Hearing Qing Dai say this, I was stunned.
I hadn't anticipated it at all.
The Soul Capturing Curse on my body was actually so profound and extraordinary.
Seeing a hint of panic on my face, Qing Dai spoke again to comfort me:
"It's alright. Since I've discovered it,
I naturally know how to break it."
After speaking, Qing Dai looked towards Long Po outside the pavilion:
"Long Po, go fetch my Yin Gathering Pearl."
"Yes, Miss!"
Long Po replied respectfully and floated away.
Then, Qing Dai continued to speak to me:
"Qin Ze, when did you encounter people from the Netherworld Cult and get cursed?"
I hadn't told Qing Dai about the events on Crow Mountain.
And it was impossible for Qing Dai to have been
by my side twenty-four hours a day, so it was normal for her not to know.
Therefore, I recounted the incident on Crow Mountain,
when I encountered the Netherworld Cult demon, in detail.
Qing Dai frowned after listening.
She hadn't expected there to be a Netherworld Cult follower so close to us, and she knew nothing about it.
Of course, it couldn't be blamed on her.
In the past, before I learned Taoist magic,
all those malevolent spirits saw me as a delicacy.
They all wanted a taste of my vital energy.
So, for the first twenty years,
Qing Dai had basically stayed by my side to guard me.
As my past life's "great victim" said, she waited until I turned twenty, entered a sect, and began learning Taoism...
As a result, she naturally didn't have the energy to patrol the surrounding areas.
It was normal that she didn't know about the Netherworld Cult demon residing on Crow Mountain.
Qing Dai said that the remnants of the New Dynasty controlled this evil cult.
Through these cults, they collected wandering souls and ghosts.
They nurtured these ghosts into ghost servants and malevolent spirits, to be commanded by them.
Always hoping for a day when they could make a comeback and re-establish the New Dynasty...
Qing Dai's words contained too much information.
I felt as if I couldn't digest it all at once.
But I also knew that Qing Dai had no reason to lie to me.
And the Netherworld Cult was indeed not a good organization.
My masters had also said that these organizations raised ghosts and corpses, and specialized in wicked deeds...
Before long, Long Po returned.
In her hand, she carried a black wooden box.
As soon as she reached the pavilion, she respectfully said to Qing Dai:
"Miss, I've brought the item."
Qing Dai nodded, took the box, and
turning back to me, she said:
"Qin Ze, take off your clothes.
I'll break the curse for you now, and also take a look
at what kind of fellow cast the curse on you."
I nodded without hesitation.
This time, I quickly took off my upper garment, revealing my well-defined muscle lines.
However, there were many scars on my body.
These were the injuries I had sustained over the past three months.
Qing Dai saw them, her eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing.
She quickly opened the box
and took out a lustrous gray bead from inside.
It was about the size of a thumb. As soon as it was taken out,
I felt a chill.
The cold feeling was as if I had approached a refrigerator.
Qing Dai held the bead and then said:
"Stand still."
I grunted and steadied myself.
Qing Dai held the bead and suddenly formed a hand seal.
She let out a soft shout, and the bead in her hand suddenly floated in the air.
Then, the bead began to spin continuously.
It spun faster and faster, emitting waves of chilling yin energy.
My whole body felt as if it were enveloped in an ice cave.
It was extremely cold, making me shiver uncontrollably.
The next moment, I felt a chilling sensation in my chest.
Those black blood threads began to retract little by little.
Finally, they gathered in my chest, forming a black mass.
Qing Dai gestured with her hand, and the bead spun faster.
Beneath the spinning bead, wisps of black mist began to emerge from my chest.
Those black mists strangely seeped out from my chest.
There was no pain or itchiness.
These emerging black mists were gradually absorbed by the bead.
The blackness on my chest also began to fade as these black mists were absorbed.
Gradually, from the black mass on my chest, a faint curse mark could be seen.
A small black character, "摄" (shè),
was etched onto my chest like a tattoo.
Before, it was obscured by the blackness on my chest, making it impossible to see clearly.
But now, as the black energy was absorbed by the "Yin Gathering Pearl," the character appeared.
As this character appeared,
Qing Dai's eyebrows rose, and she placed a palm on my chest.
She exclaimed softly:
"Break!"
In an instant, I felt an agonizing pain as if my body were cramping.
The Soul Capturing Curse etched on my chest suddenly emerged from my back.
A phantom image of the character "摄" appeared.
Finally, this character "摄" suddenly disintegrated, turning into a wisp of black mist and vanishing.
The cramping pain in my body also disappeared.
However, as this "Soul Capturing Curse" was forcibly pulled out of my body by Qing Dai,
my soul seemed to tremble.
Outside the Nine Saints Pavilion, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew.
The sound of "whoosh whoosh whoosh" caused the trees here to sway incessantly.
Qing Dai grabbed the Yin Gathering Pearl and said with a solemn expression:
"He's here!"
Hearing this, I also became tense and vigilant.
The next moment, I saw a gust of black mist accompanied by the yin wind blown towards us.
The black mist condensed.
Soon, a solid human figure appeared.
The person was dressed in grey casual clothes, had a sallow complexion, and was very thin.
With his hands behind his back, he stood just outside the Nine Saints Pavilion.
His eyes were deep and sinister.
At this moment, he was staring intently at us inside the Nine Saints Pavilion...