Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 439 Ghost Tide. (Second Update!)

Bloodstained Tongguan Pass.

After speaking with the ghost bride, Zheng Que took Xue Shuangzi and began their journey back to the stronghold.

After some time, the two returned to their stronghold. At that moment, Shu Yunying was still in the forging room, clanging and banging as she forged the [Stunning Smoke Skirt], while Linghu Yuniang was idly guarding the only shop.

Upon seeing Zheng Que's return, Linghu Yuniang came out to greet him and gave a brief report on the situation at the stronghold during this period, summarizing that nothing had happened.

Zheng Que introduced her and Xue Shuangzi, and then walked around the three resource points he had occupied, letting Xue Shuangzi get to know his other ghost servants.

Xue Shuangzi is fierce and menacing towards the living, but she is very friendly towards ghosts.

Whether facing Linghu Yuniang, Qingli who kept calling her "Grandma," Kulan who wanted to help her adjust her mindset upon first meeting, or the honest Niannu, she seemed to be mindful of something and did not act rashly at all.

"What should I do next?" Xue Shuangzi asked, looking around.

Zheng Que did not answer the question immediately, but instead recalled the map in the jade slip in his mind.

Besides the three resource points occupied by Qingli, Kulan, and Niannu, there is also a mine producing Blood-Patterned Iron and a pool of water where finished Water Mirror Lotuses grow near his stronghold.

Blood-patterned iron is a low-grade spirit ore that can be widely used in weapon forging; as for Water Mirror Lotus, it is a material for alchemy.

Now that Shu Yunying can help him forge weapons, the materials for forging weapons are definitely more important to him than the materials for alchemy.

Thinking of this, Zheng Que immediately replied, "Come with me."

So he took Xue Shuangzi and headed straight for the small hill where the Blood-Patterned Iron was located.

The vegetation on this hillside is significantly sparser than in other areas, with only a few scattered black and red thorns, making it look messy, and various dark red pebbles scattered on the ground.

Amidst the thorns, numerous blurry, semi-transparent ghosts drifted about, filling the air like willow catkins in spring.

The heavy, gloomy atmosphere seemed to shroud the hillside in a light gray veil, making the temperature here even more icy and bone-chilling.

Zheng Que walked to the bottom of the small hill, stopped, and simply said to Xue Shuangzi beside him, "Kill."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Li made his move, and several bloody skulls shot towards the numerous ghosts on the hillside with howls.

Xue Shuangzi did not hesitate and immediately followed suit, attacking the ghosts.

Boom boom boom...

After a while, the battle ended, accompanied by slowly falling dust.

Most of the ghosts were killed on the spot by the man and the ghost. The remaining ghosts from the [Tongue-Pulling Hell] were controlled by Zheng Que using [Ghost Control Technique]. These were laborers to be used to transport resources and could not be wasted.

Zheng Que ordered the temporary ghost servants to stay in one place, while he led Xue Shuangzi up the hillside. There were entrances to some caves scattered on the hillside. It was already dusk, and the caves were pitch black.

However, neither Zheng Que nor Xue Shuangzi's vision was obstructed in the slightest.

Zheng Que randomly chose a relatively large cave. The terrain inside was fairly flat, only slightly damp. After walking a dozen steps, he could see that the cave walls on both sides were covered with rings of blood-red veins on the ore, indicating that mining was obviously very easy.

He nodded slightly, turned around, and looked at Xue Shuangzi. Just as he was about to assign the [Rouge Demon] a mining task, a low roar suddenly came from afar.

The moment the roar reached his ears, Zheng Que felt a buzzing in his head, as if all his blood had reversed. He was instantly terrified, and an immense fear arose from the depths of his heart almost instinctively. His body froze on the spot, unable to move at all!
Xue Shuangzi, who was beside him, also changed her expression, her mind reeling, her soul frozen in place, like a painting. After a long while, the human and the ghost finally recovered, and Xue Shuangzi immediately asked, "What was that just now?"

Zheng Que shook his head and quickly replied, "Return to the base immediately!"

With that, he turned and walked away, showing no intention of continuing to occupy the resource point.

The feeling I just experienced was far more powerful than even the "strange" Iron Tree Prison in Taiping County!
It's a ghost from the Iron Tree Prison!

[The Prison of Evil]?
Or a higher realm?
Whatever it is, I have to get back quickly, and then go through the underworld to summon the ghost bride and Mu Xian Gu to my side to protect me...

Xue Shuangzi's already pale face showed a hint of shock as she immediately followed Zheng Que's footsteps.

Just as Zheng Que and Xue Shuangzi were about to leave the cave, Xue Shuangzi suddenly frowned and quickly said, "A large number of ghosts have suddenly appeared outside!"

"My duty in the underworld is to sense the ghosts of the [Tongue-Pulling Hell], but this scale should be much larger than just the [Tongue-Pulling Hell]!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que didn't stop walking and simply replied, "Then let's speed up!"

As they spoke, he and Xue Shuangzi had already walked out of the cave. Outside the cave, they saw that the temporary ghost servants who had been enslaved had gathered together and occupied a small area on the hillside.

At this moment, countless ghostly creatures, all kinds of strange shapes, surged out from the depths of Xue Tong Pass, rushing wildly towards the outer perimeter of Xue Tong Pass in groups, as if blotting out the sun.

Seemingly sensing the presence of a living person, dozens of ghosts that were fleeing rapidly not far away immediately charged towards Zheng Que.

Zheng Que frowned. It seemed that something was wrong deep inside Xue Tong Pass!
Before he could think, the ghost had already rushed in front of him, and he immediately made his move.

Boom boom boom...

After a fierce battle, Zheng Que and Xue Shuangzi quickly ended the fight. The dozens of ghosts transformed into pure Yin energy and scattered with howls.

However, in such a short time, even more ghosts surrounded them, one after another, seemingly endless.

Zheng Que had just dealt with one group and hadn't even had a chance to escape when even more ghosts swarmed in.

huh... huh... huh...

Seeing this, Zheng Que quickly took out the Soul-Summoning Banner and waved it repeatedly. The soul wind howled and swept through, blowing away all the ghosts that rushed towards him.

Soul Wind is very effective against ghosts, but there are just too many ghosts around. Without Qing Li as the main soul, Zheng Que's frequency of using Soul Wind quickly couldn't keep up with the speed at which the ghosts pounced.

Seeing that if things continued like this, he and Xue Shuangzi would be submerged in this seemingly endless tide of ghosts, Zheng Que was about to use the [Heavenly Wheel Profound Fire Technique] when Xue Shuangzi suddenly rushed to his side and exhaled a puff of pink smoke.

The smoke was delicate and bright in color, quite different from the scarlet fog. It looked lively and vibrant, like peach and apricot blossoms in spring, carrying a faint fragrance. After it appeared, it spread quickly, enveloping Xue Shuangzi and Zheng Que in it.

The next moment, the numerous ghosts that rushed up crashed into the smoke. However, the moment these ghosts entered the smoke, they lost their way and seemed to be unable to see Zheng Que at all. After a series of bumps and swaying as if they were drunk, they quickly rushed out from the other side of the smoke.

Those ghosts that had not yet entered the smoke lost their target and wandered around aimlessly like headless flies. Finding that they could no longer find the aura of living people, they all chose to give up.

Soon, the surrounding ghosts spontaneously avoided the pink smoke and continued to flee towards the outer perimeter of Blood Pass.

At this moment, the pink smoke also moved with the ghost tide towards Zheng Que's stronghold.

(End of this chapter)