Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 464 Upside Down. (First Update!)

Realizing something was wrong, Zheng Que was about to make a move when Song Jiaoyin and Liao Zhanbo stopped simultaneously.

The next moment, Song Jiaoyin turned around and rushed towards a small restaurant not far away, and the two older female cultivators immediately followed.

Liao Zhanbo also wanted to rush into that small restaurant, but seeing that Song Jiaoyin had taken the lead, he immediately changed direction and fled towards another shop selling Buddhist robes.

Three candidates from Chongzhou at the ninth level of Qi Refining followed closely behind.

Step, step, step...

The chaotic footsteps approached from all directions, and the street became increasingly crowded, leaving almost no room to step.

This scene was all too familiar to Zheng Que.

This sudden surge of people is suspected to be the cultivators who disappeared at Blood Pass when this market became "strange"!
We absolutely cannot let these people encounter a situation like this now.

Otherwise, they will be assimilated, and their memories will also be affected.

In the blink of an eye, Zheng Que had already used the [Phantom Escape Technique] to closely follow behind Song Jiaoyin.

Whoosh!
In an instant, Zheng Que, along with Song Jiaoyin and her two servants, rushed into the small restaurant.

This small restaurant is not large. Apart from a long counter, there are five or six tables in the main hall. Judging from the sign hanging on the wall behind the counter, it seems to be a noodle shop. The ingredients are mostly locally sourced and have a strong flavor of Xue Tong Pass. It also sells some low-grade spirit wine.

The restaurant is divided into two rooms, an inner room and an outer room. At this moment, the door leading to the inner room is tightly closed, while the doors facing outwards have all been removed, leaving the restaurant wide open.

The crowd on the street immediately split in two, with half of them rushing towards the restaurant.

Seeing this, Song Jiaoyin's two older female servants hurriedly grabbed the planks against the wall and quickly inserted them into the groove.

boom!
With the last plank in place, the entire lobby of the small restaurant suddenly became dim and extremely quiet. The shop was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and the footsteps that had been surging outside disappeared completely. There was no knocking, no noise, and not even a single breath could be heard.

It seemed as if the large crowd outside had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, Zheng Que immediately understood that if he encountered those "people" on the street, he could hide in the surrounding shops.

Just as he was thinking this, he sensed a subtle change in the small restaurant. A dense, yin energy surged in from somewhere, and the entire restaurant seemed to be immersed in an invisible, cold spring, making it extremely chilling.

Thick bloodstains seeped from the ground, walls, and roof. The door leading to the inner room made a "crackling" sound, as if some giant beast was chewing on bones.

Zheng Que frowned, immediately realizing that even the small restaurant that had just helped them avoid those "people" on the street was not safe!

At this moment, Song Jiaoyin, who was next to him, made a "shush" gesture to him, pointed to her own eyes, and then closed her eyes and covered her ears.

The two subordinates beside Song Jiaoyin also stood motionless, silently closing their eyes and covering their ears.

Seeing this, Zheng Que followed suit, closing his eyes and covering his ears with his hands.

Tick-tock... tick-tock... tick-tock...

The subtle noises around my ears became more and more numerous and pervasive; even with my ears covered, I still couldn't block out the continuous stream of delicate sounds.

The dripping sound was like water droplets, but it had a sticky, gooey feel, subconsciously reminding one of bloodstains.

At the same time, the chewing sound grew closer and closer, soon emerging from the inner room and rapidly approaching them.

Click... click...

Soon, the sound of chewing came almost right next to their ears, as if something was feasting on them.

Even though I didn't feel any physical contact, the feeling of being on the verge of death surged back and forth like a tide.

For quite some time, the sound of chewing lingered, constantly echoing in my ears.

In the darkness, time is hard to discern.

After an unknown amount of time, all the strange noises vanished without a trace—the chewing, the blood dripping, the eerie energy—all disappeared completely. A familiar voice reached Zheng Que's ears: "Go!"

Zheng Que immediately opened his eyes and saw that the small restaurant in front of him had returned to normal, and the bloodstains that had flowed out had all disappeared.

All that met the eye was a clean and tidy little restaurant, with nothing strange about it.

Song Jiaoyin, accompanied by two of her men, removed two pieces of the door panel and quickly walked out.

Zheng Li immediately followed.

The outside was now deserted again; those figures seemed like illusions, and there were no traces of a large crowd passing by on the ground.

Song Jiaoyin was clearly not surprised by this situation. She moved quickly and led the three of them away from the alley.

After walking a long way through the winding streets and alleys, we finally arrived at a relatively open area.

Zheng Que followed behind Song Jiaoyin the whole time, but saw her look around and suddenly stop.

Before he could ask why, Song Jiaoyin suddenly made her move, her ivory fan as sharp as a knife, directly slashing towards Zheng Que's neck.

boom!
Zheng Que was somewhat surprised, but he still managed to defend in time, blocking Song Jiaoyin's attack with one hand.

Seeing that Song Jiaoyin seemed to be going to continue, Zheng Que quickly cast a spell from the [Ghost Control Technique], trying to directly capture Song Jiaoyin in his palm.

As she made a hand seal, Song Jiaoyin let out a muffled groan. She showed no intention of turning into a bloody light and disappearing into Zheng Que's palm. However, her body stiffened, and she stood motionless, seemingly unable to continue her attack.

Seeing this, the two older female cultivators immediately went to help, but before they could make a move, their bodies suddenly sank and they involuntarily knelt on the ground, as if bound by some invisible force, unable to move.

Four blood-red skulls, radiating intense malevolence, silently bit into the bodies of the two older female cultivators. Blood gushed from the gruesome wounds, almost merging with the blood-red skulls, making it appear as if the skulls were about to dissolve into the wounds.

Zheng Que stood still, maintaining the hand seal, and his gaze toward Song Jiaoyin gradually became puzzled.

"You... don't seem to be my ghost servant?" Zheng Que said in a deep voice.

His ghostly servants dared not defy him!

More importantly, if his ghost servants want to rebel against him, the [Ghost Control Technique] cannot suppress them.

Upon hearing this, Song Jiaoyin snorted coldly and replied directly, "So you're the master!"

“That so-called female cultivator was actually your ghost servant.”

"Your Excellency is truly shrewd!"

"The victor is king, the loser is villain. I'm not as skilled as others, so there's nothing to say."

"If you want to kill or behead me, please do as you please!"

With that, she closed her eyes and stopped struggling.

If the person in front of her were just an ordinary imperial examination candidate, with the cards she held, it wouldn't be difficult for her to turn the tide and win.

But the opponent had easily blocked her surprise attack without any warning and instantly subdued two of her subordinates. With such strength, even if she hadn't fallen for the opponent's trap, the outcome of a direct confrontation would have been uncertain, let alone now.

Rather than becoming the other party's true ghost servant, it's better to just seek death!

At this moment, Zheng Que frowned, thinking quickly.

It seems like there's something wrong with his memory!

He vaguely remembered the female cultivator that Song Jiaoyin mentioned, but he couldn't recall that she was his ghost servant at all!
Is it the "law" in this "strange"?
Thinking of this, Zheng Que took out the Soul-Summoning Banner and said coldly, "Song Jiaoyin, you must quickly tell me all the information you know about this 'strange' creature without missing a single word."

"Otherwise, come inside my soul-summoning banner and have a good cup of tea!"

(End of this chapter)