Chapter 382: This Is Their Fate

However, in the next instant, those tiny hearts suddenly turned into baby faces, pairs of clear, tender eyes blinking… Not to mention me, even those four ghostly faces kept shuttling between the babies' faces, yet they never opened their mouths.

This feeling is very eerie.

I clearly know in my heart that these babies are already dead.

What's before me, whether hearts or faces, are all illusions.

This illusion is created by the Taotie Fiendish Formation to confuse us.

Strangely, under these circumstances, this space should be filled with Resentful Qi and Yin Sha Qi.

But there isn't any.

Not a trace!

This should be the fundamental reason why the four ghostly faces lose themselves here.

Why?

Is it because these babies are generally one or two months old, lacking any concept of life and death, so when they died they produced no Resentful Qi?

No, absolutely impossible!

If it were truly due to their young age and lack of Resentful Qi, how could there exist infant corpses, mother-child killing qi, and such things?

Moreover, even if they truly had no Resentful Qi, as ghosts they should possess Yin Sha Qi, right?

I've had my flesh pierced by the black bird's sharp beak, been stepped on and torn apart by it; that bone‑deep pain is unbearable even for me, let alone for these babies.

They have just been reborn into this world, one or two months old, precisely the time when parents cherish them like jewels—yet those black birds abducted and mutilated them… Their Resentful Qi should be the strongest!

Where lies the problem?

I withdrew the ghost faces, about to move forward to investigate, when outside, the Formation Array activated by Wang Pan and Shi Changyun surged forward again.

Amid the shaking earth and moving mountains, the Taotie Fiendish Formation also trembled.

At that moment, I once again sensed the aura of the Spirit Bone.

I suddenly understood!

It's not that the babies lack Resentful Qi because they were harmed; rather, the Spirit Bone's presence purified their souls, over time eradicating all Resentful Qi and Yin Sha Qi.

At this moment I finally understand why Feng Xianqiu spared no effort using the Luan Formation to pull me out of the Nirvana fire, also to strip away my Spirit Bone.

Because he crafted the Taotie Formation, harming too many infants, his karmic debt has piled up and will invite Heavenly Punishment.

Only my Spirit Bone can help him evade Heavenly Punishment.

I looked around.

The Spirit Bone's aura seeped out, needing an opportunity.

Wang Pan and Shi Changyun have already activated the Formation Array four times in a row, crashing into the Luan Formation; even with some cultivation, they can't last much longer.

I can no longer pin my hopes on them.

Without Resentful Qi or desire, I cannot use the ancient witchcraft Dream Weaving.

Without Yin Sha Qi, the ghost faces will also lose themselves in this Formation.

Worse still, when I turned to look, the path I'd come from had vanished.

This is the Taotie Fiendish Formation, a sealed space.

This is its stomach!

The stomach, it has a digestive function.

When I saw bright blood seeping up from beneath my feet, I felt a moment of panic.

It was as if a psychic sense: at the instant the blood appeared, a jiao's tail swept past, and the whole Formation shuddered.

That jolt cleared my thoughts instantly.

I looked at the Soul-guiding Lamp I had been gripping tightly in my hand.

I hardly hesitated even a second, chanting the spell, I drew a drop of Lamp Oil from the Soul-guiding Lamp.

Transparent, with a faint golden hue, the Lamp Oil condensed on my fingertip; I turned my hand and pressed it onto the brow of the nearest baby face.

Lamp Oil ferries the soul.

I have already successfully ferried three souls with Lamp Oil.

The first soul I ferried was Gu Die.

Back then I had no Mana, merely a mortal body; one ferrying almost cost me half my life.

The second time was not long ago, when I used two drops of Lamp Oil to ferry the parents of Dou Jinsuo.

That time, my body suffered little impact.

Now my Soul Body is nearing solidity; I have my mother's Inner Dan supporting me, plus Hu Sanmei's medicine aiding soul condensation—these are my foundations.

Isn't there no Resentful Qi?

Hasn't the Spirit Bone's purification made them as pure as blank paper?

Then let me see if they're truly flawless!

The souls of these babies are imprisoned in the Taotie Fiendish Formation, unable to enter reincarnation.

With time's passage and the digestion of this great "stomach," they will eventually vanish one by one from this world, becoming nourishment that strengthens the Taotie Fiendish Formation.

But what if, among them, a tiny soul were ferried and successfully entered reincarnation?

That would be no different from dropping a stone onto a calm water surface.

Even the tiniest ripple on the lake would be my breakthrough!

Lamp Oil seeped into the Soul Body; the baby's face suddenly blazed as if aflame, the next instant it turned back into a heart, and fresh blood welled up from within—soon a baby's soul floated before me.

He bowed deeply to me; I waved my hand, and he vanished into the Taotie Fiendish Formation.

He has escaped into reincarnation, completely freed from the Taotie Fiendish Formation.

I held the Soul-guiding Lamp, waiting quietly.

One second, two seconds, three seconds……

However, within five seconds, the faces of those infants originally pressed close together suddenly changed.

They twisted toward me in a scramble, their tiny mouths uttering ee-ya, crying, as if begging for something.

The corner of my mouth slowly curled upward.

But I didn't go to fetch the Lamp Oil again, after all there are too many infant souls here; I have no time, nor enough energy to ferry them all across.

Even if I had this ability, the Nether Realm surely wouldn't allow me to ferry souls into reincarnation without limit, would it?

After all, perhaps these infants' tragic deaths are simply part of their fate.

This is their destiny!

I reached out my hand, palm facing those restless infants' faces.

On those faces filled with longing and desire for reincarnation, I saw the opportunity I wanted.

I activated the first chapter of the ancient witchcraft dream-weaving—Dream Building.

I will personally construct their reincarnation dream, and then personally crush this dream!

At the instant the dream shattered, those infants' faces instantly turned ferocious; each weak soul struggled incessantly, trying to break out of the Taotie Ferocious Array.

The Taotie Ferocious Array trembled unprecedentedly.

Trembling, that is the opportunity!

Sure enough, when the Taotie Ferocious Array trembled, its foundation, the 'Luan' Array, was successfully activated.

Bang!

I seemed to hear a bursting sound, but my vision went dark and my whole body fell downward.

I seemed to have fallen into a deep ravine.

The ravine was too deep, too deep; it was filled with thick blood mist, within which at first I could see dim green ghost fires flickering, but later nothing could be seen.

Half a minute later, the temperature of the entire space suddenly surged; at the bottom of the ravine, raging flames were burning… no, that was not ordinary fire, but… Nirvana Fire!

Within that expanse of Nirvana Fire, I clearly felt the pull of the spirit bones……