Chapter 40: Phoenix Tail Flower (X)

The village chief was stunned and could hardly believe what he was hearing. “Impossible, impossible!” he muttered.

He shouted loudly, his face contorted with rage, and veins bulged on his forehead. “I saw him just yesterday. How could he be dead?”

“You’re lying, you’re lying! The Lord of the Green-Faced Ghost promised me eternal life. He couldn’t have died,” the village chief insisted.

He muttered to himself and shook his head repeatedly. “It’s impossible. I haven’t achieved immortality yet. How could he die?”

Sui Ning couldn’t help but find it amusing. He was clearly delusional, a mortal who had already stolen at least fifty years of life and killed so many children. And now that the truth was out, all he could think about was whether he could achieve immortality.

Xie Changzhou looked down and asked softly, “Didn’t your Lord of the Green-Faced Ghost disappear for a long time a year ago? He only reappeared six months ago and committed those missing youth cases. What do you think he was doing during that half-year disappearance?”

The village chief’s aged face was filled with confusion, and a thought that made his heart race surfaced.

Could it be that… the Lord of the Green-Faced Ghost died a year ago?

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Fwk Lkdt nbwnjzle zktbvzu yde zlydle kd nzspla vs bkx. “Mbl Nsae sq vbl Qalld-Wynle Qbspv ekle y ulya yts. Zsw olal elnlkhle. Qwlpp obs ralvldele vs cl bkx?”

Fbl pxkzle, yde bla czynj lulp nwazle wroyae, alhlyzkdt vos ekxrzlp vbyv olal csvb nwddkdt yde zkhlzu.

Mbl hkzzytl nbklq olyjzu xwvvlale, “R esd’v jdso… nswtb, nswtb, nswtb.”

Tkp qynl vwadle ale yp bl nswtble, bkp obkvl lulcasop qwaasole vktbvzu, yde prlnjp sq czsse prayule qasx bkp xswvb. Fwk Lkdt iwknjzu pvlrrle cynj.

Fbl nshlale bla qynl yde zssjle yv bkx, bla vsdl pzktbvzu ekpeykdqwz. “Gb, usw’al tskdt vs ekl. Ebu yal usw nswtbkdt wr czsse yde awkdkdt rwczkn blyzvb clqsal usw ekl? Nssj yv yzz vbl czsse sd vbl taswde. Ebs’p tskdt vs nzlyd vbyv wr?”

Fbl elzkclayvlzu rashsjle bkx, rsjkdt yv bkp blyav okvb lhlau osae: “Mpj, okvb uswa yrrlyaydnl, usw rascyczu osd’v pwahkhl vsdktbv.”

The village chief stared at her with wide eyes, coughing and covering his mouth, with drops of blood oozing out between his fingers and falling onto the green tiles, creating a burst of blood flowers.

Sui Ning laughed out loud: “Are you very angry? Stand up and hit me then.”

The immobilized village chief and others couldn’t move.

Xie Changzhou shook his head helplessly, his gaze towards Sui Ning softening with a hint of a smile.

Her free-spirited nature always managed to surprise people.

Suddenly, Sui Ning stopped laughing, stood up straight, and looked down at the village chief, who was struggling to breathe on the ground: “You killed so many children for your own selfish desires, causing countless families to fall apart.”

The village chief ignored her sarcasm and noticed that his life force was rapidly fading, struggling to look towards Ah Yan, not far away.

“My immortality, it’s mine!”

He tried hard to crawl towards Ah Yan, but Lord Green-Faced Ghost told him that he could be immortal as long as he sucked Ah Yan’s essence.

“He can’t die. He must not die. He’s unwilling!”

Sui Ning chuckled lightly and increased the pressure of her sword on him, holding him firmly to the ground.

The two people behind the village chief struggled to get up, their efforts leaving Sui Ning speechless.

The overbearing power of her sword Intent, suppressed them heavily.

Sui Ning lightly tapped the two young men with the tip of her sword and asked, “So, the village chief promised to let you also achieve immortality, and you are willing to sell your lives for him?”

The two young men glared fiercely at Sui Ning, their eyes filled with a crimson color.

Sui Ning shook her head helplessly. “It seems so. Tsk, being used as pawns and not even realizing it. You think the opportunity for immortality is available to everyone? If it were…”

She pointed to the village chief lying on the ground, gasping in despair. “Would he still end up like this?”

The two men did not know what the term “pawns” meant, but they could understand what Sui Ning was saying. It was nothing more than saying that they had been deceived.

After a moment of shock, the two men looked at the village chief with hatred. The village chief had already been overwhelmed by the fear of death, and he only looked at Ah Yan with a fierce expression.

“My immortality, mine… cough, cough, cough.” He suddenly spewed a mouthful of blood, and his vitality rapidly faded away. The fear and unwillingness in his heart almost drowned him.

Xie Changzhou turned sideways to block his line of sight to Ah Yan and asked while panting, “How many children have you killed?”

The village chief remained silent, his murky eyes filled with bloodshot anger as he glared fiercely at him.

Xie Changzhou continued to ask, “How many children’s lives have you consumed over the years?”

No one responded.

“Du Wang.” Xie Changzhou’s expression was calm, his brows still aloof. Du Wang appeared before the village chief as summoned, his sharp sword pointed directly at the village chief. It seemed that as soon as Xie Changzhou gave the order, he would immediately pierce him through.

“I’ll ask again, how many children have you killed?”

Du Wang’s sword intent poured out, the sharp spiritual energy freezing cold. The village chief’s white beard and eyebrows were instantly covered in frost, and his face, which had turned red from coughing, turned pale and trembled.

“Still not talking?”

Xie Changzhou’s face was cold; his figure stood tall under the candlelight. Suddenly, his warm breath froze, and his eyes looked indifferent.

Sui Ning keenly sensed that he had developed a murderous intent.

Du Wang’s sword intent gradually intensified, and the frost on the village chief’s face grew thicker and his teeth began to chatter.

The village chief nodded quickly, unable to speak clearly due to the cold. “I, I’ll talk!”

The suppression on him was suddenly lifted, and Xie Changzhou retrieved Du Wang and looked coldly at the trembling village chief on the ground.

The village chief crouched his aged body, trembling as he spoke: “It started seventy years ago, and there were only… only one hundred people…”

“Tell the truth.” Du Wang suddenly approached him, with the sharp tip of his sword stopping at the chief’s nose.

The village chief was scared, and tears flowed down his face. He quickly shouted, “1,617 people!”

Sui Ning was shocked, realizing that there were a total of 1,617 children—more than a thousand families that were shattered!

Xie Changzhou tightly pursed his lips, his glassy eyes slightly reddened, his expression serious, and his lips tight. “Seventy years ago, ten children were lost in Qingyuan County, and the main sect’s disciples were sent to investigate but failed. You had already fled at that time, right?”

“After that, child abduction cases occurred in Nanwu County, Jingyang County, Qianqiu City, Poyue City, and Luoping Pass, but investigations yielded no results.”

“It wasn’t until thirty years ago that there were no more missing children, and you stopped temporarily to avoid being searched for.”

The village chief looked at him cowardly, and Xie Changzhou’s expression remained calm and cool.

“Why did you and the Green-Faced Ghost reappear later? Was it because of your lifespan problem? Absorbing the essence of children to prolong your life is just a temporary measure. You can only continue your life by constantly absorbing it.”

“So, how did you survive those decades of hiding?” Xie Changzhou gripped his sword tightly, his blue veins protruding on the back of his hand, and his voice was cold. “You and the Green-Faced Ghost only dared to catch children that no one would notice even if they were lost, such as orphans and beggars.”

“One thousand six hundred and fifty-seven people are just the missing list on record. In fact, you have killed not only over a thousand people.”

The village chief’s face immediately changed. He stared at Xie Changzhou in disbelief, with a look of panic and chaos on his face.

Sui Ning’s heart sank. Surviving by sucking the essence of children was only a temporary measure. How had he managed to live until now without committing any crimes in the past thirty years?

So Xie Changzhou’s meaning was that they had been moving from place to place for the past thirty years, relying on sucking the essence of those orphans and beggars to prolong their lives?

How many innocent children have died in despair in unknown corners?

Sui Ning’s anger surged, and Ba Tian sensed its owner’s emotions, buzzing and standing next to her, pointing the sword at the village chief lying on the ground.

The village chief lowered his head and dared not speak. He kept coughing, and large amounts of blood spilled from his mouth.

Xie Changzhou continued to ask, “Why did the Green-Faced Ghost choose you?”

The village chief covered his chest and kept coughing, praying, and pointing to his throat with trembling fingers, and dots of blood were splattered out.

Xie Changzhou used his gentle, spiritual energy to help him ease his violent coughing, saying, “You can talk now.”

The blood that had blocked his throat spewed out, and fresh air filled his lungs. He breathed heavily.

The village chief’s voice was hoarse and indistinct: “When the Green-Faced Ghost was seriously injured, my father saved him, so he stayed with me…cough cough cough, beside me… I said I didn’t want to die, so he helped me!”

“Since he was injured six months ago, he said he needed fresh blood and flesh to replenish his essence blood, so he asked me to catch people…and send them to him. He gave me an artifact to protect myself…cough cough…cough!”

Xie Changzhou’s eyebrows and eyes were cold, and the pressure around him was extremely low.

The village chief began coughing softly again. Xie Changzhou’s spiritual energy only gave him a moment of relief. A familiar bloody smell filled his airways, and he bent over, coughing violently.

“Help me…save me, cough cough!” he pleaded.

Sui Ning had already withdrawn the sword intent she had pressed onto the chief. He struggled to crawl towards Xie Changzhou, his emaciated hands tightly grasping Xie’s clothes.

His aged face was filled with despair and pleading: “Please, save…save me.”

Xie Changzhou looked at him expressionlessly and calmly pulled his clothes away. “You’ve done so much evil, I cannot save you,” he said.

He turned and walked towards Tang Tang and Ah Yan. His pure spiritual energy flowed into their bodies and forced out the medicine within them.

“Save me…save me…” the village chief pleaded, slowly crawling towards him. He hadn’t absorbed the essence of children for a long time, and his life force was rapidly declining. His chest was blocked, his airways were obstructed, and his air was cut off.

His deep-set eyes were empty and lifeless, and his cracked lips trembled in cowardice, begging for help. The wrinkles on his face turned red and purple due to suffocation.

Xie Changzhou ignored him, his expression calm, and he paid no attention to the cries for help behind him. His majestic, spiritual energy flowed from his fingertips and into Tang Tang and Ah Yan’s bodies, neutralizing the medicine within them.

Sui Ning watched coldly, holding his sword. He watched the village chief struggle to crawl and gradually suffocate and listened to his voice weaken until it disappeared.

The village chief lay motionless on the ground, his cloudy, crimson eyes staring at Xie Changzhou’s back.

He was dead.

After absorbing so much life force from children, he died so simply in the end.

Sui Ning felt it was unjust. Countless children died in unknown corners; their bodies were never found, leaving countless families shattered.

Even if he were chopped to pieces, it would not be enough.

“Don’t… Don’t kill me.”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, don’t kill me!”

A timid voice trembled with endless fear.

Sui Ning raised her eyebrows, forgetting that there were still two people there.

She turned around and looked down at the two cowering people on the ground. They were both young, probably in their early twenties, with faces full of fear and panic.

Having witnessed the village chief’s death, the two looked at Sui Ning as if they had seen a demon, their faces full of terror.

Sui Ning was somewhat speechless. She didn’t kill the village chief, although she regretted not doing so herself.

“Tsk, why learn dark art at such a young age? If you want immortality, why not join one of the sects? There are so many to choose from,” she said, still crouching down and looking at the two with a playful expression. “I told you to study more, but you insisted on raising pigs. See, now you’ve been tricked.”

The two kept backing away, tears streaming down their faces. “Please, we won’t do it again.”

Sui Ning continued to look at them playfully, her expression making people’s hearts race.

One of them was so frightened that he knelt down and kept kowtowing to Sui Ning. “Please spare me.”

The other one followed suit. “I really didn’t know what I was doing. The village chief found us a few days ago. I’m really sorry; please spare me.”

Sui Ning held her sword out to stop them from kowtowing. “Don’t kneel yet. Let me ask you: where are the two children you caught tonight? Sanwa and Ah Niu Where were they taken?”

The two were stunned. “Wh-what?”

“The two children you caught tonight, where are they? The Green-Faced Ghost took them away himself. We don’t know where he took them,” Sui Ning said, getting closer to the two and threatening them with a sharp tone. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll cut out your tongues. They’re useless anyway.”

The two were scared to tears by Sui Ning’s words and immediately prostrated themselves on the ground. Their voices were choked with sobs as they said, “We really don’t know. We were only responsible for catching people. The Green-Faced Ghost took them away himself. We don’t know where he went!”

Sui Ning furrowed her brow, and a hint of darkness passed through her eyes.

“[Host, what they said should be true.]”

Everything has been exposed, so hiding and protecting Green-Faced Ghost’s whereabouts is meaningless. It’s only a matter of time before they catch him. The two people in front of her were trembling and crying uncontrollably.

Sui Ning looked back and met the distant gaze of Xie Changzhou. Xie Changzhou stood up and walked towards her. The Bound Immortal Rope flew out of his bag and bound the two people tightly together.

Sui Ning was surprised. “Jianzun, what is this for?”

“Hand them over to the authorities in the mortal world for processing,” Xie Changzhou said gently. “If the main sect doesn’t handle it, then it’s up to the mortal world to take care of it.”

Sui Ning understood and gagged the mouths of the two people. They struggled to speak but couldn’t.

She looked down at the two people bound before her and said, “Now you won’t make any noise. Save your energy until we come back to send you to the officials.”

The two people remained silent.

Sui Ning turned to look at Ah Yan and Tang Tang lying on the side and asked, “When will they wake up?”

“The medicine has already worn off, so they should be waking up soon,” Xie Changzhou replied.

As he spoke, the two groaned, and Tang Tang slowly sat up, looking around in confusion. Ah Yan also sat up, his eyes wandering, until he saw Sui Ning, and then he shouted out in surprise and excitement.

“Sui Ning!” Ah Yan called out as he crawled towards her. Sui Ning quickly caught him.

Tang Tang’s gaze fell on the village chief lying on the ground, and she finally became fully conscious: “Ningning, what happened to the village chief?”

Sui Ning replied calmly, “He’s dead.”

Tang Tang’s eyes widened in shock. Just as she was about to ask about the cause of the chief’s death, Xie Changzhou interrupted her.

“We’ll explain some things later. Right now, let’s go save those two children.”

Sui Ning nodded and looked at Xie Changzhou. Their eyes met, and both had calm expressions and resolute attitudes.

“Does Jianzun know who that person is?” 

Xie Changzhou had a smile on his lips. “Doesn’t Ningning also know?”

Tang Tang and Ah Yan were confused.

Xie Changzhou picked up Ah Yan and turned away. Sui Ning pulled Tang Tang’s hand and followed closely behind.

After just a few moments, Du Wang landed steadily on the ground.

Tang Tang looked around in astonishment after seeing their surroundings: “Isn’t this where we came during the day?”

The surroundings were silent, and there was a strange smell of blood in the air. The familiar scenery around them was the same place where they encountered Hu Wa during the day.

“What are we doing here?” Tang Tang was confused.

“Looking for someone”

Xie Changzhou didn’t turn his head, and he walked straight ahead.

As they walked deeper in, the smell of blood became stronger until they stopped in front of a grass hut.

Ah Yan covered his nose in pain, his face full of disgust: “Why does it smell so bad here?”

As an ancient divine beast, his sense of smell was sensitive. The stench mixed with the smell of blood invaded his nostrils, and Ah Yan felt like he was going to vomit.

The grass hut stood quietly, pitch-black inside, appearing somewhat eerie in the quiet night.

Suddenly, a sword intent slashed through the air and struck the grass hut, causing it to collapse with a loud crash. The entire roof was lifted by Xie Changzhou’s strike.

The inside of the grass hut was empty, with a thick layer of straw covering the ground and a strong smell of blood pervading the entire hut.

Xie Changzhou’s eyes were cold and fierce, and his powerful spiritual energy howled as he swept up the straw on the ground, revealing a hidden bluestone slab beneath.

Sui Ning was surprised and exclaimed, “This is… a secret passage?”

“Yeah,” Xie Changzhou responded.

Ah Yan couldn’t help but comment, “This is too simple. Apart from a few clumps of weeds, there’s no cover at all.”

Xie Changzhou’s eyes darkened, and his clear gaze stared into the void as he spoke in a cold voice: “No, there’s a killing formation.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a red light rose from above the bluestone, carrying a powerful killing intent as it rushed towards them with a fierce wind.

As soon as his words fell, red light surged into the sky above the blue brick, carrying a powerful killing intent that quickly attacked, and the raging wind howled towards them.

Sui Ning quickly protected Ah Yan behind her, while Tang Tang’s bright face was filled with coldness.

Xie Changzhou stood tall in front of the formation, his snow-white clothes fluttering and his black hair flying behind him.

The killing formation that was rushing towards them was blocked in front of him. The sword light of Du Wang was shining, and the gathered formation firmly protected the few people within it.

Xie Changzhou’s lips curled slightly, his glass-colored eyes gazed coldly, and his tightly clenched jawline was sharp and clear.

“But he will perish.”

His clear voice came with a strong killing intent.