Temptation and Beguilement

Beneath the nameless hillside, the night was cold, and the wild grass was damp.

The dark, heavy pieces of wood, with red veins resembling talismans, and the iron bars that serve as supports are also covered with small characters.

Together they built a three-story altar.

The carriages of the Five Rampancies Saintess were all made with special techniques. Normally, they were assembled from individual panels using a latch mechanism to form the carriage.

The first tier of the altar, which is the outermost ring, has twenty-four candles lit, alternating between red and white.

On the second altar, twelve preachers sat, each holding a different ritual implement. Beside each of them were a bamboo tube of rice, a stack of talismans, and a short knife.

On the third altar, Cao Ying was the only one present.

She sat cross-legged in the center, with a Five Rampancies mask made of black iron, a sword, a command flag, a token, a command arrow, a magic ruler, and a wooden altar in front of her.

There was also a pot of blood wine and a lead cup.

Throughout history, lead and mercury have been considered profound metals in various Dharma Lineage.

Lead is clumsy and sinks, and its nature is extremely stable and difficult to manipulate. In many folk religious practices, eating utensils made of lead are not meant for human ghosts to enjoy, but for use by Ghost God.

The blood-red wine in the cup, though no one was drinking it, was visibly decreasing in volume.

That shows that the Five Chang Gods was always supporting this incantation ritual.

Cao Ying's eyes were calm and slightly bright, her incantations were like a song, her left hand made a hand seal and remained still between her lower abdomen, while her right hand's knuckles were as graceful as a snake, and her fingertips sometimes curled up like a peacock's head, constantly swaying and moving a few feet in front of her.

In her eyes, there seemed to be a miniature version of Luoyang's eastern district.

Nearly a hundred tiny points of light moved through the city.

Suddenly, two of the twelve preachers swayed slightly, and the ritual implements in their hands cracked.

Before anyone around could react, two more preachers trembled, their heads drooped, and they died.

Cao Ying frowned as she looked over.

There would be casualties tonight, even if all the preachers were to die, it would be within her expectations, but... it happened too fast.

Thinking of this, two more preachers died suddenly.

The souls of these six people are attached to the three assassins.

Given this performance, doesn't it mean that the three assassins were completely defeated in just a short while?!

Could it be that Chu Tianshu has already obtained the Origin Canon? But who is the person whose Origin Canon he obtained?

No, no matter which character it is, just acquiring them shouldn't make them that much stronger.

Cao Ying's eyes darted around, her thoughts momentarily in disarray.

Click!!

Her gaze fell downwards, and she noticed that a beaded necklace on her left wrist was cracking.

That beaded necklace consisted of tiny black pearls, each the size of a bird's eye.

The size wasn't unusual, but the pearls were of excellent color. When worn on her hand, they contrasted with the subtle blue veins and muscle lines on her wrist, giving them a unique charm.

Only Cao Ying herself knew that these thirty-odd pearls were the life-bound pearls she had made for her group of close ninja followers.

She had clearly instructed the ninjas to only conduct their business outside the city and not to enter it.

The three assassins failed, and now the ninjas are dying one after another.

This only means that the enemy Chucheng.

"Did we lose...?"

Cao Ying completely stopped the hand gestures and incantations, and stared blankly for a while.

The remaining six preachers, who were there to assist her in casting spells, also guessed what was going on and their hearts pounded.

"Holy Maiden, it seems the battle has been lost tonight. Let's go!"

Cao Ying didn't move; she just glanced at the people.

"If you want to leave, then leave."

Cao Ying's gaze was meaningful. She reached out and picked up the lead wine cup, as if toasting them, and said with a smile, "Don't worry about me, you can go your separate ways."

The six preachers looked at each other in bewilderment. Suddenly, one of them, holding an iron ruyi (a type of scepter), bowed and hurriedly jumped off the platform to fetch a horse.

With one person taking the lead, the other five, disregarding the saintess's intentions, immediately left.

Some people felt that the hoofprints and hoof sounds were too obvious when riding horses, so they stuck more than ten talismans on their legs and silently chanted incantations.

When walking, it was as if my feet were on springs, and I could leap five or six meters in one step, as if I were riding the wind and mist.

Someone threw a paper crane in their hand, which transformed into a huge Xianhe, and reached out to grab one of the Xianhe's legs.

The Xianhe flapped its wings, rose about ten meters off the ground, and flew away unsteadily.

Some people waved their whisks, creating a thick plume of smoke that obscured their figures. When the smoke cleared, they were nowhere to be seen.

Cao Ying raised her cup, watched them leave, then brought the blood wine to her lips and slowly drank half of it.

Once the lead cup was empty, she poured herself another one.

Before the cup was even finished, a distant blue light rapidly magnified, transforming into a blue human figure.

The hillside was a slope, and the person crossed it horizontally.

But before they reached the execution platform, the man suddenly dropped the person he was holding and turned a corner.

His figure disappeared into the weeds, and soon reappeared from another direction, turning back into the distance.

Cao Ying shook her head and poured herself a drink.

A moment later, the figure in blue finally approached the altar and picked up the person he had previously abandoned.

Cao Ying had already recognized that the one being held by the belt and lifted into the air was none other than Thousand-Drunken Old Man.

Chu Tianshu walked from the east, and the flames of the twenty-four candles all tilted and lengthened towards the west.

The flames licked the air, and the candle burned noticeably faster.

Chu Tianshu could tell that these candles were originally part of the altar, and their unusual behavior was not due to a change in wind direction.

It was because he sensed the murderous aura emanating from himself.

"Mr. Chu, you exude such a strong killing intent."

Cao Ying smiled and said, "I suppose those six people who escaped just now have all perished at your hands. Your killing intent is even stronger now."

Chu Tianshu walked up to the first level of the altar, then stepped onto the second level, casually looking around as he spoke.

Why didn't you run away?

Cao Ying calmly asked, "Would running away be of any use?"

"We thought we had overestimated Mr. Chu's threat level, but it turns out we still underestimated him."

"When I discovered you Chucheng, I knew we couldn't escape."

Chu Tianshu stepped onto the third level of the Dharma platform.

There were only two meters or so between him and Cao Ying.

The Thousand-Drunken Old Man he was carrying in his right hand landed on the altar, while a handful of scattered yellow talisman paper scraps and broken whisk threads fell from his left hand.

"They didn't escape, but one person did manage to get away from me earlier."

Chu Tianshu said, "According to Yuanli's confession, your Five Rampancies Sect also possesses a Divine Heart Borrowed Path Great Dharma, but it requires the Five Rampancies Troops and Horses Seal to activate."

"This time you came out to kill me, Yuanzai didn't lend you the Five Rampancies Troops and Horses Seal?"

By using the Divine Heart Borrows the Way, even if Cao Ying's physical body cannot escape, her soul can still escape to the capital.

Given the Five Rampancies Sect's resources, it wouldn't be unreasonable to let her reside in some magical artifacts to live a little longer, or even transform into Evil Spirit and live for a hundred more years.

Is this considered an attempt to extract information?

Cao Ying toyed with the wine glass in her hand, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Wouldn't it be such a waste of my last moments to do this?"

"Heh, Chu Tianshu, I think you're quite good-looking. What do you think of my looks?"

Chu Tianshu, with his right hand behind his back, carefully examined the object upon hearing this and said, "Very good."

"Really? Many men like gentle or glamorous women, but I happen to be neither. You certainly have good taste."

Cao Ying seemed somewhat pleased. "Do you like my style, or is it because of my identity as a saintess that you have a stronger urge to have sex?"

Chu Tianshu dusted off his sleeves. "Excuse me, I was just commenting on appearance. Even if I'm immune to all poisons, I don't have a penchant for the dead."

"Especially, a dead man who just poisoned himself."

How can a living person drink blood wine, which is offered exclusively to Ghost God?

The moment Chu Tianshu saw Cao Ying, he knew she was beyond saving.

He was merely here to inspect the three-tiered altar.

"Oh, that's a pity."

Cao Ying's fingertips traced her lips. "I had originally thought that perhaps I could use this body to make Mr. Chu, who was just triumphant and full of self-satisfaction, suffer a small loss."

Chu Tianshu didn't answer again. He walked around Cao Ying once, then suddenly stomped his foot.

The three-tiered altar suddenly cracked layer by layer, but did not shatter.

The surface of the platform has unique cracks, resembling those of a lotus flower.

When the cracks in the third layer spread to the edge, the twenty-four candles swayed precariously.

"Lin Bing Dou Zhe, Jie Zhen Lie Qian Xing!!"

Chu Tianshu formed a hand seal with his left hand, changing it nine times in an instant, and finally pointed his sword into the air, waving it towards Luoyang City.

All twenty-four candles went out at the same time.

He didn't simply destroy the Dharma platform; he completely shattered it.

Inside Luoyang, the gunmen hidden throughout the eastern district were also somewhat panicked, unsure whether to scatter and flee or continue their attack.

Suddenly, they both felt a stinging pain in their eyes.

The unexpected pain caused the gunmen to groan involuntarily.

Some of the gunmen who were running and moving away even fell off the roof.

In the shadows of the street corner, Huo Ming's ears twitched and his eyes lit up.

Outside the city, on a hillside.

Cao Ying's lip color seemed to darken along with the cracks in the altar, her lips turning completely black.

"Yes, it looks more aesthetically pleasing this way."

Chu Tianshu said, "If you were just a streamer who only focuses on looks, I'd probably be happy to follow you."

"What a pity, you Five Rampancies Saintess, you're a ruthless killer!"

Cao Ying's breath grew weaker. "Have you killed fewer people than me? Haha, are you going to talk about good and evil? But in the face of imperial ambitions, talking about good and evil is too naive."

"Where did you get your claim to hegemony?"

Chu Tianshu looked down at her, "All I see is your failure."

"From the very first day your people met me, there has only been one failure, and then another."

Cao Ying was naturally approaching death under the influence of the blood wine; her vision was already blurred.

Completely unaware, Chu Tianshu's left hand was still in a mudra, and he hadn't removed it. Behind his back, in the palm of his right hand, there was a small Four-Leaf Seal spinning.

"Cao Shaolin, the vice leader, the leader, and you, the holy maiden, the Cao Family's subordinate, the Cao Family's ally, and then the Cao Family itself..."

"Whether it's searching for Sima Yi, stealing the Origin Canon, or tonight's assassination attempt, it's all been nothing but failure, failure, failure!"

Cao Ying felt dizzy and disoriented; in the vast night sky, only a crescent moon remained.

Even the waning moon was slowly rotating in the center of the sky.

Everywhere, from heaven to earth, the sounds of defeat echoed, recounting her utter annihilation.

"Including what you want to do later."

Chu Tianshu said quietly, "... it will fail just as well."

"No!"

Cao Ying gritted her teeth and said, "No, the Five Rampancies greedy and difficult to control, and we don't have much leverage to rely on."

"But Uncle Qi has already discovered the Qingcheng Ghost King."

"The Ghost King will devour the seal, then instigate the awakening of the Pear God, allowing her to break free from the Five Rampancies' Pear God and take away Five Rampancies power."

"Thus, the three gods are both weak and powerful, and all three gods must be used by us!"

Chu Tianshu's eyes flashed, his tone remained unchanged, but his right hand lifted Cao Ying's chin, continuing to bewitch her while slowly channeling his energy to maintain a sliver of life.

"Really? But the method, the location, and the date you chose are very problematic; it's bound to fail!"

Cao Ying looked up, her eyes glazed and filled with hatred, her teeth clenched.

"No! Even if Chu Tianshu and the rest of the group march on the capital, it won't make a difference. The time and place we chose were precisely..."

(End of this chapter)