The Immortal’s Poison

Their group of people all possessed the telegnosis ability. They had night vision, but the depth of the earth’s core was not as dark as they had imagined. They failed to notice that bits of phosphorescence were swirling and shimmering from unknown corners. Wen Leyang was still leading the pack right in front, but he felt rather strange throughout the journey. He was only puzzled, not suspicious, towards either Hanba or Darling.

 The further Wen Leyang walked, the more he sensed in his heart that the unusual feeling that he had was gradually diminishing. The end of the subterranean cavern was indeed too spacious, with towers and towers of gigantic rocks as high as mountains firmly supporting the thick and heavy bottom layer above. The faint glow shimmering from the unknown mineral above his head was dimming, but it was tainted with spiritual energy, akin to the stars behind wispy clouds.

 Stalagmites in various shapes were all standing scattered next to them; there was also the sound of water echoing from afar.

 After they had walked towards the depth for a little while, the phosphorescence underneath their feet and before their bodies gradually started to grow concentrated. Wen Leyang frowned. Even though the Wen family was not well-known for their expertise in corpse control, they had experience in dealing with dead people nonetheless. He understood that each streak of ghost’s fire before his eyes belonged to one unknown skeleton!

 Hanba suddenly sped up, but in his usual murky gaze was rarely-seen excitement. Occasionally, he picked up a piece of bone from the soil, held it to his nose and inhaled deeply. The expression on his face reflected something similar to the insane addiction of drugs.

 Wen Leyang dared not ask too much. He pulled Little Five along and guarded Hanba closely. He then followed Hanba as they dashed into the spacious subterranean cavern. Their surroundings grew colder and colder. No matter how hard Wen Leyang tried to scan the area with his telegnosis ability, there was not even a sense of vitality he could detect, and even the pleasant tinkles of water too gradually turned savage and tyrannical.

 Wen Leyang took out a digital watch from his bag… From the moment they descended into the subterranean cavern’s end, they had already walked for more than ten hours.

 Although he could not remember how many times was he trapped in a place so dark that he could not tell day from night, the only way he could tell time was to depend on this little trick that could function for years without a change of battery. Before he left the house, he intentionally carried one more watch with him.

 Guo Hua who was walking right in front suddenly stopped in his tracks. It was that moment when Wen Leyang suddenly discovered in astonishment, that their surroundings had already turned into a boundless sea of phosphorescence before they could even notice!

 Wen Leyang could no longer refrain himself. He asked Hanba softly, “The Centipede Grass…?”

 Hanba waved his hand and interrupted Wen Leyang’s speech, “I am casting a spell now, for the Centipede Grass will reveal itself soon. You shall wait at the side for a while. No matter what unusual sign appears later, as long as I do not make a sound, you are not allowed to move, otherwise…” As he spoke, Hanba laughed in the most peculiar manner to Wen Leyang’s surprise, “You are going to kill me.”

 Wen Leyang’s expression grew cold; he nodded solemnly.

 Hanba then turned around and looked towards Darling. His expression changed from his usual kind and warm demeanor, as he scolded sternly but softly, “Same goes for you too! No matter what I do later, you are only allowed to look and not ask a thing!”

 Darling too, hastily nodded. She tucked herself piteously into Wen Leyang’s cradle. She also sensed a little injustice and could not understand why her father was so stern. She pouted with rage.

 

Hanba was done giving instructions to the two youths. He first raised an arm and gave himself a good stretch. Soon after he positioned himself, his dry and skinny body seemed to not even possess an ounce of weight. He was akin to a gush of cold wind that suddenly plundered towards one side, and plundered to the edge of Wen Leyang’s sight. Hanba then paused ever so slightly, stretched out his hand and guided a streak of black radiance out of thin air. He then stabbed into the surface of the ground ferociously, while squalling twice with a voice that sounded like an owl’s hoot. When the phosphorescence in the surrounding expanded a little, only then Hanba floated once again and pounced towards the next formation’s eye.

 Hanba’s body tossed and turned. He plundered and spun around Wen Leyang and Little Five as he drew an enormous circle. Wen Leyang could only feel as the phosphorescence in the surroundings grew brighter and brighter. Its faint ghastliness gradually turned into a piercing greenish-blue, and in the end, it warped into the ghost’s radiance that surged skywards!

 Darling’s eyes widened. Her little face was filled with puzzlement as she recognized the Art of Ghost that had just been launched by Hanba. She could not help but speak to Wen Leyang softly, “This is… the great formation of ‘Different Paths’! This magic formation is not meant to…”

 Before Darling could finish her sentence, Hanba suddenly laughed out loud in a ghastly manner, “Break the demon body!”

 ‘Thud’. Akin to the muffled sound of a breaking bowstring, the dry and withered skin of Fifth Brother’s body had completely blasted into pieces in a flash, while a huge hole gnawed abruptly onto his stomach at the same time! It emitted a foul stench that was so thick that there was no way anyone could tear away from it. It was so heavy and suffocating; so tyrannical that it shattered one’s heart and lungs, accompanied by the corpse immortal’s ghastly growl. It suddenly exploded in the spacious and boundless subterranean cavern with a loud bang and filled the air of every corner ever so suddenly.

 It was as if Wen Leyang’s brain hummed; Darling too, suddenly covered her mouth. None of them had expected that Hanba would use the demon body breaking spell to guide the great formation that he had just laid down.

 Not long after that, Hanba finally completed his Art of Ghost. His face, without even an inch of skin, seemed to reveal a smile. His body then turned limp, as he slowly sat on the ground.

 Wen Leyang’s telegnosis ability coiled; there was no spiritual grass nor strange trees in the surroundings. He could not care about the oddness he felt at that moment, so he held the petrified Darling as he leaped towards Hanba. The moment he moved, he did not expect an immense, freezing gush of force to suddenly roll and pounce in from all directions! Wen Leyang was caught off-guard, and could only manage a ‘humph’ as he tumbled onto the ground heavily. Soon after that, the gush of cold force vanished.

 Wen Leyang was greatly startled. His body jolted up straight and stiff with the sound of a whoosh. He was about to dash forward, when the Yin’s cold mighty force converged once again and surged towards him ferociously! He was fully prepared this time, with his Poison of Life and Death circulating rapidly and tremendous force rippling out from his Faulty Punch, but the power of Yin’s coldness was still like a mighty torrent, capable of overturning the heaven. It threw him down onto the ground mercilessly.

 Wen Leyang continuously urged his Poison of Life and Death. He kept jumping up, but he was thrown away again by the tremendous force continuously. The other party’s strength was unimaginably powerful, yet it was not too incisive. It vanished immediately after he was thrown onto the ground, leaving Wen Leyang uninjured.

 At this moment, Little Five seemed to have thought of something. She stretched out her hand and pulled Wen Leyang, who was about to jump up once again, “Why don’t you stop using your poison power and see if you can stand up that way!”

 Wen Leyang said nothing. He absorbed the Poison of Life and Death, turned over and stood up. As expected by Darling’s prediction, he did not exert any strength, neither did the other party. Wen Leyang did not bother to find out why, as he retracted the Poison Power of Life and Death. He walked with quick strides towards Hanba, yet after he had walked for a while, an invisible wall suddenly appeared before his body. It was cold, yet heavy and thick. The wall firmly blocked him from walking.

 Hanba was sitting at a spot nearby. He laughed as he shook his head towards Wen Leyang.

 Little Five bawled and cried loudly. She suddenly collided towards that invisible shield before their bodies as if she was mad, yet the moment she moved the life vitality in her body, the mighty power of the Yin’s coldness too moved by her movement. It suddenly rolled in from all directions and threw her onto the ground ferociously.

 At this moment, Hanba suddenly spoke. His face, void of skin, was mottled with flesh and blood. He was so hideous that he appeared savage, yet his tone of voice was mixed with hints of affection and apology, “My child… as you are already aware that this is the ‘Different Paths’, then why do you find the need to try again and again?”

 Wen Leyang and Little Five were trapped in a circle with a diameter of a thousand steps by Hanba’s spell. Without using the poison power or life vitality, they could move unhindered within the circle, yet they could never break through that invisible barrier outside the circle no matter what. If they were to transfer their life vitality to break through the barrier, the power of the netherworld’s coldness within the magic formation would be triggered in accordance, and defeat both of them!

 Wen Leyang could roughly understand what happened. He was feeling all sorts of feelings in his heart, and was dumbstruck for a long while before he asked in a hoarse voice, “In Shiwan Mountain, there is certainly no such thing as the immortal grass capable of recuperating demonic primordial energy.”

 

Hanba was outside the ghost formation ‘Different Paths’. He spoke in a dull voice, “There is such a thing as the immortal grass, but it is not in the Shiwan Mountain. Zhui Zi left the Nine Peaks Mountain and was specifically on her way to retrieve the grass. She is also searching for the golden monkey, Qian Ren’s whereabouts.”

 Hanba panted for a while, before continuing, “The demon cat is the initiator of evil. She is looking for Tuo Xie, while Zhui Zi and the golden monkey, Qian Ren, are determined to destroy their common enemy – that immortal master teacher. They are about to seek revenge. After Liu Zheng found out about the sequence of events that took place, he felt that Kong Nuer’s demonic influence was felt all over the world, for Kong Nuer entrapped his three esteemed master teacher’s laborious efforts for thousands of years. He was also about to look for him to uphold justice. You, on the other hand, are nothing but a mere junior that even Tuo Xie had not heard of. All these matters have nothing to do with you, now that the true soul has already been executed. You shall stay in this magic formation for a while before you return to the mountain to spend the rest of your life!”

 Wen Leyang held the bawling Little Five in his arms. He stretched out his hand to wipe away her tears, “Have all of you found Kong Nuer’s whereabouts?”

 Hanba laughed in a noncommittal manner, “I cannot say that we have found him, but during the days when you were visiting the Luo family and the Miao clansmen, we truly have found some clues.” Hanba coughed as he spoke, his voice sounded even weaker, “The decision to not allow you to participate in the matter anymore is something that everyone had already discussed.”

 

Wen Leyang suddenly felt hollow and empty in his heart. This emotion was petrifying him, whether it was rage, bitter cries or laughter. There was utterly no way he could vent his emotion, and the only thing he could do at the moment was to only hug the Darling in his arms tightly, “All of you… are about to risk your lives to fight, yet no one is willing to bring me along.”

 Hanba nodded and continued cackling hideously, “Now that you have achieved vast enhancement in your cultivation base and have also been trained in the Faulty Punch capable of breaking the magic spell, it is not an easy task to trap you! Fortunately, Red Pot knew that this subterranean cavern was once an ancient battleground. The malevolent energy was so strong it was unparalleled, while the energy was condensed in the earth’s core with no way to disperse. So, I brought you here…” Hanba then heaved a sigh in a feigned relaxed manner, “Anyhow, I did not disappoint the crowd’s effort.”

 Wen Leyang’s heart was beating loudly. Even he, could not be certain if he felt angry or touched, as he laughed forcefully and asked Hanba, “How about you?”

 Hanba stretched out his hand and peeled away from his remnant skin cautiously from his heart, before answering slowly, “Me? After my return to the Nine Peaks Mountain, I shall consume the Centipede Grass and regain my full cultivation power. Then, everyone will depart together to look for Kong Nuer.”

 When he was speaking, Kong Nuer procured a ghost talisman from his chest pocket. He tore it into pieces before placing it into his mouth and swallowed it. A moment later, two little ghosts floated by and arrived with a sedan chair.

 Darling suddenly jumped out from Wen Leyang’s arms. Soon after she was heavily thrown onto the ground by the power of Yin’s coldness, she broke in violent lamentations, “The grand master, Mi Xu, instructed the father to suppress the evil soul. Now that the evil soul has already been dissolved, everything else that happens afterward is utterly unrelated to you. Why are you still going…? Why are you still going!?”

 “It has nothing to do with me since the beginning. However… after I have pondered over this matter, I understood that if Mi Xu was still alive, he would certainly go too. Since he cannot go now, I shall go on his behalf.” As he spoke, Hanba sat on the sedan chair, with the two little ghost’s support, “This ghost formation of Different Paths will break on its own without attacks after ten years. By then, regardless of whether we or Kong Nuer were to triumph, the matter would have already been resolved, and becomes completely none of your businesses!”

 Of course, Hanba was going to join Chang Li, Zhui Zi and the rest in searching for Kong Nuer. Otherwise, he would never trap Little Five as well.

 Wen Leyang watched as Hanba was about to leave. He hastily roared and asked, “What was going on with Kong Nuer back then…?”

 The two little ghosts shouted as they lifted the sedan chair and floated afar. Hanba completely disregarded Wen Leyang’s question. He left an instruction behind in the end, “Take care of the little Darling!”

 It took only a moment before the sedan chair vanished beyond Wen Leyang’s telegnosis ability.

 Darling finally grew tired of crying. Her eyes reddened as she lay in the ghost formation, sobbing occasionally.

 Wen Leyang wanted to cry too, but because of the few demon immortals’ arrangements, he could not be certain if they were kindhearted or mischievous. It also because… after ten years, his little wives would turn into middle-aged women!