Mythology

Chapter 306 I really don't want to be related to anyone
The shadows of the trees swayed gently, their branches intertwined, and they moved slightly in the night breeze.

Thirteen people were on the hillside.

"Sir, ahead lies a desolate wilderness..."

“I understand, there is a Taoist temple located in the mountains.”

The soldiers were all somewhat confused, but then they noticed the strangeness inside the temple. The chaos that had occurred countless times before was happening again.

Before long, the twelve soldiers disappeared without a trace.

Yang He's eyes were clear, and he no longer needed to take the Mindfulness Pill.

Through near-death experiences, he gradually developed resistance to the changes in his perception, and in a short time, he remembered the previous thirty-two memories.

He tried to leave the mountains, but no matter what he did, he always ended up back where he started.

"Time seems to stand still here; judging by the moon's position, it appears to be frozen at midnight."

Yang He was somewhat numb and walked into the Taoist temple as always.

The stench of blood was palpable; the temple was covered in a thick layer of bloodstains, with over three hundred similar-looking corpses piled up inside.

The bodies all died in the same way, but something seemed off as they died.

Their facial features were initially only slightly distorted, but after thirty-two times, their eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were completely huddled together in despair.

Yang He suspected that soldiers would awaken forgotten memories before they died.

The resentment and poison accumulated inside the corpse, and the reason it didn't turn into a ghost was simply because there was an even more ruthless creature in the main hall—the corpse of the Daoist Celestial Venerable.

Yang He considered taking away the soldiers' corpses, but ordinary storage bags simply couldn't hold them.

He bent down and weaved through the pile of corpses, skillfully finding the main hall, whose entrance was almost indistinguishable. Upon opening it, a sweet and refreshing aroma wafted out.

"Brother Daoxing Tianzun, how is it? Are you satisfied with the offerings?"

The twelve plates of sacrificial organs were strangely shaped, some even having grown facial features and limbs, and were making sounds similar to a baby crying.

"It looks a bit like it, but it's not mine."

"It's not mine!!!"

The murmurs turned hysterical, but the corpse of Dao Xing Tian Zun remained unresponsive as always.

Yang He recalled that after repeating it sixteen or seventeen times, Dao Xing Tianzun's tone gradually changed, revealing a hint of something ambiguous. Now, his words carried a hint of restless anticipation.

"Although we still haven't figured out the true nature of the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation."

"But at least one thing is certain: the deadly loop at Jinting Taoist Temple was used to... cover up the filth of Daoxing Tianzun's corpse."

Through repeated deaths, the organs of the soldiers who had become ghosts became increasingly compatible with the Daoist Celestial Venerable.

"After the act of 'feigning evil' is completed, will Dao Xing Tian Zun come back to life?"

Yang He had no idea what was going on, only that his skin was 99% grayish-black, his five senses were almost completely lost, and his sense of pain had also completely disappeared.

He felt that the character was becoming a lifeless thing, yet the yang fire was still burning.

The three ghosts' cultivation level has decreased instead of increased, and they have fallen to the Innate Realm. It is likely that the near-death experience caused most of the Yin energy in their bodies to dissipate.

puff.

His internal organs were hollowed out.

Yang He didn't care at all, and picked up the heart offering and gestured it across his chest.

"Brother Daoxing Tianzun, how are your fellow disciples doing? Could it be that all twelve Golden Immortals have already turned into corpses?"

He collapsed to the ground, lifeless, his head resting on another of his own corpses.

The next moment, hooves came again from the hillside outside the Taoist temple.

Yang He's body temperature was no different from that of a corpse, his skin was completely black and gray, and only the faint beating of his heart was still proving that he was alive.

Ignoring the soldiers' shouts, he closed his eyes and sensed the ghost's form.

"The ghost body is still not satisfactory."

"Fortunately, the three ghosts have no bottlenecks and can try to cultivate to the Hunyuan Realm. Hopefully, the Nine Turns Yellow River Formation can last a little longer."

Yang Heyou carried a pill that could induce a state of suspended animation, but he had no chance of escaping for the time being.

"Let's see if Dao Xing Tianzun can break the vicious cycle after he finishes filling the body with the filth."

He continued repeating the process. By the forty-second time, the organ offerings had already somewhat satisfied Dao Xing Tian Zun. By the forty-sixth time, he could feel the corpse casting its gaze and beginning to select offerings. This continued until the fifty-first cycle.

Yang He stopped outside the Taoist temple and could hear murmurs coming from the main hall.

"Finally, finally they've found my internal organs!!"

"My heart! My liver! My spleen..."

Yang He had no intention of joining in the fun, and silently chose to wait in the shadows. The yin energy of the Jinting Taoist Temple surged at a visible speed.

boom! ! !
A chill ran through him. The Celestial Venerable Daoist had truly... become a ghost?!

The thick fog that shrouded the mountains and forests dissipated, and the vicious cycle that had trapped Yang He was about to end.

Yang He swallowed the pill that made him appear dead. His life force was washed away by the medicine, and his consciousness fell into a daze as he was about to return to the main world.

At this moment.

The commotion at Jinting Taoist Temple abruptly ceased.

Unable to care, Yang He obediently nestled in the hole he had dug beforehand. "Is Dao Xing Tian Zun still not satisfied with the organs?"

"If the endless loop continues, just annihilate the three souls and seven spirits..."

Yang He's pupils dilated, and he smelled a strong, metallic odor of blood in his nostrils.

He opened his eyes and found himself no longer in the narrow cave, but in the main hall, where an empty altar stood before him.

"Where is the body of Dao Xing Tianzun?"

Yang He was shocked, and goosebumps immediately appeared on his skin.

He glanced down at the shadow beneath his feet and saw a corpse pressed against him, with organs constantly falling from the corpse's abdomen.

Dao Xing Tianzun abandoned the organs he had just filled and stared intently at Yang He.

Yang He felt a sharp pain in his body as Dao Xing Tian Zun effortlessly removed his internal organs, followed by the sound of stuffing them into his ribs.

Dao Xing Tianzun tilted his head and chuckled, slowly closing the wound on his abdomen.

Yang He knelt down helplessly, noticing cracks spreading in the ground and walls, the Jin Ting Taoist Temple beginning to collapse, and Dao Xing Tian Zun slowly walking out.

boom! ! !
The long-awaited, excruciating pain engulfed Yang He, and his cold body lay buried beneath the rubble.

.........

Yang He regained consciousness, but did not return to the main world.

It's still a hillside.

But the twelve soldiers were nowhere to be seen.

Yang He subconsciously looked towards the Jinting Taoist Temple and found that the collapsed ruins resembled a tomb, and the body of Daoxing Tianzun seemed to be nowhere to be found.

"This is strange. Is Dao Xing Tianzun a human or a ghost now?"

He concealed his presence and prepared to check the situation near Qinglong Pass.

"Grandson..."

A hoarse, aged voice rang out, its tone indistinct, like a child learning to speak, or the babbling of a senile person.

Yang He froze, then slowly turned around.

A hunched old man stood not far away, his clothes tattered, his face withered, and his cloudy eyes staring straight at him.

The face still vaguely resembled the outline of Dao Xing Tian Zun, but at this moment it was covered with wrinkles, drool dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his expression was blank.

"Grandson... is hungry..."

The old man stretched out his withered hand and staggered toward Yang He.

As if struck by lightning, Yang He's yang fire dissipated uncontrollably. The old man clicked his tongue, then squatted down half a meter away, satisfied.

"He lost 40% of his Yang energy and almost died."

"How did Dao Xing Tian Zun end up looking like this?"

Yang He carefully examined the old man. He didn't exude any yin energy; on the surface, he seemed like an ordinary mortal, except...

There was a closed wound on his abdomen.

(End of this chapter)