Soul Scattered and Spirit Annihilated

The side of his face that had been kicked was also swollen, and his mind was hazy.

I slapped my head a few times and felt much clearer.

Looking up at him again, from his thigh all the way to his calf.

Four shocking claw marks were emitting white smoke. He held his sword with one hand, his body trembling.

The leg I had scratched was slightly off the ground, and his face was deathly pale. In reality, all of this had happened in an instant.

He stared at me furiously, his eyes seeming as if he wanted to devour me.

I laughed, a loud, hearty laugh.

Then I said to him, "Aren't you fast? Can't you run?

Why aren't you running anymore? Keep jumping around."

He glared at me fiercely, saying nothing. I continued, "To be honest, you're just a little fast. If we were to fight fist to fist, I could beat you twice over.

Don't be unconvinced. I was stabbed by you.

Even in this condition, I could still injure you like this. It seems you're just so-so now."

He suddenly let out a "Ah~!" and charged at me, but his speed was now countless times slower than before.

I smiled and softly uttered four words: "You're dead."

With that, a talisman was clenched in my hand, and I threw it at him. A "buzz~" sound of a sword's hum echoed; it was a sword talisman.

With a "whoosh," a sword formed from spiritual energy pierced through his body.

He froze on the spot, the hand holding the sword stopping mid-air.

He slowly lowered his head and saw a bloody hole in his chest.

Then his grip loosened, the sword fell to the ground, and he looked at me in disbelief.

Because I knew from the start that his speed was too fast. If I directly used talismans, it would be almost impossible to hit him, just a waste of talismans.

That's why I tried every way to slow him down. I hadn't even thought of a plan yet.

He directly kicked me, offering his leg like that, wasn't that giving me an opportunity?

Looking at him now, he couldn't stand on both legs and then "thump," he knelt on the ground. It seemed he couldn't move.

I clutched my abdomen, where I had been stabbed by the sword earlier, and slowly walked over.

Because I had moved just now, the blood-stopping talisman had fallen to the ground. I applied another one.

But it only stopped the bleeding, not the pain. The pain made me tremble uncontrollably.

I reached him and picked up the sword from the ground, smiling and saying, "Sorry, it seems the one who's going to die is you."

Only then did panic appear in his eyes. He then said to me, "Don't... don't kill me. You can have anything you want.

Don't... don't kill me. Take that corpse, take it all.

I am a disciple of 'True Man Taiyin,' his final disciple. If you kill me, he won't let you go.

If you let me go now, we'll call it even. I won't trouble you."

I found it somewhat interesting, and this kid seemed to know something, so I asked, "Who is this True Man Taiyin you speak of? And what exactly did you do in the back mountain of Lin'an Village?"

"If you tell me honestly, I can spare your life."

He nodded repeatedly and then said, "True Man Taiyin is my master. You've met him.

He's that old Taoist priest who visited your house that day. We are all from Longhu Mountain."

"Then what happened in the back mountain of Lin'an Village?"

He paused for a moment, then replied, "There's a Corpse King sealed beneath the back mountain.

My master wanted to release it and refine it into a controllable 'Corpse Puppet' for his own use.

When we went to your house that day and saw your father at home, my master told your father that we were going to reinforce the seal.

Your father agreed. While my master was reinforcing the seal.

He took the opportunity when your father wasn't paying attention to destroy part of the materials he brought.

Then he lied to your father, saying there weren't enough materials to reinforce the seal, and asked your father to go to Longhu Mountain that night to get them.

My master stayed there using his cultivation to maintain it. Then, after your father left, we wanted to open the seal and get the corpse.

But Xie Yun said there was a very powerful old man not far from the village.

He's your grandfather's junior disciple. If he found out, it would be troublesome.

Master told Xie Yun to lure that old man away, and we waited for Xie Yun's news."

My emotions ran wild at this point, my eyes reddening as I shouted fiercely, "What happened next? What happened after that?"

His body trembled. His face grew even paler from blood loss as he continued, "About an hour later, Xie Yun called to say he'd gotten rid of the old man and told us to make our move.

So we opened the seal and went inside. But there were many corpses inside.

We fought those corpses because there were simply too many of them.

Plus, we didn't know when your dad would be back, and we were running out of time, so we retreated.

Then Master wanted to wait for the Corpse King to come out and trap him with our own array.

But before we could even set up the array, your father returned.

He then discovered traces of the array having been opened and started fighting with Master.

Master told me to leave, so I did. I don't know what happened afterward."

I asked him again if they had been to the back mountain before and tampered with the seal. He said yes.

Thinking about it, it all made sense. Nangong Yiyi had mentioned that the seal had suddenly weakened for a period.

It was probably their doing. Then they used that as an excuse to approach my dad.

They claimed they needed help reinforcing the seal, then said there were no materials, sending my dad to Longhu Mountain and also sending Martial Uncle away.

I then asked if he encountered a very powerful female ghost when they went down.

He said no. I put my sword to his neck and asked, "Really no?"

From where he was kneeling, water suddenly flowed out from his pants.

I said with disdain, "What a coward. Where's that arrogant attitude you had earlier?"

Then, with terrified eyes, he said, "Really no. We opened the Eight Trigrams Array and only went down a little.

We didn't reach the very bottom, and then countless corpses rushed at us.

Seeing that there were too many and not enough time, we retreated."

I asked him what happened to his Master and my dad afterward. He said he didn't know.

His Master still hadn't returned and couldn't be contacted.

I then asked if he was responsible for those students. He said yes.

I asked him how he did it and why.

He kept his mouth shut. I raised my sword and stabbed his other leg, and a pig-like scream came from his mouth.

Perhaps unable to bear the pain, he said, "Will you spare my life if I tell you?"

I nodded at him without hesitation.

"How can I believe you?"

I said indifferently, "You have no choice, because your life is in my hands."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "I drugged their water when they weren't paying attention.

Then I sealed the girl's soul. Later, I didn't expect her to mutate and break free.

I went to the well and saw her corpse hadn't rotted. I found it strange.

So I fished out the corpse and only then discovered she had a Pure Yin Body."

I then asked him about the girls in the jars and why he tortured them.

He said it was to collect resentment.

After listening to his words, I remained silent for a long time