Chapter 673: Feigned Death Doll

The Yang Talisman inside Wang Shi's body could be refined—an unexpected delight.

Without the Yang Talisman to restrain him, I no longer needed to kill him.

"Stay here and familiarize yourself with the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation. Refine that talisman inside you. I will buy you enough time." After leaving Wang Shi with those instructions, I stepped off the stone platform. Leaving the Desire Ghost and the others behind, I returned to the main hall of the Three Yin Sect alone.

I was someone who paid attention to details. There were two things on me that could expose my position: the Yang Talisman and my phone.

Now that my phone had fallen into the water condensed from the ley line's malevolent yin energy, it was impossible for the outside world to track it. As long as I disposed of the Yang Talisman, I would have nothing left to worry about.

Emerging from the secret passage, I looked up at the faint light of dawn creeping across the sky and took a deep breath. "According to the information Leng Qingxuan revealed, the sect cultivators might already be in Jiangcheng. As long as I can hold this place for half a day, I can take Wang Shi and flee into Henshan. Once we're there, we'll be completely free."

Opening the Black Leather Suitcase, I began sorting through my belongings. Only by fully utilizing every resource would I have a chance to survive this half a day.

The Live Show's filming equipment took up a large portion of the suitcase. Aside from those, I only had a few talismans and auxiliary tools left, such as the Dragon-Carving Brush used for drawing talismans, the Chu Palace Compass used for surveying feng shui, and the Mirror Fragment obtained in the Deep Dream Layer.

"These items are mainly meant to deal with evil spirits. Using them against sect cultivators would be like showing off my meager skills before true experts—a complete embarrassment," I muttered, shoving the talismans to the bottom of the suitcase. I knew my current capabilities perfectly well.

After rummaging for a good while, I placed everything I considered valuable on the shrine.

'The Peachwood Box holds a bone fragment of the Uncorrupted Bone. If I open the lid, I wonder if that old monster will sense it. If it comes over and muddies the waters, my chances of slipping away in the chaos will increase.' It was a good idea, but anything involving the Uncorrupted Bone carried too many variables and was difficult to control. I moved on and looked at the other items.

The few items placed behind the Peachwood Box were all rewards I had exchanged from the Live Show after my thirteenth broadcast ended.

From left to right, they were the Nine Palaces Realm-Breaking Divine Talisman, the Earth Divine Talisman, the Ghost-Detaining Token, the Breath-Severing Pill, and the Feigned Death Doll.

'Sect cultivators excel at setting up formations and crushing opponents with arrays. This realm-breaking talisman happens to be able to break through most formations, making it one of my trump cards.' This Upper Vehicle Talisman had cost me ten points, but at a critical moment, it would absolutely be a lifesaver.

As for the second item, the Earth Divine Talisman, I had only exchanged for it because it was very cheap compared to other Upper Vehicle Talismans. Moreover, there was a profoundly mysterious Mountain God Sculpture at the eye of the Ten Directions Ghost Refining Grand Formation. If this Earth Divine Talisman could mobilize even a fraction of the Mountain God Sculpture's power, I would profit immensely.

There was not much to say about the third item, the Ghost-Detaining Token. It was just a cracked wooden tablet, looking as if it had been chopped off a memorial tablet. One side was blank, while the other side bore a single, ferocious, blood-red character—'Detain.'

Next in line was the Breath-Severing Pill, resting inside a jade box. It was entirely pitch-black and exuded an ominous aura.

Swallowing the Breath-Severing Pill could induce a temporary state of feigned death. This item was somewhat useless for my current situation. Even if I swallowed the pill and pretended to be dead, my "corpse" would definitely be taken back by the sect cultivators. I would be stripped of all my belongings, and waking back up in the end would be entirely pointless.

On the other hand, the Feigned Death Doll made me ponder for a long time, leading me to come up with a clever bait-and-switch method.

The Feigned Death Doll was crafted using black shaman evil arts. As long as one planted their own hair on the doll's head and then destroyed it, they could create the illusion of their own death. It could mislead divination and calculations, making it one of the common methods black shamans used to evade pursuit.

'The phone on Chen Jiuge vanished inexplicably, and the sect cultivators still don't know about the existence of the Underworld Live Show. Therefore, they could never imagine that I would use the Live Show to exchange for a Feigned Death Doll, an item only black shamans can craft.' It was this exact asymmetry of information that gave me the upper hand. As for how to use the Feigned Death Doll, I already had a rough plan in mind.

'When a master magician performs an escape trick, he steps into a confined space right in front of everyone's eyes and even handcuffs himself. This is all to tell the audience that he is trapped, using their own eyes to deceive them. Only then, when he reappears in a different location a few minutes later, will the audience be truly shocked.' I toyed with the Feigned Death Doll in my hands, pondering every detail of the plan. 'Therefore, to pull off a flawless escape, I have to let the audience see me enter a situation of certain death. I have to make them believe I am already dead. Only then can I thoroughly rid myself of this trouble.'

I didn't know if the Daoist priests beneath Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital had truly been wiped out. If all of them, including Xu Yan, had actually been slaughtered in that trap, then the blood feud between me and the sect could never be resolved. Of course, I had already prepared myself for this ever since I lured Xu Yan and the others to Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital. What I hadn't expected, however, was that the sect's reaction would be so intensely fierce, forcing me to flee Jiangcheng in a hurry before I had time to handle many of my affairs.

'If my plan succeeds, even though it is only a feigned death, I will have to abandon everything I have in Jiangcheng.' Whether it was my shop or my friends, I had to let it all go for now. Truthfully, being driven to such desperate straits by the sect was something I hadn't foreseen, but discarding everything wasn't the end. It was merely a stopgap measure.

'Sooner or later, I will return and stand proudly in the sunlight. When that day comes, the sect will be nothing but a joke.' As a live show streamer backed by the Live Show's massive resources and secret tomes, nothing was impossible as long as I was given enough time.

Stepping out of the main hall of the Three Yin Sect, I looked up at the hazy, brightening sky. "A new day has begun."

...

Waiting was a long and tedious process. First, I patrolled the Three Yin Sect with the Ten Directions Talisman Order in hand, walking past the locations where the ten ghostly faces were sealed. From the outside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary; they just looked like standard wing rooms. Only upon closer inspection did I realize that their doors and windows were completely plastered with talismans, and they had been constructed in highly specific locations that aligned perfectly with the feng shui of the yin vein.

I had no intention of touching these rooms for now. After familiarizing myself with their locations, I returned deep into the ley line and sat cross-legged beside the stone bridge, absorbing the purest yin energy from the source of the Henshan Yin Vein.

Just one morning passed, and my ghost art cultivation realm had already stabilized. My Eighteen Yin Apertures were brimming with the ley line's yin energy. If I were to summon the Five Directions Plague Ghosts right now, their strength would be elevated by thirty percent.

Aside from me, the other ghosts in my Ghost Ring had also experienced improvements. The Seductive Ghost, Wang Yuchun, had become even more alluring. Her eyes were dewy, her every gesture oozed charm, and her soul body had grown much more solid.

The Filthy Ghost formed by Tian Teng had doubled in size, looking like a small mountain. However, his expression remained foolish and vacant, completely lacking the ferocious malice of an evil spirit.

Among the three ghosts, the Desire Ghost had improved the most. This creature was the most brutal of them all, standing at the complete opposite extreme of the Filthy Ghost. Every time I released it to slaughter, it left a trail of severed limbs and broken bodies in its wake. It reveled in sadistic killing and boasted the greatest strength; even when facing a ghost a whole tier higher than itself, it would relentlessly lunge in to bite and tear.

For example, when we first encountered the Ghost Mother at Xinhu High School, most ghosts had either fled or bowed in submission. Only this bastard had stood its ground with bloodshot eyes, roaring incessantly at the Ghost Mother.

When we first entered the ley line, I let the three ghosts freely absorb the yin energy. The closer we were to the array eye, the higher the quality of the yin energy, and the stricter the requirements became for absorbing it.

I still remembered that the first time we entered the ley line, the Desire Ghost could only stay in the tunnel and absorb the stray yin energy seeping out. Yet just now, when I opened my eyes, I actually found the Desire Ghost right behind me.

Its mouth was split wide open as it swallowed massive gulps of yin energy. Its body had grown even more lean and gaunt, its fingers long and slender, and its nails as sharp as knives. Faint ghost fire danced within its eyes, burning with all the myriad desires of the mortal world.

'The Desire Ghost seems to have improved drastically. I wonder how it compares to the Fate Ghost from before?' At that thought, I calmed my mind and looked inward at my Kidney Aperture. The newly born Fate Ghost had not yet awakened. 'The Fate Ghost can die in my place, defying the laws of heaven. It's no wonder it is so difficult to resurrect.'

I stood up and crossed the stone bridge. Seeing Wang Shi with his eyes tightly shut, still refining the Yang Talisman, I didn't disturb him.

The writing on that Qingcheng talisman had already disappeared, leaving only divine runic symbols interlaced within it. These traces had to be completely wiped out to guarantee that the sect cultivators couldn't use it to track him.