Chapter 8: Encounter with an Enemy

  I finally understood what Ziming meant by his words. It seems he wants me to be isolated and alone, so it's easier for him to take care of me later. I let out a cold laugh and walked alone in the village filled with eerie atmosphere.

  It's already evening, and I feel severely exhausted physically, so I want to find a place to rest properly. I casually found a thatched cottage, took out a few talismans I carried with me and stuck them on the door before entering.

  Pushing the door open, a large cloud of dust came in. I waved my hand and walked away with great disgust. When I found a place that I thought was relatively clean, I looked at my phone, set an alarm clock, and fell asleep.

  This sleep, I actually slept very soundly.

  My alarm clock rang at 5 am, I counted the number of people, now with me, there should only be four people left. Although I don't know who those three are, I think it's necessary for me to take a look.

  They will all be my next pawns.

  I patted myself and suddenly remembered that Baiji was still at Dong Qinger's place. I thought it was necessary to go find Dong Qinger's body. I smiled softly, then headed towards the thatched cottage from yesterday.

  My backpack is still there, and it has a lot of important things inside.

  The tranquility along the way makes me feel quite strange. The site of the Changping War should have had a few ghostly soldiers popping out from time to time. But after being here for so long, I haven't discovered anything, which is strange. Another strange thing is that I didn't find any trace of Mu Zong's journey.

  I walked to the front of the thatched cottage, and when the flashlight swept across the dilapidated door of the thatched cottage, I suddenly became spirited. There was a bloody handprint on the door, as well as several talismans. Those characters were obviously written by Zhao Feiyu's handwriting. Oh? Are they dead too?

  The talisman paper had been stained with blood and was now useless. I casually tore it down and then pushed the door open to enter.

  The wooden door creaked with a "creak", my flashlight swept randomly. What I found in front of me were all corpses. Their deaths were very tragic, most importantly, they had no hearts.

  It seems that Mu Rong's ghostly friends are only interested in digging out hearts and nothing else.

  When I looked around, I suddenly felt something choking my neck. Subconsciously, I used the back of my hand to hit it. I heard a muffled hum, and when I lowered my head to look, there was a white thing wrapped around my neck. Hmm? It seemed like a duster...

  I reached back with both hands, grabbed the person's arm and threw him over my shoulder. As I slammed him to the ground, the flashlight also shone on his face.

  "Zhao Feiyu?" I took a closer look at the person's appearance and couldn't help but feel a little shocked.

  When Zhao Feiyu heard that it was my voice, there was also a hint of anxiety in his tone: Xiao Lin? Are you okay? That's great, you're fine, you're fine...

  I pulled Zhao Feiyu up from the ground, and at the same time shook off the dust on my neck. I shone the flashlight on him and found that he was covered in dust all over his body, with more or less some wounds on him.

  "What's going on?" I frowned at Zhao Feiyu, my tone very serious.

  "Kong Yi and Qīng Zǐ were both taken away by him. I was attacked by him, couldn't fight back." Zhao Fei Yu smiled bitterly at me, with a very relaxed expression on his face.

  "Who is he?" I frowned at Zhao Feiyu.

  "Mu Rong Xing."

  The three words that came out of Zhao Feiyu's mouth undoubtedly gave me the will to fight in an instant. I didn't expect that before I could even find Mu Rong Xing, he had already come looking for me. Good. Very good!

  "What's going on?" Although I asked this verbally, I couldn't hide the excitement in my tone. This time, it was Zhao Feiyu who didn't speak up.

  After remaining silent for a long time, Zhao Feiyu finally decided to tell me about what had happened.

  It wasn't long after I left that Zhao Feiyu and the others calmed down after confirming Xiao Gao was beyond saving. They gathered all the survivors in this one room, preparing to continue their journey the next day, entering the camp of the next haunted building.

  However, they had not been asleep for long when many people began to have nightmares. They dreamed that they became members of the Changping War, killing enemies on the battlefield, only to be buried alive in the end. This kind of illusion is quite common, Zhao Feiyu and Kong Yat were able to distinguish between reality and dreams quickly, but others were not so lucky.

  Zhaofei Yu and Kong Yizhen tried to wake up the others, but not all of them succeeded. Some people woke up and ran out of the door like crazy. Zhaofei Yu habitually posted some talismans at the door, but those talismans became useless after being dissolved in human blood.

  Not long after, those who ran back were crazy and ran back again, with their hands covered in blood, and destroyed Zhao Feiyu's talisman.

  It wasn't long before Mu Rong Xing arrived. The two sides didn't exchange a word, and they started fighting right away. However, the outcome was very clear: Zhao Fei Yu and his group couldn't beat Mu Rong Xing. Mu Rong Xing took Kong Yi and Qing Zi away, who were the only survivors, and told Zhao Fei Yu to find him again if he wanted to rescue them.

  Just as Zhao Feiyu was feeling anxious and flustered, I returned to the thatched cottage. He thought it was Mu Rongxing sending someone again, so he didn't say much, and his intention to kill arose.

  After hearing all this, I just nodded subconsciously and said excitedly: Where did they say to meet?

  Zhao Feiyu nodded, smiling wryly and said: The ghost building in the camp of capturing yinbing has been destroyed by Mu Rong. However, he still asked us to meet at the ghost building camp, saying that we need to negotiate.

  As soon as I heard this, I immediately stood up, patted the dust off my body, and without saying another word, I walked towards the door. Zhao Feiyu also knew why I was in such a hurry, he too was anxious about the safety of Ah Yi and Dong Qizi. He followed closely behind me.

  It only took an hour for Zhao Feiyu and me to arrive at the campsite of the haunted building. There was no one in the camp, but there were still burning bonfires, pitched tents, and many daily necessities.

  As I walked into the camp, I couldn't help but feel a little strange. Even if Mu Jian wanted to kill everyone, they wouldn't be able to take all the people from Guilou away in an instant, and looking at the setup here, where are the signs of a fight? Could it be that the people of Guilou were taken away willingly?

  Just as I was thinking, I saw Baiji from afar. Baiji stood outside a tent, as if waiting for someone. When she saw me, she floated to my side at the fastest speed.

  "You've finally arrived. Mu... Master has been waiting for you for a long time." The change in Bai Ji's way of addressing Mu Rong made me somewhat worried.

  The five face cards in Mu Rong's hand, the hosts are all powerful, I finally got a Bai Ji, and Mu Rong took it away from me in an instant? I'm not very happy about this.

  Bai Ji led the way in front, while Zhao Fei Yu and I followed behind, both of us silent. I saw Zhao Fei Yu's hand gripping the dustpan getting tighter and tighter, and I knew what he was thinking, but right now, what all of us needed was to calm down.

  After entering the tent, I finally saw the person I wanted to see.

  I've always been imagining how I should face Mu Rong Xing when I see him again. Perhaps sometimes, having no expression is the best. But when I saw that Mu Rong Xing had already turned white-haired, I couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

  Just at that moment, I was like suddenly awakened, and I didn't know what I was regretting. Why did I regret the person who had hurt my heart? Why? Zhao Feiyu's eyes were also a bit entangled, but when he saw Kong Yi and Dong Qizi sleeping beside him, his body also burst out with a sense of combat.

  I looked at Mu Rong and said expressionlessly: Finally found you.

  Mu Rong was originally sitting in a chair reading a book, but after hearing my words, he raised his head and looked at me with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, saying: It seems that the Ghost Building is still quite good to you, at least it saved you instead of making you die.

  These words were like a time bomb exploding from my body. Instinctively, I picked up the meteorite and without thinking, I threw it onto Mu Zhong Xing's desk with a loud bang.

  The four hosts behind Mu Rong Xing approached me after seeing my reaction, without Mu Rong Xing's invitation. Zi Ming was one of them. Zhao Fei Yu swung his sleeve with ease, preparing for battle. Bai Ji also quickly stood in front of me, I knew she still stood on my side. This was enough.

  "I didn't ask you to come and fight." Mu Rong Xing's voice was tinged with a hint of seriousness, after which the four hosts returned obediently to his side, and I also let Bai Ji leave.

  "The Guī Lóu didn't even investigate the secrets here, yet they dared to send people over. Jiāng Hé is the opposite, only when they have a good grasp of this place will they let another group come. Now you know the difference between Guī Lóu and Jiāng Hé? The people from Jiāng Hé are all those who cherish their lives." Mù Zhēn Xíng calmly closed the ancient book, saying it in a very leisurely manner.

  "What exactly do you want to say?" I looked at Mu Rong Xing with some impatience, a hint of disdain in my tone.

  "This is the Ghost Building's campsite, but there isn't a single person. Why?" Mu Rong Xing smiled casually and instead asked me back.

  I looked at Zhao Feiyu, and he also shook his head to indicate that he didn't know either. Mu Rongxian saw our reactions and burst out laughing, then pointed outside the door and said: "The vengeful spirits here aren't ordinary ones! 400,000 people were buried alive, and as a Yin-Yang Master, don't you know how powerful this resentment is? With such strong resentment, do you think the growth of the Yin soldiers will be slow? Over two thousand years, won't there be any appearance of spiritual intelligence among the Yin soldiers?

  Mu Rong's words undoubtedly reminded me! Indeed, two thousand years is enough time for the growth of the dark army, and it is even more sufficient for them to develop spiritual intelligence.

  Then, Mu Rongyan looked at me with a cold smile and said calmly: I brought over a hundred people here. In the end, only one person was left, do you think what's the reason? Just like the world outside the door, do you know why everyone disappeared?

  "I don't know." I lightly laughed as I looked at Mu Rong Xing and said with a bad tone.

  "Because of human feelings. Because of human feelings."

  Mu Rong said this sentence to both sides, but it made me somewhat puzzled. What is meant by "because of human heart"? Could it be that the human heart is too delicious, and all ghosts are infatuated with it?

  "Let's just make it clear. I'm not in the mood for riddles with you right now." I said somewhat impatiently.

  "Every hour, two yin souls will appear. They require offerings. If you give them some, it's quite easy. If not, this is the result." Mu Zong said as he pointed to the tent.

  At that moment, I seemed to understand something. Could it be that the people who disappeared in this haunted building were all taken away by these dark soldiers?

  "You understand, Little Lin." Mu Rongyan raised his head and looked at me with a serious tone. "I still have four hearts in my hand that can support me for two more hours. I was ready to leave, but there's an even bigger secret inside. I want to take a look. I need you to make a choice, among these three people, you must choose two as sacrifices. The remaining person, you can use him as your puppet and let him die in your place."

  I couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing Mu Rong Xing's words, and then asked: So you're saying that you did all this for my own good? You killed everyone just for me. If you really were doing it for my own good, you wouldn't have let Zi Ming set up the Hundred Ghosts Formation to lure us in from the very beginning. I'm your last pawn, aren't I? Mu Rong Xing, do you still want to go see the secret you mentioned? Fine! Today, I'll accompany you there! However, who will be whose pawn in the end, that's hard to say.

  Mo Rong's expression changed suddenly, he burst out laughing and clapped his hands in applause! Then he said to me: If you had such courage back then, I wouldn't have dug away your Seven Apertures Linglong Heart!

  "It's precisely because you dug away my heart back then that I have the guts to do this now. Should I add another sentence, thank you? I let out a cold snort, looking at Mu Zong Xing and saying, "Now, scatter your *fragrance and wake up Kong Yi and Qing Zi, otherwise our cooperation will end here."

  Mu Rong nodded, and saw Zi Ming walk to the side of Kong Yi and Qing Zi. He didn't know what method he used, but the two people quickly woke up. However, they didn't have much strength in their bodies, all they could do was stare at us blankly.

  "You carry Qingzi, I'll carry Kongyi." I said to Zhao Feiyu, then turned around and asked Mu Rongxing: "Is the place you mentioned far from here?"

  Mu Rong walked with a smile, took a sip of tea, pointed to the tent and said happily: You've been guarding a dragon vein in Xi'an for so long, don't you want to know what's inside? Under the Ghost Building where we are stationed, it was the place where 400,000 Zhao soldiers were killed. If there weren't any arrays around us, you would have already been possessed by yin energy.