The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 93: Who Dares Touch This Seat's Master!

Chu Wanning's soul was currently traveling within the barrier.

Wherever he passed, there were ghostly apparitions and wandering spirits. Strangely, the mangled bodies had their hearts ripped out before they died; their chests were hollow, with some still having veins and flesh hanging outside, and in some cases, one could even see their white, bony ribs.

Chu Wanning knew something was amiss, but the protective barrier surrounding Butterfly Town was growing weaker. He couldn't linger, so he swiftly headed for the Chen family residence.

Upon arriving at the Chen estate, he noticed four tripod cauldrons, each about half a person's height, placed in the north, south, east, and west directions. The four cauldrons were all emitting increasingly dense smoke. However, the smoke wasn't purely white; it came in red, blue, brown, and golden hues.

Beneath the cauldrons, fires burned, their interiors filled with what appeared to be blood. Yet upon closer inspection, one would see that beneath the churning crimson liquid, clusters upon clusters of red flesh were packed tightly together.

Human hearts!

Each of the four cauldrons was brimming, containing the hearts of the town's departed inhabitants!

"Tower of Sand..." Chu Wanning murmured to himself.

He suddenly understood why they had not seen the mysterious person pursuing more Essence Spirit Bodies despite their days of investigation - that deranged individual was capable of such a horrifying act!

"Gathering Sand into a Tower" referred to extracting hearts with the same attribute and piling them together. Though not as powerful as an Essence Spirit Body, due to the immense resentment of the unjustly deceased, it could still generate an extraordinary force in a short period.

But why was it specifically Butterfly Town?

Why was it Luo Xianxian...

Stepping into the upturned Chen family courtyard, Chen's patriarch and matriarch had both hanged themselves in the main hall. Their hearts had been extracted as well, but unlike the townsfolk outside, they had not reanimated as zombies. From the waist down, their bodies had been torn into strips by some immense force, leaving no trace of their original limbs.

Surveying the hall, Luo Xianxian was nowhere to be seen. Moving further in, he entered the ancestral shrine and saw before each Chen family ancestor plaque a bowl of minced meat. Upon closer inspection, half an eyeball and a finger were mixed within.

Chu Wanning felt a wave of disgust wash over him and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a crisp laughter above his head.

Raising his gaze, paper lanterns fluttered in the air as extinguished candles flickered back to life.

Luo Xianxian sat on the beam, her jade-like feet bare, dressed in a bright red wedding robe. Swinging back and forth, she tilted her head to look at Chu Wanning.

"Oh dear, you found me."

She laughed coquettishly. Although her appearance was the same as in his memory, her animated expression was vastly different from the shy and reserved spirit Chu Wanning had encountered before. She was bold and fiery, like a blazing flame, with her round eyes now glowing with an eerie, blood-red luster.

Luo Xianxian had succumbed to demonic corruption.

The Heavenly Inquiry, a method for interrogating ghosts, could only be used once. When Chu Wanning had previously come to Butterflies Town to subdue demons, he had already employed the Heavenly Inquiry on her, so it could not be done again. The only way now was to suppress the demonic nature within her soul and awaken her true self, so that she could be questioned further.

Chu Wanning said, "Luo Xianxian, why are you here?"

Secretly, he activated a formation within his sleeves, ready to strike at any moment.

"Tsk," the petite maiden replied sharply, "It's my pleasure, none of your business."

Chu Wanning shook his head, his brows furrowing even deeper, a crease forming between them as if etched there.

"Is that bowl containing Chen Bohuan's younger brother?"

"Oh, you mean him," Luo Xianxian said nonchalantly. "The one on the left is him. The ones on the right are from that little tramp with the surname Yao that this old lady chopped up."

"…!"

"Why did she have to stubbornly fall for my husband-to-be, of all people? Just because she's the daughter of the county magistrate! She deserves to be turned into a pile of mush!"

At this point, Luo Xianxian had completely lost her sanity, behaving in a manner vastly different from her life. She failed to recognize the man before her as the "Yanluo Big Brother" who had once advocated for her justice.

Upon hearing that Madam Chen Yao had also suffered dismemberment, Chu Wanning's heart grew colder. He asked in a solemn voice, "And... the younger sister from the Chen family?"

"I was good to her, so I won't mistreat her."

With a faint smile, Luo Xianxian's lips, now tender and vibrant, seemed freshly dyed with blood.

She gently caressed her belly and said brightly,

"So she's right here."

"I've consumed her. Now, my little sister will always be with me, and no one can bully her anymore."

"You... You're truly mad."

As he finished his words, a flash of fiery lightning illuminated from his hand, casting a golden glow across the room. Chu Wanning leaped into action, slapping a spell onto Luo Xianxian's forehead amidst her startled scream.

The vengeful spirit roared!

In battle, speed is crucial. Chu Wanning was swift and agile, casting ten shimmering golden chains in an instant, binding Luo Xianxian tightly.

His long, pale fingers touched her forehead. His eyes flashed with brilliant light, like blazing lightning, his face dark and stern as a thundercloud.

With a soft parting of his water-colored lips, he silently chanted a spell.

Luo Xianxian's eyes bulged, saliva dripped from the corners of her mouth. Her once delicate and beautiful face twisted into a grotesque expression as she screamed, "Stop! Let me go! What's wrong with seeking revenge with blood for blood?!"

Chu Wanning ignored her, his cold gaze descending, the glow on his fingertips intensifying.

"Aaaah!" Luo Xianxian wailed in hysteria, "Let me go! Let me go!!! My head hurts so much! I can't take it anymore!!!"

Her cries echoed tragically until they abruptly ceased. Bloodshot glowed beneath her eyes, and a grim smile curled at the corners of her mouth.

Two eerie chuckles reverberated.

"You wanted me to scream like this, didn't you, Immortal Lord?"

!

Chu Wanning's phoenix-like eyes abruptly widened, and in the blink of an eye, he retreated a dozen feet away.

A white figure swiftly dodged Luo Xianxian's Soul Shattering Palm, gracefully landing beneath the arcade as white silk fluttered around.

Luo Xianxian slowly straightened up, her feigned pain vanishing entirely. She had been completely unaffected by Chu Wanning's purification spell; on the contrary, her spiritual energy seemed even more potent than before!

"You think a mere purification spell can harm me?" Luo Xianxian sneered.

"I've devoured the life force of a thousand people in this town, and I'm just one night away from refining my mortal body. Then, I'll be able to rescue Chen Bohuan from the Underworld, and we'll fly away together, far from the mundane world. How could I let all my efforts go to waste, destroyed by your hands, you Taoist priest?"

Her original nature was long lost, and her only obsession now was to never be separated from Chen Bohuan.

Chu Wanning's heart stirred, and he asked solemnly, "Who told you that this would refine your mortal body?"

"What does it have to do with you?!"

Chu Wanning said coldly, "This person is spouting nonsense. Your original form has already been reduced to ashes. If you wish to reincarnate as a mortal, you must enter the cycle of rebirth. There's no such thing as absorbing the life force of a thousand living beings to regain your existence. He deceived you into slaughtering everyone in the town just to gather enough hearts to accumulate spiritual energy for his own purposes."

"..." Luo Xianxian's eyes widened in shock. "That can't be true! He wouldn't lie to me!"

"Who is 'he'?"

"He... He is..." After a moment of hesitation, Luo Xianxian let out a shrill scream, clutching her head and yelling, "I don't know! I don't know! I want my physical body! I want to live! I don't want to die!!! He didn't lie to me... He didn't lie to me... You're the one who lied to me... Yes, it's you!!!"

The red silk fluttered fiercely as the female ghost let out a piercing cry, extending her sharp claws to pounce at Chu Wanning!

In the meantime, an ominous thunderclap echoed through the sky. Chu Wanning dodged Luo Xianxian's assault and glanced upward, only to witness the guardian barrier being torn apart by a long, narrow rift caused by the soaring malevolent aura of Butterfly Town. The scent of living beings seeped in from outside, and zombies roared from all directions.

The barrier was on the verge of collapse.

It was too late!

If he couldn't bring Luo Xianxian's consciousness back in time, he would have no choice but to slay her here.

That would mean losing all leads...

Outside the protective barrier, Li Wuxin gazed at the horrifying rift in the sky and bellowed at Xue Zhengyong, "Don't you still plan on sealing it? Seal it now! If this realm collapses, thousands of corpses will swarm out. Do you think we can stop them?"

"Wait a little longer!" Xue Zhengyong's expression was grim as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. "Absolutely do not seal it yet. Yu Heng is still inside. Just wait."

Li Wuxin cursed inwardly. Seeing the barrier resembling an egg with a cracked shell, his heart pounded anxiously. He raged, "If the barrier breaks later, there will be a fierce battle with blood flowing like rods. How will you explain to the entire cultivation world? !" Finished speaking, he turned to reprimand his disciple loudly. "Did you send the signal? When will the other eight sects arrive?"

The disciple responsible for communication was drenched in sweat. "All eight sects said that this situation is critical and they need to report to their respective leaders first. After their elders discuss and make a decision, they'll come to quell the chaos."

"..." Li Wuxin's face darkened even more. "What about the Confucian Wind Sect? Senior Immortal Nangong has always been decisive. Why is he being so fussy now?"

"That... " The disciple was unsure how to respond when he noticed the spirit talisman for telepathic communication flicker. After reading it, he was overjoyed and exclaimed, "The Confucian Wind Sect is here! They just sent word that they're sending disciples immediately to subdue the evil!"

True enough, before a cup of tea could be finished, a rolling mass of green clouds appeared on the horizon. As they drew closer, they revealed themselves to be a thousand people dressed in dark blue crane badges, arranged in perfect formation, flying on swords like a flock of geese piercing through the sky.

At the forefront were Nan Gongsi and Ye Wangxi.

Nan Gongsi rode his demonic wolf, Naobaijin, holding a jade bow and wearing a quiver on his back. He exuded an imposing aura, with the arrogance of youth etched on his face.

Ye Wangxi, on the other hand, still wore his black attire, draped in a shawl embroidered with the Confucian Wind Sect's crane emblem. His features were seven parts handsome and three parts delicate.

"What's going on here?!"

The moment Nan Gongsi laid eyes on the dilapidated protective barrier, he erupted in anger. His gaze, sparking with irritation, swept across the crowd, ignoring the group from the Mortal Life and Death Peak. It finally landed on the only person he deemed worthy of conversation – the master of Jade Pond Manor.

"Li Wuxin! With the barrier in such a state, why aren't you doing something about it?!"

Despite being much older than Nan Gongsi, Li Wuxin was the only son of the leader of the world's largest sect, and thus felt embarrassed by the reprimand. However, he held back his discomfort, forcing a smile.

"Young Master Nan, there's something you might not know. It was Sect Leader Xue's decision not to repair the barrier..."

With that, Li Wuxin passed the hot potato to Xue Zhengyong.

"Mortal Life and Death Peak?"

Nan Gongsi glanced at Xue Zhengyong and let out a huff, whether it was a sneer or some other emotion, unclear.

Then, he waved his hand at his attendants. "Fix this damn thing already. All this fuss over nothing."

Ye Wangxi attempted to stop him. "Young Master—"

Nan Gongsi paid him no heed whatsoever, and to his surprise, Song Qiutong was there as well. But today, she didn't stand by Ye Wangxi's side; instead, she attended to Nan Gongsi, remaining on his left or right, her face veiled with white gauze, eyes lowered, and an obedient demeanor about her.

The disciples of the Confucian Wind Sect were decisive in their actions and only followed their sect leader's orders. Especially those who were loyal to the untamed Nan Gongsi – they ignored all attempts to dissuade them and promptly began setting up formations and casting seals.

"Halt!"

Xue Zhengyong had just interrupted four or five moves when he turned to see another disciple casting a restoration seal, a beam of blue light shooting towards the rift in the barrier.

Xue Zhengyong's face paled, and he cried out, "Yu Heng!!"

With a loud "Bang!", flames burst forth in all directions.

In a heart-stopping moment, a blood-red bolt of lightning suddenly crashed down, forcefully intercepting the repairing seal just before it reached the crack!

All eyes lifted skyward, beholding a young man poised in mid-air, his stance firm and unwavering as he guarded the very threshold of the barrier. This youth was once possessed of a countenance that shone with warmth and geniality, as though born with an inherent glow of kindness. Yet now, his gaze was razor-sharp, his eyes ablaze like twin beacons, while the willow vine he wielded as a sword dripped with blood-red radiance. Each leaf of the vine was adorned with dancing flames, as if they clung to it in defiance of their ephemeral nature.

With his brows furrowed deeply, Mo Ran sternly declared in the air, "I said, no one is allowed to touch this barrier. Are you newbies deaf? Do you not understand human language?!"

Though he despised Chu Wanning, their conflict was, after all, a matter of personal enmity between the two of them.

In both his past and present lives, if anyone other than himself laid a hand on Chu Wanning's hair, Mo Ran would be hell-bent on taking that person's life.

He had declared that those he despised could only be dealt with by him - to be killed, ruined, and bullied by his own hands.

In the heat of his rage, vestiges of his former life's brutality seeped through, and his aura was a far cry from the usual jovial, pet-loving, debauched nobleman he appeared to be.

Not to mention the members of the Confucian Wind Sect, even Xue Zhengyong, Xue Meng, and even Shi Mo were momentarily stunned by this side of Mo Ran.

The author wishes to add:

In this chapter, Doggie 1.0 was utterly possessed by Doggie 0.5, regaining his princely aura, oh ho ho! So let's call him Doggie 0.75 for now~