Chapter 148: Devouring the Darkness

I gave a violent start and looked all around. Not only Tu E, but even that old bastard Guo San'gong had vanished! Together with the huge snake carcass and the woman's corpse, they had all disappeared. In the vast space, only Yun Mutian remained!

What the hell kind of joke was this! Where were the people? Where had everyone gone? Even if Tu E and Guo San'gong could run away, the two bodies—one man and one snake—should not have vanished just like that! Especially the snake carcass, which was so massive and pinned down by iron chains; there was no reason it could have left without a sound.

This made no sense no matter how I thought about it. Could I be hallucinating, and they were all still here, just invisible to me?

"Tu E! Tu E!" I shouted twice, but there was no response whatsoever.

I looked at the expressionless Yun Mutian. Having been possessed, with a different "interior" inhabiting him, his entire aura was completely different from when he was alive. Yet, this situation felt inexplicably familiar. When I first fell down here and saw that long-haired woman, it had been just like this: the surroundings were dead quiet, bathed in an eerie cyan glow, with only her single figure present.

Thinking of the withered, three-headed giant snake carcass, I hadn't seen it when I first arrived either, yet it had appeared later, and it had indeed been lying on the ground just moments ago. That meant the things around us hadn't truly vanished; they had simply become invisible in a certain sense.

This cyan light could not only swallow the darkness but also devour other unnecessary things, making them temporarily disappear from sight.

Yet, since I could see Yun Mutian, could Tu E see him too? What about that old bastard Guo San'gong?

Yun Mutian raised both hands and suddenly lunged toward me. With my injured leg making movement difficult, I managed to dodge aside with great effort while chanting an incantation under my breath.

This fellow's method of possession was different from those of the two-headed snakes. I wondered if the method used to deal with the two-headed snakes could force that three-headed snake out!

Before I could finish the incantation, the fellow twisted his body in a bizarre manner, as if he had no bones, and lunged toward me again with incredible speed. I lowered myself with difficulty to dodge, continuing to chant the incantation as I tried to find an opportunity to get close to him.

Without a single pause, the fellow whipped around and struck. I clenched my teeth and didn't dodge. Seeing his eerie face suddenly close in, I raised my hand and fiercely struck at his forehead!

I hadn't harbored much hope to begin with, but things turned out even worse than I expected! His head bent at an angle, and he lunged to bite my wrist!

My heart leaped instantly into my throat. It would be disastrous if he managed a bite! Seeing two rows of teeth about to sink into my flesh, I didn't hesitate, biting the tip of my tongue and spitting blood right at him!

A mouthful of blood sprayed across his face and teeth, and as if scalded by boiling water, he rapidly shrank back.

I hurriedly pulled back my hand and dragged my leg as I backed away!

That was close! Just getting bitten once by the small two-headed snake had crippled one of my legs; if I took a hit from this bizarre thing, I definitely wouldn't live to see the sun outside again! Fortunately, the blood from the tip of my tongue was effective against him, but that trick could only be used once; it wouldn't work afterward!

Watching Yun Mutian wipe the blood from his face, acting just like a living person with independent consciousness—even with talismans plastered all over his body, showing no sign of being controlled at all—if I hadn't seen the "real" Yun Mutian before, I truly would have thought he was just an ordinary living man!

My abilities were no match for this thing! Moreover, I had no idea what other terrifying tricks this inhuman creature possessed!

I had no clue what was really going on here, nor how Tu E was holding up. I could only outwit him; I couldn't fight him head-on!

I suddenly raised my voice and shouted, "Guo! I know the method to make it completely detach from the snake's body and possess a human!"

I was merely probing. If that Guo San'gong was truly nearby and could see all this, he would definitely hear my words.

After wiping the blood from his face, Yun Mutian's entire body twisted, writhing in a grotesque manner just like a snake!

I dodged with great difficulty. The space here was only so large, and after dodging back and forth several times, my back hit the wall. The fellow showed no intention of letting me go; he twisted his head a few times and rapidly closed in on me.

Guo San'gong gave no response.

I sneered, "That fellow Tu E certainly doesn't know, but as Old Man Ma's disciple, do you really take me for a complete fool who understands nothing?"

I had no idea whether Tu E truly didn't know. As long as he wasn't constantly playing dumb, even if he did know, he wouldn't say—because his brain couldn't process such matters anyway.

Yun Mutian closed in before my eyes in the blink of an eye. Being far away earlier, I hadn't noticed, but now that he was up close, I saw his facial features were extremely sinister, his eyes gleaming with a bone-chilling cold light that no ordinary person possessed!

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over my brain. I immediately averted my gaze and swiftly pulled something out from my pocket, slamming it straight at him!

"Cough..." A raspy voice sounded, and Yun Mutian took a few steps back.

The item I had thrown out was the wooden talisman Old Man Ma had given me. I was just taking a gamble with this thing; although its usual effects were limited, it had managed to repel those two-headed snakes earlier. As it turned out, using it directly still had some effect!

I leaned against the wall, the wave of dizziness still lingering. This fellow was truly sinister; not only was that eerie cyan light wrong, but his eyes were also filled with malevolence!

The wooden talisman I had thrown dropped to the ground, smoking, its surface charred black. To think it could destroy this item! This fellow was indeed formidable!

"If you want it to completely detach from the snake's body and possess a human, the secret lies in the array down here! Do you really think the one who forged this didn't anticipate this step? I've seen similar techniques twice, so naturally I know. If I die, you can forget about ever finding out! You won't even have Old Man Ma to tell you; you can just spend the rest of your life scratching your head over it!"

There was still no response from the surroundings. Yun Mutian rapidly closed in on me again, the dizziness in my head growing increasingly severe. Leaning against the wall, I tried to dodge, but he reached my front in a flash, cutting off my escape route.

Damn it! I was blocked! Could that old bastard Guo really not hear me, or did he simply not believe a single word I said? Damn it all, Yun Mutian couldn't kill me when he was alive, and I never expected him to profit after his death!

Two claws grabbed my shoulders, and he opened his mouth wide, preparing to bite my neck! My heart gave a violent thump—it was over!

A sudden gust of cold wind swept past. Yun Mutian gave a violent jolt and was sent flying sideways, just like the horde of corpses that had surrounded me earlier!

Along with that impact, the cyan light around us instantly vanished, plunging everything back into utter darkness. Two cell phone lights clicked on in the dark. One belonged to Tu E, and the other to Guo San'gong.

I looked at Tu E. It was indeed he who had saved me from the corpses just moments before!