Wu Gou sighed and said with a smile, “In that case, go and write out the Cleansing Heart Mantra from memory a hundred times.”
“The Cleansing Heart Mantra can cleanse the soul and fend off external evils. It can also reflect your true self, keeping you from losing your way in delusion.”
“It is perfect for your current state of mind.”
“As the future Xuandu Ghost Emperor, I would certainly never harm you.”
Shen Liang's expression instantly became incredibly colorful.
He quickly stood up from the puddle of water, twisting his limbs fluidly and flailing his disproportionately long hands and feet in the air, as if trying to prove he was perfectly agile.
“No, no, no, Master, please let me explain—”
“I am really perfectly fine!”
He hopped twice in place, swinging his slender arms back and forth as his body contorted into various bizarre angles. A flattering yet panicked smile was squeezed onto his gaunt, pale face.
“Just now... I might have just been reminiscing about my past life.”
“After all, this is the former site of the Ancient Kingdom of Southern Tang, and I was a citizen of Southern Tang when I was alive. Returning to this old place and looking back on the past made me remember a few things...”
“That's quite normal, isn't it? It's only natural for a ghost, after all...”
He spoke faster and faster, his voice growing increasingly urgent, terrified that Wu Gou would not give him a chance to explain.
“I am doing great, and my mind is perfectly clear. Look, Master—”
He leaned in close to Wu Gou, pulling his eyelids open with two fingers to reveal his eyes. They were sharp and clear, with absolutely no signs of cloudiness.
Wu Gou cast a casual glance at him, slowly tying the sash of his monk robe. He took the two ends in his fingers, tied a knot, and patted the dust off his hem.
Shen Liang's expression began to fracture.
Wu Gou finally spoke: “Five hundred times.”
Shen Liang completely slumped, his face crumpling as his features bunched together.
“Ma—ster—”
He dragged out his voice, filled with a deep sorrow, sounding as if he was on the verge of tears.
“Five hundred times is too much. Although I studied and learned to write in my past life, writing it out five hundred times will take several days at least...”
“Six hundred times,” Wu Gou said flatly.
Shen Liang instantly shut his mouth.
He silently shrank back into the puddle of water, not daring to bargain any further, and quietly picked up a tree branch to use as a pen.
Plague Rat watched from the side with immense amusement, squatting on the dead tree root with his tail swishing back and forth, grinning from ear to ear.
But as he laughed, he lost his balance, wobbling and nearly tumbling off the root.
He quickly grabbed Jian Huaishuang's shoulder, hanging off him to barely steady himself.
Then, pretending nothing had happened, he casually asked, “Hey, deadpan, why aren't you saying anything?”
Plague Rat patted Jian Huaishuang's shoulder hard, acting like they were best buddies.
“Didn't we just kill that dumb dog again? Why the long face? Cheer up a bit.”
The edges of Jian Huaishuang's paper armor fluttered slightly in the wind. His gaze fell upon the distant white-covered ground, his brow furrowing deeply.
“I was thinking...”
“That white-furred monster looked a bit familiar.”
Plague Rat was taken aback and tilted his head in thought. “What's so familiar about it?”
“Don't monkeys all look like that? Long arms, short legs, and a squat build. Weren't all the mountain monkey spirits we saw before just like that?”
Jian Huaishuang shook his head.
“That is not what I meant.”
“I mean, if the fur on his body were a different color, wouldn't he look just like the Shen Shui Yuan we encountered outside the Myriad Ghost Array?”
Plague Rat's grin froze instantly.
He let go of Jian Huaishuang's shoulder. “No way, right?”
“Isn't that monkey trapped at the edge of the array along with Mao Ri Ji and the others?”
“We saw it with our own eyes back then. It was standing behind a stone pillar and never came out—”
“That was only your assumption,” Jian Huaishuang shook his head, his voice calm.
“The Seven Mansions of Qingzhou might not be trapped within the array like those of Tianchi Province. Doesn't Lou-Metal Dog move around freely?”
Plague Rat stopped in his tracks.
His tail stopped swishing, his crimson eyes darting around as his expression slowly shifted.
“Wait, that's not right...”
“Even though we didn't fight Shen Shui Yuan or Zui Huo Hou and only caught a distant glimpse of him outside the Myriad Ghost Array, he didn't have that white stuff on him back then.”
Jian Huaishuang nodded and took over the explanation.
“And that is exactly what I suspected before.”
“Lou-Metal Dog always comes to harass us alone without bringing his companions. At first, I thought he just didn't know how to work together, but later I realized he might be stalling for time.”
“Perhaps, just like now, he is stalling until his companions also complete their transformation.”
“And then they turn into the same kind of entity as him.”
Plague Rat felt a shiver of horror.
He turned to look toward the distant ruins. At the edge of the white-covered clearing, a few scattered white flakes rolled in the wind like discarded skin dander, sending a chill down his spine.
“Damn it...” he cursed under his breath.
Wu Gou had been listening quietly, and now his eyes flickered slightly.
“If they take on a form like Lou-Metal Dog's...”
He raised his head, his gaze passing over everyone's heads to land on a dead old tree behind them.
Nü Tu Fu was hanging quietly upside down from a branch of the dead tree, its wings folded against its sides, its skeletal body gleaming with a faint silvery luster under the moonlight.
It was completely motionless, like a corpse. If not for the occasional slight twitch of its wingtips, one could hardly tell it was alive.
“When I first arrived at the bronze gate, Nü Tu Fu was in that very same polluted state.”
“Its entire body was white and covered in scales. Its soundwaves and the gales whipped up by its wings possessed incredibly strong polluting capabilities.”
“The Big Demon suffered quite a bit at its hands, even cutting off his own arm.”
“However, after it was completely slain and converted by the Big Demon into a normal Ghost Servant form, it actually lost that polluting attribute.”
“Now, only its soundwaves and gale instincts remain.”
Just as he finished speaking, a voice echoed from deep within the forest.
“Why is it that the moment I arrive, I hear someone speaking ill of me?”
Everyone's eyes snapped toward the direction of the voice.
Chen Zhou stepped out of the shadows at the edge of the forest, walking forward pace by pace.
In his arms, he held Lian. The young girl's body was curled up, covered by Chen Zhou's sleeve, her breathing steady.
Chen Zhou walked to the edge of the clearing, found a relatively flat spot, gently laid Lian down on the ground, and then straightened up.
Wu Gou smiled and pressed his palms together. “Who spoke ill of you?”
“A monk does not tell lies. I was merely speaking the truth.”
Chen Zhou glanced at him, then pressed his palm against the ground beside him. Grayish-white death qi surged from his palm, spreading across the earth.
The silvery-white light-orb of Dou Mu Xie slowly rose from the Ghost Domain. The white blemishes on the dead trees rapidly receded, and the debris on the ground stopped rolling, as if frozen in place by something.
The moonlight over the Graveyard of Ten Thousand Beasts grew thick and intense once more.
Chen Zhou felt the changes in the surrounding aura. The faint, elusive sense of being watched had vanished, and Lou-Metal Dog's tracking had been completely disrupted within the area bathed in moonlight.
Satisfied, he withdrew his hand, turned around, and swept his gaze over everyone present.
Plague Rat had long been unable to contain himself. He lunged forward to Chen Zhou, circling him twice while sizing him up from head to toe several times, even reaching out to squeeze his arm.
“My Lord, are you fully recovered?”
After squeezing his arm, he reached for Chen Zhou's shoulder, only for his hand to be slapped away by Chen Zhou.
“You're really fine? That bald ass said you suffered a massive loss!”
Chen Zhou smiled. Though his tone was calm, the exhaustion between his brows had indeed lessened considerably.
“No matter, I am doing perfectly fine now.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping toward the edge of the distant white-covered clearing, where a few scattered white flakes were slowly turning to ash under the moonlight.
“How are things on your end?”
“Did Lou-Metal Dog and the other six Mansions launch a coordinated attack?”
Jian Huaishuang shook his head.
“No.”
Then, he added, “But there is even worse news.”
Jian Huaishuang briefly recounted the earlier situation.
Lou-Metal Dog and the white-furred monster had launched a joint attack. Shen Liang's dead water had been turned against him, Taotie had swallowed a belly full of polluted water, and Shen Liang had gone mad and torn the white-furred monster apart. Ultimately, it was thanks to Wu Gou's ghost-control techniques that they managed to stabilize the situation.
“That white-furred monster's water-control ability was exceptionally strong.”
“Furthermore, its appearance was at least seventy to eighty percent similar to the Shen Shui Yuan we saw outside the Myriad Ghost Array.”
“I highly suspect it was indeed Shen Shui Yuan.”
Chen Zhou's brow furrowed.
“Are you certain?”
“I am not certain,”
Jian Huaishuang admitted frankly.
“After all, we never actually fought Zui Huo Hou or Shen Shui Yuan; we only caught a distant glimpse of them at the edge of the array.”
“But that entity's appearance was indeed very similar to Shen Shui Yuan's—its build, limb proportions, gait, and so on.”
“Moreover, his ability was water control, to the point where even Brother Shen Liang's floodwaters were turned against him.”
Chen Zhou's gaze shifted to Shen Liang.
Shen Liang was trying his best to minimize his presence, pretending to doodle on the ground with his branch in hopes that Wu Gou would forget about forcing him to copy the scriptures.
Suddenly called upon, he choked on a mouthful of water and coughed for a long while. Realizing everyone's eyes were already on him, he had no choice but to brace himself and poke his head out of the puddle.
“The... the Young Palace Master might not know this.”
“The path of dead water I cultivate was blessed by the Emperor. My waters contain a measure of the legendary Wanchuan from the River of the Underworld.”
“Ordinary water-controlling techniques cannot possibly master it. Back then, I had to suffer greatly just to barely obtain the River of the Underworld's recognition.”
“Although I really hate to admit it—”
“When it comes to water control, he is indeed a cut above me.”
He quickly added, “Of course, that is only because my cultivation is currently being suppressed!”
“If I were at my peak, a single wave from me would drown him instantly!”
Hearing this, Wu Gou smiled and said, “Well then, it seems it is my fault. Blame my cultivation for being too low, which in turn suppresses yours.”
Shen Liang paled in fright and waved his hands frantically. “That is absolutely not what I meant! Master, please do not mock me!”
“If not for Master's peerless divine power, cleansing my soul with supreme Buddhist light, how could I have found myself again amidst those boundless evil thoughts?”
“To be liberated from my hundred-thousand-year obsession and regain my true self—it is all thanks to Master!”
Chen Zhou glanced at Wu Gou and said helplessly, “Alright, Shen Liang is such an honest ghost. Stop teasing him.”
Hearing the Young Palace Master speak up for him, Shen Liang was instantly moved to tears.
Chen Zhou then looked back at Jian Huaishuang. “So, your point is that Shen Shui Yuan is also being converted by Lou-Metal Dog?”
“I am not sure. It might not be Lou-Metal Dog doing the converting; there could be something else,” Jian Huaishuang said.
“Furthermore, it is not just Shen Shui Yuan. Lou-Metal Dog comes alone every time, willing to be killed by us over and over just to stall for time. This indicates that his other companions are also in the process of being converted.”
“If all Seven Mansions complete their conversion...”
He did not finish his sentence.
But everyone understood the gravity of those words.
Chen Zhou's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
It turned out that they were not the only ones stalling for time to search for the Mansion Spirits left behind by Xuan Cai.
The other side was stalling as well.
He had originally thought that Lou-Metal Dog was the most overpowered among the Seven Mansions.
His inescapable tracking ability combined with his disgusting polluting ability made him significantly stronger than the other six Mansions.
But if the other six Mansions could also transform into a state like Lou-Metal Dog's, the situation would be entirely different.
The coordination among the six Mansions was already seamless.
Kui Mu Lang engaged in close combat, Bi Yue Wu launched shadow sneak attacks, Wei Tu Zhi provided long-range support, Mao Ri Ji sealed off the battlefield, and Zui Huo Hou and Shen Shui Yuan coordinated their advances and retreats, balanced in both offense and defense.
Combined with Lou-Metal Dog's tracking, the Seven Mansions originally formed a complete battle formation.
And now, this battle formation was upgrading.
If the other six Mansions could also transform into such polluted states, Lou-Metal Dog might very well turn out to be the weakest among them.
Especially Mao Ri Ji—if even it came to carry the white pollution...
Jian Huaishuang fell silent for a moment before speaking again. “I am also considering another matter.”
“If Shen Shui Yuan has been converted, what about the other Mansions?”
“Could it be that this conversion requires specific conditions, or perhaps the process is relatively slow?”
Chen Zhou remained silent for a few breaths.
Then, he spoke: “We cannot keep waiting like this.”
Wu Gou raised his eyes to look at him.
“Always playing defense is not a solution.”
“We must take the initiative to strike.”
“We cannot allow them to continue converting like this.”
“Otherwise, even if we completely open the bronze gate and gather all the Mansion Spirits left behind by Xuan Cai, we might still be no match for the fully converted Western Seven Mansions.”
He turned to Wu Gou. “We are going back to the Myriad Ghost Array.”
Wu Gou was taken aback.
“Now?”
“Now.”
Wu Gou raised an eyebrow, sizing him up from head to toe before letting out a disapproving click of his tongue.
“Are you really up for this?”
“Do not push yourself too hard.”
He extended a finger and poked Chen Zhou's shoulder. “The person who just severed his own arm and got chewed down to a mere three feet of Ghost Domain wasn't me. Although I arrived late, I saw what needed to be seen.”
“A single Nü Tu Fu left you in such a pathetic state. Right now, besides Lou-Metal Dog, there is at least one converted Shen Shui Yuan. Do not go taking risks.”
Chen Zhou slapped his hand away, a faint smirk playing on the corner of his lips.
“Do not worry.”
“I just leveled up.”
Wu Gou's arm froze, his face filled with sheer disbelief.
“What do you mean?”
“Just now?”
“Are you saying that in the short half-cup-of-tea's time since we parted, you broke through?”
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