"Ah! My leg." Zhang Fan, who had been kicked into a rolling ball by Zhang Dabiao's powerful kick, found his already瘸 (qúe) left leg bent into an unbelievable angle. It hadn't been completely bitten off by Da Hei before, but now it was completely broken.
I blinked, asking in disbelief, "Brother Zhang, weren't you fighting two fierce ghosts just now? When did you get ahead to block the road?"
Zhang Dabiao laughed and explained, "Just two fierce ghosts, I can take them down in minutes. You were too focused on the Yin Ghost, how could you notice my movements? Is this kid the one who captured souls?"
I shook my head and said no, this guy was that person's apprentice. His master was the Soul Controlling King, and he was currently entangled with Da Hei.
"Soul Controlling King? You escaped from him?" Zhang Dabiao's mouth widened in surprise, finding it hard to believe. It was known that very few people who were controlled by the Soul Controlling King's soul bell could escape, even powerful beings a level higher than the Soul Controlling King. After all, the Soul Controlling King mainly controlled living souls, somewhat similar to the soul-capturing techniques of the Black and White Impermanence.
I didn't explain in detail. I didn't want to explain too much about Da Hei. It had been enlightened by Senior Black Robe and was a bit different from ordinary Yin souls, otherwise, it wouldn't have escaped the Soul Controlling King's control.
"Brother Zhang, let's hurry and help Da Hei capture the Soul Controlling King."
Zhang Dabiao nodded in agreement, then looked at Zhang Fan, who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, and said, "What about this guy? Bury him on the spot?"
Zhang Fan, who was lying on the ground feigning death, could no longer care about the pain of his broken leg. He quickly crawled on the ground and kowtowed, "Don't kill me, don't kill me. Everything I did was my master... no, the Soul Controlling King told me to do it. I never did anything harmful."
Facing Zhang Fan's crying plea, I felt a wave of contempt. Just a moment ago, he wanted to expose my soul to the sun for a hundred and eighty days. How long had it been, and he had already forgotten his evil deeds?
Ignoring this sniveling crybaby, I said to Zhang Dabiao, "Brother Zhang, let him live for now. We'll talk after we catch the Soul Controlling King."
"Alright, I'll listen to you." Zhang Dabiao agreed, then said to Zhang Fan, who was crawling on the ground, "Kid, you'd better not play any tricks, or I'll break your other leg, understand?"
Zhang Fan nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, and said he would definitely not play any tricks.
When we arrived at the altar, the Soul Controlling King and Da Hei were nowhere to be seen. The altar was tilted, and the ground was full of pits. Some small trees as thick as wrists had been uprooted. It was obvious that a great battle had taken place.
After searching around, we couldn't find the whereabouts of the Soul Controlling King or Da Hei, which made me worry about Da Hei.
Although Da Hei looked clever and spirited, it was still a dog. Fighting against an old fox like the Soul Controlling King, it was bound to suffer losses. Moreover, the Soul Controlling King had some way to restrain it, which made me even more worried.
"Young brother, don't you know the Soul Seeking Technique? Why don't you use that method to find them?" Zhang Dabiao reminded me as he saw me anxiously pacing.
I slapped my thigh, how could I have forgotten this? I quickly grabbed Zhang Fan, who was tied up like a pig ready for slaughter.
"What is your master's birth date?"
"I... I don't know."
"You don't know? Are you really the Soul Controlling King's apprentice? How could you not know your master's birth date? Does your master not have birthdays?" As I spoke, I kicked his broken leg again, causing him to shed tears from the pain.
"B... Big brother, I really don't know! My master never celebrates his birthday, and no one knows his birth date. Even if you beat me to death, I won't know! My leg..."
The inner thigh has the densest nerves. Coupled with the broken leg, even though my kick wasn't very heavy, the pain was definitely like being cut by a knife. Seeing his pained and tearful appearance, he probably wasn't lying.
The Soul Controlling King was vicious and insidious, and many people wanted to trouble him. It was normal for him to hide his birth date, as some evil techniques were specifically targeted at birth dates.
"Then what should we do? Without the Soul Controlling King's birth date, can't you calculate Da Hei's?" Zhang Dabiao offered another bad idea.
I was amused by Zhang Dabiao's words. Calculating fortunes for ghosts was one thing, but I had never calculated fortunes for a dog! Besides, I didn't know Da Hei's birth date either. If I did, I could really try.
Just as we were wondering which direction to go to find Da Hei, a dog bark made me so excited that I almost jumped up and hugged Zhang Dabiao.
Da Hei, like a ghost, ran out from the thorny bushes to the west, holding something in its mouth.
"Da Hei, where did you go? I thought you... Where's the Soul Controlling King?" I excitedly hugged Da Hei's neck. It was my savior. If it hadn't reminded me, I would have fallen into the Soul Controlling King's trap.
Da Hei put down the thing in its mouth, barked twice, and pawed at the ground. I hadn't looked closely before, but now I saw it was the Soul Controlling King's soul bell.
"The Soul Controlling King's soul bell? Did you kill him?" I picked up the soul bell and shook it, but there was no mumbling sound. It seemed that a special method was needed to use it.
Da Hei shook its big head, a look of regret in its eyes.
"It's normal for him to escape. The Soul Controlling King is an old fox, and no one knows his true appearance yet," Zhang Dabiao said from the side, reaching out to pet Da Hei as a gesture of comfort.
As a result, Da Hei did not appreciate it and directly dodged, leaving Zhang Dabiao embarrassed. He muttered a few words, and seeing Da Hei's unfriendly gaze, he quickly changed the subject.
"The monk ran away, but the temple is still here. We still have his apprentice. I don't believe we can't get anything out of him." Zhang Dabiao was also full of anger. Anyone would be upset to be called out of bed in the middle of the night, let alone to be woken up by a bite.
Seeing Zhang Dabiao walking towards me with his mountain-splitting saber, Zhang Fan was so scared that he almost peed his pants. Because he was tied up like a zongzi, he could only shout, "Don't come here, don't come here."
Zhang Dabiao patted Zhang Fan's face with his mountain-splitting saber and said, "Kid, you know my methods. Tell me your master's whereabouts, and who sent you to capture souls, and I'll consider letting you go. Otherwise..." Zhang Dabiao didn't finish his sentence, but his eyes looked at Zhang Fan's other leg and the one in the middle, scaring him so much that he almost peed himself.
"I'll talk, I'll tell you everything. Master is staying at the Happy Inn in the county town. As for who sent us to capture souls, I don't know! It was all arranged by Master. I'm just a errand boy." Zhang Fan quickly spilled out everything he knew, for fear that if he spoke too slowly, his remaining two "legs" would suffer.
"You'd better not dare to lie to me!" Zhang Dabiao stood up and said to me, "Shall we go find that old bastard?"
I shook my head and said, "It's useless even if we go. With his cunning mind, who knows where he's gone. Let's take this kid back first. I don't believe that old guy won't come to save his apprentice."
"Alright, if that old guy doesn't come, we'll bury this kid alive."
Amidst Zhang Fan's pleas and Zhang Dabiao's laughter, we carried our spoils home.