The King of Curses

Chapter 333 Spoiler

Yi Qingyan's actions seemed to have exceeded Wan Dugu's expectations.

The dark shadow hovering in the air stared at her and asked in a sinister tone:

"……what you up to?"

"I will stop you from doing whatever you want."

Yi Qingyan answered.

“I see you are absorbing the yang energy from these people. I can’t think of a way to stop you, so it would be better to just kill them all.”

"..."

Wan Dugu remained silent, simply watching her.

"..."

An Zhizhen's sigh echoed in her heart.

The high school girl's overly "genius" idea silenced both of the top-tier curse masters.

……

Yi Qingyan's thoughts have always been simple.

For example, although she didn't think that Wan Dugu would become strong enough to defeat her after absorbing the Yang Qi of a group of ordinary citizens, she did not let her guard down because of this.

The reason was simply because this kind of plot often appeared in the movies she had watched before.

Because the protagonist is indecisive, the antagonist seizes the opportunity to absorb the energy of a large number of victims, becoming much stronger than expected. Although the antagonist will ultimately lose, she dislikes trouble.

My brother once said the same thing: When you can't figure out what the enemy is thinking, just follow the standard of "resolutely stopping what the other side wants to do and resolutely carrying out what they don't want to happen."

"Although I was mentally prepared, your lack of hesitation is more terrifying than I imagined. I thought that spending time with Dongsheng would change you."

"Of course I've changed."

Yi Qingyan snorted softly to herself.

"I have become a more self-disciplined person and no longer act recklessly according to my whims."

"I'm not criticizing you. Looking at the results, isn't it great?"

The woman laughed.

"Wan Dugu was startled by you."

……

Wan Dugu had no doubt that she was joking; you could tell from her cruel and cold attitude.

With the help of "Gods and Demons in Emptiness", he can transform the life force of ordinary people into the true qi of curse masters, and then into the yin qi needed by ghosts and monsters;
Of course, he can even use two opposing forces simultaneously—just as he did when he was human.

But Wan Dugu knew very well that no matter which approach he took, it would be impossible to defeat his opponent.

The last time I struggled to control such immense energy that it was beyond the ordinary, the other party seized the opportunity to exploit my weakness, leaving me with a wound that has yet to heal.

Therefore, his act of appearing to take other people's lives was merely a risky test; his true purpose was hidden beneath the grand display.

Unfortunately, the other party's extremely terrifying intuition seemed to have caught something again...

In the blink of an eye, the indestructible spatial slash flew towards the corner of the city once again.

Her words were devoid of any lies; she said she would kill all these people without any mercy, and it seemed that this move was about to shatter the entire city.

Without hesitation, Wan Dugu transformed himself, and his demonic shadow grew in the wind, his arrogance reaching the heavens. A huge curtain, like the night sky, descended, enveloping the bustling center of Kowloon City.

Hundreds of thousands of unconscious citizens lay in the streets and houses. They originally had no chance to escape and would have been shattered into dust along with a corner of the city by the spatial slash, but Wan Dugu's power protected them.

The top-tier curse master no longer held back and became increasingly accustomed to the current state. Even Yi Qingyan's fierce attacks could hardly leave any marks on this overwhelming curtain.

He only quickly falls into a disadvantageous position when An Zhizhen and Yi Qingyan cooperate in their attack. In a one-on-one situation, Wan Dugu has no reason to lose.

At this moment, An Zhizhen withdrew her hand at just the right time, only secretly observing his series of actions, so the remaining two fought to a standstill.

Wan Dugu, who descended upon the city like an evil demon king, treated the citizens as stakes and sacrifices, and unhesitatingly extracted the life force from a large number of ordinary people, but protected them at the critical moment; Yi Qingyan, who chased Wan Dugu all the way here, saying that she wanted to "eliminate the monster for people and become the savior of the citizens", almost became the murderer of them.

However, the truth of all this remained unknown to anyone except the three top-tier curse masters present…

The situation is indeed absurd. In an increasingly chaotic and terrifying era, the powerless can only drift along in fear. They cannot pray to heaven, but can only pray to those powerful beings who are like gods and demons to show them mercy.

……

Upon seeing Wan Dugu's unusual action, Yi Qingyan immediately withdrew her finger, her lips curving upwards slightly and her pupils brightening.

"As expected. Not only did you not intend to kill them, you also protected them."

She made her judgment based on this.

"You certainly couldn't be doing this out of curiosity. So, your 'next step' requires them to be alive, right?"

Wan Dugu remained silent, the ghost's face obscured by a hazy, swirling mist.

……

A man's mind is as hard as iron, and he will never be swayed by external things. Even when he is still human, with a vibrant beating heart and flesh and blood, those who know him think he is no different from a heartless monster.

He was born with this detached indifference towards life, a temperament that attracted the "Gods and Demons of the Void," allowing him to seamlessly switch between the dual identities of "human" and "ghost."

If it were someone else, even if they possessed such power, they would probably consider it a taboo and difficult to use. Because the transformation from human to demon involves more than just a change in the body and the nature of the power; it also involves the mind. Each transformation drastically alters a person's mentality, making them no longer the same person.

However, Wan Dugu was born with an antisocial personality and lack of emotional intelligence, so this change had no effect on him.

However, even in this state, he still felt a strong sense of powerlessness at this moment, and sighed inwardly.

In this world, nothing can eliminate the self's aversion to death, including him; even ghosts who have "died once" are no exception.

They hunt living people and absorb their vital energy so that the lingering resentment can remain in the world forever. The reason behind this is no different from that of humans who need to eat and consume the remains of animals and plants to survive.

Wan Dugu recalled the past, when he was always the one creating moral dilemmas for others. He had used despicable means more than once to deal with those curse masters who still had a conscience, just as the saying goes, "a gentleman deceives others with integrity," and men have no psychological burden about it.

But those who lack moral principles and act recklessly will one day be punished by those who completely disregard moral values; there is a natural cycle at play.

Wan Dugu maintained the black curtain protecting the city, his powerful Yin Qi blocking the spatial slashes that Yi Qingyan kept firing from her hands, while also keeping a watchful eye on the presence of another top-tier curse master.

"...I see, I already guessed it."

Yi Qingyan, who was trying to launch an offensive from all directions, realized the truth from his series of actions.

"Are you planning to escape? No matter which method you use, you'll need these unconscious people as your vessel, right?"

"I have never seen anyone more cruel and heartless than you."

Wan Dugu's somber voice echoed in the air for the first time.

Since he'd been seen through, he might as well go for it! His body exploded and scattered like fireworks once more, countless black dots drifting into the air, raining down on the city like a torrential downpour, flying towards the unconscious citizens.

It was as if a basin of ink had been lifted and poured forcefully onto the sky, turning the firmament and clouds into an unfathomable black.

……

"Stop dreaming."

With the power of the top-tier curse activated to its limit, Yi Qingyan's pupils became deep and dark, the pupils disappearing; her voice was filled with chilling killing intent.

Her pupils were filled with a cruel determination, as if she intended to unleash a bloodbath.

"Even if I have to kill everyone here, I will find you."

"Then, I will avenge those who died by my hand and tear you to pieces."

*
By then, the dire situation was beyond repair.

Wan Dugu originally planned to incite chaos throughout the city, and then take advantage of the gaps to attach fragments of his soul to randomly selected "lucky audience members" so that he could escape.

Even if his plan was anticipated, this move would still be difficult to stop, as selecting a target from among thousands of people is no easy task.

But since Yi Qingyan was determined to kill "everyone" and she did have the ability to "do what she said," Wan Dugu's plan became a gamble, a dangerous plan to race against time.

No one knows if he has any other tricks up his sleeve, or if he's going to gamble everything instead of fighting to the bitter end; but it's clear that a large number of ordinary people will die in this confrontation.

In this situation, only the other special-grade spellcaster could stop the two from fighting.

Given An Zhizhen's personality and way of doing things, would she stop it?
……

In a corner unseen by anyone, a pair of stern eyes, capable of seeing into people's hearts, blinked slightly.
In the vast wilderness of the spiritual world, a star high in the sky casts its light upon every corner. Whether ordinary people or spellcasters, their souls are captured by this all-encompassing light; their forms are clearly visible.

She can interfere with every consciousness if she so chooses.

Because An Zhizhen cares about every soul, she is the first to notice when something "abnormal" happens.

"Qingyan, let's stop here for now."

Under the gaze of these eyes, there exists a bottomless abyss in the spiritual world, which is the consciousness of Yi Qingyan herself. No matter how bright the light of the stars is, it cannot illuminate the darkness in the abyss.

The two had originally lived in harmony, but at this moment, the sun's rays grew even more intense, almost scorching everything, and the gathered light seeped into the darkness of the abyss...

……

Yi Qingyan paused slightly.

She felt dizzy and her head was throbbing with pain. Her vital energy and spiritual awareness were being rapidly mobilized to resist the invasion from another world.

This feeling was not unfamiliar to Yi Qingyan.

She had once fought with An Zhizhen, and it wasn't a playful duel; it was a real battle where she wanted to eliminate the other completely.

Although neither of them had a deep grasp of the special-grade curse at that time, the intensity of the fight was no less than it is now.

Yi Qingyan took a deep breath and said angrily:

"Do you want to die?!"

"Calm down."

An Zhizhen's tone remained calm.

"You think I shouldn't have done that?"

“It is a bit subtle, but that’s not the point. It’s not my responsibility to educate you… I stopped you because I noticed that, besides the few of us, there was another person watching.”

"besides?"

Yi Qingyan frowned slightly; at this moment, she had indeed calmed down.

"You said 'there's also'... Meng Huafan and Zhang Shidao are still at the Mirage Ship, right?"

"good."

"Who is it? I thought all the top-tier curse masters had already gathered."

An Zhizhen did not answer immediately.

She actually had a guess. Of the six future "ancestors" of the Greater China region, she had already met five of them, and they had all gathered on the same ship during the Feast of Bliss.

No matter the era, a top-tier curse master is never an unknown figure. So where else could one possibly emerge from...?

If they weren't invaders from a foreign land, then there's only one possibility left.

……

What Wan Dugu encountered next was even more bizarre than he had anticipated.

While he dispersed himself into countless bodies and merged into the bodies of the citizens, he did not immediately inject his consciousness into them.

Now that he knew Yi Qingyan was going to kill someone, he naturally wouldn't let the part of him that retained his core fall into the trap; he was still watching and looking for an opportunity.

At this crucial moment, Wan Dugu suddenly noticed that Yi Qingyan had stopped.

She ultimately did not kill the group of citizens. But her demeanor did not seem like regret; rather, it revealed anger, as if she were questioning someone.

Wan Dugu suddenly realized that it was An Zhizhen who had stopped her.

Although that woman was also a cold-blooded person, she was, after all, the leader of the Super Committee and the official representative of the organization, so it was not advisable to make the situation too ugly; in contrast, Yi Qingyan and her Yama Society did not have this burden and were even more unscrupulous.

This disagreement has created cracks in the alliance.

Although they joined forces, their relationship was unstable and they could turn on each other at any time—but this was exactly what Wan Dugu meant by "kindred spirits".

Whether this crack can be utilized in the future is something to consider later. This moment is the opportunity that Wan Dugu has been waiting for.

But at that very moment, just before he was about to throw himself at his target, a tremendous force swept across the city.

The battlefield after the clash between the two top-tier curse masters was littered with broken roads and collapsed buildings; but an invisible hand was reshaping the ruins.

The viaduct trembled uncontrollably, and glass shards, like silver moths attracted by a magnet, gathered from all directions to form a complete curtain wall.

The cracks in the road gradually healed. The fallen billboards straightened up again, and the asphalt fragments solidified like inverted lava, restoring the asphalt to a mirror-like black.

Wan Dugu stopped moving once again.

Before him lay the spectacular sight of "retrograde," but for him, the most important change lay in—

He used the "Gods and Demons of Emptiness" to drain the life energy of tens of thousands of people, and then used them as objects of possession, causing them to suddenly awaken from their coma.

The citizens looked bewildered; but their physical condition had truly recovered completely.

"Time... has reversed?"

(End of this chapter)