Yu Zhen sat on a single sofa with a livid face, while Yu Mengxuan beside him watched us with an equally cold expression. Behind them stood two bodyguards in suits, one of whom still wore sunglasses even though the lights were on in the room. "Heh heh, Master Zhen certainly has skill," Zhuge Wu said with a smile, his tone steady, as if everything had already gone according to his expectations. Yu Zhen snorted coldly and said, "You dare to set up my Yu family? Do you know what your fate will be?" Zhuge Wu kept his smile and spoke confidently, "Master Zhen is wise. Even if I had the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard, I wouldn't dare do anything to harm the Yu family. However, I too have my ambitions. I've always wanted to follow you, Master Zhen, but I never had the chance to prove myself. Forced to resort to this method, I humbly ask for your forgiveness." Zhuge Wu's meaning was clear, though his approach was somewhat blunt and crude. I turned to look at the middle-aged man in Daoist robes beside Yu Zhen, and sure enough, his expression had turned somewhat unpleasant.
Yu Zhen stood up and slowly walked over to Zhuge Wu, his face betraying no emotion. When he reached him, he suddenly raised his hand and swung a slap toward Zhuge Wu's face. Yu Zhen's movement was so fast that his hand was barely visible. His large palm cut through the air with a whistling sound, showing just how powerful the strike was. Zhuge Wu did not dodge or flinch. His left hand suddenly shot up, faster than Yu Zhen's, and caught Yu Zhen's wrist firmly just before the slap could land on his face. "Hm? Some skill," Yu Zhen said with a startled expression. That single move was enough to make him reassess Zhuge Wu. He knew very well how powerful his slap was—anyone who could dodge it must possess exceptional martial ability.
Yu Zhen's two bodyguards remained motionless. Zhuge Wu quickly released his grip and said, "Master Zhen, I apologize for the offense." "Haha, with skill like yours, if you hadn't schemed against my daughter, you'd be qualified to stand by my side. But now, this bit of ability isn't enough." Yu Zhen said as he turned and sat back down on the sofa. He continued, "His name is Sima Jin, my top-ranked mystic. He's proficient in fate reading, divination, and feng shui, and he also has some knowledge of tomb exploration. Ghosts and spirits are mere child's play to him. Do you think you're more capable than Sima Jin?" Sima Jin said nothing, only looking at Zhuge Wu with contempt. Zhuge Wu chuckled and said, "Fellow Daoist Sima, if you were truly proficient in fate reading and divination, Miss Yu wouldn't have gotten into that situation, would she?" Sima Jin sneered and replied, "I'm Brother Zhen's subordinate, not a personal bodyguard for the young lady. Besides, the young lady turned danger into safety—it was never meant to be a calamity. How could such matters be accurately predicted?" Zhuge Wu laughed heartily and said, "It's just incompetence. Why make excuses?" Yu Zhen smiled with seasoned composure and said, "Here's the deal—you two duel. Zhuge Wu, if you can defeat Sima Jin, I'll let bygones be bygones. If you lose, the two of you will leave your lives here." "If all you can do is talk, then you're not even qualified to speak with me!" Sima Jin's spirits lifted at these words. He formed a sword finger gesture, chanted incantations under his breath, and pressed the yellow talisman on the Lietougui, tapping it several times. The Lietougui stopped trembling and suddenly lunged at Zhuge Wu. Just a few steps in, it vanished without a trace. Even with my yin-yang vision in its nascent state, I couldn't track the Lietougui's movements. Zhuge Wu let out a sinister laugh, his figure flickering as he charged toward the Lietougui. Mid-charge, he bit his middle finger, and chanted: "Heaven and earth, dark and yellow, all qi stems from the root. With blood from my finger through eons of tribulation, I bear witness to my divine power!"
After reciting the four incantations, Zhuge Wu suddenly pointed forward into the air, swiftly drawing a hand seal in the air, and shouted loudly, "Within the Three Realms, nothing can hide—by decree!" "Whoosh~" The Lietougui that had vanished reappeared, positioned less than three meters in front of Zhuge Wu. Zhuge Wu pressed his thumb against his middle finger, squeezing out a drop of blood from his middle finger. He flicked it sharply, and the drop of blood flew out, striking the Lietougui precisely on its brow. The Lietougui let out a screech, like a wild beast suddenly enraged, its hollow eyes turning blood-red. It spun around and lunged at Situ Jin, who had originally controlled it. Situ Jin frowned, pinched out another yellow talisman paper, and dodged left and right before slapping the talisman onto the Lietougui's back. He then drew out a peachwood sword only an inch long, traced a sword talisman on the Lietougui's body, and pointed it at Zhuge Wu, chanting, "Evil ghost, evil ghost, heed my command, expel the inner demon, return your justice, where the wooden sword points, seize your yang life, without avenging this wrong, how can you find rebirth?" Situ Jin's incantation was relatively easier to understand. Compared to Zhuge Wu's, his spell carried a quality of beguilement and obfuscation, but it was practical. The Lietougui turned again, the drop of blood on its brow quickly vanishing, and lunged at Zhuge Wu once more. "Truly a heretic path." Zhuge Wu sneered, suddenly pressing his palms together and rapidly chanting incantations. This time, the speed was many times faster than Jay Chou rapping lyrics—no one could make out a single word. The Lietougui did not vanish this time. It had only taken a few steps when it began trembling violently, and its originally ethereal spirit body slowly condensed into a physical form. Within just a few breaths, the Lietougui had fully transformed into a rotting corpse. This corpse was even more revolting than the spirit form, and the villa's hall immediately filled with a nauseating stench. "Ugh~" Yu Mengxuan, who had the weakest tolerance, let out a dry heave and nearly vomited. Yu Zhen and the other two bodyguards also furrowed their brows. People like them had seen too many corpses and weren't overly sensitive to such smells. I couldn't help but cover my nose as the stench churned my stomach. "The art of borrowing a soul to return a corpse?" Situ Jin stared at Zhuge Wu in shock, hurling the peachwood sword like a flying dagger. It pierced directly into the Lietougui's rotting corpse as he chanted loudly, "The great vow is fulfilled, I send you to reincarnation, beneath the Nine Springs, no place to return, urgent as the law, burst—decree!" "Boom~" After the peachwood sword struck the Lietougui's corpse and Situ Jin finished his incantation, the body suddenly exploded like a bomb. Rotten flesh and dead blood sprayed in all directions, splattering across the entire hall and covering everyone present. "Ugh~" Yu Mengxuan finally couldn't hold it in and vomited. She stood up and rushed toward the stairs. The others remained unmoved. I had rotting flesh on me too and wanted to go upstairs to wash like Yu Mengxuan, but I didn't dare. "Pfft!" Zhuge Wu spat out a mouthful of internal blood, likely backlash from the corpse's self-destruction. He asked coldly, "Do you realize that by doing this, that ghost has been utterly destroyed, with no chance of reincarnation?"
Sima Jin laughed heartily and said, "What does that matter? The important thing is that I can break your soul-borrowing corpse technique, which proves I'm stronger than you." "Is that so? To prove you're stronger than the other person, you can have absolutely no bottom line, right?" Zhuge Wu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said calmly, slowly walking toward Sima Jin. Sima Jin smiled and said, "Since ancient times, the victor is king and the vanquished is the outlaw. When you win, even your farts make sense. When you lose, no amount of reasoning is worth a damn." "Fine, then taste my fist." Zhuge Wu clenched his fist as he spoke, quickly walked up to Sima Jin, and threw a punch straight at his face. "Bang!" Although Sima Jin understood Daoist arts, when it came to fist-and-foot martial skills, he was no match for Zhuge Wu at all. This punch sent Sima Jin sprawling to the ground. Sima Jin shouted loudly, "You bastard, we're dueling with magic, not brawling like thugs." "You're the one who said the victor is king and the vanquished is the outlaw." Zhuge Wu took the opportunity to mount Sima Jin and raised his fist to strike at his head again. I watched Zhuge Wu acting like a thug with some speechlessness, thinking, is this even allowed? I turned to look at Yu Zhen, who didn't seem to say much either, just watching Zhuge Wu with interest, seemingly unconcerned about Sima Jin's safety. The next second, I understood why Yu Zhen remained unmoved even when his top mystic was being beaten, because before Zhuge Wu's second punch could land, it was caught by a black shadow. To be precise, it was just a humanoid mass of black mist, looking somewhat slender, with facial features that couldn't be made out clearly. Zhuge Wu's wrist was locked by the black shadow, and he couldn't move an inch. Sima Jin said coldly, "I overestimated you. Didn't you know I have a guardian yin spirit?" "Bang!" As soon as Sima Jin finished speaking, the black shadow suddenly exerted force, grabbing Zhuge Wu's wrist and flinging him away. He crashed heavily into the huge LCD television only three or four meters away from me. The TV screen shattered into pieces, and Zhuge Wu hit the ground, spitting out another mouthful of blood. I looked at the black shadow in terror, thinking we were doomed this time. I really wanted to rush at the black shadow, but I knew that even Zhuge Wu was no match for it, so I wouldn't even be worth a puff of its breath. Zhuge Wu struggled to his feet, formed a sword finger gesture again, and suddenly drew a hand talisman in the air toward me, chanting, "Black talisman, Xianming, ten thousand ghosts obey, urgent as the law!" I looked at Zhuge Wu in confusion, then a sudden burning sensation appeared in my pocket, and I instantly understood what was going on. That bastard Zhuge Wu was setting me up. Before we came here, he had given me a black talisman, saying it was for protection, but now he was saying "Black talisman, Xianming, ten thousand ghosts obey" — wasn't he just using me as bait? I turned to look at the black shadow beside Sima Jin, and sure enough, it was already lunging at me. I let out a shout, "Zhuge Wu, I'll fuck your grandpa!" While retreating, I reached into my pocket, trying to pull out the black talisman, but what came out was nothing but some already-burned paper ash. The black shadow's speed was simply beyond anything I could dodge. I had only taken a few steps back when the black shadow flew to my side, directly tackling me to the ground, its entire spirit body pressing down on me. An intense numbing sensation spread through my entire body, and I even had the feeling that this black shadow was trying to burrow into my body.