Chapter 103: Accomplice

"The Seven-Confluence North Malice Formation?"

Hearing this, Cui Yue jumped up in shock. "Old Freak Huo, what did you just say? Say it again!"

"That's right, the very same Seven-Confluence North Malice Formation. I was wondering why someone would secretly bury this root of disaster without anyone noticing, but after seeing you, I understand."

Old Man Chen’s face was deathly pale. He wiped cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

"You Chen family members, to put it bluntly, are the spirit mediums for that female ghost. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call you her accomplices!"

Old Man Chen hurriedly defended himself. "Master, although this formation was set by my father according to her instructions, it was an act of desperation! Before my father passed away, he regretted his actions deeply and urged me to find a way to break it within my lifetime!"

"But behind the Seven-Confluence North Malice Formation lies the Eight-Fiend Absolute Pulse Formation. I doubt the Chen family has the capability for that," Cui Yue retorted immediately.

"Exactly! When the Seven Malices are extinguished, the Eight Fiends arise! This formation was laid long ago, but the mastermind stayed hidden, using the Chen family to do their dirty work. Only when the Seven Malices were buried did the formation truly begin to operate!"

Old Man Chen now trusted Old Freak Huo implicitly. Fearing that Huo and Cui Yue might just walk away, he spoke hurriedly: "Master, although we were forced into it and did many evil things in the past, we did so to preserve the greater good. Over the years, we have secretly sought out many Yin-Yang masters, but none could do anything against her."

Old Freak Huo’s expression softened slightly, though he shook his head. "Don't talk about ordinary Yin-Yang masters; even reclusive Taoists who have practiced for years might not be able to deal with the person behind her."

Old Man Chen sighed and continued, "Indeed. Gradually, no one was willing to come to this place anymore. Since my father died, this flute has been passed to me. For decades of dealing with the 'Opera Concubine,' I have been walking on thin ice. In recent years, I could feel her malevolence growing stronger. She even began demanding live human sacrifices. I could only delay and delay, fearing that one day her rage would erupt and she would slaughter the entire village..."

"So you feared your own end was near and that the curse would fall upon your children and grandchildren! You noticed us earlier but stayed your hand, deliberately testing us. If we could subdue the green-clad female ghost, that would be for the best. If not, handing us over as sacrifices to her would be even better."

Cui Yue felt a chill run down his spine. If that were true, had it not been for Chen Bailian’s intervention, he would have become a sacrifice for that skinless, faceless monster!

Old Man Chen’s face turned paper-white, his mouth twitching involuntarily. "How could that be? Master, how would I dare..."

Old Freak Huo laughed, patted Old Man Chen on the shoulder, and teased, "Don't panic, don't panic. I'm just playing with you. For someone as old as Secretary Chen, you're quite fragile when it comes to jokes."

Just as Old Man Chen's heart began to settle, Old Freak Huo leaned in with a sinister smile. "However, if anyone wants to use us as sacrifices, they had better see if they have the teeth strong enough to chew us!"

Old Man Chen was so startled he nearly bit his own tongue. Cui Yue looked at Old Freak Huo, thinking to himself that one should never provoke this man, or they would be the ones suffering the consequences.

"Wait, you said her malevolence is growing? Tell me exactly what is going on."

"Yes, yes," Old Man Chen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded quickly. "It started about five years ago. She began summoning me more frequently—sometimes for days on end—and her demands became increasingly outrageous. She forced me to provide live sacrifices. Once, she almost killed me, threatening that if I couldn't find one, she would take me instead!"

"So... did you actually do it?" Cui Yue regretted the question the moment it left his lips, realizing he sounded like an idiot. Even if Old Man Chen had done it, he wouldn't admit it easily. Perhaps, just as Old Freak Huo suggested, he had intended to sacrifice people like them as well.

"How could I agree to that? It's no different from murder! At first, I just stalled. Later, when I was truly out of options, I had to find the recently deceased to satisfy her, dragging it out one day at a time!"

"The dead? Consuming their essence and spirits?" Cui Yue shuddered, recalling what happened that night at the funeral hall of Dazhuang’s uncle.

"Yesterday, my cousin came to me and told me about you. That was when I learned the female ghost had been subdued. At first, I was overjoyed, but after calming down, I sensed something was wrong. After all these years, I’ve developed a subtle, inexplicable connection with her. It didn't seem that simple. I tried communicating through the bone flute, but I couldn't summon her at all. I wasn't sure if she had truly been eliminated! Until..."

"Until Granny Chen died suddenly this morning, and you realized the curse hadn't been broken," Cui Yue said coldly.

"Perhaps if you had told us this secret sooner, Chen Bailian wouldn't have died, and we wouldn't have had to go to so much trouble!" Old Freak Huo added.

Old Man Chen hung his head in silence, sighing incessantly.

"Enough. We don't have time to waste. Once this Eight-Fiend Absolute Pulse Formation begins to operate, it is relentless. If we want to survive, we must break it as soon as possible!"

"How do we break it?" Cui Yue and Old Man Chen asked in unison.

"The one who tied the bell must untie it. The only clue we have now lies with the green-clad female ghost. Try communicating with her again and see if you can lure her out."

Given the current situation, the green-clad female ghost might not be the greatest danger to Old Freak Huo; what he truly feared was the person behind her! A person who, while hiding in the shadows, could turn the entire village into a ghostly underworld in an instant.

Old Man Chen hurriedly put the bone flute to his lips and played a melody from the ancient Qin era.

*The green mountains do not know the meaning of the tune, waiting only for the spring rain to fall.*

Strangely, when the song finished, everything remained as it was. Nothing unusual happened; not even a ghost's shadow appeared.

Throughout this, Cui Yue was restless, secretly checking his own stomach, terrified that the green-clad female ghost might rip him open and jump out from within.

"This has never happened before. Nothing at all," Old Man Chen said, spreading his hands in helplessness.

"It seems it really has stopped working. What are we to do? Right, you said that the cursed objects you obtained were washed down from the river upstream. Where is the head of that river?"

"Upstream? The river at the entrance of our village flows down from the Tiangou Ridge. Beyond that are deep forests and high mountains; no one from here has ever been there," Old Man Chen paused.

"However..."

"However what?"

"However, when I was a child, I heard the village elders say there was a village behind those mountains called Cloud Mountain Village. But no one has ever been there, and no one knows its exact location."

"Cloud Mountain Village? Very well. No time to lose. We depart immediately. We will follow this path all the way up; perhaps we will find some leads!"

"Very well, I will go with you!"

Hearing that the two were about to leave, Old Man Chen became anxious!