The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 116 The Demon Devouring the Ghost King and the Theory of Subjugation

"Ding!"

The crisp sound of bells echoed through the hellish scene.

A gentle breeze suddenly rose up and lifted the hem of Li Zhen's clothes.

Li Zhen looked around and saw that the talismans on the ground were also jumping with the sound of the bell, like strange insects floating in the air.

A thought struck him, and he turned to look to his right.

The hideous black demon was right next to him, staring at him and uttering strange, solemn, and cruel sounds, like a song sung during a ritual.

Detective Li didn't know if it was just his imagination.

Although he didn't drink that kind of witchcraft potion, Li Zhen experienced the same sense of disorientation.

From this daze arose a kind of frenzy.

The demon in his ear seemed to be telling Li Zhen what to do.

Li Zhen's right hand shook the Sanqing Bell at a specific frequency, while his left hand picked up a bowl of fresh blood prepared on the ground and poured it over his own neck.

Thick, fresh blood slid across the skin, bringing a strange, stimulating sensation.

Li Zhen looked at his skin and noticed that the red marks on his arms were more prominent.

"...Heaven and earth are out of order, yin and yang are out of balance...The Yellow Springs are split open, the dark path is revealed...Withered bones serve as ladders, ghostly flames serve as torches..."

Li Zhen's chanting grew faster and more indistinct, eventually turning into a jumble of meaningless syllables.

Dark clouds rolled in from the sky, completely obscuring the moon.

The streetlights outside the villa flickered a few times.

The space here seems to have changed several times.

An indescribable eerie atmosphere silently enveloped the area.

The pieces of corpse, arranged according to a specific pattern, suddenly burst into black flames.

Seeing this bizarre scene, the woman standing behind Zheng Guoquan let out a soft gasp and gripped Zheng Guoquan's hand even tighter.

Even Zheng Guoquan, whose mind was in turmoil, was startled by the sight before him.

Yu Changzheng, who was more sensitive to eerie atmospheres, felt his heart beat faster and faster.

Zheng Guoquan and the other man were unaware of this, but Yu Changzheng, being a Taoist priest, knew what these evil sacrifices were all about.

Generally speaking, sacrifice is the act of summoning evil beings through certain rituals. As long as the ritual is correct and the offerings are not problematic, the evil beings are very likely to react.

But despite the reaction, he had never heard of a sacrifice causing such a strong reaction before…

The scene before him was so eerie that it made him anxious and fearful that his actions might have adverse consequences.

If the person performing the evil ritual has any malicious intentions, the harm they cause is probably greater than that of the demon king inside.

But what can he do?
Even without their help, others can still perform the sacrifice.

Furthermore, today is not the best time to perform this ritual, as there is a possibility of interference from the Ghost King.

If this person has other purposes for performing the ritual and is unscrupulous, the most suitable approach would be to quietly kill a few people and complete the ritual in a secluded place, rather than proceeding with the ritual in such a hasty manner as is the case now.

This might just be a reason he came up with to convince himself, but Yu Changzheng still tended to believe Li Zhen.

Suddenly, he saw remnant souls emerging from the pieces of corpse burning with black flames.

As if placed on real flames, those remnant souls wailed and struggled incessantly, unable to escape the shackles of the black flames.

Is this a sacrifice of the soul?
Yu Changzheng was startled.

Offering corpses as sacrifices is nothing; once a person dies, all that's left is a stinking carcass.

However, sacrificing one's soul to an evil being, condemning them to eternal damnation, crosses Yu Changzheng's bottom line.

Seeing his father's spirit screaming in agony, Zheng Guoquan's expression changed: "Dad! What's wrong with my dad? Master, my dad seems to be in a lot of pain!"

He was asking about Yu Changzheng.

"Master, this...this is far too evil!" The woman also looked at Yu Changzheng. "What exactly is this master doing?"

Yu Changzheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and thought to himself, "I know this is evil, but what can I do?"
This was something he couldn't say aloud, but what came out of his mouth was: "No rush, no rush, let's take another look."

In his daze, Li Zhen also noticed the condition of those souls, and he shook the Three Pure Ones Bell in his hand faster and faster.

"...I, acting on the evil decree, knock upon the mysterious gate!"

"...using evil spirits as sacrifices and withered bones as mediums, to summon Damasul..."

The remnant soul on the corpse disappeared for a moment, then reappeared in the black flames with a wailing cry.

Li Zhen suddenly opened his eyes and walked with strange steps to the ghost king's broken bone stuck in the ground.

Black flames also appeared on the remains, but the Ghost King was nowhere to be seen.

Grabbing the remains of the Ghost King, Li Zhen expressionlessly stabbed his right arm.

A small amount of fresh blood stained the bones.

An even more intense black flame ignited from the bones.

Li Zhen carried the skeleton past each piece of corpse and wiped away some of the talismans on it.

The black flames on the body parts dimmed.

Those remnant souls also returned to the body parts.

The remains of the Ghost King, held in Li Zhen's hand, began to change, and a distorted ghost face gradually appeared on the bones.

Even in this special situation, with Li Zhen's consciousness somewhat hazy, he still instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.

If the evil god cannot accept this exchange, then things will get a bit complicated.

The demon seemed quite pleased with his sacrifice.

It not only enjoys cruelty and bloodshed, but also the despair and fear that permeate the bloodshed.

The environment here at Zhengjia's place perfectly meets these requirements.

Seeing this, Yu Changzheng breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zheng Guoquan beside him, "It's alright. This layman had already considered this. He used the Ghost King to replace the souls in those corpses, so they won't be sent to suffer. Don't worry."

Only now did he realize that Li Zhen had no problems; his methods just looked terrifying. Otherwise, he wouldn't have considered such details beforehand.

For truly wicked individuals, sacrificing living souls is commonplace.

Zheng Guoquan also breathed a sigh of relief.

The woman standing next to Zheng Guoquan asked in a trembling voice, "Master, who...who exactly is this person? Why are their methods so terrifying? It seems...it seems..."

Yu Changzheng vaguely said, "Don't look at the methods, look at the essence. This layman's magical power is extraordinary. Only he can deal with that ghost king."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a jolt in his heart and suddenly turned to look at the villa.

A terrifying ghostly figure appeared in one of the villa's lit windows.

The ghostly figure was only the size of a newborn baby, with brown skin and a mouthful of fangs, making it look exceptionally sinister and terrifying.

"Demon fetus!"

With just one glance, Yu Changzheng felt an uncontrollable chill creep down his spine.

Zheng Guoquan and the woman turned their heads and saw the demonic fetus on the windowsill.

At this moment, wisps of dark flames gradually emerged from the demonic fetus.

The demonic fetus panicked and patted the flames on its body, only to find that it had no way to control the flames. Suddenly, it disappeared from the spot.

The next moment, a middle-aged woman staggered to the window and cried out to Zheng Guoquan in anguish, "Help me! Guoquan, help me! I'm in so much pain..."

"Mom!" Zheng Guoquan called out in a daze.

Flames erupted from the middle-aged woman's body, and her voice became even more shrill: "Don't let him continue, Mom...I'm dying! Stop him!"

Zheng Guoquan took two steps toward the house, but was stopped by Yu Changzheng.

"We can't go! It's the Ghost King's scheme! We mustn't fall for it! The Ghost King is desperate! Don't be fooled! Miss, quickly stop him!"

The next sentence was addressed to the bewildered young woman.

The young woman realized what was happening and quickly joined Yu Changzheng in pulling Zheng Guoquan back.

The middle-aged woman's voice from inside the window was even more shrill: "Guoquan, stop him! Mom's going to be burned to death! Stop him!"

The elderly Mrs. Zheng, wearing glasses, appeared next to the middle-aged woman.

"Guoquan, stop him from continuing! Your mother and I are going to be burned to death!"

Zheng Guoquan's eyes glazed over as he looked at the woman.

He shuddered, roughly pushed Yu Changzheng and the young woman aside, and turned to run towards Li Zhen.

Yu Changzheng was shocked: "We absolutely cannot go here!"

Before he could even get close to Li Zhen, Zheng Guoquan's legs were entangled by the tentacles extended by the excited ghost fetus, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Yu Changzheng, who caught up, quickly said to the ghost fetus, "This person was bewitched by the Ghost King and did not intend to disrupt the ceremony."

The tentacles of the demonic fetus tightened their grip on the struggling Zheng Guoquan, gradually suffocating him.

"Master!" The young woman who caught up was startled and instinctively grabbed Yu Changzheng's arm.

Yu Changzheng was also a little flustered. A thought struck him, and he pointed at Li Zhen, saying, "This person just told you to keep an eye out and not let anyone get close. He probably didn't tell you to kill anyone directly?"

It's unclear how much the ghost fetus understood.

It glanced at Li Zhen and then released Zheng Guoquan.

Yu Changzheng had just breathed a sigh of relief when he was suddenly startled again.

Judging from the ghost's expectant look, could it be trying to get Zheng Guoquan closer so it can devour him?
This thought sent a chill down Yu Changzheng's spine.

He glanced at the scene and saw the little devil watching the commotion with a grin. He realized his suspicions might be true, so he quickly pounced on Zheng Guoquan and asked the woman to help. It was only with great difficulty that they managed to subdue Zheng Guoquan.

Looking up, Yu Changzheng keenly sensed that Gui Tai was somewhat disappointed, and felt a great sense of relief.

If they weren't being suppressed, these ghosts would have committed countless atrocities.

The young woman assumed that the ghost had understood Yu Changzheng's words, so she released Zheng Guoquan, and she developed a fondness for the strange ghost fetus.

“Master, this…this looks fierce, but it’s very intelligent…” the woman said, looking at the ghost fetus. Yu Changzheng was speechless.

It's not that it understands human nature; it just wants to eat people.

A pitiful scream rang out.

Yu Changzheng turned around abruptly and saw the demonic fetus he feared being forcibly pulled out of the house, flying excitedly into the remnants of the Ghost King held by Li Zhen.

Scorched by the black flames, the Ghost King let out a painful howl.

Not long after, another formless stream of yin energy was pulled out of the house and flew into the remains of the Ghost King.

Zheng Guoquan, who was being pressed to the ground by Yu Changzheng, opened his mouth and exhaled a stream of yin energy.

Feeling the weight in his hand, Li Zhen instinctively threw away the Ghost King's remains.

After circling in the air, the Ghost King's remains landed on a piece of corpse.

The body parts and bones, like soft mud, were kneaded together by an invisible force into a demonic statue.

Aside from being flesh-colored, this demonic statue was almost identical to the one Li Zhen brought back to the original world.

No matter how much the ghost king struggled, it could not escape the binding force of the evil god statue and was gradually devoured by it.

Li Zhen regained some clarity of mind.

The will of evil has finally descended...

The spider demon and the six-armed bat-faced demon, which he had been suppressing, were stimulated and gradually became active within his will, which even Li Zhen could not suppress.

A terrifying, malevolent aura emanated from his body.

The demonic statue sensed this change, and its flesh began to writhe wildly, making it look like a statue composed of countless blood-red worms.

All the body parts rotted at the same time, leaving only white bones.

The distorted aura caused everything Li Zhen saw to become distorted.

The red marks on his body became even more active, as if trying to twist his body into another form.

The atmosphere of cruelty, bloodshed, and antiquity gradually spread, creating a suffocating sense of oppression for everyone present.

The sacrifice has now gone beyond what Tirapa described.

Li Zhen could only try his best to suppress the evil within his will to prevent the conflict from escalating.

Suddenly, the Zheng family's house seemed to change, becoming blurry, as if it had instantly fallen into another dimension.

A powerful suction force emanated from that direction, pulling the demon king, who had already merged into the demon statue, out again.

The Ghost King's body became much more ethereal, but he still had a breath left.

It bared its teeth at Li Zhen in mid-air for a moment, then let out a smug, strange laugh.

This turn of events surprised Li Zhen.

At this point, how could he possibly let the Ghost King escape?

The Three Pure Bells rang again, and Li Zhen began chanting incantations once more.

The demon king, who was about to escape, was pulled back towards the demon statue.

The Ghost King struggled frantically, but to no avail.

A phantom-like giant hand reached out from inside the Zheng family's house and grabbed the Ghost King, but it couldn't stop the Ghost King from being devoured.

The giant hand shattered instantly, and the Ghost King fell into the mouth of the demon statue.

After a strange chewing sound, the Ghost King's screams came to an abrupt end.

Li Zhen turned to look in the direction of the Zheng family, and for a moment he seemed to see another dimension.

A blurry figure stood in that space.

The other person seemed to be looking at Li Zhen as well.

After the figure and the space vanished like an illusion, only the Zheng family's house remained standing alone in the same spot.

With a "plop," the demon statue fell to the ground.

All the strange phenomena disappeared at the same time.

Li Zhen withdrew his gaze and picked up the demon statue from the ground.

Although this demon looks quite different from real flesh, it has a strange fleshy feel to the touch, just like touching real flesh, which makes people feel a bit weird.

Once you're ready, you can begin visualization...

Sensing the malevolent aura emanating from the demon statue, Li Zhen knew he had achieved his goal.

He has now become a wizard.

Although he has only just begun his studies and his cultivation is far from reaching the level of Tirapa, as long as he successfully visualizes the demon, his sorcery cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds.

Seeing that the matter had finally come to an end, Yu Changzheng felt half relieved.

Looking at the demonic statue in Li Zhen's hand, he felt a chill run down his spine.

As a smart man, Yu Changzheng had just realized that this ritual was not specifically for exorcising ghosts, but had another purpose.

This purpose is likely related to this terrifying demonic statue.

Recalling the malevolent aura that the demon had just displayed, Yu Changzheng felt a sense of fear.

Even the Ghost King, whom he had no chance against, swallowed it whole. What kind of evil spirit was it?
However, at least one urgent problem was solved, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

We can talk about what happens next...

Once he regained consciousness, Zheng Guoquan rushed anxiously towards his house.

The young woman chased after her and went inside.

Yu Changzheng was still a little worried, so he glanced at Li Zhen and followed him inside.

Not long after, Zheng Guoquan carried Old Mrs. Zheng out, and Yu Changzheng carried a middle-aged woman out.

Yu Changzheng put the dead woman down and sighed inwardly.

He recognized the woman; she was the eldest wife of the Zheng family, Zheng Guoquan's mother.

Everyone in the Zheng family, except for Zheng Guoquan and the dying old lady Zheng, died.

"Grandma, how are you?" Zheng Guoquan asked, his voice trembling with tears, as he put the old lady of the Zheng family on the ground.

"Blood, eagle blood is...it's here, use eagle blood quickly." Covered in blood, the old lady Zheng reached out and grabbed Zheng Guoquan's collar in a daze.

Zheng Guoquan didn't know what Old Mrs. Zheng meant.

But Yu Changzheng knew.

He grasped Old Mrs. Zheng's hand and sighed, "It's no use, it's too late."

Grandma Zheng sighed softly, "It's all my fault, all my fault... Where is Zhichang? Where is Zhichang? I'm looking for Zhichang."

Yu Changzheng remained silent.

Zheng Guoquan didn't know whether he should say it or not.

Old Mrs. Zheng pushed the two apart and saw the body of the eldest wife of the Zheng family on the ground.

Struggling to crawl to the body, she looked at the corpse's face, her whole body trembling.

"Zhichang is dead too, right? And Guowei... Guowei is dead too... It's my fault, it's all my fault."

"The Zheng family... the Zheng family is all that's left..."

She collapsed weakly onto the corpse, her breathing growing ever weaker.

"Grandma!" Zheng Guoquan quickly hugged the old lady in his arms, only to find that she had stopped breathing.

Looking at Old Mrs. Zheng's eyes, which remained open, Yu Changzheng sighed with mixed feelings.

The old woman hid in the Buddhist hall and barely managed to save her life, but before she died, she learned the truth that almost her entire family had died, which can be considered as her deserved retribution.

Seeing Li Zhen packing his things, Yu Changzheng walked up to Li Zhen and hesitated before saying, "There's something wrong with the origins of this Ghost King."

Li Zhen looked at Yu Changzheng.

Yu Changzheng explained, "Just now, someone tried to use magic to steal the Ghost King. I suspect that someone may have been eyeing the Ghost King for a long time, considering it their own possession."

Recalling what happened at the final moment of the sacrifice, Li Zhen said, "Will someone come looking for trouble with me?"

That's interesting. He doesn't even know how to cause trouble for that person, but that person is already looking for trouble for him.

Yu Changzheng ran back to his cloth bag and took out a Bagua mirror.

After muttering incantations for a while, he shone the Bagua mirror onto Li Zhen's face.

Li Zhen saw his own face reflected in the Bagua mirror.

The face flickered, becoming half-real and half-illusory; this was Li Zhen's soul.

A blurry handprint appeared between the eyebrows of his soul.

Even knowing that this was a look at the soul, Li Zhen subconsciously touched the area between his eyebrows.

After the ritual was completed, he felt that something was wrong with his soul, but he thought it was just the effect of the ritual and planned to go to a quiet place to see what was going on.

I never imagined that my soul had been tampered with without my knowledge.

After a moment of reflection, Li Zhen was certain that he could easily remove the mark.

Yu Changzheng said solemnly, "This hand gesture... looks like a Tantric Buddhist technique."

Detective Li looked Yu Changzheng up and down.

Yu Changzheng was flustered by the stares and quickly explained, "This Ghost King came from XZ. I guess it has some connection with the Tantric sect. I don't know anything else. I haven't investigated anything. It's just a guess."

Li Zhen nodded: "Because I eliminated the Ghost King and ruined other people's plans, so they're coming after me?"

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Yu Changzheng frowned. “The Tantric school has a method to enhance one’s cultivation by subduing demons. If this ghost king is something that someone else has their eye on, and you kill the evil spirit in advance, then you are disrupting someone else’s cultivation. Perhaps that person will… subdue you instead of the ghost king.”

After staring at Yu Changzheng for several breaths, Li Zhen repeated Yu Changzheng's words: "Subdue me?"

(End of this chapter)