Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 292 Soul Refining
Upon hearing Blood Lord's words, Lian Xuan's heart skipped a beat!
Joining a bloodthirsty group? That's undoubtedly a double-edged sword.

The advantage is having a powerful backer, with resources and connections far exceeding those of independent individuals. However, the downsides are the brutal competition within the Bloodthirsty Team, the unpredictable nature of the Blood Lord himself, and the constant threat to one's life. Furthermore, even if one joins, they're likely to be assigned to an outer branch, with little chance of breaking into the core headquarters.

The image of his younger brother Lian De choosing Nirvana without hesitation flashed through his mind. In fact, his heart was also more inclined towards Nirvana, but he could not guarantee that Nirvana would accept them.

Seeing Lian Xuan's hesitation, Blood Lord's face darkened, and he said arrogantly, "What? You're unwilling? Then pretend I didn't say anything."

Blood Lord was already deeply dissatisfied. Giving these two brothers a chance to join the Bloodthirsty Team was already a great favor, and yet they were still hesitating. In fact, this was largely due to his lingering feelings of remembrance for Wu Zhiping, so he was willing to give someone he had mentored a chance.

Lian Xuan's heart tightened; he knew the opportunity was fleeting. At this moment, he absolutely couldn't put all his eggs in one basket with Nirvana; he had to secure a backup plan first!
He quickly bowed and said, "No! Blood Lord, I am willing! But... I still need to ask my brother's opinion. After all, we brothers have always been inseparable, and I cannot make the decision for him."

Blood Lord snorted coldly; the explanation was somewhat plausible. However, in his eyes, it sounded more like an excuse, and his dissatisfaction hadn't lessened much. He said coldly, "Fine, then give me an answer tonight."

He said no more and turned his attention back to the basement.

Just then, a strange rustling sound, as if something was being dragged, suddenly came from the corner of the basement.

A fierce glint flashed in the Blood Lord's eyes, and he suddenly opened his mouth, unleashing the Ghost Howl!
An invisible sound wave, targeting spirits, swept out like a storm!

"Woo——!!!"

The clutter and old furniture piled up in the basement exploded and shattered under the terrifying sonic shockwave! Wood chips flew everywhere, and dust filled the air!
Lian Xuan's spiritual vision instantly detected that in a corner swept by the sound waves, a faint female spirit with a rope around her neck and her body swaying slightly was forcibly shaken out!

She kept her head down, her long hair loose, radiating a strong sense of resentment and... a numb feeling of being dominated.

It was the ghost of Ms. Walker!
"Communicate with her!" Blood Lord commanded Lian Xuan, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Tell her that her son Rory's soul is now in my hands. If she doesn't want her son to lose even the last bit of his soul, she'd better obey."

Lian Xuan was shocked and looked at the Blood Lord in disbelief.

Using a mother's love for her child as leverage? Even if she's become a vengeful ghost... that's just too much...

The Blood Lord seemed to see through his thoughts and said coldly, "If you want to join the bloodshed, do as I say. The witch spirit in the original movie also used Rowling's daughter Judy to threaten her. She did the first thing, so I'll naturally do the fifteenth."

His logic is cold and cruel; he'll stop at nothing to achieve his goals. This is because he firmly believes in one principle: the moral high ground always trumps the moral high ground!
Lian Xuan suppressed his discomfort, knowing that now was not the time to dwell on morality.

He focused his mind and tried to establish a connection with the spirit filled with pain and confusion, conveying the Blood Lord's threat through the medium's communication abilities.

Sure enough, as if her most sensitive nerve had been touched, Ms. Walker's spirit trembled violently!
A surge of resentment, a mixture of maternal instinct, despair, and anger, erupted!

Boom!

The dilapidated chairs, wooden blocks, and various odds and ends in the basement seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand, suspended in large quantities, and smashed towards Blood Lord like cannonballs!

"Humph!"

Blood Lord remained completely calm in the face of the attack.

Ultimately, this woman was merely a ghost that Basshira had barely managed to drag into the Lost Layer; she posed no real threat to the Blood Lord. Without the protection of the Lost Layer barrier, he wouldn't even have bothered negotiating with her.

Blood Lord didn't even use much power; his soul power just rippled slightly around him. The flying debris seemed to hit an invisible wall as it approached his body, shattering and bouncing away!

At this moment, a hint of satisfaction appeared in the Blood Lord's eyes.

Very good. He's emotionally charged, and instead of moving from the surface of the Lost Layer, he's now on the edge of the Mysterious Layer, making him easier to control!

He raised his hand and skillfully began to bind the spirit. Even though his level had dropped, it was only a short-term seal; his true realm hadn't fallen. His skills and status as a Soul Reaper remained!

Several dark red soul chains appeared out of thin air, coiling around Ms. Walker's spirit like venomous snakes! After all, this was just a ghost in the shallow layer of the Lost Realm, and largely controlled by the witch's evil spirit. For the Blood Lord, who once controlled a more powerful spirit, binding her was not too difficult.

The soul chains tightened rapidly, temporarily imprisoning the struggling and wailing spirit.

Blood Lord's plan is clear: step by step dismantle the ghosts that the witch Basshiba can enslave and control, refine them into ghost slaves under his control, and then find a way to send these "spies" back to the witch's side!
He wanted to repay them in kind!

Leaving the cold basement and returning to the first floor, the two immediately smelled a nauseating, rotten, and sweet odor coming from the direction of the kitchen—rule number five had been triggered!

They dared not delay and immediately followed the instructions, opening all the windows and finding an old-fashioned radio, tuning it to a channel playing cheerful music, carefully avoiding accordion tunes.

The loud music temporarily dispelled the eerie smell, but it also made the atmosphere of the house even stranger.

Then, Lian Xuan found his younger brother Lian De, his face showing a mixture of excitement and trepidation that he could not hide.

"Lian De, there's an opportunity." Lian Xuan lowered his voice and said urgently, "Just now... Blood Lord spoke to me privately. He... he wants to recruit us brothers to join the Bloodthirsty Team!"

Lian De's previously nonchalant expression froze instantly.

He suddenly looked up at his brother, his eyes filled with disbelief, then slowly shook his head and said firmly, "No. Brother, I refuse."

Lian Xuan was taken aback, seemingly not expecting his younger brother to refuse so decisively: "Why? That's the Bloodthirsty Team! Blood Lord is a Level 4 powerhouse! Even if he's temporarily fallen from grace, it's only temporary! Joining them means resources, intelligence, and security that we can't compare to right now!"

Lian De's eyes sharpened. He took a step closer, his voice lower, tinged with suppressed anger and lingering fear: "Brother, you only see the surface glamour, but you don't see the filth and danger behind it! Do you remember that lone bounty hunter 'Old Cat,' who worked with me not long ago and then mysteriously disappeared? I recently heard some rumors from a priest friend who was in charge of tracking him... Old Cat was personally captured by the Blood Lord! Then he was sent to some isolated restricted area and became material for that witch Xia Yu to add resentment to her cursed puppets, and his soul was extracted and used to create puppets! They did this very secretly, but they still left some traces, which my friend's tracking team found!"

Upon hearing this, Lian Xuan's expression changed slightly, as he had indeed never heard of this matter.

Lian De continued, "That's not all. I heard that Blood Lord had a long history of misdeeds back when he was still with the Insect Nest team! The most horrifying thing is that he once tried to sexually assault Madam Bai Ye and her daughter at the same time! This kind of scum is simply depraved!"

He looked into his brother's eyes, his tone heavy: "How can you expect me to trust someone who treats human life so lightly and has no moral bottom line? To join his team? Besides..."

Lian De's voice was filled with deep fear, "Everyone knows that joining the Bloodthirsty Gang will result in a soul imprint being planted in your body! Your life and death will be completely in his hands, and you won't even be able to protect yourself! How is this any different from being a slave? I, Lian De, would rather be a free and unfettered individual, even if I live a precarious life, than entrust my life and dignity to such a person!"

Lian Xuan was rendered speechless by his younger brother's series of accusations and resolute attitude.

He admitted that his brother was right; the Blood Lord's reputation was indeed bad, and the Soul Imprint was a major taboo for all reincarnators who yearned for freedom. But he also had his own considerations.

“But… Lian De,” Lian Xuan sighed, a worried look on his face, “we already know his intentions in recruiting us. If we refuse outright now… wouldn’t that be directly slapping him in the face? Given the Blood Lord’s rumored personality, I’m worried… he might hold a grudge against us, or even secretly plot against us! Offending such a powerful figure would have unimaginable consequences…”

Lian De, however, seemed to think more simply, or rather, he preferred to think positively: "It can't be that bad, right? Brother, he's a well-established figure, he wouldn't be so petty, would he? We just don't want to join, we haven't offended him, would he force us or retaliate? Maybe...maybe he doesn't even care about small fry like us."

Lian Xuan looked at the unrealistic hope on his younger brother's face and sighed inwardly.

He understood the mindset of these top reincarnators better than Lian De; for them, rejection itself was sometimes an offense, especially when the other party extended an olive branch.

He seemed to foresee the chill that might flash in the Blood Lord's icy eyes.

The conversation between the two brothers ended in unease and disagreement.

As night fell, when the Perron family and the Warrens were all looking somewhat listless from exhaustion and tension, Jiang Jin and Su Wan, looking tired and wounded but with sharp eyes, finally returned to the Perron family home.

They brought back hope, but the blood-stained witch-hunting crossbow also brought back a deeper shadow of crisis. The witch's curse, now fully enraged, was ever-present.

(End of this chapter)