Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 205 Soul-Hooking Talisman

"Want to die?"

Jiuqu stared at the demon with a strange look in his eyes.

"Others who know they are going to die will try to live, but why do you want to die quickly?"

The demon dispelled his demonic aura and sighed with his head down.

"I have just figured it out. The river god saved my life and took me in as a temple keeper, yet I did such a thing. I am worse than an animal."

"All my possessions were given to me by the River God, and I have no face to talk about compensation. I can only atone with my death."

"Ha... It's too late to say all this now. If you have any remorse, try to be a better person in your next life!"

Jiuqu looked at Chen Ji.

"After all, they are my subordinates. It's not good to let you get involved in the killing. Please step back a few steps and let me do it."

Chen Ji stepped back as instructed, allowing Jiu Qu to cast her spell. However, when her gaze fell on the demon's face, she still felt surprised and called out to Jiu Qu.

"Dragon God, wait a moment."

"Fellow Daoist, is there anything else?"

Looking towards Chen Ji from the Nine Bends.

Chen Ji looked at the demon and slowly spoke.

"If you truly repent, explain yourself now, and there is still room for redemption; otherwise, you will find it difficult to atone for your sins even after death."

"Taoist, there's no need to say more. My mind is made up to die. I only ask to repay the River God's grace with my death."

"Then I won't say anything more."

Chen Ji stepped aside to allow Jiu Qu to use his skills.

"If I were still a river dragon back then, I would have swallowed you whole, such a harmful creature as you. But for the sake of our past friendship, I will spare you the torment and give you a quick death."

Without making any move after saying that, the demon's body twitched a few times and then died.

Jiuqu then looked at Chen Ji.

"Thanks to your reminder, fellow Daoist, otherwise I don't know how much trouble I would have caused, and I would have been the one to get my hands on the Dragon Slaughtering Platform."

"Fellow Daoist, you flatter me. Even the Old Dragon Lord said that you have done good deeds here, so you can rest assured."

"I am truly ashamed that I did not even know that I had such a temple priest and matchmaker under my command, and that such a reputation had spread. I thought I had done a really good job. It seems that I should return to Beidu as soon as possible to cultivate properly."

"I also want to thank you, fellow Daoist. If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid I wouldn't have known about this matter, and it would have led to a serious mistake in the future."

After speaking, he paused for a moment and looked at Chen Ji again.

"Fellow Daoist, now that this matter is settled, why not return to the Water Palace to rest for the time being?"

"No need. I need to send someone to notify the people on both sides of the river to evacuate. Although this place is safe, there is still danger upstream and downstream. Even though I am the acting City God, I cannot stand idly by."

"That's fine too."

Jiuqu nodded slightly.

"But this would completely antagonize the Ghost King. If the matter tonight is of great importance, the Ghost King might come. Fellow Daoist, you should be careful."

"It would be even better if the Ghost King came here."

Chen Ji glanced sideways into the distance, his tone teasing.

"With the priest here, surely the demon king won't be seen committing any atrocities."

"he?"

Jiuqu looked over as well, but instead gave a cold laugh and looked down at the human demon.

"You heard what he just said, fellow Daoist. How much of it do you think is true?"

"A priest feeding demons?"

Chen Ji remained silent for a moment, then sighed.

In today's world, does truth or falsehood still matter?

"Too."

Jiuqu paused for a moment, then nodded deeply.

When demons and monsters wreak havoc, even gods and Taoist priests need incense and money to exorcise them and capture ghosts.

Even if they weren't raising demons, it wouldn't be much different.

"How did it come to this? I don't know when this chaos will end."

Jiuqu shook his head and was about to leave.

But Chen Ji stopped him, pointing to the ground.

"It seems that you have been fooled by this beast after all."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that, fellow Daoist?"

The Nine-Bend Dragon God looked at Chen Ji in surprise.

Chen Ji smiled slightly and looked down at the demon.

"I see you intend to die, yet there's not a trace of remorse on your face. You must have other ways to escape, right?"

"Now that they've been dead for so long, why aren't they being allowed to leave? What are they worried about?"

The demon's corpse remained motionless on the ground. However, the nine-curved serpent's eyes were revealed, staring intently at the demon.

"Fellow Daoist, are you joking? I used a secret technique to strip him of his life force; he should already be dead, soul and body."

Chen Ji remained silent, only pointing a wisp of ghostly fire from his fingertip at the demon.

"This is Netherworld Fire. If it touches your body, it can burn away even your soul. If you still refuse to show yourself, I will have no choice but to let the Netherworld Fire talk to you."

The demon remained silent.

Chen Ji sighed.

"It seems I was right. The Ghost King must have given you some treasure to protect your soul. He also told you that you don't need to panic if things are exposed, as he will take you back after you die."

"He is the Ghost King. If you become a ghost and then go to him, he will give you new methods, right?"

Upon hearing this, the River God realized something was amiss and said nothing more. Instead, he stared intently at the corpse on the ground, trying to determine if there was a soul inside.

But it doesn't look like there's a soul inside at all.

Moreover, he personally used his methods to eliminate the demon; if someone else said such a thing, he would suspect that it was directed at him.

But Chen Ji was a Taoist whom even the Old Dragon Lord of the Northern River had high hopes for, so he patiently waited.

However, the corpse on the ground did not react at all, and even when he kicked it, there was no movement.

Does it really look like there's a soul inside?

Chen Ji sneered.

"Even if you don't tell me, I know your secrets. Are you thinking about why the Ghost King hasn't come to recall your soul yet?"

"If that's the case, I advise you not to have any illusions. I've already figured out how the Ghost King works."

The Netherfire in Chen Ji's hand did not dissipate, but he raised his hand and took out a yellow talisman from the air.

The inscription on it was written with ghostly energy, exuding a powerful ghostly aura.

"A soul-collecting talisman?"

The Nine-Bend Dragon King was quite knowledgeable, and his expression immediately changed upon seeing the talisman.

This talisman is a method used by Taoist priests of the talisman school to punish evildoers. Anyone who knows the eight characters of a person's birth date and time can write this talisman and command the soul-reaping messenger to take the soul to them.

However, this talisman does not look like a proper Yin talisman. It does not have the name of the Yin official who collects souls on it, but only a vague shape.

"I have never seen such a soul-snatching talisman before."

Jiuqu looked surprised, but Chen Ji unfolded the talisman and, after sensing it, understood the key point.

"This talisman is not a soul-snatching talisman from the underworld, but rather something the Ghost King created himself when he established the Lesser Underworld."

"I didn't expect this fiend to actually have some skill, being able to command the Yin ghosts within to perform soul-collecting tasks. Given more time, I'm afraid it might really become a force to be reckoned with."

As he spoke, he looked down at the demon.

"You didn't speak before because you were hoping for a lucky break, but now that you still haven't shown yourself, you're just being stubborn. When the Netherfire falls, you won't have a good outcome."

Chen Ji pointed a finger, and the eerie green Netherfire floated out and was about to fall when the demon corpse finally gave in. A black figure emerged and looked at Chen Ji in terror.

"Who...who are you, and how do you know all this!"

The demon crawled out of the corpse, its face filled with terror.

These words were spoken privately between the Ghost King and him, and even the Purple Cloud Dragon King and the others were unaware of them. Unexpectedly, this Taoist priest spoke them perfectly.

Jiuqu now realized that he had almost been tricked, and looked at the demon with a gloomy expression.

He was thinking of ending it himself, but he still had to consider that this demon was his former temple keeper.

Unexpectedly, this guy almost got away. Fortunately, Chen Ji discovered it in time, thus preventing future troubles.

However, he was also curious about how Chen Ji knew about this.

Just as he was about to ask, Chen Ji raised his hand and summoned a token.

“I am the daytime wandering god of the underworld, how could I not sense the aura of this soul-snatching talisman on you?”

"You Taoist priest are indeed treacherous! With such a lowly status, you dare to falsely claim to be the City God, bah!"

Chen Ji then took out the City God's seal.

"Why would I lie to you? You were the one who was foolish enough to believe the Ghost King's lies. Did you really think you could go back alive?"

"Why not!"

The demon looked coldly at Chen Ji.

"All my magical treasures and cultivation were passed down to me by the Ghost King. Even if I go back like this, I can still command 100,000 Yin soldiers. When I become a general in the underworld, I will be a great general!"

Chen Ji merely sneered upon hearing this, and casually reached out to grab something in the air.

"Ayo!"

A scream suddenly came from the air, and Chen Ji was seen holding a little devil in his hand.

"If you still won't give up, just ask him!"

The demon looked at it and his eyes widened in horror.

"If you're not a messenger ghost under the Ghost King, what are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)