Chapter 60: 59, The Shell of Fate

59, The Shell of Fate

The pool was dim, and the trees were lush.

Zhou Eryang gripped a woman's sleeve, his eyes sincere and anxious: "Miss Bai, I truly never thought they would falsely accuse us of having an illicit relationship!

I only pitied you, having no elders at home, so I took care of you in daily life...

Since things have come to this, Miss Bai, we might as well flee!"

The woman whose sleeve he held—Bai Pandi—had a face that resembled Bai Xiue by seven or eight tenths.

She was now trying desperately to shake off Zhou Eryang's hand holding her sleeve, struggling until her fair face turned red: "Brother Zhou, Brother Zhou, let go first!

We are originally innocent; the villagers all see it clearly!

You helped me carry water and firewood, and I made clothes and pasted matchboxes to gather money to pay you your wages—no one from the Jing Bai family can falsely accuse us—but, Brother Zhou, can you stop pestering me?

Please let go!

Let go!"

Zhou Eryang never expected Bai Pandi to respond to him this way.

He was clearly stunned for a moment.

Bai Pandi finally had the chance to pry open his palm and retreat repeatedly; dressed in a bright red wedding gown, she spoke to Zhou Eryang with determination: "I will explain this matter clearly to the village elders, so Brother Zhou need not worry..."

Zhou Eryang's expression darkened; looking at Bai Pandi's retreating back, he murmured to himself: "It is rumored that for a Child of the Lotus Womb, as long as one forms a bond of love or hate with a person, one can use the threads of obsession as lotus roots to sculpt a lotus corpse for that person...

In fact, it is not just to make you infatuated with me; even if it makes you hate me, the result is the same for me...

Miss Bai."

Zhou Eryang shuddered, suddenly snapping back to his senses; he strode a few steps behind Bai Pandi, grabbed her arm, and dragged her into the deep pool!

He himself fell into the pool water along with her!

Rolling waves of obsession filled Zhou Chang's mind.

He recalled the contents of the 'Great Heart Cinnabar Sutra' once more; those fragmented and twisted Chinese characters, in his ears, rearranged themselves into clear sentences:

"The Mysterious Lotus Body, Strange Root Spirit...

The Spirit Root, unrefined by Heaven, has a chaotic and empty consciousness...

Chanting the Sudden Arrival Spell, the Spirit generates my wisdom and connects with me...

Sudden Arrival Spell, Sudden Arrival Spell, summon the black, mysterious madness; the world beneath the eyes is vast..."

The content presented by the 'Great Heart Cinnabar Sutra' this time seemed exactly the same as the last time.

But Zhou Chang, examining it closely, detected an extremely tiny thread of change within it.

Listening to the sentences arranged by the 'Great Heart Cinnabar Sutra' in his ears, he locked eyes with the Mysterious Lotus Root Spirit, Zhou Eryang, whose features were identical to his own.

Zhou Eryang's eyes were filled with illusory, colorful obsession.

It stared straight at Zhou Chang and asked: "Who are you? From where did you obtain the Shell of Fate? Dare you come to plunder the fortune I have painstakingly cultivated?!"

"I am not a 'Shell'," Zhou Chang grinned, "I am the master of all 'me's, here to reclaim my own property!"

He was fundamentally different from this 'Zhou Eryang'!

Judging by the rolling waves of obsession flowing from 'Zhou Eryang', 'Zhou Eryang' was originally not 'Zhou Eryang' at all, but a monk from a temple in the Secret Realm that worshipped the 'Cai Bao Tianwang'!

By chance, he obtained a token bestowed by the 'Holy Mother of Lishan'—that mud coffin he held in his palms.

Because of this mud coffin, this person was able to receive a 'Shell of Fate' from the Holy Mother of Lishan.

Thus came the false body of 'Zhou Eryang', the son-in-law of the Bai family grave!

But Zhou Chang was originally Zhou Chang!

"Absurd!"

'Zhou Eryang' snorted with laughter upon hearing this!

'He' presumably knew quite a bit about the 'Shell of Fate' of the Holy Mother of Lishan, so he simply did not believe that a 'Shell of Fate' could give birth to its own soul—

"No matter who you are, if you want to steal my fortune, you can only be cursed to death by me!" Zhou Eryang's lips moved, chanting the secret spell: "Om! Va! Sarva! Svaha!"

Amidst the sound of the secret spell mantras, the colorful obsession filling Zhou Eryang's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose instantly churned, transforming into golden, glittering whirlpools!

Brilliant golden light burst forth from those whirlpools, possessing the power to infect the heart!

Under the glare of the golden light, Zhou Chang suddenly felt that the lotus root spirit Zhou Eryang before him had transformed into the Cai Bao Tianwang; he even felt an impulse to prostrate and worship that golden Cai Bao Tianwang!

The secret spell chanted by this Tibetan monk was closely linked to the Cai Bao Tianwang; chanting it immediately granted the Cai Bao Tianwang's blessing.

Could he also be a pawn in the game board set by the Cai Bao Tianwang?

Or perhaps a very crucial hidden piece?

Threads of thought rapidly swam into the purple-black lips on Zhou Chang's left palm; black cotton threads followed, extending from the lips in his palm; in the blink of an eye, he put on that Ghost Funeral Robe!

The 'Longevity' character patterns on the black funeral robe wriggled slightly, as if about to grow into blood-filled maws.

The golden light shining from those whirlpools, when it fell upon this Ghost Funeral Robe, was completely swallowed up by it!

Before the pure terror of life and death, the desire for treasure was utterly insignificant!

Zhou Chang, draped in the black funeral robe, suddenly grabbed Zhou Eryang's neck with his left hand; threads of blood-thought swam out from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose; staring at Zhou Eryang, he said: "My turn."

Swish!

Dense threads of blood-thought burst forth from Zhou Chang's face, instantly piercing into the face of the lotus root spirit Zhou Eryang, which was wrapped in several layers of lotus threads!

Each blood-thought thread began to net and expel Zhou Eryang's obsession from within the lotus root spirit!

"How can you—how do you have her lotus threads?!"

"Hateful! Hateful!"

"Om! Ma! Ni! Ba! Mi! Hum!"

Zhou Eryang, whose face had been pierced by blood-thought threads, let out a piercing shriek!

He frantically chanted the secret spell, attempting to gain inconceivable blessings to annihilate Zhou Chang before him—

Amidst the sounds of the secret spell mantras, the mottled nourishing qi filling Zhou Er Yang's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose gathered into individual copper coins. The golden coins covered Zhou Er Yang's face and neck, continuing to assemble across his body as if forging a suit of armor made of money upon him!

At the same time, from the eye of every copper coin, a speck of brilliant golden light spun forth, gathering toward Zhou Er Yang's brow to slowly form a horizontal golden eye.

An immense, mysterious, ancient, and solemn aura flowed out from that slowly forming horizontal eye.

Zhou Chang only glanced at that horizontal eye for an instant, and the Ghost Longevity Robe on his body emitted Li Xiamei's pained howl!

Filthy corpse water flowed down the black longevity robe!

That golden eye growing on Zhou Er Yang's brow perhaps represented a terrifying divine banner—the God of Wealth—about to cast its gaze here!

"That golden eye must not be allowed to fully grow and see the situation here!"

Zhou Chang's heart grew grim; numerous threads of thought swam through his right palm, and his near-shattered Ghost Longevity Robe instantly transformed into a golden-red python robe!

This four-clawed python robe blocked the power of the golden eye!

Yet the python dragons on the robe had their scales slowly falling away!

Swish, swish, swish!

As that golden horizontal eye slowly took shape, Zhou Chang released almost all of his own threads of thought, stabbing into Zhou Er Yang's lotus-root body to net and capture Zhou Er Yang's nature-soul and nourishing thoughts—yet even so, his speed was too slow!

If this continued, before he could net and drive away Zhou Er Yang's living soul and nourishing thoughts cleanly, that golden horizontal eye would fully form on the forehead of the lotus-root divine spirit!

At this moment, the lotus threads tightly wrapped all over the lotus-root divine spirit suddenly began to move.

The lotus threads fluttered like a snow waterfall, connecting with Zhou Chang's individual threads of thought.

In the pool water far away, the nine-sectioned lotus root swaying slightly with the current instantly transformed into nine young women.

Seven young women in floral clothes surrounded Bai Pandi, the Bai family matriarch wearing a red veil and red wedding dress, and Bai Xiue in plain-colored clothes.

The Bai family matriarch beneath the red veil gently stood up.

Zhou Chang blinked, and saw her standing before him; her cold gaze pierced through the red veil and fell upon Zhou Er Yang's face.

PS: The Bai family matriarch's name is Bai Pandi; it was written as Bai Ruyu in the previous chapter and has been corrected!