Chapter 126

At the moment the Dang Pu's main doors opened, Li Qingying and I stood in the doorway, stunned for a full half minute.

Outside, it seemed as if heaven and earth had changed.

The sky was black, and the ground was black as well.

The entire Wufu Town was shrouded in a mass of black vapor.

Except for Dang Pu and Xijiekou, it seemed as if all the buildings and trees had vanished.

The hexagonal palace lantern on the west side of the corridor swayed incessantly, its golden Merit Light flickering unstably.

Pale green fireflies drifted up and down inside the lantern chamber, also uneasy.

Looking out from Xijiekou, when our gaze fell on the river not far away, we were startled again.

At this moment, on the river surface, nine red coffins made of human skin floated in different positions, nine iron ropes tied straight, and right at the center of those ropes was that black coffin.

From afar I could not see what was on the black coffin, only a gloomy red light shrouding the whole coffin, as if blood were flowing down its surface.

Yīnfēng swirled above the river, centered on the black coffin; within the surrounding black mist, souls were continuously drawn into the Formation Array, and shadowy figures could be seen amid the churning water.

Above the black coffin, layers of dark clouds formed a huge vortex that kept spinning, with faint lightning flashing within.

On the bank stood a giant white hedgehog, a yellow-skinned weasel, and a large rat, their hands clasped in prayer before their chests, devoutly bowing toward the Formation Array.

What surprised me even more was that, at the edge of the northern dark boundary, Second Master Liu was also there.

My gaze unconsciously swept over the surroundings again, wanting to see whether the Fox Lord was present.

This sacrifice on the Zhu Pan River clearly was not just the affair of the Bai and Huang families; it concerned much more… but what exactly?

The ground kept trembling, and a low, ox‑like tiger roar from beneath never ceased; each roar was accompanied by thunder and lightning striking down.

A thought flashed through me: could it be… that there really is something beneath Wufu Town?

Is all this they've done meant for that thing underground?

"No, this Formation Array must not succeed." I said in a low voice, "Once it is completed, we will all die!"

Saying that, I sprang forward, running toward the riverbank while shouting, "Feng Wu, come out!"

The long bow instantly appeared in my hand; I drew it full and shot repeatedly at the Formation Array on the river, bursts of flame tearing through the darkness and striking the black coffin.

Yet around that Formation Array on the river, an invisible barrier had formed; the flames shattered into fragments the moment they struck it.

Soon, another woman's silhouette appeared in my view.

She wore a red‑black archery outfit and held a bow in her hand.

She drew her bowstring taut, and a sharp whistling sound rang out; I felt the air itself like an arrow shooting straight at my face.

It was Feng Lishu.

Her appearance here did not surprise me, for I had already discovered she was collaborating with the Bai family.

Her target has always been me.

Li Qingying raised her long whip to charge forward, but before she could whip it out, behind Feng Lishu a huge hawk suddenly appeared, its long, sharp beak pecking at Li Qingying's eyes.

That hawk was too agile, its attack lightning‑fast; Li Qingying dodged left and right, but she was no match for it.

In the blink of an eye, Feng Lishu stood before me.

She stepped closer step by step; when she was less than three meters away, she suddenly threw aside her long bow, raised her right hand to press between her brows, moved it down along her nose, and finally pinched a seal before her lips, shouting sternly, "Lí nú, kneel!"

Those three powerful words rang out like a muffled thunderbolt splitting my skull.

The two characters "Lí nú" kept expanding in my mind, over and over, driving me to the brink of madness.

Who is the Lí nú?!

"Lí nú, kneel!"

Those three words, seemingly infused with endless humiliation, were spat out again by Feng Lishu, striking my soul; my legs felt as if filled with lead, unable to lift.

My knees ached faintly; no matter how I strained, it felt as if an invisible pair of hands pressed on my shoulders, forcing me down.

When Feng Lishu stood firmly before me, I could no longer bear the pressure and fell heavily to my knees before her.

She half‑bent, leaned close, and whispered, "Isn't it surprising? Do you remember now? Who is the Lí nú?"

I gritted my teeth and stared fixedly at her.

She laughed: "Don't look at me like that. Today, Hu Yulin can't leave Yin Mountain, and Liu Junyan can't step out of Dang Pu's door; I needn't act for anyone, Lí nú—no one can save you."

She reached out and patted my cheek, her tender white fingers tracing the curve of my face, her eyes full of greed and resentment: "I am of higher birth, yet everyone favors you—Lí nú, is this face, this body, really that good?"

I raised my hand to push hers away, but I found I could not move at all.

Feng Lishu seemed to have cast some spell on me, rendering me immobile.

She gripped my chin with her right hand, moved behind me, pressed her face against mine from behind, lifted my chin to force me to look at the Formation Array ahead, and asked, "Do you know what that is?"

"It is the Nine Yin Gathering Souls Formation."

"Tonight someone will become a god!"

Feng Lishu whispered into my ear, word by word: "Lí nú, look—becoming a god is actually this easy: find a body that ought to ascend, use the Nine Yin Gathering Souls Formation to gather enough souls to withstand the impending Heavenly Tribulation, and you can achieve ascension."

She said, giving a low chuckle twice, then continued: "Even if it fails, it's fine; beneath this water lie hundreds or thousands of sealed Yin soldiers. Feed so many souls into them, the seal will break—if not godhood, one can still carve out a realm; such a person deserves to become a hegemon of heaven and earth, don't you agree?"

I was shocked in my heart.

So, the black coffin has always contained a puppet.

Someone else intends to use that puppet together with the Nine Yin Gathering Souls Formation to ascend?

"Soon." Feng Lishu said, somewhat maniacally, "Lí nú, you will soon be freed; when I become you, I will take back everything I lost because of you, intact."

"Perhaps I can also use this chance to undergo Nirvana and ascend together—yes, ascend together!"

Feng Lishu said this while gripping the back of my neck with one hand; suddenly a pair of scarlet wings unfurled behind her, flapping and dragging me forward into the Nine Yin Gathering Souls Formation.

Around the Nine Yin Gathering Souls Formation, souls were continuously sucked in, brushing past my body; my hair had already loosened, and in my panic and helplessness I saw my hair turning white nonstop.

Strand by strand, lock by lock, until large patches turned white, fluttering away with the Yīnfēng…