Chapter 9: Black Blood

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Chapter 8

A swirling mass of black and white energy approached him. Su Yu instinctively rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the frontal attack. Regaining his composure, he saw the “figure” not far off change direction and look toward him again.

From his vantage point above, Zhang Fugui could see the creature more clearly. It stood up, half of its body twisted and devoured by worms, its form fragmented yet still retaining a human shape. Having spent several years in Nanwu Mountain, he had heard that the stronger the ghost, the more human-like they appeared. But he had never encountered a great ghost like this—neither fully human nor ghostly, but more like a decaying living corpse.

On the filthy face of this walking corpse, the only clear feature was its eyes, which now fixed on Su Yu. Its body turned with its gaze and lunged at Su Yu once more.

The hillside was littered with dead trees and deep pits. It wasn’t long before Su Yu, in his retreat, stumbled into one of the uneven hollows. The rough terrain made retreating even more difficult. His eyes could only detect the eerie “energy” but not the surrounding trees or pits. Yet the “figure” behind him was swift, leaping in just a few bounds to crouch before Su Yu like a beast, sniffing him.

Su Yu could distinctly feel the weight of the creature pressing down on him. Just one of its hands clamped down on his left, rendering it powerless.

The mottled impurities on the creature’s body became clearer—a scattering of ink-like spots seemingly guided by an unknown force, forming dark currents flowing within its body. Starting from its lower abdomen, these currents spread like human meridians.

Were these ink spots under its control? They continued to move, gathering and dispersing along trajectories that Su Yu’s eyes followed, finally converging onto the creature’s hand.

At that moment, the shadowy figure leaned in, and Su Yu felt a sticky sensation as something licked his skin. His body tensed instantly as the licking swept over his neck and continued upward.

A sharp sensation of being bitten on the neck surged through Su Yu’s consciousness. The totem at his dantian flared fiercely. He spat a mouthful of blood, and the yin energy trapped within him exploded briefly, forcing the crawling corpse back several steps.

Zhang Fugui, observing nearby, seized the moment and rushed forward, hoisting the youth onto his back and sprinting away.

“Daoist, that living corpse is draining your blood,” Zhang Fugui said, feeling a chilling cold spread through him. The sweet metallic scent at his nostrils grew stronger. “It wants to suck you dry.”

After spitting blood, Su Yu actually felt much better. Amid the jolting ride, he looked back. The living corpse? Interested in his blood? “You’re not interested?” he asked Zhang Fugui.

Zhang Fugui was taken aback. Indeed, he sensed the Daoist’s blood was alluring, yet it shouldn’t be so. Initially, when the Daoist fell off the cliff, the creature’s craving for fresh mortal blood far exceeded its reason, which led it to collaborate with other wild ghosts to prey on humans. But now, although it smelled something tempting, it no longer tried to swallow anyone whole.

When had this change started? It seemed to coincide with the time it was bound by the Daoist.

A chill struck Zhang Fugui’s heart. Suddenly, he realized it wasn’t disinterest—it was fear of defiance.

The living corpse, splattered with blood, hadn’t reacted at first. After licking the blood, as if confirming something, its gaze grew wilder as it stared at Su Yu.

“They’re coming,” Su Yu said.

Zhang Fugui snapped to attention and turned to see the living corpse charging again.

Su Yu summoned his yin energy, cloaking his arms just as the corpse lunged. But an unprecedented oppression crushed down on his hands. In the next moment, the creature’s jaws broke through his yin energy barrier, sinking into his flesh and causing blood to spurt.

At the crucial moment, Su Yu’s mind went blank. With all his strength, he shook off the heavy living corpse and shouted sharply, “Run!”

“!!!” Zhang Fugui cried, “Daoist, how can I outrun it?”

The living corpse landed nimbly, pausing to lick the blood from its jaws, obsessively cleaning every drop from the ground and its body. The black worms on its skin writhed excitedly.

It had found its prey.

The living corpse was dazed but certain.

—-

Outside Nanwu Mountain, the chilling mountain wind grew fiercer. Injured wandering cultivators retreated from the mountain’s entrance, battered and bloodied. Strange crow cries echoed through the withered forest, interspersed with faint wails of cultivators.

The resting place of a great master, the seal was second only to the burial itself. Only wild mountain beasts, mountain ghosts, or protective relics left by the master in life could be found inside. Yet the fleeing cultivators spoke only of wild ghosts—no mention of spirit beasts or protective formations.

Many wild ghosts had already fled nearby. How could so many remain inside?

“What’s going on?!”

“There are too many wild ghosts in the mountain. We can’t kill them all.”

“This is just an ordinary mountain. There aren’t many townsfolk nearby. How can there be endless vengeful spirits?!”

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The wandering cultivators, who had initially planned to defy the Su family and enter for exploration, stopped in their tracks, looking toward the Su family and the Li Fire Sect.

The elders of the Su family and Li Fire Sect remained unmoved, seemingly disdainful of the cultivators’ futile efforts.

These ignorant cultivators truly believed the secrets of a great master’s resting place could be easily plundered?

The Su family elder, holding a spiritual tool, drew on the mountain’s yin energy—partly to justify sealing and controlling the mountain, but mostly to lure these foolish cultivators into danger, using them as bait to attract the mountain’s fierce spirits.

Half a month ago, the Su family’s exploration had failed. Sending the young master alone inside was still risky.

But sending a group of cultivators was different—a good bait could clear many obstacles. The living tomb was only one threat; more worrying were the tomb and the strange things near the Mist River.

They still had no clear news about how the Su family cultivators died half a month ago.

“But Elder, don’t we need to inform the young master about these plans?” a Su family cultivator whispered nearby. “The young master came to help, but he doesn’t know what’s happening outside…”

The Su elder cast him a cold glance. “What do you know? The young master has been secluded in the Cangxue Sect for years; he may not understand the outside world well. Some things don’t need his knowledge. We just need to pave the way for him.”

The elder’s shrewd face darkened with worry. Besides the troubles in Nanwu Mountain, there was also the marriage contract scandal in Tianyuan City.

In the past, the Gu family always spoke out first in such matters. Years ago, when the Gu family’s young master was lost on travels and rumored dead, they were the first to clarify.

Regarding the Gu family’s young master, they never took anything lightly.

But this was the first time the Gu family had remained silent on such an issue. Now the entire Eastern Huan Southern Realm awaited the Su family’s statement, leaving the Su family in a dilemma.

Could the Su family even speak on it?

Few inside the Su family knew the details of the marriage contract; even the young master secluded in Cangxue Sect might not be aware of all the secrets.

Because the marriage contract with the Gu family’s young master was not for their own young master—but for that useless scion.

The Su family did have a marriage contract with the Gu family. With the true contract in hand, they wouldn’t be so worried. But that contract was destroyed half a month ago—how, no one knew.

When the Su family head and dignified elders left the ancestral hall, their faces were grim. The useless scion was locked away in a remote mountain residence. They thought the matter was under control, but word leaked out, and the whole city knew. Even the useless one disappeared, enraging the family head.

The Su elder looked toward the dark mass of Nanwu Mountain with determination.

Nanwu Mountain must be taken, and momentum created for their young master and the family to shift the tide in Tianyuan City.

The spiritual vessel’s defensive formation stood firm at the mountain’s sealed entrance, blocking all circulating yin energy.

The Su elder frowned and mused aloud, “I wonder which great master this resting place belongs to. I’ve combed through southern realm records but never heard of any linked to Nanwu Mountain.”

Nanwu Mountain wasn’t particularly powerful, but it was certainly the most mysterious place the Su elder had encountered in years. Otherwise, the Su family wouldn’t have lost so many cultivators there half a month ago.

“Could the great master resting here have been a ghost cultivator or heretic?” the Li Fire Sect elder pondered. If so, most treasures left behind would be items of their cultivation, contrary to orthodox methods, and the resting place might breed malevolent spirits.

A voice interrupted their conversation.

“This seal isn’t a technique a heretic could create.”

The speaker was a white-haired elder leaning beside the spiritual vessel. He looked up and pointed to several lines: “The seal on Nanwu Mountain uses orthodox sealing techniques. Inside, yin energy dominates, yang energy is scarce, no spiritual energy is present, only abundant yin… It seems the great master used this seal to imprison something.”

At these words, the Su elder fixed the white-haired man with a heavy gaze. “And your insight?”

“I’m just a boatman at best,” the old man shrugged. He cared little for the southern realm clans fighting over secret realms. If he were a great master from a thousand years past, he’d be furious if people disturbed his tomb after death; he’d drag these disobedient cultivators down with him.

Weary in expression, he waved off the matter. “But grave robbing invites retribution.”

The Li Fire Sect elder wanted to say more, but the Su elder looked at the old man thoughtfully, about to question further.

Suddenly, a Su family cultivator hurried over, the transmission talisman in his hand burning out halfway. His face was pale and grim—

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“Bad news, Elder. Contact with the young master and his group has been lost!”

The elders of the Li Fire Sect and Su family’s faces changed drastically.

“Well, the retribution has come. Everyone should accumulate some virtue…” The old man’s words trailed off as strange light flickered in his cloudy eyes. He looked up suddenly to see a flash of sword light leaping from a distant corner, passing through the seal and entering Nanwu Mountain.

A sword cultivator? Who’s here?

A sword qi pierced the dense fog, broke through the seal, and struck the fissure in Nanwu Mountain.

As the sword qi dissipated, two figures appeared amidst the yin-ravaged withered forest. A man in flamboyant red brushed dust from his shoulder, scowling toward the east. After a pause, he muttered, “I wondered why the entrance was sealed so tightly. The yin energy here is too strong. Given this kind of seal, it’s surprising the southern realm cultivators didn’t act sooner… Nanwu Mountain’s situation is no simple matter. Soon it could rival the outer reaches of the extreme north.”

If it were just ordinary yin surpassing yang, such drastic measures wouldn’t be necessary.

But the yin energy here was thick to the extreme, fostering malevolent spirits. Given time, this place would surely become a den of evil.

“Gu Zi… Gu Qi! Are you listening to me?” The red-clad man grumbled for a long while without response, his impatience showing as he glanced past the withered trees.

The swordsman stood several dozen paces away, his back laden with sword weapons covered in seals that trembled faintly.

At this moment, standing beside a withered tree, the swordsman’s surroundings stilled as the howling wind died down instantly. Only the faint rustling of scorched earth and dead leaves remained. He leaned against the tree, eyes closed in deep thought, reaching beyond the raging wind toward deeper mountains.

Suddenly, the swordsman seemed to notice something.

He shifted slightly and leapt a few steps closer.

“I’ve called you for ages with no answer. There must be malevolent spirits here, and an ancient seal of unknown origin. If you don’t send word to the sect—” Jiang Xingfeng called out, but seeing the swordsman stopped beneath a tree, his words were cut short as the swordsman’s motion drew his attention. “Gu Qi, what is it?”

The swordsman squatted slightly, pinching a piece of deep black soil and sniffing at his nose. His thin lips parted: “Blood.”

Blood? Jiang Xingfeng, looking where the swordsman pointed, noticed strange markings on the ground. The corrupted soil was blackened to an extreme, contrasting with the surrounding dark brown earth of Nanwu Mountain, as if something had burned it.

The swordsman looked outward. The trails led to the mountain wall. Approaching the base, he noticed blood stains on the roots of a damaged withered tree. Someone had apparently lain here not long ago.

“Did someone fall from above?” Jiang Xingfeng looked up at the cliff, pondering. “So much blood… the qi and blood burned. It must be a ‘blood scalding’ technique commonly seen in talisman arts.”

The swordsman crumbled the soil between his fingers, detecting a peculiar scent.

Mixed with the blood’s stench was an almost imperceptible smell. He wanted to investigate further but found nothing else.

The blood had been burned dry, and aside from the metallic smell, the wind had swept away all other odors.

The scorched earth left deep black marks on the ground. Despite these many marks, no cultivators were present nearby, nor any wandering souls. Upon closer inspection, the blood-thirsty withered trees of Nanwu Mountain had not consumed the blood residue. Instead, the burnt patches of earth had caused all the yin-affiliated spiritual plants growing beside the trees to wither—none survived.

It was as if all life energy had been drained in a very short time.

The talisman arts used to slay demons and monsters never involved plundering life essence.

Jiang Xingfeng, who was carefully observing the surroundings, placed a hand on the swordsman’s shoulder. “Many cultivators versed in talisman formations from the Su family of Tianyuan City have come for Nanwu Mountain.”

“This isn’t Su family talisman work.”

The swordsman released the soil and gazed deep into the unfathomable depths of Nanwu Mountain. Coldness deepened in his eyes. “Using yin to traverse the body, qi and blood burned.”

“Someone is practicing dark yin arts.”