Chapter 1244: Fu Liushan's Magic

Black blood splattered three feet high.

Dong Rui didn't have eyes in the back of his head, but fortunately, he had placed a bat on his shoulder the moment they entered Howling Forest. As soon as the creature emerged for a sneak attack, the bat took action.

Fu Liushan turned around, finally getting a clear look at the second attacker:

It was a Dead Leaf Frog.

Unlike other frogs whose skin is either smooth or covered in bumps, this one had brown, keratinized protrusions, making it look like fallen leaves on the ground from a distance.

Of course, this creature was ridiculously large; there were no leaves that big in the forest. So, it was mimicking dead tree trunks and shedding bark in the undergrowth.

Naturally, its hunting technique was similar to other frogs: it flicked out its long tongue, attempting to drag Dong Rui into its mouth.

However, what its tongue brought back was merely a yellow talisman paper—

Before entering the forest, Fu Liushan had given each of them a "Clothes-Shedding Talisman." Despite its crude name, if this talisman was affixed to your inner garment, it would take the blow on your behalf should an enemy attempt to bind you.

Even He Lingchuan thought "Golden Cicada Talisman" would be a much better name for it, but Fu Liushan insisted on keeping the ancestral appellation.

The Dead Leaf Frog quickly twitched its legs twice more.

Fu Liushan pulled out his Many Treasures Pestle and gave it a slight twist, transforming its base into a pointed tip.

He was about to raise the pestle to stab the giant frog to death, but Dong Rui stopped him, saying, "No need, no need."

The Dead Leaf Frog moved twice more, and something emerged from the wound on its back.

It was the Bat Demon Puppet.

Its first strike had pierced the Dead Leaf Frog's brain.

"Go back in and find the pituitary gland!" Dong Rui casually drew a knife and began collecting skin, blood, and various other parts from the Dead Leaf Frog.

"Good stuff, good stuff," Dong Rui said gleefully. "This mutation was quite successful."

"What exactly are these things?" Fu Liushan watched from the side, finally understanding what He Lingchuan meant when he said Dong Rui "really liked this stuff."

"They were monsters when they were alive," Dong Rui said, carefully putting away the collected samples. "They mutated just before death, becoming what they are now."

"Is the mutation artificial?"

"Not necessarily," Dong Rui, who was well-versed in such matters, replied. "Some are acquired accidentally."

The bat carried over what he wanted and placed it in a bottle.

Meanwhile, the Ghoul Ape had also caught the Spirit Infant scurrying around the area. Fu Liushan tapped its forehead twice with his Many Treasures Pestle, expelling two evil spirits, which he then stabbed to death on the spot.

Dong Rui's eyes gleamed as he mercilessly cut off the Spirit Infant's tail. "This is the most valuable part of a Spirit Infant; we can't waste it!"

After this interlude, the three continued towards the White Jade Wall.

An hour later, they encountered another attack by zombie puppets, this time in greater numbers – seven in total.

They varied in form and ability.

Even with the three of them, each possessing unique skills, plus the Ghoul Ape and Ling Guang, it took considerable effort to take them all down.

Both the Ghoul Ape and Fu Liushan sustained injuries, and Ling Guang quickly and skillfully tended to them.

If He Lingchuan hadn't possessed the ability to repel malevolent energy, then avoiding the energy *and* dealing with these zombie puppets in Howling Forest would have truly been an insurmountable challenge for the three of them.

This cursed place was truly not somewhere for the living to enter.

"First, it was a ghost-wall, then zombie puppet ambushes," Dong Rui grumbled. "Let's see what else the Ghost King has up its sleeve."

He Lingchuan said as they walked, "It's probably running out of tricks. It took many zombie puppets from here during the previous battle at Cotton Village."

The ones left behind were likely just for guarding its home.

As if to confirm his words, the three continued onward and encountered no further attacks until they reached the base of the White Jade Wall.

The sun finally set.

The three stood before the White Jade Wall, its massive opening resembling a monstrous toad's gaping maw, waiting for them to leap inside.

Dong Rui made a "please" gesture toward He Lingchuan. "You go first; I'll bring up the rear."

"Thank you very much," He Lingchuan replied, also surveying the dark cave entrance. What kind of arrangements would the Ghost King have made in its own lair?

"Why are you two in such a hurry?" Fu Liushan pulled out two handfuls of acorns and casually scattered them into the opening. "Let them go first. If there's a path, they'll scout it; if there's a trap, they'll trip it."

He had enchanted these acorns; after landing, they sprouted tiny hands and feet, then hopped and bounced their way deep into the cave. Some even ran too fast and tripped over themselves.

Despite their small size, carrying one or two copper coins or triggering a few mechanisms was no problem for them.

He was an expert at exploring tombs and delving into caves; when money was tight, he would occasionally "borrow" from wealthy families, and these tricks always came in handy.

Once the acorn figures were inside, Fu Liushan told the two, "Guard me," then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

This fellow truly had many essential spells for home and travel. The two waited by his side, guarding against a surprise attack from the Ghost King.

After more than half an hour, Fu Liushan finally opened his eyes and yawned.

"I thought you were snoring just now," Dong Rui said irritably.

Fu Liushan stood up and stretched a few times, then gave a long, leisurely stretch. "It's really big down there! I don't know if it's a subterranean palace or a cave dwelling! There's something inside... something quite unusual!"

"A cave dwelling?" Dong Rui glanced at He Lingchuan. "Where's the Ghost King?"

"Didn't see it. But my acorns tripped quite a few traps; they seemed hastily set, not very precise." Fu Liushan himself was a master of setting traps and schemes, knowing that some traps could even let the first few targets pass, only catching later ones.

Dong Rui said, "This is the Ghost King's lair. Aren't crude traps unfitting for its status?"

He Lingchuan countered, "Do you usually meticulously set up numerous mechanisms in your own home?"

"Uh..." Wouldn't that be superfluous?

"However, there are a few impressive traps; if we'd gone in ourselves, we'd have been severely injured, if not dead." Fu Liushan said seriously, "Those few traps wiped out forty or fifty of my acorn figures instantly."

With the path cleared by the acorn figures, the three felt relieved enough to enter the White Jade Wall.

He Lingchuan held up a luminous spore as a lantern. Both sides of the cavern walls were covered in climbing plants, but the entire opening was dimly visible as perfectly straight and smooth, without a single crack. Fissures formed by natural weathering or geological compression couldn't possibly look like this.

This opening was very likely man-made, and carved out in a single stroke.

Decisive and clean.

What kind of magical artifact, what kind of divine power, could leave such an astonishing cut in this massive jade wall?

Fu Liushan was already muttering to himself, "Could it be the work of an immortal?"

It seemed to be the only explanation.

The three walked down along the opening, as if entering the belly of the mountain.

Just as Fu Liushan had said, beneath the White Jade Wall was indeed a colossal subterranean palace!

Due to geological reasons, there were likely a series of natural rock hollows here originally, but they were later artificially expanded and connected, forming a complex cave dwelling within the mountain.

He Lingchuan and the others followed the opening inside, not entering the main entrance of the cave dwelling, but rather a side grotto.

Fu Liushan said, "Go to the very end of this opening; there's something very unusual there."