Chapter 782: Clouds Stirring from All Directions (2)

The obsession had already entered the middle-aged Daoist priest's body. I opened my hand and tossed him into the middle of the pedestrian street like a piece of trash.

"W-what did you make me eat?" He clawed at his mouth with both hands. The sensation of an obsession invading the body was agonizing. If it wasn't extracted in time, the obsession would likely dominate him, twisting his temperament until he lost his sense of self completely.

"A poison. The kind that makes people obedient." In the face of absolute strength, any scheme could be easily crushed. That was how it was between me and the middle-aged Daoist priest. I didn't need to care if he was lying or harboring ulterior motives because he posed absolutely no threat to me.

"Jinghai is a complicated place. Acting this brazenly, you're bound to bring down a massive disaster." The middle-aged Daoist priest wrapped a talisman around his rotting fingers. "Why don't you cure my poison, and I'll escort you to safety..."

I cut him off with an impatient wave and gave him a long, hard look. "Keep one thing in mind. I'm not negotiating with you, and I'm not asking for your opinion."

I walked away, ignoring the dumbfounded security guards watching from a distance. If the Daoist priest wasn't entirely brain-dead, he would clean up the mess himself.

"The Ghost Art Fifth Layer, combined with the obsession and the Blood Fox Killing Intent... I didn't expect I had already grown this strong." In terms of sheer cultivation in the Dream Dao, the middle-aged Daoist priest was even more formidable than Chen Jiuge, yet he wasn't even capable of withstanding a single exchange with me.

The Five Ghosts doggedly pursued the monster, keeping it firmly locked down. Behind me, nine fox tails flared out in a tyrannical, undisguised display. It looked as if I were dragging nine rivers of blood behind me as I surged forward in pursuit.

"Such deep demonic nature... he's an absolute madman!" the middle-aged Daoist priest muttered. He stayed slumped on the ground, not daring to move until I had entirely left the pedestrian street.

Having laid low for far too long, I struck with reckless abandon this time. I intended to completely muddy the waters of Jinghai and drag all the hidden factions out into the open.

The monster's objective was clear: she was making a beeline for the city center. As she fled in a panic, that writhing pile of fleshy substance clumped together, barely maintaining a human shape.

"So what if you make it to the urban district? Let's see who in Jinghai dares to stop me!" Yin energy splashed outward with every step I took. I looked like a completely out-of-control devil, bloodlust suffusing my eyes as I fixed a lethal glare on the bright, bustling city ahead. Killing intent poured out of me.

"Jinghai's population exceeds ten million. It is one of Huaxia's major centers where the will of the people converges. In such a crucial location, I wonder if the Live Show and the Five Great Upper Sects have already laid out their pieces. I've been chased from pillar to post, forced into hiding for so long. It's time I faced them a different way." Beneath the Good and Evil Asura Mask hid a maniacal expression. I stood perfectly straight. "If I can't see the road ahead, then I'll step on corpses and stand at the highest peak!"

I maintained my speed, tailing the monster as a yin wind swept across the night sky.

"Come on!" I roared. "Let the people backing you see who's really afraid, who flinches first! At worst, I'll burn this entire city to the ground! I'll shatter the boundary between the mundane world and the shadows, and let everyone realize they are nothing more than pathetic, lowly pawns!"

Violently conflicting auras erupted from my body: the cunning of an evil demon, the sinister malice of the Ghost Dao, the lethal frenzy of the Blood Fox, and the unbridled arrogance of a fate usurper who didn't even put the heavens in his eyes. Without realizing it, I had already grown to this level.

I had repressed myself for far too long. Here, in this strange, unique city, I wanted to vent it all with absolute, reckless abandon.

"If you wear a mask for too long, you can never take it off," I whispered. "But if I kill until everyone is terrified of me, then there will be no need to wear a mask at all."

Stalking the humanoid monster, my domineering, tyrannical aura acted like a sharp blade, tearing open the Jinghai night.

With the Five Ghosts at my side, my demonic might swelled to the heavens!

For many people, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

The dividing line between the suburbs and the Jinghai Urban District was Hongqiao Port. This massive bridge spanning the two shores was constructed by the foreign concessions decades ago. In the Old Granny's stories, it was this very bridge that had blocked all the refugees' hopes of survival. It had driven them back into Longchang, forcing them to become monsters that devoured their own kind to survive.

Humans were the most civilized creatures in the world, yet once selfishness took hold, they could act with a ruthless rationality calculated enough to leave any other species in awe.

Having been renovated over a dozen times, the current Hongqiao Port was nearly ten times its original size. It could accommodate sixteen vehicles driving side-by-side, making it the largest land port in eastern Huaxia.

By the time I arrived, the other side of the port was lit up as bright as day. "Ten thousand lights... it truly is a sleepless demonic metropolis!"

Vehicles flowed in an endless stream. It was past eleven at night, so the number of people passing through the port was significantly lower than during the day.

I was dressed in ordinary clothes, but coldness radiated from my body. Not a single living soul dared to come within a few meters of me.

"Done running?" I asked.

The monster cowered in a dark corner where the streetlights couldn't reach. She seemed extremely reluctant to enter the Jinghai Urban District, as if something on the other side of the port particularly terrified her.

Flesh and skin contorting, the monster shifted back into the shape of a woman. Her face also began to warp, seemingly imitating the people around her on pure instinct.

"No wonder she wants to slip into the Jinghai Urban District. The larger the crowd, the easier it is for her to escape." I had already disturbed the crowd, so I didn't care about the bewildered stares of the bystanders. I shot forward at a sprint, barreling straight toward the transforming monster. Startled, she abandoned her hesitation and fled frantically toward the other end of the port.

"You aren't getting away." My mind was made up; I was going to bait out the faction backing her tonight. Without slowing down, I stayed hot on her heels.

"Sir, this is the roadway!"

"Fuck! Do you have a death wish?! Watch where you're going!"

"Are you blind?!"

"Where did this country bumpkin come from? I'll—"

"Scram!" I roared. Dense malevolent yin energy erupted across Hongqiao Port like a storm. The Five Directions Plague Ghosts ruthlessly plundered the lifeforce from the surroundings, making their own forms massive and solid.

With the Five Ghosts clearing the path ahead, if that bizarre woman really entered the Jinghai Urban District, I would just have to force my way through the checkpoint!

Cars collided behind me, while the shapeshifting woman in front of me pushed her speed faster and faster.

"To think she was actually hiding her strength. It seems this thing isn't just a simple puppet." Relying on my Judging Eye and physical attributes that far surpassed ordinary humans, I wove through the oncoming traffic. Carrying the momentum of the Five Ghosts, I stepped onto Hongqiao.

But the instant I set foot on Hongqiao, the Bronze Bell hanging from the eaves of the inspection station chimed without any wind. A layer of light—invisible to mortal eyes—spilled down from the apex of the port bridge, forcefully barricading the Five Directions Plague Ghosts outside the bridge's perimeter.

"There really is something supernatural at work here. No wonder Jinghai uses Hongqiao as the dividing line between the inner district and the outer district. An expert has cast a spell over this bridge; I wonder which Celestial Master is responsible for this." The plague ghosts stood tall, supporting the heavens. The road behind me had already descended into chaos, a massive pile-up of crashed vehicles. It wouldn't be long before the police arrived.

"I can't afford to linger here. I might as well just carve a path straight through. There may be a multitude of spells on this bridge, but they are ultimately dead objects. How could they possibly stop me?" For the first time since returning from the Animal Realm, I fully catalyzed my Eighteen Yin Apertures. A surging tide of yin energy poured into the bodies of the Five Directions Plague Ghosts like a vast ocean. "It's time to test my limits and see exactly how strong I am now! Ghosts of the Five Plagues, heed my command! Overturn the rivers and seas! Tear down the mountains!"

Yin energy intertwined as the five giant ghosts seized the foundation of the bridge. An immense force, imperceptible to ordinary humans, clamped down on the structure, and everyone present felt the ground shudder beneath their feet. The starlight radiating from the apex of Hongqiao abruptly dimmed, and fractures inexplicably appeared across the Bronze Bell hanging from the inspection station's eaves.

"An e-earthquake?!"

"Hurry, call the police!"

"Don't panic! Everyone stay where you are and don't run around!"

Panic spread. No one saw me standing motionless at the bridgehead, slowly raising my hand to trace out ghost runes in the air one after another.

"Bang!" A steel cable on the bridge snapped. The plague ghosts roared, their malevolent yin energy transforming into a sound wave that echoed throughout Jinghai.

Pulling a single hair moves the entire body. Before I had completely destroyed the port, several suppressing forces surged from deep beneath the Jinghai Urban District. Jinghai was a place where the will of the people of Huaxia converged, and it was also one of the dragon lairs; its terrain had long been subtly reshaped, gaining a trace of sentience.

"A Feng Shui anomaly? Too bad you're too late!" The Nether Runes in my palm pulsed with a faint black light. Receiving my command, the five giant plague ghosts prepared to tear the port apart with their bare hands.

Just as this massive disaster was about to erupt, a low, hoarse male voice suddenly echoed in my ear. "Are you insane? Stop this instantly!"

"Who do you think you are? Stop hiding and get out here!" I raised my arm high. The Nether Runes twisted, as if my palm contained an entire ghostly domain.

"We spoke at the Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital! Didn't you come to Jinghai City precisely to find me? Stop this at once! Hongqiao Port is the gateway to Jinghai. If you destroy this place, the will of the people that the inner district has condensed over decades will begin to dissipate!"

The man spoke faster; he was clearly getting anxious.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What does the dissipation of the will of the people have to do with me?" Amidst the wailing ghosts and the shuddering of the entire bridge, my face remained perfectly calm beneath the mask.

"You!" Seeing that I refused to yield, the voice paused for a few breaths before rapidly speaking again. "I'm in the alley to the left of the Hongqiao Port plaza! As long as you let go, I will immediately tell you about the Live Show and the First Anchor! Jinghai isn't like Jiangcheng. All of Huaxia's top factions are watching this place. If you really break open the port, you will encounter unimaginably powerful enemies! Jinghai is already chaotic enough; there's no need to expose yourself and become everyone's enemy!"

The Nether Runes in my palm flashed a few times before slowly dimming. Beneath the mask, the corners of my mouth curled up slightly. "Deal."

With a wave of my arm, I dispersed the Five Ghosts. I reeled in my aura and squeezed into the chaotic crowd.

The massive bridge had finally stopped shaking. Everything that had just happened felt like an illusion.

"Was that an earthquake?"

"Thank heavens. My entire family relies on me to feed them; I really can't afford to have an accident here!"

"Where did that bastard who ran into the road go? Fuck! If it wasn't for that earthquake, I would have made him pay!"

...

I silently moved to the edge of the plaza and summoned my Fate Ghost to hide in my shadow before entering the alley.

The streetlights couldn't reach this place. The alley was very narrow, with garbage piled up on both sides.

After I had walked about a dozen meters inside, I suddenly heard the sound of wind behind me. I paused for a moment and looked back.

A tall, thin man wrapped entirely in a black robe appeared at the entrance to the alley. He maintained a ten-meter distance from me, his voice hoarse. "If possible, I hope this is our last meeting."