Chapter 457

Chapter 457: Soul Searching

“Act quickly! The allies Horse King found are working in the military camp. Even if they stray away, they can’t be gone for too long. If they learn about An Yun City, they will naturally suspect someone is heading to the checkpoints.” Li Hui became trapped in the ghost wall, winding around until he finally found a way out. To his surprise, this path changed at any moment; the Yin Moon Dynasty was quite cautious.

Crossing a barrier, he suddenly heard the sound of waves. Looking up, he noticed the dark moon had grown three or four times larger, casting a chilling shadow over the land. The mountains and hills were coated in black, and at the peaks of each mountain were patches of black-purple clouds.

“Goodness, is this really the Yin Moon Dynasty? It shouldn’t be a cave heaven, as it lacks that constrictive feeling, almost like another world.”

Li Hui couldn’t dwell on it for long when he saw a beam of dark light sweeping toward him. He quickly dropped to the ground as the dark light passed overhead, while other beams moved back and forth nearby.

On the hillside ahead, there was a massive stronghold. Although called a stronghold, it was actually more like a mountain city. From afar, he could see various Demons and Specters, some ghostly figures tall and oddly shaped.

Carefully dodging the dark light, Li Hui then noticed that cliffs bordered the slopes. Below the cliffs lay the sea, where dark waves crashed against the steep walls, releasing a dizzying aura; falling into the sea would surely be unpleasant.

“Goodness, what a danger!”

After searching for a way out, the only option besides the stronghold ahead was to climb the terrifying cliffs. The sky was blocked by dreadful dark light, making flight possible but turning him into a target for countless ghosts.

Li Hui crept silently, using the Spirit Concealment Talisman to move closer to the stronghold’s main gate. As he neared, the talisman suddenly burst into flames, prompting him to retreat quickly. He backed up five steps before the situation stabilized.

“The defenses are so tight; these ghosts have really become clever!”

It didn’t matter that the Spirit Concealment Talisman failed—Li Hui had prepared for this operation long before returning to Dalong. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a black compass.

“This is it: the Yin Compass for Commanding Troops. First, I need to select a ghostly figure nearby. Yes, aim, effective within a hundred zhang, lock!” The compass radiated invisible ripples, and he saw a patrolling ghostly creature tremble all over.

The next moment, Li Hui soared into the air, and the compass cracked with numerous fissures. Meanwhile, the Spirit Concealment Talisman on him burned to ashes.

Before the dark light swept back, the patrolling creature returned to normal, unaware that its figure had grown bulky. Feeling exhausted, it made up an excuse for other dark soldiers to take over and trudged toward the stronghold.

This stronghold wasn’t as terrifying as Sleepy Moon Ridge; Li Hui could have directly assaulted it. However, he didn’t want to alert any ghosts and aimed to infiltrate silently, so the task was slightly more complex.

Once inside, the ghostly stronghold was lively. The street was bustling, selling all sorts of items: human meat buns, human skin lanterns, carcasses of spiritual beasts, ghostly servants, and malicious slaves, among others.

Before long, Li Hui transformed into an ordinary ghost and followed a shabby migration convoy through a tunnel, departing from the back mountains. He saw towering ghostly mountains, black-purple waterfalls cascading down, with bizarre trees and poisonous plants.

At this time, he left the convoy and sped along the mountain trail. After three incense sticks, he arrived at a courtyard, feeling an ominous air from afar.

The front gate stood wide open, and many ghost servants came and went. From outside, he could see numerous racks in the yard, drying complete pieces of human skin, most being that of girls.

Li Hui acted, releasing a powerful explosion that shattered all the ghost servants.

“Who dares to wreak havoc in our Huang Mansion?” A yellow-faced old woman shouted from the courtyard. The resulting thunderous sound flattened her, and many yellow weasels rushed out from the mansion.

“Stop!”

A immobilization talisman illuminated the air, immobilizing all the yellow weasels.

Li Hui struck one down with each hand until he captured a yellow weasel with three black patterns around its eyes, slapping a malicious soul-searching talisman onto its head.

“Search the soul!”

“No, please don’t…”

Despite the yellow weasel’s struggles, it fell unconscious with a soft sound, black smoke rising from its body, revealing scenes from the past.

“Ghostly beings specializing in human skin lanterns? There are three ghost cities and thirteen ghost strongholds nearby; is that all you know?” Li Hui casually threw several ceramic jars that smashed, releasing grimfire that surged outward, erasing evidence without sound and burning the mansion.

He moved on to the next target, continuing his path of destruction, severing the roots of these ghostly beings.

Two hours later, ten immobilization talismans hovered over the Centipede Stronghold, their white light descending to encircle the entire stronghold, preventing the ghostly centipedes from escaping.

“Boom, boom, boom…” Dozens of centipede heads were smashed, and Li Hui performed multiple soul searches, finally uncovering some intriguing news.

“The ghost bridegroom Guo Junan came here. This guy married an unruly wife, thinking himself quite clever, believing he could subdue a princess and find allies for himself. In the end, Cheng Yuyan kicked him aside to act independently.”

“Not enough; I need to know more.” Li Hui exploded the centipede ghost’s shadow, heading towards the nearby Demons and Specters ghost city to commence his slaughter. It wasn’t a large city, just a small place with a few thousand ghostly beings.

About fifteen minutes later, a buzzing sound erupted outside the Demons and Specters ghost city.

Without waiting for the ghosts inside to react, two heavy sounds echoed, and a massive giant axe plunged into the city, followed by an armored monkey falling from the sky.

“Crash, crash, crash…” Most of the buildings around the monkey collapsed, killing over ten thousand ghostly beings in the process.

Li Hui floated in the air, observing the monkey king wreaking havoc. Once the destruction reached a peak, he retrieved the Spirit Bright Great Saint’s Qi Tian Talisman, aware that talisman power wasn’t limitless and needed to be used sparingly.

“Speed!”

An immobilization talisman flew out, encircling the ghost city ruins.

“Yin Thunder Gu, go!”

Li Hui waved his sleeve, releasing a swarm of bug clouds. Waves of Yin Thunder surged into the city, followed by a roar, as dark energy shot upwards, and a figure raced toward him.

“Activate the Tian Xu Corpse Disintegration Falling God Talisman, go!”

The ghost king charged in; he moved quickly, but the talisman light moved even faster.

With a resounding impact, the ghost king slammed into a giant hammer, his body wobbling as he fell, the momentum of his earlier roar diminished.

Though powerful, the ghost king quickly attempted to regain control. Could Li Hui give him a chance? He rushed in to deliver a beating, stuffing several damage-dealing talismans into his snarling mouth. The black and white beams twisted, and the nearby Yin Thunder Gu became particularly ferocious, plunging into the ghost king’s mouth.

“What is this?”

As the gu invaded his body, Li Hui slapped another Tian Xu Corpse Disintegration Falling God Talisman onto him. This one, unlike the previous, was sealed with silver talisman power, creating resounding cracks on the ghost king’s body.

Taking advantage of the ghost king’s inability to counter, Li Hui unleashed a series of soul-searching talismans, forcefully extracting the ghost king’s shadow.

“Caught a big fish; this guy knows much more.”

“The Yin Moon Dynasty held a ceremony that unexpectedly activated a certain passage, leading to the emergence of otherworldly demonic creatures invading the ghostly realm. Unable to defeat these creatures, they sought to dominate the living beings in the owner’s world, preparing for over a hundred years before finally bringing forth the dark moon, creating an environment suitable for ghostly beings. Additionally, the dark moon is very likely the rumored aerial continent of the Heavenly Realm, having endured horrific disasters, continuously releasing dark energy—casting shadows for many years and allowing the Yin Moon Dynasty to rise.”