“Sister!” Yang Jin let out a heart-wrenching roar. Immediately afterward, he felt a ray of light, like grasping tentacles, seize him. A long beam of light tightened around his neck, leaving him unable to breathe. His vision blurred as he nearly lost consciousness and faced the brink of death.
“Hahahaha…” Shi Hufa burst into a laugh filled with resentment and malice. Suddenly, he shook his hand and flung Yang Jin, who kicked his legs wildly, onto the ground. Looking at Yang Jin, who was coughing and struggling to rise, Shi Hufa said, “You bastard dared to injure this guardian. If I don’t make you suffer the torment of a hundred ghosts devouring your soul, how could I ever quench my hatred!”
Yang Jin saw that his puppet had once again been subdued by the red bracelet. He realized that after Wu Juan was injured, the red sash could no longer contain the bracelet, allowing Shi Hufa to escape.
At this moment, Yang Jin was drenched in blood, struggling on the ground for a long time before barely managing to rise to his feet. He stared at Shi Hufa with a vacant gaze, then suddenly revealed a sinister smile. “Is that so? Guardian Shi, can you see what this is?” Saying this, he moved his lips and softly chanted an incantation. Instantly, a stone inkstone appeared in his hand.
“Guardian Shi, this is the treasure the leader ordered me to obtain. Hahaha… Indeed, it’s a treasure. Guardian Shi, you must also be eager to take it back to report to the leader, hoping to gain his favor and receive the elders’ rewards, right?” Seeing Shi Hufa’s eyes light up as he was about to step forward, Yang Jin suddenly stopped him with his hand and said, “Hold on. Guardian Shi, I must tell you that I have placed a small spell on this inkstone. With just a single thought, this inkstone will immediately turn into a pile of rubble! Would you like to try it?”
Seeing Yang Jin’s expression of being ready to die together with his enemy, Shi Hufa dared not act rashly, and the two stood in a stalemate. After a while, Shi Hufa spoke coldly, “Yang Jin, now that things have come to this, haven’t you figured it out yet? Your father’s current condition must have been caused by someone. If you want revenge, hand this inkstone over to the leader. If the leader takes pity on you, your crime might be forgiven, and you will have another chance to seek out your enemy and avenge your father. If you insist on going your own way and acting recklessly, not only will you be in danger, but also your father’s revenge will never be realized.”
If Shi Hufa had said these words at the beginning, Yang Jin might have been somewhat moved. However, just now Wu Juan had been completely destroyed by Shi Hufa’s hands, so how could Yang Jin listen to anything? Yang Jin’s mouth twitched a few times, and he snorted, saying, “Guardian Shi, you’re just following orders, afraid of being punished for not bringing back the inkstone, so you’re trying to deceive me. Do you think I would believe you again? At midnight tonight, my father will be freed. If you try to stop me, it will only end in mutual destruction.”
Shi Hufa sneered, “Do you take me for a three-year-old child? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Your father’s soul is trapped within his body, bound by a curse that pins his three souls and six spirits, preventing his release. This inkstone is an object of great evil, surely containing an evil spirit. You must be planning to use the method of transforming shapes and exchanging souls to extract your father’s soul from his body and place the evil spirit from the inkstone inside. But have you considered that this inkstone is an extremely evil object, containing an unknown malevolent spirit? If it were to obtain your father’s refined corpse, it would surely go on a rampage, and everyone nearby would be doomed to die. Rather than allowing that, I’d rather risk punishment and capture you first!”
Having said this, he moved both hands, and the iron ring in the air suddenly emitted a stronger golden light, increasing its power.
Yang Jin’s face changed. He had originally planned to threaten Shi Hufa and then, when the time came, use his magic to extract his father’s soul. However, he didn’t expect Shi Hufa to be so sharp and not be swayed. At this point, he had no more tools to rely on and truly felt cornered.
Just as Yang Jin was about to risk everything and use his last move, a sudden unexpected event occurred.
A large copper bowl suddenly appeared in the middle of the scene, accompanied by a resonant sound.
This sound of the copper bowl did not seem very loud, but to Shi Hufa, it was like a thunderclap right next to his ear. He had already been severely injured, and with this vibration, his mind was shaken, and his golden elixir became unstable.
Shi Hufa knew something was wrong. He never expected that there were still people hiding in this dilapidated ancestral hall. Just as he was thinking of recalling the red bracelet to protect himself, he heard a deep voice behind him shout, “Chì (Command)!”
At that moment, he felt his entire body’s true energy being violently stirred by a gale, and it began to tremble. Greatly alarmed, he turned his head, but before he could react, his peripheral vision caught a streak of green light descending from the sky. Immediately afterward, he felt as though he had been struck by a massive object, his golden elixir was shaken, his true energy scattered chaotically throughout his body, and then a tremendous force pierced through him, enveloping his golden elixir. After that, he lost consciousness.
When Yang Jin first heard the sound of the copper bowl, he was stunned and fell to the ground.
Two figures appeared at the scene—one tall and one short. The tall one wore a monk’s robe, while the short one wore brocade clothing. Indeed, it was none other than the brothers Bu San and Bu Si.
“Attacking secretly from the shadows is not the way of a monk. What a sin, what a sin…” Sun Busi clasped his hands together and said.
“Enough! You’ve already knocked the person out, so why pretend to be compassionate?” Sun Busan’s sharp voice replied.
“Oh, come on! Whether the two elders choose to act or not, once they strike, the outcome is decided. They truly embody the demeanor of a master,” Mei Qing laughed, stepping in with Zhao Dayou, Yao Dingguo, Zhou Chang, and others from the doorway.
“Hehe, naturally! For such small fry, when we brothers take action, it’s just a matter of course that we’ll capture them effortlessly,” Sun Busan cackled sharply.
Zhao Dayou ran over excitedly, first checking Yang Jin’s condition and then poking at him with his foot. Seeing that Yang Jin was indeed unconscious, he laughed, “This kid is quite cunning. How did he manage to escape that day? But no matter how crafty he is, he still ends up in our hands. I don’t know what’s going on with this kid, though—he looks so aged in just a few days, look at all this blood on him.” As he spoke, he picked up the inkstone and examined it carefully, trying to find something out about it.
Mei Qing, however, had no time to pay attention to him. Turning to the brothers Busthree and Busfour, he said, “The guardian named Shi on the ground seems to know something about the truth behind stealing this inkstone. Please, senior, seal his cultivation abilities first, then wake him up so we can interrogate him.”
Sun Busan sneered with a grin, raised his left hand, and the true essence between his fingers condensed like mist, beginning to draw a strange talisman on Shi Hufa’s head. Strangely, the talisman made of mist did not dissipate. Not until Sun Busan had finished drawing it did he chant a spell and shout, “Zhe!” After that, the talisman suddenly seeped into Shi Hufa’s body and disappeared.
After the talisman entered his body, Shi Hufa groaned softly, his limbs twitched a few times, and he slowly turned over. He first closed his eyes tightly and took several deep breaths. Then his eyebrows twitched a few times before he slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the people standing around him, and remained silent.
Mei Qing stepped forward a few paces and stood in front of Shi Hufa, smiling, “How is Guardian Shi feeling?”
Shi Hufa, with a gloomy expression, looked at Mei Qing and said, “Who are you people?”
Mei Qing shook his head and said, “Who we are doesn’t matter. What’s important is who you are.”
“Oh?” Shi Hufa looked at him mockingly and said, “Then may I ask, who am I?”
Mei Qing stared directly at Shi Hufa and said, “Whether you were a guardian of some evil cult or someone important before, now you are our prisoner. If you don’t want things to get too ugly, it’s better to cooperate.”
Shi Hufa remained silent for a long time before replying in a low voice, “What do you want to know?”
Mei Qing asked, “Who exactly are you, and what are you doing in the capital?”
Shi Hufa replied, “My name is Shi. I am from Yuzhou and serve as a guardian of the Zhen Da sect of Eastern Taoism. This time I came to the capital because someone from our sect has defected, and I was sent to capture them.”
Mei Qing noticed Shi Hufa’s shifting gaze as he spoke and knew his words were not entirely truthful, but he didn’t expose him. Instead, he asked indifferently, “Oh? The defector you mentioned is the person lying on the ground over there, right?” He pointed toward Yang Jin, who was still unconscious.
Shi Hufa replied, “Exactly.”
“Then… what is the inkstone in his possession? Just now I saw the two of you fighting fiercely over it. May I ask why?” Mei Qing continued to ask calmly.
“That inkstone…” Shi Hufa lowered his head and said, “It originally belonged to our sect’s leader, who cherished it greatly. It is of high value. This young thief must have had a sudden urge to steal it, so I came chasing after him.”
“Nonsense!” Zhao Dayou, standing beside Yang Jin, shouted, “This inkstone clearly belongs to our Jinyi Guard’s warehouse. When did it become your sect’s property? Hurry up and confess the truth, or you’ll suffer the consequences!”
Upon hearing Zhao Dayou’s words, Shi Hufa did not refute but merely lowered his head and said, “What I have said is the truth. I hope the honorable sir will investigate and clarify the facts.”
Sun Busan chuckled and said, “That fool, if you’re thinking of saying anything to try to undo my curse, forget about it. For a high-level expert like me, the spell I personally cast is not something you can undo. If you had shown respect upon seeing me, followed my every word, and highlighted my superior demeanor, maybe I would have been pleased and released you. Otherwise, I’ll keep you under this curse for ten or eight years, making you unable to even eat properly.”
Upon hearing this, Mei Qing and the others couldn’t help but smile. Indeed, Sun Bufou, standing on one side, solemnly opposed, saying, “What a sin, what a sin. Brother, since you’ve already cursed him, you shouldn’t continue to provoke and mock him with words. Moreover, even if he did obey you completely, would you really have released him? As a monk, how could you speak such deceitful words? Brother, you’re wrong.”
Sun Busan was furious and said, “Brother Lao San, you don’t understand anything! What I used was a psychological strategy. As the saying goes, capturing a city is inferior to capturing the mind; subduing the enemy without battle is the highest form of victory. With my psychological attack, this kid might have been moved and confessed everything. Originally, it was a great plan, but you ruined it completely, making it worthless. It’s always hard to explain things to someone as stupid as you.”
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