Ye Huohuo felt a strange mix of emotions hearing Hanyan speak. "Senior, please release my junior uncle. He meant no harm. He doesn't know about me and Li Mohan. He thought we were married, and if you ascend, I'll become a widow.
In truth, Li Mohan and I can never be together. Even if you stay, we won't end up together."
Zuo Qingya looked at Ye Huohuo, puzzled. Though his lower body was frozen, he could still move his upper body, and his expression was agitated. "Ye Huohuo, what are you saying? Think carefully. If you let him go, you'll never see Li Mohan again in this lifetime.
He's ascending to become an immortal. If you don't achieve immortality in your next life, you won't see him either!"
Ye Huohuo clenched her fists tightly. "So what? Who can't live without whom? Besides, keeping him here isn't keeping him!"
Just then, Li Mohan's phone rang. Hanyan frowned and took it from his pocket. "These things are much more advanced than what we had back then. Sometimes, I really miss this world."
As he spoke, he skillfully unlocked the phone. A hoarse voice came from the earpiece, "All the Li family members are in my hands. Do you want to come and save them? Hanyan!"
Upon hearing the last two words, Ye Huohuo and the other two's expressions changed dramatically. Even Hanyan, who had always been aloof like a deity, looked grave.
Someone actually knew Hanyan?
Deep in the night, in the mountains about thirty kilometers from Hai City, stood a solitary two-story building. It crouched in the darkness like a monstrous beast, its jaws agape, waiting for prey to be delivered.
Aside from Li Mohan, four other men from the Li family were tied up in the courtyard. With them were Ye Huohuo's second senior brother and third senior sister. Even her eldest senior brother, Ba Ge, had been captured and confined in an iron cage.
"This is a case of catching all the fish in one go!" Lu Yao and Zuo Qingya had followed them. Also brought along was their Eldest Martial Uncle, whose powers had been completely crippled. Ye Huohuo and the others had just interrogated him and discovered he was colluding with the black-robed figure in the courtyard.
The strange incidents occurring in Hai City recently were all their doing. As for the identity of the black-robed figure, Lu Yao's Eldest Martial Uncle was also unclear, only knowing that he was incredibly powerful. He himself had been controlled by him and forced to do his bidding.
Even the cases involving the peculiar corpses discovered at the police station were their work. But when asked about his motives, he also had no idea, merely stating that the black-robed figure ordered him to do it, including creating vengeful spirits and setting up the Golden Fish formation to ward off ill fortune for Ye Huohuo.
"Who exactly is this person? What is he trying to achieve with all these actions and formations? Could his goal..." Ye Huohuo glanced at Hanyan beside her. "Could he be doing all this just to deal with you?"
Hanyan narrowed his eyes, remaining silent. After a pause, he stood up. "Let's go and see!" With a flash, he was already in the courtyard.
"Wow, he can teleport too! It seems the pursuit of knowledge is endless!" Lu Yao muttered.
"Dao follows nature. Don't always think of crooked paths, or else..." Zuo Qingya glanced at his Eldest Senior Brother, who lay limp on the ground. "...you'll regret it immensely."
Lu Yao stuck out her tongue. "Got it!"
"Let's hurry. They've already started fighting inside! We need to rescue them first." Ye Huohuo's gaze remained fixed on the commotion in the courtyard. As soon as Hanyan entered, he engaged the black-clothed figure. "Did he recognize that person?"
The three dared not delay, rushing into the courtyard as quickly as possible. But the moment they stepped inside, they knew something was wrong. From the outside, it appeared to be an ordinary courtyard, but once inside, it felt like hell. On both sides, countless corpses were bound to crosses, their expressions contorted in agony, their wails piercing the eardrums.
"This is bad! It's a formation of vengeful spirits formed from countless resentments. Be careful!" Zuo Qingya unfurled his right hand, emitting a golden light. As the light flashed, the wailing intensified.
"My head hurts so much!" Lu Yao was the first to succumb, lunging towards a pillar, seemingly intending to smash her head against it.
"Lu Yao!" Ye Huohuo, who had been covering her ears, released one hand to grab Lu Yao upon seeing her in danger. Unexpectedly, a barrage of vicious cries pierced her eardrums and struck her brain, causing her to become dazed, her head throbbing with pain.
Seeing that both of them had fallen victim, Zuo Qingya turned to help them, but was immediately surrounded by masses of yin energy that appeared from nowhere, trapping him. The yin energy was extremely corrosive; the moment it touched his clothes, it burned through them, creating a hole. Zuo Qingya found himself unable to save them and struggling to protect himself.
Just then, a wave of cold air enveloped the three of them. Ye Huohuo and Lu Yao snapped out of their daze, and the yin energy surrounding Zuo Qingya was dispersed. However, Hanyan was immediately sent flying backward, landing on one knee and sliding a considerable distance, his clothes slightly disheveled, and his breathing labored.
"Heh, a hundred years ago, you ruined my ascension. Now, I'll let you taste what it's like to be unable to ascend." The black-robed figure spread his arms, his black robe shattering into pieces and flying backward.
Ye Huohuo finally saw his true appearance. The moment she glanced at the black-robed figure, her stomach churned. She was someone who hadn't flinched even at the sight of decaying corpses, yet seeing the black-robed figure's appearance made her feel utterly disgusted, acid rising in her throat.
This black-robed figure had no hair, but his scalp was covered in bulging veins, and each vein pulsed rhythmically, making it look as if the person's brain had grown outside, throbbing with every breath. The man's face was even more terrifyingly ugly. All his skin and flesh seemed to be turned inside out, with some areas oozing pus and blood. Ye Huohuo even felt as if she could see maggots crawling in the crevices.
"Damn, that's so disgusting! If I looked like that, I'd have found a place to smash my head and die!" Lu Yao couldn't hold back. She turned away and vomited uncontrollably, then mumbled loudly with her mouth still full. Her vomiting made Ye Huohuo's stomach churn even more violently, and she gritted her teeth, trying hard not to vomit.
"Who are you?" Zuo Qingya's face had also turned pale, his voice hoarse.
"An old acquaintance of your companion! A hundred years ago, he disrupted my ascension. Today, all of you shall be buried with me!"
A hundred years ago? Ye Huohuo's heart stirred. Could this person be the demonic cultivator that Hanyan had risked a mutual destruction with back then?
"You used the lives of an entire city to exchange for your own ascension. Even if you succeed, you won't become an immortal; at best, you'll become a demon. You won't be much better off than you are now." Hanyan had returned. His breathing was unsteady, indicating he was seriously injured. The fact that he could be injured to this extent showed the monster's terrifying magical power.
"How can we defeat him? He still has hostages!" Ye Huohuo asked Hanyan softly, her eyes indicating he should look at the people tied up on the side. When Ye Huohuo and the others entered the courtyard earlier, they had fallen into an illusion. Thus, they saw corpses hanging on crosses all around, but in reality, it was just an ordinary courtyard. The Li family members and Ye Huohuo's senior siblings were tied to chairs beside the house. At this moment, they were all limp as if drugged, but their consciousness was clear.
"Huohuo, hurry and go! Don't worry about us. This guy is too powerful. You're no match for him!" Second Senior Brother Qin Chu shouted loudly. Ye Huohuo looked at them, gritted her teeth, and said, "You guys always protected me before. Now that you're in trouble, how can I abandon you and run for my life? Besides, we might not necessarily lose."