Chapter 146 Triggering the Array Eye

I instinctively moved to dodge backward.

Tuer suddenly grabbed my shoulder with one hand and violently yanked me forward toward Yun Mutian!

Before I could even react, a shrill, piercing scream rang out from behind—it was Ah Hao that fellow! He had been hit, what on earth was going on!

I steadied my footing and looked back, only to see several two-headed snakes biting into Ah Hao’s neck!

They were the small two-headed snakes from the ground! How did they get down here? Even the large ones from the upper level wouldn't come down here, so why would the ones from the woods do so?

Ah Hao stared at me with wide, unblinking eyes, screamed for a brief moment, and then collapsed heavily to the ground, losing his breath entirely.

The thick, oppressive yin energy suddenly turned chaotic, dispersing in all directions as the surrounding atmosphere grew even more turbid!

As the yin energy thinned out, more and more two-headed snakes crawled down from above, densely packed. Although the two-headed snakes in the woods weren't as spectacular as the upper layer, their numbers were not to be underestimated either!

Moreover, they showed no fear of the black dog blood and wooden talismans on my body, which probably had something to do with the environment here!

This was terrible! Old Man Ma and Guo Sangong had clearly suffered severe vitality damage when they used the shamanic howl in the upper layer; I wondered if they could still use it now!

"How did it suddenly turn into this?" I said as I retreated, watching nervously as I drew closer to Yun Mutian, who was possessed by the three-headed snake. Since that three-headed snake was the mastermind behind the cultivation here, this creature was likely even trickier than the swarming two-headed snakes!

Old Man Ma was furious beyond measure: "The formation core has been tampered with! That bastard surnamed Guo, if he knows little, he shouldn't fucking show off blindly! Now not only has the formation failed to break, but it's also gotten even more troublesome! That yin energy not only lured the snakes from above down here, but it also intensified their evil aura. If the ones on the upper layer get awakened as well, we're all going to be finished!"

"Didn't you guys eliminate the ones on the upper layer?!" I asked in shock.

Old Man Ma glanced at me sideways: "Do you take me for an immortal with boundless powers? Look at the sheer quantity up there! If I had that kind of ability, would I have bothered suggesting we burn down the mountain earlier?!"

Holy crap! I thought the upper layer had been completely cleared out! This was truly disastrous! That old geezer Guo Sangong was practically courting death!

However, there was no time to dwell on other things now. Seeing Yun Mutian right in front of me, I formed a hand seal and muttered an incantation under my breath.

Suddenly, that fellow turned around and bolted backward.

What was going on? Could this guy actually be afraid of those crawling two-headed snakes?

He charged blindly toward the rear, completely ignoring Old Man Ma who was blocking the way, as well as the panicked Yang Guangyu and the village head's group.

The group seemed to recognize the terrifying power of the possessed Yun Mutian and screamed as they scattered in all directions.

Old Man Ma attempted to stop him, but Yun Mutian abruptly took a sharp turn and darted into a dark little side door nearby.

"Luo Zi! Keep your eyes on it!" Old Man Ma instructed me.

Tuer and I chased after him into the cave. The fellow wasn't running particularly fast, but with my injured leg, even if I clenched my teeth and pushed myself with all the strength I was born with, one leg simply couldn't outrun two!

"Go after him! Don't worry about me!" I called out to Tuer.

"Something's not right," he said abruptly.

A heavy stench of blood washed over us, and the yin energy became utterly chaotic. A faint light shone from somewhere up ahead. The path ahead narrowed, and Yun Mutian's speed dropped accordingly as he darted straight into the illuminated area.

We quickly ran forward. At the spot where the light was shining, there was a fork in the road, and the smell of blood was drifting out from within!

Stepping inside, we saw a huge wooden stake planted in the ground. The entire stake was carved with strange patterns and connected to four iron chains, which were tied with strips of cloth inscribed with magical talismans.

The faint light came from a smartphone. Two figures were lying on the ground, and judging by their clothes, they were the lackeys who had come along with Yang Guangyu! However, both of them were completely unrecognizable, their entire bodies swollen, their skin turning from red to purple and then black, with pus-filled blisters bulging all over! Their appearance was horrifying beyond description!

How did these two end up here? Weren't Yang Guangyu and his people following Guo Sangong earlier? It was impossible for them to be acting alone!

"This looks like the formation core," Tuer said.

I followed his gaze to the bizarre wooden stake. This thing was the formation core? Aside from looking somewhat strange, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about it. Could this thing really be the formation core?

Wait, Old Man Ma had just said that Guo Sangong had tampered with the formation core, which meant this was the very place Guo Sangong and the others had come to earlier!

That explained why these two men were lying here!

We had clearly run in through a different doorway, yet we had ended up right at the location of the formation core. These passages were interconnected!

There was no time to examine the formation core further. I rushed off in pursuit of Yun Mutian, who was heading toward a dark fork in the road nearby.

Where on earth was this guy trying to run to?!

"Catch up to him!" I yelled to Tuer.

Without hesitation, he darted ahead and quickly gave chase.

The light of the smartphone gradually faded into the distance. Groping in the dark, I dragged my aching leg and struggled to keep up behind, wondering if my leg injury would worsen after all this.

The frontrunner Tuer suddenly stopped, standing ahead with the phone without continuing the pursuit. There seemed to be a much larger space up ahead.

"What is it?" I dragged my leg and hurried forward.

He suddenly flicked his body to the side, dodging something, and immediately a faint whistling sound brushed past my ear as something shot right by!

Tuer dodged left and right while the whistling sounds zipped past me one after another. What the hell! Did that guy forget there was still someone behind him?!

I stood frozen in place, not daring to move an inch. I didn't have a phone, and pitch-black darkness surrounded me, rendering me completely blind.

Tuer suddenly raised one hand. In the smartphone's light, a transparent, fine needle resembling a sliver of ice was faintly visible, hovering right before his palm.

Ice bone needle! What was going on? Not only could the giant three-headed snake possess bodies, but it could also use the skills the deceased possessed in life?

Yet this ice bone needle wasn't entirely identical to the one Yun Mutian had used previously; it didn't dissipate immediately, but instead fell to the ground and dissolved into a wisp of blue smoke.

Seeing that Tuer was no longer dodging back and forth, I stepped forward to his side and finally saw the situation ahead clearly.

Aside from Yun Mutian, there was another person standing right there—Guo Sangong!

When Yang Guangyu's group had panicked and fled earlier, we hadn't seen him. So this old geezer had been here all along!

He held one hand aloft; the ice bone needle from just now had been fired by him! That made sense—Yun Mutian was his disciple, and all his skills were taught by him. Naturally, Guo Sangong knew how to use the ice bone needle as well, and with far greater mastery than Yun Mutian!

I looked at him warily, sizing up my surroundings. The possessed Yun Mutian stood quietly beside Guo Sangong, his back turned to us, completely motionless.