TRYMBPIETM 30: The Ancient Tree’s Deep Shade(24)

Before entering the mountains, Chi Qingzhou chose a rather simple and brutal method to obtain information about Qu Feng.

In the more than two minutes of eye contact with Nuo Qi, he briefly sensed the most painful fragments of Nuo Qi’s memories, inevitably being affected by the deep hatred that had taken root in her bones.

This connection allowed him to easily read Qu Feng’s past experiences, but at the same time, his own thoughts were limited, and for a moment, he could not control his body.

Zhu Yantong’s vision turned blood-red, vaguely seeing that his guard was wide open, almost desperate to jump up and strike him.

Worried about his master, Zhu Yantong struggled to move his fingers under the pressure of the ghostly energy.

However, his strength was too weak, unable to move even a single joint, let alone make the incantations he needed.

A flash of frustration and humiliation crossed his face as he gritted his teeth and stared at Chi Qingzhou with hatred.

Not far away, the dragon brain tree trunk that had fallen revealed Qu Feng, dressed in classic Puluo tribe clothing, slowly opening his eyes in the coffin.

The terrifying ghostly energy wrapped in immense pressure caused his soul to suffer.

There was a fearsome aura that he had never encountered, yet instinctively, it tore at his soul. His three souls and seven spirits began to crack from within, with his Heavenly Soul on the verge of losing its stability.

Realizing that the coffin could no longer protect him, Qu Feng, still unaware of what had happened, was immediately filled with murderous intent.

He raised his hand to shatter the coffin made of golden silk nanmu, and his soul floated lightly to the broken root of the dragon brain.

The ghostly energy gathered towards the top of the mountain, and Qu Feng looked up, his expression changing abruptly.

Is this the Ghost King of Jingming Mountain?

Knowing that even though Xing Shuangzhan had been robbed of nearly half of his power, he was still not a match for him, Qu Feng immediately withdrew his gaze and quickly scanned his surroundings.

Although he had been awakened early and the rituals that would stabilize his soul and suppress the backlash from the Puluo tribe’s ancestral land had not been performed, he had at least one foot in the realm of ghost gods, naturally granting him some unusual abilities.

With just one glance, he noticed Chi Qingzhou not far away and quickly figured out the relationship between Chi Qingzhou and Xing Shuangzhan.

Qu Feng’s tongue pressed against his teeth with some excitement.

Xing Su actually found a contract partner?!

And it’s a contract partner with a soul problem?

Does he feel his life is too easy and deliberately increasing the difficulty?

Xing Su, this Ghost King, is truly a genius!

Qu Feng couldn’t be sure of what kind of contract it was between Xing Shuangzhan and Chi Qingzhou, nor did he care much about the contract’s nature.

As long as something happened to Chi Qingzhou, Xing Shuangzhan would inevitably be hurt as well. The only difference would be the severity of the injury depending on the contract type.

Qu Feng chuckled.

He was never someone who acted aboveboard and despised those who adhered to rigid codes of justice.

Without hesitation, he immediately performed a hand seal, summoning a large mass of vines that twisted toward Chi Qingzhou’s neck from an extremely tricky angle.

The vines, nourished by white mist, grew rapidly as soon as they sensed wind.

Sharp thorns grew on the vine, and the tips radiated an ominous, brilliant color, with a pungent, corpse-like smell spreading through the mist.

Chi Qingzhou stood dazed, seemingly unaware of the imminent danger.

Zhu Yantong, unable to see clearly, finally realized his master had awakened, and he was overjoyed.

His malicious gaze fell on Chi Qingzhou as he wholeheartedly cursed for him to be immediately strangled to death.

However, as soon as the vines entered the area where Chi Qingzhou’s shadow fell, they suddenly halted eerily.

It was as though they had contracted some kind of plant wilt disease, with the slender blue-violet vines wilting inch by inch from the tips, their leaves shriveling up rapidly and snapping into brittle dry branches.

Zhu Yantong’s smile froze.

Qu Feng instinctively sensed the danger, his face turning pale, and without sparing a glance at his fallen disciple, he quickly retreated, relying on his light soul to move rapidly.

But Chi Qingzhou’s shadow was faster.

A dark, eerie gray flashed through the white mist, drawing a straight line toward Qu Feng’s head!

The mist was disturbed, but no sound was produced.

Even the frantic calls of birds and insects in the forest disappeared at this moment.

In the extreme silence, the gray shadow briefly passed across Qu Feng’s retina, and the next moment, he felt an icy hand grip his head.

Crack—

The sound of bones twisting shattered the quiet air, and Qu Feng’s vision flipped, finally fixing on the tree branch enveloped in mist.

The gray shadow did not linger, and in the blink of an eye, it returned to Chi Qingzhou’s feet.

Chi Qingzhou’s pupils gradually regained focus, his face carrying a hint of innocence as he blinked and looked up.

“You tried to ambush me?” His tone was genuinely puzzled. “Didn’t your disciple tell you what kind of person I am?”

Qu Feng, now headless, shook his body in a brief shudder.

The excruciating pain caused his soul to tremble, and for a moment, his thoughts went blank.

His severed head rolled once on the ground, biting back the muffled groan that tried to escape, his facial features facing Chi Qingzhou as his eyes, now without whites, squinted slightly.

He had a hint of fear and muttered, “No wonder you can become Xing Su’s contract partner, I really underestimated you.”

Chi Qingzhou raised his brows with genuine confusion and asked, “Oh, so you’ve almost reached the Ghost God realm?”

He paused for a moment, his tone suddenly turning cheerful.

“So, you’re about to be counteracted by your ancestral’s bloodline, right? No wonder you had your disciple collect souls with special destinies, it’s to suppress the backlash.”

This should have been the most dangerous moment before Qu Feng fully reached the Ghost God realm.

He needed sufficient souls with special destinies, full of resentment and anger, to bear the backlash, along with a live sacrifice as a bridge to offer to him, who had yet to fully ascend to the realm of Ghost Gods.

The quantity and quality of the sacrificial souls were important, but the live sacrifice was even more crucial.

If the live sacrifice went wrong, it would mean that all of Qu Feng’s plans would be in vain.

With good luck, he would regress in strength, and his fifteen years of cultivation would be as if they never happened. With bad luck, he would be torn apart in the backlash.

Chi Qingzhou glanced at Zhu Yantong, his eyes filled with some admiration.

“So your disciple planned to choose me as the live sacrifice from the beginning? What a smart choice, truly a filial disciple.”

Zhu Yantong shuddered in fear, vomiting a mouthful of dark brown blood.

Ignoring the pain in his chest, he loudly protested, “Master, don’t listen to his nonsense! I didn’t realize he was a Cultivator at first, I just thought his fate…”

“Shut up!”

Qu Feng snapped at Zhu Yantong, his expression darkening with each passing second.

“Enough, the contract partner of Xing Su, you don’t need to sow discord. My disciple may be a little foolish, but he will never betray me. You’re wasting your time hoping we’ll fight each other to delay things for Xing Su to wake up. You’re mistaken.”

A cold wave of resentment surged from his dismembered body, mixed with intense anger, swirling in the white mist for a few seconds, strangely sketching out a figure.

A brand-new head grew from where his neck had been, and he moved his neck slightly, the two heads simultaneously looking at Chi Qingzhou with identical expressions of ill intent.

“Instead of trying to stir trouble here, you might want to focus on yourself.”

It seemed that Qu Feng, having regained some confidence, or perhaps having some other reason, did not strike immediately after failing his first attack.

He squinted, his four pupils filling his eyes, staring intently at Chi Qingzhou, using the secret techniques he had taught Zhu Yantong to carefully observe Chi Qingzhou’s features.

“What a troublesome fate. Chosen by Heaven, abandoned by fortune. Were you seen as an ill omen by your biological and adoptive parents when you were young?”

He smirked with a hint of amusement.

“For the first ten years of your life, at least, you were regarded as a misfortune by your adoptive and biological parents. You tried to escape, but no matter what you did, you never found a moment of peace.”

“When you were ten years old, you met someone. He should have been a taoist. He gave you an opportunity, changing your fate.”

Qu Feng raised his brows in mock surprise.

“You seized that opportunity, but you hurt Xing Su. Have you never regretted it?”

Chi Qingzhou tilted his head in confusion, his eyes showing genuine bewilderment.
Earlier, Qu Feng’s murderous intent had been so intense, he nearly wanted to tear him apart, so why was he now resorting to taunts?
Wasn’t it said that villains die because they talk too much? And wasn’t Qu Feng completely out of touch after not being online for over a decade?
Chi Qingzhou couldn’t understand Qu Feng’s actions, frowning slightly.

A flash of triumphant joy passed through Qu Feng’s eyes. He sneered and continued, “Your parents and adoptive parents weren’t entirely wrong.”
“Xing Su of Jingming Mountain is the last of the thousand-year-old Ghost Kings. The entire Xuanxu world respects him.”
“When you were ten and sought his help, how badly was he hurt to save your life?”

“Back then, what was he like? Even the righteous gods dared not provoke his might.”

As Qu Feng spoke, he sneered with genuine bitterness, unintentionally tugging at a deep wound in his soul. The overwhelming pain from that wound immediately dimmed his spiritual body.
He sucked in a cold breath, forcing down the pain that almost made him cry out, his eyes growing more vicious.

Chi Qingzhou sensed the pain and anger emanating from him, and instantly understood why Qu Feng was so furious yet hesitated to take action—
He didn’t not want to strike; he was physically unable to do so.
Most likely, Qu Feng’s soul was injured due to the tug-of-war between ghostly and spiritual energies when he was forcibly awoken before the final moment.
Any movement now would tear his soul apart, so he was trying to stall for time.
But stalling was equivalent to slow death, unless he had other means. Otherwise, this tactic made no sense.

Chi Qingzhou’s gaze flickered.
Was Qu Feng deliberately provoking him?
He chuckled, clearly amused by Qu Feng’s petty tricks.
Even if it were Xing Shuangzhan, he might not have had the upper hand against him, let alone Qu Feng.

His joy was too evident, and Qu Feng’s face twitched as his expression darkened.
Now he understood why his foolish disciple couldn’t deal with this person.
This person was abnormal, from his reasoning to his techniques—he couldn’t be judged by common sense.

Suppressing his frustration, Qu Feng leaned back slightly to alleviate the strain on his soul.
He arrogantly said, “Don’t tell me you didn’t understand my point? At ten years old, you encountered him through an inappropriate sacrifice. He paid a huge price to save your near-death self, and as a result, his power was greatly diminished.”
“Before that, even the righteous gods didn’t dare to provoke Xing Su.”

Qu Feng scornfully eyed Chi Qingzhou, sneering, “Do you know why vengeful spirits are classified into five levels—grudge, evil deeds, calamities, disasters, and apocalyptic?”
“Because, hundreds of years ago, Xing Su jokingly said he didn’t like being called the Ghost King. The entire xuanxu world trembled and hastily reclassified vengeful spirits.”
“Xing Su was feared once, but now?”
“Oh, he’s injured at his core, and half of his power has been stolen by traitors and others.”

One hand behind his back, Qu Feng watched Chi Qingzhou’s suddenly cold gaze with delight, beginning to form a hand seal.
“Even I’ve stolen quite a bit.”
“You tell me, are you a calamity to Xing Su?”

Chi Qingzhou pursed his lips, silently staring at Qu Feng’s distorted features, his right hand tightening on the long staff.
He was genuinely angry.
When Qu Feng commented on his past, he didn’t care.
Those so-called relatives no longer mattered to him.
But Xing Shuangzhan was different.
He didn’t like Qu Feng’s tone when talking about Xing Shuangzhan, and he loathed the fact that Qu Feng had stolen his power.

Fixing his gaze on Qu Feng, Chi Qingzhou raised his staff and softly confirmed, “You admit it? You’re the one who stole Su Ge’s power?”
“I did. So what?”

Qu Feng noticed the raw anger radiating from Chi Qingzhou and felt an overwhelming sense of joy. He broke into a wild grin.
Angry?
Good.
He’d been waiting for him to get angry!

As a half ghost god, he could see things ordinary people couldn’t.
Like Chi Qingzhou’s soul, split in two.

Qu Feng himself was also wounded, his soul slowly tearing apart.
He knew very well that for this kind of injury, the emotions of the living were medicine, but the emotions of ghosts, demons, or the undead were poison.
He couldn’t act now, but that didn’t mean he lacked other means to deal with Chi Qingzhou!
He could use his wife’s resentment to deceive the clan’s bloodline tracing, causing her to lose her abilities, and he could certainly feed intense emotions to Chi Qingzhou.
It would take some effort, but he first needed to get Chi Qingzhou to experience strong emotions.

Qu Feng understood that in such a situation, a person was more likely to feel anger, sadness, and dissatisfaction.
He sneered coldly, his expression feral, then provoked again, “Yes, I stole it. What will you do about it?”

Chi Qingzhou didn’t respond.
Without a word, he swept the withered vines from the ground with his staff and charged directly toward Qu Feng!

Qu Feng inhaled sharply, enduring the pain from his torn soul, and fired off a talisman.
Chi Qingzhou pivoted, twisting his body to avoid the talisman, and charged again.
The talisman, however, did not hit the ground. Instead, it turned in the air and, in an instant, struck Zhu Yantong’s forehead!

Zhu Yantong couldn’t see things far away. Only when the talisman was near did he startle, desperately trying to dodge.
But he had lost an arm and was unable to move freely, suppressed by the ghostly energy. He couldn’t evade the swift talisman.

A terrifying sense of impending doom gripped his back, making him break out in cold sweat, and he involuntarily screamed in panic.
“Master, save me! Save me!!”
Before the words had left his mouth, the light talisman pressed against his forehead.

The intense hatred, animosity, unwillingness, fear, and anger exploded from him in an instant, almost materializing and overwhelming Zhu Yantong.

—He didn’t know where the talisman had come from, but he instinctively and deeply hated Chi Qingzhou for ruining Qu Feng’s plan.

Chi Qingzhou realized Qu Feng’s scheme and paused for a moment. With a quick somersault, he dodged the overwhelming emotions, using the trees in the forest to maneuver and rapidly distance himself from Zhu Yantong.

However, Zhu Yantong’s hatred was too pure.

Countless emotions relentlessly pursued Chi Qingzhou. After three seconds, Qu Feng’s technique successfully branded both him and Zhu Yantong.

The extreme emotions of the two were now connected, and in an instant, Zhu Yantong’s emotions continuously poured into Chi Qingzhou!

Chi Qingzhou could no longer dodge. His soul was struck by the emotions of non-human entities, and he staggered, barely holding onto his long staff to avoid falling.

The essence of Yin energy that Xing Shuangzhan had given him the night before was once again violently impacted by the emotions of the dead after being worn down by the system hallucinations.

In just a few seconds, the barrier formed by the Yin energy within his meridians began to collapse.

Zhu Yantong was also suffering.

This technique harmed the user first and then the enemy. Whatever impact Chi Qingzhou was bearing, Zhu Yantong was enduring the same.

He had once had large amounts of life force extracted, and now, with so many emotions being drained from him, his body quickly rotted and collapsed.

It was as though freshly grown skin was doused with boiling water, and the pain, imprinted on his soul, made him scream in agony, the haunting cries echoing through the forest like a beast’s final roar.

It was only at this moment that he realized the familiar technique came from his master.

He had seen this technique before.

He knew that it had been used on Nuo Xin, and he had witnessed the shaman’s fate. Shock and disbelief slowly climbed up his weathered face amidst endless pain.

He stared up at the sky, tears mixed with blood running down his cheeks.

It was his master.

The master he treated like a father.

The one he had never betrayed.

Why?

Why?!

Zhu Yantong’s eyes widened.

His vision was still covered in blood, unable to even make out Qu Feng’s face.

He didn’t know what expression Qu Feng had, nor whether he felt the slightest bit of reluctance or compassion for his sacrifice and suffering.

His lips trembled, and with all his strength, he let out a final scream.

“Master——!!”

Qu Feng remained unmoved.

He waved his hand to summon more white mist, attempting to repair his soul.

The hoarse scream lingered for a long time.

And the one who made the sound quietly crumbled into a pile of long-forgotten bones.

The emotions, which could only be considered half-dead, instantly transformed into the resentment of lingering spirits, easily shattering the last remaining Yin energy in Chi Qingzhou’s meridians.

It was like toxins invading the brain, causing Chi Qingzhou’s body to tremble uncontrollably, his hazy peach blossom eyes slowly turning the same blood-red as Xing Shuangzhan’s.

He slowly lowered his head, as if about to fall asleep.

Qu Feng, relieved, found his brow softening with some ease.

Forget about Chi Qingzhou, even his wife, Nuo Qi, had eventually lost her power under his methods, didn’t she?

In just a few minutes, his soul injury would erupt, and the Ghost King, Xing Su would inevitably suffer heavy damage.

He quickened the pace of mending his soul’s rift, but for some reason, the wound, which had shown signs of healing earlier, now showed signs of being torn open once again.

Qu Feng was confused, concentrating harder.

Chi Qingzhou stood quietly in place, his body unmoving.

However, beneath his feet, his shadow trembled and slowly stood up.

In the shadow, a face identical to his own was outlined, its blood-red peach blossom eyes filled with obsession and madness.

The ground of the forest mysteriously grew wet, and strange mildew began to sprout in unnoticed corners.

Qu Feng, whose other head had dropped to the ground, vaguely sensed something, warily rolling his head to search for the source of danger.

…But he saw nothing.

In his blind spot, Chi Qingzhou’s shadow stretched out its arms, grinning, and embraced his original body.

Like ink painting suddenly being dyed with color, Chi Qingzhou’s innocent features instantly became magnificent.

His shadow disappeared completely, and he slowly raised his head, his blood-red pupils gleaming like jade.

In that moment, Chi Qingzhou, who had gone mad, could no longer suppress the viciousness rising from the depths of his soul and lost control completely.

A soft, lingering laugh escaped his lips, filled with a subconscious excitement and anticipation, as he took two or three steps and covered the ten-meter distance, bending down to grab Qu Feng’s fallen head.

The head, full of horror, couldn’t even scream before Chi Qingzhou effortlessly crushed it into pure ghostly essence!

“Wow~” He elongated the sound, his soft tone full of joy and elation, emphasizing each word, “You smell so good, so good, so good, so good!”

Before the words had even finished, he tore off a piece of the essence and happily shoved it into his mouth.

“So tasty!” He mumbled, still with his mouth full, as he cast a longing glance Qu Feng.

Qu Feng, who had been trying to repair his soul, sensed something was wrong and suddenly turned around.

The brutal scene before him stunned him for two seconds, and a more intense pain exploded, quickly spreading through his limbs.

Every inch of his soul began to tremble.

The unbearable pain and fear made him lose control of his instincts, and he began to scream, wildly waving his arms.

“What are you?! What the hell are you?! You’re eating ghostly essence! You’re not even human!!!”