229: Chapter 229: Testing the Gods (Part 5)

"Hee hee, coming, coming! Master, leave these things to me."

Little Flower excitedly swayed its little tender bud.

Qian Ye nodded gently, though her eyes remained fixed on the surroundings.

Little Flower's branches and leaves slowly elongated, transforming into vines. It swiftly plunged into the mass of black mist, its vines like nimble tentacles, precisely capturing the wisps of black mist.

With every bit of black mist it devoured, Little Flower's body flashed with an even brighter red light.

However, as the devouring continued, the black mist seemed to sense danger; it began to churn and surge violently, forming grotesque, clawing shadows that lunged at Little Flower.

Although Little Flower was unafraid, it appeared to be struggling a bit.

"Ma—Master, this black mist is a bit tough."

At this moment, Qian Ye quickly formed hand seals, chanting under her breath. Streaks of red runes rushed toward the area around Little Flower, and as soon as those grotesque shadows touched the runes, they dissipated.

Seeing this, Little Flower devoured the black mist even more vigorously, finally eradicating the large mass of black mist completely.

Little Flower joyfully shook its branches and leaves, returning to Qian Ye's side.

"Hee hee, Master is still the best."

Qian Ye glanced at it, her tone cool, "I was about to praise you for evolving, but this is what you show me?"

"You actually needed me halfway through."

"Ahhh, Master, you're too mean! I'm still young, isn't it normal that I'm not that powerful yet!"

A cold snort was the only response Little Flower received.

Just then, the surrounding air suddenly turned bone-chillingly cold, and a sinister voice rang out: "You destroyed my black mist; do you know you must pay the price?"

Qian Ye stared ahead, seeing a black shadow slowly emerge, its form massive and indistinct.

Qian Ye curled her lips: "Oh my, it's like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather."

"Coming to throw your lives away one by one."

With that, Qian Ye launched an attack first, several rays of red light shooting toward the black shadow.

The black shadow easily dodged, extending black tentacles to coil around Qian Ye. Little Flower hurriedly blocked them with its vines, but was tightly entangled by the tentacles.

Seeing this, Qian Ye pressed her palms together, a strong red light radiating from her body. A powerful force erupted from within her, shaking off the black shadow's tentacles and injuring it.

The black shadow let out an angry roar, and more black mist instantly filled the surroundings.

Qian Ye responded calmly. She bit her finger, drew a talisman in her palm with her blood, and then slapped the blood talisman onto Little Flower.

Empowered, Little Flower's body glowed with intense red light, and it rushed toward the black mist again. After a fierce battle, it successfully dispersed the black mist and the black shadow.

After resolving the crisis, Qian Ye brought Little Flower back. Without their leaders, those soldiers were nothing to fear, and she immediately rushed toward Nangong Yan's camp.

Along the way, Little Flower chattered incessantly.

"Master, that was really dangerous just now. You are the most powerful."

Qian Ye rolled her eyes at it, "If you keep nagging, I'll leave you here."

Little Flower immediately fell silent.

The next instant, it felt a weight on its leaves.

It was a familiar scent.

"Ah, it's Ling Ling!"

"Little Flower, are you very bored?" Ling Ling poked the leaf beneath her hand, her eyes smiling.

"Ahem, no, no... just... just..."

Qian Ye watched the leaf twisting and turning, sneering at its lack of backbone.

When they reached the camp, Nangong Yan and his men were still taking count. Seeing Qian Ye return, they breathed a sigh of relief, having thought she had left without a word.

Whimper, he was actually afraid she would leave.

Realizing this thought, Nangong Yan gazed at Qian Ye with a mournful expression.

???

Qian Ye gave him a strange look. "Are you alright?"

Immediately after, Qian Ye gave a rough account of what had happened.

To summarize, the God Capital's commanders were already dead; now it was just some small fries, so they should hurry up and deal with them.

"Then we'll go now." Nangong Yan said, preparing to leave.

"...There's no need to be that rushed."

He seemed to read the expression on Qian Ye's face.

Nangong Yan scratched his head.

"To—tomorrow, we can't go out."

The response he got was another bunch of question marks.

Nangong Yan gestured to the surroundings with his eyes.

The next second, all around him, those soldiers began to take off their clothes.

Taking off their clothes!

Qian Ye glared at him.

The next moment, her eyes narrowed.

On each of their chests was a black pattern.

Looking closely, those patterns were so deep they seemed to be connected to their hearts.

"We have been cursed; we are already people on the verge of death."

"This totem will get deeper and deeper, until the moment it takes root in our hearts, we will die."

"Also, every half month, we need a medicinal herb called soul-fixing grass to stabilize our souls."

"Before we find the soul-fixing grass, we cannot see sunlight. Today is the last day of the half-month; tomorrow, we won't be able to see the light."

Qian Ye instantly realized.

So that was it.

"Our military advisor went to take the risk to find the soul-fixing grass for us."

Qian Ye nodded, no longer stopping them.

Very soon, they cleaned up the remaining stragglers on that side.

After waiting in the camp for the military advisor to return with the soul-fixing grass, the group packed their things, and the army set off on their journey home in a grand procession.

However, just as they entered the border of the Ye Kingdom, strange things began to happen.

Soldiers fell ill one after another with strange symptoms, as if they had been cursed.

On their bodies, black mist flickered in and out of existence.

Smelling that disgusting aura, Qian Ye's expression turned extremely grim.

Along the way, they hadn't come into contact with anything, except for one thing...

The water in that ancient temple!

She realized this might be related to the black shadow they had encountered earlier; perhaps its residual power was at work.

Thus, Qian Ye decided to investigate the source of the illness on her own. She followed the border line in search of clues, while Little Flower in her arms comforted its Master.

Finally, in that abandoned ancient temple, Qian Ye discovered a stone emitting a dark aura. She surmised this was the culprit. Just as she was thinking about how to destroy it, she suddenly heard a cold laugh from behind her.

Qian Ye turned around abruptly and saw a Black-Robed Figure standing there.

"Heh, so it's you again?" Qian Ye clenched her fists.

The Black-Robed Figure chuckled, "Do you think you can get rid of me so easily? Those soldiers were just the beginning."

A rare trace of anger appeared in Qian Ye's eyes, "Who exactly are you? Why are you doing this?"

The Black-Robed Figure slowly removed its hood, revealing a face covered in strange runes, "I said we would meet again."

"You are truly disgusting and nauseating."

Qian Ye's eyes were icy.

"Venerable One, you have always been high and mighty, but you have never experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death."

"Heh, as if you could experience it yourself."

Qian Ye sneered.

A bunch of hypocritical gods.

No, they didn't even deserve to be called gods.

The Black-Robed Figure was choked by her words, its aura becoming even more sinister.

"Just watch and wait for this group of humans to turn into nutrients bit by bit."

Qian Ye took a deep breath, "Then let's give it a try."

"I'd like to see how you bastards plan to turn things around." With that, Qian Ye flew up, the red threads in her hand quickly condensing into a long red sword that thrust directly at the Black-Robed Figure.

The Black-Robed Figure waved its hands, and a swarm of black insects surged out to block the long sword.

Little Flower seized the opportunity to wrap its vines around the Black-Robed Figure's feet, trying to trip it.

The Black-Robed Figure was greatly alarmed, stomping its feet hard to break free, while simultaneously summoning several shadow puppets to attack Qian Ye and Little Flower.

Qian Ye swung the long sword, the sword light flaring brilliantly, instantly shattering the puppets.

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the Black-Robed Figure turned to flee, but the red threads behind it pursued it directly. Enveloped by countless red threads, with a "bang," the Black-Robed Figure turned into a blood mist.