Beguiling Words

The staff in the monk's hand suddenly shook violently, its golden rings clanging frantically against one another in a rapid jingle-clang.

The monk's expression changed drastically.

The bronze sword in the Daoist's hand also began to tremble with a humming buzz.

"This is bad! There's a Great Calamity here!" Mude's expression turned utterly terrified in an instant.

Yet Su Mo stood beside them as though he sensed nothing, utterly motionless.

That uncanny voice murmured with a soft laugh beside Su Mo's ear, exquisitely delicate yet seductive beyond measure. It seemed to come from the netherworld, sending chills down his spine.

Su Mo had never encountered anything so uncanny. His whole body went rigid, and a chill crept over the back of his head.

The voice spoke again. An icy breeze brushed the back of Su Mo's neck, as though something invisible were draped over his shoulder, whispering right against his ear.

"Aren't you furious?"

"Look at these poor people..."

"There were old people among them, children, pregnant women... Even as they died, they never understood why these people insisted on killing them."

"All they could do was howl in agony... All they could do was laugh in pitiful sorrow... All they could do was wait for the butcher's blade to fall upon their heads."

"They only wanted to live... Yet even that wish was denied them..."

"Ah, those cries of despair..."

Su Mo's eyes reddened, and his hands trembled...

Seeing Su Mo still staring blankly at the crimson blood pool, Zhixuan could not help reaching out to pat his shoulder. "Benefactor Su, we should leave. Something is terribly wrong here."

"Stop!" Mude shouted, halting the monk's hand before it reached Su Mo's shoulder. He stared at Su Mo's back. "Something is wrong with Benefactor Su."

"What?" Zhixuan withdrew his hand.

Mude stared transfixed at a blood-red mark on the back of Su Mo's neck, exposed beneath his tied-up hair.

The blood-red mark gave off a dark crimson glow, like a Ghost Talisman living parasitically on Su Mo's body.

With a grave expression, Mude raised the humming bronze sword and channeled his spiritual power to control it.

The bronze sword flew from his hand and slowly approached Su Mo.

The instant the Bronze Sword touched Su Mo, its bronze surface actually took on an eerie blood-red hue!

The previously quiet underground chamber suddenly filled with scarlet mist that swept up like a gale.

"Retreat! Retreat! A Great Calamity..." Mude's expression changed violently at the sight. Shouting, he grabbed Zhixuan and fled toward the tunnel they had come through.

"Benefactor Su is still inside..." Zhixuan cried.

Mude gritted his teeth. "We can't worry about that now. An ominous entity on this level is beyond anything we can contend with. Benefactor Su... will have to pray for his own good fortune."

Dragged away by Mude, Zhixuan watched Su Mo disappear into the red blood mist.

Mude and Zhixuan raced out of the hidden passage, ran straight out of the house, and entered the courtyard.

The moment they entered the courtyard and saw what awaited them, their expressions changed again, their faces turning pale.

Three black-robed men stood in the courtyard, staring grimly at Mude and Zhixuan.

A brief probing of their auras revealed that all three were at the late stage of Foundation Establishment...

Ahead were three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators brimming with murderous intent; behind was a Great Calamity whose bloody aura surged to the heavens.

Mude's and Zhixuan's hearts sank steadily.

The three black-robed late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators stared at the towering, churning bloody aura behind Mude and Zhixuan. An extraordinarily uncanny presence lingered within it.

Looking at the transformed house, the three men wore frighteningly dark expressions. One of them asked coldly, "What did you do in there?"

Mude raised his bronze sword, throwing caution to the wind. "Don't you find it ridiculous to ask us that? You actually raised a Great Calamity in there! Did you think your mere late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation would let you control something like that?"

"What Great Calamity?" the black-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator asked.

Zhixuan's expression changed again. "You don't know?"

"Know what? We're refining blood pills solely to help the young master with Entering the Dao... What Great Calamity are you talking about?"

This is bad!

Zhixuan and Mude exchanged a glance, each seeing horror in the other's eyes.

These men must have discovered this Extreme Yin Land and used it to refine blood pills. They had no idea that a Great Calamity also lurked within it.

Then this Great Calamity...

Was the reason this place had become an Extreme Yin Land.

Cold sweat trickled down both their foreheads...

This Great Calamity was likely an existence of heaven-shaking power.

The three black-robed Foundation Establishment cultivators exchanged glances. "Forget this Great Calamity for now. We can't let word of the blood pills get out!"

"Kill these two!"

Within the vast underground chamber, Su Mo could see nothing in the world of red surrounding him.

An endless expanse stretched around him, with no swirling wind, no blood pool, no corpses, and no blood pills...

Silence...

Utter silence...

Amid that boundless red, it seemed the entire world had fallen still.

Su Mo looked around blankly. Everything had vanished except the red mist stretching beyond sight.

"Heeheehee... How very interesting!"

That eerie voice sounded beside Su Mo's ear again. This time, he could actually make out a graceful figure in the red mist before him.

The figure flickered in and out of view within the red mist...

Though he could discern only a vague outline, he could still see the breathtakingly seductive curves of her body.

"You don't seem afraid of me?" the voice said. "Otherwise, why didn't you run?"

Su Mo wanted to curse... He could not move at all!

"Oh... I forgot. You can't move at all!" The voice drew closer.

Su Mo took a deep breath and slowly spoke. "Who are you?"

After Su Mo spoke, the voice paused for a moment, then began to laugh.

"Heeheehee... Heeheehee... A person? What person... I haven't been human for a very long time!"

She hasn't been human for a very long time...

Su Mo's entire body stiffened. With difficulty, he said, "Then..."

"Of course I'm a ghost!" the voice replied, sounding somewhat teasing.

Su Mo took another deep breath... Don't believe rumors, don't spread rumors. Trust science, not superstition!

This scene had already gone beyond anything Su Mo could comprehend.

He did not know how to face it. His usual ways of handling problems seemed useless now. After all... he could not move.

Su Mo pondered for a moment, then ventured, "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving..."

"Heeheehee... Heeheehee..." The voice laughed again. "Leaving already? Then what did you come down here for?"

Su Mo fell silent!

"What an interesting fellow... You seemed so furious just now, yet now you've grown rather mischievous!" As the voice reached him, the figure in the red mist seemed to draw a little closer.

Su Mo spoke in a low voice. "I'm only a mortal. Since these people are already dead, what else can I do?"

"I can smell something different about you. It seems to be the aura of the Great Dao." The figure drifted up before Su Mo. "As though you were connected to all living beings."

Su Mo could not see the figure clearly. He only sensed something strange circling around her.

That eerie sensation drew ever closer.

Su Mo remained silent.

The voice continued, "Well? Would you like to beg me? Beg me... and I'll help you deliver these wronged souls. They died here, unable to find release from their resentment. How pitiful."

"Why would begging you make you help me?" Su Mo asked.

"Heeheehee... Because it would be so interesting!"

"How do you know I want to help them find release? What do they have to do with me?" Su Mo stubbornly refused to admit it.

He had noticed something uncanny: this voice kept trying to make him agree to something.

And Su Mo had a premonition that if he agreed to her request, things would spiral out of control. Though they were already out of control... it seemed this voice could not forcibly control him.

"Heeheehee... Heeheehee... What a vigilant fellow! But you don't seem to understand me. If I want to do something, whether you agree or not, you won't be able to refuse. I simply think it would be... more interesting if you obeyed me." The voice laughed again and continued speaking.

"How about... we play a different game?" She seemed to have thought of something else and spoke with considerable interest.

Su Mo asked, "What kind of game?"

"Would you like to meet these wronged souls?"