Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 179 The Ghostly Envoy and the Yongle Tongbao Coin
The muzzle of Oda Yuko's gun trembled slightly in the night wind.

Her index finger was on the trigger guard, and beads of sweat slid down her temples to her jaw.

The balloon, which looked remarkably like Jiang Jin, was slowly spinning above the old textile factory, its rubbery face contorted into a grotesque smile. The rope, illuminated by the moonlight, resembled a dangling umbilical cord, swaying gently in the night breeze.

"Beat one of them, and I'll resurrect a part of your mother..."

Zhou Chen's voice echoed in my ears.

Yuko bit her lower lip until it bled, and the image of her mother's bleeding chest flashed before her eyes again—when Yukiko fell, her right hand was still outstretched towards her daughter.

“Mom…” Yuko silently moved her lips, her index finger slowly tightening.

Who exactly are these people who seem to have special abilities? And what is their connection to these bizarre human head balloons?

Just then, the balloon suddenly turned.

Jiang Jin's face was directly facing Yu Zi, his lips stretched into an unbelievable arc as he grinned maliciously at her!
Yuko shuddered. She was now 100% certain that this was not a hallucination!
At this moment, Yuko began to feel fear.

"These people are all bad..."

Gunshots rang out in the silent night sky, but her marksmanship was so poor that she missed even with such a large balloon shaped like a human head!
Suddenly, a low growl approached from behind. Yuko instinctively rolled away, only to see a giant, blood-red hound lunging from the shadows of the workshop!

Yuko screamed and pulled the trigger. The recoil of the silver pistol made her wrist go numb, but the bullet only grazed the hound's front paw, leaving a charred bullet mark on the concrete floor.

The hound barked wildly in pain, then leaped and pounced on the girl, its pungent, hot breath spraying onto her face.

"no, do not want!"

Yuko was horrified to see several centipede-like venomous insects emerge from the hound's tail and coil above her cheek!
The hound used its sharp teeth to grab Yuko by the collar and tossed her toward a designated spot like a rag doll.

Yuko slammed heavily against the iron gate of the workshop; the silver thermal blanket was nowhere to be found.

She struggled to crawl away, only to find that the worms had already surrounded her, forming a mobile cage.

The workshop's iron door creaked open, and Yuko trembled as she crawled inside. The Gu worms immediately scattered to various corners on guard. Only then did she notice that the workshop walls were covered with talismans, and the floor was painted with complex array diagrams.

"It's nice to meet you again, Miss Oda."

The sound made Yuko's blood freeze. She looked up abruptly and saw Shirakawa Rin standing in front of her.

"You!" Yuko, drawing strength from who-knows-where, grabbed a steel pipe from the ground and charged forward, shouting, "I'm going to kill you!"

Shirakawa Rin easily dodged to the side, and then swept his leg to trip Yuko.

The steel pipe crashed to the ground, but Yuko grabbed the other person's ankle and yanked hard.

Suddenly, several paper figures appeared and stuck to her face.

"If you want to die, then keep moving." Shirakawa Rin's voice was filled with a sinister aura. "And if you're going to hate someone, you should hate her even more, shouldn't you?"

Following the direction Shirakawa Rin pointed, Yuko turned her head and saw Qin Mei bound in shackles, kneeling in the center of the formation, her hair disheveled, with a talisman pasted on her forehead.

"Enough, Shirakawa." Yu Tianlun walked over and said, "This girl is an important source of intelligence. You just called her Miss Oda, is she the Oda Yuko you mentioned? Move the paper figure away!"

Yu Tianlun didn't have much affection for Bai Chuanlin either. She helped them only to use them to rescue Sima Jin, but she still fully embodied the ruthless style of the Insect Nest team.

Shirakawa Rin waved his hand and took back the paper figure.

Looking at the paper figures that Shirakawa Rin could manipulate at will, Oda Yuko felt a sense of fear in her heart.

But looking over there, Qin Mei was bound by shackles and kneeling in the center of the formation!

Hatred clouded his judgment in an instant.

Oda Yuko lunged at Qin Mei, slapping her across the face with both hands.

"Why did you kill my mother! What did she do wrong?!"

Qin Mei did not dodge the question and said, "This was an accident, I have nothing to say. It's right that you hate me."

Qin Mei also felt regret over Oda Yukiko's death. At the time, she mistakenly believed that Tomie had been lured there by her, which led to Sun Jing shooting and killing Oda Yukiko.

Yuko was filled with hatred, but Jiang Jin stopped her from slapping him for the third time.

This man had an astonishingly strong grip, yet his calm gaze sent chills down your spine.

"Zhou Chen from the Scarlet Team sent you?" he asked bluntly.

Yuko was stunned: "Who is Zhou Chen?"

"A boy who looks about seventeen or eighteen years old, but he looks very mature."

Yuko nodded and said, "That's right. It's him."

"Then let's talk. Don't worry, I'm not like them, and I will avenge your mother!"

Tears suddenly welled up, and Yuko nodded through sobs, recounting the transaction at the izakaya in broken sentences.

When she said, "Breaking the balloon will bring Mom back to life," Shirakawa Rin suddenly sneered.

“The dead cannot be brought back to life.” Jiang Jin’s voice was unexpectedly gentle. “Just like ghosts can never be killed, this is a fundamental law.”

Xu Yinqiu walked over and handed her a handkerchief: "Zhou Chen is taking advantage of your grief."

"You're lying!" Yuko suddenly screamed, "Their jars clearly have his grandmother's ghost in them!"

"If a person becomes a vengeful spirit after death, it means that they will not be able to rest in peace after death."

The workshop suddenly fell silent.

Next, Jiang Jin tried his best to explain the difference between vengeful spirits and resurrection to Yu Zi.

"Mom, is it really... impossible for her to come back to life?" Yuko Oda burst into tears.

When she was only ten years old, her father died of cancer, and now her mother is dead too. Overnight, she became an orphan.

"What are those balloons? And who are you people? Why are you killing us?"

Jiang Jin remained silent.

For the vast majority of reincarnators, the characters in the horror dungeons are nothing more than NPCs with no human rights.

They believed themselves to be transmigrators, inherently superior to the characters in the story. Even if they slaughtered countless natives of the instance, they would eventually return to the real world through the reincarnation system; what was there to fear? Even the imperial court wouldn't pursue their crimes committed within the terrifying instance.

But it's clear they are living, breathing people! Not NPCs in a game!

Jiang Jin turned around and looked at Qin Mei with a cold gaze.

That woman deserves to die!
“Describe the location of the izakaya in detail.” Jiang Jin pressed down on Yuko’s shoulder. “We’ll help you wipe them out. Once we’ve eliminated them, we can kill her and avenge your mother.”

Yuko was taken aback by this sudden turn of events. She stammered out a description of the izakaya's exact location, and through her description, Jiang Jin learned which members of the Scarlet Team had survived.

The Soul-Capturing Master Duan She, the Spellcaster Lu Cun, the Sorcerer Ruan Hong, the Healer Tang Min, the Hunter Han Wei, and the Spirit Medium Meng Chang.

Jiang Jin pondered for a moment, then suddenly pointed at Qin Mei and said, "Zhou Chen specifically instructed that she must not be killed?"

Yuko nodded.

It seems that Zhou Chen has truly fallen in love with Qin Mei.

This situation is actually quite rare. Reincarnators walk between life and death, pursuing the release of desires more than pursuing emotions, and people like Zhou Chen are even rarer.

This made Jiang Jin admire Zhou Chen a little. He asked himself if he were in Zhou Chen's shoes, he would also risk everything to save Liu Yan.

Yu Tianlun had already unfolded a map of Black Crow Town: "According to Yuko, Scarlet is at 'Yama-Sakura Izakaya' in the shopping street. The blue pills we took have basically taken effect, so we can take this opportunity to go straight there and pop the balloon."

“Ruan Hong and Duan She, the two main forces, are still alive,” Xu Yinqiu said with great unease. “They are both LV2, and it seems that they have temporarily escaped the balloon’s pursuit through some means.”

“Even if there’s an array to conceal them, the balloons can still sense the location of the main body through the hidden threads, so the distance shouldn’t be too far,” Yu Tianlun said. “Right now, they’re all gathered together. If we’re lucky, we might be able to find all of their balloons and annihilate them all in one fell swoop!” If they can wipe out a team like Crimson in one fell swoop and seize all of their Blood Keys, the strength of the Nirvana team will increase significantly!

Most importantly, the Bloodthirsty Team must not know how they annihilated these two subgroups, so that Blood Lord will be too afraid to attack them again!

"Commander, if I may be so bold," Jiang Jin still felt uneasy, "we should be more cautious. Wouldn't it be better to send Gu worms to search for the balloons?"

“Zhou Chen must have plenty of ways to deal with Gu worms. The Bloodstained and Insect Nest teams have been fighting for so long, they should know the best how to deal with Gu worms.”

Currently, almost all of the 99% of the Gu reincarnation practitioners in Muxu City have joined the Insect Nest team. The Bloodthirsty team has been able to fight them for so long, so they must already know how to deal with Gu worms. Compared to Shadow Blade, Crimson is the Blood Lord's most valued branch, and with a direct subordinate like Duan She in charge, they must have tools that can detect Gu worms and kill them on a large scale.

"But what about the Self-Defense Forces and patrol personnel?" Jiang Jin became uneasy. "What will happen then..."

“Stirring up the waters is actually better.” Yu Tianlun was confident about this: “Jiang Jin, you have the hunting mark on you, so you stay here and guard Qin Mei. Don’t worry, I’ve purchased enough array talismans for this operation and made sufficient preparations. Most importantly… I haven’t gone all out yet.”

Jiang Jin then realized that Yu Tianlun was once a renowned top reincarnator!
Having survived the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, how could he not have a trump card?

"And me?" Yuko asked timidly.

Yu Tianlun quickly made a decision: "You stay here. I can't rule out the possibility that Zhou Chen has placed some kind of tracking spell on you."

Therefore, it was decided that Yu Tianlun, Xu Yinqiu, Liu Yan, and Fu Jiang would go out to deal with the Scarlet Team.

Yu Tianlun concluded, "Remember, the core of the Scarlet Team consists of Zhou Chen, Ruan Hong, and Duan She. Duan She's ghost-raising technique is extremely troublesome, and Ruan Hong's black magic is also quite terrifying. Also, prioritize destroying Zhou Chen's peach wood sword. Be prepared that if you can't destroy Zhou Chen's balloon in time, you'll have to be prepared to fight him to the death."

Yu Tianlun knew Zhou Chen's strength all too well.

Just as everyone was about to take action, more than a dozen corpses suddenly floated down from the workshop ceiling!
"Duan She's vengeful spirit!" Jiang Jin shoved Yu Zi aside. "Get down!"

At that moment, everyone realized that they had overlooked something.

Zhou Chen cared about Qin Mei's life or death, but... Duan She didn't care!
Duan She's true loyalty is to the Blood Lord, not to Zhou Chen!

Taking Qin Mei's life will not threaten Duan She!
Twelve vengeful spirits, their tongues hanging down to their chests, their rotting fingers waving.

Yu Tianlun's Bagua Formation was activated instantly, and the golden light sliced ​​the first three corpses that fell into pieces, but more ghosts had already broken through the defense line.

Jiang Jin fired a shot! But it had no effect!

These ghosts are actually quite ordinary individually, but when they come together, they become terrifying!
They are remotely controlled by Duan She!
Twelve corpses hung like marionettes from the workshop beams, their rotting toes almost brushing against Yuko's head.

She slumped to the ground, watching her bluish-purple toenails grow at a visible speed, bending into hook shapes.

"Retreat to the center of the formation!" Yu Tianlun threw out three talismans, which spontaneously combusted in the air, forming a wall of fire to temporarily block the vengeful spirits.

Xu Yinqiu seized the opportunity to pull Yu Zi up, and the scalpel sliced ​​across the rope binding her wrist.

Jiang Jin fired the silver pistol he had seized from Yu Zi in quick succession. The specially made bullets pierced through the first three corpses that rushed at him, blasting holes the size of bowls in their chests.

There was no blood splattering, only black smoke billowing from the bullet holes, condensing in the air into the shape of a ghost face.

"It's no use!" Yu Tianlun shouted. "These are Duan She's 'evil spirits,' your attacks will only cause them to split apart!"

As if to confirm his words, the three corpses that had been struck suddenly exploded, each fragment transforming into a new, smaller vengeful spirit. In the blink of an eye, the number of ghosts in the workshop tripled, and the air was filled with the stench of rotting flesh.

Amidst the wailing and howling of ghosts, Yu Tianlun bit his finger, and blood stained the Bagua mirror.

The Big Dipper pattern immediately appeared on the mirror, and seven golden rays shot out like sharp swords, pinning the five nearest vengeful spirits to the wall.

Liu Yan released more than a dozen centipedes. These purplish-black insects strung together in mid-air, forming a long whip that lashed out at the vengeful spirit before her.

Shirakawa Rin's paper figures were faster than Liu Yan's Gu worms. Three paper figures, as thin as cicada wings, spun like blades and flew towards the vengeful spirit!

Yu Tianlun was setting up an array of copper coins, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Gunshots rang out again.

As the bullet pierced through the gap between the vengeful spirits, and the skull shattered, Yuko saw a mocking, sinister smile appear on that rotting face.

Jiang Jin's second shot missed, and the vengeful spirits began to break free from the Seven Star Golden Light, rhythmically regrouping together.

Yu Tianlun's Bagua Formation shone brightly with golden light, but it still couldn't stop these vengeful spirits!
Duan She truly lives up to his reputation as a direct subordinate of the Blood Lord!
In terms of strength, they are no less than Wu and Qin!

The yin energy emanating from those vengeful spirits precisely swept towards everyone. Tomie was unable to dodge in time and was entangled by the yin energy, immediately letting out a painful scream.

"This is no ordinary Yin energy!" Liu Yan's Gu worms lunged at the vengeful spirit, "It's mixed with corpse oil refined through black magic!"

Yuko watched in horror as all the vengeful spirits before her began to merge, gradually forming a giant corpse three meters tall, with dozens of painful human faces vaguely visible on its swollen abdomen!
Yu Tianlun coldly looked at the vengeful spirit before him and said, "If Zhou Chen were here, I might actually find it a bit troublesome. You, Duan She, are not worthy!"

He slammed the Bagua mirror to the ground, but the mirror surface mysteriously hovered ten centimeters above the ground and began to spin rapidly. Seven Five Emperor Coins flew out from his sleeve, arranging themselves in the shape of the Big Dipper in the air, each coin emitting a dazzling golden light.

"Qian (☰) is three unbroken lines, Kun (☷) is six broken lines—"

Yu Tianlun's voice suddenly became deep and resonant, like a bell, each syllable making the workshop windows vibrate.

When dealing with Qin Mei, Yu Tianlun actually showed mercy because he didn't want to kill her.

Now... he naturally held nothing back and used his full strength!
Yuko covered her ears and saw the golden light condense into solid chains in the air, firmly binding the merging horde of vengeful spirits.

Jiang Jin realized that what Yu Tianlun was reciting was a formula from the Eight Trigrams of the Book of Changes!

“The Zhen trigram represents an upturned bowl, the Gen trigram represents an overturned bowl—”

As the second incantation was uttered, Yu Tianlun's Taoist robe fluttered without wind.

The mirror surface was immediately covered with dense red incantations, which crawled toward the vengeful spirit like living things.

The three-meter-tall vengeful spirit let out a shrill scream, and the faces on its abdomen simultaneously opened their mouths, spewing out yin energy. The yin energy collided with the red light, producing a piercing sound like metal scraping against metal.

"The center of Li is empty, the center of Kan is full—"

Yu Tianlun formed a hand seal, and the five coins arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper suddenly changed direction, with the holes of the coins pointing towards the heart of the vengeful spirit.

His pupils contracted to pinpoints as he roared, "Break!"

Seven golden rays, like sharp arrows, pierced through the body of the vengeful spirit, exploding seven bowl-sized holes of light behind it.

The vengeful spirit staggered backward, its swollen abdomen rapidly deflating like a punctured balloon.

“Found it.” Yu Tianlun sneered, his pupils locking onto the almost invisible silver thread on the vengeful spirit’s neck—the “lifeline” remotely controlled by Duan She.

He took out a special copper coin from his pocket. The edge was sharpened and the four characters "Yongle Tongbao" were engraved in the center.
As soon as the copper coin appeared, Jiang Jin felt the temperature around him drop by ten degrees, and even Liu Yan's Gu worms shrank into a ball in fear.

"In my name, I swear this blood oath." Yu Tianlun pressed the copper coin against his bleeding palm. "Within three breaths, I will sever your lifeline!"

The copper coin suddenly turned bright red and began to emit heat!
Yu Tianlun flicked his wrist and threw the coin, which spun and drew a crimson trajectory, precisely slashing towards the vengeful spirit's neck!

The vengeful spirits seemed to sense a deadly threat, and their ghostly hands suddenly reached out from the wounds pierced by the golden light, attempting to intercept the copper coins.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yinqiu immediately pulled out three silver needles from her body and flung them away!

"Seal the meridians!"

The silver needle flew over and temporarily pinned the ghost hand in place!

That pause of less than a second was enough—the crimson copper coin passed through the defense line without any hindrance and slashed at the silver thread!

"Zheng!"

A crisp snapping sound echoed throughout the workshop, and at the moment the silver thread broke, all the vengeful spirits froze simultaneously, like a movie scene that had been paused.

Yu Tianlun seized the opportunity, pointed the Bagua mirror at the vengeful spirit's chest, and the runes on the mirror surface crawled up the giant's body as if they were alive.

"The top of the trigram Dui is missing, and the bottom of the trigram Xun is broken—cut it off!"

(End of this chapter)