Starting with the Earth God, the path to immortality is deduced!

"ah--!"

The vengeful spirits within the black mist let out mournful screams.

The resentment emanating from it melted away rapidly under the golden light, like snow under the blazing sun.

That contorted, pained expression gradually transformed into one of peace and tranquility.

The madness and hatred in its eyes were gradually replaced by a sense of liberation.

In the end, all the black energy dissipated, leaving only a wisp of the purest spiritual essence.

Zhou Yuan did not hesitate at all.

"Sacrifice!"

With a thought, the ancient book of "Strange Tales of Gods and Monsters" suddenly opened in his mind!

An invisible suction force emanated from the book, instantly devouring that wisp of spiritual essence!

[Sacrifice successful!]

[Unlock the evil pages: The Ouija Board!]

[Gained Yin Energy: One Stream!]

[Gained Supernatural Power (Passive): Insight!]

[Insight: Your spiritual perception has become more acute, allowing you to easily see through the illusions and disguises created by evil spirits of a lower rank than yourself.]

Become!

A glint of light flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes.

This power of "Insight" has come at just the right time!

He put away the Azure Lamp, and the resentment in the room was completely gone.

The constable Wang cried out "Ouch!" and his body went limp as he slid off the chair, slowly waking up.

"Where...where am I? What just happened to me?"

Zhou Yuan ignored him and turned to leave.

"I wonder how Ling'er is doing."

……

Meanwhile, backstage at the Fengmingge Theater.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of cosmetics, mixed with a faint... putrid odor.

Ma Ling'er pinched her nose and kicked open the door of a dressing room with a sign that read "Better Than Peony".

In the room, a woman with a captivating figure and stunning beauty sat in front of a mirror, slowly and meticulously combing her hair.

"Oh, whose little sister is this, so ill-mannered, barging into my room?"

"Sai Mudan" turned her head and smiled sweetly at Ma Ling'er.

That smile was like a hundred flowers blooming, enough to make any man fall head over heels for her.

But Ma Ling'er only felt a chill all over her body.

Because she saw that, in the mirror, beneath that stunningly beautiful face, there was no skull at all!

That was a human skin that had been completely peeled off!

"evildoer!"

Ma Ling'er shouted, without uttering a single word, and pulled a black and white fur ball from her cloth bag, throwing it at the other party!

"Go away, bite her!"

"Awoo?"

The iron-eating beast opened its eyes sleepily in mid-air, seemingly still unaware of the situation.

The smile on "Sai Mudan's" face vanished instantly, replaced by an extreme resentment and malice.

"You ungrateful little bitch!"

She suddenly flicked her sleeve!

The entire dressing room suddenly spun around!

Ma Ling'er felt a blur before her eyes and found herself no longer backstage, but in a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood!

Countless mangled corpses reached out their ghostly claws towards her, and she heard mournful wails all around her!

Illusion!

"A trivial skill!"

Ma Ling-er snorted coldly, bit her fingertip, and drew a talisman on her palm with her blood.

"The Witch God's decree: Dispel illusions!"

However, the scene before us remained completely unchanged!

This "Painted Skin Ghost" is far more powerful than she imagined!

Just as a rotting hand was about to grab her face, a soft, sweet roar sounded behind her.

"Awooo—!"

The black and white fur ball suddenly grew to be more than half the height of a person!

It opened its huge mouth and took a deep breath at the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood before it!

call--!

All the illusions, along with the pungent smell of blood, turned into wisps of black smoke and were swallowed up by it!

The iron-eating beast let out a burp and licked its lips, seemingly still wanting more.

The illusion is dispelled.

The dressing room has been restored to its original state.

But that "Peony Beauty" has vanished without a trace.

Only a human skin with exquisite makeup floated down to the ground.

"Trying to run away?"

Ma Ling'er's eyes flashed with anger, and she was about to chase after him when a figure was faster than her.

Zhou Yuan had appeared at the doorway without anyone noticing.

His eyes were fixed intently on a corner of the roof beam.

In that shadow, a hideous monster, its body made of rotten flesh and stitched together, lay there, trembling.

Under Zhou Yuan's eyes, which possessed the [Insight] supernatural power, any disguise it made was utterly useless!

"I've found you."

Zhou Yuan raised his hand and aimed it at that corner.

"Sacrifice!"

The power of "Strange Tales of Gods and Monsters" is activated remotely!

The painted-skin ghost didn't even have time to let out a scream before it was torn apart and devoured by an irresistible force!

[Sacrifice successful!]

[Unlock the evil page: The Painted Skin Demon!]

[Gained Yin Energy: Two Streams!]

[The supernatural ability "Insight" has been strengthened!]

Zhou Yuan slowly lowered his hand and walked to the human skin that had fallen to the ground.

Inside the collar of the human skin garment, a jet-black coin was sewn there with red thread.

On the back of the coin, there is an extremely tiny abacus pattern!

At the same time, Ma Ling'er picked up another copper coin from the ground, the one she had just brought from the county government office.

When you turn it over, you'll see that the back also has an abacus engraved on it!

"It's him!"

The two spoke in unison!

Zhou Yuan placed the two yin coins side by side.

"The Ouija board spirit, the painted skin ghost, the Five-Tongued God..."

"All the events, seemingly unrelated, are actually linked together by illicit money."

His voice turned icy cold.

"This is not a simple act of mischief; it's a premeditated and planned hunt!"

"That accountant was like a chess player hiding in the shadows, using the entire city of Fengzhou as his chessboard and innocent lives as his pieces, playing a grand game!"

Ma Ling-er's face had completely lost all color.

"We...we must find him as soon as possible!"

Zhou Yuan nodded slowly, clutching the two yin coins tightly in his palm.

The cold touch made him even more awake.

"right."

"We must do it as soon as possible!"

"Before this city completely becomes his 'ledger'!"

"The painted-skin ghost from the opera troupe and the Ouija board spirit from the county government office have both been dealt with."

"Only the 'Five Gods' from Master Qian's mansion remain."

"These three evil spirits are the three key nodes of the 'Nine Nether Dragon Locking Formation,' forming a mutually supporting structure."

"We'll never see the whole picture until we remove the last nail!"

Ma Ling'er nodded heavily, her pretty face, which had turned pale from the Painted Skin Ghost incident, was now filled with fighting spirit.

"good!"

"I'd like to see what kind of creature dares to call itself the 'Five-Tongued God' in Fengzhou City!"

She squeezed the cloth bag at her waist, and the panda inside seemed to sense its owner's mood, letting out two dissatisfied whimpers.

Without further delay, the two figures flashed and disappeared into the shadows of the back alley of Fengming Pavilion.

……

The mansion of Master Qian was located in the most prosperous part of Fengzhou City, in the south.

The vermilion gates and high walls, with flying eaves and brackets, and two majestic stone lions at the entrance, exude extravagance.

However, at this moment, the mansion was shrouded in an eerie atmosphere.

The gate was wide open, and the area in front of it was bustling with cars and people.

Countless people, carrying incense and offerings, lined up in long queues, their faces filled with fanaticism and greed, scrambling to squeeze in.

"The Five Gods have manifested their power!"

"I heard that if you worship the Five Gods, you'll find gold wherever you go!"

"That's not all! My neighbor's second son just came in, kowtowed, and found a bag of silver ingots on his way home!"

"Quick, quick! Let me go in and pray too!"

The clamor of the crowd, like a pot of boiling oil, tinged the entire Qian Mansion with a frenzied atmosphere.

Zhou Yuan and Ma Ling'er hid in the shadows at the street corner, watching this absurd scene unfold before them, their brows furrowed tightly.

"These people... they've all gone mad!"

Ma Ling'er cursed in a low voice.

Zhou Yuan shook his head, his eyes serious.

"No, they're not crazy."

He activated the newly acquired supernatural power, "Insight".

In an instant, the world before my eyes changed.

In his view, the sky above the Qian mansion was no longer the ordinary night, but was shrouded in a thick, almost tangible, black-gold aura of fortune!

That aura was filled with greed, desire, jealousy, fanaticism... all sorts of negative emotions, intertwined together, transforming into invisible tentacles that stretched out from the depths of the Qian mansion and reached into the heads of every commoner who came to worship.

Whenever someone harbors greed and kneels in devout worship, a wisp of fortune is drawn from them and merges into that black-gold ocean of fortune.

The Qian family mansion itself was like a giant vortex, frantically swallowing everything.

"He's draining the entire fortune of Fengzhou City!"

Zhou Yuan felt a chill run down his spine.

Although Ma Ling'er cannot see the flow of fortune, she practices witchcraft and is extremely sensitive to changes in people's hearts.

Something's not right!

"These people are losing their vitality and energy!"

"If this continues, within three days, everyone on this street will be drained dry!"

Zhou Yuan withdrew his gaze, his voice cold.

"This isn't a god, it's evil!"

"The true gods bestow blessings upon people, and what they seek is incense and faith."

"And this thing takes a person's essence, energy, spirit, and even... life!"

"Let's go inside!"

The two exchanged a glance, then abandoned their attempt to force their way through the front gate. Instead, they circled around to the back wall, and with a swift movement, like two agile cats, silently vaulted over the wall.

Upon entering the Qian residence, the strong smell of sandalwood and money hit you, making you almost nauseous.

The front yard was bustling with noise, but the back yard was unusually quiet.

Zhou Yuan activated [Insight] and carefully observed the flow of Qi within the mansion.

All the mixed fortune drawn from the common people flowed like rivers into the sea, eventually converging into a shrine deep in the backyard.

At the entrance of the ancestral hall stood two servants, their expressions blank and their eyes lifeless, clearly their minds had been bewitched.

"That's it!"

Zhou Yuan pointed in the direction of the ancestral hall.

Ma Ling'er understood, took out two yellow paper talismans from her bosom, muttered incantations, and flicked her finger.

The paper talismans transformed into two yellow butterflies, silently flying behind the two servants and sticking them to the back of their necks.

The two of them went limp and collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound, falling into a deep sleep.

After dealing with the guards, the two slipped into the ancestral hall.

Inside the ancestral hall, incense smoke curled around, and the offering table was filled with gold, silver, and jade artifacts, their glittering jewels dazzling the eyes.

In the center of the offering table stands a statue of a deity about half the height of a person.

The statue had five heads and six arms, a ferocious face, and was made entirely of gold. Its eyes were inlaid with two blood-red gems the size of pigeon eggs, which shimmered with an eerie light in the candlelight.

This is what is known as the "Five Gods of Power"!

"Playing tricks!"

Ma Ling'er snorted coldly and was about to make a move.

"etc!"

Zhou Yuan reached out and stopped her.

His eyes were fixed on the golden statue.

With his [Insight] supernatural power, he could see clearly that the statue was just an empty shell!

The true evil entity is not here!

The dense, inky black-gold aura penetrated the statue, continued to extend towards the back of the ancestral hall, and finally disappeared behind a wall.

"There's a secret room!"

Zhou Yuan took a few steps forward and knocked on the wall; the sound was indeed hollow.

Working together, the two quickly found the mechanism under a futon in the corner.

"Boom!"

The wall slid to one side, revealing a dark hole.

A malevolent aura, a hundred times stronger than that outside, mixed with the stench of blood and decay, surged wildly out of the cave entrance!

"Such a strong evil aura!"

Ma Ling'er's face turned pale, and she immediately held her breath.

Zhou Yuan's expression remained unchanged. With a flick of his left hand, the Azure Lamp was already in his grasp.

A faint blue light shone, purifying all the surging evil energy.

"Stay close to me."

He muttered something under his breath and went into the secret room first.

The secret room was not large, about three zhang square.

There were no windows, and the air was stuffy and oppressive.

In the center of the secret chamber was a strange magic circle drawn with cinnabar, and in each of the five corners of the magic circle was a black command flag.

The five command flags were embroidered with the characters for "joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, and desire" in gold thread. The flags moved without wind, emitting waves of eerie energy that made people uneasy.

At the very center of the magic circle, instead of a statue of a deity, there was a...

A still-beating, enormous heart, seemingly made up of countless piles of flesh and pus!

The heart was the size of a water vat, its surface covered with blood vessels and distorted human faces. With each beat, it made a dull "thump! thump!" sound, as if it were striking one's soul.

Countless black and gold threads of fortune converged from all directions, greedily devouring the enormous heart.

"What...what the hell is this?!"

Even though Ma Ling'er was well-traveled and knowledgeable, she couldn't help but feel nauseous at this moment.

"This is the true form of the 'Five Gods'."

Zhou Yuan's eyes were icy cold.

"A kind of spirit that feeds on human emotions and desires, and nourishes itself with human fortune!"

"Those five evil flags are the root of its control over people's hearts!"

Just then, the enormous heart seemed to sense the intruder.

It suddenly contracted, and then began to throb violently!

"Thump! Thump! Thump thump thump!"

My heartbeat is getting faster and louder!

An invisible spiritual shock erupted from the heart!

Ma Ling-er groaned, feeling as if her brain had been struck hard by a heavy hammer, and countless illusions appeared before her eyes in an instant!

Gold mountains, silver seas, peerless beauties, supreme power...

Everything she longed for deepest in her heart transformed into the most alluring images, flashing before her eyes and tempting her to succumb.

"wake up!"

A low shout, like a morning bell and evening drum, resounded in Ma Ling'er's mind!

It's Zhou Yuan!

He held the Azure Lamp in his hand, and the light of the lamp protected his mind, preventing him from being affected by the illusion.

Ma-Ling'er shuddered and bit her tongue hard, the sharp pain instantly bringing her back to her senses.