Chapter 1233: Survival Doubts

The miners in Rolling Stone Valley were all sturdy men. Fu Liushan used their vitality, combined with the life force of the troops stationed at the village entrance, to set up several ghost-warding formations. The goal was not necessarily to defeat the enemy, but merely to delay them until reinforcements arrived.

The Ghost King's corpse puppets indeed caused considerable trouble for everyone.

At a crucial moment, the mine shaft proved useful.

Jiang Lishui and others, who had come out of the village to meet He Lingchuan, were still shaken. "When things looked bad, we hid in the mine shaft. It was tough for the Situ family soldiers; I heard there were some casualties. Oh, and two of the corpse puppets were also defeated."

"That's normal," He Lingchuan replied. "Is there ever a battle without casualties?"

"Later, for some reason, the corpse puppets attacking us suddenly fell to the ground and didn't get up. The other evil spirits immediately turned and fled, and haven't reappeared."

Checking the time, this coincided exactly with when He Lingchuan had slain Ghost King Xuanlu.

With the Ghost King gone, did the controlled spirits no longer fight for it?

"The Ghost King shouldn't reappear, so you can work in peace," He Lingchuan reassured everyone. He then gave some instructions to Jiang Lishui, who nodded and turned back to the village.

The village was now clearing up the aftermath. There weren't many villagers, so the Situ army was primarily handling the cleanup.

Starting from the village entrance, Fu Liushan lit a Heart-Shielding Candle, keeping himself, He Lingchuan, and Dong Rui within its candlelight.

They all held their breath.

The Yangshan Chamber of Commerce and the Situ army had already received orders. They focused on their tasks, pretending not to notice them entering.

Fu Liushan and the other two, holding the Heart-Shielding Candle, slowly approached a residential house.

The owner of the house was a thin, dry man in his fifties, a widower with nowhere else to go. Other villagers of Jishi Village had fled, but he had remained.

As the three approached, he happened to push open the door and step out, yet he seemed not to notice them.

Jiang Lishui walked over from the side and grabbed him. "Come, come, I just happen to have something to talk to you about!"

"What is it..."

"Good news, great news!" Jiang Lishui dragged him away without explanation, then looked back at He Lingchuan.

Fu Liushan placed a finger to his lips, making a 'hush' gesture.

This Heart-Shielding Candle could only block the sight of spirits, not human vision. The fact that the widower couldn't see them indicated there was something wrong with him.

He Lingchuan remembered that during the village feast last night, this man seemed to have been sitting at the next table, eating heartily. He had also overheard every word of the conversation between He Lingchuan and the members of the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce.

Under the cover of the Heart-Shielding Candle, the three walked in through the open door.

The floor was surprisingly clean, with little dust; otherwise, leaving footprints after a few steps would have been awkward.

The interior was small, barely divided into a front hall and back room by a large wooden board. But there was no statue of Ghost King Xuanlu in either area.

There were some circular scorch marks on the table. He Lingchuan saw them and thought they looked like burn marks.

Was this where incense and candles used to be offered?

Fu Liushan also leaned closer, wiped the corner of the table, and found some powder.

Incense ash.

He looked around, noticing several spots in the room covered with grey cloth. He wasn't sure if they were meant to keep out dust or hide things.

The three dared not extend their divine sense here, for fear of attracting unwanted attention.

Fu Liushan took out a bottle, dropped two drops of liquid into his eyes, and rubbed them. When he opened his eyes again, he could see through the cloth curtains and discern what was inside.

This clairvoyant ability lasted for a very short time and had many limitations, but it was sufficient for the present situation.

As soon as he looked at the cloth curtain, he raised an eyebrow. Dong Rui quickly gestured to him:

"If you have such good stuff, give us some too!"

It seemed Celestial Masters indeed possessed many clever tricks.

Fu Liushan had no choice but to hand over the bottle, and both men dropped the liquid into their eyes.

It was cool and refreshing, quite comfortable, effectively relieving eye strain.

When they opened their eyes and looked at the cloth curtain again, they saw a palm-sized statue sitting inside. It was indeed Ghost King Xuanlu, but its posture was one hand holding up the sky and the other touching the ground, with a fierce expression.

Judging by the material and craftsmanship, it seemed to be from the same source as the statue in Old Woman Li's house.

Most importantly, after dripping the liquid, both men could also clearly see faint black smoke lingering around the statue, like light ink spreading in water, in thin wisps and strands.

After seeing this, the three exited the house and walked all the way out of the village entrance before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"The old widower is still worshipping Xuanlu at home," Dong Rui spat on the ground. "Look at the Ghost King statue's posture, holding up the sky and touching the ground, huh, he really thinks he's a god."

"Your concern is correct; Xuanlu's true form is still here. The one we killed in Cotton Village might have been another clone!" Fu Liushan had observed carefully just now. "The evil aura on the statue is very faint. Either Xuanlu deliberately suppressed it, or its power has been greatly weakened."

How could Ghost King Xuanlu, who had plagued the central-western part of Shanjin for over three hundred years, be so easily eliminated?

"Are we going to keep killing clones, one after another, endlessly?" Dong Rui asked, frustrated. "Did it use this trick before?"

"How would I know? I don't live in Howling Forest, so how could I count how many clones the Ghost King used?" Fu Liushan mused. "However, your mention reminds me of a record in our clan's annals. Over 160 years ago, my clan chief, Fu Xiong, defeated Ghost King Xuanlu and proudly boasted everywhere that he had eliminated a great menace for the region. At that time, he wore the Rakshasa Armor, capable of feats beyond others, but he was deceived by the Ghost King's feigned death. After the Rakshasa Armor was sealed by Fu Tianlin, the Ghost King reappeared."

"But it has indeed weakened, its vitality greatly damaged. This time, to seize the Rakshasa Armor, it must have sent its strongest clone," He Lingchuan asserted. "Otherwise, why would it make this widower hide the statue? Why would it feign death? This indicates it doesn't want another conflict with us, at least not in the short term."

"It's time to make a trip to Howling Forest." With the enemy weak and them strong, how could He Lingchuan miss such a good opportunity? "We should strike while it's vulnerable. Otherwise, once it recovers, it will surely return."

Xuanlu was highly vengeful and would likely target the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce members in Rolling Stone Valley first.

If this fiend wasn't eliminated, the future development of Yangshan Archipelago in this region would not be peaceful.

Fu Liushan sighed, knowing that things wouldn't be so simple:

"From what it seems now, this fellow isn't hard to deal with, but it's genuinely difficult to eradicate. I'll need a few days to check some more information and come up with a plan."

They were going to Howling Forest; how could they go without proper preparation?

Dong Rui, however, was eager. "Hurry up!"

He couldn't wait.

News of Ghost King Xuanlu's death spread like wildfire throughout Bixia and the surrounding regions.

Howling Forest had always been like a malignant tumor. Surrounding powers, large and small, feared and detested it, yet could never do anything about it. In the past, the Gaopu Kingdom regarded Ghost King Xuanlu as a major threat, but unfortunately, several past attempts to eradicate it had failed.

Unlike White Fur Mountain, Howling Forest was a very unique place.

No one expected that after the fall of the Gaopu Kingdom, a strong individual would still be able to eliminate Ghost King Xuanlu.

And at this very moment!