After Old Man Chen said this, the whole place fell silent.
At the critical moment, everyone's nature was revealed. Shi Zhongyu gritted his teeth, looking angry. Yan Qing was still young after all, and he tightly grasped the hilt of the sword, at a loss.
Yin Ci was not panicking. He had already started to make cold calculations - if he exposed his immortal body here, he could even wear out the secret book.
There is no problem in cleaning up the aftermath. I can force Chen Qianfan to erase the memories of everyone present.
However, the destruction of the secret book created a feud between the Kushan Sect and the Mishan Sect. Moreover, even if he could destroy the secret book, he could not stop the huge group of monsters by himself, and the others would still have to escape.
Rather than adding to the mess, it would be better to just run away with Old Man Chen.
… Is it just a matter of breaking the ban, and it will be left like this? Yin Ci didn't know whether he should be happy or regretful.
A few steps away, Shi Jingzhi did not show any confusion and only asked two questions.
"To make Miss Shi's talisman to ward off disasters and break my restrictions, you need human corpses as materials? Can't we use other great monsters as substitutes after we escape from here?"
"Will burning tree branches be enough to do a job that should involve burning coal?" Chen Qianfan rolled his eyes.
Shi Jingzhi sighed with regret.
The people of Mishan Sect were elusive and isolated from the outside world. Once this happened, no one would be willing to help. He had less than a year left to live, and he had to look for the flesh, so how could he have time to find someone to break the formation
As the saying goes, "The first effort is enough, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted." Shi Jingzhi instinctively resisted breaking the ban, and now that he was suddenly hit by a disaster, the courage he had accumulated for several days was suddenly drained away.
It's like God wants to change the option to "erase memory".
The crazy feeling of losing control was about to come, but Shi Jingzhi silently recited "Wu Chen Yan" several times to keep calm.
There are more important things to determine—
"Senior, if this was the only option, you would have gone to make a magic weapon long ago instead of talking to us here... Do you have any other ideas?"
Chen Qianfan laughed: "Not bad, you have a good eye. But you may not like my method."
"Please speak, senior."
"The magic circle outside the house can probably last for three or four days. During this time, I will use some drastic measures to break your restriction."
Yin Ci: “…”
Wait a minute, doesn't this old man look like the type who would rush around doing good deeds
As expected, Chen Qianfan said with a kind face: "Once your restriction is broken, I only need to slightly modify the remaining formation to turn it into a living puppet spell."
Shi Jingzhi's smile froze.
The "Living Puppet Curse" sounds like something weird, and the old man talked about it in a very humorous way.
Old Man Chen noticed Master Shi's nervousness and added considerately, "You have amazing internal strength but no skills. As for me, I only have skills, but my internal strength and physical fitness cannot keep up. I will use you as a living puppet, and together with your apprentice, maybe I can dismantle the secret book in its entirety."
"The most difficult part of the Living Puppet Curse is implanting the spell into the consciousness, which cannot be done in a short time. But you are different, you happen to have a ready-made restriction in your head, let's break it first, and then modify it to make it work. Don't worry, after you finish the secret book, I, as the caster, can easily remove the remaining magic circle."
Yan Qing suddenly realized: "The difficulty of the Living Puppet Curse lies in drilling a hole in a living person's brain. The head of the Sect Leader already has a hole in it, so we can use it. Is that what you mean?"
Shi Jingzhi was almost hurt by his own servant. No wonder the Compassionate Sword chose this bastard, it turned out that this person had the Yin-Yang wisdom of the Jianchen Temple.
But the most important thing right now is not to rectify the family tradition. Shi Jingzhi swallowed hard and said, "But you said the success rate of breaking the formation is 50-50. If I die—"
Chen Qianfan stroked his beard and smiled more cordially: "If you're dead, then you're dead. You're just good enough to be used as material. You look like a demon. You're more useful than those two corpse hands. We can escape faster."
Yin Ci, Shi Jingzhi: “…”
It seems that others seek wealth and honor at great risk, but this old man never suffers any loss.
"The room is just ready to understand the formation. If you want to break the restriction, this is your last chance." Chen Qianfan continued to promote, "Actual combat is the best teacher. You can learn a lot from being controlled by me."
The part about "after I fail, I will use you as coal to burn" was euphemistically omitted.
Yin Ci: "To solve the formation, we need three ancient corpses, but now we only have a pair of hands."
Chen Qianfan: "This is all consumed slowly. Isn't the secret book outside? You can chop as hard as you can. Even if you can only remove a finger, it will add up to a lot. At least there is a formation blocking the way outside, so it won't matter if you use dirty tricks."
As they spoke, it seemed as if what was guarding outside the door was not Queen Milan's secret book, but a farmer's leek field.
Everyone lost their temper completely.
Even if she escaped, the pair of corpse hands would be consumed. For Shi Zhongyu, staying was the only way to save the head. But it was Shi Jingzhi who had to risk his life, so she pursed her lips and didn't beg.
Taiheng is still the same strong-willed Taiheng.
Yin Ci was not so calm.
I can accept doing my best and leaving the rest to fate, so that Shi Jingzhi can break the formation with the most complete preparation. However, now everything has to be done in a hurry. The ancient corpse that originally took a day to prepare now even has to be used while fighting. How ridiculous.
Even the most basic materials to break the formation may not be supplied in time, the risk is too great no matter how you look at it.
... Wait, an ancient corpse
Yin Ci slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands.
Is he considered the "demon" mentioned by Chen Qianfan? If so, is he also...
Bang, bang.
Just as this thought flashed through his mind, something rang in his ears. The sound was completely different from the sound of jumping, and a sudden pain in his neck appeared for no reason.
In the dim light, a vague impression suddenly emerged from the depths of his mind, forcibly interrupting Yin Ci's thoughts.
Bang, the head fell to the ground. Blood dripped and the ground was slippery and hot. His body was sometimes light and sometimes heavy, difficult to control. Occasionally, when he got a chance, he would try his best to struggle to stand up, and then there was another bang.
I don't know how much time passed before I stopped struggling.
Unfortunately, no matter whether he was moving or still, kneeling or lying on the ground, the sharp blade would definitely cut down on time. Yin Ci could even distinguish the process of the blade becoming blunt.
Someone chopped off my head over and over again. The cold despair mixed with the pain in my neck almost drove me crazy.
He was unconscious at that time. His eyelids seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and his mouth could not open. So he could only listen to the sound of the blade falling and scream silently in his brain.
At that time, he heard a familiar voice. Amid the sound of the head falling to the ground and rolling, the voice was intermittent, sometimes far away and sometimes close.
Save more... Up to 3,000... Useful...
The memory was too vague, and Yin Ci originally thought it was an unreasonable nightmare.
Now that I know that "the corpse of a demon is the best material for casting spells", that dream doesn't seem so absurd anymore.
But thinking about it carefully, Yin Ci's head showed some drowsiness and madness. He subconsciously looked at Shi Jingzhi, hoping to use the man's fireworks to dispel the cold air.
Coincidentally, Shi Jingzhi looked at Yin Ci inquiringly: "I still want to break the ban."
Shi Jingzhi originally thought that Yin Ci would say something, but Yin Ci had no expression on his face. He just stared at him without saying a word.
So Shi Jingzhi ignored his chattering teeth and took another deep breath: "Senior, I choose to break the ban and give it a try."
Afraid that it would be too late to speak any more, he could not help but take advantage of God's opportunity and escape with the desire to survive.
Old Man Chen was very satisfied: "Okay, that's settled, you three go out..."
"Yan Qing, Miss Shi. The defense outside is left to you. I will be here to protect Master." Yin Ci retracted his gaze and interrupted Chen Qianfan.
Yan Qing: "Senior Yin, if you don't go, we—"
Before he could finish his words, Shi Zhongyu grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out: "Brother Yin will not harm Sect Leader Shi. If you have any other ideas, we will go first."
Even though Tai Heng had been killed, Shi Zhongyu's influence was still there. Being reprimanded by his elders, Yan Qing immediately shrank his neck and swallowed the second half of his words.
Yin Ci still said nothing.
Shi Jingzhi was a little unsure of Yin Ci's thoughts: "Ah Ci?"
"I know a little bit about magic arrays. I will at least wait until the dissolution of the array officially begins before I leave." Yin Ci said calmly, "Why, Master, do you want to face the life-and-death situation alone?"
This touched Shi Jingzhi's sore spot, and he snorted, "Well, yes, wait until the master faints before you leave."
Chen Qianfan gave Yin Ci a meaningful look and said, "You are so hypocritical. It's not impossible for you to stay."
The corpse's hand was thrown to the center of the formation. It was twisted by an invisible force and shattered into a ball of bones.
The ball of flesh and corpse floated above the center of the formation, making a crackling sound like burning, and a faint light slowly rose from the large formation in the hall.
Granny Wei seemed to be used to this kind of thing, and was still embroidering her flowers not far away. With the thousands of demons outside the door and the strange formation inside the door, the scene was indescribably weird.
Shi Jingzhi took off his shoes and slowly crossed the strokes of the formation, glancing at the ball of corpse meat from time to time.
Old Man Chen was impatient: "Hurry up, don't waste time!"
There was a wooden platform in the middle of the formation. The platform seemed to be ignited by the formation, slowly emitting smoke, with dark green sparks flickering. To put it nicely, it looked like a spiritual platform, to put it bluntly, it looked like a barbecue grill.
Shi Jingzhi stopped one step away from the wooden frame: "Should I leave a suicide note first..."
The originally solemn and dignified life and death moment was disrupted by the secret book and instantly turned into a market where people were scrambling for stalls. The head of the sect couldn't even muster the emotion of life and death.
If I really die in this incident, I will feel so aggrieved.
Chen Qianfan probably calculated Xi's intentions and used the corpse's flesh in advance, so Xi didn't even dare to hesitate for too long.
"I... uh, I still have to explain the arrangements for the Kushan Sect..." Shi Jingzhi stood there numbly, frozen at the threshold of fate, no longer knowing what he was saying.
Just as I expected, this task needed to be completed in one go. When the time came, I only paused for a moment, and the instinctive fear and panic became stronger and stronger, almost swallowing up my sanity.
It’s okay if you don’t remove the restriction, and it’s okay if you just forget about it.
So what if I'm being manipulated? Aren't I still living a good life now
I don't want to die, not at all.
Shi Jingzhi tried his best to stay where he was, and his brain even started to plan an escape route on its own.
"Go ahead."
A hand pushed him gently from behind.
"Now that you've decided, go ahead. I said I'll protect you."
At this moment, the temperature of that hand was almost burning him. Shi Jingzhi's eyes suddenly felt sore, and he didn't dare to look back.
"Aci, can I talk to you for a few more words, please?" he said in an almost pleading tone.
"Wait until you break the ban first." Yin Ci's attitude remained the same.
"… Um."
Fighting against instinct was much harder than he had imagined, as if he was suffocating himself to death by holding his breath without any external help. The "substance addiction" deliberately magnified this pain and fear a thousand times, forcing him to give up desperately.
The remaining body temperature on the back was almost Shi Jingzhi's last resort.
Finally, I took that step.
After lying down on the table, he listened to the crackling and burning sounds of the wooden table beneath him, and looked in the direction of Yin Ci, reluctant to look away.
The lights were dim, and the air was filled with the smell of corpses and dust. The other person's breath was like a thread, holding onto the only bit of comfort.
I hope this isn't the last look.
However, Yin Ci was even more cruel than I thought. The man stepped through the dim light of the magic circle and covered my eyes with one hand.
"Go to sleep, everything will be fine."
Chen Qianfan saw that the time had come and did not give Shi Jingzhi any more time to part with him - he sat down in front of the wooden platform, formed a series of magic arrays, and rushed straight into the restriction.
Shi Jingzhi fell into a deep sleep immediately, his brows still furrowed in pain.
"That's enough of the fun. You can go now." Chen Qianfan said to Yin Ci without even raising his head.
Yin Ci ignored her and said, "Grandma Wei, can you help me sew two peace bags? The lights in the inner room are brighter."
Granny Wei was startled for a moment, then realized that he had something to say, so she went to the inner room.
"Sure enough, you have something to say. If you have something to say, hurry up and say it. If you wait any longer, I won't be able to tell you."
"I am the 'demon' that the seniors mentioned."
"Indeed, what? You want to sacrifice yourself to save your master? It's a pity that your body is no match for three ancient corpses."
"I have my own solution." Yin Ci said calmly, "Senior, you are so brave and courageous, I believe you can handle it."
"Why are you still keeping us in suspense at this hour? Do you want to protect your master, or do you want to kill him?"
Yin Ci took off his coat, picked up the Diaoying Sword, and smiled at Chen Qianfan.
"I said, I want you to live a long life."
Then Yin Ci held the sword horizontally, and blood splattered everywhere.
If Chen Qianfan had not been well-informed, he would have been so frightened by this man that his hands would have trembled.
Yin Ci's sword was sharp and mercilessly cut off his neck, blood splattered all over the ground. Then he fell into a pool of blood, his body torn apart, with a smile on his face.
The next moment, a large number of bloody roots emerged from under the head. They quickly surrounded the outline of a human body, tangled into new bones, flesh and internal organs, and made a creepy rustling sound.
The headless body fell quietly to the side. Some blood-red roots sprouted from the broken neck, but it failed to grow a head.
The skin on this side had not yet healed, Yin Ci sat up and grabbed the Diaoying Sword. The sword rose and fell, blood flowed, and his movements were numb and skilled, which made people's backs chill.
Once, twice, three times, four times.
In less than half a cup of tea, four headless bodies appeared on the ground.
Yin Ci put on his coat, blood soaked through the cloth, clinging to his new body. He was as beautiful as a painting and his hair was as black as ink, but Chen Qianfan had no energy to digest the scene before him.
The sword energy swept past, and the four bodies were also swept away. Like the pair of corpse hands, they were immediately twisted into bloody balls. This time, the formation on the ground no longer flickered, but was so bright that it was blinding.
"Is that enough?"
There was a smile in Yin Ci's voice, and the blood-stained sword was pointing at Chen Qianfan's throat.
"If that's enough, forget about what happened just now and focus on saving Toki Jingzhi."
Chen Qianfan still had a bit of trance on his face: "You, you are the immortal body? No wonder you don't even call me Master anymore, you are..."
"Forget it, save people. Don't look for your notebook, I will dictate it to you."
Yin Ci added a little more force to the tip of the sword, and a drop of blood oozed out from Chen Qianfan's wrinkled throat.
"Don't worry, if you can break the restriction and forget it properly, I can leave you a corpse for you to study."
Chen Qianfan looked at Yin Ci deeply, his voice hoarse.
"These driving arrays are enough. Who would have thought that I would be able to get something without any effort one day... I promise you."
A white light flashed, and everything returned to calm.
Chen Qianfan turned around woodenly and officially broke Shi Jingzhi's restriction.
Shi Jingzhi was still in a coma and knew nothing about the outside world.
Unlike what he had expected, he did not faint directly. After regaining consciousness, Shi Jing stamped his feet subconsciously and found that he was stepping on soft red leaves.
It was late autumn, and the surroundings were all golden and red. The sun shone on my body, bringing out some subtle warmth.
This was a scene he had seen countless times in his memory fragments. Now, looking at it, it was complete and real, and the annoying headache did not follow him like a shadow.
Is this the key memory of the forbidden blockade
Shi Jingzhi wanted to move forward, but he couldn't take a step. Just as he was confused, the answer rushed to his nose -
A child walked straight through Shi Jingzhi's body and walked forward with difficulty.
The boy's face was dirty, as if he had just cried and was sniffling. He was wearing old clothes that mountain dwellers usually wear, covered with dusty and dirty patches, which did not stand out among the fallen leaves.
In this way, they stepped on the fallen leaves, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and walked deeper into the woods. Shi Jingzhi was like an invisible kite, being dragged along with him.
The little bastard's facial features were not fully developed, and his face was full of childishness. But seeing those amber eyes, Shi Jingzhi could guess that -
That was my childhood self.