Chapter 225: Tongue

Chapter 225: Tongue

Though the Demon Lord was a man of crooked heart, brutal, ruthless, and lecherous, none could deny he possessed a talent transcending the ordinary; from his rise to renown, in mere scant years he became the Taiyi Sect's number one public enemy.

Even that lofty Sect Master bestowed upon the Night Walker profession the praise of "greatest talent in thirty years."

The last to receive such acclaim was the Female Marshal; yet even Fu Qingyang, to this day, has garnered not a shred of praise from the Taiyi Sect Master.

Therefore, when they heard Yin Ji speak of how the Demon Lord so dreaded, so feared "Mute Village," the Five Elements Alliance elders felt their hearts plummet.

Yuan Shi Tianzun was their "treasure," a figure of key cultivation.

The Zhu Family Head's sister coveted Yuan Shi Tianzun; even without substantive harm, even with the Fuzhou Branch's protection, the Five Elements Alliance blacklisted her the moment they said they would.

Should Yuan Shi Tianzun suffer injury, Zhu Rong would meet no good end—though she fares ill enough now, flayed alive by a madman.

Seeing the Five Elements Alliance elders turn their gazes, seeing Dog Elder's face etched with urgency, Yin Ji recalled:

"He didn't speak in such detail, only said he'd fixated on the wrong point at the start, nearly died in the instance; surviving was pure luck."

When she and the Demon Lord courted, both were already Saints; the matter of Mute Village was mere tea-time talk, a casual mention of old times, nothing more.

The Demon Lord hadn't elaborated, and she cared not for Transcendent-stage instances, so she asked no further.

Fixated on the wrong point... Fu Qingyang repeated silently; he knew not Mute Village's mission, nor the Spirit Realm's introduction, and could offer no judgment.

But one thing was certain: this instance hid a trick; only by seeing through the trick could one survive, otherwise, a dead end.

A trick even the Demon Lord failed to pierce—its peril was evident; could Yuan Shi pass smoothly?

With this interlude, the Five Elements Alliance elders' expressions grew grave; even watching the matches they seemed absent-minded.

Most worried of all was Dog Elder, for Yuan Shi Tianzun was the direct subordinate of his direct subordinate; upon future ascension to Saint, he would become a Deacon under Dog Elder's direct command.

Simpler put: his power base!

Taiyi Sect Night Walkers discussed in low voices:

"It sounds like an extremely high-difficulty A-rank instance."

"A-rank instances are second only to S-rank; which A-rank isn't perilous, isn't difficult? But the Demon Lord nearly died inside—that's interesting. If Yuan Shi Tianzun perishes in the instance, that's even more interesting; tomorrow will bring major news."

"Don't be so shortsighted. If Yuan Shi Tianzun can't survive, can we? What if we encounter this instance later? We might not, but what of future fellow disciples? I'd rather Yuan Shi Tianzun emerge alive, enriching our Taiyi Sect's archives. Alas, it'll likely cost a fortune then; Elder Sun was muddleheaded, recruiting Yuan Shi Tianzun in—the top three of the arena tournament would've all been ours."

"Speaking of, where's Yuan Ting?"

"Heard Elder Sun threw him into the training camp again, this time Hell-mode training."

"Truly pitiful..."

The news spread swiftly through the stands; with Taiyi Sect's embellished descriptions, everyone knew Yuan Shi Tianzun had entered another hell-mode instance.

"What, Taiyi Sect says Yuan Shi Tianzun entered an instance harder than S-rank?"

"What, even the Demon Lord nearly died inside—is this a certain-death instance?"

"What, the Demon Lord says it's a certain-death instance?"

"What, the Demon Lord and Taiyi Sect both say it's a certain-death instance?"

……

Mute Village.

Zhang Yuanqing stood outside the courtyard gate, clutching the old man's wrist to prevent his escape, manipulating the Yin Corpse to reply:

"If you don't mind, then I'm coming in."

The moment the words fell, the old man suddenly struggled violently, his wrinkle-lined face revealing sheer terror, shaking his head with all his might.

The old man seems deathly afraid of Wang Xiaosi; he doesn't want me to go in? Zhang Yuanqing sensed the anomaly, a thought striking him, silently activating the "Soul Devour" skill. Pitch-black, viscous substance welled up in his eyes, filling the sockets entirely.

Instantly, the stone house before him "ignited," curling with wisps of Yin energy like thick smoke.

As if this were no house, but a tomb housing a millennia-old slumbering corpse.

Wang Xiaosi's Yin energy is this exaggerated? Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank.

At that moment, Wang Xiaosi's voice rasped from inside the room:

"Come on then, why haven't you come in yet? I'm so tired, I can't speak from this far away…"

The old man's struggles intensified, emitting "ah-ah" sounds from his throat, his face pale with fright, seemingly urging the young man not to enter.

Zhang Yuanqing manipulated the Yin Corpse, stepping toward the stone house, crossing the modest courtyard, arriving before the two half-rotten black wooden doors.

There was no lock on the doors, likewise half-closed; through the crack seeped a dense, lightless darkness.

Corpse One lacked the vision to pierce darkness, so Zhang Yuanqing could not see the scene inside through the corpse's eyes.

If I didn't have the Yin Corpse, the best response would be to draw the Burst Pistol, stand my ground, and blast these two doors to splinters… Zhang Yuanqing controlled Corpse One to raise a hand, gently pushing the wooden doors open.

Feeble light spilled into the stone room. Past the threshold lay an outer hall, a square table sitting in the center, atop which sat a pitch-black lump.

Zhang Yuanqing controlled Corpse One to step over the threshold, entering the room.

He saw more clearly now: from the roof beams hung slender hemp ropes, each tied to a tongue, dangling like cured bacon.

And just then, that black lump on the table turned around.

It turned out to be a human head with disheveled hair, matted with filth. It rotated its face forward, eyes bloodshot and wide with dead silence, black viscous blood oozing from its mouth. A guttural sound, like phlegm stuck in the throat, murmured:

"You're here... I'm so hungry..."

As the words fell, the two rotten doors slammed shut with a clang. Simultaneously, Zhang Yuanqing lost control of the Yin Corpse.

His will was forcibly "expelled" back into his body.

"Ahhh—"

Witnessing this, the old man's face turned earthen with fright, letting out a scream that tore his throat.

In the windows of the nearby rammed-earth and stone houses, pairs of cold eyes emerged, gazing this way.

What a hassle! Zhang Yuanqing swung a knife-hand strike, knocking the old man unconscious, leaving Little Bean to watch over him and keep guard.

He strode into the courtyard, summoning the Thug Gauntlets from his inventory.

Thud, thud, thud… Zhang Yuanqing sprinted to the tightly shut wooden doors, clenched his fists, and slammed them hard.

Boom!

Like a high-explosive grenade detonating, the shockwave blew the wooden door away, reducing it to charred fragments.

The tongues hanging inside the room swayed violently in the shockwave; the expanding firelight dispelled the darkness, illuminating the scene within the hall.

There, Corpse Collector No. 1 lay pinned to the ground, a head with disheveled hair, strands coated in grease and filthy blood, gnawing on Corpse Collector No. 1's head.

*Crunch, crunch...*

The sound of the skull being crushed made one's scalp tingle with numbness.

Half of Corpse Collector No. 1's head was already gone, red and white substances flowing out.

Good teeth... Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched. While reclaiming control of Corpse Collector No. 1, he drew the Burst Pistol and the Insight Glasses, aimed at the head, and pulled the trigger.

The Burst Pistol and the Insight Glasses were a matched set.

Without the latter, given Zhang Yuanqing's marksmanship, he would most likely have shot the bullet into his own Yin Corpse's skull—no, straight into its brains...

*Bang! Bang!*

The bullets accurately struck that hideous, ugly head; the attached burst effect generated tremendous force, sending the head rolling away like a ball.

"It hurts, it hurts..."

The head let out a shrill cry, wailing, "My body, my body..."

Accompanying the cries, a clattering sound came from the inner room, like wooden planks falling to the floor.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately swung the muzzle around, aiming at the inner room door draped with black cloth.

A figure walked out with stiff, monotonous steps.

It wore coarse hemp clothes, arms hanging down, nails black and sharp; its neck was empty, devoid of a head.

The body walked to the head, extended hands covered in black nails, cupped the head, and pressed it onto its neck.

Flesh at the neck writhed rapidly, intertwining; the sound of bones knitting together—*crack, crack*—emanated from within the flesh.

Wang Xia'er's eyeballs rolled irregularly in their sockets, sometimes looking up, sometimes down, sometimes vanishing, as if capable of rotating 360 degrees.

*Gurgle, gurgle...*

Wang Xia'er's eyeballs rolled up, disappearing into the sockets; the next second, they *gurgled* back down, staring fixedly at Zhang Yuanqing.

"So hungry, so hungry, I'm going to eat you..."

He shrieked piercingly, like a beast that had lost its mind, lunging forward.

Wang Xia'er had turned into a Yin Corpse... Zhang Yuanqing raised the muzzle and pulled the trigger.

Bullets erupted in clusters of fire on Wang Xia'er's chest, yet they couldn't hinder it in the slightest.

This Yin Corpse actually withstood the Burst Pistol's bullets with its mere "flesh and blood body."

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing holstered the pistol, summoned the Bloodthirsty Blade, and simultaneously manipulated Corpse Collector No. 1 to meet the enemy.

*Bang!*

Dead One was sent flying with brutal force, smashing the square table to splinters before rolling into the wall. The wall shuddered with a dull boom, and dust rained down in a fine shower.

Wang Xia'er staggered, but quickly steadied his footing, continuing his lunge at Zhang Yuanqing. Mindless, guttural sounds rasped from his throat: "So hungry, so hungry... your flesh would taste even better..."

Copper skin and iron bones? Just what grade of Yin Corpse is this... Zhang Yuanqing's pupils contracted sharply. He decisively activated Night Roam.

Wang Xia'er lost his target, glancing around in bewilderment.

*Pfft!*

Zhang Yuanqing materialized soundlessly behind him, the Bloodthirsty Blade slicing toward the back of Wang Xia'er's neck.

The weapon that had accompanied him for so long did not disappoint; it bit deep into flesh and bone, lodging fast in the cervical vertebrae.

Wang Xia'er whipped around violently, a backhanded sweep of his arm tearing through the air with a piercing howl.

Zhang Yuanqing abandoned the Bloodthirsty Blade without hesitation, dropping low to dodge the sweep, and *snapped* his fingers.

In the corner, Dead One received its master's command. It advanced with heavy, ponderous strides, like an armored tank bearing down on Wang Xia'er. A hazy, grayish curtain of light rippled into existence over its body.

The long-accumulated defensive barrier deployed.

*Bang!*

The two Yin Corpses collided like massive iron balls of immense weight. Both corpses sank under the impact, the packed earth floor driving down as clods of black soil erupted.

Zhang Yuanqing retrieved a black mask painted with a white skull from his inventory, clutching it in his hand. Then, his body suddenly went rigid.

His spirit form projected outward in an out-of-body roam.

A shadow, half-real and half-illusory, drifted out and slammed into Wang Xia'er's body.

Wang Xia'er's frame went instantly stiff, followed by violent, full-body tremors, like an epileptic seizure.

This was Zhang Yuanqing's spirit possession, vying for dominance over Wang Xia'er's vessel.

Seizing the stalemate, Dead One—acting on its master's prior instruction—turned and lumbered over to Zhang Yuanqing's physical body. It took the Silencer Mask and fastened it onto Wang Xia'er's face.

All movement and sound ceased instantly.

Wang Xia'er struggled no more, standing frozen in place.

Zhang Yuanqing's spirit form drifted out and returned to his body.

"Cannot devour the spirit..."

Zhang Yuanqing approached Wang Xia'er, furrowing his brow.

Even in the Night Roam state, a Night Wanderer could still cast the "Soul Devour" skill—the most effective method against Yin Corpses. However, in battles between Night Wanderers, it was rarely employed.

Because once you projected your spirit, you were finished.

Your physical body became a lamb awaiting slaughter, and your spirit form would be suppressed by the enemy Night Wanderer.

During the possession just now, he had attempted to devour Wang Xia'er's spirit, but failed.

This situation was identical to the Shoulder-Leaning Resentful Spirit at the Three Paths Mountain Goddess Temple, which also could not be devoured. That Level 1 Night Wanderer had noted in the strategy guide that the Shoulder-Leaning Resentful Spirit was immune to devouring.

It was a protection mechanism of the Spirit Realm.

Some of the more important "NPCs" could not be erased, yet in Yin-Yang Town, Widow Xu’s children could be devoured at will; those petty vengeful spirits were hardly irreplaceable souls.

"Logically speaking, characters in a dungeon instance respawn. Since they respawn, why can't they be devoured? A bit strange..."

Zhang Yuanqing didn't dwell on the Spirit Realm's mechanics. He immediately wielded the Bloodthirsty Blade, dismembering Wang Xia'er's corpse and smashing his skull to pulp.

The Yin Corpse fell utterly still.

Next, he ordered Undead No. 1 to fetch porcelain bowls from the inner room, filling two large bowls to the brim with corpse fluid—corpse oil and blood—all prime Yin-aligned materials.

He stowed the bowls brimming with corpse fluid into his inventory.

The inventory could hold small objects from the Spirit Realm, but large items could not be stored.

"I recall the Spirit Realm's intro mentioning Wang Xia'er brought grave goods out of the tomb. His grave goods must still be here."

Aside from the coffin, a bed, and a few wooden cabinets, the inner room held no other furniture. Zhang Yuanqing ransacked the place, turning boxes and cabinets upside down, but found absolutely nothing.

This wasn't right. Where had the grave goods gone?

No clues at all—this was illogical. By his experience, Wang Xia'er, as one of the instance's key figures, should definitely have left a clue. It made no sense for Spirit Realm Walkers to fight tooth and nail, barely surviving the danger, only to walk away empty-handed.

Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a few seconds, his eyes lighting up. He strode back to the main hall with purpose, heading straight for the tongues hanging from the roof beams.

*Thwack!*

He swung the Bloodthirsty Blade, severing one of the hemp ropes, and caught the falling tongue.

Seconds later, the item information materialized:

[Name: Tongue]

[Type: Oral Soft Tissue]

[Function: Speech]

[Description: A tongue cut from a villager's mouth. If you have obtained it, please return it to the villager.]

[Note: Can't tell whose tongue is whose anyway. Whatever. As long as you're happy.]

"So the tongue is the clue. Return the tongue to the villagers, then extract intelligence from their mouths?"

Reading the note, Zhang Yuanqing instantly grasped the tongue's correct usage.

He immediately exited the stone house, crossed the small courtyard, and approached the unconscious old man, stuffing the tongue into the other's mouth.

In the next second, the tongue miraculously reattached, whole and unblemished, as if it had never been severed.

*Smack!*

Zhang Yuanqing slapped the old man awake.

The old man's eyes snapped open. He leapt up in terror, cursing, "You little bastard, you son of a bitch... Huh? I can talk again?!"

The old man's face flooded with delighted surprise. He cursed "bastard" a few more times, confirming he had truly regained the power of speech.

"Grandpa, I have some questions for you," Zhang Yuanqing said.

"You wretched bastard, ask, ask me..." The old man, seeing the young fellow raise a blade pale and sharp as snow, hurriedly changed his tune:

"Damn if the lad ain't a hard case. Peerless martial skill, butchering Wang Xiaosi for the lot of us—whatever you want to know, Grandpa'll tell you every last word."