Proving one's path through killing—this kind of merit is poisonous!

Chapter 11 Sneak Attack
"Twenty-nine..."

Upon hearing this number, Cui Qingyuan's pupils contracted slightly.

Pei Qing, standing to the side, couldn't help but spit out a "pui." Even now, he refused to believe that this evil cultivator had any connection with the sect.

The man in black robes continued talking to himself, not expecting them to cooperate with him and react as he wanted.

But then, as if suddenly remembering something, he chuckled after letting go, "Never mind, it's a waste to throw your delicate skin in."

Anyway, he has already arranged for Chen San to go find someone!
Having figured this out, he raised the black banner again, but his intention was to recruit the two men as his subordinates.

"I gave you a way out of respect for the Qingyun Sect, but you didn't cherish it, so you can't blame me."

After saying that, he softly chanted an incantation, and the large banner flew above him. Then, a thick black mist was seen drifting out and flying towards Cui Qingyuan and Pei Qing...

"I'll take you to a better place right now!"

Gu Jinhe looked down at the jade pendant at her waist and subconsciously tightened her grip on the knife in her hand.

But she knew she couldn't act impulsively now.

After all, saving people is just a side benefit; preserving one's own life and completing the system's tasks are the key objectives.

Suddenly, a sound came from behind...

somebody is coming!

Gu Jinhe quickly stepped aside and saw a young man carrying a girl whose fate was unknown, heading towards the man in black robes.

According to the original owner's memories, this boy was Chen San, the son whom Chen Qiao had gone to great lengths to send to the man in black robes to learn martial arts.

The girl's face was obscured by her hair, but it was still barely visible. The original owner of this body knew her; she was the granddaughter of Old Man Zhou, who lived in the north of the village, and her name was Zhou Erya.

It seems that even if Chen Qiao and Li Qiu are dead, this man in black robes will find other ways to capture people from the village.

According to what the man in black robes just said, he threw all the village girls into the alchemy furnace.

and many more……

Alchemy furnace!
high temperature!

She seems to have come up with a solution.

So she silently asked herself: System, how do I use the substitute puppet?
[Substitute Puppet: Can die in place of the user without being detected by anyone; explodes after being exposed to high temperatures for half an hour.]

Instructions for use: The user should infuse spiritual power into the puppet talisman and, after reciting "Puppet, appear," attach it to the user's body.

Note: The Puppet Talisman will automatically generate a new body based on the user's appearance and simultaneously teleport the user to a location ten miles away.

Gu Jinhe took out the talisman with the words "substitute puppet" written on it from her purse, her brows furrowed.

It's such a waste to waste such a useful item on this man in black robes!
But when she thought of the "One-Word Technique" and the fragments of the "Poison Classic," Gu Jinhe's eyes hardened again.

Things are meant to be used!

Thinking of this, she channeled her spiritual power into the talisman and whispered, "Puppet, appear!"

The puppet talisman immediately emitted a faint light, and then she quickly stepped forward and, taking advantage of Chen San's inattention, stuck the talisman on Zhou Erya's back.

The talisman disappeared the moment it touched her. Gu Jinhe observed it carefully and found that the puppet was indeed no different from a real person.

No wonder the system was so confident that it wouldn't be discovered!

After doing all this, she saw Chen San walk towards the alchemy furnace and then watched him throw the substitute puppet into the furnace. Only then did she feel relieved and turn her gaze back to the man in black robes.

At this moment, the black mist had already enveloped Cui Qingyuan and Pei Qing. In order to avoid having their souls taken by the Myriad Soul Banner, the two held their spirit swords and fought back with all their might.

Judging from their injured state, they definitely couldn't last even half a quarter of an hour. Gu Jinhe frowned and asked again: "System, what is the Myriad Soul Banner? How can we get rid of it?"

【The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls: Created and controlled by evil cultivators.】

The souls of the dead can be converted into soul power for cultivation; the souls of the living can be used to create soul slaves; and the bodies of the recently deceased can be used to create puppets.

A solution is being sought...

The Myriad Soul Banner ahead has been detected as a low-level magical artifact. The known course of action is to severely injure or kill the user wielding the Myriad Soul Banner!

Magical artifacts are different from spiritual artifacts. Their power needs to be activated by the user. If the user is seriously injured or dies, no matter how powerful the artifact is, it cannot be used.

Knowing this, Gu Jinhe decided to take a gamble.

She glanced at the black-robed man who was focused on dealing with the two men, and silently took out an explosive talisman.

Although she can't kill him right now, she might be able to give him a little shock!
Thinking about how to use the invisibility talisman and the puppet talisman, Gu Jinhe drew inferences and guessed that the explosive talisman followed the same steps, so he didn't waste time asking the system again.

She crept closer, trying to get closer to Cui Qingyuan and Pei Qing, and finally hid carefully behind a large rock five meters away from Pei Qing.

She then infused the talisman with spiritual power and released it, causing the explosive talisman to fly towards the man in black robes.

From her current hiding position, the man in black robes would only suspect that Pei Qing was behind it, and would not suspect that there were other people hiding behind the big rock.

But to be on the safe side, Gu Jinhe immediately changed his position.

The man in black robes saw the talisman flying towards him, pinched it between his fingers, and smiled disdainfully: "The same old trick again. Even your talisman arrays can't seriously injure me, so what can a mere talisman do to me? You might as well save your energy."

Then, looking at the character "爆" (explode) on the talisman, he felt even more mocked: "What's more, even the way it's written is wrong. You don't really think that just writing a random character on paper will work, do you?"

Gu Jinhe snorted coldly: You'll find out soon enough whether it's useful or not!
She formed hand seals, controlling her spiritual power. Feeling the time was right, she parted her lips slightly and whispered, "Explode!"

"Bam—"

The explosive tag detonated instantly, catching the man in black robes completely off guard!

Caught completely off guard, he was not only injured by the explosion, but also thrown off his feet by the blast wave.

Although he managed to regain his balance in time, the metallic taste rising in his throat made him realize that he was injured.

He gritted his teeth, looking at the two who had also been knocked over by the airflow and collapsed to the ground unconscious. His eyes were filled with undisguised killing intent. He hadn't expected them to actually have a backup plan.

Seeing that his black robe was torn to shreds, he simply took it off, revealing a head of white hair and a wrinkled face.

Like his voice, the face beneath the black robe was very old, like that of an octogenarian.

At this moment, Gu Jinhe was completely certain of his identity.

He really is the village chief of Niujiao Village!

No wonder that, apart from the village chief, no one has ever seen the true face of the so-called "immortal".

But in the original owner's memories, the village chief wasn't this old, at most around forty years old, but now...

Is it a problem with the cultivation method?

Or was it because he harmed too many people that he suffered retribution?
Gu Jinhe couldn't understand it, so she just shook her head and sighed. But when she looked down unintentionally, she noticed that her hands were becoming faintly visible.

She seemed to suddenly realize something, and her face turned deathly pale.

Got it!

The invisibility charm's duration has expired...

(End of this chapter)