Chapter 156 Utterly Maddened

Lixing struggled to prop up his body, tightly gripping the dagger in his hand, and demanded, "Brother Tian, what on earth are you? Why did I hear Guangqi call you Ye Dong!?"

Ye Dong did not answer Lixing's question. Instead, he countered, "Lixing, Huang Wuchang has committed so many heinous crimes. Does he deserve to die!?"

Faced with this question, Lixing fell silent. He knew that Huang Wuchang had indeed committed countless atrocious deeds and truly deserved to die; and he himself, having aided a tyrant, deserved to die as well.

Lixing smiled bitterly and said, "He is my master. Even if he deserves to die, it is not your place to kill him!"

"This is no time to talk about sentiment, Lixing!" Ye Dong rebuked. "Since he deserves to die, he should be brought to justice. If he achieves his goal in the Tomb of Eternal Life, even more people will die!"

"But" Lixing was now torn with anguish. "On one side is my master, and on the other is my savior. What should I do!?"

Ye Dong said in a low voice, "I am going to capture Huang Wuchang right now. If you follow to obstruct me, don't blame Brother Tian for being ruthless!"

"Brother Tian!" Just as he turned around, he heard Lixing call out, "Be careful in everything!"

"Understood!" Ye Dong smiled with a trace of gratification, gripping his Youyan blade as he sprinted along the path where Lixing had chased Huang Wuchang.

After passing through several stone chambers, he finally caught sight of Guangqi's sinister figure. Around a corner, he saw Huang Wuchang, Master Wei, and Lecheng sprawled on the ground, covered in wounds.

"What is going on here?" Seeing the talismans scattered all over the floor, Ye Dong quickly realized that during the time he and Lixing had wasted arguing, Guangqi had already struck down the exhausted trio of Huang Wuchang!

"You!" Ye Dong walked up quickly. At this moment, he hesitated, unsure whether he should side with Huang Wuchang or stand with Guangqi.

Yet neither side seemed to pay any attention to him; they remained locked in a standoff.

"Huang Wuchang, did you ever expect this? There finally came a day when you fell into my hands!" Guangqi burst into wild laughter, pointing at Huang Wuchang and cursing, "The suffering you inflicted upon me back then, I will repay you tenfold today!"

"A tiger in the lowlands is bullied by dogs." The dying Huang Wuchang shook his head with a smile and said, "Guangqi, I must hand it to you—you managed to seize the opportunity to drive this old man into a desperate corner!"

Hearing Huang Wuchang's words of submission, Master Wei and Lecheng also lost their will to fight, collapsing on the ground and gasping continuously. "Junior Brother Guangqi, do you really have to push us to annihilation?"

"That's right, I am going to push you all to annihilation!" Guangqi pressed his advantage relentlessly, leisurely drawing out a talisman and waving it. "If you want to blame someone, blame this good master of yours, not me!"

A chill went through Ye Dong's heart. *This won't do. If Huang Wuchang dies right now, I still won't know what his "objective" is, and the entire plan will end in failure!*

"Guangqi, have you thought this through?" Ye Dong said coldly. "Why not find a compromise? Have the Grand Master tell you the secret of the Tomb of Eternal Life. That might be much more profitable than killing him!"

Huang Wuchang glanced at Ye Dong, seeing that he appeared quite anxious, and began plotting in his heart. *This He Wentian is currently neutral yet speaking up for me. Could it be that he also wants to know the secret of the Tomb of Eternal Life?*

"Guangqi, if you spare us, I will pass down the incantation for the Heart-Refining Gourd to you, how about that!?" Huang Wuchang seemed utterly helpless, actually offering his treasured artifact on a silver platter!

"I don't want those things, nor do I want the so-called secret of the Tomb of Eternal Life. I, Guangqi, only want your head on a platter!!"

Guangqi's face twisted hideously as he took a step forward and cursed viciously, "Some debts must be paid in kind!"

Hearing Guangqi's absolute resolve, Ye Dong gripped Youyan tightly and calculated in his mind, *If it comes to this, don't blame me for killing you once more!*

Huang Wuchang let out a bitter laugh. "Since that's how it is, I have no choice either!"

He pulled Master Wei with his left hand and Lecheng with his right, speaking in an eerie tone, "My two good disciples, your master is facing a catastrophe today. Do you blame your master for bringing you to your deaths?"

Master Wei and Lecheng exchanged glances, let out a sigh, and said, "Since we followed Master in here, we long ago cast aside thoughts of life and death."

"Good, very good!" Suddenly, Huang Wuchang sneered, his expression turning grotesque as he said, "Then lend your souls to this old man for a while, hahahaha!"

"Ah!?" Before Master Wei and Lecheng could even react, Huang Wuchang's neck and facial features stretched long as he continuously inhaled through his nose!

Noticing Huang Wuchang's abnormal expression, Guangqi and Ye Dong were startled simultaneously, both retreating a few steps!

"Huang Wuchang, don't try any tricks!" Guangqi shouted, waving the Soul-Binding Talisman in his hand, intending to seize the chance to take the old scoundrel's life!

"Poof" But the moment the Soul-Binding Talisman touched Huang Wuchang, it spontaneously burst into flames, transforming into a wisp of vital energy that instantly surged into Huang Wuchang's nose!

*A spell barrier!? This is seriously bad news!* Seeing this strange phenomenon, Ye Dong quickly snapped to his senses. *This is the Soul-Sucking Art!*

"The Soul-Sucking Art!?" Guangqi's heart skipped a beat as well. *Isn't this a secret technique of the fox demons? How does Huang Wuchang know it!?*

He looked toward the Heart-Refining Gourd that Huang Wuchang had uncovered, and understanding dawned on him instantly. *It's that gourd! It's causing this mischief! Huang Wuchang was negotiating with me just now purely to buy time for this scheme!?*

Yet everything seemed to have come a step too late.

Those who drifted through the rivers and lakes truly grew sharper with age. Huang Wuchang was an old fox among foxes, the spiciest of old ginger.

"Ah... Master, what are you..." Master Wei, whose soul power was draining away at a terrifying speed, panicked and trembled as he asked Huang Wuchang, "Master, are you trying to steal our souls?"

"Disciples, since you entered with the readiness to die to assist me, then be of use to me at this moment! Do not worry, the process will be very quick!"

With that, he inhaled even more deeply through his nose, rapidly sucking away the souls of Master Wei and Lecheng!

Seeing this, Ye Dong could not help shouting, "Huang Wuchang, what are you doing? They are your disciples! How could you bring yourself to do this?"

Huang Wuchang's complexion instantly improved after absorbing the soul power of Master Wei and Lecheng, and his voice regained considerable strength. "It is far better for a master to stay alive alone than for all three of us to die, isn't it!?"

Hearing such heartless words from Huang Wuchang, Lecheng beside him broke down in tears instantly. "Master, could it be... we senior and junior brothers were merely pawns like this all along?"

"Indeed, you have always been pawns for your master—pawns that can be of use to me at the very last moment. You have played a wonderful move on my behalf!" The more Huang Wuchang absorbed, the more exhilarated he became, and his complexion began to glow with health!

*This is bad. His soul power is recovering far too quickly!* Sensing the situation was turning unfavorable, Ye Dong felt a chill in his heart and retreated several steps. *Damn it, will this madman end up sucking away my soul as well!?*

Guangqi wanted to attack once more with the Soul-Binding Talisman that Huang Wuchang feared, but the spiritual power of that previous talisman had been ruthlessly swallowed by Huang Wuchang, leaving Guangqi deeply vexed. *Damn it, this Soul-Sucking Art is actually this powerful!? It can even devour the evil spirit energy within talismans!?*

Master Wei and Lecheng had practiced Daoism for at least twenty years. Even if their combined cultivation fell well short of forty years, it was certainly no joke!

"Master, how could you be so cruel?" Master Wei felt a deep, piercing grief. "We have always respected you and served you, yet at this juncture, you take our souls?"

Huang Wuchang withdrew his hands, pushing aside the dying Master Wei and Lecheng, and let out a cold snort. "Cruel? Every man for himself and the earth destroys the rest. You have followed me for so long, why do you still not understand this simple truth?"

Huang Wuchang shifted his gaze, staring straight at Guangqi. "Your Fourth Junior Brother understood this truth long ago, didn't you, Guangqi?"

"You... you will meet a wretched death!" Master Wei and Lecheng managed a bitter laugh before perishing from total exhaustion. Their eyes were filled with lingering resentment and malice, dying with unfulfilled grievances.

*Goodness, this Huang Wuchang is utterly deranged! Killing without batting an eye was one thing, but slaying his own disciples without the slightest hesitation? He's the ultimate scum among scum!*

Ye Dong knew that having one's soul extracted within a tomb meant absolute dissolution—scattered to the winds, never to attain reincarnation.

And souls forcefully ripped away in a yin-gathering place like a tomb would become the caster's yang energy, vastly increasing their cultivation. Those interested could refer back to the earlier explanation during the clash between Ye Dong and Guangqi.

"Damn it, you old fox!" Guangqi roared, unleashing an evil-subduing spell of the Maoshan Sect. A purple talisman stained with his own blood flew like lightning straight toward Huang Wuchang!

"One wrong move on the chessboard, and the whole game is lost." Huang Wuchang laughed heartily, twisting two fingers to deflect Guangqi's talisman directly into the stone wall, dislodging a shower of rubble.

"You use the skills taught to you by this old man to kill him? Should I call you a fool, or did you simply underestimate me?"

"This is bad. Is this madman about to go berserk?" Seeing the fierce glare and overwhelming murderous intent in Huang Wuchang's eyes, Guangqi naturally knew things had taken a dire turn.

"Huang Wuchang, stop putting up a false front of strength! The genuine qi within your body cannot be that abundant; Master Wei and Lecheng combined could only amount to twenty years of cultivation at most!"

The reversal of the plot caught both Ye Dong and Guangqi completely off guard. Right now, a Huang Wuchang with most of his cultivation restored was simply not someone the two of them could resist!

"Well then," Huang Wuchang ignored the self-deceiving Guangqi and said with a smile to Ye Dong, "Opening that great gate requires even more vital essence and spirit. He Wentian, your soul is quite strong. Why not lend it to this old man as well?"

"Damn it, I knew he would think of that!" Without replying, Ye Dong turned and bolted outward!

Hearing that Huang Wuchang intended to target Ye Dong, Guangqi was no fool either; he took to his heels and ran for the exit!

"Hahahaha!" Huang Wuchang burst into wild laughter. "You think of running now? Can you still escape? The souls of the two of you are just enough to replenish the spiritual energy I lost, hahahaha!"

"Whether we can escape or not, anyone who doesn't run is a fool!" Ye Dong cursed as he ran. "Damn it, Guangqi, look what kind of trouble you've stirred up! You've dragged me into this too!"

Guangqi, who had just been hit by Huang Wuchang's counter-attack, felt a profound agony in his heart. *Why is it always me who gets counter-attacked by others!?*

The two of them fled desperately in front, while the murderous Huang Wuchang pursued them relentlessly from behind!