At the exact moment Gu Qingying sneaked into the dungeon, Gong Shangyu, relying on her familiarity with Yangzhou City’s layout and her hidden identity as the Pavilion Master of Danding Pavilion, had safely escorted the children back to the Danding Pavilion without incident, handing them over to her trusted steward, Manager Wu, for proper care.
Watching the children eating pastries in the courtyard of Danding Pavilion under the comforting presence of the pavilion’s people, Gong Shangyu, who was verifying the number of missing children, finally allowed herself a slight sigh of relief.
Yet, deep within her heart, the worry for her junior sister grew inexplicably stronger.
Just then, Manager Wu suddenly approached and solemnly reported to Gong Shangyu.
“Reporting to the Pavilion Master, all the registered missing children in Yangzhou City are present. Except for the one disguised by Young Master Gu as the Zhao Family Eldest Miss, every missing child has been found.”
Manager Wu’s words exploded like thunder in Gong Shangyu’s ears!
“Hm? Aunt Wu… What did you say? All the children are here?”
Gong Shangyu abruptly turned her head, her sharp gaze sweeping over the children being comforted in the courtyard.
The taut string in her heart suddenly snapped!
“Yes, Pavilion Master. They are all here…”
As soon as Manager Wu said this, a terrifying thought surged through Gong Shangyu’s mind.
If every registered missing child was accounted for, then what exactly was Gu Qingying going alone into the dungeon to rescue just now?
Suppressing the sudden horror rising in her heart, Gong Shangyu instantly dashed over to a little boy named Tietou, who was clutching a pastry and nibbling at it in small bites.
Squatting down beside him, she gently pressed both hands on his shoulders, her tone urgent yet gentle.
“Hehe~ Tietou, be a good boy and tell Brother again, what’s the name of that sister who didn’t escape just now…”
Startled by Gong Shangyu’s sudden appearance and serious tone, the boy blinked rapidly, trying hard to remember.
“Miss Gong… oh, no! Brother Shang…”
“I don’t know what that sister’s real name is, but I often hear Uncle Zhao next door call her… Yinyin.”
Huh?
Yinyin!
Those two words from the boy were like ice picks, piercing through all of Gong Shangyu’s fragile hope in an instant!
In a flash, images flickered through Gong Shangyu’s mind: the name “Beloved Daughter Zhao Mingyin” on the ancestral tablet at the mourning hall, the heartbreaking diary entries of Zhao Zongchang about his daughter Yinyin’s death, and his obsession with bringing her back at any cost!
Ah…
Yinyin!
Zhao Mingyin!
Damn it…
Junior sister is in danger!
Gong Shangyu suddenly realized that what her junior sister was trying to rescue was not a living being at all, but a corpse demon forged through the sect’s forbidden magic by Zhao Zongchang—or some vital container related to the Resurrection Ritual!
No matter what that thing truly was, Gu Qingying was now facing something far beyond a pitiable child in need of rescue.
“Ah… this is bad! Qingying is in danger!”
Gong Shangyu’s face instantly paled.
An ominous premonition blared in her mind like an alarm bell, chilling her to the bone.
She hurriedly rose, ready to activate her time-stopping skill and rush to the dungeon of the City Lord’s Mansion to save Gu Qingying.
But before she could activate her skill, the ground beneath her feet suddenly began to tremble violently!
“Rumble!!!”
A deafening roar, far fiercer than the one during Lu Li’s battle with Zhao Zongchang earlier, suddenly echoed throughout the entire city!
The sound did not come from the sky, but from the earth itself beneath Yangzhou City!
As the earth-shaking boom spread, the whole city began to tremble and quake violently!
Before Gong Shangyu could react, the stone pavement in Danding Pavilion’s courtyard suddenly cracked and shook intensely, rockeries collapsed, and the water in the ponds churned wildly!
The children, just now calm, screamed and cried in terror from the sudden chaos.
Even Manager Wu and the other Qi Refining stage cultivators were unsteady on their feet, horror etched on their faces.
Clearly, this was no ordinary seismic tremor—it was a heavenly and earthly anomaly caused by the forcible extraction and distortion of the ley lines!
Originally, the Magic Array beneath Yangzhou City relied on those children with Four Yin Life Stages to suppress and conceal its secrets, diffusing the side effects of the array.
But now, with those Four Yin Life Stage children rescued by Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu, the array lost its seals, while still being near completion.
In such a state, the array was like a pressure cooker filled with unbearable pressure and no relief valve.
The tremors from deep beneath the ley lines were the result of that pressure cooker exploding!
Thick, inky tendrils of killing energy, tinged with an eerie purple glow, burst forth wildly like living tentacles from the cracks on the city surface!
Almost simultaneously, an abnormally thick Earth Sha pillar of light shot straight into the clouds from the City Lord’s Mansion, dyeing half the night sky purple!
Then, from the eastern marketplace, western barracks, southern Daci Hang Temple, and northern Yunlong Temple—four locations that Zhao Zongchang had tampered with under the guise of renovations—similar thick purple pillars erupted one after another!
Five towering pillars of light appeared at five different points in Yangzhou City, seemingly connected by invisible power veins, finally forming a gigantic Magic Array that enveloped the entire city!
“Ahahaha…”
Amidst the terrifying sky and earth transformations, a hoarse, almost mad triumphant laughter echoed from the dark cloud of death energy looming in the night sky.
“Master Lu! Do you see now?! You’re still one step behind me, Zhao! The array is complete, and my daughter Yinyin will soon be resurrected!”
***
Deep inside the dungeon of the City Lord’s Mansion in Yangzhou City.
Just as Gu Qingying’s delicate hand was about to touch the shoulder of the pale white figure, the “white-robed girl” suddenly lifted her bowed head!
Then, a face as pale and bloodless as death itself came sharply into Gu Qingying’s sight!
Though her features were faintly delicate, the rigid, blue-gray, lifeless skin and those vacant, frenzied eyes made it clear—this was nothing but a Jiangshi abomination!
“Hoo! Awooo…”
With an inhuman growl, the creature suddenly opened its mouth wide, revealing sharp canine teeth, and with stiff yet rapid speed lunged to bite Gu Qingying’s wrist, which was mere inches away!
Confronted with the foul breath, Gu Qingying’s pupils instantly contracted in terror!
Fortunately, she had been on alert and at the moment of the attack, she tore a Qingfeng Armor Talisman and swiftly retreated to a safe distance.
“Clang! Crack!”
The monster’s sharp teeth bit into empty air, producing a sickening clash.
The creature tried to advance again but was firmly restrained by iron chains and talismans engraved with Blood Talismans behind it, unable to move an inch forward.
Facing the Jiangshi monster bound in place, Gu Qingying let out a long breath of relief, silently grateful that the chains kept it from harming her.
Combining this with the information Gong Shangyu had provided earlier, Gu Qingying—who in her past life had reached the Great Ascension stage—instantly understood the origin of this monster.
Spitting fiercely, she cursed Zhao Zongchang with burning anger.
“Ugh… That old Zhao Zongchang is mad! He actually turned his own daughter’s corpse into a Jiangshi. Such actions are an affront to heaven and earth!”
Fueled by rage, Gu Qingying then vented at the one who gave her false information, the little Tietou.
“Hmph… That brat Liu Tietou dared to deceive me! Giving me such false info wasted my time for nothing!”
“If I hadn’t dodged quickly just now, I would’ve almost been bitten by that monster! Thankfully… the creature’s bed is locked with chains and couldn’t reach me!”
Speaking as she examined the blue-faced Jiangshi before her, Gu Qingying, seeing it chained and trapped, suddenly felt mischievous.
She casually picked up a half-bitten table leg lying on the ground and, from a distance, began to jab at the Jiangshi that had once been the Zhao Family Eldest Miss.
“Yo~ Miss Zhao, you’ve got quite the teeth there!”
Using the stick to poke in the Jiangshi’s direction, Gu Qingying watched it thrash wildly yet fail to advance, a smirk creeping onto her lips.
“Hehe… Come on, show me those big teeth again like you just did!”
“Oopsie~ Can’t reach, huh? Annoyed?”
Gu Qingying imitated Gong Shangyu’s playful tone, tiptoeing as she waved the table leg in her hand.
“Hehehe~ Can’t bite me~ Can’t bite me~”
Provoked by Gu Qingying’s teasing, the Jiangshi emitted a deeper, more agitated growl from its throat.
Its blood-red eyes fixed fiercely on Gu Qingying, and the chains behind it rattled loudly under her brute force.
Just as Gu Qingying was feeling proud and about to taunt it further—
“Rumble!!!”
The entire dungeon suddenly shook violently.
The runic blood light on the walls flared brightly!
Torrents of dense killing energy surged wildly through the chains into the Jiangshi’s body!
“Bang! Crack—”
The chains that had bound the Jiangshi snapped with a sharp sound.
Gu Qingying, who was just teasing the Jiangshi, froze instantly, her smile frozen on her face, and the half table leg in her hand dropped to the floor with a clatter.
Now, she was face to face with those completely blood-red, murderous Jiangshi eyes, caught utterly off guard.
The two stared at each other in stunned silence.
Gu Qingying forced a nervous smile.
“Hihi… Miss Zhao, do you think we can come to some sort of understanding?”
The only reply she received was a furious roar from the Jiangshi!
“Hoo… Howl!!!”