Chapter 853: Mountain Spirit Fish Fan Yuan

“This temple looks like a strange fish,” Bi Linglong remarked after observing it for a moment. “But are there fish this large in the world?”

“There are, like giant whales,” Zu An replied, gazing at the peculiar temple. He felt it was even larger than the biggest blue whale from his previous life.

“Oh, could this be…” Mi Li’s voice came, full of doubt.

Zu An hastily asked, “Empress Master, why have you picked up the habit of speaking in riddles? Could it be what?”

Mi Li shook her head. “Let’s go over there first and see if my judgment is correct.”

Zu An was about to ask more when Bi Linglong let out a cry of surprise beside him. A zombie-like hand suddenly shot out from the ground beside her foot, clamping tightly onto her ankle.

As a sixth-rank cultivator, Bi Linglong immediately severed the hand with her sword after her initial shock. However, almost simultaneously, more hands emerged from the ground, grabbing her feet. The ground also turned muddy and swamp-like, causing her to lose her balance and almost fall.

Fortunately, Zu An was quick. He grabbed her to steady her, then severed the arms around her feet with one hand, pulling her back several yards to solid ground.

“What was that just now?” Bi Linglong asked, looking back with lingering fear. The entire patch of ground had turned into muddy, unstable earth; it wasn’t solid ground at all, but a swamp.

Countless arms reached out from the swamp, clawing desperately at the air as if to drag any passing creature into the abyss.

Seeing this, her face paled further. Girls naturally harbored a sense of fear towards such spectral entities.

“I don’t know,” Zu An said gravely. “They look like some kind of undead creatures.”

Just as Bi Linglong was about to speak, she suddenly winced, bending over in pain and clutching her calf as cold sweat poured down her forehead.

Zu An knelt beside her and gently lifted her skirt. On her smooth, fair calf were several scorched black handprints.

Bi Linglong was initially a bit flustered and uncomfortable at a man lifting her skirt, but her expression changed drastically when she saw the black handprints.

“These are formed from the grievances of heaven and earth,” Zu An repeated Mi Li’s words. “Such grievances consume living beings, causing immense harm even through mere touch.”

“Oh, then how do we get past this?” Bi Linglong asked, her face pale. This swamp was already extremely difficult to cross, let alone with so many resentful spirits beneath it.

She wasn’t too worried about the marks on her body; the “poisoning” wasn’t too deep, and she could withstand it. The critical issue was that they couldn’t advance, nor could they retreat. If the Emperor caught up, they would both be doomed.

What she didn’t know was that Zhao Ruizhi and his group had taken a different path and were currently facing significant trouble of their own.

They had previously encountered a vast desert. Zhao Ruizhi, without hesitation, led his large contingent into it. While such a desert might be a death trap for ordinary people, it posed little challenge to cultivators like them.

However, as they ventured deeper into the desert, trouble began.

A rustling sound could be heard, intermittent at first, which the group paid little mind to. But soon, the sound grew louder and more pervasive, with many noises originating from beneath their feet.

He Li, already agitated by the strange flower within him, simply slammed his palm onto the ground.

The sounds immediately quieted. Some of Prince Qi’s death warriors dug into the sand and found numerous black scorpions that had been shaken to death.

Everyone complimented He Li’s powerful strike, but Zhao Ruizhi frowned imperceptibly, his eyes fixed on the scorpions.

These scorpions were unlike any other in the world. They were three to four times larger than normal scorpions, and their bodies were an eerie, gleaming black.

In that moment, the black scorpion corpses suddenly dissolved into wisps of black smoke and dispersed.

The warriors of Prince Qi’s mansion were stunned. What was happening?

“Be careful!” Zhao Ruizhi’s expression suddenly shifted. The rustling sounds around them grew even louder than before, and the surrounding sand began to churn as if something were moving beneath it.

Everyone from Prince Qi’s mansion drew their weapons, on guard. Clearly, they were all very wary of this unknown danger.

Immediately afterward, sand began to erupt from the ground, quickly piling higher and higher to form small, anthill-like dunes. Then, with a “puff,” countless black scorpions burrowed out, swarming madly towards the group.

The warriors of Prince Qi’s mansion were alarmed. They swung their weapons in defense, unleashing various elemental abilities. Normally, they would have no problem dealing with a swarm of scorpions, but these scorpions were too strange. They seemed immune to many elemental attacks, and their numbers were endless. Soon, someone was stung by a scorpion and immediately let out a blood-curdling scream, writhing on the ground.

These men were hand-picked death warriors; ordinary pain wouldn’t even make them flinch. Their current horrifying screams indicated just how excruciating a black scorpion sting was.

Zhao Ruizhi snorted, and a golden light spread out from him as its center. The black scorpions that came into contact with the golden light instantly turned into black smoke and vanished.

The dense swarm of black scorpions around them was instantly cleared away.

He Li’s eyes widened. He thought, ‘The Emperor’s power constantly exceeds my imagination. If I were a woman, I might fall in love with him. What was the Crown Princess thinking, running off with some pretty boy?’

Zhao Ruizhi said blandly, “Treat his injuries and continue on our way.”

His initial thought was to abandon the injured to avoid being burdened, but as a leader, he understood that if morale shattered, bringing these men along would be pointless.

Earlier, sending these men to experiment on the floating island had already led to many deaths and caused some unrest among the troops. Another such incident would surely destroy their morale, so some conciliatory measures were necessary.

Hearing his words, He Li immediately snapped back to attention. As a ninth-rank master, he naturally carried some excellent medicinal balms, which he usually wouldn’t part with for others. But with the Emperor’s command, he could only grudgingly take out the medicine to treat the injured.

“Hmph, I take back what I said,” he muttered. “This stingy fellow only knows how to exploit us. No wonder women run off with others.”

The group continued deeper into the desert. The Emperor intervened several times to suppress the black scorpions, but their numbers grew, and their abilities seemed to strengthen, putting pressure even on him.

“These black scorpions must be manifestations of resentful spirits, sustained by this realm. Unless this realm is destroyed, they can never truly be killed.” Zhao Ruizhi frowned deeply, but soon his mood lightened. “Hmph, if even I find them this troublesome, that brat Zu An will surely die if he faces a similar situation.”

“Achoo!” On the other side, Zu An couldn’t help but sneeze again. “Who’s thinking about me now?”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Bi Linglong asked, concerned. Cultivators rarely fell ill once they reached a certain level, and sickness usually indicated something serious.

“Nothing,” Zu An shook his head, then reached out and gently touched her ankle. The skin was smooth and delicate to the touch, befitting a Crown Princess who had lived a life of luxury for years.

Feeling the warmth of his palm, Bi Linglong’s face flushed. ‘Why is he touching me now? Should I refuse, or pretend I don’t notice…’

As she was debating, a warm current suddenly flowed over her ankle. The previous stinging sensation vanished completely, and even the black handprints disappeared.

“How did you do that?” Bi Linglong asked, both surprised and delighted, realizing her misunderstanding.

Zu An smiled but didn’t answer. “Let’s hurry and continue.”

With that, he helped her up and walked towards the swamp.

Bi Linglong gasped, her face draining of color. “Those resentful spirits…”

She stopped mid-sentence, stunned. To her astonishment, the arms of the resentful spirits, which had initially surged forward to grab them, suddenly recoiled in apparent terror, pulling back far from the two of them.

Although it sounded strange, it was as if they had seen a ghost.

Simultaneously, with every step Zu An took, the soft swamp within a radius of several meters around his foot froze into a layer of white ice, as if he were walking on solid ground.

“This is the Snowfall Divine Sword, but I’ve never heard of it having the power to repel resentful spirits?” Bi Linglong felt bewildered.

Zu An wore a relaxed expression. Having entered secret realms many times, he was already adept at dealing with these undead creatures.

The Primordial Genesis Scripture, once cultivated to the second layer, could restrain all dark, evil, and undead entities. Now that he had reached the third layer’s grand completion, the resentful spirits beneath the swamp felt threatened and naturally retreated as far as possible.

Soon, the two crossed the swamp and arrived at the strange temple. The temple was extremely dilapidated; there was no plaque above the entrance, and one of the large doors was missing, while the other hung ajar, covered in cobwebs, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.

On either side of the main entrance, two lines of faint characters were carved. Mi Li read them aloud: “The dark mountain’s fish recedes far, the sun shines on an empty mirage… Ah, it is indeed him.”