CH 15

Lou Muge froze for a spell and several thoughts surfaced at the same time, intertwining.

Suddenly, a sharp cry poured into his ears, forlorn and shrill. He was so surprised that all his hair stood on ends. When he took the stone statue out of his arms, he saw a dim red light rushing around the stone statue, as if wanting to escape.

Lou Muge’s was aghast deep inside. He whispered, “It seems that this girl named Ze Wan is dead.”

The somewhat familiar sob he heard in the stone statue earlier should be Ze Wan’s soul, which was sucked into the stone statue after she was killed.

If the real Ze Wan was murdered, then who was the woman who had been staying by Zhang Rong’s side?

Lou Muge turned around and saw that Ze Wan was still arguing with Wen Changchu. Her appearance was no different from that of their first meeting, and even her immortal clothing was seamless.

While thousands of thoughts were churning in his head, Ning Shaosi shaved the snow off the cadaver. Under the thick snow, he saw the body holding a stone statue with both hands. The head of the stone statue was broken and stained with a pool of blood.

He reached out to get it, but without warning, a sharp claw suddenly broke through the snow. The bluish tint with layers and layers of wrinkled skin and sharp nails clasped Ning Shaosi’s wrist. It was short of a little more force, and it would have punctured his skin.

Lou Muge reacted speedily. He stretched his hand and grabbed the claw. With but a tenth of his force, the bone issued a crunch, and the claw was almost misshapen.

The claw was covered with snow, and a layer of blood under the nails. Lou Muge raised an eyebrow after seeing it. He was quite surprised: This claw looks familiar.

Before he could examine in detail, the claw retracted to the ground, leaving a greasy liquid in Lou Muge’s palm. He snorted in disgust and repeatedly wiped it with his cloak, but he was still disgusted.

The moment Ning Shaosi picked up the stone statue, a faint light burst from the stone statue, and a breeze rolled up the snow. All the dead souls in the stone statue released plaintive wails at the same time, and their voices rushed out. He swore they could have toppled the mountains and overturned the seas.

Lou Muge was in pain, and his ears were buzzing.

Not only him, even a few people on the other side heard the cries. The look on the fake Ze Wan’s face drastically changed. She immediately abandoned her quarrel with Wen Changchu and swiftly strode toward Lou Muge nearby. She swept a glance at the stone statue in his arms, and while hiding the emotions in her eyes, she feigned curiosity. She asked, “What is that thing you are holding?”

Zhang Rong and Ze Qian were one step behind. After finding out that the tumult was emanating from the stone statue, their expressions changed. They too realized why the people in the city were drained of their souls.

Ze Qian asked, “Are all the missing souls of the people in the city locked up in that stone statue?”

“I’m afraid it’s more than that.” Lou Muge gathered force on his palm, and in an instant, he pushed aside the rock pile half as tall as a grown man, revealing the corpse that was buried in the snow.

After seeing it, Ze Qian’s expression changed drastically. He dashed toward the cadaver, squatted down to take a closer look, then raised a glance at Ze Wan who was standing in front of him. His eyes couldn’t mask his incredulity. “My sister…”

Zhang Rong frowned: “Could it be a trick?”

“Shattering the stone statue can release the souls of the dead,” Ning Shaosi whispered to Lou Muge, implicitly reminding him.

The stone statue contains Ze Wan’s soul. After releasing it, they could identify who was real and who wasn’t, so there was no need to bother arguing.

Mortal souls belonged to the Underworld, which ordinary people couldn’t see, but once they were stained with a demon immortal spirit, or formed resentment and turned into malevolent ghosts, demons and immortals could see them.

The flesh could be faked, but the soul could not deceive people.

Lou Muge’s fingertips glowed, and just as he was about to crush the stone statue in his palm, the fake Ze Wan, who was standing by, reached out and attacked with red flames igniting in her palm.

She was lightning fast. By the time Lou Muge reacted, the blaze was already pressing on towards him. He leaned sideways to hide, but someone pulled his arm, which successfully dodged Ze Wan’s attack.

Ze Wan retreated three feet away and landed on a stone pillar. With blazing flames on her body, she transformed into an unfamiliar face, with thin eyebrows and red lips, and a bright smile. She said, “I don’t want anything else. Just take that smudge of immortal soul away and all will be fine.”

She meant Ze Wan’s soul.

When Ze Qian realized that his sister was indeed dead, he collapsed. He grew furious and snapped, “Who are you?! Why did you hurt Wan’er!”

“I didn’t mean to kill her, but she was just too dishonest.” The woman grunted. “I don’t want to make too much noise at the Divine Trial Convention. If you call out that wisp of an immortal soul, I will let you live.”

Ze Qian’s eyes were spitting fire. He drew a long sword and shouted, “You killed Wan’er, then pay with your life!

After that declaration, he charged forward. Seeing this turn of events, Zhang Rong quickly blocked him. Unfortunately, Ze Qian had lost too much control. For a time, his momentum couldn’t be stopped, and so he ran straight to the woman.

The woman did not dodge or hide. Instead, a dab of disdain surfaced in her eyes. She pinched a fiery red feather out of nowhere, and swept it lightly. Sky-high flames instantly enveloped the nearby area, and the torrid heat melted the ice and snow. The sea of ​​fire roared and wrapped the area, as if wanting to smother Lou Muge and others together.

Wen Changchu let out a long whistle, and dark purple smoke rolled up all over his body. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a gray-haired demon wolf, a full ten-foot tall, with a huge fluffy tail wrapped around Lou Muge and Ning Shaosi. His fur also blocked the sea of ​​​​fire attack.

Lou Muge only felt the darkness in front of his eyes. A force swept him up, and he collided with Ning Shaosi. In Wen Changchu’s haste, Lou Muge was almost trampled to the ground by the tip of his tail, but Ning Shaosi reached out and caught him.

The fire assault burned Wen Changchu’s fur. Lou Muge felt like a potato thrown into the fire, feeling hot from head to toe. He mobilized his power, and using his water demon’s body, he gathered a water wall to shield Wen Changchu.

The fire raged so ferociously that it instantly made Lou Muge guess the woman’s identity.

Only the Vermillion Bird Race of the Old God Realm had such powerful red flames.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Race inherited the lasting bloodline from ancient times, and their power was incomparable to that of the present demon gods. In the Six Realms, anyone who encountered the Vermilion Bird Divine Race would take a detour. Deities of the New God Realm were excluded, except for a few supreme figures.

The Old God Realm and the New God Realm had a long-standing feud, and now that they clashed here, the situation would most likely be difficult to overturn. Lou Muge weighed things inwardly. He decided that going against the Vermilion Bird Divine Race now was equal to seeking his own death. They’d better slip away for the time being.

Once the fire was subsided, Wen Changchu released his fluffy tail. His coat was so shiny, and there wasn’t a hint of burn anywhere. He bared his long fangs, exhaled a breath of hot air, and issued a low warning growl to the woman.

Ze Qian, who rushed in the forefront, simply couldn’t resist the Vermillion Bird flames and was now hanging for dear life on the ground. Then again, he was already lucky that he wasn’t burned into ashes under the flames. 

Zhang Rong’s expression was equally ugly. He was almost kneeling on the ground, and with a hand over his chest, he asked tremblingly, “Are you from the Zhu Clan?”

The woman grinned. “Scared?”

“Are you not afraid of people from the God Realm?” Zhang Rong said, “We all have immortal stones in our hands. The God Realm will see what you have done.”

“So what?” The woman was quite contemptuous. “Nowadays, the God Realm is only an empty shell. Who else can come to fight against the Zhu Clan?”

“There will come a day when the two God Realms will be unified, and you will all become subjects.” The woman raised her head proudly and ordered Lou Muge, “Quickly hand over the stone statue. You can hold out once, but not the second time.”

Lou Muge wasn’t planning on holding out for the second time. He immediately tossed the stone statue into the snow in front of her and tremblingly said, “It’s all yours. Spare us.”

This was what the woman wanted to see. She snickered while raising her palm, and the stone statue on the ground floated up into the air and floated towards her palm.

Just when the woman was about to hold the stone statue, a drop of water popped out of Lou Muge’s fingertips. He flung it toward the stone statue, resulting in a violent explosion. The stone statue shattered into a sky full of stars, but also blasted water all over the woman’s face.

The dead souls in the stone statue surged out, and the wind suddenly whistled. Next thing he knew, Ze Wan’s soul released a mournful cry. She took a human form and floated in the air with blood-like tears dripping down her eyes. “You killed me! You hurt my brother! I will kill you!”

Now that the woman was provoked, her smirk disappeared, and her face turned gloomy. She raised her hand and almost scattered Ze Wan’s soul. The feather in her hand turned into a short sword, and the blade glowed red as it flew towards Lou Muge.

Lou Muge grabbed onto Wen Changchu’s fur, jumped onto his back and reached out to Ning Shaosi: “Let’s go!”

Ning Shaosi was rather dumbfounded. Usually, he moved gently, but even at this critical juncture, he was still sluggish. Lou Muge latched onto his back collar and hoisted him onto Wen Changchu’s back.

“Wen Changchu, let’s withdraw quickly,” he ordered Wen Changchu.

In fact, Wen Changchu wanted to fight. Look at his ready claws. He wasn’t at all afraid of the woman. It was just that he might not win the fight, so he stretched his four legs and leaped into the air. The soles of his limbs felt like stepping on clouds as he jumped several feet away.

The woman followed suit into the air and spread out a pair of huge fiery red wings with a swoosh. She followed closely behind, and the flame burning on her wings looked rather gorgeous and dazzling.

“Oh no!” Lou Muge gave a tsk, “I forgot that this thing is a bird. She can fly!”

Wen Changchu ran faster, but he couldn’t get rid of the woman. She even narrowed their distance.

Ning Shaosi, who was sitting behind, turned his head to look at the woman’s hideous enraged face. He moved his hand and crushed the stone statue in his arms. Once it turned into powder, he scattered it all over the woman’s face when she drew closer. She was caught unawares, and so with her eyes completely blurred, she instantly fell behind.

However, members of the Zhu Clan had always been arrogant and would definitely not give up easily.

The group ran down the hill, but before the woman caught up with them, they suddenly felt the shaking of the ground, which almost made Wen Changchu slip and fall. He hastily stopped to stabilize himself.

When Lou Muge looked far into the distance, he saw a change in Shan’an city at the foot of the mountain. The houses reeled right and left, and the earth kept twisting. It was as if a huge hand was holding the entire city town, and then closing his fingers to crush everyone and everything.

From a distance, terrified screams could be heard from the city.

“It seems that the evil demon haunting the city can no longer hold back.” Lou Muge cheered. At long last, he no longer had to keep guessing. After waiting for several days, the demon made its appearance.