So it turns out I'm the demon!

After changing direction, the phantom did not reappear.

Jiang Mu continued to explore the area.

Only Duanmu Li, who was standing beside him, seemed a little sullen.

The girl would occasionally rub her lips lightly with her fingers, then quickly pull them back, seemingly savoring the lingering kiss. She was clearly all prepared...

The girl glanced resentfully at the man beside her, pouted her pink lips, and muttered softly, "Jiang Mu, I really feel that was my destiny. You can't cut off my path like this..."

"Shut up."

Jiang Mu interrupted her rambling, her gaze fixed straight ahead, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Ahead lay a patch of black, oily mud.

A thin, gray fog enveloped the area, creating a sense of oppression, somewhat resembling a scene from a post-apocalyptic game.

A series of footprints were clearly imprinted on the muddy ground.

Judging from the size of the footprints, they clearly belong to a woman.

"It seems Guo Zhiyao entered from this side..."

Jiang Mu murmured.

He spread his Moro wings on his back and tried to fly directly over the swamp, but as soon as he took off, he was pressed down by an invisible force.

He forcefully pressed Jiang Musheng back to the ground.

Clearly, this place, like the previous island, is equipped with some kind of anti-flying formation, making it impossible to fly.

Jiang Mu had no choice but to fold his wings and, holding Duanmu Li's hand, groped his way forward through the mud.

However, after taking only a few steps, Jiang Mu suddenly stopped.

For some reason, even though he couldn't sense any living beings around him, a chill crept up the back of his neck.

I even had the inexplicable feeling that I was the prey.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, reached out and pulled Duanmu Li into his arms, covering the girl's mouth at the same time and signaling her with his eyes not to make any sound.

Duanmu Li stared intently, her beautiful eyes wide with confusion.

But the next moment, she was shocked to see a footprint suddenly appear in the mud less than three zhang in front of them to the right.

Then came the second, the third...

"吧即……吧……"

With each step, the mud slightly sank in.

The set of footprints that appeared out of nowhere was approaching them step by step, but no bodies could be seen.

Jiang Mu flicked her fingertips, and the Wangchuan Flying Sword floated up.

The air around the sword was somewhat blurred due to the condensation of sword energy.

He stared intently at the approaching footprints, but after a moment's hesitation, he sheathed his flying sword and held his breath.

Jiang Mu didn't know what it was.

But he had a strong intuition that if he made a move, his life would likely be in danger.

The footprints continued to approach.

The mud was squeezed out of tiny air bubbles.

Finally, the strange footprints stopped just half a meter away from Jiang Mu and his companion.

The air was completely silent.

A cold wind blew in from the end of the muddy field, carrying a damp smell.

Jiang Mu spread his divine sense.

Although he couldn't sense any unusual life force, he could imagine that an unseen, terrifying monster stood half a meter away from them. Cold sweat trickled down Duanmu Li's temples, dripping onto the man's hand.

It felt like an eternity.

Finally, with a "splat," the footprints on the ground moved forward again.

Jiang Mu was startled.

In a flash, he took out a shadowy demon and flung it far away in the opposite direction. He then made the demon wield its demonic blade the moment it landed, unleashing a powerful surge of spiritual energy.

This trick really worked.

As the shadow demon made its move, the mysterious footprints on the ground suddenly changed direction, heading towards the former.

Before the shadow demon could even dodge, it was torn into scattered demonic energy in mid-air by a mysterious force.

Jiang Mu was shaken.

What kind of monster is this? Its speed is incredible.

If he hadn't restrained himself and acted rashly, he and Duanmu Li would be torn to shreds now.

After a while, footprints reappeared on the muddy ground.

This time, the footprints stretched further into the distance, walking faster and faster until they disappeared completely.

Only after confirming that the suffocating pressure had completely subsided did Jiang Mu release his hand from the girl's lips.

"Jiang Mu, what is that?"

Duanmu Li's face turned deathly pale.

"I don't know, maybe it's some kind of evil creature that this godforsaken place has nurtured itself."

Jiang Mu stared at the footprints in the mud with a gloomy look, and sneered, "Besides, I almost fell for Guo Zhiyao's trick and nearly got killed by her." "What do you mean?"

Duanmu Li was puzzled.

Jiang Mu pointed to the footprints in the mud and said:

"The edges of these footprints are too clear, and the curvature of the mud collapse is also problematic. When walking normally, the force distribution between the heel and the ball of the foot could not be in this proportion; it looks more like it was deliberately pressed out by an object."

She deliberately created this route to trick us into stepping into the mud, so as to lure that unseen monster here.

Duanmu Li frowned slightly, and asked in confusion:

"But the problem is, there's a no-fly zone here, so we can't fly. How did she get there?"

"She didn't take that path."

Jiang Mu turned her head to look to her left, which is to the north.

In the distance, the yellow sand stretches endlessly, the dunes are continuous, and the sky looks like a piece of scorched cloth.

Even from a distance, one could feel a chilling aura of death, exuding a desolate and lifeless atmosphere.

He then looked to his right, to the south.

There was a meadow there, with lush green grass and vibrant life.

"They must have gone south."

Jiang Mu analyzed,

"After emerging from the cave, the scenery changed dramatically. To the west lay a phantom of the future, captivating the mind. To the east lurked mysterious monsters in the mud, and to the north stretched a barren desert."

Only the south is vibrant with life and lush with vegetation.

If the "Sun-Facing Bamboo" is truly a divine creature that grows under the sun, as Guo Zhiyao claims, then it should grow in the south.

Without further hesitation, Jiang Mu led Duanmu Li southward.

Sure enough, the two soon discovered that there were signs of human trampling on the grass, and on a few leaves, they even saw some blood that had not yet dried.

"She's seriously injured and can't have gone far."

Jiang Mu said in a low voice.

However, when the two had walked about a hundred meters forward, the scene before them made them stop in their tracks.

All I could see was a field of people kneeling on the grass ahead!

Men, women, and children—numbering in the tens of thousands—knelt densely on the grassland, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Their skin and flesh were dry and blackened, clinging tightly to their skeletons, resembling several corpses.

These mummies remained in a kneeling posture, their knees fused to the ground. The lush green vegetation around them had its roots embedded in their bodies, seemingly drawing nourishment from them.

Even more bizarrely, a sunflower was growing on each of their heads.

The sky was gray and gloomy, without a trace of sunshine.

But these sunflowers, rooted in human heads, bloom as large as jade plates, their golden color dazzling.

"Towards the sun..."

A chill ran down Jiang Mu's spine.

He felt that this place was more like a large sacrificial site, where, since there was no sun, humans were transformed into "suns".

Jiang Mu carefully led Duanmu Li through the forest of dried corpses.

In the middle of the woods, he saw a broken stone tablet.

Several lines of text were engraved on the stone tablet:

"The superior person ascends to the heavens in physical form, and is called a celestial immortal. The average person travels to famous mountains, and is called an earthly immortal. The inferior person dies first and then sheds their skin, and is called a corpse-dissolving immortal!"

"This place indeed contains the remains and divine artifacts of the Corpse-Dissolving Immortal."

Jiang Mu murmured softly.

After passing through the dried corpse forest, a lush and verdant bamboo forest appeared ahead.

This bamboo grove is like a scene from a painting, so green it's almost unreal.

When the wind blows, the bamboo leaves rustle.

Occasionally, a few bamboo leaves would drift down from mid-air, spreading a bamboo fragrance that would invigorate one's spirit.

But around the bamboo forest, thousands upon thousands of wandering souls roam.

The faces of these wandering spirits resembled those of the dried-up corpses kneeling on the ground earlier.

Their eyes were vacant, their bodies floated lightly in the air, drifting aimlessly with the wind outside the bamboo forest.

Occasionally, two wandering spirits would collide and pass through each other's bodies, like two unrelated shadows.

"Could it be that these people were once believers who attempted to master the art of corpse dissolution? The method failed, resulting in their corpses becoming nourishment for this bamboo forest, while their souls were eternally imprisoned here, becoming wandering ghosts?"

Jiang Mu secretly guessed.

He tried to take a few steps closer.

Those wandering spirits didn't seem to have any intention of attacking people; they continued to drift about on their own.

But as the two approached the edge of the bamboo forest, some of the wandering spirits suddenly stopped and turned around to stare at Jiang Mu and his companion.

The two of them froze instantly.

The wandering spirits still didn't attack; they just stared blankly.

At the same time, one after another dark yellow talismans fell from the sky.

Jiang Mu reached out and picked one of the talismans off. He saw that the talisman was covered with tiny characters written in cinnabar.

"In this world, chaos reigns, evil abounds, the true God is nowhere to be seen, only demons disturb people..."

On the back of the talisman was written a line of large characters:

[The Supreme Chaotic Crimson Script Female Green Edict Heavenly Law]

"She's a female judge!"

Duanmu Li, who was standing next to her, let out a gasp.

She explained to Jiang Mu:

"I once heard my father mention that this is the supreme divine law of the ancient Taoist court, whose duty is to suppress all ghosts and monsters in the world."

Legend has it that it belonged to the Sanyuan Examination System and was responsible for monitoring the behavior of gods and believers in the world.

The Central Yuan Earth Official, Qingxu Zhenjun, governs the Three Prefectures and Forty-two Departments, while the Nüqing Zhenren is the supreme being who is ordered to read out the laws and decrees, examine good and evil, and exonerate the sinful and deliver the dead.

How could there be such an ancient divine talisman here?

As Jiang Mu listened to the girl's story, a strange sense of familiarity flashed through his mind, as if he had seen similar records somewhere before.

"ah"

Just then, a piercing scream suddenly rang out.

Immediately afterwards, they saw a figure stumbling out of the woods.

It was Guo Zhiyao!

At this moment, she was covered in blood, her Taoist robe was torn, and her face was filled with fear.

The most horrifying thing was that a bright green bamboo was growing on the top of her head!

The bamboo is about half a foot tall, with a few small bamboo leaves stretching out from the top.

The bamboo roots had burrowed into her skull, spreading down her scalp like a tightening net—a truly chilling sight. Seeing Jiang Mu, Guo Zhiyao staggered and reached out her bloodied hand for help:

"Help...help me..."

Before the word "fate" could even be written, the bamboo above suddenly shot upwards a bit.

Immediately afterwards, the entire bamboo stalk sank down, piercing through her head, protruding between her legs, and embedding itself in the ground beneath her feet.

Guo Zhiyao's body was nailed to the ground, like a skewer.

But she is still alive.

But he could no longer speak, and his limbs were twitching slightly.

Jiang Mu and Duanmu Li stared blankly at the scene, speechless for a long time.

"It seems... the fortune of becoming a Corpse Immortal is not something that can be easily borne."

Jiang Mu gasped and murmured softly.

Just then, some dazed wandering spirits around them, like hyenas that had smelled blood, suddenly swarmed towards Guo Zhiyao.

They burrowed into the woman's seven orifices one by one.

The woman's body began to spasm, her limbs twisted and stretched at different angles, then bent in the opposite direction, with a dense "crackling" sound coming from her joints.

It was as if an invisible hand was piecing her bones back together.

Finally, it lay sprawled on the ground like a spider.

At the same time, a black aura seeped out from every pore of the woman's body, swirling around her...

Even the sky seemed to darken further.

A fierce wind arose, causing the bamboo leaves to dance wildly. A terrifying pressure seemed to sweep over the surroundings, making it difficult for people to breathe.

From within the black mist, a colossal object slowly rose to its feet.

However, Guo Zhiyao had undergone a complete transformation and turned into a monster. Her body was formed from black mist, and she had dozens of heads with red eyes. Each head had a long tongue sticking out of its mouth.

[A ghost ten thousand feet high in the sky]!!

Jiang Mu's heart skipped a beat, and a name popped out of the depths of his mind without warning.

This ghost rules over all ghosts in the world. Its surname is Zhonghuang, and it is the absolute leader of the six directions of ghosts in heaven. It resides on the banks of the Dao River in the southeast corner of Mount Tai.

The souls of all those who died violently, unjustly, or were unable to be reborn will eventually return to its command.

"No wonder this place was sealed off by the female Qing Tian Law Enforcement... Run!"

Jiang Mu scooped the girl into his arms and ran away.

Damn it, if I had known this place was so scary, I shouldn't have rashly come here to steal some divine artifact.

Jiang Mu was filled with regret.

"All living beings...will be my food!"

Behind them, a roar, mixed with the wails of millions of wronged souls, resounded.

With a roar, giant claws formed from black mist tore through the air, grabbing at Jiang Mu and Duanmu Li like a net from heaven. Each claw was several meters long.

It looks like tree roots emerging from deep underground, creating a very strong sense of oppression.

Jiang Mu wrapped one arm around Duanmu Li's slender waist and released dozens of sword energies, which collided with the black claws.

The blade's energy pierced through the black claw, slicing it into smoke.

However, the smoke dissipated only for a moment before it quickly tumbled and coalesced, reforming into claws and grabbing again at the same speed.

Jiang Mu cursed under his breath, using footwork to dodge and weave through the ever-increasing number of black claws.

Just as Jiang Mu was pondering what method to use to get out of the predicament, a familiar, cool fragrance suddenly wafted into her nose.

Jiang Mu instinctively looked up.

Then a familiar figure appeared not far away.

Dressed in a jet-black dress, with long hair flowing like a waterfall, who else could it be but Yu Xiaoqian?

"Xiaoqian!"

Jiang Mu didn't have time to think about why this girl had suddenly appeared here, and hurriedly shouted, "Help me block this monster!"

Although the "Ten Thousand Feet High Ghost" in front of him was a Ghost King level, Jiang Mu sensed that this was not its true form, but rather a clone that had been created by borrowing another body, with a cultivation level of about tenth rank.

Yu Xiaoqian definitely has the ability to fight back.

Yu Xiaoqian tilted her head slightly, her gaze fixed on the towering ghost that was pouncing on the man's back.

She raised her delicate hand, palm facing outward.

"boom!"

It was as if a large drum had been shattered in the air, and ripples spread outward from the center of her palm.

The towering ghost seemed to have crashed into a mountain wall, causing it to stagger back several steps.

Jiang Mu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

But then he was stunned to see Yu Xiaoqian fall softly backward.

Holy crap, what's going on?

Jiang Mu was stunned and rushed forward to pull the girl into his arms.

The girl appeared very weak, with dense cracks appearing on her body, as if she would shatter at the slightest touch.

"Use your method to help me regain my strength."

Yu Xiaoqian's breath was weak, but her tone remained icy.

Jiang Mu was taken aback, then understood.

The other party specifically came to him to charge their phone.