Jiang Yuandao followed closely behind, the fire-spirit ball coalescing in his palm burning the demonic Qi with a crackling sound. “This zombie probably has the cultivation level of the Golden Core stage!”
Yun Mu fished out a handful of thunder talismans, a faint, indistinctly mischievous smile curving the corners of his mouth.
Hiding behind Sui Yu, he waited for the exact opening when the little zombie lunged toward Ling Guang, then flicked his fingertips, precisely slapping three thunder talismans onto the back of the little zombie’s neck. Amidst the crackling lightning, the little zombie shrieked as it tumbled into the Ghost-Trapping Array, its red belly-band scorched with several holes.
Yun Mu immediately followed up by slapping Vajra Talismans onto every single stone pillar, feeling much more at ease only with this double layer of security.
Golden light surged up, and the little zombie was completely trapped within. The creature went berserk, ramming into the talisman array until it hummed and vibrated, its shrill cries nearly piercing their eardrums.
“Quiet at last.” Yun Mu abruptly tossed a Silence Talisman at the little zombie.
The ghosts inside the temple gradually dispersed. The disciples were carrying more or less minor injuries, but fortunately, none were fatal. Supporting one another as they walked out of the ruined temple, they could finally relax for a moment.
Yun Mu looked around and found that the resentment permeating the surroundings of the temple had faded a lot, but that lingering sense of chill and decay in the air refused to disperse.
Sect Master Senior Brother had said that aside from trapped residents, quite a few cultivators had also gone missing here. Yet Ping’an Town wasn’t large; where on earth could the ghosts have hidden them?
“Master, has Ping’an Town turned into this state purely because of this little zombie?” Ling Guang circled the trapped Shang He, rubbing his chin in curiosity.
“Not necessarily. Although this zombie’s strength isn’t low, its spiritual intelligence hasn’t opened yet; it’s impossible for it to stir up a commotion on this scale,” Yun Mu analyzed. “There must be even greater hidden hazards in the town. Everyone must proceed with caution.”
“There will definitely be harder challenges waiting for everyone next. While this place is still relatively safe, let me protect you while you all first regulate your breathing to heal your injuries,” Song Ke said solemnly.
He walked step by step to Yun Mu’s side, hesitating for a moment before grabbing Yun Mu’s hand to take his pulse. “The injury isn’t severe; that restoration pill from just now took effect, so you’re fine for now. It’s just that your spiritual power shows signs of depletion, which should be related to the lingering effects of your old injuries combined with over-exerting yourself in battle this time. Here is a Qingling Pill; swallow it first to replenish yourself.”
“Many thanks, Clan Head Song.”
Yun Mu accepted the medicinal pill handed over by Song Ke and swallowed it in one gulp. Immediately, countless strands of spiritual power coursed through all his limbs and bones, creating such a refreshing sensation that he felt like he was floating.
The pill given by this Clan Head Song definitely wasn’t of a low grade; otherwise, it couldn’t possibly have produced such an effect.
Feeling grateful in his heart, even Yun Mu’s expressionless face looked quite a bit softer.
Sui Yu, standing to the side, turned as dark as a thundercloud, nearly grinding his back teeth to pieces.
Where did this lingering magpie come from, daring to covet his master? These thoughts had better be cut short early to avoid heartbreak down the road. After all, Yun Mu’s life was already staked by his own gaze; sooner or later, he would finish him off!
For some unknown reason, Yun Mu felt a cold draft across the back of his neck and raised a hand to rub it, a sudden sense of panic fluttering in his heart. Please, let there not be any more twists and turns.
Just as he thought this, a muffled groan sounded by his ear.
He immediately turned his head to look, only to see it was Sui Yu. The youth was sitting cross-legged against a large rock, his sword-like brows tightly furrowed, eyes closed as he endured something with clenched teeth, his forehead covered in sweat while dark red blood continued to seep from his left arm.
“Sui Yu!” Yun Mu called out to him, but received no response from the other party.
Over there, upon hearing the commotion, Shen Xingshuang hurried over patter-patter. In her mind, Yun Mu who bore a notorious reputation for cruelty—simply wouldn’t care whether his disciples lived or dies. If she didn’t step in, Sui Yu might not even make it back to Luoxuan Sect alive.
So she pulled Gu Renran along, squeezing right between Sui Yu and Yun Mu, clamoring and insisting that Gu Renran check on Sui Yu. No matter what, he was still an alchemist from Luoxuan Sect’s Medicine Peak.
Gu Renran took Sui Yu’s pulse with evident reluctance, forcefully pried open his mouth, and tossed a Rejuvenation Pill inside.
A trace of gloating surfaced on her face as she spoke, “All other external injuries are fine; a single Rejuvenation Pill can instantly restore him. The trickier part is the injury on his left arm. That little zombie’s claws are saturated with corpse poison that is freezing cold to the extreme. If we don’t scoop out the rotting flesh and excise the corpse poison, this wound will never heal.”
This instantly stumped Shen Xingshuang. She trembled and stuttered even when fighting battles or killing monsters, let alone taking a knife to her favorite Sui Yu.
“Fussing back and forth, talking so much nonsense!”
Yun Mu speechlessly shoved the two of them aside, brandishing the Siyu Sword to slice off Sui Yu’s sleeve, exposing an extremely deep claw mark on his arm. Blackish-gray Qi lingered over it, sizzling away at the surrounding flesh and blood in small increments. If it wasn’t treated soon, it would likely sink straight into the bone.
[Looking at it makes it hurt. Sui-sui, don’t be afraid; Master will be very quick—a couple of swipes and it’ll be done…]
Muttering big words in his heart, Yun Mu ultimately didn’t dare to mess around recklessly. He switched to a sharp, delicate dagger, cleansed and disinfected it with spiritual Qi, and then frowned as he carefully cut away at Sui Yu’s arm.
After taking quite a while of effort, he finally managed to scrape away all the rotting flesh infected with corpse poison, casually conjuring a Flesh-Regeneration Pill and feeding it to Sui Yu. Before long, that wound began to grow and heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
[As expected of the immortal cultivation world! If this kind of good stuff were placed in the modern era, a single pill alone would probably be auctioned off for astronomical prices!]
“Many thanks, Master.”
Sui Yu timely snapped back to awareness, cupping his fists to express his thanks to Yun Mu with an unkind tone.
He hadn’t actually fainted for real; he simply found that fellow surnamed Song unpleasing to the eye and thought about pretending to look frail to draw Yun Mu’s attention. Who could have expected it would draw in an interfering nuisance like Shen Xingshuang.
Nor did he expect that his Master would genuinely be ruthless enough toward him, bringing out a knife at the drop of a hat. Although it was to save him, that seemingly cautious, agonizingly slow movement was actually much more torturous than a single clean cut. If not for his state of mind forged from his past life, he probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
At this moment, Sui Yu’s impulse to slice someone up was practically impossible to conceal.
“How is everyone resting?”
A cacophony of overlapping replies sounded from the disciples. Basically, everyone had recovered seventy to eighty percent, so continuing onward presented no problems whatsoever.
Yun Mu nodded and continued, “The moment we arrived today, we ran into the Soul-Locking Array and the Soul-Devouring Banner; the situation in Ping’an Town is definitely not simple, and there are probably multiple sacrificial arrays like this. The clues we currently grasp are still too scarce, and those missing cultivators haven’t left a single trace yet. Next, we’ll probably have to split up and act separately. What are your thoughts, everyone?”
“We’ll listen to Elder Yun’s arrangements.”
Even if some disciples harbored dissatisfaction with Yun Mu’s character, they were trapped in a dangerous situation right now and knew it was unwise to engage in internal conflict, so they reined in their focus and obeyed the arrangements.
“Very well, let’s temporarily divide into two groups. One group will be led by this seat, and the other by Clan Head Song.” Yun Mu swept his gaze around. “Everyone choose freely; whoever you prefer to follow, stand behind them. This place is not somewhere to linger; we must leave at once.”
The crowd nodded and formed their respective groups.
In truth, it was quite easy to choose. Shi Menglan, Ling Guang, and Sui Yu would definitely follow Yun Mu; in front of outsiders, they still had to save face for their Master.
Shen Xingshuang, Gu Renran, Jiang Yuandao, and other disciples who looked askew at Yun Mu all stood behind Song Ke. What surprised Yun Mu was that Liyue actually chose to follow him.