Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 358

Chen Xiyuan mimicked the boy's actions and patted the statue's chin.

"Is this sturdy?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It wouldn't be a problem to lock up two more."

Chen Xiyuan smiled and said frankly:
"That's good, I can't beat him."

This statement also has another layer of meaning: it means that he can still fight a few more times.

Previously, only Chen Xiyuan could barely withstand the old Taoist's attacks.

"Little brother, you're not really sure he's hiding outside, are you?"

"Ah."

"Hey~"

Miss Chen has learned her lesson and has started to express her true thoughts in reverse, with very noticeable results.

"Buzz! Buzz. Buzz!"

The statue trembled slightly, and some debris rolled off, but overall it remained stable.

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the sky.

The white light in the statue's eyes gradually faded because white magma was continuously flowing downwards. At this moment, those eyes were the only way for the outside to observe the interior.

"Brother Runsheng..."

Chen Xiyuan: "I'll do it!"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

Chen Xiyuan grabbed the boy's arm, leaped into the air, and then stepped on the statue's lips and nose, moving upwards until she landed on the eyelids.

It's very spacious here, like a corridor.

Just as Li Zhuiyuan turned around to look inside, the old Taoist priest appeared right in front of him.

Chen Xiyuan immediately activated her domain, her face showing vigilance.

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's alright, he can't get out."

The old Taoist priest must have also seen the figures outside. At this moment, he was covered in flames; his beard, Taoist robe, and whisk were all on fire.

The lava was still rising, and although it hadn't yet submerged him, the environment inside the statue was terrifyingly harsh.

The old Taoist priest frantically pounded on the "window" in front of him.

He was tricked into coming here by the boy, and now he is to be "executed" in front of the boy's eyes. His fear of death and hatred for the boy have driven him to a state of hysteria.

But this was the most solid part of the entire statue when it was first designed.

The old Taoist priest could make the statue tremble slightly when he attacked it elsewhere, but when he attacked it here, there was no reaction at all on the outside of the statue.

But who can remain calm in such a situation?

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze fell on the old Taoist's whisk. Looking at the whisk, which was already half-burnt, the young man frowned slightly.

This is definitely a good thing. It looks like a heirloom. I recall the scene of the old Taoist priest using it. It can enhance magic and power to a considerable extent.

It's a pity that this thing definitely can't be preserved. Its value lies not in its materials, but in the intricate arrays and restrictions embedded inside, which have already been destroyed.

The jade pendant at the old Taoist's waist was emitting a bluish light, which enveloped his body and tried to resist the scorching heat as much as possible, but this was only a drop in the ocean, and the jade pendant had already developed numerous cracks.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze finally settled on the gourd.

This thing seems to be able to withstand the high temperature; there are no signs of damage yet.

If it can withstand being engulfed by the white lava, I can retrieve it from the ruins.

The whisk, jade pendant, and gourd were the three most valuable items the old Taoist priest possessed; obtaining even one of them would be considered a huge gain.

Of course, the biggest benefit is that the old Taoist priest will suffocate here.

Only in the Dragon King's ancestral home could such a special building exist, leaving even a being of the old Taoist's level helpless. Even so, Li Zhuiyuan could not possibly carry this building around.

If we don't lure the old Taoist priest in here and deal with him, he will definitely become a major threat if he continues to follow us silently in the dark.

Next, the old Taoist priest began to use various methods to try to escape, taking out all sorts of talismans, various small items, and swallowing many pills.

But gradually, he lost his spirit, and his Taoist robe was completely charred, clinging tightly to his body like a layer of burnt skin.

The lava below was rising higher and higher, and he no longer had any room to maneuver or dodge. His face was now covered with countless holes.

The old Taoist priest patted Li Zhuiyuan's face with one hand.

His eyes were filled with complex emotions.

The lips, which had long since turned black, opened and closed repeatedly. Although the sound could not be transmitted, Li Zhuiyuan could understand what the other person was saying from the shape of his lips.

"Whose demon are you?"

The previous "monster" was meant to allow him to act legitimately; the current "monster" is an adjective.

Just now, he clearly saw Chen Xiyuan unleash her domain.

The heir of the Dragon King Chen family was willing to stand behind the young man.

Combined with the boy's series of schemes against him, this led to his current predicament.

Given his temperament, methods, abilities, and age, if given more time to continue growing, he will likely cause tremendous waves in the martial arts world in the future.

He genuinely wanted to know the boy's identity and wanted to die with the truth.

Li Zhuiyuan did not respond.

The old Taoist priest felt that the other party had not understood what he wanted to ask, so he simply withdrew his hand, took a few steps back, and began to perform the door-opening ceremony.

Chen Xiyuan: "Bixia Sect".

The old Taoist priest had more and more fire holes on his body, but he insisted on completing the door-opening ceremony.

At this moment, the white lava was already close to his feet, and more and more fire holes appeared on his body, but he was still staring intently at the boy outside.

Li Zhuiyuan still didn't move.

Li Zhuiyuan was not averse to the fact that the top forces from various families had gathered their forces to attack the Yu family. He believed that if the festering sore of the Yu family was not exposed in advance, it would inevitably lead to even greater disasters.

However, after entering the Yu family, they took advantage of the environment and mechanisms there to begin targeting the younger generation of those who had migrated to the river.

Even if the river's flow played a role, the final decision rested with them.

Li Zhuiyuan did not acknowledge such a senior figure in the martial arts world, nor did he deserve to receive a return gift from such a person.

The boy is now truly grateful that the old lady in his family was indeed wise.

On the surface, they refused to participate in this matter on the grounds that the Qin and Liu families had no shortage of heritage and tradition, but in reality, they must have figured out some secrets in advance.

If Aunt Liu or Uncle Qin were to be sent here, given the reputation of the Qin and Liu families...

wrong,

Aunt Liu, maybe.

Zhao Yi is now thankful that it was Uncle Qin, not Aunt Liu, who confronted him back then.

If Aunt Liu were to arrive, given her skill with poisons and the current thick darkness, she would likely try her best to kill the other river travelers within the rules.

Therefore, the old lady always only let Uncle Qin go out to run errands, while keeping Aunt Liu by her side.

Therefore, it would definitely be Uncle Qin who would be sending someone. Uncle Qin would certainly not take action against the young river travelers. Moreover, given Uncle Qin's temperament, he might even directly confront those old fogies who were trying to make a move.

Inside, the old Taoist priest waited and waited, and seeing that the boy still did not move, he understood what the boy meant.

He gave a bitter smile.

Flames burst from its mouth, and the entire body plunged into the white lava below, disappearing from sight.

The lava continued to rise until it completely filled the interior of the statue.

Chen Xiyuan suddenly spoke up: "Fortunately, my grandfather didn't send any family members here. My grandfather said that the family's ancestral property is rich, but the descendants are not very good."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Go down, this place is about to crack."

Chen Xiyuan grabbed the boy's shoulders, kicked the "eye" with her leg, and the two slid backward.

At the other eye, Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Lin Shuyou had also climbed up early to watch the show.

Seeing that Xiao Yuan had come down, the three brothers immediately followed suit.

After landing, Lin Shuyou laughed and said, "This place is like Laozi's Eight Trigrams Furnace."

Tan Wenbin: "But what's being refined inside isn't Sun Wukong."

"Click...click...click..."

Cracks appeared on the exterior of the statue.

Everyone except Li Zhuiyuan was startled.

"It's okay, it won't overflow. This is one of her masterpieces."

The mechanic from the Yu family designed this tower with the intention that someone would destroy it one day.

This indicates that among the descendants of the Yu family, there has emerged someone who resonates with her in the art of mechanical engineering.

The outer wall quickly crumbled, revealing a white crystal structure. It still bore the woman's face, but it appeared more delicate and beautiful. Chen Xiyuan: "She's so beautiful."

Li Zhuiyuan: "She achieved her goal."

Chen Xiyuan: "How could someone be so superficial..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You see."

The white crystal remained fixed for only a short while before it began to distort, causing the woman's expression to change; she was smiling.

Immediately afterwards, the crystal collapsed, turning into a large amount of powder and fragments. This building, which had stood in the Yu family's ancestral home for who knows how many years, was completely reduced to ruins.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to an area, which was the coordinate of the old Taoist priest's fall into the lava:

“Dig over there.”

Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Lin Shuyou each held a Yellow River shovel and began digging.

Li Zhuiyuan stood to the side watching, while Chen Xiyuan stood even further away.

Now, Ms. Chen is a very self-aware warning line.

After digging to a certain depth, a figure sitting in meditation appeared beneath the crystal layer below.

Tan Wenbin: "Still not dead?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Keep digging."

Runsheng continued digging, and when he finally unearthed the figure, it turned into dust and vanished.

Where his knees had been when he was sitting cross-legged, there was a gourd.

Chen Xiyuan was even more excited than Li Zhuiyuan, and shouted excitedly:
"Little brother, look, a treasure has fallen!"

Li Zhuiyuan felt that she had probably lost her sensitivity to the baby and was finding happiness in projecting her own feelings onto the baby.

Runsheng reached out to help Xiaoyuan take it.

"do not move!"

Runsheng immediately withdrew his hand.

Li Zhuiyuan: "You all step back behind me."

Everyone immediately did as instructed and stepped back.

Li Zhuiyuan spread his right hand, and the blood mist, combined with the dragon spirit, condensed into an array flag.

The boy waved the array flags and continuously set up temporary formations in this area.

After working for a while, the boy stopped, turned to Chen Xiyuan, and said, "Expand your domain and follow my lead."

"it is good."

Li Zhuiyuan felt that having layers of formations alone was not enough to ensure safety, so he also needed to add Chen Xiyuan's domain.

There are too many examples of people who have capsized in the gutter, and Li Zhuiyuan didn't want to suffer an accident when he was reaping the rewards.

"Little brother, is there something wrong with this gourd?"

"I was up there just now, deliberately staring at the gourd on his body, just to let him know that I had my eye on his gourd."

If he wants revenge, the only way is to tamper with this gourd.

Moreover, we must do everything we can to protect the gourd from damage.

Chen Xiyuan recalled the posture of the figure just now; it was less like meditation and more like tightly protecting the gourd in his arms.

This method of having the enemy safeguard her treasures once again refreshed Chen Xiyuan's understanding.

She had said before that if she were ever forced to stand against the boy in some future wave, she would take the initiative to light the lamp again, not to let... but because she knew very well that she was no match for the boy.

The gourd is right in front of me.

Li Zhuiyuan first examined it carefully. The gourd was three colors: black, white, and gray. It was indeed well protected and there was no paint chipping.

The boy took out his purple-gold compass and placed it on the left, then took out the wordless book and placed it on the right.

After everything was ready, Li Zhuiyuan reached out and touched the gourd.

The gourd reacted immediately upon contact with the aura of a living person, and a surge of black mist quickly overflowed, condensing into the old Taoist's hideous and distorted face.

Sure enough, before he was burned to death, he was still bowing to himself, which was a deliberate trick after he knew that he wanted the gourd.

"You little beast, even if I die, I will take you down with me!"

It was a curse, a grudge, a technique, a magic, a soul sacrifice—in short, before his death, the old Taoist priest used every means at his disposal to kill the boy the moment he touched it.

He thought he was about to succeed because the boy was right in front of him.

However, the ferocity on his face was immediately replaced by astonishment.

First, upon its appearance, it was enhanced by numerous array effects, including various methods to suppress evil spirits, exorcise ghosts, and purify the body... a whole set of tailor-made techniques were applied all at once.

The old Taoist priest's originally dense black mist was rapidly weakened layer by layer.

But he did have a way, and he was able to continue to break through the array barrier, but after touching Chen Xiyuan's domain, he was once again like sinking into a quagmire.

The purple-gold compass spun, and under its influence, it flew up and crashed towards the old Taoist priest. The compass itself was not scary, but the copper coins embedded in it by Li Zhuiyuan began to distort the old Taoist priest's face wildly.

"You little bastard, die!"

Even so, the old Taoist priest continued to press forward. Although he had become very faint now, and the possibility of killing the boy was almost non-existent, at most he could make the boy fall ill after touching him.

Moreover, this illness is constantly weakening, from a severe case to a minor ailment. When it finally reaches the boy, it will at most cause a minor cold.

However, Li Zhuiyuan refused to even shed a snot. The young man raised his right hand, releasing karmic fire that formed a barrier, blocking the old Taoist priest from entering.

Chen Xiyuan breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected the old Taoist priest's final revenge to be so fierce. Despite all the arrangements her little brother had made, he had almost succeeded.

Chen Xiyuan: "Little brother, did you deliberately weaken him to let him get close?"

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at Chen Xiyuan; she seemed to have suddenly become much smarter.

Even Li Zhuiyuan couldn't have guessed that Miss Chen was actually using the self-denial method.

The boy stepped on the blank book with the tip of his shoe, causing it to flip and fall into his hands.

After turning to the second page, he pressed his face directly against the old Taoist priest's.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

The final howl was not fake, not because of pain, but because of ten or a hundred times more shame and indignation.

Being tricked and suffocated by a young boy would have been enough to make Li Hongsheng feel aggrieved and die with his eyes wide open in disbelief. However, his premeditated revenge turned out to be a thoughtful act of personally peeling off the outer skin and placing the tenderest piece of meat on the boy's table.

The old Taoist knew just how alluring his current state was to someone skilled in feng shui; he was practically a rare find, a truly exceptional soul material.

Dying was frustrating enough, but after death, he turned himself into a laughingstock.

Li Zhuiyuan looked down at the wordless book. On the second page, a cage appeared, with an old Taoist priest standing inside, staring fiercely at him.

He was the dignified master of one of the peaks of the Bixia Sect, yet now he had become a soul that could be toyed with at will by the other party.

On the first page, the woman who appeared as the "evil book" reached out to the old Taoist priest through the pages, like a courtesan beckoning him to come in and have some fun.

The boy knew that she wasn't lonely; she was hungry.

In addition, she couldn't stand the sight of a second page appearing on the wordless book besides her, or of any new residents being listed.

Because she knew perfectly well that she wouldn't have the chance to get fat, and that she would often overeat and deplete her reserves for three meals in a row, but she still enjoyed it immensely.

Li Zhuiyuan was somewhat helpless about this. He clearly possessed the entire wordless book, but because he had taken the first page from her, he might only be able to use one page of the entire book forever.

The boy suspected that this might not be the correct use of the wordless book, and that his use of it to imprison "evil spirits" was a sign of limited thinking.

However, this time, Li Zhuiyuan did not intend to stop the "Evil Book".

"I can let you eat him, but before I do, you have to help me interrogate him and find out a few sets of Bixia Sect's martial arts techniques. If you can't do that, you know the consequences."

The first page takes a sudden turn in style. In the woman's cell, besides the large pot that is burning, various instruments of torture appear on the floor and walls.

The woman knelt there, facing the boy beyond the pages of the book, weeping with joy.

How long have I been in this boy's hands? Finally... finally... finally, besides being a reservoir of spiritual energy, I have a mission.

Next, the boy looked forward to the performance of "The Evil Book". If it succeeded, he would have another way to pursue his studies.

Just then, a blood-red pillar of light rose in the central area of ​​the Yu family's ancestral home, which was very conspicuous.

Chen Xiyuan: "Where...where is that?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yu Family Ancestral Hall".

Inside the Yu Family Ancestral Hall.

Following Yu Dibei, Ming Yuwan arrived here smoothly, bypassing all formations and restrictions. She looked in disbelief at the ancient and solemn altar in front of her, on which were enshrined the Dragon Kings of the Yu family throughout the ages.

"The spirits of the Dragon Kings of the Yu family through the ages... are still there?"

---

This chapter is 5 words short; I'll add it tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)