20demayo Chapter 184 Oh no, the old man has become the evil god's snack!
Chapter 184 Oh no, the old man has become the evil god's snack!
Chapter 184 Oh no, the old man has become the evil god's snack! (4000)
Lu Yuan paused, then turned and quickly walked back.
Hu Hu Hu didn't respond to that, but the astonishment on his face caused by Lu Yuan's "arrogant words" faded slightly and was replaced by a deep worry.
He silently turned around and continued leading the way in the right direction.
The mountain road became increasingly difficult to traverse, and the forests grew even denser, making it almost impossible for sunlight to penetrate.
The surrounding light became dim and eerie, and the faint fishy smell in the air seemed to grow stronger.
Although Lu Yuan had Gu Qingwan as his trump card, he was not a true brute.
Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit; knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.
Gu Qingwan is the last resort, the trump card to overturn the table.
But before that, the best course of action is to rescue the old man in the safest and least costly way.
The more you know about your opponent, the more initiative you gain.
He followed behind Hu Huhu, pondered for a moment, and then spoke again, this time asking more specifically: "Since you said the Liu family is powerful, the 'things' they raise are extraordinary."
"Just what makes the Ghost-Controlling Liu family so powerful?"
"Or rather, you are all one of the 'Ten,' so why are you so wary of you?"
Hu Huhu did not stop walking, and remained silent for a few moments, seemingly organizing his thoughts.
He carried a heavy satchel, his figure appearing even more hunched in the shadows of the forest.
"The Liu family is different from our Xu Denghu family."
Hu Huhu's voice was deep, carrying a complex mix of reminiscence and awe.
"Our Tiger family, in the end, is about 'serving' and 'communication'."
"Through the methods passed down from my ancestors and a slight connection to their bloodline, I can speak with those ancient beings who roam beyond the Great Wall and are called gods," and borrow some of their power.
"Or—to help them 'continue' their offerings and wishes, so that they don't dissipate."
To put it bluntly, they make their living by serving their "ancestors."
He paused, then changed the subject, his tone revealing obvious apprehension: "But the Liu family—they are the ones who control! They drive and enslave!"
"They don't rely on communication or service; they rely on inherited evil arts and forbidden techniques."
"And there's also extremely insidious and ruthless 'material' that we've obtained from who-knows-where."
"They forcibly nourished something ridiculously powerful that should have long since disappeared or been suppressed."
"To 'refine' them into an evil god who only obeys the orders of the Liu family!"
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
"Evil God————"
Lu Yuan muttered a sentence repeatedly without thinking.
this----
For Lu Yuan now, it's not really anything new.
Or rather, Lu Yuan already knew about this.
It's just that Hu Hu thought Lu Yuan didn't know.
Hu Huhu lowered his voice unconsciously, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"The creatures raised by the Liu family—more like monsters they forcibly created and 'refined' using the flesh and blood, souls, and all sorts of inconceivable forbidden objects."
"It has no divine nature, only pure ferocity, resentment, and hatred for all living beings, but its power—is terrifyingly immense!"
Hu Huhu glanced back at Lu Yuan, his cloudy eyes gleaming with memories.
"The exact number and type of animals raised are the biggest secrets of the Liu family; outsiders could never know the details."
"But among the ten families outside the pass, there are indeed some intricate connections, and some things cannot be hidden from the eyes of those above."
above?
Lu Yuan was taken aback.
Hu Huhu pointed to the sky, then to the dark forests around him, referring to the "gods from beyond the Great Wall" who were connected to the Hu family.
"Our Tiger Clan sometimes needs to provide 'light-renewing' services for certain special beings to stabilize their forms."
"During this process, I occasionally hear fragmented messages about other neighbors."
Hu Hu carefully considered his words.
"Regarding the Liu family, all I know is that they keep at least three—no, possibly four—extremely terrifying evil gods."
"The origins and methods of creating each one are incredibly bloody, and their power is also strangely unpredictable."
"Some are skilled at manipulating people's minds, creating illusions, and causing people to break down in endless fear and despair."
"Some can directly devour the souls of living beings to strengthen themselves, leaving no one alive in their wake."
"And then there are those who are said to have made a pact with some ancient, ominous beings deep within this land."
"It can summon the filth of the underworld and the malice of the dead—"
As Hu Huhu finished speaking, he couldn't help but shudder, as if simply mentioning these things had already attracted unclean gazes.
"What level of cultivation does your master, Li Xiuye, possess?"
"What could trap him was definitely not the ordinary members of the Liu family, or the common ghost servants they created."
"Most likely, it involved the power of one, or even more, 'evil gods.'"
"Combined with the Liu family's long-established stronghold and advantageous location, they laid out a deadly trap specifically targeting a Daoist master like him."
""
Hu Hu looked at Lu Yuan, his eyes extremely serious: "So, Daoist Lu, do you understand?"
"The strength of the Liu family lies not only in their large numbers and the treacherous nature of their stronghold."
"More importantly, they possess the power to 'control' such terrifying beings!"
"That's a power that transcends ordinary combat, involving something akin to—the level of rules, or rather, a level of pure evil!"
"No matter how confident you are, you must be extremely careful!"
Lu Yuan listened quietly, his face showing a thoughtful expression.
The description of Hu Huhu confirmed some of Lu Yuan's previous conjectures.
The thing that could trap the old man must be an evil god that the Ghost-Controlling Liu family has been supporting for who knows how many years.
Those I saw before were only ten or eight years, or a few decades.
But you should know that the Ghost-Controlling Liu family has been in this land for more than just ten or eight years.
The "Goddess of Beauty" who previously became a god through objects was a super evil spirit with a system danger level of twenty stars, and it was also created by the Ghost-Controlling Liu family.
Moreover, the "Goddess of Beauty" was left to roam freely outside.
They were not personally supported within the Liu family's old lair.
The three, or rather four, super evil gods that Hu Hu Hu mentioned —
It's probably... a little scary...
but----
Lu Yuan's fingers unconsciously touched the jade pendant in his arms again.
A cool touch came through, bringing an indescribable sense of peace.
"understood."
"Keep leading the way, let's hurry."
Lu Yuan's voice was calm, revealing little emotional fluctuation.
Seeing that Lu Yuan seemed to have taken his warning to heart and his expression had become much more serious, Hu Huhu felt somewhat relieved.
Regardless of what tricks this young man has up his sleeve, it's always a good thing that he takes his opponent seriously.
He said no more, tightened the satchel on his back, and focused more intently on identifying the path as he walked deeper into the darker part of the mountains.
The two walked silently for a while longer, the path under their feet becoming increasingly difficult to discern.
The road was almost completely covered by thick fallen leaves and vines, and Hu Huhu could only move forward by recognizing the terrain and a certain special "feeling".
The surrounding light was even dimmer, with tall trees blocking out the sun.
The fishy smell in the air, mixed with the stench of old, decaying leaves, made my chest feel tight.
Lu Yuan pondered the information Hu Hu Hu had just provided about the "evil god."
Based on his previous understanding of the Liu family, he had a clearer picture of the danger he was about to face.
But Lu Yuan still had a crucial question in his mind that urgently needed to be answered.
"Master Hu."
Lu Yuan spoke again, his voice exceptionally clear in the silent forest.
"There's one more question."
"How did you know that my master is trapped in the Liu family, and that—his time is running out?"
Lu Yuan kept this matter in mind.
Hu Hu Hu spoke with such certainty in the earthen house that it was as if he had witnessed it firsthand.
Upon hearing this question, Hu Huhu's steps noticeably faltered, and his back seemed to grow even heavier.
He didn't answer immediately, but walked forward in silence, as if weighing his options or recalling some unpleasant experience.
After a long while, just when Lu Yuan thought he wouldn't answer, Hu Huhu's hoarse voice slowly rang out.
With an indescribable weariness and — a hint of barely perceptible fear.
"This is a long story, and it's also related to 'that person' whom our Tiger family serves."
He paused, seemingly considering his words, trying to explain in a way that Lu Yuan could understand.
"As you know, our Xu Denghu family relies on dealing with some ancient 'beings'."
"These beings" include some spirits naturally nurtured by this land, some the lingering resentments of departed powerful beings, and some—"
"It is something older and more indescribable."
"They are mostly chaotic, paranoid, and follow a logic that humans cannot understand, but their power should not be underestimated."
"Our ancestors reached some kind of tacit understanding or contract with a few of them, providing them with light regularly."
"6
"Using special methods to gather the power of will, yin energy, or certain specific auras of living beings," to maintain their existence from completely dissipating or descending into chaos.
In return, they would occasionally offer some shelter, or—reveal—something they had seen.
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but ask, "Look?"
Is it just a simple look?
"Yes, look."
Hu Hu Hu affirmed.
"But their 'view' is different from ours."
"They can see something—the flow of vital energy, the entanglement of cause and effect, the light or shadow emanating from powerful beings."
"Of course, it's very vague, ambiguous, and extremely costly."
Hu Huhu glanced back at Lu Yuan, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Just this morning, a few hours before you returned, I went to a secret 'lamp niche' in the back mountain, as usual."
"I'm going to change the lamp oil and add incense for the mountain spirit who has the deepest connection to our family and is relatively the most lucid."
"This time, 'Mountain Spirit Granny' is acting very strangely."
Lu Yuan was slightly taken aback, wondering what Hu Huhu was talking about.
Then Hu Huhu continued, "Normally, when I approach the lamp niche, the fire inside is very calm."
"But this time, the flame in the lamp niche flickered violently, and its color changed from a peaceful dim yellow to a ghastly green."
"I could even 'hear' a faint hissing sound, like countless pebbles rubbing together, ringing directly in my head."
"I knew something was wrong, so I quickly tried to calm them down using the Tiger family's secret 'Soul-Soothing Technique' and specially made spices."
"After struggling for most of the day, the fire finally stabilized, but the message from the Mountain Spirit sent chills down my spine."
Hu Huhu's voice trembled involuntarily, as if he had experienced the fear of that night again: "It made me see" — no, it forcibly projected an extremely blurry and distorted image into my mind.
""
"I saw a valley shrouded in an incredibly thick black mist. Deep within the valley, something was writhing, emanating an extremely powerful malice."
"And at the center of that black mist, there was an extremely dazzling golden light, yet it was being entangled and eroded layer by layer by countless jet-black threads, gradually dimming!"
Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
"Golden light?"
Hu Huhu nodded emphatically, a look of lingering fear on his face: "That golden aura—vast, righteous, carrying with it a majestic thunderous power and a kind of—"
"Yes, in your Taoist terms, it's the Daoist principle of 'endless life'!"
"Although the image is distorted and the aura is extremely faint and mixed from an unknown distance, I won't mistake it!"
"That pure, orthodox Taoist aura—in this region beyond the Great Wall, I can't think of anyone else besides Li Xiuye who could possess it."
""
"After all, Xu Denghu's family had several contacts with Li Xiuye back then."
Lu Yuan stared at Hu Huhu in front of him without saying a word.
"and----"
Hu Huhu lowered his voice even further.
"The golden light is being eroded by the black energy, growing weaker and weaker, and more unstable!"
"Finally, before the image completely shattered, I seemed to glimpse a few blurry, ominous red phantoms."
""
"It appeared and disappeared amidst the black mist, eyeing that golden light menacingly—"
At this point, Hu Huhu took a few deep breaths, as if recalling that scene had taken a great deal of his energy.
"I understood right away!"
"That's the Liu family's stronghold!"
"That black aura is emanating from the evil god they've raised!"
"That corrupted golden light is your master; he's been trapped by the Liu family using the power of an evil god!"
"And it is being consumed, perhaps even used as food to awaken or nourish some evil god!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and his expression became extremely serious.
Oh no, the old man has become the evil god's snack!
I've been trapped since early this morning, so now—
The situation was indeed worse than expected, and the old man was in grave danger.
"Did the 'Mountain Spirit Granny' say anything else? Like the specific location? Or a way to break the curse?"
Lu Yuan pressed for more information, though he didn't hold out much hope.
Hu Huhu shook his head bitterly: "No."
"That kind of viewing" was also an immense burden for the Mountain Spirit Granny; conveying even those fragmented pieces of information was already her limit.
"Moreover, the Liu family's lair is protected by an array, and the power of the evil god can also interfere with celestial secrets; being able to see even a general outline is already quite difficult."
"The exact location—'Mountain Spirit Granny' only gave a very vague indication."
"Based on my knowledge of this mountain forest, I can roughly determine the location, which is why I can take you there."
"As for breaking the curse—'Mountain Spirit Granny' only has fear, no solution."
"It even warned me not to go near, that it was not a place for mortals."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan patted Hu Huhu on the shoulder and immediately said, "What else is there to say?!"
"Hurry up and get out of here!!"