Chapter 118

Chapter 115

“Let's go and see.”

Li Zhuiyuan decided to accept the invitation.

The blood sacrifices of the three families had been provided, Yuxuzi’s formation could continue, and the big fish’s plot was thwarted.

It could be said that, relying on a huge first-mover advantage, their side's foundation was already secure. This "exam paper" had already received a passing score.

If they retreated now, and he refined the formation a bit more, the score could still increase, perhaps achieving a good grade. If he were to add a stronger erosion effect on top of the original formation, then he could get an excellent grade.

However, Li Zhuiyuan was accustomed to getting full marks.

Having traveled a long way from school to get here, not being able to kill it directly left him with some regret.

Furthermore, considering the mindset of the question setter, if this wave was just perfunctorily passed, then it was uncertain that at some point in the future, this place would be ignited again.

Since six university students could come, then next time, six half-baked Xuanmen practitioners with good intentions but bad execution could come, or even six evil path practitioners deliberately seeking revenge on the human world.

The four people left the mourning hall, went downstairs, and entered the main village road.

Waiting until they were close, the six university students resumed their previous posture, holding lanterns, walking slowly, and continuing to lead the way.

Seeing the situation, Tan Wenbin couldn’t help but sigh: “Alas, today’s young people, not attending good universities, insist on running here to act as greeters.”

Runsheng: “Are you talking about yourself?”

Tan Wenbin: “Hey, Runsheng, what if I die on the roadside later? Will people who see my corpse say the same thing about me?”

Runsheng: “No.”

“Is it because I didn’t bring my student ID?”

“I will cremate you on the roadside.”

“At least take my ashes back and hold a vegetarian meal for me.”

“That you’ll have to discuss with your family.”

“No, you dare to take a red envelope at my funeral? Heh, wait, if you die before me, I will personally go to your funeral and play the suona for you.”

“Welcome.”

“And also extinguish all the burning incense on your offering table!”

Runsheng frowned.

Yinmeng: “Okay, whoever dies first out of you two, I will go to their funeral to cook for their family.”

This sentence from Yinmeng made both Tan Wenbin and Runsheng silent.

Tan Wenbin quickly changed the subject: “Little Yuan brother, I want to greet my seniors and also see which university they are from.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

Binbin trotted forward a little, leveling with the male student at the end of the line. Seeing an identity card stuck to the chest of his clothing, he leaned in to look carefully:

“Jinling Audit Exploration Society.”

“Unexpectedly, they are also our neighbors. No wonder they were arranged to stay at Uncle Xue’s house when they came, after all, they are also university students from Jinling.”

Just as Tan Wenbin withdrew his gaze, he unexpectedly discovered that the other person was also slowly turning their eyeballs towards him.

The two of them, very abruptly, met gazes like this.

“Holy crap!”

Tan Wenbin shouted.

That student's eyes then began to turn non-stop.

Tan Wenbin reached out and placed his hand under the other person’s nose, actually perceiving an extremely weak breath.

“My goodness, this one is actually still alive.”

Tan Wenbin immediately went to look at the one in front. The one in front was a female student. As Tan Wenbin approached and appeared in front of her, not only were her eyeballs turning, but her eyes also revealed a pleading expression.

“This one is also alive!”

“This one too!”

“Little Yuan brother, they are all alive!”

These six university students, four male and two female, all still had self-awareness, but they were unable to control their bodies.

The reason for such shock was that they had entered here last month. To still be alive now was simply a miracle.

Yinmeng also went forward to check, discovering that all six people's abdomens were bulging. She gently placed her hand on one, and could perceive something moving inside. Because of her palm contact, the things inside suddenly became irritable.

“There are things in their bellies, possibly fish. We cannot save them now, because as soon as the fish in their bellies are stimulated, it will cause them to burst and die immediately.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “Then let them continue to lead the way.”

If he could solve the problem of that big fish’s body, the problems with their bodies would naturally also be solved.

If he ultimately couldn't solve it, then when they left, he would just kill them.

The youngster with pleading eyes understood that this was seeking liberation.

Although the houses on both sides of the village road were decayed and dilapidated, the overall framework was still preserved intact.

However, all the doors of the houses they passed were open, revealing deep darkness inside.

And the “welcoming team” then brought the four people to the front of a closed door of a house. The two people at the very front reached out and pushed open the door. The last two people then stood at the door holding lanterns separately.

This scene looked like servants welcoming their master home.

Li Zhuiyuan carefully observed this house, discovering that it was no different from the other houses in the village except for the fact that the first door was closed. He also did not see any traces of a formation.

The four people walked through the door and into the courtyard.

The four university students who came in first held lanterns and stood at the four corners. The light from the lanterns barely illuminated the surroundings.

In the center of the courtyard, a huge square table was placed. On the table stood three statues. A circle of cushions was placed on the ground around the table, and on each cushion sat a skeleton wearing a daoist robe.

Directly in front of the table was a skeleton wearing a yellow daoist robe. Its left hand held a Bagua mirror, and its right hand gripped a peach wood sword.

However, the Bagua mirror was already broken, and the peach wood sword was also broken. The skeleton itself lay face down on the tabletop, its skull broken and sunken.

This indicated that during the incident in Zhengmen Village, the village had once invited daoists to subdue demons and eliminate evil, but the result was that the daoists had been eliminated by the demon.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the side of the skeleton in the yellow daoist robe. On the tabletop on either side of it, two paintings were placed.

In the first painting was a woman in a green robe. She stood on the riverbank. In the river, a shadow of a big fish was vaguely present.

In the second painting, a damaged big fish with wounds floated along the river. Where the river extended, there was a village shadow.

In the third painting, a daoist in a yellow daoist robe led his group of disciples and stood at the entrance of the village. The sign at the village entrance read “Zhengmen Village.”

The yellow-robed daoist had an immortal demeanor and an aura of immortality, and his disciples beside him were also like jade trees facing the wind, elegant and refined.

It seemed this daoist had the same hobby as him, liking to record his experiences of subduing demons and eliminating evil through painting.

However, compared to him, the daoist was more focused on details. A Li only painted one ending, while the daoist here liked to paint in a serial format.

In the fourth painting, the daoist and his disciples set up an altar. In front of them, black fog permeated, and within it was the shadow of a big fish.

There was no fifth painting, or rather, the skeletons in reality were the fifth painting, which depicted their ending.

Li Zhuiyuan’s gaze moved back to the first painting.

Would the woman in the painting be surnamed Liu?

According to the plot described in the painting, this big fish should have been heavily injured by her. But even a heavily injured and damaged big fish, after flowing to this place, still stirred up a bloody storm in this mountain village, and this group of daoists had no way to suppress it.

What followed the painting should have been Yuxuzi coming here and sealing the entire Zhengmen Village to prevent this big fish from rampaging outside.

If the woman in the painting was surnamed Liu, it could explain why this big fish would appear in A Li’s dream.

Because in the eyes of this big fish, the "chief culprit" for its misery was not the yellow-robed daoist nor Yuxuzi, but this Liu family woman.

Li Zhuiyuan did not know if she was a Dragon King of some generation of the Liu family. The main reason was that the yellow-robed daoist did not leave any text in the painting, and the painting used a more artistic depiction method. The information that could be obtained from the characters was actually only: female and green clothes.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected that this scene should have been painted by the yellow-robed daoist himself based on what he heard, using his imagination, as the beginning of his demon-subduing and evil-eliminating event this time.

Then it should be the Dragon King of some generation of the Liu family, because the daoist was a very narcissistic person. The fact that he could personally paint himself going to deal with a heavily injured evil creature and take this as an honor only explained that the woman's identity and background were significant and famous enough.

He, the poor daoist, was going to help the Dragon King clean up. This level was suddenly elevated.

But...

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze swept towards the four university students standing at the four corners. What was their purpose in manipulating them to lead him and the others here?

To deliberately explain some background?

Generally speaking, the role of explaining the background is for foreshadowing.

So, are you planning to see me next?

Li Zhuiyuan stood on his tiptoes, and his hand touched the back of the yellow-robed daoist's head, feeling this terrifying wound.

Runsheng leaned over and reached out to touch the daoist robe.

Tan Wenbin and Yinmeng then went to touch the daoist robes of the daoists on the cushions.

Original text in watch!

Li Zhuiyuan knew that his companions had misunderstood his meaning. He didn't want to touch anything; he just wanted to confirm the daoist’s fatal wound.

However, he did not say anything to stop them. If there were really any relics, they could help future generations better subdue demons and guard the dao, and even help him take revenge. The daoists should also be willing to give them.

But the result was that Yinmeng and Tan Wenbin gained nothing. Only Runsheng, with the yellow-robed daoist, touched a book.

Nearly three hundred years was enough to decay most things.

This book, Li Zhuiyuan glanced at it, was about self-cultivation and self-nurturing, with no value.

“Runsheng brother, give me three sticks of incense.”

“Okay.”

Li Zhuiyuan held three burning incense sticks in his hand, bowed three times virtually to the skeletons of these daoists, and then inserted the incense sticks into this incense burner.

At this moment, the university students who were originally standing at the four corners moved. They again held lanterns and walked out of the house.

This feeling was like a tour guide, taking you to the next scenic spot after visiting one.

After Li Zhuiyuan and the other three went out, they followed the six university students and continued walking along the village road.

This time, they walked directly to the village entrance. There was a river at the village entrance. The river surface here had been widened, and there were many stone slab paths on the riverbank, convenient for villagers to wash clothes here.

The six university students walked to the edge of a stone slab path, divided into two groups, and stood facing each other.

“Plop...”

Under the water surface, a figure floated out. He climbed onto the stone slab.

This was an old man. Half of his body was covered in fish scales, and half of it was transparent.

He was not a living person, nor could he be considered a dead soul.

When he appeared, Li Zhuiyuan subconsciously raised his head. He could feel a resonance between the old man and the formation here.

All things are divided into yin and yang, and the formation eye within a formation can also be divided in this way.

However, most formations do not have this configuration. Only people with extremely deep attainment in formations can set up this formation.

The old man stood on the riverbank, bowed and said: “Poor daoist Yuxuzi, greets all esteemed ones.”

Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Yinmeng were all shocked. They all still remembered that Yuxuzi’s skull had appeared on the stone table at the entrance, and his skeleton was inside the stone table. How could he appear here again at this time?

But Li Zhuiyuan could confirm that the other person was indeed Yuxuzi.

His physical body acted as the yang formation eye at the entrance, and his soul acted as the yin formation eye within the formation.

The old man asked again: “I don't know who all the esteemed ones are?”

“Cough... cough...”

Tan Wenbin cleared his throat, just about to solemnly introduce himself, but was preempted by Li Zhuiyuan:

“Corpse fishers, stationed at Huangshan dock.”

Tan Wenbin immediately nodded, and Runsheng and Yinmeng quickly followed suit.

At the same time, Tan Wenbin touched his Seven Star Hook, Runsheng grasped his Yellow River Shovel, and Yinmeng clutched her Demon Expelling Whip.

Because Little Yuan brother did not perform the Qin Liu family's etiquette, nor did he reveal his true identity, all three made preparations.

As a team, this level of tacit understanding was self-evident.

Yuxuzi asked: “If I am not mistaken, it is all the esteemed ones who helped this poor daoist continue this sealing formation?”

“Correct, it is us.”

“Poor daoist thanks all esteemed ones for lending a hand!”

“Daoist, you are too polite. This is what we should do. Your and your three disciples' generations of efforts are truly admirable.”

“We, people of cultivation, uphold the upright dao, and protect the human world. It is our duty.”

Yuxuzi waved his hand. Although half of his face was covered with fish scales, between his eyebrows, a trace of open and upright righteousness was still revealed.

Just at this moment, a vortex appeared in the water surface behind them. Following this, a huge but sore-ridden big fish leaped out and directly smashed towards Yuxuzi.

Yuxuzi retreated, avoiding the big fish's strike.

The big fish persisted, twisting its body again and pouncing towards Yuxuzi.

Yuxuzi dodged again, letting the big fish pounce empty once more.

The big fish became frenzied, twisting its body and sweeping horizontally again.

Yuxuzi still retreated, not engaging with it.

After three continuous attacks had no effect, the big fish seemed extremely angry. It actually lifted its fish head high, leaped high, drew an arc in the air, and then smashed back into the water surface, splashing up a large amount of water.

This time it wasn't an attack, but more like purely venting anger.

Returning to the water, its red fish eyes twisted, staring intently at Li Zhuiyuan, emitting a hiss from its mouth.

Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, and Yinmeng all looked at Li Zhuiyuan, but Li Zhuiyuan gave no order to attack, just stood there watching.

Yuxuzi pointed at the big fish and said: “This monster has been suppressed for so many years, but its ferocity has still not changed. Fortunately, this poor daoist has already figured out its temperament.”

Li Zhuiyuan said: “Daoist, you are right. A monster is ultimately a monster, with only this much brain.”

“It is only a pity that this poor daoist’s soul has also been polluted by it day and night, making it this appearance, truly... unbearable.”

“Daoist has made a great sacrifice, we admire it.”

“However, although it is said that its ferocity remains, this monster’s vitality has also been worn away by ninety percent over time.”

“Poor daoist has a plan. Not only can it thoroughly solve this monster and avoid prolonged troubles, but it can also help this poor daoist get liberation early.”

“I wonder if the young friends are willing to lend this poor daoist a hand?”

“Naturally, we are not willing.”

“This poor daoist’s plan is... um?”

———

My work and rest have been forcefully adjusted back, but on the first day, I have no energy at all, feeling muddled. Originally, I wanted to write a bit more yesterday and today, but I broke my promise today.

Sometimes the state is not good, so I write a little less, or even pad it with some filler. But since I made a promise, I will definitely remember the debt and repay it.

Yesterday I owe 2k words, and today I owe 6k words.

Tomorrow I will write 18 thousand and end this plot.