When the tree roots attacked, Yin Ci was actually able to avoid them.
However, Yin Deng couldn’t. The little girl was still unconscious on the withered lout leaf and was particularly eye-catching with her red dress. The Goddess wanted to choose someone to kill as a warning to others, but it didn’t matter much who she killed.
And he wasn’t so easily killed. Even if he was burned down to a fragment of bone, Yin Ci could still return from the remnants. He had sought death enough times to accumulate a certain cold intuition.
The shallow pond wasn’t deep enough to kill him or trap him. It was better to go along with it and incidentally provoke that fox.
The tree roots pierced through Yin Ci’s chest, pinning him to the bottom of the pool. The liquid was different from the lake in the Ghost Tomb; it was sticky to the touch, but it didn’t corrode his body.
However, it still brought pain.
As soon as he was soaked in that liquid, he came into contact with living flesh pulp and became stuck to it. The process was far more painful than Yin Ci had imagined, as if his whole body was being twisted into minced meat.
Not only did the pain surge, but intrusive thoughts invaded as well.
These thoughts were scattered, more akin to animal instincts than human emotions. Interestingly, Yin Ci was familiar with this state—when people experienced unbearable suffering, their thoughts often shattered, leaving only some instincts.
The white-clothed monsters emerged from the flesh pulp, so it was no wonder they showed no reaction to pain.
However, amidst the chaotic wailing, there was a hint of clarity. Through the connected living flesh, some images flooded into Yin Ci’s mind.
Through countless eyes, “he” saw Bai Wei falling down.
The Goddess didn’t take the honest and weak Bai Wei seriously; she brought him down to the bottom and threw him from a higher place. It ensured he wouldn’t die from the fall and rendered him immobile. Her approach was similar to Yin Ci’s guess—people from Xizhuang were thrown to the outskirts and molded into draft models. The people from Yuanxian Village were more precious; they were put into stone lotus pods, waiting to be sculpted into the true idol.
Fortunately, Bai Wei was resourceful. Before falling into the water, he threw out a climbing tool that hooked onto the withered lotus leaf. His body plunged into the water but stopped just before sinking into the flesh pulp, barely preserving his bodily integrity.
The Goddess headed straight for the central stone platform and picked up the jade scraping tool, meticulously carving the flesh idol.
An hour later, the Goddess left. Bai Wei didn’t immediately escape; he stumbled and climbed up to the middle of the stone platform, staring blankly at the flesh idol for a long time, shedding tears for a while.
…Well, after Bai Wei fell and touched the flesh pulp, experiencing those emotions, he probably could guess a thing or two.
In the end, Bai Wei didn’t leave.
He chose a draft model closest to the idol and slowly embraced it. The draft model slowly engulfed him, swelling up, and the expression of sorrow on his face contorted.
[She’s still alive. She can’t leave. I can’t just leave her alone…]
It was only when this train of thought reached him that Yin Ci completely snapped out of it.
The current situation was troublesome. Half of his body was immersed in the flesh pulp, and while his clothes weren’t corroded, his ghostskin robe, being similar in composition to human skin, had long since been torn to pieces. With more fusion, the surging thoughts became somewhat clearer. Bai Wei in the flesh pulp undoubtedly sensed him, but he was still dazed and unaware of Yin Ci’s specific condition.
[These living flesh are interconnected. Despite being in this state, I can still convey some thoughts… Are you still there? If we cut off the fused parts, you can escape… I’ll help you, but you have to get out…]
A dazzling golden light shimmered on the water, and ashes scattered onto the surface. Yin Ci widened his eyes.
Escape?
He couldn’t escape.
Sword qi surged, cutting through his chaotic body. As his body separated from the flesh pulp, those ethereal thoughts drifted away as well. In the moment of the declining golden fire, Yin Ci tightly grasped the Hanging Shadow Sword and leaped up.
Since he had come, he would go as well.
Shi Jingzhi’s life was far more substantial than this thin layer of window paper.
Emerging from the water, Yin Ci immediately saw Shi Jingzhi in the center of the stone platform. His master stood tall and straight among the ashes falling like snowflakes, descending from the sky. The man exuded a suffocating pressure, as if he were a thorn stuck between heaven and earth.
However, this thorn was fragile and on the verge of breaking.
So Yin Ci naturally stepped forward, embracing the man and sweeping away the attacking tree roots with a single sword strike. Shi Jingzhi was slightly taller than him, but at this moment, his legs gave way, unable to block Yin Ci’s line of sight.
The Goddess formed a tree root platform in mid-air, gasping for breath.
“It’s a pity about my ghostskin robe.”
Having lost a large amount of blood, Yin Ci felt ice-cold all over. Shi Jingzhi leaned against his damp chest, and waves of comforting warmth spread through his body. Yin Ci blissfully narrowed his eyes, and the sword qi became even colder.
“Shizun, since I brought you in, I will definitely send you out… Don’t be angry about this matter, okay?”
Shi Jingzhi’s shocked and exhausted expressions mixed together, and his face paled to the point of fright. He tightly grasped Yin Ci’s wrist, but his voice was too hoarse to be heard clearly, so Yin Ci could only discern his lip movements.
“…A’Ci?”
Yin Ci smiled. “This unfilial disciple arrived late. Shizun is tired, so how about I go and slay that Goddess, to ease Shizun’s boredom?”
He didn’t wait for Shi Jingzhi’s response and simply gently placed him down. Immediately after, Yin Ci stepped on the stone platform and dashed towards the Goddess.
The rivers and seas surged when the deadly blade was unsheathed. The sharpness that had been concealed in the past now emerged with a hint of the power to slay gods and annihilate demons.
The Goddess was horrified. If Shi Jingzhi was still an immature beast, this incoming attack was a genuine god of death. She had witnessed so many immortal potential, yet she had made a mistake with this person.
This person’s appearance was cold like jade, with a fierce and evil aura like a ghost. No matter how she looked at it, they weren’t inferior to the person below.
She hastily summoned tree roots, attempting to use the same trick again to restrain her enemy. Unexpectedly, this time the roots didn’t obey her command and remained still, and the surrounding insect eggs ceased their attacks, revealing a vague hesitation.
For some reason, she could only rely on herself.
The Goddess gritted her teeth and said, “Who are you exactly?”
Before she could finish her sentence, a pitch-black sword tip emerged from her chest. The person completely disregarded her and appeared behind her in an instant, swiftly sending out a strike.
She looked in shock at the wound on her chest. In the next moment, deep cuts appeared on her limbs and joints. The ink-colored sword blades fluttered like butterflies, finally gently stopping at her neck, still carrying her own warmth of blood.
The Goddess sat paralyzed on the platform of tree roots, unable to move even a bit. This person was undoubtedly a seasoned killer, with no unnecessary movements. They were sparing with their words, cutting off all her thoughts from the beginning and leaving her with only a tongue.
The Goddess regretted a bit—this person’s moves showed no inner force, so if she had kept the defensive root coiled around her, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state. She had been too quick to let down her guard the moment Shi Jingzhi faltered.
Unfortunately, there was no remedy for regret in the world.
Yin Ci stood quietly in front of her with his sword intent as sharp as iron, without a trace of tenderness or reverence for precious things.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you just yet. This place is truly interesting, and I have some questions.” Yin Ci’s voice was gentle, but this gentleness, paired with the chilling intent to kill, was particularly terrifying. “Do not answer with falsehoods, do not seal your lips. I know better than anyone in this world how to hurt someone the most.”
As he spoke the latter half of the sentence, within that immensely chilling oppressive feeling, there was a faint sense of desperate self-destruction, as if a jade and stone were both incinerated. The Goddess suddenly felt a bit bewildered—how could someone so filled with sorrow and oppression still be alive?
The Goddess hesitated for a moment, and the sword tip pierced the acupoint in her neck, causing intense pain to surge forth.
Yin Ci: “What is this flesh idol? And what is the giant tree statue?”
The Goddess’s expression changed for a moment, and she laughed, speaking to herself. “Very well. Your talent is exceptional. Combined with the one below, there’s no need to gather materials for the statue anymore.”
“Not the answer I seek.” Yin Ci sighed, and the sword tip moved slightly, revealing another patch of flesh and blood.
The Goddess swallowed a string of screams and looked at him with a sinister gaze. “As an immortal, you naturally endure pain. Boy, disrespecting ghosts and gods will bring you retribution.”
“Retribution? I’ve long since faced retribution… Come, answer again. My little master needs a moment of rest, and we have plenty of time.”
The Goddess smiled, revealing teeth stained with blood. “Is that so?”
This time, she didn’t attack Yin Ci with tree roots. The roots suddenly surged forward, directly striking her own body. The goddess was thrown back several yards and fell onto the flesh idol behind her.
The Goddess didn’t fully merge with the flesh idol like Bai Wei. She only sacrificed half of her body, from the waist down, turning it into flesh pulp and filling the empty skeleton of the statue.
The skeleton was completely concealed, and the flesh statue sat dignified, with half a living person attached to its side. The goddess had translucent white skin, contrasting with the dark red giant statue, resembling a bud on a withered branch.
However, her condition wasn’t quite right.
The Goddess’s face was distorted, her long hair in disarray, and her gaze vacant. Her clothing had been burned by fire and soaked with fresh blood, clinging tightly to her body like decaying skin.
She hung her arms down and spoke hoarsely. “A mere mortal dares to provoke a true immortal. You cannot escape…”
“You’re still able to speak. That’s good.”
As the sword rose and fell, along with half of the statue’s head, the goddess had one of her arms instantly severed. The head and arm rolled down the tree root platform, crashing towards the bottom of the forbidden area.
Hopefully, his cheap master wouldn’t see it, so as not to scare him half to death again.
Yin Ci smiled, swinging his sword, preparing to disable the enemy once more. But in the next instant, his smile froze on his face.
The statue was recovering.
Whether it was the goddess’s arm or the missing half of the head, countless blood-red fine roots extended from their cut surfaces, slowly gathering and gradually restoring their original form.
No one was more familiar with this scene than Yin Ci. Compared to Yin Ci himself, the statue’s recovery was slow and clumsy, but the method of recovery was undoubtedly the same.
In an instant, a certain fear gripped him.
The Bone Sweeping Sword technique rose, and flesh and blood flew.
The Goddess was unafraid of pain, so Yin Ci no longer held back. He crazily slashed at the statue, as if wanting to shatter another version of himself. Severed limbs tumbled and fell, seemingly endless.
The Goddess smiled with a blend of gentleness and bitterness.
She stretched out her hands and repeatedly chewed on Yin Ci’s words. “We have plenty of time.”
She merged with the statue once again, and the root system finally awakened. They gathered with the Goddess’s movements, ready to strike. Yin Ci’s sword gradually slowed down until it stopped.
The Goddess treated his despair as a given. “Giving up is indeed easier. I’ll consume you first and then go find your master…”
A golden flame shot through the air, directly hitting the front of the goddess’s chest.
At some point, Shi Jingzhi regained his strength and gathered the courage to climb up to the high platform.
He clung to the edge of the platform, proudly planting his flag as if demanding an explanation from his disciple. However, when he saw the merged statue so close at hand, Shi Jingzhi’s face turned pale, and he slowly disappeared from the edge of the platform.
“Apologies,” he said sincerely, about to climb back down.
Yin Ci sighed, hooked his sword tip, and brought him up, saying, “Shizun, you came at the right time. I was just thinking of going down to find you.”
Shi Jingzhi glanced over the recovering statue with the scattered chunks of flesh and stopped at his disciple’s unfamiliar face. He made several gulping sounds in his throat, managing to squeeze out a desperate “no”.
Yin Ci embraced his master’s waist once again and held his wrist. “Shizun, take the sword.”
Their body temperatures overlapped, and Shi Jingzhi calmed down slightly, finally speaking in human language once more. “A’Ci, what the hell…”
“The flesh idol has a mechanism on it. It can regenerate, but the speed isn’t very fast. If we timely burn it with yang fire, perhaps we can break its regeneration technique.”
Yin Ci’s voice was calm, as if this matter had nothing to do with him from head to toe. Shi Jingzhi’s movements stiffened slightly, uncertain if he had fully comprehended.
Upon hearing these words, a hint of nervousness flashed across the Goddess’s face. Yin Ci lowered his gaze, feeling a little joy in his heart.
Seeing that it was recovering with difficulty, he wagered that the statue wasn’t yet complete and couldn’t achieve perfect regeneration. As for what kind of destruction would be most effective against “regeneration”, he probably understood it better than the Goddess herself.
Compared to leaving her and forcing her to confess, Yin Ci had found something more valuable—an explicit direction.
He had almost unlimited time and wasn’t worried about not finding any clues. In contrast, he now cared more about another matter.
Could the unfinished flesh idol really be destroyed?
“Shizun, I’ll wield the sword, and you’ll ignite the fire.”
Yin Ci was very close. The warm breath brushed against Shi Jingzhi’s ear, slid down his neck, and carried a hint of temptation.
“Come, let’s completely destroy this place.”
