Chapter 97: Who is the villain?
During this period, Feng Xuexiang was at his most vulnerable.
Xin Liu had waited until now to obtain the jade scroll more smoothly.
As he walked toward the round mirror, with every step he took, countless illusions appeared before his eyes, trying to pull him into a whirlpool.
Xin Liu steadied his mind and continued forward, but after taking a dozen steps, his pace slowed down.
Suddenly, he found himself transported back to many years ago, where he saw his master, Chi Heng.
His master had many disciples, and before him, many of them had died of old age, yet his master still looked as young as ever.
However, no matter how long he lived, he would eventually grow old.
It was uncertain whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for Xin Liu’s generation of disciples that they encountered their master at the beginning of his decline.
As a result, they learned various techniques that their senior brothers and sisters had not been able to learn.
Having learned his techniques and enjoyed his protection, they were expected to sacrifice themselves for their master’s pursuit of immortality.
But if even the master was unwilling to die, how could they be? Who would want to remain oppressed and controlled forever?
Xin Liu’s expression gradually twisted as he saw the figure of his master, Chi Heng, ahead.
Dressed in a long robe, his master’s withered fingers extended from his sleeves:
“Xin Liu, are you willing to assist your master?”
This was how his master looked when he was nearing death.
“Disciple is willing!” Xin Liu felt a sense of dread upon seeing this person, and the words slipped out of his mouth.
“Oh? Then what are you doing now? You have disobeyed my orders and will, and you shall bear my curse.”
The cold words were filled with killing intent. Xin Liu cried out, “No!” Suddenly, he felt his body grow heavy, his limbs tightening, and a chilling pain coursing through him.
No! This isn’t right!
Xin Liu struck his chest with a palm, finding a moment of clarity amidst the pain and breaking free from the illusion.
He stumbled back several steps in a panic and realized he had already reached a meter away from the round mirror.
He had nearly been captured by the illusion just now; it had exploited his fear of his master, almost causing him to lose himself.
Xin Liu hesitated, unsure whether he should continue forward.
He could sense that the jade scroll was just ahead, and to give up now would mean all his previous efforts would be wasted.
But if he continued forward, the illusions would certainly become more powerful, and he might not be able to wake up in time.
Suddenly, he noticed the sound of someone approaching. Xin Liu immediately retreated, hiding in the shadows and concealing his presence.
Four people arrived, with Feng Zaiyin leading the way, lowering his posture as he guided the three others behind him.
“Master Ming, please, this is the resting place of the Feng family’s spirit demon.”
To his surprise, Feng Zaiyin had invited Ming Tang, the Ming family’s spirit demon.
Ming Tang had a beloved grand-niece who would be marrying Feng Zaiyin after the new year, making them relatives. Because of this, Ming Tang gave Feng Zaiyin some face and agreed to come.
“Deputy Director Pang, and Mr. Wu, please, as well.”
Deputy Director Pang responded with a cheerful smile, “Mr. Feng, you’re too polite.”
Whenever their Crisis Bureau dealt with the Four Great Families, the Ming family was the only one that was somewhat courteous; with the others, they had to make multiple requests.
Feng Zaiyin, on the other hand, was very tactful.
After exchanging a few words with Deputy Director Pang, Feng Zaiyin’s gaze swept over the silent Mr. Wu.
This man had an ordinary appearance, an unremarkable presence, and was unusually young, yet Deputy Director Pang treated him with great respect.
They had come in secret this time, and Deputy Director Pang had brought this person along—his background was unknown.
Though Feng Zaiyin harbored doubts, he wouldn’t express them openly.
As they neared the glass villa and were about to enter, Feng Zaiyin warned them, “Be careful, stepping in here means entering his domain; we will surely disturb him.”
“You step back,” Ming Tang ordered, his face stern, directing Feng Zaiyin to move behind him.
Ming Tang was unafraid of such illusions and walked at the front.
Wherever his feet touched, the surroundings would temporarily return to normal, revealing a corner of the wooden floor.
“This place has already been affected, becoming something between reality and illusion.”
Ming Tang’s expression darkened as he scolded:
“I’ve heard that your Feng family seeks out people with the Five Yin and Five Yang fates each year to watch over Feng Xuexiang. How could ordinary people endure such torment from these illusions? No wonder there are deaths and injuries every year—this is utter nonsense!”
Feng Zaiyin apologized, explaining, “In previous years, it wasn’t like this. He used to reside at the lakeside residence, where there were formations to suppress his power. The surroundings wouldn’t manifest to this extent.”
“It might also be related to the jade scroll,” Mr. Wu, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke up.
Following behind Ming Tang, he cast his gaze toward the round mirror in the distance and the butterfly chrysalis above.
“I can sense the jade scroll within his body. He’s probably trying to absorb its power, which is why he’s lost control.”
As he said this, Mr. Wu let out a faint, ambiguous laugh, “Quite a large appetite.”
The fragmented jade scroll wasn’t something easily digested.
Deputy Director Pang’s expression changed, “If he manages to absorb the jade scroll, that won’t do. Mr. Wu, do you think we should remove it immediately?”
Mr. Wu replied, “That depends on how you want to remove it. If you cut open the chrysalis and kill him, you can naturally retrieve it…”
Ming Tang frowned deeply, “Deputy Director Pang, Feng family boy, you invited me here, but you never said you wanted his life!”
Although he had heard Feng Zaiyin mention that Feng Xuexiang often disrupted the family at will and harbored malevolent spirits, which made Ming Tang dislike him even more, it hadn’t reached the point where he wanted to kill him.
After all, as fellow spirit demons, Ming Tang was reluctant to spill blood.
Feng Zaiyin glanced at Deputy Director Pang and Mr. Wu, then at the furious Ming Tang, looking troubled:
“I’m just a junior. Naturally, I don’t want to harm my Ninth Uncle. Is there any other way?”
Deputy Director Pang was inwardly annoyed. This kid! When he came to us for cooperation, he didn’t seem to care about his Ninth Uncle’s life, and now in front of Master Ming, he’s talking all nice.
“Heh, if there’s another way, I certainly wouldn’t object, but the problem is…”
Deputy Director Pang looked at Mr. Wu, who remained calm, with an inquiring gaze.
“Other methods… we could stop his growth within the chrysalis, lure him out, and then find a way to force the jade scroll out of him,” Mr. Wu suggested.
“What would be the consequences of doing that?” Feng Zaiyin asked.
Mr. Wu replied, “Right now, he hasn’t fully transformed within the chrysalis. If we force him out now, he’ll have to remain in a state that’s neither fully human nor fully demon.”
“But there’s no need to worry. If he’s lucky, he might be able to enter the chrysalis and emerge again next year.” Mr. Wu smiled. “After all, we’re only interested in the jade scroll.”
“Exactly!” Deputy Director Pang added, “The Bureau has issued an order—we must obtain the jade scroll!”
“There’s no time to lose; let’s begin immediately.”
Without waiting for the others to respond, Mr. Wu swiftly threw out several pitch-black objects.
These objects surrounded the round mirror, flickering with ghostly green flames.
Only then did Feng Zaiyin realize that Mr. Wu was a formation master—and a very powerful one at that.
The green flames quickly spread to the illusionary mirror, igniting the white filaments growing from its surface.
In an instant, the air in front of them became a swirl of vibrant, distorted colors.
Feng Zaiyin, having the weakest cultivation among them, felt his eyes burn, causing blood vessels to burst.
A clear, resonant chime brought him back to his senses as the small bell at Ming Tang’s waist moved on its own, without wind.
Ming Tang clasped his hands together at the front, and a light, solemn aura surrounded him, invisibly pushing away the twisted illusions.
None of those forces could harm him in the slightest.
“He once swore a blood oath not to harm me, so I’ll go ahead,” Ming Tang said as he approached the illusionary mirror.
Under the intensifying green flames, the pale purple chrysalis shrank rapidly, and the shadow within began to writhe in pain.
“Ssshh—”
The sound of silk tearing echoed continuously as the giant chrysalis was ripped open from within.
Long, slender, pale white hands, thin yet sharp as claws, tore through it.
The viscous fluid from within the chrysalis oozed through the tear, spreading across the mirror’s surface and extinguishing the creeping green flames.
A slick, wet head emerged from the chrysalis, followed by a neck, a chest, and a grotesquely misshapen, swollen torso.
As it lifted its head to look at them, its once pitch-black eyes were now filled with countless tiny purple dots—each one a small eye of its own.
There was no deciphering the emotions behind such eyes, but everyone present knew he was furious.
The creature emitted a high-pitched shriek, gradually drowning out the sound of Ming Tang’s bell, causing their ears to ring and heads to spin.
“Quick! Restrain him!” Mr. Wu shouted, struggling to keep his balance.
He swiftly drew out two scrolls of the jade scroll, which floated before him, intending to use them to draw out the jade scroll from Feng Xuexiang’s body.
As Feng Xuexiang, drenched and still perched on the round mirror, moved, two extremely ethereal butterfly wings suddenly unfurled behind him.
On these wings, several patterns resembling blue-purple eyes, surrounded by darkness, blinked at the group.
In that instant, even Ming Tang was forced to stagger backward, unable to approach any further.
“How is this possible!” Mr. Wu suddenly screamed in disbelief.
For the first time since arriving, he lost his composed demeanor, his eyes bloodshot as he stared intently at Feng Xuexiang’s chest, unable to blink.
“It won’t respond… How could the jade scroll fuse with his body?”
Deputy Director Pang, barely holding his ground with the help of his magical tool, shouted, “Mr. Wu, didn’t you say you had a way to control the jade scroll?”
Mr. Wu’s expression shifted repeatedly.
The jade scroll wasn’t something just anyone could use. He could only command it because it was his master’s life-bound artifact, and he was the disciple entrusted with guarding the tomb.
The jade scrolls couldn’t be used by others, nor could it be fused with another’s body.
Therefore, before coming to retrieve the jade scrolls, he hadn’t even considered the Feng family’s spirit demon as a threat.
But now, half of those four scrolls of the jade scroll had clearly fused into Feng Xuexiang’s body.
He was already able to wield part of the jade scroll’s power, and they probably wouldn’t be able to deal with him at this point.
One wrong move, and they could even lose their lives.
Countless thoughts raced through Mr. Wu’s mind, and he made a decisive decision: “Let’s leave now!”
He had only just freed himself from the soul pellet, and the great task of resurrecting his master was still unfinished—how could he die here?
As soon as he made the decision, he was ready to withdraw, and Deputy Director Pang, unable to dissuade him, had no choice but to follow.
Feng Zaiyin wiped the blood from his face and called out to Ming Tang, who was still holding back the force, “Master Ming! We need to retreat first!”
“You go ahead,” Ming Tang responded as the hundreds of prayer beads around him radiated light, shielding against the power emanating from Feng Xuexiang. “He’s lost his sanity, controlled by his demonic nature. If we don’t seal him, he’ll escape and wreak havoc.”
Xin Liu, who had been hiding in the shadows, realized the situation had taken a turn for the worse and had already made his escape, relieved that he hadn’t intervened; otherwise, he would have been in the same predicament as them.
Seeing Deputy Director Pang and Mr. Wu running out, Xin Liu’s eyes gleamed with greed.
He had seen it—Mr. Wu also had two jade scrolls in his possession.
“Mr. Wu! This is not what we agreed upon. How will you explain this to the Director when we return?” Deputy Director Pang demanded.
Mr. Wu paused in the courtyard, glancing back at the dimly lit glass villa behind him. Then, without warning, he waved a hand across Deputy Director Pang’s face, causing him to fall unconscious.
Then he turned toward Xin Liu’s hiding spot. “You’ve been watching for so long, and yet you still haven’t shown yourself… Senior Brother?”
Xin Liu was taken aback.
Was this man also a soul pellet possessing a disciple from the tomb?
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that this person’s aura seemed normal at first glance, but there was a deliberate circulation of vitality throughout his body.
He was using this method to conceal his yin energy.
“So, you had already discovered me,” Xin Liu said as he revealed himself, his hand ready to strike with the jade scroll hidden in his sleeve. He asked with a smile, “Which junior brother are you? I truly can’t tell.”
Mr. Wu didn’t answer immediately but instead observed him for a moment before speaking with certainty, “Senior Brother Xin Liu.”
Hearing his name called out so directly made Xin Liu even more vigilant.
He mentally reviewed the names and specialties of the others.
Finally, with a peculiar expression, Xin Liu hesitantly asked, “Junior Sister Yuren?”
