The burning sensation from the ritual gradually faded after my master finished.
I let out a long sigh of relief.
“Master, now I don't have to fear my soul being taken, right?”
My master looked at the curse mark on my chest and nodded slightly.
“Yes!
As long as the Soul-Suppressing Talisman outside remains.
The Soul-Siphoning Curse within cannot be activated.
This curse mark will last for at most a month.
After a month, it will disappear on its own.”
“That damned demonic Taoist, he’s truly damned!”
I couldn’t help but curse.
First, his self-detonation had splattered corpse poison everywhere.
Unfortunately, I was splashed on my thigh and poisoned.
But who knew that now I’d been ambushed again and afflicted with the Soul-Siphoning Curse.
I felt my luck had hit rock bottom.
Seeing my low spirits, Master patted my arm.
“Xiao Qin, in our line of work, danger is everywhere. Keep a relaxed mindset.
You rest for a while. We will catch that guy one day.”
I grunted and nodded.
Master smiled and looked at Daoist Tang.
“That demonic Taoist is very powerful, likely not weaker than us.
When he self-detonated, he vowed to take our lives in a month.
We must be wary and make plans early…”
Daoist Tang’s expression was also grim.
Upon hearing this, he simply snorted coldly.
“What are you afraid of? Have you forgotten our master’s revenge?
After all these years, we’ve finally encountered a demonic Taoist from the Netherworld Sect.
Now, I’m afraid he won’t come…”
Daoist Tang glared at my master and spoke fiercely.
But from this statement, it was one hundred percent certain.
My master and Daoist Tang were fellow disciples.
They were both disciples of Grandmaster Jiu Xuan.
“Fine, then we shall await him patiently…”
Master said with a deep voice, casting a glance at the demonic Taoist’s corpse.
However, when we looked back at the demonic Taoist’s body.
The corpse, for some inexplicable reason.
In just a few minutes, had turned into a pile of rotten flesh.
The entire body was decaying.
Bubbling and emitting black smoke, it was clearly on its way to becoming a pool of pus and blood…
Master and Daoist Tang stepped forward, examining the corpse again.
Both of them frowned as they investigated.
My master even said:
“No wonder his stomach was full of corpse poison; it turns out this corpse had long been subjected to the Corpse-Rotting Curse.”
Mo Ting and I exchanged glances. We hadn’t heard of such a spell.
But judging by the name and the state of the demonic Taoist’s decaying body, we could understand somewhat.
It must be an evil spell that could rapidly decay a corpse…
Daoist Tang chuckled twice upon seeing the rotting corpse.
“This is great, we don’t even have to lift a finger, the body has dissolved.”
“The body has dissolved, but the feng shui of this cursed land.
We cannot leave it as it is; it must be broken.”
My master spoke again, looking at the large tree and the small pond not far away.
Master had said before.
If there were ghosts here, they would be malevolent spirits.
If corpses were buried, zombies would emerge.
If it wasn’t broken, it would indeed be a hidden major problem…
Daoist Tang nodded and asked.
“Old Trash, how do you intend to do it?”
My master looked at the large tree.
“This Yin Pond water is all due to this tree blocking the sunlight.
Causing the yin energy to gather and not disperse.
Over time, it has formed the current situation.
As long as this tree is destroyed, the feng shui here will be broken.”
Having said that, my master walked directly towards the large tree.
The rest of us followed.
The tree was incredibly lush, almost as grand as the Wood Spirit Yellow Horn Tree we had seen last time.
Master approached the tree and surveyed it first.
The tree’s roots were dense, hanging down.
The roots below were also gnarled and tangled, extending densely into the Yin Water Pond.
This tree was no ordinary tree.
Other trees had withered and died due to this Yin Water Pond.
Yet, this tree thrived because of it.
Absorbing yin energy, it had become an evil tree.
Simultaneously, it shaded the Yin Water Pond, thus gathering more yin energy.
This created a vicious cycle.
If left unchecked, the yin energy accumulated in the Yin Water Pond would grow more and more, becoming heavier.
This nameless large tree would also absorb more and more yin energy.
In the long run, it would inevitably become a demonic tree and a cursed land.
Therefore, before it became a demonic tree, it had to be nipped in the bud.
The feng shui of this cursed land would be completely broken.
My master surveyed the surroundings and finally poked the large tree with his peach wood sword.
Instantly, wisps of pale red liquid seeped out from under the bark.
Mo Ting and I had dealt with tree spirits before.
We naturally knew what it meant when the bark exuded red liquid.
It meant the tree was about to become a spirit.
It was about to manifest a spirit essence.
We were both very surprised, and I even said.
“Master, this tree is about to become a spirit.”
My master, however, appeared very calm.
“It won’t succeed!
Judging by the color of the liquid, this tree has not yet manifested a spirit essence or consciousness.
Now, all we need to do is burn this tree.
Whether it’s the cursed land or the tree problem, it will be solved.”
Master said calmly, intending to burn the tree.
After all, beneath this tree was the Yin Pond water.
With their mutual resonance, they formed a great cursed land.
To break the pattern here, the tree had to be destroyed to prevent future calamities.
My master told Mo Ting and me to rest.
He and Daoist Tang found some thick dry firewood nearby.
They piled it around the base of the tree and cleared the surrounding dry grass.
This was to prevent a wildfire from spreading to the entire Crow Mountain when igniting the fire.
Over an hour had passed by the time they finished.
Mo Ting and I also helped out quite a bit.
At this moment, Master took out his lighter and pipe, lit it, and took a puff.
Then, using the flame, he directly ignited the woodpile at the base of the large tree.
The weather was dry today, making fires easy to start.
What’s more, Master and the others had piled a heap of dry firewood at the base of the tree.
The flames surged upwards, accompanied by thick smoke.
In the blink of an eye, the entire large tree was engulfed in flames.
The trunk and branches crackled as they burned.
The heat forced us to retreat repeatedly.
Watching the raging flames soar, the four of us breathed a sigh of relief.
Although we hadn’t captured that demonic Taoist and had sustained injuries and been cursed.
We had, however, destroyed the demonic Taoist’s dojo.
Defeated more than a dozen of his ghost slaves.
Destroyed his corpse puppet.
And burned this evil tree that was about to become a spirit.
It felt like the matter concerning Crow Mountain could temporarily come to an end.
But who would have known, as the flames continued to rise.
From within the crackling, burning tree, came faint weeping sounds.
Before we could even figure out what was happening.
We saw Yin spirits, one after another, floating out from the tree trunk…