Chapter 235: Good News, Bad News

The ancient array surrounding Mo Cun, accompanied by Chief Captain Lang Wu's roar, began operating fully.

The ancient array, which had always been hidden, now fully emerged before everyone's eyes.

Anyone still inside Mo Cun, upon looking up, could see a semi-transparent dome protecting the entire village.

Along the ground, streams of light flowed like talismans, darting and weaving across the earth.

The entire village seemed to awaken at this moment, becoming the brightest light in the night.

At this moment, Mo Cun shimmered in dazzling colors, like a luminous glass pearl, brilliant and radiant.

Above the village, these streams of light began wildly converging into a single point, radiating an indescribable terrifying power.

Layers of Lianyi rippled outward, the energy fluctuations growing stronger—until, at the peak of this energy…

Boom!!!

From the layer of light, a terrifying beam of radiant energy—large enough to engulf the entire village central square—descended from the sky at incredible speed!

The earth trembled.

Violent energy surged against the ground, scattering outward in all directions.

Yet this energy seemed to exist in a peculiar state.

It had no effect whatsoever on humans, nor did it strike any buildings.

Had one not sensed the staggering, bone-chilling energy fluctuation, an uninformed observer might have mistaken it for mere illusion.

In truth, this energy had been meticulously arranged by a master, designed with extreme precision—its lethal force targeted solely at Possession.

This was a pure, immensely powerful Killing Possession Array!

Under the massive energy output, the entire array appeared to be running low on power, causing the radiant dome to flicker unpredictably—but Chief Captain Lang Wu did not cease; he persisted in sustaining the colossal radiant beam for a long while before slowly retracting it.

For he knew: there was only one chance.

Mo Cun's array could not sustain a second opportunity.

Such a massive energy discharge had drained the already crumbling array even further.

If this attack failed to eliminate the Possession, there would be no other means to punish it.

After all, barely moments after Fang Yue and Captain Wu arrived, the Gathering Fire Order was triggered from that location—clearly indicating the Possession's strength exceeded their initial estimates.

When Chief Captain Lang Wu retracted the energy surge, the colossal radiant beam from the light layer finally began to slowly recede, condensing into a narrow stream before fading away.

The array's radiant runes, which had surfaced across Mo Cun, gradually returned to their hidden state.

All returned to its usual appearance—except the central village square, now a scene of chaos, littered with a pile of corpses sprawled haphazardly.

When Chief Captain Lang Wu arrived with his men, what he saw was a scene of Zhenjiu.

"Captain Wu! Captain Ye!"

He rushed to Captain Wu's side, checked his breath, and immediately relaxed.

There was still a faint breath—he had merely fainted from oxygen deprivation.

As long as he wasn't dead, it was fine.

He immediately ordered his men to care for Captain Wu, then ran to Fang Yue's side.

Just as he was about to check Fang Yue's condition, Fang Yue suddenly opened his eyes.

"I'm fine."

Chief Captain Lang Wu was startled, but quickly recovered, his face lighting up with relief.

He had been counting on Fang Yue to carry the news of Mo Cun's alliance with Gu Yue Cun to Lord Han.

Had Mo Cun had anyone else available, he wouldn't have wanted Fang Yue risking his life to assist them.

"What exactly happened? Were those two black-robed figures truly problematic?"

Fang Yue nodded slightly, then struggled to his feet, unsteady.

Earlier, when he had activated the Gathering Fire Order toward the night sky, the Possession in the human-bone kite had seen him.

It reacted instantly and launched a lethal strike at Fang Yue—luckily, the radiant beam descended in time, sparing him from being killed outright by that thing.

The oppressive pressure from this human-bone kite Possession was utterly different from Ma Ling'er's face-kite.

It was a terrifying, all-encompassing suppression—as if the human-bone kite could flick its finger and effortlessly kill Fang Yue again.

In truth, had he not relied on 【Time Reversal】 to save himself, he would already be dead—even without time to activate the Gathering Fire Order.

But Captain Wu…

Fang Yue frowned, staring at Captain Wu, who had just been roused and wore a dazed expression.

This guy… didn't die?

Fang Yue was puzzled.

If he hadn't had 【Time Reversal】, he would've died then—Captain Wu had collapsed even earlier, yet now he was unharmed?

Could it be… that Captain Wu had been Possessed?

Please don't let that be it—we went through all this danger, risking our lives to trigger the array to kill the Possession, only for it to Possess Captain Wu and evade the attack—that would be a cruel joke.

After a moment's hesitation, Fang Yue whispered two sentences into Chief Captain Lang Wu's ear.

Chief Captain Lang Wu's expression shifted rapidly—he stared twice at the confused Captain Wu, then lowered his voice: "Don't move. Our array can no longer activate such an attack again."

"But if it's Possessed, now might be the Possession's weakest moment!"

"I'll conduct a full inspection of him—you must also submit to my inspection. But there shouldn't be much of an issue…"

Chief Captain Lang Wu glanced meaningfully at Fang Yue—he clearly didn't fully trust Fang Yue's words; after all, if the Possession could Possess Captain Wu, it could just as easily have Possessed Fang Yue.

Still, Chief Captain Lang Wu found it hard to believe the Possession could survive the array's strike and then Possess someone.

That radiant beam… wasn't just for show—it was a comprehensive sweep targeting Possession; even a Possessed host would die in that strike.

If Captain Wu had been Possessed, he would've died then—Fang Yue would've died too.

So most likely, neither of them had any problem.

After thinking it over, Chief Captain Lang Wu briefly explained the matter of the formation to Fang Yue, which finally let Fang Yue relax a little.

After undergoing a thorough examination together with Captain Wu, everyone was reassured.

Both of them were fine—the eerie thing had truly been eliminated.

But because of this, Captain Wu's figure became somewhat mysterious in Fang Yue's eyes.

He had personally watched Captain Wu breathe his last, suffocated to death.

Yet now he was fine, as if nothing had happened…

Still, Fang Yue had no intention of digging deeper. Whatever secret Captain Wu was hiding, as long as it wasn't an eerie thing and didn't oppose him, there shouldn't be any major problem.

After briefly recounting the events at the village center plaza to Chief Captain Lang Wu, the latter finally understood just how terrifying that eerie thing truly was.

An Acquired Third-rate Realm cultivator who could trade blows with a mid Black Grade eerie thing, and an Acquired Second-rate Realm expert.

The two of them didn't even have the qualification to throw a strike in front of that eerie thing before collapsing outright.

This was no longer a matter of ability, but an absolute gap in strength.

That eerie thing… what on earth was its origin?

Chief Captain Lang Wu's expression grew solemn, and he felt increasingly urgent about the matter of the alliance with Gu Yue Cun.

Their Mo Cun had become more and more unsafe.

With the formation still in place, an eerie thing had actually infiltrated the village.

Now the formation's wear was even more severe, to the point it could no longer trigger even the previous kind of attack. The current situation in Mo Cun could be said to be hanging by a thread.

After handling the other team members' corpses, issuing an official notice to inform the villagers that the murderer who killed Captain Fire had been eliminated, and a series of other follow-ups, things gradually calmed down.

In handling these public-opinion matters, Captain Lang Wu was clearly in his element, very practiced, and managed everything in an orderly fashion.

By the time Fang Yue dragged his exhausted body back to Lang Fu, the morning sun had risen and the sky was already bright.

The several brushes with death tonight left Fang Yue feeling utterly drained.

He grew ever more keenly aware of the urgency to raise his strength.

If he had already broken through his realm tonight, he might not have needed to use 【Time Rewind】 to hold out until activating the Gathering Fire Order.

Sighing, Fang Yue returned to his room, preparing to continue cultivating the Blazing Fire Heart Method and aim to break through to the Acquired Second-rate Realm today.

Originally, last night's 【Time Rewind】 had burned a full month of his lifespan, leaving Fang Yue in so much pain he could barely breathe.

But once Fang Yue claimed the escort team's lifespan reward, plus the reward for assisting Mo Cun in killing that eerie thing, his lifespan took a huge rebound—instead of dropping, it rose—letting Fang Yue breathe a slight sigh of relief.

The only pity was that his attributes were already maxed out, so even assisting in killing the Human Bone Kite eerie thing yielded no attribute boost. Such a powerful eerie thing—even just the assist reward for helping kill it—should logically have given one or two points of attribute increase…

Also, perhaps because the eerie thing had been killed by the formation, it dropped nothing at all and simply turned to ash, which Fang Yue found a great pity. If he had been allowed to land the killing blow, it would definitely have been a huge haul.

But an eerie thing that terrifying—if he had really gone up to land the killing blow, he'd probably have been done for on the spot.

The only gains were…

"Name: Mist Black Robe."

"Grade: Good Grade, Lower Quality."

"Type: Eerie Object."

"Description: A Good Grade eerie object refined by extracting the essence of the Condensing Mist Eerie with auxiliary materials—an essential item for home and travel."

"Effect: The wearer of the Mist Black Robe can conceal their form, transforming into a humanoid black mist form of standard proportions."

"Note: A face of black mist, a person of black mist—could it be that you are… the culprit from Conan!"

Of the only two black robes, Fang Yue received one, and the other fell into Captain Wu's hands.

After all, in this operation, the two of them had narrowly escaped death and could be considered great contributors.

The Mist Black Robe, paired with a human-face mask, could basically disguise one's identity to the extreme.

Fang Yue had seen the Mist Black Robe's effect in action—the human face could also be transformed into a black mist form. If this layer of disguise were removed, there was still the second layer of disguise from the human-face mask, so it could be considered quite safe.

In the future, if he wanted to do anything shady, or frame and pin the blame on someone, there would be plenty of room to operate.

Additionally, after carefully studying the Mist Black Robe, Fang Yue discovered that even the mist-formed face could simulate hollow facial features, though they were rather stiff and uniform.

Opening his attributes.

"Name: Yese Liming."

"Realm: Acquired Third-rate."

"Status: Ghost Curse 【Back of Hand】."

"HP: 200/200."

"Internal Force: 300/300."

"Control Force: 80 【Base: 100 / Realm Cap Reached】 【Status/Buff: -20】."

"Deflection Force: 80 【Base: 100 / Realm Cap Reached】 【Status/Buff: -20】."

"Realm Breakthrough Progress: 5.5%."

"Talent: Night Breathing 【Human Grade, Upper Quality】."

"Skills: Analysis Pupil 【Human Grade, Lower Quality】, Star Fire Blade Technique Lv. 1 【Acquired Third-rate】, Water Sky Blade Technique Lv. 1 【Crude Martial Arts】, Blazing Fire Heart Method 【Acquired First-rate / First Layer】, Star Fire Heart Method Lv. 3 【Acquired Third-rate / Max Level】."

"Lifespan: 3 months, 20 days."

The Realm Breakthrough Progress had mysteriously jumped up a notch after killing that Human Bone Kite eerie thing.

Fang Yue suspected that if a few more showed up, he wouldn't even need to study the Blazing Fire Heart Method—he could break through his realm directly.

Then there was his lifespan: after claiming the escort team reward and tonight's great-contributor reward, it had simply taken off.

If not for 【Time Rewind】 eating up the lion's share, Fang Yue felt that three months of lifespan would normally last a long time before being used up.

Closing his eyes, Fang Yue was preparing to cultivate the Blazing Fire Heart Method in one push and break through his realm, when a sudden knock-knock sounded at the door.

"Who?"

"Me."

"Captain Wu?"

Fang Yue's heart gave a start.

He had been somewhat wary of this fellow.

Frowning slightly, he rose and opened the door.

"What is it?"

"Let's talk inside."

After a moment's hesitation, Fang Yue let him in.

After closing the door, he looked at Captain Wu.

"What exactly is it?"

"I came to tell you one piece of bad news and one piece of good news. Which do you want to hear first?"

The classic question…

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Yue said: "The bad news."

"Chief Captain Lang Wu just did a detailed inspection of the formation. On the wall above the south village entrance, something has torn a hole."

"Tore a hole?"

Fang Yue was first stunned, then his face drained of color.

"Mo Cun's formation has been breached?"

"Stay calm! It's not that serious — just a hole about the size of a human head. Chief Captain Lang Wu says it can't be repaired in the short term, but he'll have people keep a close watch on that spot, so there shouldn't be any major problem. Still, if a ghoul were to enter the village through that hole, it would indeed be as if Mo Cun had no defenses at all… Fortunately, our earlier bombardment with the formation should have frightened off the ghouls in the surrounding area, so in the short term none of them should dare to attack our Mo Cun."

Well, if Mo Cun could handle it on its own, that would be best. Besides, in a few days they'd be returning to Gu Yue Cun, so what happened to Mo Cun had little to do with him.

If Mo Cun really became a subsidiary village of Gu Yue Cun, that would be a headache for Lord Han and Lin Ling.

After some thought, Fang Yue asked: "Then what's the good news?"

"You mentioned before that there were two people in black robes, but last night we only found one. The other one has been missing all along. Now we can basically confirm that the ghoul was the cause of the breach in the formation at the south village entrance. Because according to Chief Captain Lang Wu's inspection, the hole was smashed from the inside outward, not from the outside into the village."

Fang Yue fell silent, then said hesitantly: "This… counts as good news? Aren't you afraid the one that escaped will come back? If it could break through the formation once, it can naturally do so a second time, and that hole is still there."

"That's beyond our control. At least in the short term we should be safe. If you really worry about our Mo Cun, then hurry back to Gu Yue Cun and lobby Lord Han on our behalf to agree to the subsidiary village matter."

At this, Fang Yue merely shrugged.

At most he'd pass the message along — helping put in a good word was out of the question.

Besides, the purchase of Di He stone in the village wasn't finished yet, so it was still early before they returned to Gu Yue Cun.

Compared to all this, strength was what mattered most.

"Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to rest…"

"Wait, I do have one more thing to ask you."

"…What is it?"

Captain Wu stared hard at Fang Yue: "Who is the person who tried to kill Captain Huo with Qi Cold Corpse Poison?"

"What?"

"Don't try to hide it from me — Chief Captain Lang Wu has already told me. Captain Huo did indeed die at the hands of that ghoul, but besides that ghoul, someone inside Mo Cun also wanted her dead, and they were preparing to use Qi Cold Corpse Poison to do it. You were able to mention this earlier, which means someone must have approached you. Give me that person's name."

(End of this chapter)