The bright moon sank in the west; dawn was not far off.
A bulky black shadow shot through the night, leaping over rooftops and skimming past treetops. In the blink of an eye, it had left the city.
It was Chen Ye, sprinting with two young women on his back.
Princess Hongyu had only just chosen to trust Chen Ye when the little Daoist said, "Pardon me," then flipped up the quilt and wrapped her and Lan Shi inside it.
Before either of them could react, Chen Ye had slung them onto his back and dashed out of the lavish Princess's Residence like the wind.
Only when the biting wind hit her face did Princess Hongyu realize she had been kidnapped.
Hadn't he promised to lift their evil curse? Why was he acting like some flower-snatching thief?
"Please forgive me, ladies. We can't lift the evil curse at the Princess's Residence. Time is short, so bringing you both along will save us time."
Chen Ye's words reached them on the wind. Princess Hongyu and Lan Shi didn't dare struggle.
Princess Hongyu felt her heart pounding. She had learned martial arts, but she had never raced across rooftops like this. Confined to the palace since childhood, she had never been able to decide her own fate. It wasn't that she had never thought of escaping, but the palace gates were the gates of hell. If she dared cross them, she would certainly be caught and brought back, then punished in ways that would make her wish she were dead.
It wasn't until she grew older and the evil possession curse was planted in her that Princess Hongyu was finally free to come and go.
But now, she no longer had any desire to escape.
The world was vast, yet there was nowhere for her to go. As long as that Old Devil remained alive, she would forever be a lamb waiting for the slaughter. It made no difference where she went.
And yet tonight seemed different somehow.
Princess Hongyu couldn't help quietly asking, "Xiao Shitou, do you usually fly over rooftops like this?"
Lan Shi whispered back, "More or less, but his lightness skill is much better than mine. He can even run this fast with two people on his back."
"Silly girl, this isn't martial arts. It must be some kind of spell." Princess Hongyu sighed. "Cultivators are incredible. Ordinary people could never compare."
Lan Shi couldn't help asking again, "Princess, could we cultivate too? This young man seems easy to talk to. If we asked him to take us as disciples..."
Princess Hongyu shot Lan Shi a sidelong glance. That silly girl—at this distance, he could hear them even if they whispered.
Still, she couldn't help feeling a little hopeful.
If this Daoist really was a good person, if he really could undo the evil possession curse, then perhaps...
But before Princess Hongyu could imagine what the future might hold, Chen Ye had already stopped.
Chen Ye set the two young women down and pointed ahead.
"We're almost there."
Only then did Princess Hongyu and Lan Shi realize they had left the city. The city gate was not far behind them; they had just passed through it and reached a stretch of dense woods beside the main road.
The two were at a loss, so they followed Chen Ye onward. They hadn't gone far when they heard the howl of a sinister wind, and the air around them grew much colder.
Lan Shi exclaimed in surprise, "Princess, I've heard that sound before."
After walking several dozen more steps, they saw ghostly flames flickering ahead. Countless resentful spirits flitted through the woods, carrying dismembered corpses in their hands. The stench of blood was so thick it made them want to retch.
Princess Hongyu and Lan Shi were so frightened that they stopped in their tracks. What was this Hundred Ghosts Night Parade?
Had they been wrong to trust him after all? Was this little Daoist no different from the other fiends?!
Seeing the two young women too terrified to move, Chen Ye felt a little embarrassed.
This was a bit frightening.
After leaving the Crossed Blades Inn, Chen Ye hadn't immediately gone after Lan Shi. He had come here first to unload the corpses from his storage pouch, along with the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
Then, under Mo Ci's guidance, he had ordered the other resentful spirits to arrange a formation here and deal with the bodies of those martial artists, so they could be refined into suitable bodies again.
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner truly lived up to its reputation as an essential treasure for demonic cultivators. It really was the most practical and convenient magical treasure. He could set it down and go take care of other things without delaying his main business at all.
But Chen Ye was bold enough to let the resentful spirits inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner move about freely. The resentful ghosts ordinary fiends captured and refined were all wicked and ferocious, utterly devoid of reason. If anyone dared let them roam freely, they would be the first to suffer.
This was not a trick ordinary demonic cultivators could pull off.
Seeing Chen Ye return, the white banner that Mo Ci possessed floated over and asked in confusion, "Why did you bring these two young women here? We have enough flesh already; there's no need to add more. Besides, there's barely any meat on them. They'd be of little use."
In this little wood where ghostly flames drifted and the air reeked of blood, the white banner with a ghost's face began to speak. Lan Shi screamed in terror. "N-no, don't eat me! I-I..."
Princess Hongyu hurriedly shielded her and said to Chen Ye, "Daoist, is this the way you meant to save us?"
Chen Ye could hear what Princess Hongyu meant: You still dare say you're not a fiend?!
This scene really did look bad, and Chen Ye couldn't explain it. All he could do was say helplessly, "Master, stop scaring the young women. These two are guests I invited."
Mo Ci scoffed. "Hmph. I told you to wear a mask, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've gotten yourself into all these romantic entanglements. Just wait until Miss Su sees this. Let's see how you explain yourself."
Chen Ye was so exasperated he nearly laughed. "Master, could you stop making things up? Forget it, I can't be bothered to explain. Go back to your work. I'll handle things here myself."
Mo Ci listened, then drifted back into the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade to continue dismembering the bodies and refining them.
Looking at the two trembling women, Chen Ye could only explain, "I know this looks easy to misunderstand. If you don't want to trust me, I won't force you to stay. You're free to leave. But if you're willing to trust me, come with me and let me try to lift the evil curse on you."
Seeing that Chen Ye wasn't trying to stop them, Lan Shi spoke first. "I'm willing to trust you, Daoist. If you really meant us harm, you wouldn't need to go to all this trouble. Princess, don't you agree?"
Princess Hongyu had wanted to say that Lan Shi was too naïve. A fiend had endless ways to trick people; there was no way to tell so easily.
But dawn was nearly here. If they went back now, their movements would be exposed and Jiang Shiyue would soon take notice. If anyone discovered that they had met with Chen Ye, their lives would be in danger.
Things had come to this. They had no other choice.
"Then we'll have to trouble you, Daoist."
Chen Ye led the two young women away from the bloody, brutal formation to another open space. Then he took out the Ksitigarbha Vow Sutra. Last time, he had used the secret technique recorded in the sutra to extract Monk Ku'e's soul and successfully stop him from possessing someone.
But today was different. He couldn't leave the two young women waiting here until Elder Tianwu died.
What Chen Ye needed to do was prepare a substitute for each of them, then transfer the evil possession curse from their bodies to the substitutes.
That might allow him to lift the curse without alerting the Old Devil.
There was just one problem.
The key to the Cursed Spirit Child was its bloodline. Princess Hongyu and Lan Shi were clearly blood descendants of the Old Devil, born through his machinations. To transfer the curse of the Cursed Spirit Child, they would likewise need blood descendants of the Old Devil; otherwise, the curse wouldn't take effect.
Chen Ye briefly explained the principle to the two young women, then said, "I'll take some of your blood and have my master make two substitutes. Then we might be able to transfer the curse.
"But the substitutes we make won't have pure bloodlines, so I can't guarantee success. The Old Devil might notice right away. You can take a few days to think it over. For now, I'll modify the curse on your bodies. Once the substitutes are ready, I'll transfer the curse to them. Princess, you first."
Just as Chen Ye was about to begin, Princess Hongyu suddenly said to Lan Shi, "Xiao Shitou, go keep watch, in case someone disturbs us."
Lan Shi didn't understand why, but she obeyed, slipping into the woods after a few steps as though she really had gone to keep watch.
While Chen Ye stared at her in confusion, Princess Hongyu whispered, "From what you just said, if the two of us were true blood sisters, would the chances of success be higher?"
Chen Ye nodded, then shook his head. "Please don't overthink it, Princess. Even if you were truly siblings, I couldn't risk someone else's life. Killing one person to save another is evil."
But Princess Hongyu said, "No, what I wanted to ask was whether we could transfer the curse on Xiao Shitou to me instead. Would that make it more likely to work?"
"Huh?" Chen Ye had never expected Princess Hongyu to make such a request.
Now that he thought about it, it might not be impossible. Planting the curse of the Cursed Spirit Child on the same person twice would certainly be wasteful, but based on Chen Ye's understanding of this vile spell, it seemed that was all it would be: wasteful, not incompatible.
At least the chance of success would be much higher than transferring it to a flesh-and-blood substitute. It was worth the risk.
"It's not impossible. But if we do that, Princess, you'll..."
Princess Hongyu replied firmly, "It doesn't matter. Under the Old Devil's control, I've committed many evils. I stopped wanting to live long ago. Xiao Shitou has done nothing wrong. Please don't let her find out."
Chen Ye met the Princess's gaze. He saw the resolve in her eyes; she probably really didn't want to live.
He was about to try to talk her out of it, but then he suddenly thought of another solution. "If you truly intend to sacrifice yourself, Princess, I do have another way."
Princess Hongyu hurriedly said, "Please tell me, Daoist. I'm willing to do anything as long as Xiao Shitou can be saved."
Chen Ye pointed toward the distant Hundred Ghosts Night Parade and said, "That's my magical treasure. If you're willing to enter my Ten Thousand Soul Banner, you might still have a chance to survive."
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