Death Spell

<Extinction of the Immortal Spirit, Chapter [-] of the Tang Dynasty>

After knowing that there were zombies in Lincheng, An Ya first made a divination for Zhuo Yao's father, and asked him to wait here with peace of mind.

But Zhuo Yao came here because she wanted to go to Lincheng with Anya, but Anya refused.

"Zhuo Yao's self-awareness is limited..."

Before she finished speaking, Anya raised her hand to signal, "It's not because of Ms. Zhuo's ability. If Ms. Zhuo insists on going, I won't stop her." Seeing Zhuo Yao's eyebrows widen, Anya shook her head, "It's just that you can't go with me. .”

"...for...why?"

"It will take more than ten days to reach Lincheng from Chang'an City without stopping, but I set off today and arrive in a few days. This is the reason why you can't go with me."

Anya knew that if she didn't tell her the truth, with Zhuo Yao's stubborn character, she would definitely not let it go.

Zhuo Yao: "..."

"By the time Miss Zhuo arrives in Lincheng, your father must have recuperated." Anya took the pen, wrote "Lincheng Post Station" on the paper and handed it to Zhuo Yao.

When Zhuo Yao took it, her expression paused: "An... girl."

"Miss Zhuo is resting here for the time being, and I will set off tonight." After finishing her sentence, Anya asked again: "Just, about the news about zombies, can you tell me in detail what you know?"

……

As the sky gradually darkened, Zhuo Yao told Anya what she knew one by one.

The problem comes from a village ten miles away from Lincheng. The village has been closed to the outside world, and those who came back said that something terrible appeared there, and when they encountered it, they would become like them, foaming at the mouth, losing their minds, The light ones self-mutilate, and the severe ones will eat human flesh.

At present, Lincheng is completely closed, and even passing by business travelers have been diverted.

After Zhuo Yao finished speaking, she didn't linger too long, firstly, she didn't want to delay Anya's departure time, and secondly, she wanted to go down the mountain early, summon the people from Zhuoyuan Escort Bureau, and immediately go to Lincheng Station.

……

In the moonlight, Anya simply packed her bags and took out a black wooden box from under the stone slab in front of the waterwheel.There is a snakeskin belt tied in the middle of the wooden box, it seems that it was originally used to carry it on the shoulder.Runes are printed on the surface of the box, and there are three lotus-like patterns on the bottom, printed with Western Zhou characters and ink.

Sang Xie who was standing behind saw the black sword box with texture, and frowned, "This is... one of Tangxi's swords, Mo Yang?"

"I thought you didn't like to wield knives and swords, but I didn't think you knew Mo Yangjian."

Anya unlocked the wooden box, lifted the lid, and inside lay a sword as black as ink.

"I'm not as good as you in dabbling in these things, but Gai Nie is a generation of sword idiots, and the topics you talk about are all about the swords forged in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period. Lee." Sang Xie stared closely at the black Moyang sword, and sighed: "It's a pity that this Moyang sword has strong spiritual power, but it has no sword soul..."

"If I forge a sword soul for this sword, then what's the difference between me and Li Si?" Anya held the Mo Yang sword in her hand, wrapped it in a coarse cloth and carried it behind her back, turned around and saw that Sang Xie had already packed her bags, and she was silent. He lowered his eyebrows and smiled slightly: "I got this sword by accident when I was traveling. But the white bone whip made from the spine of your silver wolf is handed down from the Sang family. Isn't it more precious?"

Sang Xie touched the epiphyllum pattern on the white bone whip at his waist, "This is the only thing left to me by the Sang family. I will naturally carry it with me and never leave it."

"In that case, let's go."

Anya took out the compass, locked the direction on the spot, and disappeared into the courtyard, followed by Sang Xie.

With the foot strength of the two, when they arrived in Lincheng, the sky had not yet dawned.

The two figures landed lightly outside the forest. Anya turned on the compass and looked at what the pointer was pointing at.

"...It's here."

Sang Xie suppressed her expression: "I don't need you to tell me about such a heavy turbidity."

Anya smiled slightly, and put the compass in her pocket, "Zhuo Yao's father's birth gate is in the east, let's go east." Before Anya set off, Sang Xie raised her hand and stopped.

"There is movement..."

Not far away came the sound of small footsteps, and the sound was stumbling and disorderly, not like those zombies, but more like... people.

Until the man rushed out of the darkness, just as he ran out of the woods, he fell to the ground.

Anya took a step forward and asked, "Why are you so flustered? But is there something chasing you?"

At first, the man thought he had bumped into a ghost, but when he raised his eyebrows, he saw two women who looked like angels.

"Girl... girl... how did you get in here? I heard that this place has been sealed by the yamen. I don't care... how you got here, but don't, don't go in... because... because..."

I don't know if the middle-aged man stuttered or was too anxious, his face flushed red, the two of them waited for him to catch his breath, and he finally said: "There are... Zombies ahead!!!"

Sang Xie raised her eyebrows and asked, "Is it really a zombie?" As she spoke, she carefully scrutinized the man's appearance and attire. He should be a simple and honest villager nearby.

The middle-aged man nodded violently, trembling all over.

Anya looked at the turbid forest in front of her, took out a yellow talisman from her body, handed it to him, and said lightly, "Thank you for reminding us, we should be careful."

The two of them didn't delay too much, bypassing the figure of the middle-aged man, and walked towards the hidden forest.Seeing this, the man threw the talisman paper aside, thinking that the two girls didn't hear what he said just now, and shouted towards the two figures that were drifting away.

——There...there are really zombies!

——If you go in, you will only die in vain!

——I... I will take you out of the village!

"Ya, he cares about you very much." Sang Xie said with a smile.

"I saw that his seal was black, his lips were slightly purple, and the turbid air had already entered his body. If he left the village in such a hurry, he would be caught and quarantined by the government." Anya's voice was cold, and she walked forward with steps.

Sang Xie raised her eyebrows: "Then why didn't you remind him when you handed him the talisman paper?"

"Although I intend to save him, I can only obey the destiny. If he keeps the talisman on his body, he can still save his life. If..." Anya paused, "...since it is his life, I will say more It's no use either."

Sang Xie lowered his eyebrows and smiled slightly.

That's right, I've known her for so long, although this woman never kills, her attitude towards everything is fate is consistent from beginning to end.

Anya lowered her eyebrows and looked at the leaves on the ground. Spring has just begun, and there should be signs of spring in the woods, but now the surroundings are desolate, and the mist in front of her exudes a rotten smell. The result is that the turbidity is too heavy.

The fallen leaves that were once buried under the snow should have fallen to the ground and returned to their roots, but now they are rotting outside. The turbidity can reach this level, and I am afraid that it cannot be caused by one or two months.

"The turbidity here seems unusual." Anya walked in front, raising her eyebrows.

"The smell of dead bodies is everywhere, what's the difference?"

Anya stopped, raised her hand to hold the hilt of the sword, and said alertly: "There is a voice..."

Sang Xie frowned, looking around, her hands were already on her waist.

Deep in the forest, several black shadows were slowly moving towards the two of them.A crooked figure, two arms covered only with a layer of skin, swinging back and forth.

Seeing this, Anya said, "It looks like a corpse crawling out of a tomb, its Yin Qi has not yet matured."

When Sang Xie heard the word Weicheng, she raised her eyebrows and asked, "Could it be that this is the zombie that Zhuo Yao was talking about?"

To this, Anya did not respond in a hurry, but when the corpse stretched out the black finger bones towards her, she let her see the black mist in the corpse's eyes, then took a step back, raised the sword, and the corpse fell It fell apart.

"These people all went to the tomb after death, and because the surrounding air was too heavy, they raised their corpses and became corpses. Presumably, they are not the zombies that Zhuo Yao described."

Hearing that Anya said no, Sang Xie took off the bone whip, and when he saw a dozen or so corpses surrounding him, the corners of his lips twitched slightly: "If so, there is no need to waste time, just wait for me at the front."

After Anya heard the words, she nodded her head and disappeared in place.

Sang Xie looked at those ugly corpses, moved her wrist slightly, and swept the bone whip horizontally at an extremely fast speed, and then she retracted it to her waist.For more than a dozen corpses, first the hand bones fell to the ground, then the leg bones fell to the ground as if they were broken, and finally the skull was separated from the whole body. The scattered black skinny bones merged with the rotten leaves on the ground, black and gray.

"Since it is safe in the ground, why is it still like this..." Sang Xie lowered his head with cold eyes, looking at one of the skulls, especially the black mist in his eyes, as if staring straight at her, "What do you see? I'll give you a ride, you should be satisfied, let's reincarnate quickly." After speaking, the skull became shattered.

Sang Xie searched for Anya's scent and continued on her way.

After searching for about half an hour, Sang Xie saw Anya's figure, but she saw her standing straight outside a village gate holding Mo Yang sword.

It can be seen that the turbidity here is heavier than that outside, and the smog is everywhere, making it difficult to see the road ahead.And not far from Anya, there were four or five corpses lying across, and the appearance of those corpses did not look like human corpses.

"Ya." Sang Xie came to Anya's side, saw the corpse clearly, and his eyes were slightly startled.

"The turbidity here is the heaviest, but it was attacked by this demon corpse." Anya lightly shook the blood stains on the sword and carried it behind her back, "And this is indeed the place where Zhuo Yao's father, the birth gate, is located."

"The demon corpse?" Sang Xie leaned over and looked carefully: "This corpse's muscles and bones are exposed, and the blood is black. It has indeed become a demon, and it can attack people without the skin... It's really unbelievable."

"Don't touch that corpse." Anya stopped her and said, "It's recorded in the An family's books that although this demon corpse cannot live forever, it possesses power that ordinary people do not have. It is half human and half demon."

"...Could it be that everyone here is like this?" Sang Xie straightened up, and looked around coldly, "Then why Zhuo Yao's father was still alive after being arrested?"

"Although a half-demon cannot live forever, it has human consciousness. Seeing this situation, the people here must have taken some kind of elixir, but the elixir is too overbearing, repelling the body, causing the body to suffer unbearable pain, so they self-mutilate." When Anya said this, her face seemed a little uneasy, "It takes time to make alchemy, maybe this is the reason why he is still alive..."

"Pillion?" Hearing these two words, Sang Xie couldn't help but sneer: "It's another group of people who want to live forever."

"I'm afraid... it has something to do with the Immortal Soul Record." Anya said with a cold expression, "Go in and have a look..."

The two entered the village side by side. On the obliquely hung plaque, it read: Li Family Village.

This once peaceful and harmonious village has now become devastated, bloodstained everywhere, and the air is filled with an unpleasant stench.

The spring breeze blows and the dust flies, making it even more desolate.

Anya held the compass in her hand, pinched her fingers for divination, then raised her finger to the southeast: "Over there, can you hear any movement?"

After closing her eyes for more than ten seconds, Sang Xie nodded slightly.

The two figures disappeared in place.

When they came to the village chief's house, they didn't expect that there were four or five demon corpses guarding them outside, but they all lost their humanity.They found the two of them, moved quickly, and rushed towards them ferociously, but Sang Xie took them under the whip without any effort.

Anya, on the other hand, walked expressionlessly and arrived at the village head's study immediately.

Sang Xie put away the bone whip and followed Anya to the study.The two had a tacit understanding, and separately searched for the secrets hidden in the village, hoping to find the record about the Immortal Soul Record.

Anya first found the genealogy of Lijiacun, and then found "Lijiacun, Dossier" on another bookshelf.From this horizontal row of dusty files, she took out the first one and quickly flipped through it.

It turns out that the people here are all orphans who followed Emperor Taizong and worked hard in the world.But this place was the holy land of alchemy for the emperors of the Sui Dynasty, and was later occupied by the Li family, who continued to study alchemy...

Anya frowned, maybe that's why this place is closed to the outside world, presumably the people here are not as simple as making alchemy, but... testing medicine.

She sighed softly, and continued to read the following records, which were the results of alchemy every year. When Anya skipped the other files and took the last one directly, she found that a few pages had been torn off.

"Ya..." Sang Xie called out from behind, "Look here."

Anya closed the file and put it back on the bookshelf, and came to Sang Xie, seeing that Sang Xie was holding the letter in his hands, and his notes were scribbled, but the two of them coincidentally were attracted by the two words.

——Yin jade.

"What is this Yin jade?" Anya looked at Sang Xie in doubt, and exclaimed, "Could it be what your Sang family has always wanted?"

Sang Xie nodded without denying it: "However, according to the records of my Sang family, this is the Yin Wall."

"Lian Yin Wall?"

"Yin jade is an extremely yin thing. It is not only cold but also full of spirituality. A thick layer of ice is used to hide the yin jade itself. If the jade thief accidentally touches it, it will form an ice man. I heard that the yin jade formed The ice crystal has life, and the most important thing is that it can lock the soul, it is the priceless jade of the soul master." Sang Xie put away the letter, looked at Anya anxiously, "go save people first, if If there is really Yin jade here, I am afraid that what is trained is not the human body, but the human soul."

Anya frowned when she heard about refining people's souls.

Following the direction of Zhuo Yao's father's birth gate, the two found a hidden mine in the backyard of the village chief's house.

The sky was dimly lit, Anya stood outside the cave, and when she saw that Sang Xie was sure there were people inside, she said calmly: "You go, I will guard outside, the people inside are all ordinary people, if a large number of demon corpses enter, it will not be good .”

Sang Xie naturally understood what Anya meant, so she turned around and walked into the mine without saying a word, although the turbid air here was less than outside.

Oil lamps were lit on the wall of the cave, leading into the mine in the dark, and when they reached the end of the mine, Sang Xie really saw seven or eight living people.

Sang Xie was a little puzzled by this, why those demon corpses that lost their humanity still trapped people here?

Could it be that the demon corpse she met with Anya was not a real demon corpse?

While thinking about it, Sang Xie had already arrived in front of the iron cage, and called out, "Excuse me, are you all from the Zhuoyuan Escort Bureau?"

When those people heard the footsteps, they thought it was those inhuman things. When they heard the movement of a woman, they all looked at Sang Xie in unison.

The mine is cold, damp and very dark, except for an oil lamp in the distance.But it also allowed the people in the cage to see Sang Xie's face clearly.

Zhuo Tiancheng heard Sang Xie talking about Zhuo Yuan's Escort, and immediately stood up and responded: "That's right, we belong to Zhuo Yuan's Escort, how dare you ask Miss?"

Sang Xie sized up the rough man in front of him, heard that his breathing and heartbeat were not life-threatening, and then said: "I was entrusted by someone to come and rescue you. Are you Zhuo Yao's father?"

Xu Shi hadn't heard anyone speak for a long time, when Zhuo Tiancheng heard Zhuo Yao's name, he almost shed tears with a vicissitudes on his face.

"It's Ayao, it's Ayao... Do you want girl to save us?"

The people behind heard the conversation between the two, as if they saw hope.

Another bodyguard said excitedly: "Great, great! Finally someone... Finally someone came to save us."

Sang Xie glanced at the seven or eight people in the cage. Some of them didn't look like members of the bodyguard agency, especially a gentle gentleman, and two young men were dressed differently from others.

"Is there anyone else here? Who are these?"

Zhuo Tiancheng heard Sang Xie's questioning, and introduced: "These two are friends from the mountain, and this is the imperial physician Ruan."

Sang Xie lowered her eyebrows, looking at the weaker imperial doctor Ruan, a little lost in thought.

Could it be that he is Dr. Ruan's father?