The first time was Jincheng Lake. All magical sea creatures that Gouchen the Exalted enchanted were killed and controlled by Zhenlong Chess Formation. The target was Mo Ran, a spiritual wood essence.
The second time was Peach Blossoms Spring. The feathered cultivators were killed and controlled by Zhenlong Chess Formation. The target was Chu Wanning. The culprit needed to get rid of Chu Wanning in order to have access to Mo Ran.
In the end, Mo Ran was the real target.
In both instances, the perpetrator had been very careful and secretive. He had even made sure to keep the resentment energy in Peach Blossoms Spring trapped inside a Soul-Locking Array just to make sure that the formation remained undetected.
So why the change?
The person no longer bothered to hide behind the white chess pieces. He did not need to. This meant that he was very close to achieving his goal. But did he not require a spiritual wood essence anymore? Or did he find a replacement for Mo Ran? Or maybe he was waiting for Mo Ran to walk into the trap by following Chu Wanning?
This was why Chu Wanning left his body with Mo Ran. To make sure that he would stay outside of the barrier. Despite the harsh words that Mo Ran said about him, he had repeatedly tried to help Chu Wanning. The master hoped that Mo Ran would stay put. In any case, if something happened to Mo Ran, he would know through the tracing spell he put on him.
Inside the barrier, reanimated undeads walked around slowly with empty eyes and holes in their chests. Their hearts had been taken out of their bodies with no exception.
The Chen manor was brimming with resentment energy. This amount of evil aura was enough to possess those with no to low level of cultivation. Although Chu Wanning's cultivation level was more than advanced, he did not have a physical body to shield him from the resentment energy. He had to be on guard the whole time in order to maintain his sanity.
Inside the Chen Manor, he found two corpses hanging from the ceiling beams. Landlord Chen and Madam Chen's hearts were also missing from their bodies. Not only that, their lower half from waist downward had been cruelly torn into shreds. Blood dripped incessantly from the mutilated bodies. Chu Wanning made a round to the main hall and could not find Luo XianXian. He arrived at the Chen family's ancestral shrine and saw a gruesome view. Bowls of bloody, minced flesh had been placed as offerings in front of every memorial tablet.
A soft chuckle from above made Chu Wanning's head snap up.
Luo XianXian was sitting on the ceiling beam, looking down at him.
"Xianjun, it's you again," she greeted with a crazy smile.
"Luo XianXian, did you put the youngest son of Chen family into the bowls?"
Luo XianXian's facial expression became even more twisted with a joyous grin. She looked like a little girl who had just eaten a delicious pastry for the first time. She licked at her fingers with glee, trying to savor the last bits of flavor there was of the glorious pastry.
"Yes, but only for the row on the left. The row on the right is that Yao bitch."
Chu Wanning leaped from the ground and shouted, "Tianwen!!!"
Tianwen shot forward and wrapped itself around Luo XianXian's delicate frame. Before it tightened around her, she escaped smoothly and jumped down from the ceiling beam.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
Luo XianXian laughed hysterically.
"What about their daughter? She treated you well!" Chu Wanning asked while chasing her.
"Oh, her? I like her a lot. She was good to me."
Luo XianXian rubbed her belly protectively.
"Of course I will not harm her. I ate her so no one can hurt her. She's safe inside of me."
"…You really have gone crazy."
Luo XianXian threw her neck backward in laughter. Chu Wanning clicked with his tongue. Ten golden chains shot out from his palm and started to chase Luo XianXian. No matter how nimble she was, in the end she could not escape from Chu Wanning. The screeching demonized girl was chained and dragged in front of Chu Wanning. The latter pressed two fingers at her forehead and murmured an incantation. It was not a Soul Purification spell but a Mind Clearing mantra.
"Remember who you are, Luo XianXian."
"Do you remember? You told me once that you did not want to kill anyone."
"This is not you. Go back… return to who you are."
Luo XianXian screamed in agony. She tossed and turned.
"LET GO OF ME! I HAVE COME THIS FAR! I AM GOING TO CULTIVATE A REAL BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD SOON! I AM GOING TO JOIN MY HUSBAND IN THE UNDERWORLD!!"
Chu Wanning stopped chanting. He narrowed his eyes at Luo XianXian.
"You can't gain a new body other than through reincarnation."
"LIES! LIES! HE TOLD ME THAT I COULD DO THAT!"
Chu Wanning's eyes widened when he heard Luo XianXian's words.
"Who is 'he'?" He pressed on. "What did he do to you?"
"HE…. AAAHHHHH!!!! HELP ME!!!!! EVERYONE COME AND HELP ME!!!!"
He was so close to hearing the truth. There was no way Chu Wanning was going to give it up. As the horde of undeads broke through the Chen manor to Luo XianXian's rescue, Chu Wanning tightened his grip on Tianwen and shouted, "Tianwen, Ten Thousand Coffins!!!"
Rows upon rows of willow trees sprouted up from the ground and destroyed the buildings in the way. Their long branches and vines extended after the walking corpses, caught them, and locked them up inside an empty gap within each tree. This was Chu Wanning's ultimate skill, Ten Thousand Coffins.
Chu Wanning breathed heavily. Summoning Ten Thousand Coffins was already an arduous task for him with a weak spiritual core. At the moment he was still suffering from the ancient willow poison and he was out of his physical vessel. Outside of the barrier, Chu Wanning's body twitched and spat another mouthful of blood.
"Shizun!!"
Mo Ran wanted to shake Chu Wanning awake, but he was worried that he would disturb Chu Wanning at whatever he was doing inside the barrier. He might end up causing even more harm to the frail person in his arms. Meanwhile, Xue Zhengyong had arrived with the elders and disciples from Sisheng Peak. He and Xue Meng quickly discovered Mo Ran outside the resplendent barrier that Chu Wanning laid over Butterfly Town. He was kneeling on the ground with Chu Wanning lying in his arms. Xue Meng's heart almost stopped in an instant.
"Shizun, I am back!" Xue Meng shouted, hoping to get a semblance of answer from Chu Wanning, but the man neither moved nor answered.
Something was not right. Xue Meng flew toward the ground. He wanted to see how Chu Wanning was doing, but Xue Zhengyong pulled at his arm.
"Meng-er, go lead your shixiongs and shidis. Help the other elders to coordinate formations. Prepare for the worst."
"But Dad, my Shizun..."
"Ran-er is here, and I am also here. Nothing bad will happen to Chu Wanning!"
Xue Meng threw one last glance at Chu Wanning's limp figure. It was impossible to see how Chu Wanning was doing from such a distance. At his father's insistence, Xue Meng finally left reluctantly. After sending his son away, Xue Zhengyong rushed to check on Mo Ran and Chu Wanning. He knew that Chu Wanning was still alive because his barrier still stood firmly over Butterfly Town. Other than that, he did not know what happened to Chu Wanning.
"Ran-er!!" Xue Zhengyong shouted as soon as he landed. "What happened?? Yuheng, what is wrong with you??"
"Uncle, Shizun put a barrier over Butterfly Town to prevent undeads from roaming through the places. And then he projected his soul into the barrier to exorcise the evil spirit."
Mo Ran's explanation drained the blood from Xue Zhengyong's face. Judging from the blood that was still slowly trickling down the corner of Chu Wanning's mouth, he could tell that Chu Wanning was not doing all too well. He pressed two fingers at Chu Wanning's neck and felt his pulse. Too weak. And his body was cold too. His constitution was no different than a corpse's.
"Uncle has notified all the great sects to come down and help. Yuheng's barrier is not going to last long. He already expended too much spiritual energy. If he remains this stubborn, his soul will scatter before he gets back to his own body."
Mo Ran's blood turned cold in his veins. Panicked, he grabbed at Xue Zhengyong's sleeve and asked, "Then, Uncle, how do we call Shizun back to his own body??"
Xue Zhengyong opened his mouth to answer, but his words were swallowed by a huge bang that came from the chessboard above Butterfly Town. It flashed dangerously red, and then an ear-shattering thunder came down from the sky to strike the top of the barrier. Under the sudden attack, the giant haitang flower disappeared and the barrier slowly disappeared. From within Butterfly Town, five columns of different colors shot up to the sky and pierced into the heavenly barrier.
Mo Ran and Xue Zhengyong watched in horror as the heavenly barrier shook violently before giving in to the collective force of five spiritual elements. A gigantic purplish-black rift ripped open across the skies like a demonic eye. From beyond the rift, ghosts started to pour out. A mix of howl and laughter was heard as they rained upon the mortal realm, bringing chaos and destruction with them.
Chu Wanning's soul returned to his body shortly after. He could feel the blood rising in his throat again, but this time he managed to keep it down.
"Yuheng!"
"Shizun, you are back!"
Xue Zhengyong would love to scold Chu Wanning, but the man was currently very weak. Xue Zhengyong scoffed angrily.
"Ran-er, I will go help the others to fight the ghosts while we are waiting for the other sects to come. Stay with Yuheng, alright?"
"Of course."
Xue Zhengyong left in a hurry. Mo Ran pulled the man in his arms tighter into an embrace to warm him up. The night was cold. Chu Wanning could not stand the cold... He pressed his lips together in concern. In his arms, Chu Wanning still had his eyes closed. He exhaled slowly while fighting against the dizziness, a side effect that was brought upon the return of his soul into his body.
"Too early…" Chu Wanning said in his heart while he lay in Mo Ran's arms. When he opened his eyes, his gaze was unfocused. "Too early…"
"Shizun, you should not overexert yourself..."
Chu Wanning turned his face and stared at Mo Ran with a forlorn gaze. Mo Ran swallowed hard. The words that he wanted to say were at the tip of his tongue, but they suddenly disappeared when he saw Chu Wanning's eyes. There was a deep-rooted sadness in those eyes. It was as if... as if he would never be happy, ever again...
Chu Wanning coughed lightly, then he pushed at Mo Ran's chest and sat up.
"Don't you have somewhere else to go to?" he asked Mo Ran.
Mo Ran stared at him in confusion.
"Go where?"
Chu Wanning narrowed his eyes at Mo Ran.
"Have you forgotten about Shi Mei?"
Chu Wanning's gaze was as sharp as a butcher's cleaver. Mo Ran swallowed.
"Shizun, I..."
Chu Wanning turned his back toward Mo Ran. Mo Ran could not see his facial expression, only hear his firm and authoritative words.
"I told you not to disappoint me. Go now."
Chu Wanning could feel that the young man behind him hesitated, but he eventually left. Chu Wanning sighed as he looked at his crumbling barrier, the many willow trees that were still trapping the undead inside the coffins, and then at the rift across the sky. He took out the antidote bottle, took out two more pills, and swallowed them. And then he leaped up to join the battle against the ghosts.