as if they had set their sights on it.

The Corpse Spar was greatly alarmed: What kind of evil spirit is this?!

It completely forgot that it was also one of the evil spirits.

It flapped its wings and flew high; those threads were slow, so it finally shook them off.

The Corpse Spar looked down and saw that on the ground, those black illusory threads were increasing in number, drilling one by one into that piece of meat.

And even more threads continued to drift over.

This process lasted for a full stick of incense time.

Afterwards, that piece of meat began to move, and soon transformed into a pitch-black, ferocious little dragon!

Seeing it, the Corpse Spar felt this thing was not to be trifled with; it chirped and flew away, feeling very afraid; if it did not complete the King's mission, how could it explain its return...

The Leather Puppet Dragon had been indicating the location in the high sky for Fu Songyu and Fu Bai Zhou.

But suddenly, Fu Songyu felt the golden fine chain in his hand move...

And then he could no longer sense Fu Hongyu's presence.

Fu Songyu muttered "This is bad," looked up, and saw the golden fine chain falling from the high sky, with only a small segment of the leather puppet dragon's tail hanging from it!

Fu Bai Zhou also noticed the anomaly: "What happened?"

Fu Songyu, his face grim, said: "Fu Hongyu has escaped!"

"What?!"

After all, this secret method was imperfect, so this blunder occurred.

Fu Songyu retracted the golden fine chain and said: "Let's not worry about him for now; even if he escapes within Ghost Wushan, his ultimate fate will be to become an evil spirit."

Then he continued to pursue the black shadow.

Fu Bai Zhou shook his head repeatedly: "Why bother? Being in the hands of one's own people is better than being eaten by an evil spirit."

The leather puppet dragon struggled, flew to Long E's side, and crashed down.

It could no longer hold on.

It had severed its own dragon tail; although it escaped, its injuries were extremely heavy.

It fell beside Long E, who had already been transformed into a ferocious little black dragon by "Nian Sheng."

The little black dragon immediately came over and bit down on the severed dragon tail; the remaining dragon soul of Fu Hongyu then all drilled into Long E.

Fu Hongyu roughly checked his own condition, his heart feeling extremely heavy.

Along the way, the dragon soul had constantly leaked "Nian Sheng," and combined with "severing the tail to save one's life," he had already lost two or three tenths of his essence.

For a soul, this was a trauma extremely difficult to recover from.

"No matter what, I have at least escaped. This Long E comes from a jiao dragon, very suitable for my dragon soul to parasitize; I will surely think of a way in the future..."

Fu Hongyu looked around, moved all four claws quickly, and ran low along the ground.

He knew deeply that if he were controlled by "one's own people," he would have no chance whatsoever.

Forever being leashed like a dog by others, until his dragon soul was completely worn away.

He drilled into the dense forest, but suddenly stepped on something; immediately, with a "whoosh," he was completely wrapped up and plunged into darkness.

He was terrified, struggling and tearing desperately, but whatever was wrapping him up, he had never encountered before; no matter how he tore, it was extremely tough, deforming but not tearing.

"What is going on..."

On a nearby tree, something suddenly moved.

When still, it could not be seen at all; only when it moved did it reveal a human form.

Gao Guanzi slunk down furtively; his clothes were similar to Bai Laoyan's feather cloak, allowing him to perfectly conceal himself within the mountain forest.

Gao Guanzi picked up the leather pill, quickly drilled into the depths of the forest, found a spot, and crawled down again.

Zhu Zhanlei wandered nearby for quite a while, puzzled: "It was clearly dropped right here, so why can't I find it..."

Xu Yuan suddenly saw something and pointed, saying: "What is that?"

The two of them approached carefully together.

On the ground lay a leather puppet dragon with a broken tail!

"The Fu family?!" Zhu Zhanlei suddenly realized: "This is too much! If you want Long E, go ask Xu Miao for it; why are you framing me?!

Do you think the Zhu family is easy to bully?"

Just now, when Fu Songyu released this leather puppet dragon, everyone saw it.

Zhu Zhanlei stepped forward to take the leather puppet dragon; this was evidence, and after the operation ended, he would argue with the Fu family based on reason.

"Brother Xu, you must testify for me..."

Da Fu suddenly rushed out from behind Xu Yuan, got in front of Zhu Zhanlei, and pecked the leather puppet dragon viciously.

Zhu Zhanlei panicked greatly: "Lord Da Fu, this is evidence; you cannot eat it..."

Da Fu did not eat it; instead, he pecked the leather puppet dragon viciously several more times.

Xu Yuan held Zhu Zhanlei back: "Don't go over there yet; something is not right!"

The leather puppet dragon suddenly began to wriggle!

Da Fu continued pecking.

From the severed tail of the leather puppet dragon, a ferocious poisonous insect drilled out!

The poisonous insect extended six insect whiskers, each five feet long; hanging from each whisker was a gloomy and ruthless infant ghost!

Two sharp fangs constantly opened and closed, dripping poison!

Da Fu, without hesitation, ate it in one bite.

The poisonous insect evil spirit had no power to resist before Da Fu.

But it gave Zhu Zhanlei a fright!

Just now, he had wanted to pick up the leather puppet dragon without any defense; if he had been bitten by this poisonous insect... the consequences would be unimaginable!

Judging from the posture of this poisonous insect, its poison was not merely targeting the body but would also poison the soul!

Soul injuries are the most difficult to heal.

Zhu Zhanlei's knees went soft, and he almost knelt before Lord Da Fu.

"I will sell three thousand female geese for you back home; I will surely make Lord Da Fu's harem have three thousand beauties!"

Zhu Zhanlei offered the highest etiquette of the decadent circle.

Da Fu blinked dumbly with a pair of empty, lifeless eyes, not knowing what he was saying.

Xu Yuan released the beast sinew rope again, tested the leather puppet dragon several times, confirmed there were no problems, and then rolled it up to hand to Zhu Zhanlei: "Keep it safe."

My Lord Xu also muttered in his heart, "Good thing I didn't place my hopes on the corpse sparrow."

Another pí dān was released.

But as Fu Hongyu had just shed his pí ǒu dragon, a terrifying poison insect slithered in—there were simply too many evil spirits in Ghost Wushan.

Tian Jing volunteered to send the Corpse Crow to carry away the Long Ke for Lord Xu.

The Corpse Crow is small in target; if successful, it will be utterly undetected.

Xu Yuan did not object.

But he couldn't help feeling… the Corpse Crows had never been very reliable.

During the brawl between the Fu family and Tian Jing, Gao Guanzi had been overlooked.

Xu Yuan secretly found Gao Guanzi, handed him the pí dān, and instructed him to search for the Long Ke as well.

Gao Guanzi arrived a step too late—Fu Hongyu had already seized the Long Ke.

Gao Guanzi did not act rashly, fearing he was no match for Fu Hongyu, so he set a trap using Lord Xu's pí dān.

You see, setting snares and laying traps—those are the mountain folk's specialty.

…

Zhu Zhanlei, furious, carried the pí ǒu dragon back to the original spot with Xu Yuan, where Gao Wanli and the others were still waiting.

Zhu Zhanlei was about to curse the Fu family when suddenly, from far ahead, came a thunderous boom, followed by a terrifying aura sweeping over them like a storm!

Everyone present felt every hair on their body stand on end!

Gao Wanli turned ashen, her heart screaming: It's that evil spirit again!

She lost all control, forgot her excuse of "awaiting Lord Luo here," and turned to flee back the way she came.

The ground's trembling only now began to ripple endlessly toward them.

"What the hell?!" Zhu Zhanlei shouted, then his legs seemed to have minds of their own, following Gao Wanli in retreat.

Xu Yuan shoved him hard: "Stop posing—run!"

The group fled in wild panic.

The three Captains of Shanhe Corps turned ashen.

Whatever Fu Songyu and Fu Bai Zhou had encountered ahead, they could not possibly withstand it.

Farther away, over ten li distant, Luo Gongqiao and Shen Chen were rapidly closing in on Fu Songyu and Fu Bai Zhou.

To ensure the killer of the Princess Consort was lured in, they could arrive at the battlefield immediately and surround and kill him.

But as soon as this massive disturbance erupted, the two Fourth-Rankers abruptly halted.

Luo Gongqiao and Shen Chen exchanged a glance; Luo Gongqiao ordered the others: "The evil spirit is too powerful—withdraw from Ghost Wushan at once.

I and Lord Shen will go to assist Fu Songyu."

"Yes, my lord." Behind Miao Yu and the other two bowed deeply, then turned and retreated.

The two Fourth-Rankers surged forward four or five li, confirmed that Behind Miao Yu and the others could no longer see them, then split and darted off in opposite directions.

They circled wide, avoiding the terrifying evil spirit ahead, fleeing at top speed.

As for assisting Fu Songyu? Good luck to you two, Fu family.

That murderous aura rising to the heavens—no Fourth-Ranker could handle it.

We serve the court—we've done our duty.

No need to die for it.

But before their subordinates, the two lords still had to put on a show.

…

In the black night, Gao Wanli fled in disarray, panicked and directionless, 只想逃命, and unconsciously lost sight of Zhu Zhanlei and the others.

Gao Wanli didn't care.

She was a Sixth-Rank Artisan cultivator—she had means to protect herself in Ghost Wushan.

"Last time I escaped; this time I'll live too!"

Being with Zhu Zhanlei and the others might even drag her down.

After all, Zhu Zhanlei was a waste, and those three Shanhe Corps Captains weren't skilled either.

Suddenly, her foot caught on something, and she fell hard to the ground.

Immediately, a red rope snaked around her neck.

A voice laughed happily: "Caught it! Caught it! Bodhisattva has mercy—we've been childless for decades, and now we've finally caught a little one!"

Another woman's voice was equally delighted: "It's a plump little girl—perfect…"

Gao Wanli tugged desperately at the red rope, but found her body had grown rigid.

When she pulled harder, a series of cracking sounds echoed from her arms.

Before her appeared a pair of clay figurines, their faces painted in garish makeup, mouths stretched wide in grins reaching their ears.

They were an old couple, lovingly clinging together, heads touching, shoulders pressed side by side.

The old man held a red rope in his hand.

The red rope tightened around Gao Wanli's neck, and her body slowly turned into a clay statue.

Meanwhile, the old couple gradually transformed into living beings.

If Gao Wanli moved any more, her clay body would shatter.

Gao Wanli stopped moving, but she wasn't panicked—she summoned a hand cannon.

The barrel was carved with a sinister demonic face.

But after thinking, she made the hand cannon vanish—she couldn't use this Artisan artifact; the recoil might snap her arms.

Instead, a fishing rod appeared; a thin line flew out, the hook aiming for the old couple.

If it caught, she could reverse the "vitality" she had sent through the red rope back to them, drawing it back through the fishing line.

But just as the fishing hook was about to hit its target, something slashed through the darkness, and the fishing line snapped!

Gao Wanli cursed bitterly in her heart, yet immediately retracted the fishing rod and swapped it for a pure gold wine pot.

The wine pot tilted—

But what poured from its spout was not wine, but a bolt of lightning!

Not only could the "Dragon Transformation Method" control lightning; Gao Wanli knew Westerners had long been studying thunder and lightning.

The New Artisans possessed many artifacts capable of releasing lightning.

But suddenly, a fine rain rushed toward her face.

With a crack, the lightning scattered and spread everywhere within the rainwater.

It indeed struck that old couple, but it also affected herself!

Gao Wanli discovered cracks already appearing on her body; she gritted her teeth and retracted the wine pot.

With a few more bolts of lightning, whether the old couple would be split apart was unknown, but she definitely could not endure it.

"Clay statues fear water." Thinking of this, Gao Wanli took out a small box.

She tossed it onto the ground; the box opened, and various mechanical structures within sprang forth, clattering as they transformed into a water wheel.

The water wheel turned, channeling a Dahe river straight toward the old couple.

But suddenly, a flame fell from the darkness.

It rapidly evaporated the river water!

Gao Wanli ground her teeth and asked the surrounding darkness, "Xu Yuan?"

If the previous two instances could be attributed to evil spirits causing trouble, this fire was clearly the Fu Zhong Huo of a Rank Dan Xiu!

Moreover, being able to rapidly boil dry a Dahe river indicated a high-level Rank Dan Xiu.

Who else could it be but Xu Yuan?

Then the first time cutting her fishing line must have been Xu Yuan's sword pill.

But the second time, the wet rain... what was it?

Gao Wanli could not guess; it must be some hidden technique of that rascal.

She questioned aloud, but the darkness remained silent.

Instead, that old couple vaguely sensed something and continued smiling happily, saying, "We have eaten vegetarian food and chanted scriptures for decades; our sincerity has finally moved the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva not only blessed us to catch a chubby child but also sent a Heavenly Dragon from his retinue to protect us..."

Although they spoke thus, the smiles on their faces appeared increasingly sinister and cold.

Gao Wanli gritted her teeth and continued to drive the water wheel; the river water gushed forth, but the flames grew even more fierce.

Suddenly, a shadow was flung from the darkness, and with a slap, it struck the water wheel.

The three-zhang-high water wheel was actually smashed to pieces!

Gao Wanli was startled; although the shadow moved with extreme speed, she still saw clearly that it was a tail, somewhat like a crocodile, and somewhat like... a dragon tail!

"Not Xu Yuan?"

Gao Wanli was filled with horror: "Then what evil spirit is this?! Today... I fear escape is impossible..."

Her hair bun suddenly moved, and a centipede crawled out!

Half flesh and blood, half mechanical.

This was her life-saving artifact, accounting for a large portion of her life's weight.

The centipede crawled onto the red thread and began biting fiercely.

As long as it bit through this thread, it would sever the connection between herself and the old couple.

In the darkness, a flash of lightning suddenly appeared.

Hiss—

The centipede glowed brightly, and its flesh-and-blood portion was burned to a crisp.

This centipede was exquisite and could be hidden within a hair bun.

It could save one's life in critical moments.

But the reason Gao Wanli dared not use it lightly was precisely this: exquisite meant not sturdy enough.

Once this final move was used, she would be at the end of her rope.

Gao Wanli's heart was filled with despair.

Those clay statues of the old couple had tied her up with a red rope; otherwise, she would have had more techniques to deploy and would not be in such a predicament, slowly dragged to death.

She felt her body growing increasingly stiff, and she even smelled a scent of earthy mud in her nose.

She wanted to turn her neck to search for the other evil spirit in the darkness, but she could no longer move.

The old couple beamed: "Good child, quickly return with father and mother..."

They were now full of flesh and blood and were about to step forward to lead Gao Wanli away, but suddenly a black shadow rushed out from the darkness.

A tail flicked...

Slap!

Gao Wanli's entire body shattered.

In her final moments, Gao Wanli saw that thing; it was truly a dragon!

But not entirely like a dragon; it was similar yet different, resembling a crocodile in some aspects and a jiao in others...

Her soul floated upward, filled with confusion.

In the sky of Ghost Wushan, something suddenly passed by, invisible and formless, yet ferocious; like a hawk snatching a mouse, it tore her soul to shreds and swallowed it in one gulp.

The old couple flew into a rage, but the leather dragon ignored them completely, wagged its tail, and walked away.

The old couple hesitated repeatedly, but finally said, "Enough; give the Bodhisattva some face and spare this Heavenly Dragon of His."

With the leather puppet dragon already crippled, Xu Yuan no longer worried about his own leather dragon being exposed.

Thus, he let it out to quietly follow Gao Wanli.

For this journey to Ghost Wushan, Xu Yuan's greatest goal was the "Dragon Sickness."

But if he were a bit greedy, he could also ask the Ancient Corpse Empress to strike; four fourth-rank cultivators killing two or three of them would surely mean they carried many fine treasures on their persons.

Additionally, there were those three "Harmony Rattles."

However, Xu Yuan held back his greed.

He could not let the situation escalate further.

And those "Harmony Rattles" were placed special emphasis on by the Canal Office; obtaining them would likely invite disaster.

The Dragon Sickness was already in hand; there was no need to create new complications.

When Gao Wanli suddenly ran off and vanished without a trace, My Lord Xu felt there might still be "unexpected gains."

This woman was truly like a toad crawling up one's leg; she didn't bite, yet she was irritating.

He might as well use this opportunity to settle the matter.

And Xu Yuan, from beginning to end, stayed with Zhu Zhanlei.

Whether it was Zhu Zhanlei or the three Shanhe Department Captains, they all clearly understood that to survive and get out, they must cling tightly to My Lord Xu's thigh.

They followed Xu Yuan closely all the way.

This could prove that Xu Yuan had absolutely not gone to kill Gao Wanli.

Besides, if you ran off alone and vanished without a trace, getting eaten by evil spirits in Ghost Wushan would be quite normal.

After dawn broke, Xu Yuan finally confirmed their current location.

No one dared to rest; dragging their exhausted bodies, they found their direction and hurried toward the mountain's exit.

By mid-afternoon, everyone finally walked out of Ghost Wushan and returned to Qihe Tai Town.

Zhu Zhanlei wiped the sweat from his forehead and, still shaken, said, "Finally out... being alive is truly f***ing great!"

Zhu Zhanlei didn't care about his image anymore; exhausted and unwilling to take even one more step, he plopped down on a stone by the roadside.

After resting for a while, he took out the "Harmony Rattle": "Contact Fu Songyu; I wonder if they... are still alive."

The Harmony Rattle vibrated for quite a while, but there was no response from Fu Songyu's side.

Zhu Zhanlei was already preparing to put away this craft object when suddenly the Harmony Rattle shuddered, emitting a cold snort.

"Hmph!"

The Harmony Rattle cracked with a sharp sound, revealing several deep fissures!

A wisp of black smoke rose up.

"Ah?!" Zhu Zhanlei was dumbfounded.

But Xu Yuan recognized it; that cold snort was the voice of the Ancient Corpse Empress.

Xu Yuan's heart immediately stirred: "One Harmony Rattle has fallen into the hands of the Ancient Corpse Empress..."

(End of this chapter)