Chapter 24: Are They All Dead?-Sou o Rei do Submundo, e após a morte, experimento dez vidas de tribulações.(Dois grupos de imitação de tinta para o ritual de sepultamento aterrador)

Li Yan had never encountered anything so bizarre. It was truly an eye-opening experience. He furrowed his brows and squeezed his eyes shut. The pain was excruciating; so, this was what it felt like to be slashed by a blade. Yet, he did not give up on trying to communicate with the weapon. Fortunately, the blade had only been controlled by Xue Huaiyuan for a fleeting moment before it turned back to strike at him again. Li Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Xue Huaiyuan attempted to control the blade using the same method as before, but he found he could no longer do so. Li Yan felt a sense of fortune—if not for this weapon, he would have been dead long ago. He quickly thought of a way to break the deadlock, but before he could formulate a plan, a violent cramping sensation tore through his stomach. His body began to itch intensely, as if thousands of insects were crawling beneath his skin.

Xue Huaiyuan, who had been fighting the blade in a rage, began to laugh at the sight of Li Yan’s agony. "How do you like my newly developed Myriad Blood Gu?" he gloated. "The corpses in the chests in this room were all used to cultivate these Gu. There are plenty more. I haven't tried this on anyone else yet; you are truly lucky."

Li Yan screamed in pain, drenched in sweat, his hands scratching frantically at his skin. "You are despicable! You are shameless! You are nothing but a coward!" he cursed, but the insults did nothing to soothe his agony. After suffering for a while, Li Yan began to grow agitated. Unexpectedly, he managed to break free from his bindings. The moment he was loose, he rushed straight toward Xue Huaiyuan.

Xue Huaiyuan, believing his Myriad Blood Gu had succeeded, said happily, "My Myriad Blood Gu is so obedient; it took over the host as soon as it found one." Hearing this, Li Yan decided to play along. "My master," he said, "thank you for finding such a fine body for me."

Xue Huaiyuan laughed heartily and gestured for him to follow. "Let us go." Li Yan nodded with a feigned, docile expression and followed him outside. Xue Huaiyuan was in high spirits throughout the journey, beaming at everyone he passed. Li Yan was also secretly pleased—at least he was finally out. They arrived at a warehouse, where Xue Huaiyuan dispelled the curse on Li Yan, intending for the Myriad Blood Gu to absorb his energy. However, the very second the energy was unlocked, Li Yan struck him with a surge of power, sending him flying. Xue Huaiyuan collapsed to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Staring at Li Yan in disbelief, Xue Huaiyuan gasped, "I went through so much trouble to cultivate you—how could you hurt me?"

Li Yan looked down at him with a smile. "Because your Gu insect was destroyed by the energy within my own body."

Xue Huaiyuan turned pale with fright and tried to flee, but it was too late. Before he could react, Li Yan had already sealed every exit. Realizing he was trapped, Xue Huaiyuan dropped his act. He began to chuckle and said, "In that case, I shall stop pretending." No sooner had he spoken than Li Yan collapsed, losing consciousness.

When Li Yan awoke, it was the following morning. He observed his surroundings and realized he was no longer in the room, but laid out on a stone altar. He could only see the sky above. He quickly broke free from his restraints and placed a mannequin on the altar in his stead, while quietly using an invisibility spell to conceal himself. He wasn't sure if he could deceive Xue Huaiyuan, but he had to try.

Soon after, Xue Huaiyuan approached the altar. Below stood the members of the Xue household. From his hidden vantage point, Li Yan saw clearly that their necks were stitched with thread, and strings were pulled taut from their bodies. He was startled; he hadn't noticed these things on them before. As he watched, he saw that Xue Huaiyuan held many of these threads in his hands, using them to manipulate the people below. Under Xue Huaiyuan's control, the people knelt, their expressions vacant, as if they lacked any consciousness of their own. They began to kowtow frantically to Xue Huaiyuan on the altar.

Xue Huaiyuan knelt on the platform, holding a thick needle. He pricked his finger and used the blood to draw a circle on the ground around the mannequin and himself. A red glow began to emanate from the circle. As the light intensified, Xue Huaiyuan began to snip the control threads one by one. Strangely, as the threads were cut, the people themselves simply vanished—literally disintegrating into dust. Their souls drifted into the red circle.

The mannequin on the altar began to wail in agony, struggling violently. Dark energy swirled around it, as if something were about to emerge. Xue Huaiyuan devoured the souls that had drifted into the circle, looking visibly satisfied with each one. Watching this, Li Yan felt a chill of terror. He began to realize the truth: the entire Xue household had likely been dead for a long time. This place was nothing more than a graveyard. Perhaps Xue Huaiyuan hadn't expected an intruder like Li Yan and had merely been maintaining a facade of normalcy.

Li Yan frowned; the situation was maddeningly complex. On the altar, Xue Huaiyuan moved slowly toward the wailing mannequin. He produced a massive centipede, pried the mannequin's mouth open, and forced the creature inside. "It is all over," Xue Huaiyuan chuckled. "My sacrifice. Thank you for your arrival."

Li Yan, having heard this, began to piece things together, but he remained silent, continuing to watch. Within five minutes, the mannequin's body had been shredded from within by the centipede. It let out a final, painful shriek and went still. Xue Huaiyuan laughed even more gleefully. He chopped the mannequin's remains into pieces and let the insects feed upon them. Then, he began to chant rhythmically, "Dear God of Gu, the sacrifice is complete. Please, manifest yourself!"

But to Xue Huaiyuan’s dismay, nothing happened. Frowning in disbelief, he scanned the area. He realized something was wrong—Li Yan’s soul was missing. One soul was absent from the sacrifice. Realizing he had been tricked, he flew into a maddened rage and began to hunt for Li Yan. He searched for a long time but found nothing. Meanwhile, Li Yan attacked from the shadows, creating constant chaos that left Xue Huaiyuan unable to pinpoint his location.