Aberrant Ability

After the command was issued, his blood vitality immediately dropped to 0.1, and a dizzy, blood-starved sensation came over him.

Besides that, furtive and grotesque images flashed through his mind, accompanied by shrill wails and howls of ghosts...

Only after quite some time did the eerie images and crying gradually fade away.

Xie An immediately swallowed a Vital Blood Pill to replenish his depleted blood vitality.

The main issue was that Ten Thousand Questions instantly drained all the blood vitality computational power it required each time. Yet a Vital Blood Pill took half a quarter-hour to replenish blood vitality.

Otherwise, Xie An could have undergone the transplant while eating Vital Blood Pills.

Xie An summoned the panel.

[Talent: Withered Abyss (Activated)]

Xie An carefully examined himself, but found nothing unusual.

Activate Withered Abyss!

In an instant, Xie An's entire body suddenly tensed, as though a force capable of withering all things was surging within him.

Xie An slowly raised his right hand and rested it on the edge of the wooden tub.

The smooth, solid plank was gradually decaying bit by bit.

In only a few breaths, the plank had become a thoroughly rotten piece of deadwood.

"This Withered Abyss is a little terrifying!"

Xie An stepped out of the bath barrel and put on his inner garments. He raised his hand and pressed it against the redwood tea table beside him. The redwood immediately decayed, as if it had endured a hundred years of wind and sun, then been eaten away by ants and insects.

He then used the legs of a drum stool for another experiment. They all decayed!

And he himself was immune to Withered Abyss!

"I wonder how effective it is against living creatures?"

Xie An walked over to a pot of evergreen by the window and slowly extended his hand...

The flourishing evergreen yellowed, shriveled, and died at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"What an absurd talent! I need to find an animal to test it on."

Xie An put on a brocade robe and cloud-patterned shoes before leaving his bedroom.

Chen Mo and Li Dao had already changed into clean clothes. They stood in the middle of the main hall with lost expressions, and when they saw Xie An approach, they cupped their hands in salute.

"You two stay here. I'm going to the central courtyard to see whether Father has returned."

After leaving those words behind, Xie An took an oil-paper umbrella and departed the West Courtyard.

He did not go to the central courtyard, instead heading directly to the kitchen.

After dismissing the cook, Xie An spotted several chicken cages beneath the kitchen eaves. Two roosters awaiting slaughter were confined within them, and upon seeing Xie An approach, they began crowing madly.

Xie An opened a cage and dragged out the strongest rooster.

"You'll do."

Withered Abyss, activate.

The robust rooster swiftly withered, turning into dried chicken that looked as though it had been sun-dried for years. Its skin and feathers had blackened, and it gave off a rotten stench.

"So absurd!"

Xie An could clearly feel that the power of Withered Abyss he had released was not even one-tenth of its full strength.

Even if it were replaced with an old sow or a fierce horse, he could wither it into strips of dried meat.

If it were a person... would it be the same?

Xie An did want to find a martial artist at the Organ Tempering or Blood Tempering stage for an experiment, but he still retained the civilized values of his previous life and could not bear to use his own guards as laboratory rats.

"I'll find a bandit outside to test it on later."

Xie An tossed the dried rooster into a large wooden trash barrel nearby.

"If I use Withered Abyss in a fight, an Organ Tempering martial artist should instantly become a dried corpse. A Blood Tempering martial artist would most likely be unable to withstand it either. As for internal martial masters who have cultivated Manifest Force... they might be able to resist Withered Abyss with their unfathomable inner force. Its exact effects will only be known after actual combat."

"Also, I wonder whether Withered Abyss works on demons, monsters, and ghosts... It would be nice if I had the conditions to conduct an experiment."

But testing it on demons, monsters, and ghosts was still far too stressful.

After all, judging from the ghosts he had encountered before, they were simply too terrifying.

Although Withered Abyss was extraordinarily effective, Xie An still did not feel very safe.

The Grain-Collecting Ghost in Li Family Village killed people through dreams. If he had a third nightmare next... even with Withered Abyss bolstering him, he would most likely croak on the spot.

With that thought, Xie An hurried out of the kitchen. "I wonder what method Uncle Shui and Father will come up with..."

Xie Household's White Goddess Shrine.

Uncle Shui rushed there through the rain. The moment he entered the courtyard, he saw Xie Zhengtang, dressed in a wealthy gentleman's robes, kneeling on a prayer mat in the ancestral hall and praying.

Though Uncle Shui was anxious, his attitude became respectful once he entered the hall. He knelt on a prayer mat and kowtowed three times before speaking. "Master, something has happened..."

Xie Zhengtang was initially calm, but after hearing Uncle Shui's account... his face immediately turned pale and bloodless, and even his hands stiffened for a moment.

Yet Xie Zhengtang was, after all, a merchant who had long occupied a position of power. He did not display too much panic.

After pondering grimly for a long while, Xie Zhengtang slowly rose to his feet. "Brother Shui, is Mingxi all right?"

Uncle Shui said, "To ensure Mingxi's safety, I did not act rashly. Mingxi has now returned to the West Courtyard. I had Cai Xia hang the yellow lanterns of the White Goddess Shrine on the walls of Xie Residence at intervals of seven zhang.

"This is only a temporary measure. I'm afraid the Eldest Miss will need to act. But if that happens, the trump card you have hidden for ten years, Master, will have to be used..."

Xie Zhengtang said, "Mingxi is my only son. For Mingxi's sake, I can give up everything!"

Uncle Shui's eyes grew slightly moist. "It's the Eldest Miss who will suffer..."

"Yes, I owe Yu'er far too much. But this time, someone is trying to force my Xie Household to its death!" Xie Zhengtang muttered, then trembled as he headed toward the back door of the ancestral hall.

In a daze, Xie Zhengtang seemed to have aged ten years.

"Master, you must take care of yourself!" Uncle Shui stepped forward to support Xie Zhengtang as they made their way to the rear courtyard of the ancestral hall.

There was an old locust tree in the courtyard, its branches hung with sheet after sheet of skin.

At the end of the courtyard stood a cramped little house, with four yellow lanterns hanging high above its entrance.

Xie Zhengtang staggered to the door, pushed Uncle Shui away, then crossed the threshold on trembling legs.

The room was not large.

Only a single dim yellow lantern was lit.

On the left was a wooden bed draped with pink gauze curtains, along with a dressing table. Face powder, rouge, combs, and other such items rested upon it. Only a mirror was missing.

On the right stood a wooden vat a little over a meter tall.

The vat had no lid and was filled with water. The occasional sound of water came from within, along with a peculiar pungent odor.

Xie Zhengtang slowly walked over to the wooden vat. He stared at it for a long while before finally speaking. "Yu'er."

Splash!

With a burst of water, a head emerged from the wooden vat.

The head had no facial skin, only a bloody mass of flesh, along with a pair of bright, large eyes.

When she saw that the visitor was Xie Zhengtang, the woman's head immediately shrank back into the vat, her voice carrying a hint of inferiority. "Father, don't come to see me. I'm afraid my appearance will frighten people."

Crack.

Xie Zhengtang gripped the rim of the wooden vat with both hands and rasped, "It is all because your father is useless, making Yu'er suffer so much grievance all these years."

A burst of sobbing came from inside the vat. "Father, don't say that. Without Father, Yu'er would have died long ago. Father, leave. Yu'er does not want to see anyone."

Xie Zhengtang said, "Yu'er, this time your younger brother has been entangled by a ghost. Your father truly has no other choice but to ask Yu'er for help..."

Splash.

The woman's head emerged again, her eyes full of worry. "What happened to my little brother?"