For ten years I practiced Gu poison in Southeast Asia; all living beings revered me as a deity.

Before the enormous, dark banyan tree, Wuchai's uncle stood with his hands clasped together, his back to the tree. As he made this gesture, the tree's shadow twisted and changed on the ground under the moonlight.

Luo Feng and Wu Cai both felt a deep-seated panic. The banyan tree not far away itself was normal; the real anomaly came from the shadows on the ground.

The shadow of the banyan tree is like the tree stretching out, with countless branches baring their claws and extending outward in the form of shadows.

The tree came back to life.

No, it's the shadow of that giant banyan tree that's come to life!

hum...

The wind blows.

The trees rustled and sang, their leaves swaying in the breeze.

My ears are ringing. The air pressure has changed!

The density of the surrounding air, and even the atmosphere, seems to be changing.

It was as if the void had cracked open somewhere, and this air, from who knows where, surged into the surroundings, suddenly becoming dense and dominating the cemetery.

Before them stood a massive banyan tree, its dense shadows centered around the trunk growing ever thicker.

Fear and anxiety intensified. His hair stood on end, and Luo Feng's face turned deathly pale.

The moment Wuchai saw this scene, his heart tightened with "fear," and an ominous sense of déjà vu flashed violently, filling his mind.

Both of them could see very clearly that the aerial roots in the shadows of the trees were clearly nooses, with each corpse caught in them.

"There's definitely something wrong with the shadow; don't go near it."

At that moment, Luo Feng felt an intense sense of crisis. He immediately thought of the reason for his previous death and reacted quickly, retreating backward.

In that instant, the shadows of the trees spread out wildly, like a layer of flowing, viscous black liquid. Wuchai also realized this and quickly moved backward to avoid the shadows that were actively expanding on the ground.

However, the two were still too slow, and the huge shadow of the tree stretched out to their feet.

"This is bad."

Luo Feng felt his legs being "stuck" to the ground by the black shadow that was eroding it, and an invisible and intangible noose appeared around his neck at some point.

轧…

As the invisible rope wrapped around her neck, it suddenly taut under the immense force of the pull.

At the same time, his body was dragged off the ground, almost being hoisted up.

"Whoosh!"

Luo Feng swung his sword backhand, aiming the Demon-Slaying Blade at the head. But the blade struck something, and it snapped in two with a "crack."

Instantly, his neck loosened, and he fell to the ground.

Luo Feng was almost suffocated by the choking. He gasped for breath and looked up, only to see that Wu Cai beside him was also being lifted into the air by an invisible force, kicking his legs desperately, and his revolver lying on the ground.

This guy is hopeless.

Luo Feng did not go to save the person.

"The gun... might not be useful, it won't kill this old guy, but at this distance, it can buy some time."

He recalled that when the old man was shot, he was knocked to the ground, and even if he wasn't injured, it would have bought him some time.

With his mind racing, Luo Feng reacted swiftly in the next instant, grabbing his pistol, aiming it at the old man, and firing a series of shots.

Four consecutive explosions ripped through the air.

Three bullets fired from the revolver hit the target, striking the old man's upper torso without causing him any harm.

"It's no use, bullets can't hurt you..."

The old man grinned, and halfway through his smile, he suddenly raised one hand, from which blood was flowing.

"Was this... a mistake?"

He showed a rare hint of surprise.

Luo Feng witnessed this scene firsthand.

He couldn't understand for a moment why the right hand was the injured area when only three bullets hit, all of which struck the opponent's torso.

—Wait a minute…the fourth shot should have missed.

No matter how sharp Luo Feng's eyesight was, he couldn't possibly discern the trajectory of a bullet traveling at supersonic speed. He confirmed that the old man had been shot because the two were about ten meters apart, and the marks from the first three bullets were very obvious.

The fourth shot—clearly missed.

Wait a minute, it really missed.

The bullet must have flown to the rear.

"So, the target hit... isn't it?"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Luo Feng.

The old man seemed to have realized something as well, his expression turned serious, and his eyes suddenly fixed on Luo Feng.

"As expected... he was killed anyway."

Before he could make a move, something attacked from all directions. Luo Feng's neck, hands, and feet were bound by invisible ropes, as if he were being torn apart by five horses.

puff puff!

With a sharp pain, blood exploded, and Luo Feng was torn apart by the immense force. His limbs were broken, and he died before he could even scream.

……

【you are dead】

[Intervention in "Panupong's Reincarnation Fragment" failed; you have 4 chances left.]

[Evaluation: You have successfully uncovered many secrets. Keep up the good work!]

[Reward: Those evil spirits can be called 'Sui'! Congratulations, you have successfully extracted a 'Sui Thought']

"A thought of haunting?"

After receiving the reward, he carefully examined the so-called "evil thought" and found that it was a pale yellow crystal like a piece of amber.

[One copy of Chongzhi Nian, Category: 'Demons', Grade: 'D+']

The Reincarnation Gu Mark is also explained as a thumb-sized crystal, a remnant of a special being called "Sui," which is a very precious "material" that can be used as a Gu ingredient.

"Unlike ordinary ghosts, evil spirits are too extraordinary, belonging to a higher level, and are difficult to control or even deal with by ordinary exorcism methods... They often have special mechanisms and rules, and if their nature cannot be identified, they will be easily destroyed."

Therefore, describing it as a ghost, spirit, or monster is too superficial, and some people in the world would call it "strange".

"I understand now. That banyan tree is indeed a kind of evil spirit. It's beyond what a tree spirit can explain. Moreover, it possesses some kind of mechanism and rules..."

Luo Feng's mind worked very quickly. He had a good memory and a strong ability to make connections, and he seemed to have figured out some of the murderous mechanisms of the banyan tree.

"The shadow of the banyan tree will spread across the ground. Once it reaches a person's location, an invisible noose will appear around their neck, hanging them to death."

Luo Feng guessed that the banyan tree had grown to this size over a long period of time, and the so-called "Hanger Clan" must be secretly controlling this strange creature through this special method.

"I remember Wuchai also mentioned something about 'curse binding,' but I don't know if that's true."

Furthermore, during the sixth reincarnation intervention, Luo Feng fired four shots at the last moment.

Although the first three shots missed, the last bullet, the fourth shot, successfully hit the old man.

Luo Feng had some guesses about why that last shot was able to injure Wu Cai's uncle.

"The fourth shot didn't hit the opponent; it must have hit the banyan tree behind them... Everything connected here."

He muttered to himself.

It seems that the sixth death was not entirely fruitless.

Luo Feng could believe that even if Wu Cai's uncle had mastered the evil spell of binding curses, and with the banyan tree to help him, he was no longer invincible.

"No wonder he was injured when he first appeared. Of the two bullets I fired, one missed and the other hit the banyan tree... The banyan tree was his weakness. Attacking the old man's body was useless; attacking the banyan tree would be more effective."

After some analysis, Luo Feng felt that he still had a chance of winning.

He gritted his teeth, activated the Reincarnation Gu again, and entered the Reincarnation Fragment once more.