Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 464 - 461: Red Bird Star, Manxiang Palace

Chapter 464: Chapter 461: Red Bird Star, Manxiang Palace

Shoulders carved like knives and a waist too slender to grasp, yet at the vividly red skirt, it dramatically expanded into a perfectly curved, round shape.

Even without seeing her face, just the silhouette was enough to confirm she must be a great beauty, scoring well above ninety points!

Even though she heard Xin Ruoheng’s scolding voice, An Hongdou still stared intently at the dice cups on the table, holding her breath to listen to the dice spinning inside.

She casually waved her delicate little hand at Xin Ruoheng from behind, signaling her to calm down for the moment.

"You, oh you..."

Xin Ruoheng was truly impressed.

Having traveled from the north, she had long heard the storm brewing outside.

It was not known how long ago Yuan Suifeng had secretly passed on the complete "Invocation and Disaster Relief Three-Part Spells."

The speculation that someone wanted to devour other Curse Spirits and assemble the "Heavenly Department Daoist Skill: Spiritual Mountain Ten Witch Spells" had been fully confirmed.

Moreover, it was not just "skill," but also "power"; the more one consumed, the stronger they became.

Whether reaching the Earth Department or the Heavenly Department, there was no need for one to start cultivation from scratch—once the "skill" was obtained, the "power" would naturally follow.

Even when breaking through barriers, all that was required was to perform a very simple ritual based on one’s lifebound spell.

Just the thought of someone out there sharpening their teeth and thirsting to devour her made Xin Ruoheng shudder.

Despite the urgency of the situation, this close friend from the vortex of Liangzhou remained so composed and serene.

Which made Xin Ruoheng both angry and impressed at the same time.

Little did one know An Hongdou was also cultivating one of the same 365 "Invocation and Disaster Relief Three-Part Spells" known as the "Bone-Imbedded Love Spell."

And An Hongdou’s true form was that of a plant essence—the red bean.

She could also be called a tree spirit embodying yearning.

Leveraging this natural affinity, An Hongdou had, around the same time as Xin Ruoheng, joined the Nine Soldiers and received the divine position of "Red Bird Star Lord,"

who was much more popular in folk beliefs than Xin Ruoheng.

The only pity was,

unlike the powerful "Beidou Evil-Cutting Spell," An Hongdou’s "Bone-Imbedded Love Spell" was indeed excellent at handling affairs between men and women.

But it was somewhat lacking when it came to protecting the Taoist path.

Moreover, the creator of this spell, the Wushan King, had left a backdoor when he created it.

As long as one holds the complete set of "Invocation and Disaster Relief Three-Part Spells" and recites each of the 365 spells in turn,

one could use spiritual response to sense the exact location of the other person.

If that demon who had obtained the full set came knocking,

how could they, with one of 365 parts, contend against someone’s one of a dozen or even one of few parts?

It would be easy to die and dissolve into nothingness, and barely escaping to become wandering ghosts would be considered lucky.

Previously, Xin Ruoheng received a distress call from An Hongdou and originally planned to temporarily hide with her in the Yin Department,

waiting for the storm to pass before coming out again.

After all, the Yin Department was full of their own people, where it was not only very safe, but they could also transform countless wandering ghosts under the "Yin Mountain Backside Development Plan" to quickly enhance the strength of their spells.

Now seeing her friend’s true nature, the phrase: "Clever dice, An Hongdou, deep love recognized or not" best described her.

She might be entangled with "gambling" and "romance" her whole life.

"Hong Dou, oh Hong Dou, if you can’t break these two bad habits, sooner or later you are bound to take a big fall because of them in this life,"

Xin Ruoheng shook her head and walked slowly to An Hongdou’s side.

Only to hear her whispering a chant:

"Gods of gambling and Five Ghosts reside in five directions, I invite thee to the realm of coins today, call for colors and beckon coins to follow my sway, not afraid of gold and silver in any amount.

I command in the name of the Six of Southern Dipper and Seven of Beidou, swift as the decree!"

Hearing what she recited, Xin Ruoheng couldn’t help but curl her lip:

"What is this supposed to mean? Weren’t you just fine a moment ago? Do you have to cheat as soon as I arrive? Who do you look down upon?!"

She knew that this was a "Bet Calling Color Spell" from An Hongdou’s repertoire, and due to their great friendship, An Hongdou had even taught her this technique.

Collect souls of the clever and wily dead from gambling on the night of the fifteenth of January, at a clean place, write a charm for the gambling gods and Five Ghosts.

Offer a piece of pork, a black fish, seven cups of wine, and oil lamps as offerings.

Recite a spell to Beidou once, take five breaths of quintessence from five directions into the right hand, repeat this process for forty-nine times in total to succeed.

Once you chant this at a gambling table, the dice will roll exactly as desired, and success is inevitable.

If this were to spread, all gamblers across the world would go insane for it.

Soon the female croupier overseeing the gambling yelled:

"2, 3, 6—11 points, big!"

Immediately An Hongdou beamed with joy, spreading her fair palms to the people at her table:

"Haha, I won, pay up, pay up!"

All those at the table with her were ladies and madams adorned in gold and silver, who came from notable backgrounds.

But they were gambling not with silver coins.

They were not ordinary red beans but heart-shaped ones of excellent quality, which had been smoothed to a sheen by the delicate, fragrant sweat of beauties as they played with them, giving them the appearance of rubies.

They were both elegant and amusing.

By then, everyone had lost one to her.

Despite being suppressed by the "Broom Star’s" Qi Fortune, she had managed to win another round, finally satisfying An Hongdou.

She left them with the words, "I will help you convey your longing to your beloved."

She stuffed all 63 red beans, each a token of longing and won after who knows how many rounds and how much time, into a small pouch at her waist and then, grabbing Xin Ruoheng, ran off.

"Sister Xin, come with me, let me show you a surprise in the courtyard where I live."

A pair of seemingly delicate jade-like hands possessed surprisingly great strength; Xin Ruoheng instinctively struggled but failed to free herself.

In a moment of slight bewilderment, she was forcefully pulled into the quiet, secluded residence next door.

Bang!

When the large door shut again, it seemed as if no sound could escape from within.

...

At this time, Wang Yuan, who was sitting in a carriage, had just caught sight of the Dragon Elephant Tao’s Mountain Temple "Dragon and Tiger Temple" from afar.

He did not hurry but opened the "Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Net" to view the latest intelligence that had just come in.

The reason he hadn’t directly used the "Ghost Gate" to teleport there

was to utilize various forces like the "Nine Soldiers," Cloud Tower Ghost Market, and his personal connections to gather information related to Yuan Suifeng, Liangzhou, and the Dragon Elephant Tao.

Having experienced "Zi Buxu" before, he had realized that Yuan Suifeng’s defection concealed deeper secrets.

He was naturally very cautious.

Wang Yuan didn’t believe that the Dragon Elephant Tao, being a pillar among the "Nine Soldiers," would destroy its own foundation.

But where there are people, there is Jianghu; if the world were simply black and white, there would already be peace under heaven.

The issues with the unofficial ghost officers and ghost soldiers in Fengdu City had been a wake-up call for Wang Yuan.

"Human nature" is the hardest to directly observe and the most difficult to predict!

Moreover, items like "Yin Morality" and "Debt," which are observable, always judge by actions, not thoughts.

No matter how malicious someone’s thoughts, as long as they do not act on them, they do not generate "Debt," and therefore cannot be detected.

Thus, even his colleagues among the "Nine Soldiers," each possessing at least one hundred thousand Yin Morality, could not be fully trusted.

If the stake is high enough, neither one hundred thousand Yin Morality nor decades of camaraderie may prove reliable.

"One temple, one palace, twenty-four gates... ’Yellow God’ Xiangxiong, ’Green God’ Langqiong, plus one among the sixteen powerful nations.

The situation within Liangzhou is extremely complex, the borderlines of the Great Yan once changed within a few years.

It’s riddled with mountains and rivers, housing dozens of famed rebel armies, giant bandits, and Earth Masters, each with unknown backers—even the Dragon Elephant Tao might not have a clear understanding.

Considering the current level of Tribulation Energy,

If I don’t survive this ’Calamity,’ the entire south might instantly deteriorate, and the chaotic times of dragon-striving in the Human Dao could spiral out of control."

"But once I get through, the body, the avatar of Taibai, Yama’s avatar, and even my sister’s rise to the rank of Green Seal would be almost secured.

It would at least save three to five years compared to the gradual promotion by the "Automatic Cultivation Machines" in the nineteen layers of Hell.

It’s a case of risk and opportunity coexisting."

Idly, he opened a piece of the latest intelligence from the "Nine Soldiers," his brow involuntarily furrowing.

"Yuan Suifeng calls himself ’Heavenly Destiny Main Character’? Claiming all his actions are missions assigned by Heavenly Dao?

Seems he’s also brandishing the banner of following Heavenly Dao’s will to exterminate demons and defend the Dao, specifically targeting those with profound backgrounds, making the already muddy waters of Liangzhou even murkier.

Doesn’t this sound eerily familiar?

This just got interesting.

I’m so close to the Heavenly Dao Master, yet I wasn’t aware of another colleague?

Heavenly Dao gives you missions requiring demon extermination and defense of the Dao?

Then who asked me, Old Wang, to take care of you and all the undercurrents in Liangzhou?"

Lost in thought, the carriage finally reached the welcoming pine at the foot of the mountain.

An amiable, plump Daoist, radiating with a spring breeze’s warmth, eagerly rushed out to greet him from afar with a bow:

"Taoist Fellow Taibai, I heard the magpies chirping early this morning and went out to check three times; finally, I have awaited your arrival!

Please come in! Please come in!

The brothers at the Dragon and Tiger Temple are currently overwhelmed; although I’m not the real landlord, I’m still kin, so Taoist Fellow Taibai, please don’t fault us."

After ushering Huang Wu and the others into the Five Senses Altar City, Wang Yuan stepped off the carriage alone and returned the greeting.

"So it’s Taoist Fellow Xiong, too polite, please!"

He was surprised to discover that the person welcoming him was an acquaintance, the Earth Department Immortal Official of the Thunder Department—Fire Carriage General Xiong Ruixing.

This colleague even owned property in the Beimang Mountain Blessed Land; they had met each other twice, thus barely qualifying as acquaintances.

What slightly surprised Wang Yuan was that he wasn’t a disciple of the Dragon and Tiger Temple but belonged to another major branch... Manxiang Palace!

’Acting as the host, it seems...’