Chapter 36: Evil Daoist
"I would never dare play tricks on Master Cheng!"
Cheng Yuan nodded slightly. Mei Xing’an wasn’t really to blame. The one who set up the Nine Yin Yang Rejuvenation Array was responsible for the construction workers’ deaths. Mei Xing’an was a victim, too.
Still, he was the boss.
Since the workers died on the job, he had to take responsibility.
To confirm his judgment, Cheng Yuan made a tour of Building Nine, Building Thirteen, Building Twenty-Two, Villa Three, and Villa Seven.
Sure enough, lifelike female corpses were buried underground in all these places.
The corpses seemed to be breathing, their open mouths constantly drawing in and expelling air.
With each breath, they transformed the Earth Vein Qi into Pure Yin Qi, which was then injected into the Nine Yin Yang Rejuvenation Array.
Finally, Cheng Yuan led the group to Villa One.
Cheng Yuan activated his Double Pupil and saw an old man in the basement of Villa One.
This old man was small and thin, his back hunched. He had a head of dry white hair and a face crisscrossed with wrinkles. One could even see some death spots.
It was clear that this old man’s time was nearly up, and he was relying on the Nine Yin Yang Rejuvenation Array to extend his life.
However, what surprised Cheng Yuan was that the skin on the old man’s legs, from the shins down, was extremely delicate and smooth, just like a baby’s.
Cheng Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, the old man’s deficiency in qi and blood was quite severe. In half a year, he had only recovered up to the back of his calves, restoring about one-tenth of his peak combat strength.
Cheng Yuan was confident he could defeat him.
If the old man had recovered to a point above his chest, Cheng Yuan might have turned and fled without a second thought.
The closer they got to Villa One, the stronger the cold, sinister aura became!
The three members of the Mei Family felt their legs go weak, and their teeth chattered slightly. Even Liang Zhen, whose qi and blood were the most vigorous, broke out in goosebumps.
Liang Zhen looked at Mei Xing’an with a grim expression. "Boss, this place is... unsettling. I’m afraid I can’t guarantee your safety."
Mei Xing’an looked at Cheng Yuan questioningly. "Master Cheng, will we be alright if we go in?"
Cheng Yuan nodded lightly. "I’m here."
"Then, Master Cheng, can you help us?"
Cheng Yuan glanced back at the three of them. Each looked more wretched than the last, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Only Liang Zhen was slightly better off.
"It won’t be cold once you’re inside. In fact, you’ll feel hot."
Hot??
The three exchanged glances, but they didn’t question Cheng Yuan and followed him into Villa One.
Just as Cheng Yuan had said.
The main door of Villa One was like a watershed. Outside, the air was bone-chillingly cold, a cold that seeped into your very marrow.
But after stepping inside Villa One, a wave of heat washed over them, warming their entire bodies. Everyone felt incredibly comfortable!
Mei Xing’an exclaimed in amazement, "Master Cheng, you’re incredible! This feels so good! I feel like my rheumatoid arthritis has gotten much better! This isn’t just my imagination, is it?"
Cheng Yuan shook his head lightly. "It’s not your imagination. This place can replenish Yang Qi, nourish the body, Strengthen the Foundation and Nourish the Essence, and even has the effect of prolonging life."
Prolonging life?
Everyone’s breathing grew heavy.
Mei Chao looked at Cheng Yuan with hopeful eyes. "Master Cheng, can we stay here for a few more days?"
"A few more days? If you want to die, I won’t stop you!"
Die??
The men’s faces changed.
"Master Cheng, what do you mean?"
Cheng Yuan said with a deadpan expression, "If I’m not mistaken, the most workers died in Villa One, correct?"
"Yes, a total of six workers died here!"
"That explains it. He killed those workers because they absorbed the array master’s Yang Qi and stole his opportunity. And now, you’re absorbing his Yang Qi too!"
WHOOSH!!
The hair on all four men’s bodies instantly stood on end, and they looked around warily.
It was as if a terrifying entity could leap out from the darkness at any moment and annihilate them.
"Don’t be nervous. We just got here. He hasn’t sensed the loss of Yang Qi yet."
After speaking, Cheng Yuan started walking toward the basement.
The four men breathed a small sigh of relief and followed closely behind Cheng Yuan, as if that was the only way to feel safe.
Villa One was already built, and the interior decoration had begun. Half of the floor was tiled, while the other half had been prepped and was just waiting for the tiles to be laid.
Piles of tiles were stacked on the floor. One stack had been knocked over, and one could faintly see dark brown bloodstains on them.
Clearly, something sudden had happened, causing the workers to flee in a panic, knocking over the tiles and getting injured in the process.
「Basement.」
The withered old man sat cross-legged. ’In another two years, I, the Evil Daoist, will see the light of day again!’
’At that time, all those so-called righteous sects will have to bear my wrath!’
Ten years ago, the Evil Daoist had achieved Great Success in his nefarious techniques. He brought disaster upon the world, claiming the lives of many young women, and was hunted down by the joint forces of the Ancient Martial Alliance, ultimately forcing him to leap from a cliff.
No one expected that the Evil Daoist had not died. He hid his identity for many years, found nine girls born in a Yin year, Yin month, Yin day, and Yin hour, and arranged them into the Nine Yin Yang Rejuvenation Array.
Suddenly, the Evil Daoist’s brow furrowed. ’Some reckless fools have barged into my blessed land to steal my opportunity!’
The Evil Daoist slowly stood up, ambled out of the basement, and headed straight for Cheng Yuan’s group.
At the entrance to the basement, the Evil Daoist and Cheng Yuan’s group met unexpectedly.
The Evil Daoist curled his lip in disdain.
’The newcomer is just a minor player at the Celestial Realm Peak.’
’And I, I reached the Quasi-Divine Realm over a decade ago. Even if my realm has fallen, I still possess the strength of a Grandmaster Middle Stage.’
The Evil Daoist was full of confidence in himself and had no intention of hiding. He revealed himself openly.
Under the moonlight, the group got a clear look at the Evil Daoist.
Cheng Yuan was unmoved. After all, he had the Double Pupil and had already seen the Evil Daoist’s esteemed visage with his X-ray Vision.
Mei Chao and Mei Bin were so scared their scalps tingled, and they subconsciously took several steps back.
"A ghost! A ghost!!"
"Holy shit! There really is a ghost in Villa One! I thought those workers were lying!!"
As expected of a formidable figure of his generation, Mei Xing’an, though badly frightened, did not retreat. He shouted sharply, "Are you a man or a ghost? Why are you trying to harm me? Have I, Mei Xing’an, ever offended you?"
The Evil Daoist curled his lip in disdain. "This eminence has never seen you before. This eminence merely took a liking to the Power of the Earth Veins here."
"If you wanted the Power of the Earth Veins, you could have told me! Why did you have to kill people?"
"Tell you? Who the hell do you think you are? When this eminence fancies something, he has always taken it for himself. Those crawlers absorbed this eminence’s Yang Qi and stole this eminence’s opportunity. They deserved to die!"
"We absorbed some Yang Qi too. Are you going to kill us as well?"
The Evil Daoist gave a sinister smile. "Since you know that much, you might as well kill yourselves. That way, you can at least leave behind a complete corpse."
The faces of the Mei Family members turned grim. Even Liang Zhen felt his heart pound uneasily. This old man was just too unnatural.
Only Cheng Yuan’s expression remained calm. "Old man, I have no problem with you trying to defy fate and change your destiny. But you shouldn’t have killed so many innocent people. Today, I, Cheng Yuan, will enact justice on behalf of heaven and take you down, you monster!"