Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 99 - 97: The Stench of Wronged Souls in the Immortality Wine

Chapter 99: Chapter 97: The Stench of Wronged Souls in the Immortality Wine

As the jade chariot carried by twenty-eight bearers settled down in the water pavilion, a group of attendants silently took their seats in the column reserved for the subordinates.

Among them, two people respectively caused a stir among the staff of the Luoyang King and Master Ge.

One was the Princely Heir Zhou Jingyuan, who had acted as the "Corpse" in the great sacrifice.

Still dressed in the same princely robe, he bore a striking resemblance to the Yili King, Zhou Yi, who had died suddenly at the age of twenty-six.

The "Corpse" was in essence a "Spirit Medium" and had absolutely no power to resist in the face of the Yili King.

His expression was wooden, suggesting that he had already been digested into a part of the Owl God Tomb.

The other was Fan Zhang, the "Pangolin," who had fully merged with the Construction Director.

On the day when Wang Yuan retrieved Huang Wu’s body and grandfather returned to the Yang World, Fan Zhang was blasted away by a "Shaking Ghost Strike Thunder" and had since disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.

Yet, unbeknownst to anyone, he had already returned to the Owl God Tomb.

Conversely, the third prince, Zhou Jingyao, who had been eaten a month earlier and used as delicious "Medicine Bait," likely had already been completely digested.

Before either group could whisper among themselves, an eunuch steward, whose entire presence exuded a cold aura, standing by the chariot, sang out aloud:

"The Prince decrees, let the banquet begin—!"

Immediately afterward, a large group of eunuchs and palace maids, bearing boxes of food and dishes, filed in.

However, the expression on each of their faces and their movements were exactly the same.

Even when arranging the tableware, their placement was precise to the smallest detail.

Faced with this scene, most of the thirty-odd living people hardly dared to move, fearing they might startle these beings and inadvertently end up being placed on the table as a dish themselves.

Even though only Wang Yuan, with his "eyes as dark as cinnabar," could see the true nature of this lotus pond pavilion, the others instinctively felt as if they were alone in Yizhuang, watching a horde of decaying corpses slowly rise from the ground—a terrifying sight indeed.

Wang Yuan, on the other hand, saw everything clearly.

Within this Owl God Tomb, whether it was the lantern-lit homes across the city, the charming and beautiful concubines of the Prince, the high-ranking officials of the Prince Mansion, or the eunuchs and palace maids bustling about...

All of these were merely a facade.

If the Yili King was the brain and heart of a giant vulture, then these people were the giant vulture’s claws, teeth, and feathers—except they were not independent entities capable of self-direction.

After all, when the Owl God Snatching Food took effect, even the Yili King himself wasn’t spared; so how could these burial followers, so close at hand, possibly escape?

Beyond the thirty-odd living people in the water pavilion, the more than a hundred people before their eyes were essentially all the Yili King himself!

At that moment, the eunuchs and palace maids opened the food boxes they were carrying, and a strong aroma of meat instantly infiltrated everyone’s nostrils.

Gulp!

In the dead silence of the pavilion, the sound of swallowing was as loud as thunder.

Many people had not eaten since the morning, and the tantalizing aroma was so irresistible that saliva flowed uncontrollably from their mouths.

Never before had they thought meat could smell so appetizing.

However, when the palace maids served up the dishes, the guests were astonished.

The source of the intense meaty fragrance turned out to be a few sticks of plain boiled lotus root and a peach almost the size of a human head; there was nothing else.

"This... truly is odd indeed!"

While the living were still grappling with their reason and desires, the officials and concubines across from them had already started eating.

They bit into the lotus roots with relish and sucked the juice from the peaches after breaking the skins.

The increasingly rich aroma of meat spread throughout the pavilion, driving everyone’s stomachs to churn with hunger.

This pure temptation was so powerful that even Wang Yuan, who had eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner before descending into the tomb, felt as if he had been starving all day long.

One could imagine the state of the others.

"Isn’t this supposed to be the Beimang Mountain Blessed Land? Perhaps the spiritual lotus and immortal peaches are special products of the Blessed Land, and they do smell incredibly delicious."

"Yes, this must be a delicacy of the Blessed Land. I’ll have a taste first."

Although most people remained unmoved,

a few Lucky Ones who had arrived here by chance could no longer resist the temptation, reaching for the food in front of them while reassuring themselves, and they stuffed it into their mouths.

They chewed enthusiastically and called on others to join them.

Encouraged, more and more of the living joined their ranks.

But in the eyes of Wang Yuan,

perhaps some relatives and friends of those in attendance were among the feast.

Just as these people indulged themselves and began to wonder why there were dishes without wine to moisten their throats,

the eunuch steward by the chariot sang out again:

"The Prince decrees, bring forth the wine—!"

Including Wang Yuan, the Luoyang King, Master Ge, Wang Yunhu... those in the know were instantly energized, tilting their necks upward together.

"It’s finally here!"

Wang Yunhu wanted the Immortality Wine, Wang Yuan and Master Ge desired the Small Book of Life and Death and the Heavenly Department Dao Skill·Earthly Que Golden Book, while the Luoyang King wanted them all.

Each of them had also made outstanding contributions to this banquet in their own way, and now the time had finally come to reap the rewards.

They saw the Yili King’s subordinates and concubines simultaneously raise their empty wine cups toward the sky.

Together, they chanted loudly:

"First gather the qi to stand!"

"Second, follow the qi to live!"

Wang Yuan’s sharp hearing immediately noticed that it wasn’t just these "people" chanting, but everyone in the entire Luoyang Mysterious Realm was singing in unison.

Countless voices finally merged into one, echoing across the Luoyang Mysterious Realm and the sky above Beimang Blessed Land.

"Third, create myriad laws!"

"Fourth, birth brightness!"

According to hidden knowledge spread by the sects, these are the four stages of all beings coming into existence from nothingness, signifying the successive appearance of matter, life, laws, and light in the world.

"Qingyun opens the Life Gate, auspicious smoke seals the Death Portal, and the natural world becomes clear!"

"Open the Heavenly Gate, invite the Deceit God!"

No sooner had the words fallen.

The dark clouds above the Deceit Realm suddenly rolled aside, and a giant moon, resembling a blood-red eye, was revealed in the sky.

Wu wu wu...

An eerie wind suddenly rose, and the flames in the jade incense burner by the table flickered faintly.

As the Prince Mansion powerful warriors started to beat the beast-patterned large drums with a thunking sound, a column of blue smoke rose into the air.

It seemed a pathway was formed, guiding the beings from above to descend.

And Wang Yuan felt that in a flash, the empty seats beside him were... filled with "people"!

His back was covered in icy coldness, instantly soaked by cold sweat, but even with the Unsightly Observation, he could only vaguely see some shadows, hazy and indistinct.

Compared to the Weird things he could kill with his own iron fists, these entities appeared to be the real Weird.

Suddenly, the burning paper money rustled and the ashes, along with the whirlwind, rolled all over the water pavilion.

The beautiful princess consorts of the Yili King, as if possessed by something, stripped off their clothes, their bodies contorted, continuing to sing and chant incessantly, twisting and crazily...

They initiated an exceptionally bizarre frenzy.

Meanwhile, the food on the empty tables was also rapidly nibbled away to nothing, visible to the naked eye.

Everyone involuntarily huddled up, as if they were also sitting on the other’s plate, fearing that the invisible entities might accidentally nibble at them as well.

Finally, after having enjoyed the sacrifices, the frenzy came to an end.

The invisible entities gathered up like a whirlwind in the center of the water pavilion set in a swastika pattern, eventually taking the shape of a semi-transparent large urn.

This was the ritual of the "Killing Banquet" and the "Immortality Wine," calling upon higher beings from beyond the heavens for assistance.

The lid was lifted.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

All the figures that were participating in the Hungry Ghost Festival throughout the Deceit Realm suddenly collapsed, turning into hundreds of thousands of red streams of light, rushing in, and quickly disappearing into the seemingly endless capacity of the large urn.

And in the water pavilion, most of the princess consorts, palace maids, eunuchs, and the now redundant Eldest Prince Zhou Jingyuan, along with the living who had eaten the lotus root and Immortal Peaches, were the same.

All had become the human Five Grains used to brew the Immortality Wine.

Soon, an invisible flame rose underneath the large urn.

Piercing wails echoed in everyone’s ears as countless contorted human faces within the urn began to melt and gurgle at the bottom into a pool of crimson fluid.

In a short moment, the entire Beimang Blessed Land fell into complete silence, save for the unceasing sound of boiling liquid in the large urn.

It seemed to be on the verge of a transformation, yet it was always just one step shy of the threshold.

Wang Yunhu anxiously looked at Master Ge, wanting to enquire where the backup "Elixir" they had discussed earlier was.

But he suddenly heard the Luoyang King, Zhou Wenye, speaking calmly from the other side:

"The three wonders of heaven are Jia, Wugeng, and Geng, the three wonders of earth are Ren, Gui, and Xin, the three wonders of men are Yi, Bing, and Ding, this is the ’Three Talents and Three Wonders Style’!

If only one or two people were eaten, it would be no different from common folks.

But if the three categories of heaven, earth, and man are gathered, it is also a top grade ’Elixir’ that can turn decay into magic, not a bit inferior to the lost Vermilion Bird Style!

The Three Enclosures, Four Symbols, and Seven Luminaries represent my expectations for you three brothers, can you feel it, my son Jingxiang?!"