As they were speaking, Jiang Tong sensed something and looked up slightly.
A wisp of a soul emerged from the yellow-clothed woman’s corpse. It glanced at them in terror and turned to flee.
“Still,” Jiang Tong commanded.
The yellow-clothed woman’s soul was seized by soul power, trapped in place like a cage.
His soul flew toward her, and he sent out a strand of divine sense, saying indifferently, “Search.”
The soul’s face was filled with terror, but before she could say anything, a violent force invaded her body, crudely digging through her memories.
Jiang Tong’s expression remained calm.
There was nothing to say to this kind of evil cultivator. If you spoke to them kindly, they would only continue to deceive you, thinking of further ways to send you to your death.
Although this Soul Formula from the Shangyuan Sect consisted of only a few words and was simple and crude, it was extremely overbearing, specifically designed to deal with these evil soul-refining cultivators.
In a short while, Jiang Tong learned everything about this yellow-clothed woman.
The woman was named Yuan Wen. She had followed her older brother in practicing evil soul-refining arts since childhood. The previous instances of slaughtering mortal villages were exactly the work of these two siblings.
And this older brother was none other than Yuan Nuhe.
The resentful spirits in the Thousand Soul Banner were refined from living villagers. A mortal’s soul was very weak, so they had to refine many people just to produce a single resentful spirit.
Resentful spirits that knew only slaughter and possessed no consciousness.
The siblings did all this just to offer a “tribute” to their “Big Brother” and join the Saint Soul Sect.
Yuan Wen did not know who this “Big Brother” was, but her brother Yuan Nuhe did.
She had come to the mountain this time intending to use the Thousand Soul Banner to set up a soul-refining array. In cooperation with her brother, they planned to refine the small town at the foot of the mountain in one fell swoop tonight.
After finishing this job, they would wash their hands of it and take the tribute to join the Saint Sect.
In the end, she had harbored wicked intentions toward Jiang Tong and Gu Xian’yu…
As Jiang Tong searched the soul, he told his disciple everything he learned.
After listening silently, Gu Xian’yu looked toward the foot of the mountain, her eyes clouded with worry.
“Kill me, just kill me…”
The pain of the soul search was driving Yuan Wen mad. She repeated herself in a daze, wishing only for release.
Jiang Tong smiled. “I won’t kill you.”
Yuan Nuhe carried a jade plate on his person. If Yuan Wen died, the jade plate would shatter, and Yuan Nuhe would likely rush over.
Being able to heavily injure someone in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm suggested that Yuan Nuhe also had the strength of the mid-stage Golden Core. Jiang Tong did not think he could defeat him in a frontal confrontation.
With a movement of his soul power, Jiang Tong activated the black banner on the ground and said to Yuan Wen, “Collect.”
Yuan Wen looked terrified, but before she could speak, she was sucked into her own Thousand Soul Banner.
“Master…”
The young girl’s brows furrowed slightly, and she bit her lip, her face full of hesitation.
Although she had agreed with her Master to report to the sect once they found a lead.
But the lives of an entire town were right before her eyes. Even if her strength was insufficient, she believed she could not stand by and watch them die.
Jiang Tong looked at his little disciple’s expression and knew she couldn’t bear it. If they went back to the sect to report now, they probably wouldn’t make it in time for tonight’s slaughter.
Not to mention that Gu Xian’yu was a sword cultivator. If she fled now, she would most likely suffer a heart demon in the future.
It seemed they had no choice but to face this matter.
“Follow me, and act according to the situation.”
After some consideration, Jiang Tong looked at the Thousand Soul Banner, and a plan emerged in his mind.
He smiled at his little disciple. “Don’t panic. This Yuan Nuhe might not be that scary.”
—
Inside the town, the market was bustling with people coming and going.
A man in gray sat in a private room of an inn, listening to a girl outside singing a tune. He poured a cup of wine unhurriedly and frowned as he looked at the empty seat opposite him.
Why hasn’t Little Sister returned yet?
The gray-clothed man lowered his head and stroked the jade plate in his hand. The jade plate was intact, indicating that Yuan Wen’s soul was still alive.
The Thousand Soul Banners in the east, west, and south locations had all been set. He was only waiting for the banner on the North Mountain for the soul-refining array to be complete.
At midnight today, when the Yin energy was at its peak, he would refine all these mortals.
Then, all that would be missing is the soul of a Foundation Establishment cultivator…
Yuan Nuhe squeezed the jade plate, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
“Little Sister, oh Little Sister, do not blame me. Joining the Saint Sect is our lifelong wish. The requirement the Saint Sect gave me was to kill a close relative and refine them into a weapon.”
“You are a good specimen. Just consider it helping your brother fulfill our dream, hahaha…”
Just as Yuan Nuhe was feeling self-satisfied.
On the west side of town, next to the Thousand Soul Banner he had painstakingly set up, two figures appeared—one person and one soul.
“This is the place.”
Yuan Wen’s memory contained the layout of the soul-refining array. By deducing based on the positions, it wasn’t hard to calculate the locations of the remaining banners.
That old scoundrel might still be gloating, unaware that his home base was about to be raided.
“Three steps to the left, five steps diagonally, four steps back… Disciple, start digging.”
The old scoundrel had even set up a protection array. Fortunately, it was relatively crude, and Jiang Tong knew a thing or two about them. After some effort, he cracked it.
“Okay.”
Gu Xian’yu had absolute trust in Jiang Tong. She broke through the array step by step and soon reached the Thousand Soul Banner.
After ensuring the girl’s safety and making sure the banner wouldn’t activate on its own, she carefully took it down and looked back at Jiang Tong.
She seemed to be asking, “Do you want to eat this?”
Jiang Tong signaled his refusal. He immersed his divine sense into the banner and began to gradually erase Yuan Nuhe’s mark.
The resentment of these spirits had side effects. If one absorbed too much, the best-case scenario was mental derangement, while the worst was becoming a resentful spirit oneself.
Furthermore, these resentful spirits were the key weapons to defeat Yuan Nuhe… how could he use them up here?
After the steps were completed, Jiang Tong used Yuan Wen’s memory to teach Gu Xian’yu how to use the Thousand Soul Banner.
The little disciple carefully sealed the banner, and the two set off again for the next location.
Along the way, Jiang Tong noticed that Gu Xian’yu seemed to be more clingy toward him.
Perhaps after experiencing that brushes with life and death just now, she was even more afraid that her only family member would leave.
From time to time, she would poke his soul body or call out “Master,” then lower her head in silence, quietly thinking about something.
As she thought, a confused expression would appear on her face.
Jiang Tong found it cute. He floated over and poked her cheek. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“I am not lying.”
Jiang Tong sighed. “You really need to fix that habit of turning your head when you lie. It’s too obvious.”
“I…” Gu Xian’yu bit her pink lip and couldn’t help but ask, “Master, why does a person’s heart hurt?”
“Is it real pain or phantom pain?”
“What is phantom pain, and what is real pain?”
“Phantom pain is when there’s nothing wrong with the heart itself, but you feel pain. Real pain is when something is actually wrong with it, and it stops moving and can’t function.”
“Then, then it seems I have real pain.”
As soon as the young girl thought about her Master dying, her heart would ache faintly.
This must be real pain.
“Real pain?”
“Real pain.”
“Real pain can be cured, but phantom pain is hard to treat.”
“Why is phantom pain hard to treat?”
“Phantom pain means your heart wants to die. Real pain means your heart doesn’t want to die yet.”
“Then, it seems I have phantom pain again.”
“Why is it phantom pain again?”
“It’s just phantom pain.”
The young girl lowered her head and spoke seriously.
Just now, if Master had died, she would have definitely raised her sword and fought that woman to the death.
Once she killed that woman, she wouldn’t want to live in this world anymore. Her heart wanted to die.
The little disciple was a bit confused again. So, why did she have phantom pain?
“Master…”
“Hmm?”
“It seems I have a little bit of phantom pain for you,” the little disciple said.
Jiang Tong stopped walking and looked at her seriously, his eyes softening despite himself.
He had to admit, those words… were truly touching.
“Master also has a little bit of phantom pain for you.” Jiang Tong patted her head. “After all, you are my disciple.”
“Oh…”
For some reason, Gu Xian’yu lowered her head.
Her heart felt a bit empty.
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