Chapter 577: A Demon in the Heart (1)

At the time, the Ghost Infant Sect Master was completely covered in venomous snakes. Under those circumstances, I assumed he was already dead and didn't approach the body to double-check.

'Could he still be alive?' Only the carcasses of venomous snakes and a puddle of foul, black blood remained in the tunnel. As for the master of the Ghost Infant Lineage, he had vanished without a trace.

'I guess the older you are, the craftier you get. But you're severely injured. Let's see how far you can run.' Summoning the Desire Ghost to hide in my shadow, I gripped the Skinning Knife and made my way up to the surface, step by step.

Bloodstains trailed along the path, but I couldn't find any of the Ghost Infant Sect Master's footprints. I guessed that in his condition, even if he had survived the snakes, he wouldn't live much longer. It was nothing more than a dying struggle.

'These scattered blood trails must be from him dragging himself along the ground. This old bastard is stubborn, I'll give him that.' I weighed the situation carefully. If the Ghost Infant Sect Master managed to escape, he would likely alert everyone that an intruder was in the underground tunnels. They might have already laid a death trap on the other side, just waiting for me to walk right into it.

'I'll have to gamble.' There was only one entrance to the tunnel. If I wanted to get out, I had to take this path. 'Delay breeds danger. I can't hesitate now.'

Gripping my knife, I hurried upward until a faint light gradually appeared ahead.

I pushed open a wooden door and finally returned to the surface.

After tossing aside the black cloth covering the shrine, I stood in the main hall of the Three Yin Sect.

'No ambush... that means the Ghost Infant Sect Master probably hasn't alerted the rest of the Three Yin Sect. Of course, it's also possible there are other secret paths hidden in the underground tunnels, and he escaped another way.' Thinking it over, the second possibility seemed the most likely.

'The Ghost Infant Sect Master knows I'm a Fate Usurper. Still, with both his arms severed and venom coursing through his veins from the snakebites, he can't have much time left. My top priority right now is to eliminate the rest of the Three Yin Sect.' I pulled out my phone to check the time. More than two hours had passed since I infiltrated the sect, and the sky outside was already turning dark.

'Time is running out. I still haven't figured out exactly how to use the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation, so I need to hurry.' I had wasted too much time in the underground tunnels, and I was deeply worried that someone might discover the corpse I had hidden earlier.

'But before that, I need to check these two shrines.' She Qian had pulled the Soul-Soothing Incense from one of them. The foundation of the Three Yin Sect's resources was likely hidden right inside these two wooden altars.

Sweeping aside the black cloth, I pried at them with my knife for a long time, but they remained stubbornly shut. I didn't dare linger with my limited time, so I had to give up for now.

Stepping out of the main hall, I found that the heavy fog of Yin energy outside had grown even thicker. The tremors in the earth veins must have caused the subterranean Yin energy to continuously seep into the air.

This dense fog was more of a blessing than a curse. Dressed in a Three Yin Sect Daoist robe, I would blend right in. The others would only notice something was wrong if they got close, and by the time they reacted, I, already prepared, would have ended their lives.

Knife in hand and with the Fate Ghost trailing behind me, I stalked through the compound like a slasher from a horror movie, my black-and-white mask hiding my face as I began to sow fear and death through the buildings.

My first target was a surviving disciple of the Ghost Infant Lineage. He was meditating in a quiet room. I slipped inside, and while he was still panicking in surprise, I plunged the Skinning Knife straight into his chest.

Blood stained his Daoist robe red and splattered across my clothes. I clamped my hand tightly over his mouth, not daring to let go until his struggles completely ceased.

Tossing his lifeless, twitching body to the floor, I closed the door behind me and set out to find my next prey.

The hunt lasted fifteen minutes. I prowled through every side room and pavilion in the Daoist temple. Now, only four disciples of the Snake Lord Lineage survived, led by Jiang Yuan.

The four of them were gathered together, busy discussing how they could help Jiang Yuan become the next Lord Snake.

The group was deep in a heated discussion. Every now and then, Jiang Yuan would pull treasures from beneath his bed and hand them out to the fellow disciples who supported him.

Among the gifts were ancient jade pieces, Talisman Papers, and perfectly smooth, delicate infant skulls.

'The Jiang family really knows how to do business. They use the prestige of the Three Yin Sect to seize profits for themselves, and then dole out a fraction of those spoils to the sect's disciples to buy their loyalty. These evil cultivators might be vicious and cruel, but when it comes to true cunning and treachery, they can't hold a candle to the sleazy merchants of the Jiang family.'

Everyone has their own philosophy for survival, and the Jiang family—the undisputed kingpins of Jiangcheng's surface world—were no exception.

Watching the four men in the room, I felt no rush. I waited silently in the shadows, biding my time to pick them off one by one.

"She Qian is an arrogant, condescending bastard. I've been sick of him for a long time. Don't worry, Jiang Yuan—I, He Qingpi, will back you no matter what."

"Brother Qingpi, your loyalty is unmatched! You must accept this skull of an infant born at the exact hour and moment of ultimate Yin. Out of all of us, you're the only one who specializes in array formations. This thing is completely useless in our hands!"

"He's right, just take it. It's a token of Jiang Yuan's gratitude."

"Haha, well, since you all insist, I won't pretend to be modest. Thank you, Daoist Brother Jiang Yuan."

"Calling me 'Daoist Brother' is too formal, isn't it? Just call me Brother Jiang."

...

Their conversation shifted from how to stop She Qian from becoming the next Lord Snake, to restoring the prestige of the Three Yin Sect's Snake Lord Lineage. They moved on to their friction and skirmishes with the orthodox factions, sighing over how much the world had changed over the years.

They chatted merrily about everything under the sun until the sky outside was pitch black. Finally, two of the disciples walked out of Jiang Yuan's room carrying piles of treasures, thoroughly loaded down with their spoils.

"With this infant skull born at the peak of Yin, I can lay out a grand formation with three overlapping variations. Brilliant! Truly brilliant!" He Qingpi and his companion were beaming, completely oblivious to the danger lurking outside. They had spent so much time cultivating safely within the sect that their guard was practically non-existent.

I waited until they stepped out of the courtyard before slipping out behind them. I unleashed three of my ghosts to surround and slaughter the companion, while I crept up right beside He Qingpi.

"Senior Brother Qingpi, wait up! Senior Brother She Qian is looking for you," I called out, not even bothering to disguise my voice as I quickly closed the distance.

"Looking for me? What does he want?" He Qingpi paused, still cradling the infant skull in his hands, completely blind to the lethal danger right behind him.

I took a final step forward, letting the Skinning Knife slide effortlessly into my grip. I raised my head, my black-and-white mask radiating a frigid killing intent. "He wants you to join him in hell."

The tip of my knife punctured clean through his neck. The sudden spray of arterial blood left my eyes bloodshot and unhinged.

"Join..."

The rest of the words caught in He Qingpi's throat. He would never get the chance to speak them. His fingers went limp, and the delicate infant skull slipped from his grasp, shattering into pieces on the ground.

The moment I struck him down, I didn't pause for a single second. I spun around and lunged at the other disciple.

The sudden ambush had sent the man into a panic. Snapping out of his initial shock, he opened his mouth to scream.

But with three of my ghosts attacking him simultaneously, he was already overwhelmed. I stepped in and finished him off by slicing open his throat.

'Just two left.'

When human lives were reduced to mere numbers, the act of killing suddenly didn't feel so cruel anymore.

My boots splashed through the pooling blood as I turned back toward Jiang Yuan's quarters.

Hearing the commotion outside, one of the Daoists rushed out. To be honest, if he had teamed up with Jiang Yuan, they might have actually given me some trouble. Instead, the fool impulsively charged out into the thick fog all by himself.

I could hear the crinkle of him burning talismans, but my mastery in ghost arts was far beyond his level—it was an absolute mismatch. The Little Ghost he summoned was terrified and didn't even dare to approach me. The outcome of this battle had been decided before it even began.

'Just one left.'

Pulling the Skinning Knife out of the evil Daoist's throat, I took my time sauntering into Jiang Yuan's room. I looked at the pale, terrified middle-aged Daoist and flashed him a wicked grin. "Game over."

In the face of absolute strength, cunning and treachery were entirely useless. That was precisely why a fox could never defeat a lion.

"Wait! Hear me out, I'm a member of the Jiang family—"

I clamped my hand over his mouth and dragged my razor-thin blade across his throat. I wasn't killing him to extract some grand benefit—I was doing it to protect myself.

With Jiang Yuan dead, the sprawling Three Yin Sect was reduced to nothing more than a ghost town. Besides me and Yun Chuan, not a single living soul remained.

I didn't even have time to rest. I hauled all the corpses and everything stained with blood and threw them into the subterranean earth veins. It took me three and a half hours to completely scrub the murder scenes. Only after making absolutely sure I hadn't missed a single trace did I drag my exhausted body back to the old manor behind the temple.