Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 706 Tracing the Origins?

The Weiwu Yamen was unusually quiet in the early morning.

It was eerily quiet, without even the slightest sound of insects or birds chirping.

The eerie silence was only broken when the prison cart carrying the paper figure and the two shamans arrived outside the shaman's office.

It was still some time before dawn, and a curfew was in effect in most parts of Wushan City. The area where the Weiwu Yamen (Witchcraft Guard Office) was located, containing numerous government offices, was a key area under the curfew. Not only were soldiers on routine patrols, but witch doctors and shamans also roamed around.

However, no one dared to stop or search these disguised prison vans.

The reason for this was that the people escorting the carriage had special shamanic script on their robes, which represented their identity as "guardians of the shamans".

The soldiers and shamans on night patrol were unaware of the current situation of the Guardian Shamans, still regarding them as the emperor's personal guards who could disregard the rules. Furthermore, since the Guardian Shamans often conducted investigations at night, they weren't surprised or astonished, but simply kept their distance, fearing trouble.

Recently, the sorcerers seem to have all changed, their behavior has changed drastically, and anyone who makes a slight mistake will be locked up and taken to the sorcerer's office.

And none of those who were taken to the Weiwu Yamen have ever been released.

In the distance, several night-watching wizards, hidden in the darkness, watched the strange trucks and couldn't help but whisper among themselves:
What were those vehicles carrying?

"Who knows? If it needs to be delivered in the dark before dawn, it's definitely not some legitimate goods."

"Shh, be quiet! There are spies everywhere from the Wei Wu. Aren't you afraid they'll overhear you and cause you trouble?"

The night patrol wizards were startled and quickly looked around to make sure there was no one around and no strange creatures. They breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not say anything more, or even stop to watch the commotion. They quickly left and went to patrol elsewhere.

However, what they didn't know was that not long after they left, a crow perched on a tree by the roadside suddenly spoke in human language: "These men from the Night Patrol are so unruly; it's time to teach them a lesson... Perfect, let's add some more blood and food for our master."

It flapped its wings and flew away, disappearing into the night.

At the same time, the disguised prison cart arrived at the Weiwu Yamen.

The vermilion gate was tightly closed, and there were no soldiers standing guard or patrolling at the entrance.

However, Shang Lu, who was controlling the paper figures through secret techniques, sensed a strong danger at this moment.

The seemingly unguarded Weiwu Yamen (a government office for the protection of witches) is actually fraught with danger.

If they rashly come to spy, they might not even know how they died.

The guards escorting the prisoner made no announcements or other moves; they simply stood quietly outside the door for a moment before the vermilion gate slowly opened with a muffled thud.

Having witnessed all of this through the paper doll's eyes, Shang Lu became even more certain that there must be pairs of eyes hidden outside the Weiwu Yamen, constantly monitoring the surrounding situation.

After the prison cart was escorted into the Weiwu Yamen, the vermilion gate slowly closed with a dull thud.

"Have a few more distinguished guests arrived?"

Once the gate was closed, voices finally broke the deathly silence of the Weiwu Yamen.

Several people dressed in black robes emerged from the shadows and approached the prison cart.

The guards escorting the prison cart, upon seeing the newcomers, quickly clasped their hands in a salute: "Greetings, Great Shaman Changsun!"

The man known as the Great Witch Changsun wore a black robe trimmed with gold thread and witch-like patterns. He was thin and withered, his face seemingly devoid of any flesh, resembling a skull covered in human skin.

Shang Lu secretly observed Changsun Dawu through the paper figure's eyes and instantly judged that this seemingly frail and skeletal person was actually quite powerful.

Just from the chilling sorcery emanating from him, it is certain that his strength is definitely no less than that of the Inner Palace Realm!
Moreover, Shanglu is no stranger to the surname Changsun.

"The Changsun family is a first-class aristocratic family in the Ba Kingdom. Their family has held the position of Minister of Justice among the nine ministers of the Ba Kingdom for many years. In addition to being proficient in various corpse-demon witchcraft, the experts in the family are also very knowledgeable in the field of criminal law!"

On his way to Wushan, Shang Lu heard a lot about Wushan and the prominent families in the court from Bai Lingxu.

"The Changsun family has actually appeared in the Weiwu government office... Sure enough, the Weiwu government office has been taken over and occupied by Ba Wang's henchmen. I just wonder where the Weiwu people are being held, are they really in this government office?"

Although during this period, Bai Lingxu learned from various channels that some people had entered the Weiwu Yamen and never came out again, it seemed that everyone was imprisoned in the Weiwu Yamen's jail.

However, Shanglu was skeptical of this.

In his view, the Weiwu Yamen was nothing but a trap!
Who would leave their prey in a trap?

Not to mention, the captured sorcerers were also used to "heal" the treacherous King Ba and the nobles.

Being imprisoned in the Weiwu Yamen (a government office for witch doctors) made it inconvenient to "refine medicines".

"We'll soon find out where they've hidden them," Shang Lu thought, trying to suppress his excitement.

After bowing, the guards hurriedly removed the leather cover from the prison cart, revealing its original appearance and the figures of the two guardian shamans and Shang Lu's paper figures locked inside.

The Great Witch Changsun glanced at the three people in the prison cart and sneered coldly, "You are really obedient. As soon as the Grand Priest and the Inspector gave the order, you all rushed to Wushan from all over the country. Even if you guessed that something was wrong, you still came. I really don't know whether to say you are stupid or fearless."

"Pooh!"

One of the guards, who recognized the Great Shaman Changsun, spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm at him and cursed, "Traitor!"

"Be bold!"

"How dare you offend the Great Shaman! I'll tear you to pieces!"

"A prisoner still so arrogant, he's courting death!"

Upon seeing this, the people around immediately rushed towards the shaman, cursing and looking as if they wanted to tear him to pieces.

"stop!"

The Great Shaman Changsun stopped the crowd. The bloody phlegm that the shaman Wei had spat out hadn't even landed on him; it had been completely dispelled by his protective shamanic aura from afar.
Looking at the shaman, he laughed: "Who do we have here? It's Brother Huang. You've called me a traitor, but you've called the wrong person. The traitor is the Grand Priest, who betrayed the King. As for me, I've merely abandoned darkness for light and come to the King's aid!"

Shang Lu was slightly taken aback, not expecting that this wizard from the Changsun family had also been a member of the Guard Wizards.

On second thought, he understood.

From the very beginning of the establishment of the Guardian Witch, King Ba was wary and secretly mixed in a lot of scum.

The great shaman of the Changsun family was actually King Ba's "spy."

It's just a mystery how these undercover agents managed to slip past the Grand Master and the inspectors' scrutiny. In any case, this serves as a wake-up call for Shang Lu.

If he were to actually establish his own school of thought in the future, he would either have to carefully screen the undercover agents or find a way to influence and transform them into double agents.

After offering a few words of explanation, the Great Shaman Changsun glanced at the shaman Wei, whom he recognized, smiled, and then, using a highly persuasive voice, combined seduction with threat:
"Brother Huang, we've known each other for a while, so don't say I didn't give you a chance. As long as you swear an oath to serve the King to the death and summon all the guards you know to help us wipe them out in one fell swoop, I can not only spare your life but also recommend you to the King, allowing you to enjoy wealth and honor. If you can achieve great merit, you can even take divine pills and cultivate immortality with the King, achieving an immortal body!"

"Isn't this better than losing your life by following the Great Zhu in rebellion? Even if you don't think about yourself, your wife, children, and clansmen are innocent. Do you want to see them implicated, labeled as traitors, and slaughtered?"

"You need not worry about my wife, children, and clan. I made proper arrangements for them before I came to Xingshan. Even if I die, any one of the brothers in Weiwuli who is alive will help us take care of my wife, children, and clan. Don't even think about using them to threaten us."

The shaman surnamed Huang sneered, but he didn't spit blood at the Great Shaman Changsun again. Since this move was useless, he might as well save his strength to see if he could turn the tables.

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. Now that I've fallen into your hands, do with me as you please!"

"I don't know how to praise!"

The Great Witch Changsun's face darkened, and he let out a heavy snort, then grinned maliciously:

"Do you really think that if you keep your mouth shut and don't utter a sound, we can't do anything about it? The King sent the Changsun family to deal with you because he values ​​our ability to extract confessions through torture! Since you have the choice to suffer instead of enjoying wealth and honor, I will grant your wish!"

He waved his hand and ordered, "Take them into the witch's prison and use the curse on them first. When they are suffering a fate worse than death, I will personally interrogate them. This will also settle my friendship with Brother Huang."

I hope that by then, your mouth will still be as stubborn as it is now, so as not to disappoint me!

As you know, the cultivation method practiced by our Changsun family is different from others; it involves growth through torture. The tighter your mouth is sealed, the more torture you endure, the greater the improvement I will gain after you submit and surrender!

At this point, the Great Witch Changsun laughed triumphantly: "Brother Huang, I have to thank you. In the end, you even risked your life to help me... Hahahaha!"

Several black-robed wizards beside him immediately stepped forward and took out voodoo torture instruments that exuded a sinister aura from their sleeves, intending to lock the three guard wizards out of the cage and take them to the witch prison.

This is the time that pokeweed and others have been waiting for.

Once the paper figures are brought into the witch's prison, it will be possible to determine exactly who is being held in the witch's office.

If all goes well, the paper figure can also be used to determine where Wei Wu will be sent after enduring the torture inflicted by the Changsun family.

But just then, a cold shout, like a thunderclap, rang out in the Weiwu Yamen: "Wait! A fake has infiltrated this hunt!"

With a cold shout, a beam of magical light flew out from the yamen hall, as fast as lightning, and instantly arrived on the prison cart, circling the three guard shamans once.

The other two guardian shamans showed no reaction, but strands of Qi appeared above the paper figures' heads.

These strands of Qi are precisely the means by which Shang Lu manipulates the paper figures; at first glance, they resemble the strings used in puppet shows.

One end of the Qi thread was tied to the paper figure, while the other end blended into the pitch-black night, making it impossible to tell where it was going.

"puppet?"

The Great Witch Changsun's expression changed drastically, his eyes filled with anger.

He was angry at the people of Goddess Town for their incompetence, unable to distinguish between a puppet and a person, and also angry at himself for not realizing that it was a puppet in the first place.

Fortunately, the puppet had not yet been imprisoned in the witch's prison, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Whose trick is this? How cunning!" Great Shaman Changsun cursed through gritted teeth, about to unleash his shamanic artifacts and perform criminal shamanic arts to trace the source and find the person controlling the puppet by following these strands of qi.

"Puff puff puff puff..."

A sound so faint that it was inaudible to most people suddenly rang out from the paper figure.

However, the Qi threads that were wrapped around it all snapped at this moment.

Upon discovering that he had been exposed, Shang Lu did not hesitate for a moment and immediately severed his connection with the paper figure.

The Great Witch Changsun's expression changed once again.

He was just a hair's breadth away from being able to follow the Qi threads and pinpoint the manipulator's movements.

Unfortunately, the other party reacted extremely quickly. This also shows that the other party had been using this puppet to spy on the area.

Thinking of this, the Great Witch Changsun's face grew increasingly gloomy, and he felt a wave of fear wash over him.

A figure flew out of the yamen hall.

Changsun Dawu hurriedly bowed and said, "Patriarch, it is my incompetence that has troubled you so much."

The man who arrived was none other than the current head of the Changsun family, the Minister of Justice of Ba State, and the Marquis of Changsun.

"This fellow is very cunning, and his strength is no less than yours. He might be one of those hunters who have been hiding and haven't shown themselves. It's normal that you didn't notice."

Marquis Changsun did not blame his clansmen, nor was he upset about the dissipated Qi threads. His pair of cold, hawk-like eyes were fixed on the paper figure in the prison cart that looked exactly like a real person. He grinned and said, "Even if he cut off the witchcraft and destroyed the Qi threads, it would be useless to me!"

"As long as this puppet exists, I will be able to find him!"

Marquis Changsun raised his hand and waved it at the paper figure in the prison cart.

A chilling aura of witchcraft immediately surged from his palm, like countless iron chains or thousands of venomous snakes, swarming towards the paper figure and instantly penetrating its body, finding the remaining power within.

"Gather the men and prepare to depart."

"Let's take advantage of their belief that they've escaped a calamity and catch them off guard, then capture them all!"

"I'll give the order in a snarling voice," said Marquis Changsun, chanting incantations to activate the magic, using the remaining power within the paper figure to lock onto the person controlling it.

Changsun Dawu accepted the order with his hands clasped, and immediately instructed his men to quickly summon people and prepare for action.

It was at this moment that Marquis Changsun, through the witchcraft of tracing back to the source, found the origin of the power within the paper figure.

"Got you!"

He let out a sinister laugh and immediately locked onto his target.

The Great Shaman Changsun, standing nearby, immediately began to flatter: "The Patriarch's divine might..."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw that the Marquis of Changsun's expression changed drastically, and at the same time, his witch aura became chaotic, crazy, and strange in an instant... seemingly completely out of control!
(End of this chapter)