Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

The paper figure froze instantly, and Chen Mo's spiritual power attached to it was as if it had been soaked in ice water.

The chilling aura emanating from Master Liu, almost tangible, had already swept over the withered trees and weeds surrounding the mass grave like a tide.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a fierce and intense aura suddenly erupted from behind a pile of rubble on the outside!

A thunderous shout rang out: "Remnants of the Moon Worship Cult, how dare you use living people to concoct medicines, poisoning three counties!"

A figure arrived with the sound, as fast as lightning.

It was Yue Shan, the captain of the inspection bureau's branch stationed in Linhe County!

He held the Crimson Flame Blade in both hands, its blade glowing crimson light, dispelling the evil influences, and slashed straight at Master Liu, the eye of the formation.

"The flies from the Inspection Bureau have indeed come smelling the scent." Master Liu sneered, raising his withered right hand, and five streaks of dark, bloody finger wind appeared out of thin air, easily dissolving Yue Shan's sharp sword energy.

Yue Shan's expression changed drastically as he felt the chilling, poisonous power travel along the blade, causing his blood and qi to churn.

He quickly changed tactics and retreated, but was entangled by four black-clad cultists who blocked his retreat like ghosts.

At this moment, the huge black handprint unleashed by Master Liu had already drifted over, exuding a chilling killing intent.

Yue Shan had nowhere to run, and a resolute glint flashed in his eyes.

At that very moment—

That's enough.

A tall and imposing figure had appeared between Yue Shan and Master Liu at some point.

The newcomer was dressed in a simple, dark gray outfit, with a worn-out leather armor over it. He was around fifty years old, with short hair like steel needles and a sharp jawline.

He was just standing there, and the air around him was slightly distorted by the high temperature, and even the soil under his feet showed slight signs of scorching.

The energy of blood and qi, like that of a furnace, instantly diluted the yin and deathly aura that permeated the graveyard.

This is the outward manifestation of cultivating one's Qi and Blood Martial Arts to the point of being tempered in the Qi and Blood Furnace.

He did not attack Master Liu, but simply turned to the side and casually flicked his sleeve.

A blazing gale suddenly appeared, perfectly engulfing Yue Shan and sending him smoothly backward more than ten feet, avoiding the range of Master Liu's palm strike.

Master Liu withdrew his deadly handprint, and the surging black energy around him paused slightly. "I wondered who could sneak here so quietly. It turns out to be Yue Changkong of the Suppressing Strange Things Division. Now it's time to call him Inspector Yue."

"What, Inspector Yue, are you here to inspect our work?"

His words were tinged with probing, clearly implying something, and his tone lacked the intensity one would show when facing a mortal enemy; instead, it possessed an eerie calmness.

Chang Kong remained unmoved, his gaze sweeping over the strange array and the pile of firewood before returning to Master Liu. "I'm taking this man with me. Before the array is complete, behave yourself."

A glint of malice flashed in Master Liu's eyes, as if he were weighing his options. Finally, he gave a cold snort: "Fine, I'll give you face. But Inspector Yue, remember your words. If any more fools dare to bother you..."

His unfinished words clearly revealed his threatening intent.

"Let's go." Yue Changkong said no more, turned around and said to Captain Yue Shan of the Inspection Bureau in a deep voice, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

Yue Shan was filled with shock. Why didn't they make a move?

Why does their conversation seem strangely familiar and tacitly understood?

But he knew this was not the time to press for answers, so he suppressed his doubts and gave a low reply: "Yes!"

Before leaving, he glanced casually at something.

Master Liu stood still, not stopping them, but coldly watching their figures disappear into the shadows of the mass grave.

The black-clad cultists around them quieted down again, each going about their duties as if the incident had never happened.

. . . . . .

On the other side, in the grass a kilometer away from here.

Chen Mo slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his face slightly pale.

Forcibly severing the mental connection with the paper figure and suppressing one's own aura to the extreme the moment Master Liu's aura swept over him took a considerable toll on his mental energy.

"Yue Changkong... Qi and Blood Furnace Realm... seems to have some old acquaintance with Bai Yue..."

"What is the Bureau of Strange Things waiting for?"

"Or is there a deeper exchange of interests between them and the Moon Worship Cult?"

The image the paper figure had last transmitted kept replaying in his mind; his brow was furrowed and his thoughts raced.

"Never mind, let's get out of here first."

Those two were far too powerful. Chen Mo believed that he would be instantly killed if he faced either of them, with no chance of escape.

Staying any longer is too risky!

He concealed all his presence, moving silently among the weeds and rocks like a true shadow.

The further away from the core of the mass grave, the less fresh the air became; instead, it became increasingly eerily silent and unsettling.

The chirping of insects had long since disappeared, even the sound of the wind had vanished; only the muffled echo of his own heartbeat reverberated in his ears.

This stillness is not tranquility, but more like the fear that grips everything before the arrival of some enormous being.

Not right.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Chen Mo's mind.

This environmental anomaly doesn't seem to have formed naturally; rather, it seems to have been influenced by some kind of field.

He slowed his pace and quickly scanned his surroundings.

Under the dim red moonlight, the outlines of the grass and trees appeared somewhat blurry.

The air was filled with a very faint sweet, fishy smell, mixed with the stench of rotting flesh.

"What is it?"

Chen Mo felt a chill run down his spine and stopped moving forward, instead leaning against a cold, massive rock.

With a flick of his wrist, three pale yellow paper figures, faintly exuding a sharp aura, were already between his fingers.

Almost at the same moment he prepared the paper puppet.

Not far ahead, under a dead old locust tree, the soil silently rose up.

Without any loud noise or soaring eerie energy, just quietly, a human-shaped figure stood up.

She was wearing a faded floral dress and jacket, and her figure resembled that of a short old woman. She was facing away from Chen Mo, seemingly combing her hair.

The movements were slow, with an extremely uncoordinated stiffness.

Chen Mo's pupils contracted slightly.

A faint sizzling sound could be heard where the old woman's fingers traced, like paper rubbing together, or like flesh slightly separating.

The pungent, rotten smell suddenly intensified.

The old woman slowly turned her head.

By the dim red moonlight, Chen Mo saw its face.

If that can still be called a face.

It was a flat face, like the features that the most inept painter had casually sketched on a blank sheet of paper.

The eyebrows were two ink dots, the eyes were two thin slits, the nose was a triangle, and the mouth was a scarlet hook.

All the organs were just flat patterns, embedded in that overly smooth face.

Moreover, this eerie face is constantly changing.

The slit-like eyes strained to open, trying to mimic the curve of an eyeball, while the scarlet mouth widened into a terrifying smile.

The color of the floral dress she was wearing was visibly fading, and cracks were beginning to appear on her exposed skin, like leather that had been over-dried.

Painted Skin Demon!

What the hell!

Chen Mo's heart sank, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

He had seen descriptions of such ghosts in Chen Dachuan's miscellaneous writings.

An extremely troublesome ghost, skilled in disguise and stealth, capable of peeling off the skins of living beings to wear and mimic their appearance and aura.

It can create a terrifying range that erodes the senses, causing people to suffer a silent mental breakdown and become its new clothes.