How did I, a fake bodyguard, become a terrestrial immortal?

Lu Yang stared at the last "one," his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

The array plate is destroyed, so why is one missing?

He looked around.

"Master, what's wrong?"

Zhao Mingtang noticed that something was wrong with his expression.

"One person is missing."

"Who?"

"have no idea."

Lu Yang looked down at the broken array plate.

The system only told him that there was one more that hadn't been returned to its place, but didn't specify who it was.

Could it be that someone's soul was stolen when the formation was destroyed?

After listening to Lu Yang's explanation, Fang Xuan immediately squatted down to examine the array plate.

He pulled out a few broken red threads from the fragments and held them between his fingers to feel them carefully.

"The life force within the formation has indeed completely dissipated."

"Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any souls trapped inside."

Lu Yang asked, "Could one have been missed?"

"Won't."

Fang Xuan shook his head.

"The Soul-Swapping Array is centered on the main soul. You have absorbed the life essence of everyone. After the array breaks, the life essence will naturally return along the original path."

"unless……"

He suddenly stopped talking.

Lu Yang followed his gaze.

Yan Wuxiang was lying in the ruins of the wall.

Fang Xuan walked over quickly and pressed two fingers between his eyebrows.

After a moment, his expression gradually became serious.

There's a problem.

"What's the problem?"

"He has life, but no soul."

Lu Yang was taken aback.

Speak like a human.

Fang Xuan pointed at Yan Wuxiang.

"This body is that of a living person, but the soul inside is not human."

Lu Yang remained silent for a while.

"So that slap I just gave you..."

"We're fighting extraterrestrial evil spirits."

Lu Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's not a mistake."

"But the true owner of this body should still be alive."

Fang Xuan lifted Yan Wuxiang's eyelids.

A layer of dim starlight lingered deep within the eyeball.

"When an extraterrestrial evil spirit takes over a living person's body, it usually does not immediately devour the original owner's soul."

"They will seal away the original owner's soul and slowly read their memories."

"Only when all memories are taken away will the original owner's soul completely dissipate."

Lu Yang looked at the system notification again.

The last item that was never returned was probably the original owner of this body.

"Is it still possible to find it?"

Fang Xuan looked at the shattered array plates scattered all over the ground.

"Since he can constantly change his face, he must need to preserve the souls of those people."

"There should be a place where souls are hidden in the noodle shop."

The group immediately split up to search.

The front yard of Wumianfang has been reduced to ruins.

Apart from some human skin masks and tools for making masks, nothing else was found.

Two guards kicked open the door to the backyard.

Inside were hundreds of wooden shelves, each with a white mask without facial features hanging on it.

Qingluo's face turned pale after just one glance.

"Are these masks all made of human faces?"

Fang Xuan walked to the wooden shelf and took down a mask.

"no."

Just as Qingluo was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard him continue, "Only a portion of them are ordinary human skin."

"..."

You might as well not explain at all.

Zhao Mingtang tapped the ground with his sword sheath.

"It's empty here, but there's something underneath."

Lu Yang walked over and stepped on it.

The ground immediately caved in half a foot, and cracks spread outwards.

Fang Xuan's eyes twitched slightly.

"I just asked you to find the mechanism."

"Found it."

Lu Yang added another kick.

The entire stone slab collapsed on the spot, revealing a stone staircase leading underground.

"Isn't this faster than using a government agency?"

Fang Xuan was speechless.

The group descended the stone steps into the underground area.

The stone chamber was not large.

In the very center stood a black water vat, about half the height of a person.

The mouth of the jar was covered with talisman paper, and the sides were wrapped with dense red threads.

Above the water tank, a white mask about the size of a palm floats.

The mask had no facial features.

In the very center, however, there was a red line that connected directly to the unconscious Yan Wuxiang.

The system notification in Lu Yang's mind immediately changed.

[An unreturned item has been detected.]

[Current Status: Soul Sealed.]

"This is it."

Lu Yang walked toward the water tank.

Fang Xuan immediately stopped him.

"Don't touch it directly."

"These talismans form a soul-locking array. If the order is wrong, the soul trapped inside will be instantly destroyed."

Lu Yang withdrew his hand.

"Come here."

Fang Xuan walked around the water vat once.

He took out silver needles and inserted them into the corners of several talisman papers one by one.

With each stitch, one of the red threads on the cylinder vents.

But when he inserted the needle, the water tank suddenly shook violently.

A hoarse voice came from behind the white mask.

"Let me out..."

"Help me..."

The voice is very young.

He sounds like he's in his early twenties at most.

Lu Yang looked down at Yan Wuxiang, who was lying beside the stone steps.

That pale, ordinary face was about the same age as the voice.

Fang Xuan did not stop.

"What's your name?"

The voice from inside the mask was intermittent.

"Chen...Chen Ping'an..."

Lu Yang's expression immediately turned strange.

This name doesn't sound like that of an ordinary person.

Zhao Mingtang also looked over.

"Do you know him?"

"I don't know him."

Lu Yang thought for a moment, then added:

"I just think this name sounds cool."

In the end, he was still imprisoned for six years.

It seems he wasn't all that impressive.

"Are you a ferryman?" Fang Xuan continued to ask.

"Yes……"

Six years ago... I was working as a porter at the ferry crossing...

Someone asked me... if I wanted to earn ten taels of silver...

"and then?"

"And then I don't remember."

Lu Yang nodded.

"Ten taels of silver for six years, that's really not a high wage."

Zhao Mingtang gave him a disgruntled look.

"They're practically dead, and you're still calculating wages?"

"When he wakes up, I'll have to remind him to collect money first from now on."

As he spoke, Fang Xuan had already inserted the last silver needle.

All the talismans fell off at the same time.

The white mask above the water tank began to tremble violently.

A faint white light slowly rose from the mask.

A young man was vaguely visible curled up in the white light.

Just as his soul was about to completely leave the mask, a pitch-black hand suddenly emerged from the water tank.

He grabbed his ankle.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of hands emerged from the water.

"Close it!"

Yan Wuxiang suddenly opened his eyes.

The shimmering starlight once again filled his pupils.

"That's mine!"

He twisted his body as he rose from the ground and headed straight for the ball of soul light.

Zhao Mingtang held his sword in front of him.

"You'd better not move around right now."

Yan Wuxiang completely ignored her.

Unfamiliar faces reappeared on his face, and black fingernails grew on his hands.

Lu Yang reached out from behind and pressed his hand down on his head.

"Lie down."

Yan Wuxiang's face was pressed back onto the ground.

This time, Lu Yang controlled his strength and did not injure his body.

"Give me back my things!"

Yan Wuxiang struggled frantically.

"Without his soul, I cannot fully control this body!"

"This is my face!"

"My life!"

Lu Yang grabbed his hair and turned his face toward him.

"You occupy someone else's house and then use their face to deceive people."

"Now that the homeowner is back, you're acting all aggrieved?"

More and more black hands are emerging from the water tank.

The white soul light is being dragged back.

Fang Xuan shouted, "Lu Yang, destroy the water tank!"

"It also contains the power left behind by evil spirits from beyond the realm."

"Once those things disappear, I can send my soul back to my body!"

Lu Yang freed one hand and raised his palm toward the water tank.

The golden dragon shadow shot out instantly.

The water tank exploded with a loud crash.

There is no water inside.

There was only a thick, inky black starlight.

Dozens of pitch-black hands were torn apart by the force of the palm strike, but the remaining starlight quickly coalesced into a giant faceless human face, which rushed towards Lu Yang.

The phantom of Xuanwu behind Lu Yang reappeared.

The snake's head opened its enormous mouth.

The faceless human had no chance to struggle before it was swallowed whole.

Yan Wuxiang's body suddenly stiffened.

The starlight in my eyes quickly dimmed.

"Fang Xuan!"

Lu Yang grabbed the white soul light in the air and pressed it towards Yan Wuxiang's brow.

Fang Xuan dropped three silver needles at the same time.

The space between the eyebrows, the chest, and the Qi Sea.

The white soul light entered the body along the space between the eyebrows.

The skin on Yan Wuxiang's face kept peeling off.

Finally, he reverted to his ordinary young face.

As the last glimmer of starlight was forced out of its body, the Xuanwu serpent lowered its head and swallowed it whole.

The system notification finally sounded.

The last item has been returned to its place.

[Goods returned to their place: 31,427.]

[Item loss: Zero.]

Special escort mission completed.

[Task Evaluation: Perfect.]

Just as Lu Yang breathed a sigh of relief, an incredibly heavy force suddenly erupted from within his body.

The phantom of Xuanwu behind him raised its head.

Ancient patterns shone on the surface of the tortoise shell.

More than 30,000 points of light connected with each other and eventually coalesced into three palm-sized black marks.

[Reward obtained: Second stage of Xuanwu Zhenyue Body - Bearing the Mountain.]

[Bearing the Mountain: Xuanwu bears the weight of heaven and earth, and can also bear the fate of all living beings.]

[The host can condense three Xuanwu Seals and leave them within the body of a designated target.]

Those who possess the Xuanwu Seal can withstand one fatal attack.

Lu Yang's eyes lit up slightly.

What he has in abundance is the ability to protect himself.

But Bai Yixin, Bai Miyao, and others are different.

If they encounter a formidable enemy, he may not always be able to protect them in time.

With these three Xuanwu Seals, there is at least one more layer of protection.

Just as Lu Yang was about to examine the situation more closely, the young man on the ground suddenly coughed.

Fang Xuan quickly pulled out the silver needle.

The man slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes were first blank, then turned to terror.

"Don't open the door..."

"We can't let them open that door..."

Fang Xuan squatted down beside him.

"Chen Ping'an, your body has been taken over for six years. The extraterrestrial evil spirit that possessed your body has been eliminated."

Chen Ping'an stared blankly at his hands.

"Six years..."

He didn't seem to have recovered from the number.

A moment later, he suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Lu Yang.

"It's you."

Lu Yang frowned: "You know me?"

I've never seen you before.

Chen Ping'an's face was pale. "But that thing has used my body to go to many places."

"I've been locked inside the mask, yet I can hear it talking."

"Six years ago, it came to the ferry crossing for the first time, just to wait for you here."

The underground stone chamber gradually quieted down.

Lu Yang pointed to himself.

"wait for me?"

Chen Ping'an nodded.

"It says that the blue lotus is the key, and the black tortoise is the lock."

"And souls from another world..."

His voice trembled slightly.

"That is the offering that opens the stone gate."

Zhao Mingtang and Bai Yixin both looked at Lu Yang.

Lu Yang remained silent for a moment.

"What else did it say?"

Chen Pingan tried hard to recall.

It often mentions one person.

"That person had foreseen that you would pass through the ferry crossing and knew that you would be able to break the Soul-Swapping Array."

Fang Xuan's gaze sharpened: "Who is it?"

"Shen Guanqi!"