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  The night is dark and the wind is strong, all the lights in the houses are out. The sky is overcast with thick, dark clouds, no moon can be seen, only a few stars on the horizon, twinkling with weak light.

  The night wind whistled over the city walls of Yangcheng, like a wild ghost wailing in the night, with a chill and eerie feeling. It reminded me that this place had just gone through a great disaster, and inside and outside the city, not a single person could be seen on the streets. On the long ancient road, only occasionally blown by the wind, a few dry leaves rolled and fluttered alone, drifting away into the distance.

  In the depths of this eerie night, a black shadow suddenly emerged from the city of Hezhou, like a ghostly apparition that seemed almost non-corporeal. It fell silently outside the city and swiftly swept towards the ancient road south of Hezhou City. In an instant, another gray shadow closely pursued it, staring intently at the black shadow.

  These two people are naturally the thousand-mile tracking witch and Shangguan Ce, from Nanjiang to now deep in Zhongtu, this chase can be said to have lasted for a long time.

  Shangguan Ce's body was surrounded by a fragrant aura, and his divine abilities were profound and mysterious. He also possessed a Nine Cold Condensing Ice Needle technique that was unpredictable and elusive. The witch demon found it difficult to deal with him, but the witch demon's own sinister magic was always unexpected, transforming into countless changes and evasions in seemingly impossible situations. This also made Shangguan Ce extremely frustrated, as he repeatedly failed to capture the witch demon despite being on the verge of doing so multiple times.

  If it were an ordinary person, they would have given up by now, but Xiang Ye was carrying the order of Yun Yi Lan, the master of Fengxiang Valley. The witch had a method to unlock the secret of the Tianhuo of the ancient Nanzhong tribe on her body, and no matter what, this was something that Fengxiang Valley must obtain, so he gritted his teeth and chased after her all the way down.

  However, this persistence was not entirely in vain. The difference in their cultivation levels was evident, and the witch would find it difficult to resist for a short period of time. However, the witch repeatedly used its escape techniques, which were all seen through by Shangguan Ce, who gradually gained an understanding of them. By now, it had become increasingly difficult for the witch to escape from Shangguan Ce's pursuit.

  This point, Shangguan Ce had a plan in his heart, and Wu Yao understood it even more clearly. Unfortunately, understanding is one thing, but he really had no way to deal with it. If there was a way to get rid of this despicable person who was like a thorn in his side, he would have used it countless times by now. But Shangguan Ce had enjoyed great fame for nearly a hundred years, and in his younger days in the southern border, he was a man of great influence. His moral character, cultivation, experience, and vision were all top-notch, far surpassing those of Li Xuan and other second-generation disciples of Fengxiang Valley.

  Although the witch had cast many strange and mysterious spells, they were all seen through by him, and at most could only deceive for a moment, allowing her to escape a short distance, but after not too long, she was eventually caught up by Shangguan Ce.

  Actually, Shangguan Ce, or rather Yun Yilun, had to capture himself and take him back for a reason. Wu Yao's heart was already clear about this after several conversations with Shangguan Ce, but he was resolute in not wanting to be captured. This night, as he watched Shangguan Ce getting closer and closer from behind, while the ancient path quickly retreated backwards, there were fewer hills blocking the way, and the terrain gradually became flat and open, a vast wilderness appeared before him.

  Where can you escape to in a place like this?

  The witch smiled wryly under her black veil, exerted herself and sped away, but the whistling wind sound behind her was one wave after another.

  Just as he was wandering around, he suddenly seemed to have a feeling, as if he had discovered something. He turned his head to one side and looked over. His name was called "Wu Yao", which means that he was good at a certain kind of Taoist magic. Adding to the fact that his physical body was different from ordinary people, he was ten times more sensitive to the aura of ghosts, spirits, and souls than ordinary cultivators. This was still on the main road, but as he rushed along, he still keenly discovered that in the depths of one side of this desolate ancient path, there was a deep and gloomy ghostly energy emanating from afar.

  The witch was overjoyed, her body made a sharp turn in mid-air and swiftly flew towards the depths of the wilderness. Xiang Ye coldly snorted and followed, his body as light as a feather, drifting and swaying with an unbridled ease, effortlessly changing direction and continuing the pursuit.

  It was just a slight delay, and the witch again opened up some distance, her figure also seemed to be slightly blurred, but Shangguan Ce didn't have much worry, after this long journey of chasing, he had already figured out the mysterious witch's skills, thinking that she couldn't come up with anything else, at this moment, his mindset was somewhat like a cat catching a mouse.

  Having spent countless energy and tracked thousands of miles, exhausting your mind and body, shouldn't you be punished properly?

  Shangguan Ce sneered in his heart, carrying a sense of control over the overall situation, and chased after him with ease.

  Soon, the object that appeared in front of the witch proved his guess, and this was indeed a place with extremely strong yin energy, known as a "義莊" (yì zhuāng) in Middle-earth, where the corpses of people who had not yet entered the earth were placed. However, judging from the degree of damage to the courtyard and small houses, it was likely that this place had been abandoned for a long time.

  The witch doctor couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in his heart. Originally, this righteous village was full of yin energy, which was the perfect place for him to display many of his strange and mysterious skills. However, since it had been abandoned for so long, its effect had been greatly reduced. Especially with some of his ghostly skills that could control corpses, he had not had a chance to use them on this trip. If he were to take advantage of the opportunity to suddenly cast a spell, it would likely cause great harm to Officer Xiang, that old scoundrel.

  It's just that this charity house has been abandoned for a long time, so naturally there wouldn't be any newly deceased corpses lying here.

  Although there was some disappointment in his heart, this place could still be said to be a place of rebirth for the witch's mood. Without hesitation, the black figure "whooshed" into the house that looked gloomy and depressing in the righteous villa.

  However, as his figure drifted away, a faint sense of puzzlement flashed through his mind: this righteous village had been abandoned for a long time, but how could the eerie and ghostly atmosphere still be so strong and lasting?

  This night was moonless and windy, and the small hut in the righteous village was even darker, unable to see five fingers when stretching out one's hand. However, for a cultivator, especially someone like Wuyou with an unusual physique, this darkness was not a problem, and he quickly "saw" the general situation inside the righteous village hut. This place had indeed been abandoned for a long time, the surrounding walls were full of holes, extremely damaged, and the front altar that should have been used to worship the spirits of the dead had also fallen to the ground. In the middle of the house, several broken coffins were scattered horizontally and vertically, some of which didn't even have their lids closed properly.

  The wind outside the righteous village suddenly tightened, and it was clear that over a hundred strategies were in hot pursuit. Just as they were about to catch up, the witch demon didn't hesitate, but her body shook, and several strange iron tools resembling nails suddenly appeared in her hand. However, her whole body was covered with iron thorns. Without looking back, her fingers jumped like flying, and all that could be heard was the sound of "whooshing" that never stopped. In an instant, these strange objects disappeared into the darkness and flew into every corner of the small hut.

  And every time a monster disappears into the darkness, the tail end will suddenly emit a faint blue light ring, but it's just a flash and then it's gone. As these monsters are embedded in the darkness of this house, the originally chilling yin energy in this house suddenly becomes ten times stronger, as if it can penetrate into the bone marrow.

  The witch let out a cold laugh, her eyes scanning the room with a fleeting glance. Her entire body suddenly floated up as if weightless, drifting straight towards a coffin in the corner of the house. The coffin looked ordinary, its lid not fully closed, half-tilted to one side.

  The witch slipped in silently, a place where ordinary people would avoid even if they were not afraid, but he liked it very much. As his body slid in, the slanted and tilted coffin lid was also covered by him with ease.

  The next moment, the wind suddenly stopped, and the house was quiet, with no sound at all. The figure of Shangguan Ce appeared in the doorway of this house.

  The witch hid in the coffin in the corner, feeling very calm. The coffin was damaged and had several fine cracks on the wooden wall. He looked through the cracks at every move of Shangguan Ce, and felt even more proud. As long as Shangguan Ce didn't notice for a moment and took two steps forward into the middle of the house, he would trigger his "Yin Gui" array, taking advantage of the extremely strong yin energy in this place to catch Shangguan off guard.

  He was expecting it in his heart, but looking at Shangguan Ce, he seemed to be very careful and didn't rush in to search for the missing witch's trail. Instead, he stood at the door, carefully looking inside the house with caution, apparently not daring to come in boldly for a while.

  The witch had a few points of disappointment in her heart, and she secretly scolded the old thief for being truly cunning. She came back to herself and only then slowly began to notice where she was.

  Little did he expect that as soon as he came to himself, in an instant, he felt a loud rumbling in his mind, which nearly scared the soul out of him.

  He found himself in this coffin with another person!

  In fact, as a special case of the witch, even if there is a person in this coffin, let alone a dead person, it would be ignored, and it's hard to say whether he would feel a little affectionate, but unexpectedly, under his coffin, there was actually a living person!

  And this person, from the moment he entered this small room to slipping into this coffin, was completely unaware of it, not even making a sound while breathing. The witch was shocked and her whole body trembled slightly, but fortunately, she controlled herself with her remaining sanity, not shouting loudly or breaking out of the coffin, but her forehead, back, and palms were already covered in cold sweat.

  But the next moment, something even more astonishing was discovered by him, that is, the living person under him was unexpectedly not breathing... a living person without breath!

  The witch quickly judged that the person in the same coffin as her was indeed a living being, because there was no space between them in the coffin. With her keen senses, she soon discovered that this person's heart was beating slowly, but for some reason, his mouth and nose were not moving at all. The witch quietly reached out to explore, and after a while, there was still no movement, and indeed, this person was not breathing.

  The witch only felt a numbness on her scalp. This unexpected change occurred right in front of her, and the witch had originally intended to secretly plot against Shangguan Ce, but this time her mind was greatly disturbed, and for a moment she couldn't concentrate her thoughts, her blood and energy surging up. However, he was after all also a person with deep Taoist cultivation, and as soon as he thought about it, he immediately realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly secretly activated his technique to calm his mind, and only then did he calm down.

  However, just as the witch was thinking about how to face this unexpected situation, an even bigger surprise left him stunned and at a loss.

  The entire coffin suddenly emitted a faint sound: "Crack!"

  It was as if something had closed in, the sound was very light, almost impossible to hear, but in this small house, in the ears of these deeply cultivated people, it was a completely different story.

  Shangguan Ce almost at the same time, Huo Ran turned around and stared into this corner.

  The witch was shocked, and in an instant, she felt that the coffin she was in suddenly emitted a strange and eerie aura from all sides, which tightly bound the space inside the coffin, so that with her divine power, when she encountered this inexplicable aura, she had no resistance at all, and in an instant, she was unable to move, and was locked in the coffin by this invisible aura.

  The witch's soul seemed to be scared out of her body. But it seemed that was not enough, at this moment, in the dark space inside the coffin, the "living person" under him who felt like a fatty suddenly opened his eyes as if he had woken up. The two people's gazes met in mid-air, in this eerie atmosphere: then, the unknown fatty silently smiled slightly at the witch.

  Shangguan Ce stared intently at the corner in the middle of the house, but didn't immediately go over to take a look. Although he didn't have the special physique of a witch, with his high level of cultivation, he could naturally roughly make out the scenery inside the house. At the same time, with his experience, he naturally knew what kind of place this was.

  But he is not a wizard, and Shangguan Ce would never like the Yizhuang place, especially an older man, to say the least.

  At the same time, with his Taoist practice, as soon as he entered this house, he keenly perceived that the yin energy in this house was extremely strong and far from ordinary. Which kinds of witchcraft and magic were familiar to the witch? He knew more than anyone else, and now this place was obviously a favorite haunt of minor demons, so be careful!

  Shangguan Ce subtly manipulated the True Law to protect his entire body, and carefully examined the strange little house again. After confirming that there was indeed no suspicious place, he slowly took a step forward.

  He had only taken half a step when he suddenly drew back, and at the same time his right hand flashed with a cold light, and the Nine Cold Condensing Ice Stab appeared in his hand.

  The old man seemed to be especially careful. He finally took his first step in the direction of the corner. Outside, a gust of cold wind blew by, making a mournful sound that sent shivers down one's spine.

  Shangguan Ce was on full alert, and every slight change in this small room did not escape his ears and eyes. However, the surrounding darkness was a complete silence, except for the stillness, there was no sound at all.

  He sneered and suddenly shouted, "I've long known you're inside this coffin, old friend. If you don't come out now, don't blame me for smashing both you and the coffin together, giving you a hard time!"

  There was no answer, and all around was still silent.

  Shangguan Ce snorted in anger and said: "You're pretending to be a ghost!"

  Having said that, he didn't hesitate any longer and took a step forward. At the same time, the Nine Cold Condensed Ice Silver White Cold Light in his hand suddenly burst forth, causing the surrounding temperature to drop instantly.

  But just as Shangguan Ce was about to make his move, a faint blue light suddenly flew out from another corner of the small hut, shrouded in dark energy, and shot towards Shangguan Ce's back.

  Shangguan Ce originally had his whole body on high alert for the surrounding situation, but this strange array set up by the witch had its own yin energy completely retracted, and it could actually absorb the surrounding yin energy to wrap itself up. Shangguan Ce's Dao was profound and thick, and he could feel the pulse of the land moving with every movement. This was originally an extraordinary divine ability. However, at this moment, it had become a weakness, and the witch had taken advantage of this point to launch a sneak attack.

  Shangguan Ce didn't feel anything out of the ordinary until that eerie presence approached within three feet behind him. The wind suddenly picked up, and the dark energy surged, only then did he feel a chill run down his spine. In the blink of an eye, his profound Taoist skills kicked in without hesitation. He took a big step forward, barely managing to create some distance between them just as the Nine Cold Needles shot out from his hand and flew towards his back. A cold light flashed, and the silver-white radiance instantly illuminated the entire small room. However, under this eerie atmosphere, what was originally a beautiful radiance now looked ghastly pale, making one's scalp tingle with fear.

  A silver light burst forth from the icy blade, transforming into a small shield on Shangguan Ce's back, deflecting the dark arrow at the most critical moment.

  Just as Guan Ce had not yet caught his breath, the big step he had just taken had already fully triggered the mysterious array that Wuyao had set up earlier. Suddenly, blue light flashed in several corners of the small house, and several dark and eerie auras shot out. Even more strangely, the dark aura that he had just deflected drew a semicircle in mid-air, and as if someone was pulling it, quietly flew back towards Guan Ce's back.

  Shangguan Ce was momentarily flustered, but he was no ordinary person. The Nine Coldness congealed into icy shards that flashed with a cold light. Where the icy shards pointed, in an instant, the entire small room seemed to be covered in a thin layer of frost from the roof to the floor.

  But under this icy cold, the dark aura that was being held back by the strange and mysterious power seemed to have also encountered great resistance. Several of the flashing dark auras slowed down one after another, and on the surface of the dark aura's iron-like but not quite iron objects, a thick layer of ice had formed in just an instant. Although their speed was still very fast, this brief pause allowed Shangguan Ce to catch his breath, and in the silver-white light, "Clang clang clang" several sounds rang out in succession, and several dark auras were struck down to the ground by the Nine Cold Ice Stab. When they hit the ground, most of them were toppled over by the cold air emanating from the Nine Cold Ice Stab, but under the ice blocks, the fallen dark auras had all shattered into several pieces.

  Shangguan Ce turned the extremely dangerous situation around, breaking through the witch's mysterious and eerie array. He couldn't help but burst out laughing loudly, pointing at the coffin and shouting: "Now you have no way out, don't come out and surrender...!"

  Just as the word "seize" was about to leave his lips, Shangguan Ce's face suddenly changed color, his expression twisted, and he let out a loud roar of extreme pain. He fell backwards, causing a huge crash, and actually smashed a big hole in the wall before flying out. Between his movements, a faint blue glow could be seen flashing on his back, but somehow the first dark energy had completely evaded his attention and severely injured him.

  In the small cottage, this intense and thrilling fight, both the witch and the mysterious fat man under him saw clearly through the gap in the coffin, especially the last move was so sudden, but Above Officer Ce's oldness still got caught off guard.

  In the darkness, that mysterious fat man's eyes suddenly had a few points of appreciation, and he suddenly opened his mouth to say: "It's rare to be able to summon such a ghostly object as Yin Gui and then control it again, this cultivation is indeed impressive!"

  The witch heard this person speak for the first time, and was startled in her heart. But listening to his tone and looking at his eyes, it seemed that he had no hostile intentions for the time being. Moreover, at this moment, he himself was also emotionally stirred up. He sighed bitterly and shook his head, saying: "You're wrong."

  That fatty unexpectedly asked, "What did I do wrong?"

  The witch let out a sigh and said, "It's true that I set up these strange arrays in front of us, but the last one was actually controlled by someone else, it has nothing to do with me." He said resentfully, "If I really had such cultivation, I wouldn't be trapped here either."

  That fat guy frowned and stopped talking.

  The witch looked at him for a moment, and in just a few words, he had roughly sensed the situation of this fat man. This person seemed to be in a similar predicament as himself, also trapped in this eerie coffin, but unlike the witch, this fat man's body still had a more powerful and eerie aura that bound his entire meridian.

  The witch was secretly shocked in her heart, the powerful ban on the coffin she was in was enough to immobilize her even with her high cultivation, but for this fat man, it seemed that some people still thought it was not enough and had to lay down a terrifying and sinister spell on him to trap him.

  So if this fat man were not restricted, wouldn't his Tao be frighteningly high?

  But what kind of terrifying person would be able to control this fatso?

  The witch's mind was suddenly in a mess, the Middle-earth, where dragons and tigers were hidden, was far beyond his expectation.

  Just then, a loud shout came from outside the hut: "Is there any master here? Please show yourself and let's meet. Backstabbing is not heroic!"

  In the hut, the witch and the fat man exchanged a glance. Obviously, Shangguan Ce's eyes were also piercing, and at a glance, he saw through the hidden calculation that injured him, which was not the witch but someone else.

  At this time, only a silver bell-like pleasant sound came from the top of this gloomy and eerie haunted house, with a few hints of sarcasm and joy, saying: "You're not the one who said you were pretending to be a ghost? I'll let you see who's really pretending to be a ghost!"

  The witch saw that the mysterious fat man was trapped in the coffin, and naturally couldn't see who the woman on top of the hut was.

  Shangguan Ce stood in the middle of the courtyard, enduring intense pain at this moment. He raised his head and suddenly took a cold breath, saying in a chilly tone: "It's actually you?"

  The woman's voice laughed and said: "Not me, who else? Hehehehe..."

  The laughter was crisp and clear, carrying a captivating charm that moved people's hearts. Under the dense night sky, however, only one slender figure sat alone on the rooftop, with eyebrows like paintings, eyes like waves, and countless expressions of beauty and elegance. Who else could it be but the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Xiao Bai?