The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 94: This Seat Meets Heaven's Rift Once More

Nan Gongsi's face darkened, his gaze smoldering like molten iron.

His eyes swept over Mo Ran, lingering for a moment on the vibrant red divine weapon before moving away.

"Who's this?"

Ye Wangxi replied, "He's a young master from Summit of Life and Death, with the surname Mo."

"Mo?" Nan Gongsi frowned. "The one you picked up a few years ago?"

"Mm-hmm."

Nan Gongsi glanced at Ye Wangxi. "You know him?"

"We once shared a courtyard in Peach Blossom Spring."

Nan Gongsi scoffed, the meaning behind it unclear. Upon seeing his reaction, Ye Wangxi's handsome face paled slightly. His eyelashes drooped, and he pressed his lips together, saying no more.

"Since he wishes to wait, let's give him the courtesy," Nan Gongsi said. "Being a Divine Martial Lord at such a young age, I'm curious to see what skills he possesses."

But Mo Ran had no time for the Confucian Wind Sect. He turned around, his robes fluttering in the wind. The barrier was broken, and there wasn't much time left—

Wanning, are you still not okay?

Swish! Luo Xianxian's sharp nails tore through the veil, sending white silk scraps fluttering like falling snow.

Chu Wanning sensed an eerily familiar aura approaching, and his eyes widened in sudden realization. "Heaven's Inquiry?!"

No.

It wasn't Heaven's Inquiry.

In their clash, she wielded a spiritual energy that resembled it.

Inside the grand hall of the Chen family, a living soul and a vengeful ghost were locked in combat. After exchanging a dozen moves, the fog in Chu Wanning's mind gradually lifted, and a crucial piece fell into place. A sudden enlightenment washed over him.

"Heart-Plucking Willow..."

Luo Xianxian had long since passed away, reduced to ashes. At that time, she could only possess Chen Laofu's body to wreak havoc. There was no reason for her to be able to materialize in her original form now.

That enigmatic figure had taken a withered vine from the Heart-Plucking Willow and used it to temporarily construct a dwelling for her soul, enabling her return.

The cooked human heart outside, the rising steam—gold, water, fire, earth, all awaited Luo Xianxian, the "wood," the embodiment of the Heart-Plucking Willow.

What exactly did that person intend to do?

Could it be that he had gone through such great lengths just to give Luo Xianxian her body back so she could kill her way into the Netherworld and reunite with Chen Bohuan? Who could go to such lengths for her?

Her family had long since perished.

Family...

Family!!

A sudden stirring in Chu Wanning's heart sent his blood surging. He suddenly recalled a conversation he'd had with Luo Xianxian when they first met—

She had an older brother who went missing many years ago...

Is it him?

"Who stands in my way shall not live!"

Luo Xianxian was corporeal, while Chu Wanning was a spirit. Despite her much weaker spiritual energy, their confrontation as solid against ethereal made it a close match.

In the blink of an eye, her crimson claws aimed straight for his heart, and to protect his soul, Chu Wanning suddenly dodged and tapped her forehead with his hand.

"It's useless, no matter how many times you try! The purification spell can't harm me!" She laughed sinisterly and let out a long, ear-splitting cry, summoning the multicolored butterfly zombies from all directions.

"To you wandering souls, why not heed my command! Gather here and feast on blood, slay all in your path!"

A terrifying howl echoed abruptly, and the butterfly zombies, now in chaos, violently reacted to her call, surging towards Chen's residence.

Like an unstoppable tide, the zombies rose and fell, roaring like tumultuous waves in the wind. This bone-chilling cry, akin to the battle cries on a battlefield, instantly reverberated for miles around, heard both within and beyond the barrier.

Outside the barrier, the celestial beings were all horrified.

Inside, Chu Wanning stood alone, ready to fight.

Alone, his soul hanging by a thread, he stood in white attire before Luo Xianxian. She laughed wildly, her eyes filled with madness and malevolence. He, like a noble bamboo, remained unperturbed despite the approach of a hundred ghosts, though his brows were furrowed, his gaze shrouded in a veil of gloom.

"Xianxian, do you recall some words you once spoke to me?"

"Hmm?" She seemed taken aback by this unexpected question, momentarily lost in thought.

While Luo Xianxian was distracted, Chu Wanning's flowing white robes billowed as he leapt onto the rooftop of the Chen residence, his spotless silk slippers landing on the dark eaves.

"You once said that you never intended to become a vengeful spirit, and that you didn't want to harm others."

As his words echoed, a fierce wind swept across the surroundings.

Looking ahead, Chu Wanning saw a surging tide of blackened corpses approaching from all directions. His brows knitted slightly, then suddenly, he waved his wide sleeves, and the spirits' garments fluttered violently in the eerie gust.

Between his hands, a golden glow suddenly illuminated.

"I apologize for what must be done."

In an instant, ten thousand willow vines burst forth from the ground!

In Butterfly Town, blood flowed like rivers and corpses littered the ground as temporary cracks split the earth in countless directions. Vast willow trees burst forth from the soil! Each of them shimmered with dazzling golden light, resembling thousands of chains that bound the charging horde of zombies one by one.

With his eyes shut tightly, Chu Wanning's long hair danced wildly before his icy, stream-stone-like face.

He spoke in a low voice, "Heavenly Questioning, Ten Thousand Coffins."

Suddenly lifting his gaze, his eyes blazed like lightning.

The rows of golden willows suddenly burst with radiant light. Countless lush branches sprouted, trapping the still roaring and struggling zombies within. Immediately after, a crack formed on each willow tree. As the fissures opened, the trees encapsulated the dead, sealing them abruptly.

Ten Thousand Coffins.

The largest willow tree rose from the center of the Chen family residence, shooting upward like an arrow chasing the wind, pursuing Luo Xianxian who was constantly dodging.

But Luo Xianxian had a Heart-Plucking Willow body. The Heart-Plucking Willow, Heavenly Questioning, and Ghost-Seeing were all part of the same entity, tree species brought from the divine realm to the mortal world by the God of the Northern Dipper. For a moment, the Ten Thousand Coffins summoned by Heavenly Questioning couldn't catch up to Luo Xianxian's agile and petite figure.

Her scarlet embroidered phoenix robe billowed in the wind like waves, while the giant willow grew taller and taller, piercing through the barrier and soaring into the sky.

Those outside the barrier were stunned by the sight of this heaven-splitting tree. Some, with weaker spiritual energy, could no longer bear it and were overwhelmed by the powerful aura of a Grandmaster, causing their knees to buckle, and they fell to the ground in prostration.

As the willow tree conjured by the spirit of Heavenly Inquiry grew taller, reaching towards the luminous moon, Chu Wanning's spiritual energy had reached an unprecedented level. The cultivators surrounding Caidie Town were bleeding from their eyes, and even someone as accomplished as Nan Gongsi found it difficult to breathe, his chest constricted with anxiety.

Nan Gongsi gritted his teeth. "The Summit of Life and Death has such a figure? Elder Yu Heng?"

Li Wuxin, maintaining his composure beside him, replied, "Young Master Nan Gong, this person is Chu Wanning!"

"What?!"

Under such immense pressure, Nan Gongsi was abruptly struck with terror and actually vomited blood with a loud "woah."

"Is it Master Chu...?"

"Young Master, please refrain from further comments."

Observing Nan Gongsi's injuries, Ye Wangxi raised his hand and tapped two acupoints on him, also infusing a bit of spiritual energy. Surprisingly, Nan Gongsi rejected the aid, forcefully breaking free and fiercely wiping the blood from his lips. "Don't touch me."

"..."

"Young Master Ye, let me attend to him." Song Qiutong, being a member of the Butterfly Bone Beauty Rank, was less affected by the circumstances. She gracefully stepped forward, her eyes looking timidly at Ye Wangxi as she softly offered her help.

Ye Wangxi was no longer as friendly as when they first met, completely ignoring her.

Song Qiutong, having been snubbed, turned to look at Nan Gongsi with her watery eyes. Nan Gongsi's attitude towards her had improved somewhat, but he still said, "I don't need your help. I was just surprised to see an old acquaintance after so many years. I'm not that weak. If you have spare time, go help others."

Mo Ran didn't notice the interaction between Song Qiutong and the two scholarly gentlemen.

He had already landed beside Chu Wanning's body and looked up to see Chu Wanning's soul engaged in a fierce battle with Luo Xianxian. He then saw the horde of zombies sealed by thousands of willow trees, which made his heart skip a beat.

One must know that such a spell would be extremely draining even under normal circumstances. And yet Chu Wanning was still out of his body?

Just how unfathomable was this person's strength...

Before he could finish his thoughts, a piercing scream echoed through the air.

The withered vines of the Heart-Plucking Willows were no match for Heaven's Questioning. Luo Xianxian was bound by the vines under the lonely moon, soon swallowed whole by the lush branches until she disappeared from sight. The towering tree enveloped her into a cracked hollow, and only then did the ancient willow slowly lower itself back down to ground level, becoming just another ordinary tree.

By now, the barrier had completely shattered, but the thousands of coffins formed by Heaven's Questioning held the zombies in place, posing no immediate danger.

Xue Zhengyong didn't dare to relax and instructed the rest of the Peak of Life and Death to guard each willow tree, just in case. The others followed the crowd and rushed towards Chen's mansion. Faced with the urgency of the situation, Mo Ran didn't hesitate. He scooped up Chu Wanning's cold body and headed in the same direction.

By the time the crowd arrived, the ancient willow that had bound Luo Xianxian had transformed into a genuine coffin. She lay within, her expression alternating between ferocity and sorrow, her eyes switching between malevolence and distress.

Her voice constantly shifted between two tones: one frenzied, shouting, "Why do you hinder me?! Why do you block my path?! You all deserve to die! To perish!"

The other voice was weak and helpless, "Brother Yanluo, is that you...? Is it you who has come? Please... save me... I don't want to harm anyone... I beg of you..."

These two voices alternated back and forth until, after a long while, the coffin fell silent.

At this point, Chu Wanning's spirit energy was nearing its limit and could no longer sustain him. However, he managed to gather his thoughts and, with one final effort, tapped the woman's forehead in the coffin.

"Who are you?"

The ghostly woman's closed eyes slowly opened, still bloodshot.

Li Wuxin exclaimed, "This isn't good!!"

Just as he was about to leap forward to end her life, Chu Wanning sent a bolt of lightning from mid-air, blocking his path.

"Chu Wanning, you — !"

Chu Wanning ignored him, his gaze fixed on the delicate maiden slowly rising from the coffin.

She opened her blood-red eyes, but there was no hint of malice in them; instead, they were filled with confusion and panic. In a soft voice, she said, "I am Luo Xianxian."

Upon hearing her response, Chu Wanning finally let out a sigh of relief. His eyelashes drooped as his soul faded away.

After a moment, the man in Mo Ran's arms stirred slightly. Mo Ran quickly set him down, propping him up against a pillar. Kneeling on one knee, he leveled himself with the man and asked, "Shifu, you're back?"

Chu Wanning's phoenix eyes momentarily lost focus before they regained their sharpness after a while.

He glanced at Mo Ran. Having expended much spiritual energy, and being someone with a thin spirit core, he appeared somewhat weak, his complexion not much better than when his soul had left his body – still as pale as ever.

"Uh-huh…" Chu Wanning acknowledged, leaning against the pillar for support before slowly rising to his feet.

He walked slowly to Luo Xianxian and looked down at her.

Luo Xianxian's lips parted slightly as she stared at him in disbelief. "Brother Yanluo... How did I end up here? What... happened?"

"Let's put that aside for now," Chu Wanning said, though weakened, his gaze remained keen and incisive. He got straight to the point. "Tell me, who created this body for you? This matter is of great importance. Do you remember?"

"I..."

Chu Wanning waited, his nails digging into the stone pillar from nervousness.

"Not entirely sure, but there's a faint impression..." Luo Xianxian muttered. "It was a man, he... he..."

Xue Meng, beside her, grew anxious. "Think harder!"

Luo Xianxian struggled to recall. "I was in a daze back then and couldn't see his face clearly, but I heard his voice—it had a northern accent... It seemed like... it seemed like..."

"AH!!" She suddenly cried out, her face filled with fear. "I remember! It was him! It was him!!! The orange thief!!!"

"What orange thief, that makes no sense at all..." Xue Meng grumbled.

But Chu Wanning immediately understood—she was talking about the madman who chopped down the orange tree when she was young!

In Lin Yi, a man's heart dies at twenty.

Who was it...

Could Lin Yi possibly be the Confucian Wind Sect?

Indeed...

Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed through the sky. The precious chessboard hovering above Butterfly Town burst with a glaring red light.

Xue Zhengyong exclaimed, "This isn't good!" He immediately shouted, "Keep a close watch on the Myriad Souls Coffin beside you! The one who set up this chess game might have sensed something and is about to make a move!"

Sand and dust swirled through the air as smoke rose from the ground in Butterfly Town.

The cultivators stood guard, backs against each other, swords at their chests.

Chu Wanning's eyes darkened as he said to Luo Xianxian, "Get up! There's a white chess piece left within you by that person. Don't let yourself be controlled by it anymore. I'll expel it for you. Once the white piece is removed, leave immediately and head for the cycle of reincarnation in the Netherworld. Do not linger in the mortal realm any longer!"

With a glow gathering in his palm, Chu Wanning struck at Luo Xianxian's chest, suspended in mid-air.

However, as his spiritual energy passed, he didn't sense the power of the white chess piece from the precious chessboard.

Chu Wanning was suddenly struck with a chill, an instinctive sense of danger surging through him. In a split second, he urged Luo Xianxian, "Leave now!"

It's too late.

"AHHHHHHH!"

A shrill cry pierced the air.

In the heart of the aerial chessboard formation in the sky, a bolt of bloody light descended with the force of thunder, striking Luo Xianxian's body, which was made of willow vines.

"Boom!"

Flames soared into the heavens!

"Luo Xianxian!"

The figure of the young girl swiftly distorted and vanished amidst the inferno, her fragrant soul ascending to the sky, mingling with the acrid smoke.

Soul and smoke intertwined, smoke and soul merged.

At the spot where Luo Xianxian once stood, a sudden burst of emerald light shot up into the sky, forming an array.

"Wood Spirit Essence?!"

Chu Wanning's face instantly drained of color, his gaze filled with extreme ferocity. He had been wrong—so dreadfully wrong!! Luo Xianxian must have been an individual with an exceptionally high affinity for wood energy in life. The puppet master behind the scenes wasn't nurturing the Heart-Plucking Willow with gold, fire, water, earth, and wood elements but was instead waiting for resentment to accumulate into a thunderbolt that would strike Luo Xianxian, turning her vengeful spirit into the source of vitality for the temporarily revived Heart-Plucking Willow!

With all five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth present...

Whatever he intended to do, he could now proceed...

Chu Wanning looked up at the sky, everyone following his gaze. The rustling of leaves was the only sound, a deceptive calm that was terrifying in its stillness.

Then, abruptly—

The earth began to tremble!

It was reminiscent of the crumbling Lin'an Ancient City they'd witnessed within the Peach Blossom Spring illusion.

A massive purple-black rift tore open above Colorful Butterfly Town, seemingly containing an endless torrent of blood, storms, death, illness, and agony. Like the eye of a demonic entity, it slowly opened.

Li Wuxin pointed at the fissure and shouted in a quivering voice, "The Abyssal Hell—the barrier of the Abyssal Hell—it's...it's broken!!!"

"The sky above Rainbow Butterfly Town has fractured, the Gate to the Realm of Ghosts has opened!"

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