Chen Yang shouted urgently, “Stop! All of you, stop!”
But no one paid him any attention, fleeing as fast as they could.
Stomping his foot in frustration, Chen Yang’s face turned livid with rage.
Damn it! Without these people for the sacrifice, how was he supposed to continue the ritual?
And what about the corpse, how had it caught fire?
He turned to look and saw a burning figure standing right in front of him.
“Ah!”
Terrified, Chen Yang stumbled backward, quickly pinching a talisman between his fingers as he chanted an incantation before flinging it at the burning figure.
Not only did the talisman fail to work, but it was instantly reduced to ashes.
“Could this really be a corpse coming to life?!” Chen Yang’s eyes widened in shock, and he turned to run.
But after only a few steps, he felt as if he had collided with an invisible wall.
Reaching out to touch it, Chen Yang gasped, “A barrier formation!”
Had the locust tree spirit become angry?
“Master, save me!” Zhang Dahai ran toward him, his burning hands reaching out to grab Chen Yang.
Chen Yang recoiled in horror. “Stay where you are! I’ll find a way to save you!”
Meanwhile, Zhang Cuilan staggered over, crying, “Master, didn’t you say you could bring my son back to life? Now he’s completely on fire, can he still live?”
Seeing her flaming hands reaching for him, Chen Yang hastily threw out another talisman. “Freeze!”
Damn it, if he couldn’t immobilize the corpse, he could at least freeze a person!
Sure enough, Zhang Cuilan stood motionless.
Chen Yang quickly immobilized Zhang Dahai as well, then turned to see that the corpse had also stopped moving.
The moment he froze those two, the corpse stopped?
He glared furiously at Zhang Cuilan. “Was this your doing?!”
Zhang Cuilan sobbed, “Master, I don’t understand what you’re saying! You told me to raise the corpse your way, and I did everything you asked. Now hurry and bring my son back to life!”
Chen Yang cursed, “Bullshit! You old hag must’ve tampered with it! Otherwise, why would the corpse suddenly catch fire? Not only did you ruin my plan, but you also got me trapped here! Useless fools!”
He turned toward the massive locust tree, clasping his hands in supplication. “Great Tree Spirit, spare me! I truly meant to help you, it was these two idiots who ruined your vessel!”
“And how exactly did you plan to help me?” A cold, feminine voice slowly echoed.
Since when did the locust tree spirit sound like a woman?
Chen Yang didn’t dare dwell on it, afraid that delaying his answer would provoke her wrath.
Stammering, he replied, “I-I-I was going to sacrifice the entire village to you, but your vessel caught fire and scared them all away…”
The voice snapped coldly, “You’re lying!”
Immediately, the burning corpse began advancing toward Chen Yang as the eerie voice continued, “Chen Yang, if you don’t tell me your real plan, I’ll set you on fire too!”
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” Chen Yang kowtowed frantically, babbling, “I planned to lure you out, then use a Yin-extreme body to attract you so I could capture and refine you to enhance my cultivation! Please, Great Tree Spirit, spare me, I haven’t done anything yet!”
He kept kowtowing, but the voice didn’t respond.
A belated realization struck him, something was missing. He jerked his head up, scanning his surroundings. “Where’s that girl? Great Tree Spirit, she’s a Yin-extreme body, she’d be a great supplement for you! I’ll offer her to you, so please spare me!”
A rustling sound came from behind the tree trunk, and Chen Yang’s eyes widened, his throat dry with nervous gulps.
A young girl in a red coat stepped out, her delicate, fair face wearing a faint smile. She said leisurely, “Were you looking for me?”
Her clear, cold voice was identical to the one they’d heard earlier!
Chen Yang, furious, scrambled to his feet. “You little brat! So, it was you playing tricks all along!”
Shen Mingshu’s eyes turned icy as she said, “You vile heretic, I can’t be bothered to waste words on you. Time to send you on your way.”
Flames ignited at her fingertips as she murmured an incantation under her breath. The burning corpse lunged toward Chen Yang.
Chen Yang dodged frantically, only to be blocked by Shen Mingshu. The fiery figure behind him quickly pounced, and his clothes burst into flames instantly. His agonized screams pierced the night sky.
Shen Mingshu watched calmly as the flames consumed him, then walked unhurriedly to Zhang Cuilan. “Zhang Cuilan, you heard it yourself just now. That heretic never intended to revive your son, he wanted to offer your son’s corpse to the so-called ‘Tree Deity’ he mentioned.”
Tears streaked Zhang Cuilan’s face. “My child… I failed you…”
With a flick of her finger, Shen Mingshu withdrew the flames from Zhang Cuilan’s hands, which had already been charred to blackened stumps.
She turned and did the same for Zhang Dahai, her voice low. “The two of you plotted to take my life, but since I remain unharmed, I won’t take yours. Just your hands will suffice.”
Chen Yang had already been burned to death, his soul utterly annihilated.
But something black remained where he had fallen.
Shen Mingshu approached to examine it, and her pupils constricted sharply.
She quickly picked it up and wiped it clean, it was a black banner embroidered with intricate crimson patterns.
A Hundred Ghosts Banner!
While orthodox mystical sects cultivated the Five Arts of the occult, heretical paths had developed their own dark arts.
The Hundred Ghosts Banner was one such sinister artifact. Once forged, it could command a hundred ghosts to wreak havoc!
How could a half-baked heretic like Chen Yang possess such a powerful magical tool?
Moreover, even the scorching Golden Sunfire hadn’t damaged it, meaning the creator of this banner far surpassed her current mystical prowess.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Mingshu could only tuck the banner away for now.
She regretted not preserving Chen Yang’s soul for interrogation.
Glancing at the motionless burning corpse, she turned to the massive locust tree. “Still hiding? Your family has suffered greatly because of you.”
A shadowy figure drifted out from the tree trunk. As the dark mist dissipated, a face bearing some resemblance to Zhang Dahai’s was revealed.
Zhang Cuilan gasped in shock. “Dashan!”
Zhang Dashan glared venomously at Shen Mingshu. “Who are you? Why did you ruin my plans?”
Shen Mingshu snapped her fingers, and the enormous locust tree burst into flames.
Zhang Dashan panicked instantly. “How dare you burn my tree-body!”
Shen Mingshu regarded him with icy disdain. “Without your tree-body, let’s see where you can hide now.”
“Zhang Dashan, you stole a century’s worth of cultivation from that locust spirit and then demanded the entire village sacrifice themselves to revive you. How utterly ruthless.”
Black veins crawled across Zhang Dashan’s face as he hissed, “Others simply weren’t as fortunate as I! If everyone had the chance to bring themselves back to life, they’d do the same!”
With a casual wave of her hand, Shen Mingshu reduced the burning corpse beside her to ashes. She smiled faintly. “Now the corpse is gone too. Aren’t you furious?”
Zhang Dashan roared with bloodshot eyes, “Gone is gone! With your pure yin body here, I can still be revived!”
Even if he had to come back as a woman, he would live again!