chapter 24

Not just the cultivators of the Qi family, but others nearby also showed varying states of distress. Some clutched their stomachs, faces contorted in pain; others grabbed at their throats as if trying to claw something out. In mere moments, the sound of bodies collapsing to the ground rang out one after another.

Hearing the sounds, Su Yu felt a chill run through his body. A sense of impending crisis washed over him like cold water dousing his head. His reflexes moved faster than the ink beast's warning, and he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the black shadow that plummeted from above.

"Come over here—"

Qi Yan saw Su Yu dodge the shadow and was about to pull him to his side when he tried to mobilize his spiritual energy. However, a creeping sensation, like insects crawling through his abdomen, surged through his meridians, which felt obstructed by some foreign presence. Alarmed, he quickly sealed his acupuncture points. But before he could retreat, the black shadow struck him head-on, sending him flying.

When Qi Yan hit the ground, he looked up to see the wealthy merchants who had previously toasted with them. Their eyes had turned vacant, and bark-like material began to emerge from their skin. Veins bulged grotesquely, and something alive seemed to scurry beneath their skin before breaking through, sprouting forked branches.

In no time, the once-smiling merchants had transformed into bark-covered humanoid figures.

A chilling sense of horror gripped Qi Yan. He turned his head to find that the faces of everyone in the White Moon Tower, including those from Jinzhou Town, were now covered with horrifying bark. This included several stewards of the Qi family stationed in the town—hardly anyone had been spared.

Qi Yan's face turned pale as he struggled to suppress the spread of foreign entities within his meridians. His spirit beast, a little ginseng, had already rushed to his side for protection. Were the spirit fruits at the banquet the problem?

But how could that be? Even if this was a banquet hosted by wealthy merchants, all the items served had been handled by Qi family members in Jinzhou Town. The manager of the White Moon Tower was also a Qi family member. If there were any issues with the spirit fruits, they would have been discovered before the banquet. How could they have made it to the table?

"What should we do, young master?!"

"Should we contact the people on the spirit ship?!"

"The communication talismans aren't working—we can't leave the White Moon Tower!"

A sharp gust of wind grazed over Su Yu's head. He retreated urgently to avoid the attack, but the bark-clawed creature tore through his veil, leaving a fine scratch on his cheek.

Screams echoed all around. Su Yu ducked under a table. Zhang Fugui, who had been wandering near the Abyss of All Evils earlier, had already scurried back in fright. Su Yu turned to the ink beast for guidance. Despite the bizarre transformations afflicting the other cultivators, the ink beast remained lively, spitting out a fruit pit nonchalantly.

Seeing this, the ink beast hurriedly used its yin energy to heal Su Yu's wound. "Other injuries can wait, but don't let your blood spill too much. It might attract more trouble," it warned urgently.

"Be careful. It's best not to get hurt," the ink beast added, concerned.

At this moment, Su Yu's hand brushed against a raised surface on the ground. Looking closely, he noticed faint, elusive glimmers beneath the floor. These lights seemed obscured by something and were so dim they were almost imperceptible amidst the chaotic spiritual energy of the cultivators. Only by careful observation could he trace their source.

The glimmers blanketed the ground, masked by scattered spirit fruits and the cultivators' spiritual energy, making them incredibly difficult to detect.

What is this…?

The collapsed cultivators had lost nearly all capacity to resist. Faces twisted in extreme pain, they fell unconscious as the bark-covered creatures began dragging them away by their legs. The remaining cultivators, still capable of casting spells, scrambled to rescue those being taken. Yet, it wasn't long before fatigue etched across their faces one by one.

Most of the cultivators present had consumed the spirit fruits and couldn't hold out for long.

The number of bark creatures outside was growing. Su Yu could feel the increasingly violent clashes nearby. The spiritual eye totem in his dantian could only perceive beings or objects possessing "qi." However, not all of these bark creatures seemed to possess such an aura. Unable to see them, Su Yu could only infer their presence…

As he took a few steps back, the table above him was suddenly flipped over. Danger descended abruptly, and the attack came with startling speed. The assailant had already reached him, bypassing any trace his spiritual eye could detect. The ink beast's warning was on the tip of its tongue, but Su Yu reacted even faster. With one hand, he caught the attacking limb right before his face and flung the creature away!

The ink beast was stunned. Had this human brat reacted this quickly back on Nanwu Mountain?

Su Yu couldn't see anything far away but was extraordinarily sensitive to attacks close to him. Evading assaults seemed almost instinctual. The ink beast stopped offering warnings, astonished by Su Yu's movements. Despite his low cultivation level and the absence of anything but yin energy in his body, Su Yu possessed a natural talent most could only dream of. If the ink beast had previously considered him a prodigy, it now realized he was far more than that.

His ability to respond to danger had become second nature.

"Be careful. These things are strange," the ink beast muttered while chewing on something. "They're not human anymore. It's odd—though they have human bodies, they've grown bark. I've never seen anything like this. Maybe some kind of curse?"

Su Yu responded flatly, "Oh."

Hearing the disdain in his tone, the ink beast snapped, "What's with that attitude? I've been secluded in the mountains for thousands of years! Not recognizing a few things is normal!"

Before the words were finished, a loud crash came from the side. Su Yu had to step back hastily to avoid the attack, slipping under a nearby table. He instinctively gathered yin energy to defend himself but stopped when he heard footsteps nearby.

"Little Ginseng!" Qi Yan called out.

The situation around them was chaotic. The little ginseng used its tail to fling Qi Yan under the table. Startled, Qi Yan was about to head out again when the ginseng swung its tail once more, this time tossing an unconscious Qi Liu, who lay limp like a dead pig, under the table as well.

Qi Yan: "…"

Su Yu: "?"

Ink Beast: "Is this table really that wide?"

Why were they all being thrown under this table?

The situation outside didn't improve. The number of bark creatures continued to grow, and more cultivators from the Qi and Su families were collapsing. Those still able to cast spells were dwindling fast. After tossing people under the table, the little ginseng noticed that the entrance to the White Moon Tower was almost entirely sealed off. More and more bark creatures were pouring into the tower, leaving virtually no place to hide.

Qi Liu regained consciousness from the toss and, though weak, looked around at the crowded space under the table. "Quite lively here. Is there a latrine nearby…"

Before he could finish, a few bark creatures rushed over, the loud impact startling him fully awake.

The little ginseng leaped nearby to fend them off, protecting the cultivators hiding under the table. At this moment, Su Yu noticed a faint glow not far away—something like a glowing orb surrounded by specks of blue light.

"A water-element cultivator. Looks like the Su family's young master," the ink beast explained.

In the crowd, the Su family's young master had summoned a defensive artifact that formed a protective shield around the unconscious Su family cultivators. His face was pale, clearly straining to maintain the artifact. However, some unconscious cultivators still fell victim to the bark creatures and were dragged away, vanishing from sight.

The problem seemed to lie with the spirit fruits—or perhaps with Jinzhou Town as a whole.

…If this continued, all the cultivators here would perish.

Qi Yan couldn't stay hiding under the table any longer. He pushed Qi Liu toward Su Yu. "Old Liu, protect these people."

Su Yu turned his head just in time to see a cultivator emitting a bright red glow squeeze into his already cramped space, dimming the faint lights on the ground.

"Me?!" Qi Liu pointed at himself, but before he could say more, Qi Yan dashed out.

As the Qi family's young master, Qi Yan had his own protective artifacts. While not as formidable as those of the Su family's young master, Su Yi, they were enough to shield a few unconscious cultivators nearby. However, this approach was unsustainable. He could feel the exhaustion growing with each use of his spiritual energy, and the obstruction in his meridians worsening.

"That little young master of the Qi family won't hold out much longer," the ink beast remarked. "He's clearly cursed. It's only a matter of time before he's like the others—losing his spiritual energy and falling unconscious."

Hearing this, Su Yu glanced at Qi Liu beside him. The bright red glow radiating from him was unmistakable, but unlike the other cultivators, he hadn't collapsed. In fact, he seemed to be faring better than Qi Yan outside.

Qi Liu turned his head and met Su Yu's gaze.

The veil covering Su Yu's eyes had slipped off at some point. Despite the lack of focus in his eyes, the intensity of his gaze sent a chill down Qi Liu's spine. "W-what is it?"

Suddenly, a sweeping attack overturned the table sheltering them. Su Yu was flung out and landed on the ground. As he hit the ground, he felt a warm sensation on his skin. Perhaps because of his blindness, he had developed an acute sensitivity to environmental changes. Jinzhou Town at night was noticeably colder than during the day, yet now it felt as if it were daylight again.

Something was above… Su Yu looked up.

Qi Yan noticed Su Yu fall and was about to move toward him when he saw the boy staring upward at something.

What's up there…? Looking up, Qi Yan spotted an eerie full moon in the sky. Only then did he realize that the moon hadn't been this round when they entered the White Moon Tower earlier tonight.

Acting swiftly, Qi Yan grabbed a torn tablecloth and covered himself and the unconscious cultivators nearby to avoid exposure to the moonlight. He shouted, "Don't look at the moon!"

"This Qi family young master is pretty sharp—he's noticed you," the ink beast remarked.

What does it matter… as long as he doesn't hold us back. Su Yu didn't care about others' reactions, but Qi Yan's words gave him a clue: the moon above was unusual. It was likely related to the strange lights he had seen under the table earlier.

Too bad he hadn't gotten a clearer look…

At that moment, Su Yu sensed a change in his surroundings.

The roof of the White Moon Tower had been ripped off, and the now-intense moonlight flooded in.

Some cultivators couldn't resist looking up. Those exposed to the moonlight experienced a sudden worsening of their condition. The pain in their obstructed meridians became unbearable. Soon their skin cracked, and bark, similar to that of Jinzhou Town's residents, broke through. Gradually, they transformed into bark-covered creatures resembling the townsfolk.

The newly transformed bark creatures didn't stop. In unison with the townsfolk, they charged ferociously at the remaining cultivators.

The transformation of once-powerful cultivators into bark creatures only made the situation worse.

Su Yu had barely any time to react before more cultivators lunged toward him. He twisted away, colliding with a table leg, and used it to shield himself.

As his yin energy was mobilized, he felt a growing depletion in his dantian. Jinzhou Town had not even a single stray ghost to be found, yet his yin energy was rapidly consumed.

This situation was reminiscent of the Living Dead Tombs of Nanwu Mountain. Back then, his yin energy reserves had been ample, but now they were severely lacking, drained by the Wan'eyuan Tombstone repairs, and with other human cultivators still around.

Too many people… it's getting in the way.

As Su Yu pondered, the totem in his dantian opened its eye slightly, and streaks of strange crimson appeared in his own eyes.

The ink beast noticed the totem's changes and urgently warned Su Yu, "Don't use your abilities! The illusion will fail!"

As the yin energy from his dantian flowed to his arms, several bark creatures lunged simultaneously at Su Yu's table. Their rough, bark-covered arms bristled with sharp branches, leaving no blind spots as they closed in on him.

Danger loomed. Su Yu's body instinctively sensed the killing intent from all sides. The golden-red threads in his eyes threatened to creep further outward. In his mind, hand seals he had visualized countless times suddenly reappeared in his consciousness.

Almost as soon as the seals emerged, a familiar stench of decay surrounded Su Yu. A tugging sensation at his ankle followed, and a figure darted out from beside him. A rotting arm swung across Su Yu's line of sight, blocking the claws of an attacking bark creature and forcefully standing between Su Yu and the threat.

"How did it get out?!" The ink beast was stunned.

Zhang Fugui, gripping the tombstone at the Abyss of Eternal Malice, felt a faint pulling sensation as he groaned in pain. "I don't know—it just suddenly ran out from beside me…"

Su Yu raised his eyes and met the gaze of the living corpse.

In his vision, the living corpse still had the same black-and-white mottled appearance, but something felt different. The aura around it seemed darker and more intense than when Su Yu first encountered it. Its presence was calmer, more solid. The chains connecting Su Yu to the corpse became more visible, and a handprint mark appeared on the corpse's forehead—the mark Su Yu had left during their encounter in Nanwu Mountain.

Looking at the corpse, an eerie thought surfaced in Su Yu's mind. He said to it, "Stop them."

The pale white chains binding the corpse's ankle began to take on a blood-red hue. Tightening suddenly, the once-lifeless corpse moved at Su Yu's command, darting out from under the table.

From its position in Su Yu's dantian, the ink beast witnessed what no one else could. "Ghost control?!"

Zhang Fugui, still clutching the tombstone, was bewildered. "Should we pull it back?"

Pull it back? This ghostly thing listens to Su Yu now! The ink beast, once helpless against the corpse in Nanwu Mountain, remembered how it had ignored the mountain's illusions and staked out its own territory, turning it into a graveyard for the living dead. It never thought this creature could be driven by Su Yu's chain.

The chaos in the White Moon Tower had gained a new anomaly.

"What is that?!"

The corpse's body was half-covered with flesh and crawling black insects. Beneath the grotesque surface, patches of tender, newly-grown skin were faintly visible. The patchwork appearance of its body was horrifying—arguably worse than the bark creatures around it.

The chains between Su Yu and the corpse became even more pronounced, the tugging sensation at his ankle growing heavier.

Undeniably, this corpse, which once tried to devour him in Nanwu Mountain, was now completely at his command.

"Don't let them get close," Su Yu said softly.

Seeing the corpse, the still-conscious cultivators around paused warily. But before they could react further, the corpse leaped onto the table. Its bloodstained, powerful arms swung forcefully, sending the nearby bark creatures flying. It showed no fear of the creatures and tilted its head as if determining where more of them were.

Qi Liu finally reacted, shouting, "That thing is helping us!"

The addition of the corpse provided much-needed relief to the overwhelmed cultivators.

In the past, such a creature would have been easy to repel with a spell. But now, the rising pain in their bodies left them unable to muster any spiritual energy. They could only barely defend themselves and were forced to rely on the corpse, ignoring its origins for the moment.

"Where did that thing come from?!"

"Who cares, it's helping!"

The Su family's cultivators were in disarray. Their isolation from the outside world worsened their predicament, and the number of bark creatures kept increasing.

The Su family's young master, Su Yi, frowned as he observed the sudden appearance of the corpse. He had a nagging feeling he'd seen it somewhere before. His gaze shifted to the blind boy under the distant table. Despite his apparent blindness, Su Yi couldn't sense even the faintest trace of spiritual energy from him.

Yet strangely, the boy remained unharmed.

In a situation where most cultivators had fallen, how had a blind boy emerged unscathed?

As this thought crossed his mind, Su Yi glanced at Qi Yan, who was struggling to protect the other cultivators. It seemed this blind boy had some connection to Qi Yan.

"Young Master! Elder Liu is missing!"

Among the Su family cultivators, Elder Liu had the highest cultivation level, having come from the main family to assist. But now, with most cultivators down, Elder Liu's sudden disappearance only worsened their dire situation. They couldn't contact the outer spirit ships, meaning no reinforcements were coming.

Qi Yan didn't know where the corpse had come from, but he was sure it was a safe position. Without hesitation, he moved closer to it.

As he approached, the corpse standing by the table noticed him. Its nose twitched as if sniffing something, then allowed Qi Yan to get close.

The corpse tilted its head, its unstable body swaying. But its swinging arms grew increasingly precise, knocking down every bark creature approaching Su Yu's table.

Su Yu was unaware of the situation outside. After giving the living corpse a brief glance, he focused intently on what appeared to be a formation etched into the ground. With the living corpse holding back the enemies, his view had cleared significantly, allowing him to observe the source of the strange light more closely.

When Qi Yan squeezed in from outside, he saw the boy kneeling with both hands on the ground, seemingly feeling for something.

"Don't move," Su Yu said.

Qi Yan froze in place. "What have you found?"

As Qi Liu and the other Qi family cultivators approached, they finally noticed the quiet boy and saw him feeling around the floor. Instinctively, they followed his gaze and noticed faint ridges on the ground.

Is there something on the ground…?

Qi Yan conjured a small knife with a flick of his hand and cut through the carpet on the floor. Beneath it, faint formation lines etched into the surface were revealed to everyone.

A formation?!

Extending from under their table, the formation lines disappeared into the distance, but it was evident they were all trapped within its bounds. From the moment they were invited to this banquet by the wealthy merchant of Jinzou Town, they had been ensnared.

"Do we have any cultivators skilled in formations?" Qi Yan asked.

The surrounding cultivators exchanged uneasy glances. The Qi family was not known for expertise in formations. If anyone could help, it would be the Su family cultivators nearby.

Qi Liu whispered, "Should we ask the Su family?"

"What do you think?" Qi Yan's brow twitched as he glanced at the Su family's young master in the distance. He was reluctant to approach him for help—it would be a loss of face.

As he deliberated, he noticed the boy beside him had already extended his hands further outward.

Su Yu said nothing, but as he calmed his mind, the surroundings seemed to quieten as well.

He paid no attention to the ongoing chaos around him. His vision was entirely filled with the formation lines, which grew increasingly vivid. The longer he observed, the clearer they became. A near-obsessive intuition emerged in his mind: this wasn't the key location. The formation in the White Moon Tower was only part of the whole. He needed to get outside and follow the formation downward to its source.

He had to leave.

Su Yu thought to himself.

"You won't make it outside," the ink beast warned, sensing Su Yu's thoughts. "The others out there can't hold on any longer."

Even as the ink beast spoke, several cultivators outside had already fallen, most notably the Su family cultivators across from them.

They had been using magical tools to fend off the bark creatures, but now only a handful remained standing. The rest were consumed by the swarm, their bodies overtaken by the moonlight, and soon transformed into bark creatures themselves. These new creatures immediately turned on the surviving cultivators.

The situation was growing increasingly dire.

Qi Liu glanced at the struggling Su family cultivators. "What if we have Little Ginseng carry the others, and we make a break for it?"

If there were more conscious cultivators, they might have been able to fight their way to the city gates and board the spirit vessel to escape these horrors.

"You're using ghost control. It's tied to that strange chain between you and the corpse," the ink beast interjected. "The longer you use it, the more it drains your yin energy and stamina."

Su Yu didn't move. His lifeless eyes shifted from the formation lines to the fierce battle outside involving the living corpse and Little Ginseng. The corpse was undoubtedly effective but couldn't hold back so many bark creatures. And being blind, Su Yu couldn't quickly gauge the situation outside.

On the other hand… Qi Yan's pet spirit beast, though gluttonous, seemed more capable than the other cultivators. Most importantly, its massive size made it an effective shield.

"Rawr?" Little Ginseng curiously looked at Su Yu.

Su Yu observed the massive energy mass, far larger than the living corpse. Big enough.

He had heard from the ink beast that Qi Yan's spirit beast had tough, dense flesh—it was a chubby one.

"Can it hold out until the city gates?" Su Yu asked.

Qi Yan snapped back to attention, realizing the boy who rarely spoke was addressing him. "Hard to say."

Leaving the White Moon Tower would expose them directly to the moonlight, and Qi Yan wasn't sure how long he could resist turning into one of those mindless creatures. He could already feel something breaking through his defenses in his meridians. Only his contracted spirit beast, Little Ginseng, could maintain prolonged combat.

Su Yu said bluntly, "Your spirit beast is more useful than you and will last longer."

"…" It was the first time Qi Yan had been told he was useless to his face, and yet, it wasn't wrong. "You have a point."

Su Yu was puzzled. "Then why are you hesitating? You feel bad for it?"

Why not let that fat beast take the lead?

Little Ginseng: "Rawr?"

Qi Yan: "…What about the others?"

Su Yu tilted his head and looked at Qi Liu, who had been fretting ineffectively.

Qi Liu, realizing he was being addressed, pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Unless you want me to do it?" Qi Yan's tone turned cold as he elegantly opened his fan, exuding the demeanor of someone far too refined to lift a finger.

Qi Liu looked around… one, two, three, four, five, six…

What?! How could he carry all of them?! Even if he were a mule, it wouldn't be enough!

"Aren't there others?" Su Yu said.

Qi Yan and Qi Liu turned their gaze to the Su family's young master hiding under another table.

Under that table, Su Yi was considering how to make a break for it. As he turned, he locked eyes with the Qi family's flamboyant scion and his servant, who were staring at him with an indescribable, sinister intent.

The ever-dignified young master of the Qi family lowered his fan. "Over there, care to cooperate?"

Su Yi: "…?"