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Chapter 228 The Depth of the Theft Revealed, the Golden Crow Illuminates the Demon's Form at Dawn [Part Two]

"Oh, Senior Feng, you're awake?"

As the three were talking, Tang Hao happened to be facing Feng Mingyang, and he noticed him as soon as the other man opened his eyes.

Bai Jue and Yan Yumin also turned to look.

With a wave of his hand, the former sent a burst of magical power into Feng Mingyang's body. After examining him, he nodded and said, "The external injuries have healed, but the depleted essence needs some time to recover."

"Fellow Daoist Bai Jue, Fellow Daoist Tang, and this one..." Upon hearing the introductions and learning Yan Yumin's name, Feng Mingyang added, "And Fellow Daoist Yan as well."

"Thank you all for saving me. If it weren't for you, I would have lost my life in Hufeng City." Feng Mingyang said with emotion.

Bai Jue waved his hand, shifting the favor to Tang Hao: "If it weren't for my brother's men discovering your whereabouts and spending a lot of effort to hold you until we arrived, there wouldn't be any question of whether or not to save you."

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Tang has done me an immense favor this time," Feng Mingyang said to Tang Hao with deep gratitude.

He was pondering how he could repay the other party for saving his life.

Moreover, it wasn't just his own life that was at risk, but also his sister Feng Mingyue's.

Feng Mingyue is still in the Holy Spring, protected by a divine seal, so she is not in any danger in the short term.

But if he were to die in the dry well, his sister's fate would be unimaginable.

'Furthermore, the rift passage that Fellow Daoist Tang forcibly opened, and the Nightmare Legion he summoned, both appear to be trump cards; the costs and losses involved are likely extremely high.'

Back then, he was joking with Tang Hao and the others, and accidentally depleted one of their Nascent Soul cultivation power. Feng Mingyang himself was a Nascent Soul cultivator, so he could easily repay the debt.

But this time, putting aside the debt of gratitude for saving his life, he was at a loss for how to repay the effort the other party had expended to save him: 'I need to think about this carefully.'

As he pondered this, Feng Mingyang's gaze inadvertently swept out of the airship, and he noticed the [skin thieves].

He was initially startled, but then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were still.

Then, he couldn't help but frown, carefully examining the group of monsters.

Noticing the change in Feng Mingyang's expression, Tang Hao and the other two exchanged glances.

"Senior Feng, what's wrong?" Tang Hao asked.

"Oh."

Feng Mingyang snapped out of his reverie, turned his head and said, "I was just thinking about something that happened when I first came to Hufeng City."

Seeing that the three men all looked interested, he recalled the situation and organized his thoughts.

"The Hufeng clan is divided into the Jiliang lineage and the Chenghuang lineage. Before the ancestor passed away, the two lineages lived in peace and had many close personal relationships."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the twenty-four Skin Thieves, carefully examining the appearance of their tattered skins, while his mouth continued to murmur.

“My father was on good terms with an elder of the Ji Liang lineage. My sister and I were able to escape because of his help. We came back this time to find him.”

As if recalling the past, Feng Mingyang's face was full of sighs.

Tang Hao was somewhat puzzled when Bai Jue's voice came through the [Mind Link].

"Although they are called two branches, if the Hufeng clan is considered as a country, the Chenghuang branch can be considered the royal family of Hufeng. However, although this branch is not a single line of succession, it is still very small in number."

As if suddenly remembering Tang Hao's bloodline, Bai Jue gave him a strange look before continuing to transmit his voice.

"As far as I know, the Chenghuang lineage only had a few hundred people in total. After the passing of the Nascent Soul Ancestor, the Jiliang lineage seized power and took over. Very few people escaped."

With Bai Jue's explanation, Tang Hao suddenly realized what had happened.

Feng Mingyang continued, "It took a lot of trouble and time to find him and send my sister to the Holy Spring. To express my gratitude, I hosted a banquet for him at my residence. We drank quite late that night..."

"After midnight, he fell asleep in his chair. I... I initially thought he was drunk, so I didn't take it seriously at all." He looked somewhat regretful.

During his time in the dry well, Feng Mingyang would frequently review his experiences after returning to Hufeng City.

There were many things that he only realized were different at that time.

Even the matter of that clan elder always seems strange to me, until today, seeing these out-of-control "skin thieves" before me.

Feng Mingyang then realized that the clan elder's situation was remarkably similar to his own.

He couldn't help but secretly regret not having checked the other person more carefully back then.

Noticing Feng Mingyang's unusual mood, Tang Hao comforted him, "We can't entirely blame you, senior. The [Skin Thief] itself has the ability to distort perception."

This wasn't meant to comfort the other person, but rather a conclusion drawn from the same analysis of the advertising video.

Feng Mingyang probably escaped the influence of that power only after fleeing into the dry well and setting up a shielding array.

As for Feng Bohan and Ji Liang, they seemed unaffected. Tang Hao guessed that the ability of the [Skin Thief] only worked on living beings with flesh and blood.

Later, when he arrived in Hufeng City with Bai Jue and Yan Yumin, they were preparing to intervene.

A statement Bai Jue made to Yan Yumin also proves this point.

The message was: "There's something strange about this place. If you go down, you might get caught in a trap. Stay on the boat and protect your younger brother!"

At the time, he thought Bai Jue was worried that Yan Yumin was being parasitized by the [Skin Thief]. Now, he realized that it must have stemmed from that ability to distort perception.

Bai Jue possessed a powerful spiritual sense, capable of rivaling even a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and was not afraid of this technique.

Yan Yumin had only just formed her Nascent Soul, and since so many Nascent Soul cultivators in Hufeng City had fallen victim to her schemes, she naturally couldn't escape it either.

“What my brother said is true. You don’t need to blame yourself. If you had really discovered it back then, you would have just been walking towards being surrounded and killed sooner.” Bai Jue looked at Tang Hao and said seriously to Feng Mingyang.

Feng Mingyang's expression was indescribable, and he couldn't help but glance at Bai Jue.

Although such blunt truths are hard to bear, he was indeed comforted, at least he no longer felt regretful about it.

Taking a deep breath, Feng Mingyang stopped dwelling on the matter and said, "I have carefully examined this place just now, and there is no elder among them."

"Perhaps among the remaining fourteen?" Bai Jue raised an eyebrow and replied, not thinking it was a problem.

To everyone's surprise, Feng Mingyang took this very seriously.

He shook his head: "I'm 80% sure the other party isn't among these thirty-eight [Skin Thieves]."

When those Nascent Soul level monsters descended, only part of their appearance could be seen through the crystal wall.

After leaving the crystal bubble and boarding the flying boat, he glanced at the battlefield a few times.

Now, if you look at the twenty-four heads in front of you one by one, you can recognize them almost all.

"So, what does Senior mean?" Tang Hao didn't understand the other party's intention and couldn't help but ask.

Feng Mingyang nodded to him and said, "I suspect that the [Skin Thief]'s control, or rather parasitism, over Nascent Soul cultivators is layered. The reason that elder is not here is because the degree of parasitism is not high enough."

Before the three could ask any questions, Feng Mingyang presented his evidence. "Before sending my sister into the Holy Spring, we met outside Hufeng City. It was past midnight at the time, and she was fully conscious the whole time, showing no unusual behavior."

After looking at Tang Hao and the other two in turn, Feng Mingyang said with certainty, "So, the clan elder was only tricked later, and because the [Skin Thief]'s parasitic depth is not yet sufficient, it is temporarily unable to control the other party."

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao recalled that he had questioned the number of Nascent Souls in Hufeng City when he was in the crystal bubble.

After receiving an explanation from Feng Bohan, he guessed that the [Skin Thief] must have many limitations in order to control Nascent Soul cultivators.

Now, comparing what Feng Mingyang said with what he said, I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Bai Jue and Yan Yumian also showed a look of realization in their eyes.

"No wonder. It was one against thirty-eight. I was originally confident that I could hold them off and let you retreat first. But when the battle actually started, I found that their combat strength did not match their cultivation level, so I captured more than twenty of them in one fell swoop."

Bai Jue couldn't help but mutter, "I thought my strength had increased significantly recently and I was about to break through and advance to the Nascent Soul realm."

Seeing her slightly disappointed expression, Tang Hao was speechless.

Try sending someone at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. They'd be lucky to avoid being wiped out, let alone hold them off, right? And Sister Jue is still not satisfied.

Fortunately, her disappointed expression quickly disappeared, and she said excitedly, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Let's go straight back!"

Yan Yumin grabbed Bai Jue's arm, signaling her to calm down.

They know too little about the "skin thieves." The more characteristics they can analyze, the more confident they will be.

After all, the next goal is not simply to kill a few or capture a dozen or twenty, but to completely eliminate the true form of the [Skin Thief].

Before the [Skin Thief] is eliminated, let alone Tang Hao daring to go down to the Holy Spring to take yang energy, the two of them would never agree.

Feng Mingyang noticed Yan Yumin's actions and glanced at her curiously.

When he was introduced earlier, he simply said that he was a Nascent Soul Elder of the Qinghua Sect and a close friend of Bai Jue and Tang Hao, without saying anything more.

But he always felt that Yan Yumin and Bai Jue had a complicated relationship, just like Tang Hao, whose relationship with both of them was unusual.

Composing himself, Feng Mingyang pointed outside the flying boat and indicated the location of five [Skin Thieves].

"These few were the ones who attacked me back then. They were probably the first to be parasitized, so the [Skin Thief] was the easiest to control and the strongest among them."

The three looked in the direction of the statue, and Tang Hao recognized three of them. He said, "The captain of the Holy Spring Guard, the current patriarch of the Hufeng Clan, and this is the elder who guards the ancestral hall..."

Before Feng Bohan and Ji Liang escaped into the dry well, Tang Hao had been watching the whole thing on the screen and was very impressed with the three of them.

“The first two are correct, this one is the Great Elder of the Hufeng Clan.” Feng Mingyang nodded, then pointed to one person to correct him.

That was the same old man who had been the one the man and horse had encountered at the ancestral hall during the day, the one who had presided over the sealing ceremony of the Fengbo Cold Soul Lamp.

Feng Mingyang then pointed to two others and revealed their identities: "This is the Second Elder. He is in charge of external wars. Um, the unsealing of clansmen who have been sealed by supernatural powers is also under his jurisdiction."

“This last one is the Seventh Elder, in charge of the bloodline awakening of young Wind Howlers.” Feng Mingyang pointed to the last person, then looked at the three others, “They all have one thing in common, which is—”

“They all have easy access to the sacred spring!” they all said in unison.

Then, their expressions turned serious.

Tang Hao already knew the truth, and since everyone had guessed it, he naturally revealed the general situation: "Therefore, the source of the parasitism lies in the Holy Spring."

"Senior Feng recently visited the Holy Spring but did not notice anything unusual, which means the key is not the spring water, but something latent in the water," Tang Hao tentatively guided.

Upon hearing this, the other three were startled, each realizing something.

Tang Hao continued to guide the conversation: "Previously, at the Sword Tempering Pool of the [Free and Unfettered Sword Sect], I dived down to the spring and discovered a small spatial rift nearby that was absorbing the pool water. You said..."

"Could there also be a spatial rift within the Holy Spring, from which this [Skin Thief] escaped?" Finally, Tang Hao revealed the truth at the opportune moment.

That's roughly it!

Nodding vigorously in agreement, Feng Mingyang gave him a thumbs up and said, "The Holy Spring's source is essentially a fissure, so it's normal for other fissures to appear nearby."

"Actually, small cracks have appeared from time to time before, but they would disappear quickly and we usually wouldn't pay much attention to them. If any have been there for a long time, the captain of the guard would take a look and then take the initiative to forcibly close them with a secret technique."

Feng Mingyang's words made Tang Hao secretly curl his lip.

He thought to himself, 'The guard captain wasn't idle this time either. However, instead of closing the rift, he used some means to forcibly maintain its existence, preventing it from closing suddenly.'

The Skin Thief's true form is too enormous, and it seems impossible to completely separate it from the rift from which it was born. Therefore, it controls the Guard Captain to maintain the rift passage in order to prevent it from losing contact with this world.

Tang Hao learned all of this from the advertising video.

Furthermore, he had a vague premonition that the Skin Thief was definitely plotting to break free from the shackles of the narrow gap, but the video did not reveal what it was planning.

Unfortunately, it's not appropriate to talk about these things right now.

'If I get any more leads, I'll take the opportunity to reveal them,' Tang Hao thought to himself.

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Jue said with some regret, "Then it's not advisable to force our way into the Holy Spring at night. I imagine there will be some kind of preparations there."

Even if they hadn't done it before, after tonight's commotion, the Skin Thieves must have deployed a large force within the Holy Spring Barrier.

Perhaps they have some other strange and unpredictable methods waiting for them to come knocking on their door.

No, they're waiting for Bai Jue to break in alone. The three of them aren't strong enough, and they'll probably be trapped before they even get inside.

Feng Mingyang agreed wholeheartedly: "Why not see what changes will occur to these [skin thieves] after dawn?"

Of the twenty-four Nascent Soul level [Skin Thieves] on site, more than half had severely damaged skins, with only a few barely retaining any human form.

They all had some anticipation for when the sun rose again.

Will these filthy monsters, now freed from the control of the symbiotic consciousness and unable to bear the light, simply turn into a pool of sewage, or will they don human skin once more?

"Alright, alright, we've gone around in circles and ended up back here again." Bai Jue shook his head helplessly.

They were preparing to rest on the spot and wait for daylight.

Tang Hao suddenly remembered something: these Nascent Souls had not yet been parasitized by the Nightmare Butterfly.

'Just don't let my nightmare kingdom burst.'

He thought for a moment, then his mind stirred. He communicated with the Nightmare Throne, sealing off the entire Nightmare Kingdom and temporarily ceasing the entry of wandering spirits.

This is the latest application that Tang Hao has come up with when mobilizing the entire nation's resources.

After doing all this, he secretly activated the Nightmare Throne.

Twenty-four exceptionally strong black-gold dragon butterflies were released and charged towards the [Fur Thieves].

(End of this chapter)