After I became the underworld, global terror descended

Chapter 663 Soul Search
Zhu Zizai led the way.

Walk along the corridor to the backyard.

Many ancient paintings hang in the corridor.

The paintings depict beautiful women, and they share a very obvious characteristic.

The women in these paintings are headless.

Whenever Mo Lin saw a portrait, it invariably lacked a head.

"Why are all these paintings headless?" Yun Xuexue asked, looking around at the ancient paintings.

"Have you heard the story of 'dotting the eyes of a dragon'?" Zhu Zizai asked Mo Lin and Yun Xuexue.

"I know," Yun Xuexue nodded in reply.

The story of "dotting the eyes of a dragon" is about a painter named Zhang Sengyao.

He painted four dragons at Anle Temple in Jinling without dotting their eyes, and told everyone that if the eyes of the dragons were dotted, they would fly away.

The crowd didn't believe it, so Zhang Sengyao dotted the dragon's eyes, and then the dragon broke through the wall and soared into the sky.

Yun Xuexue understood the implied meaning.

"You mean, if you draw heads on these people, they'll come to life?" Yun Xuexue asked Zhang Zizai in confusion.

"That's roughly the idea. After they are resurrected, they will exist as spirits, and their strength will be even greater than mine," Zhu Zizai told Yun Xuexue truthfully.

“The people in this painting have existed for hundreds of years. If any one of them were to be resurrected, it would be a catastrophe.”

Zhu Zizai recounted the story of the paintings while leading the way.

"Who painted these pictures?" Yun Xuexue asked in confusion.

"Some of these paintings were left by Zhang Sengyao."

"Our Zhu family ancestors were servants of Zhang Sengyao, and these paintings were left behind." Zhu Zizai didn't hide anything from Yun Xuexue and said frankly.

Just as they were talking, they finally arrived at the backyard.

There is a pond in the backyard, and lotus leaves float on the surface of the pond.

Following behind Zhu Zizai, they entered the wooden building in the distance.

In the very center of the wooden building, there was a large red coffin.

There was a painting on the coffin, depicting a man with a long beard and a fierce appearance.

Zhong Kui, the exorcist master.

Mo Lin knew this person very well.

Mo Lin's master, the master who taught Mo Lin the Five Internal Organs Hidden Ghost Technique.

The Nüba was given to Molin by him.

This portrait possesses the fierce and menacing charm of Zhong Kui, and has the ability to ward off evil spirits.

It must be said that the Zhu family was truly remarkable in the art of painting.

A single painting is enough to reveal the power of its original owner.

The large mahogany coffin is painted with Zhong Kui, which is meant to suppress something.

The moment Mo Lin saw the coffin, he had already guessed what was going on, but he wasn't quite sure.

"This is my son, Zhu Ci," Zhu Zizai said slowly to Mo Lin, pointing to the coffin.

Mo Lin took a deep breath; it was just as he had expected.

In order to save his son, Zhu Zizai had been investigating Mo Lin's whereabouts. Later, he heard that Mo Lin had escaped from the Jingming Taoist sect, so he quickly asked someone to bring Mo Lin to the Zhu family under the name of Zhu Ci.

Mo Lin slowly pushed open the coffin.

The moment the coffin lid was pushed open, a plume of black smoke billowed out through the crack.

Immediately afterwards, Mo Lin saw a pure white corpse lying in the coffin.

The body looked as if it had been soaked in water, the color of white paper.

A plume of black smoke enveloped his body.

The first impression one gets of Zhu Ci is that he is dead.

"Resentment?" Mo Lin muttered to himself, staring at the black mist surrounding Zhu Ci.

"My son faked his death to conceal the truth and try to escape Huang Shang's pursuit."

He was already like this when I found him three months ago.

Zhu Zizai did try to save his son; he tried many methods, both those that were feasible and those that were not.

Useless.

The only thing that can be confirmed now is that his son is not dead.

But waking his son up will be very difficult.

Mo Lin didn't reply; instead, he stroked Zhu Ci's wrist.

You can feel Zhu Ci's weak heartbeat.

Mo Lin's body jolted, his brows furrowing slightly. "Just a shell?"

Mo Lin already knew most of Zhu Ci's situation.

Zhu Ci became like a living dead because he had lost his soul.

That's why they are unable to move, like people in a vegetative state.

To be more precise, his soul was stolen.

“My son’s soul must have been stolen.” Zhu Zizai shared the same opinion as Mo Lin.

Mo Lin knew how to bind souls and lock spirits. But Mo Lin rarely stole souls.

"Young man, I know you are skilled in ghost arts, please save my son."

"As long as he wakes up, I'll give you whatever you want; I'll keep all my previous promises."

This is why Zhu Zizai begged Mo Lin to save his son.

Only someone like Merlin, who is skilled in the arts of ghosts and monsters, can save his son.

Coincidentally, Mo Lin was skilled in the art of binding souls and spirits.

“Let’s set up an altar tonight and see what’s going on,” Mo Lin said slowly to Zhu Zizai.

Zhu Zizai nodded in agreement.

Mo Lin instructed Zhu Zizai to prepare some items for the ritual.

Mo Lin wasn't going to perform a ritual; he wanted to find a soul.

It's less about searching for a soul and more about searching for a soul.

In the backyard, there was a table for performing religious ceremonies.

The table was covered with yellow talismans.

These are all soul-searching talismans drawn by Mo Lin.

Zhu Ci's body was placed in the very center, and Mo Lin took a pen and drew a soul-searching diagram on Zhu Ci's body.

After doing all this, Mo Lin used his soul-searching technique.

As Mo Lin lit the incense, a sudden gust of wind swept through the surroundings.

The wind howled, making the leaves of the trees around us rustle.

"Zhu Ci!" Mo Lin shouted loudly at Zhu Ci's corpse.

Nothing happened.

Then Mo Lin called out again, "Zhu Ci...is home..."

It seemed as if something was responding to Molin.

Then, the black mist around Zhu Ci began to float up little by little.

Mo Lin waved his hand, gripping the black mist tightly in his grasp.

"Zhu Ci..." Mo Lin called out to the black mist.

"Waaaaah... I don't want to die... I don't want to die."
Why me...?
I shouldn't have taken that Book of the Underworld... I was wrong... I know I was wrong.

A sharp cry echoed throughout the courtyard.

Zhu Zizai's body trembled suddenly in the distance. He heard it clearly; it was his son Zhu Zizai's voice.

"Zhu Ci, where are you?" Mo Lin asked the black mist.

Zhu Ci's voice disappeared instantly, and everything fell silent.

It was as if nothing had happened.

"Zhu Ci...where are you?" Mo Lin asked again.

There was still no response.

Mo Lin raised his right hand, and the burning yellow paper on the ground suddenly flew up, dancing in the air with Mo Lin's movements.

"Searching for the Soul".

Shouted.

The flames from the burning yellow paper coalesced into a pattern directly in front of them.

The center of the pattern is where Zhu Ci's soul resides.

Through the flames, Mo Lin saw Zhu Ci's soul, which was imprisoned in an iron cage.

Zhu Ci hid in a corner and let out those pitiful cries.

A large hand appeared in sight, and a yellow ghostly figure appeared in Mo Lin's field of vision.

The ghostly figure was dressed in yellow, with dilated pupils and the eyes of a dead person.

The ghostly figure gave Mo Lin a sinister smile, revealing two rows of sharp, shark-like teeth.

"Hehehe, Molin, you're still alive?"

The female ghost gave Mo Lin a strange smile.

This female ghost is the one Huang Shang used to capture Mo Lin and bring him to the Underworld.

If Wuwei hadn't let Mo Lin leave, Mo Lin might have died at her hands.

“Zhu Ci is dead, and you’re next to die.” Huang Shang revealed a chilling smile.

"This is the price you pay for using the Book of the Underworld."

What you owe me, you can only repay with your life.

This is fate; there's no escaping it.

The flames in the air dissipated, leaving behind a deathly silence.

Rather than saying Zhu Ci died, it would be more accurate to say that his soul was stolen by Huang Shang.

How Huang Shang managed to do that is unclear.

There is only one way to wake Zhu Ci: go to Huang Shang and retrieve Zhu Ci's soul.

(End of this chapter)