Yin energy permeated the air. The yamen in Cailian Town had already been shrouded in dense fog, and within just a few days, the vegetation had withered away. Even the constant chirping of insects could no longer be heard.
"Willows live, spin tops; willows turn green, ring hollow bells; willows sprout, strike cymbals; willows die, kick shuttlecocks~~"
The drawn-out nursery rhyme echoed through the deathly silent yamen, sending chills down everyone's spine.
The coffin remained in the rear courtyard, but it was now riddled with holes. Cracks covered the lid, and the inside was black as ink. No one knew whether Nezha had broken out of the coffin.
Everyone had retreated outside the courtyard. The remaining twenty or thirty officers and soldiers were extremely tense.
Li Feng's temples had gone gray. His hand remained tightly wrapped around his sword hilt, and only after the nursery rhyme ended did he speak. "Count how many people are left."
The deputy general swallowed and hurriedly checked around the courtyard one by one.
"Reporting to my lord, there are twenty-seven people from the General's Mansion and six from the yamen."
As soon as he said that, the crowd grew even more terrified. One constable could not help muttering, "It'll be our turn eventually. We're all going to die. We're all going to dieee!!"
"Silence!!"
Li Feng snorted coldly and narrowed his eyes. "They have not died. Their life force has not been severed. They have merely disappeared without cause."
No one replied. They all believed Li Feng was merely trying to reassure them.
But that was not the case.
Li Feng's mystical arts allowed him to sense faint yang energy.
He had clearly sensed six or seventy streams of yang energy in the rear courtyard just beyond the wall, meaning that most of them had not died.
Yet there was one thing even Li Feng could not understand. The cramped courtyard was completely empty. Those sixty or seventy people were nowhere to be seen alive, nor were their corpses to be found.
"Lord Li!"
Magistrate Qian panted heavily and could no longer restrain himself. "General Li! When will the Daoist from Qianyuan Mountain arrive?!!"
The deputy general took the initiative to explain, "He should arrive within the next few days."
"The next few days?!"
Magistrate Qian's eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth. "How many days has it been? We may all die, but this is retribution for you people!!"
Li Feng shook his head without offering a rebuttal.
The situation surrounding the Third Young Master had developed into something far too bizarre. No one knew why General Li Jing had transported the coffin here.
Cailian Town was merely a remote little town. What could possibly be special about it?
Just then, hurried footsteps approached from afar.
Song Kuo hurried over.
"Lord Li, Magistrate Qian, the Daoist from Qianyuan Mountain has arrived!"
The moment he said that, everyone's expressions brightened. Li Feng let out a long breath and rose, intending to personally greet him.
Song Kuo said hesitantly, "It's just that the visitor... is rather young."
Li Feng was stunned for several breaths. "Qianyuan Mountain is an immortal abode. Its disciples naturally have methods to preserve their youth. He may look twenty or thirty on the surface, but he may actually have lived for four or five hundred years."
"Indeed, indeed. Constable Song, quickly bring the immortal master in!"
Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, Magistrate Qian hurriedly straightened his official robes.
"No."
Song Kuo said awkwardly, "I think that Daoist is at most eleven or twelve years old."
Li Feng frowned slightly. He had never heard of Qianyuan Mountain's lineage allowing its disciples to resemble children. In his impression, Jialong Mountain was the one with similar circumstances.
Could Qianyuan Mountain have sent a Daoist boy who had only recently entered the sect?
"Constable Song, bring him in first."
"Alright."
Li Feng paced in place, unease showing in his eyes. Even the signs that the Third Young Master might break out of the coffin had not shaken him before.
After all, the Third Young Master of his household had become a disciple of Grandmaster Taiyi, an immortal of Qianyuan Mountain.
How could they send a Daoist boy?
As Li Feng pondered, three figures were already walking toward them along the road.
His heart immediately pounded like a drum. He activated his technique to probe the Qianyuan Mountain Daoist's true nature, fixing his gaze on the smallest figure.
"Hm?"
At first glance, Yang He appeared utterly ordinary, his cultivation merely at the acquired level.
But the longer Li Feng looked, the stranger he found it. Yang He simply did not seem... mortal. Spiritual radiance overflowed from his entire body, making him impossible to look at directly with the naked eye.
The surrounding yin energy circulated and surged with every step Yang He took.
Yang He wore a smile as streams of yin energy flowed in and out through his nose and mouth.
Compared to the Main World, where yin energy was scarce, the yin energy density in the Lore World was more than ten times greater.
And with a Nezha who had died with grievances still in the yamen, yin energy had gathered day and night without dispersing for a long period. The rear courtyard was like a blessed grotto-heaven.
Yang He could barely conceal his excitement. After growing used to the Main World's meager yin energy, coming here was truly...
So damn refreshing!!!
The deputy general quietly asked Li Feng, "Lord Li, a child's yang energy is weak. If he truly is an immortal disciple, I fear he may die at the Third Young Master's hands."
"Wait, this person... this person is absolutely no mortal."
As soon as Li Feng finished speaking, the Pupil Ghost suddenly opened between Yang He's brows. In an instant, the yin energy seemed to return to its nest like swallows, surging toward the Pupil Ghost.
The Pupil Ghost greedily absorbed and expelled yin energy, and the first bloodshot vein emerged in its sclera.
That was right. Yang He had only been in the Lore World for a moment, yet the Pupil Ghost had already returned to its peak. The dense yin energy was one factor, but the main reason was that the Daoist boy's half-human, half-ghost physique was incredibly resilient!!
He had already communicated with the Pupil Ghost. The Ghost Eye only needed to refine qi; it did not need to care whether Yang He lived or died.
The facts proved that aside from making his yang energy deplete too quickly, there were no major drawbacks.
Bzzz~~
Seeing the Pupil Ghost advancing by leaps and bounds, the Force Ghost immediately felt somewhat unwilling. With a muffled thud, a ghostly hand, half-illusory and half-solid, appeared behind Yang He.
Grandmaster Taiyi's third arm was flesh and blood.
Yang He was different. Perhaps because of his Daoist boy physique, his third arm was formed entirely from yin energy.
Its blue-purple outline was visible, its surface covered in blood vessels and scattered incantation patterns.
It looked profoundly mysterious.
"As expected of Qianyuan Mountain—the Three-Headed, Six-Armed Dharma Body, the true transmission!"
"His Yang Fire is vigorous, his yin energy flows freely, and each breath complements the spiritual energy of the outside world. As expected of an immortal disciple, blessed by the very essence of heaven and earth!!"
Li Feng gestured for the officers and soldiers to rise. His attitude became far more respectful as he led the deputy general and Magistrate Qian in lowering their heads to greet Yang He.
"Greetings, Daoist. This general is Li Feng, Commandant of Chentang Pass."
"Yang He. My master is Grandmaster Taiyi of Golden Light Cave of Qianyuan Mountain."
Yang He spoke with immense confidence, completely unlike when he dealt with the wandering Daoist. After all, his backer was one of the Twelve Golden Immortals, and Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning was his patriarch.
Li Feng clasped his hands in salute. "May I ask where Immortal Venerable Taiyi is?"
Li Jing's master, True Man Du'e, was merely an itinerant immortal of Western Kunlun. Before Grandmaster Taiyi, he likely would not even dare breathe too loudly.
"My master is also in Cailian Town. He is simply handling certain matters concerning senior brother Nezha and cannot show himself for the time being."
"That is good. The Third Young Master has truly caused Immortal Venerable Taiyi much concern."
Naturally, Yang He would not say that Grandmaster Taiyi was being tied up by Nezha's mother. Nezha's current condition was fairly stable, so he could delay things for as long as possible.
Hurrying to cultivate and further study the Inner Elixir Art was the best course of action.
"Mm."
I need to find a way to ride Grandmaster Taiyi's coattails and see whether I can get some benefits.
Yang He only hoped that his senior brother, who had died with grievances still in his heart, would behave himself for a while and let this junior brother make a last-minute effort. Please do not rise from the dead!
Before you continue