Chapter 231- Cold Indifferent Loyal Dog VS. Playful Ghost King (26)
Indeed, Yuan Hongshen was also quite surprised. He hadn’t expected that his family’s bronze cauldron artifact had such abilities, capable of absorbing ghost cultivators’ powers and even controlling certain ghosts.
Thus, when the artifact spirit heard Yuan Hongshen mention that Yin Tianyi had some real skills in subduing demons and catching ghosts, it made these arrangements. The spirit created these puppet ghosts to test Yin Tianyi and Mu Jin’s capabilities.
After a few encounters, they felt they had a good understanding of Yin Tianyi and Mu Jin’s strength. The artifact spirit confidently instructed Yuan Hongshen on what to do, assuring him that if he followed its plan, they could subdue Mu Jin, bringing great benefits to the Yuan family.
Hearing this, Yuan Hongshen was naturally delighted. In fact, he had been very eager to deal with Yin Tianyi lately.
This eagerness was partly due to the Qi family’s recent aggressive actions against the Yuan family. Not only had they been competing for resources more fiercely than before, but it also seemed as though they were aware of the Yuan family’s next moves, always managing to gain the upper hand.
In a short period, the Yuan family had suffered significant losses to the Qi family. Yuan Hongshen was convinced that Yin Tianyi was behind all these setbacks.
After all, Yin Tianyi had visited the Qi family’s old residence and their businesses. He must have used some treasures to change the Qi family’s fortune, turning it against the Yuan family.
Yuan Hongshen secretly harbored a deep hatred for Yin Tianyi, completely ignoring the fact that he had been the one to strike first, even killing Yin Tianyi’s parents.
Mu Jin had also roughly figured out Yuan Hongshen’s plans, suspecting he wanted to set a trap for them, similar to how he had coveted Yin Tianyi’s pure Yang constitution in their past life.
However, Mu Jin didn’t take this too seriously. With his profound cultivation restored over time, as a thousand-year ghost king, he was more than capable of protecting his beloved.
Even if Yuan Hongshen’s schemes were formidable, Mu Jin was prepared to unleash his primal power if necessary. No one would harm the person he cherished most.
During this time, Mu Jin noticed that his lover was diligently researching contract magic. Initially, he didn’t think much of it, but he soon realized that Yin Tianyi was attempting to alter their contract.
One evening, while pretending to rest, Mu Jin noticed Yin Tianyi fiddling with some artifacts. Using his divine sense, he observed Yin Tianyi practicing methods to reverse the contract, finally understanding his lover’s intentions.
Mu Jin pondered the reason behind this and didn’t think Yin Tianyi wanted to harm him. He suspected his lover might not want to call him “master” anymore and perhaps wanted the roles reversed.
Licking his lips at the thought, Mu Jin found the idea quite intriguing. If his man enjoyed it, they could try it next time.
Before they could experiment with this idea, however, a lucrative job offer came in. They were asked to check the Feng Shui of an old residence in the suburbs. The task sounded simple, but the reward was exceedingly generous.
As for how this so-called big job came about, with 003 keeping an eye on things, Mu Jin naturally knew and had no reason to refuse it.
He had warned Yin Tianyi beforehand, mentioning that something seemed suspicious. Yin Tianyi, thus, made thorough preparations and brought along several artifacts. His magic had improved significantly recently, and he was confident that he could handle any strong adversaries they might encounter.
When they arrived at an uninhabited old residence in the countryside, they found no signs of dense Yin energy. So, what was Yuan Hongshen planning this time?
Mu Jin found it somewhat uninteresting, but Yin Tianyi remained vigilant. Each task was a training opportunity for him, helping him improve his skills, and he wasn’t about to miss out on such an opportunity.
They quickly inspected the front yard and found nothing suspicious. When they entered the back yard, the atmosphere became more oppressive. The large black door in front of them felt oddly familiar to Mu Jin, reminding him of the old Yin family residence. Could it be that this place also had a spirit hall?
Opening the large door revealed an empty room with only a large altar table inside. On the table was the black bronze cauldron that had once belonged to the Yin family, taken by Yuan Hongshen.
Yin Tianyi furrowed his brows upon seeing the cauldron. He had seen its likeness in Mu Jin’s water mirror in the illusion and recognized it immediately, even though he wasn’t fully aware of its existence in his past life.
He had heard that Yuan Hongshen killed his parents for a powerful artifact, and now the bronze cauldron was right in front of him.
He couldn’t resist taking a closer look. But as he and Mu Jin approached the altar, he refrained from touching the cauldron.
Given that Yuan Hongshen had gone to such lengths to obtain it, Yin Tianyi doubted it would appear in this remote house without some ulterior motive.
Despite his caution, the unexpected happened. A creaking sound made them turn towards the door, which had suddenly closed.
Red lights illuminated the room, and a large magic circle appeared beneath their feet, glowing red. The circle encompassed the entire room, including the altar, even though they hadn’t touched it.
As the magic circle activated, a group of people appeared at the door. Each looked menacing, clearly brought by Yuan Hongshen, indicating they didn’t intend to let Yin Tianyi and Mu Jin leave. However, neither Mu Jin nor Yin Tianyi saw Yuan Hongshen among them.
Then, a distorted black mist emerged from the black cauldron, forming a vague human shape before them.
Mu Jin immediately positioned himself in front of Yin Tianyi. Given that the cauldron had once harnessed the pure yang body of Yin Zhanpeng to unleash its power, Mu Jin naturally assumed it now intended to harm Yin Tianyi.
Seeing Mu Jin instinctively protect him, Yin Tianyi felt a warmth in his heart. He immediately took out the bell and peachwood sword he had prepared, ready to fight alongside Mu Jin. However, these two artifacts seemed to have no effect at all.
The black mist let out a series of piercing laughs and said, “Do you think these artifacts will work on me? You’re already inside the sacrificial array; all your artifacts are powerless here.
“Hah, a thousand-year ghost cultivator! How magnificent! Once I devour your cultivation, I’ll ascend to an even higher level, hahaha!”
Hearing this, Yin Tianyi’s face darkened. He hadn’t anticipated that the black mist’s target would be Mu Jin.
He had remained calm when he thought he was the target, but hearing that Mu Jin was the focus, and seeing the carefully laid traps and the black mist’s twisted form, he became extremely anxious.
Their meticulous preparations were all aimed at harming Mu Jin. Could it be that they truly had the ability to capture this demon? No, he couldn’t let anyone harm Mu Jin!
At that moment, Mu Jin also sensed something was wrong. It seemed his power was being sealed by the array. But what exactly was this black mist?
The black mist exuded a ghostly aura, but Mu Jin couldn’t recall it being mentioned in the original storyline. It made sense, though, that if this entity had never appeared in the main plot, it wouldn’t have been mentioned.
Now, the black mist was clearly treating him as prey, aiming to devour his cultivation—a truly audacious move.
Mu Jin stepped back, wanting to assess the situation in the room. Unexpectedly, the black mist instantly shot out tendrils of vaporized black threads, wrapping around his body and starting to drain his cultivation.
Feeling his power being sapped, Mu Jin was about to resist when Yin Tianyi pushed him aside.
Yin Tianyi quickly formed hand seals and threw all his talismans at the black mist. When that didn’t work, he pulled out a dagger, cut his hand, and splashed his blood at the mist.
With his pure Yang constitution, even his blood had exorcising properties. Although the talismans were ineffective, his blood seemed to have some effect. When it touched the black mist, sizzling sounds like burning could be heard.
The black mist, shocked that Yin Tianyi’s blood could hurt it, flew into a rage. It launched a spell at Yin Tianyi.
Mu Jin sensed the energy of the spell and knew that if it hit Yin Tianyi, he would be severely injured. Without thinking, he stepped in front of Yin Tianyi, taking the hit himself and stumbling back from the force.
Seeing Mu Jin injured in his place, Yin Tianyi’s eyes turned red with rage. Especially when he saw black energy emanating from Mu Jin, making his body begin to turn translucent, he fell into a frenzy.
He quickly embraced Mu Jin, yelling in anguish, “Why did you shield me! I’m nothing, just something you can discard at any time. Are you stupid for protecting me?”
Mu Jin blinked and looked at Yin Tianyi’s pained expression. Seeing the despair in his eyes, he couldn’t help but twitch his lips.
Of course, he was already a ghost and couldn’t die again. The worst that could happen was his soul scattering.
But the situation wasn’t as dire as Yin Tianyi imagined.
The black mist indeed had some power, and its array was intricately designed, capable of trapping high-level ghost cultivators.
But the mistake was underestimating Mu Jin.