The instant the talisman was torn away, thick clouds of black smoke poured out from all around the lid of the Bronze Tripod. The smoke was dense and bone-chilling. In the blink of an eye, it veiled the entire underground chamber in black, and visibility plummeted.
The next moment...
Bang!
The lid of the tripod blasted into the air. Amid the deafening crash, a dark shadow shot out like lightning and darted toward the door.
The shadow's aura was indeed only at the first level of Tongue-Pulling Hell, but it moved so fast that Zheng Que, despite being prepared, couldn't stop it in time!
At the critical moment, Qing Li's arm suddenly stretched out. In the narrowest instant, she reached for the shadow and seized it.
Whoosh!
The shadow had just reached the doorway when Qing Li caught it in one swift grab, revealing its true form—an unmistakably black Silk Umbrella!
The umbrella was black as night. The grease brushed across its surface had dried up, leaving it withered and parched. Its canopy was now folded shut, exposing a section of its ancient handle.
A faint aura of yin coiled around it. Though it had fallen into Qing Li's grasp, it continued to tremble, trying to break free.
But its yin aura was nowhere near as dense as Qing Li's, and it couldn't escape her hold at all.
Without hesitation, Zheng Que slashed his palm, formed a string of hand seals, and began casting the Ghost Controlling Technique.
As if sensing danger, a stream of fresh blood suddenly flowed from the Black Silk Umbrella. It soaked Qing Li's palm, making it slick and slippery; she could no longer get a firm grip.
Swish!
The Black Silk Umbrella immediately sprang open, wrenching itself free from Qing Li's grasp.
The open black umbrella drifted slowly toward the empty space between Zheng Que and Qing Li. Its twenty-four ribs were densely packed and chilling, radiating a cold, eerie aura.
Blood streaked across the canopy. Crimson rivulets crisscrossed its surface, and in the blink of an eye, the black umbrella had turned red. Blood poured down like a sudden downpour, dripping from its edges.
Amid the shower of blood, a graceful, indistinct figure slowly emerged beneath the umbrella.
She wore a crimson skirt and stood with her back to them. The canopy tilted halfway, revealing part of her piled-up coiffure. Her glossy black hair spilled like layered green clouds, with a long strand hanging loose. A scarlet ribbon loosely bound it, tied in an auspicious knot with a three-inch tassel trailing down. The ends fluttered alongside her hair at her waist. She was poised and graceful, as if ready to ride the wind back to the heavens at any moment—a demure, elegant beauty from an ancient scroll, with a hint of quiet melancholy.
She stood silently between Zheng Que and Qing Li, yet neither of them could see anything but her back. Her face was completely hidden from view.
Watching this, Zheng Que's expression tightened. This didn't seem to be a "Resentful Soul" at all, but an "Evil Omen"!
As his thoughts raced, he quickened his hand seals. His spirit blood became a mist that encircled the Umbrella-Holding Woman. Soon, the first Spirit Blood Rune took shape and shot toward her.
Unlike ordinary ghosts, ordinary ghosts instinctively feared and fled from the Spirit Blood Runes of the Ghost Controlling Technique.
It was precisely by exploiting this trait that Zheng Que had escaped the many ghosts pursuing him last night.
But the Umbrella-Holding Woman before him showed no fear of his Ghost Controlling Technique. She simply stood motionless where she was.
Whoosh!
The first Spirit Blood Rune flew toward the Umbrella-Holding Woman's canopy.
Yet the instant it touched the umbrella, it turned into a bright-red raindrop, rolled off the canopy, sank into the ground, and disappeared.
Zheng Que froze. His hand seals shifted, and the blood mist suspended in midair quickly formed a second rune, then a third, then a fourth. They shot toward the Umbrella-Holding Woman from three different directions.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
One rune after another fell onto the Red Silk Umbrella. But every rune turned into a blood-red raindrop the instant it touched the canopy, then trickled down its edge like the streams of blood that had appeared on their own, dripping away without leaving a Blood Seal of the Ghost Controlling Technique on her.
A moment later, Zheng Que finished casting the Ghost Controlling Technique. The Umbrella-Holding Woman stood there unharmed. Aside from her yin aura growing even weaker, the technique had no effect on her at all!
Zheng Que's brows knitted tightly. His master had told him that the Ghost Controlling Technique could enslave "Resentful Souls," but enslaving "Tricky Specters," "Evil Omens," or "Wicked Sins" required profound cultivation and a powerful soul.
At the time, he had simply committed those words to memory. Now, at last, he truly understood what his master had meant...
This "Evil Omen" was standing still and not resisting, yet his Ghost Controlling Technique still couldn't do a thing to her!
At that moment, Qing Li, hanging from the doorway, spoke. "Human brat, your cultivation is only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining. You can't capture her."
"This ghost's original realm must have been very close to Scissor Hell."
"She was sealed for too long, and her realm fell to the first level of Tongue-Pulling Hell."
"If she stays sealed for a while longer, she'll probably end up like the other ghosts in that bag just now, with her soul scattered to the winds."
"Your auntie suggests you just kill her!"
Close to Scissor Hell?
Zheng Que was startled. Qing Li held the Yin Profession of a Yin Messenger, which let her sense information about other ghosts in Tongue-Pulling Hell, so he had no reason to doubt her.
Still, how could he willingly give up a Ghost Servant this powerful?
More importantly, no matter how high this "Evil Omen's" former realm had been, her cultivation now was only at the first level of Tongue-Pulling Hell. She was far too weak compared to Qing Li. If he really killed this "Evil Omen," Qing Li wouldn't be able to inherit any of her abilities.
With that in mind, Zheng Que said at once, "Seal the ability she just used to resist my Ghost Controlling Technique."
"I'll try using the Ghost Controlling Technique again."
Qing Li snorted. "Your auntie's Yin Profession can seal only one of her abilities at a time."
"This ghost has several abilities that can resist your Ghost Controlling Technique, you human brat!"
Zheng Que shook his head slightly and said calmly, "Whichever ability she uses to resist my Ghost Controlling Technique, seal that one."
"If she switches abilities midway, change the target of the seal at the same time."
"This sort of thing is very simple for me, a Person of Destiny."
"But it might be incredibly difficult for you. Can you do it?"
Switching the sealed ability in real time—it sounded difficult. But provoked by Zheng Que's words, Qing Li immediately snapped, "That's no challenge at all for your auntie!"
"You dull-witted human brat. Just make sure you don't mess up!"
While Zheng Que and Qing Li discussed their plan, the Umbrella-Holding Woman standing between them remained motionless.
She was too weak.
Breaking free from Qing Li's grasp had nearly exhausted all her strength.
Now she had no strength left to fight back, nor to flee...
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