Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.
On the evening before the night of the full moon, Zhu Shen called the work-study students to the clearing.
"Tomorrow's a day off. Get some good rest." Zhu Shen looked at the nine children before him. "Wang Sheng, take everyone out to the eastern outskirts for a picnic. I'll pay."
Wang Sheng's eyes widened. "A picnic? Teacher, we still have to train!"
"One day won't make a difference." Zhu Shen pulled a small pouch from his robes. It held more than a dozen Silver Soul Coins. "Buy some meat and vegetables, find a safe place, and start a fire to cook. Remember, don't go south of the city."
The children's eyes lit up. For work-study students like them, getting to eat meat was a dream come true.
Xiao Lian asked timidly, "Teacher... aren't you coming?"
"I have something to take care of." Zhu Shen patted her head. "Have fun. Be back at six the morning after tomorrow, on time for training. Anyone who's late will run twenty laps."
The children answered in unison, "Yes!"
Once they had left, Zhu Shen returned to the dormitory. Tang San had already packed his things and was sitting on the edge of the bed, polishing several freshly sharpened needles.
"Are you all ready?" Zhu Shen asked.
Tang San nodded. "Teacher, are you really not letting me come with you?"
"What could you do there?" Zhu Shen rolled his eyes. "That Blood Shadow is at least a Soul Saint. I can't beat him as I am now. If you went, you'd just be walking to your death."
"But..."
"No buts." Zhu Shen pulled the last Soul Bone from his robes—the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo Skull Bone rewarded by the system yesterday—and handed it to Tang San. "This is the fifth one. Absorb it tonight. With the four you already have, you'll only be two short of completing the set."
Tang San took the Soul Bone, hesitating. "Teacher, did you give me all the rewards?"
"Obviously. Who else would I give them to?" Zhu Shen patted his shoulder. "Once you collect all seven Soul Bones and trigger the set effect, you'll be able to help. For now, just stay put."
Tang San said no more. He sat cross-legged and began absorbing the Soul Bone.
Zhu Shen watched the sky outside the window. The sun sank toward the horizon, staining the sky a dark red.
Tonight was the night of the full moon.
Yesterday, he had gone to see Tang Hao and told him everything about the Evil God Temple. Tang Hao had remained silent for a long time after hearing him out. In the end, he had only said, "I'll go."
As for Spirit Hall, Zhu Shen had also asked Wang Sheng to deliver a letter. It was addressed to the head of the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City and laid out the Evil Soul Masters' sacrificial plan in detail. Whether that fat old man believed it or not was none of his concern.
"Teacher, I'm done absorbing it." Tang San opened his eyes, a flash of emerald light passing through them.
Zhu Shen turned around. Tang San's aura had grown stronger still. The boost from five Soul Bones, though they were all ten-year ones, had added up to a qualitative change. The boy's constitution was already far beyond that of others his age.
"How does it feel?"
"Great." Tang San stood and stretched. "My Soul Power circulates much faster, and my meridians have widened, too."
"Good." Zhu Shen pulled a small cloth pouch from his robes and tossed it to him. "There are ten poison needles inside. I bought them at the black market yesterday. The poison isn't strong, but it can paralyze anyone below Soul Elder level for half an hour. Keep them for self-defense."
Tang San caught the pouch, warmth filling his heart. "Thank you, Teacher."
"Don't thank me just yet." Zhu Shen gave him a mischievous grin. "Once this is over, your teacher will give you a proper 'training' session."
Tang San's mouth twitched. He had a bad feeling about this.
Night fell.
Zhu Shen changed into dark clothes, climbed out the window, and spread his Dragon Wings, gliding silently into the air. He didn't head straight for the Soul Hunting Forest. Instead, he circled once above Nuoding City.
The abandoned warehouse south of the city stood deserted. The Evil Soul Masters who had been guarding its entrance were gone. The slum in the west was eerily silent, though several figures dressed in dark red were searching from house to house.
Zhu Shen narrowed his eyes. It seemed the Evil God Temple had sent everyone to the Soul Hunting Forest for tonight's ritual.
He beat his wings and shot toward the Soul Hunting Forest in a streak of golden light.
The Soul Hunting Forest lay more than thirty li from Nuoding City. At Zhu Shen's current speed, he reached it in the time it took to burn a stick of incense.
The Soul Hunting Forest on the night of the full moon was unlike any other night.
Moonlight fell across the treetops, which should have been bathed in silver, but a faint dark red mist shrouded the forest's depths. From within came the distant sobbing of children and the low chanting of Evil Soul Masters.
Zhu Shen landed on a tree at the forest's edge, concealed his aura, and peered into the depths.
There was an open clearing at the center of the forest, a watering hole where Soul Beasts usually gathered. Now a crude altar had been erected there, built from black stone and covered in twisted runes.
More than twenty Evil Soul Masters in dark red robes stood around the altar in a circle, each holding a black oil lamp. Dark red flames burned inside them, flickering and casting light over their feverish, twisted faces.
At the center of the altar, forty-seven children were bound together with ropes, huddled in a heap. The oldest were twelve or thirteen, the youngest only six or seven. They trembled with fear, and a few had cried until their voices were hoarse.
Su Nuo stood before the altar, holding a black scroll and loudly reciting something. His voice was hoarse and grating, like fingernails scraping across stone.
Blood Shadow stood directly before the altar, his hands clasped behind his back. He still wore that dark red cloak, its hood hiding his face so that only a vague outline was visible. But Zhu Shen could sense that the evil aura around him was much stronger than it had been three days ago.
"System, scan Blood Shadow's strength."
[Scanning... Scan complete. Target: Blood Shadow. Soul Power Level: 73. Martial Soul: Blood Wolf King. Evil aura concentration: high.]
A level seventy-three Soul Saint.
Zhu Shen's heart sank. He was currently a level forty-five Soul Ancestor. Though he had a Soul Ring Configuration of two purple and two black rings, along with the boost of the Dragon God Bloodline, his odds against a Soul Saint were still poor.
Unless...
He looked at the black box on the altar. Three days ago, in the warehouse, Blood Shadow had taken the Dark Red Bead from that box. Its evil aura had been so strong that even the system had issued a warning.
If he could destroy the box, perhaps he could weaken Blood Shadow.
While Zhu Shen weighed his options, the ritual on the altar reached its crucial moment.
After reciting the final line of the incantation, Su Nuo threw the scroll into the bonfire at the center of the altar. The dark red flames surged upward, forming a pillar of fire that shot into the night sky.
Blood Shadow stepped forward and pulled the Dark Red Bead from his robes.
The bead gave off an eerie glow in the moonlight, its surface traced with flowing, bloodlike patterns. Blood Shadow raised it above his head and began chanting an even older incantation.
As the chant went on, the bead's glow grew brighter and brighter. The Evil Soul Masters around the altar chanted in unison, their voices joining in an eerie resonance.
Zhu Shen felt the Dragon God Martial Soul inside him begin to stir.
It was the Martial Soul's instinctive rejection of evil.
"We can't wait any longer."