PD -Chapter 21 The Soul-Nurturing Jar

“So Boss Zhu was bewitched by some sorcerer and used this place to raise a ghost child?”

Liu Xiaopeng had also noticed something unusual and stared at the eerie large vat.

I nodded, then shook my head.

“To be more precise, he was nurturing a soul.”

The thing inside the vat had originally been an ordinary spiritual entity. Much like the spirit dust we encountered before, it had been refined through spiritual power, sealed inside a special container, and then driven by secret techniques to serve its master’s will.

This secret art was actually very similar to the Daoist Spirit Commanding Technique from the Yu arts. Only those who cultivated and possessed spiritual power could truly control it.

But as the saying goes, money can make even ghosts push a millstone.

Many so-called masters, tempted by wealth, used secret methods to link refined spiritual entities to the fortunes of ordinary people. They then instructed those people to nourish the entities with their own yang energy, eventually creating what was known as a Soul-Nurturing Jar.

For a period of time, this thing could indeed help its owner alter their fortune and even work on their behalf.

However, ordinary people lacked the spiritual power necessary to control it. Sooner or later, it would turn on them, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Throughout the Zhu family’s supernatural incident, we had been operating under the assumption that the cause came from an outside source.

Yet the true culprit was right before us—the evil spirit that Zhu Shengxing himself had been raising inside this vat.

Actually, when I first saw Zhu Shengxing’s withered body, I already felt something was wrong. Later, after hearing Zhu Zhu talk about his drastic personality change, I had begun to suspect a few things.

But I lacked evidence to confirm my suspicions.

Besides, after being frightened by Mu Guiying and the sworn brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang, my attention had been focused entirely on resolving the immediate crisis.

Only after uncovering the voodoo formation did I finally understand.

The formation was certainly vicious, but it was fundamentally a covert attack.

Whoever had placed it in the Zhu residence clearly intended to wear the family down slowly rather than cause a major disturbance. Therefore, the masks coming to life could not have been caused by the voodoo formation.

Then I remembered how Zhu Shengxing had stubbornly refused to remove the masks and how he had resisted letting anyone interfere.

Clearly, he knew something and was deliberately hiding it.

Combined with the symptoms his body exhibited, that was what ultimately led me to suspect the existence of a Soul-Nurturing Jar.

After hearing my explanation, Liu Xiaopeng immediately took several steps backward, unwilling to get any closer to the vat.

I couldn’t help mocking him.

“With courage like yours, you still want to summon the Nine Sons of the Dragon? At this rate, the Nine Sons won’t even arrive before you’ve already turned into someone’s grandson.”

Liu Xiaopeng’s face flushed bright red, but he couldn’t think of a comeback.

Shaking my head, I reassured him.

“Relax. Right now, this thing is a turtle trapped in a jar. Earlier, when it fought me, it transformed into so many mask figures that its own spiritual power became unstable. Without the voodoo formation to draw upon, there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore.”

As I spoke, I stepped forward and pulled away the red cloth covering the vat.

Immediately, a mass of black smoke surged upward, attempting to burst out through the opening.

I snorted coldly.

With two fingers, I drew a Demon-Breaking Talisman from my pocket, ignited it with spiritual fire, tossed it into the vat, and then, with lightning speed, covered the opening again with the red cloth.

At once, a piercing screech erupted from inside.

The sound wasn’t loud, but it was incredibly unsettling.

The entire vat began shaking violently.

After roughly thirty seconds, it exploded with a loud bang.

Liu Xiaopeng and I instinctively retreated several steps.

Black ashes spilled from the shattered container.

I crouched down and nudged aside the broken fragments with my foot, carefully examining the remains.

Then, suddenly, a commotion broke out outside the secret chamber.

Both Liu Xiaopeng and I froze.

The first thing we heard was Zhu Zhu’s scream.

Then Uncle Tian’s voice rang out as well. He seemed to be shouting Tang Shanshan’s name.

A sense of alarm immediately rose within me.

I exchanged a glance with Liu Xiaopeng and sprinted toward the entrance.

“Shanshan! Shanshan!”

Inside the collection room, Uncle Tian stood protectively in front of Zhu Zhu.

But Tang Shanshan was nowhere to be seen.

The two of them were staring upward at the ceiling while repeatedly calling her name.

The room had a high ceiling, roughly four meters above the ground.

My heart skipped a beat.

I looked up.

The bizarre sight that greeted me instantly made every hair on my body stand on end.

Tang Shanshan was lying on the ceiling.

Some invisible force appeared to be holding her there.

Her back was pressed flat against the ceiling, her limbs spread wide in the shape of a cross.

She remained completely motionless.

An incredibly dense black yin aura radiated from her body, and even her pupils and lips were gradually turning black.

Terror surged through me.

The cold, vicious aura emanating from her was something I recognized all too well.

The thing I had least wanted to see had finally happened.

The yin energy surrounding Tang Shanshan had already materialized into black flames.

It was exactly the same as the aura carried by the Extremely Yin Ancient Jade I possessed.

The moment I sensed it, the image of Tang Shanshan casually picking up the yin jade with her bare hands flashed through my mind.

At the time, nothing had happened to her, so I hadn’t given it much thought.

But now it was too late.

I immediately pushed past everyone and grabbed the box containing the Extremely Yin Jade.

Opening it, I found the smooth ancient jade still resting inside.

However, all of its dense yin energy and spiritual power had vanished.

Every last bit of it had transferred into Tang Shanshan’s body.

“Think of something, quick! What’s happening to Shanshan?!”

Zhu Zhu grabbed hold of me, her voice trembling with fear.

Panic was beginning to set in.

Looking up at Tang Shanshan—whose face was twisted in agony, whose pupils and whites of her eyes had both become completely black—I gritted my teeth and pulled out every talisman I carried.

Spirit-Trapping Talismans.

Demon-Breaking Talismans.

With a wave of my hand, dozens of yellow talismans floated into the air.

Forming a hand seal with two fingers, I infused them with spiritual power before sending them flying toward Tang Shanshan.

The talismans blazed with golden light and surged forward with unstoppable momentum.

But the black flames formed by the yin energy surrounding her were no weak opponent.

They immediately intercepted and destroyed many of the talismans.

Only a small number of Spirit-Trapping Talismans managed to break through the black flames and attach themselves to Tang Shanshan’s body.

Seeing the opportunity, I instantly unleashed all of my spiritual power.

Activating the talismans, I pulled Tang Shanshan down from the ceiling.

Slowly, she descended back to the ground.

Zhu Zhu rushed forward, intending to help her up, but I stopped her.

Stepping forward alone, I traced a golden Spirit-Expelling Formation in midair before Tang Shanshan.

The formation enveloped her entire body.

I intended to use every ounce of spiritual power within me to battle the yin energy and drive it from her body.

Everything that had happened to Tang Shanshan was ultimately because of me.

I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

At this moment, there was no point conserving my remaining spiritual power.

With a single thought, I mobilized all of it and poured it into the Spirit-Expelling Formation.

Instantly, the formation erupted with dazzling golden radiance.

It began suppressing the raging black flames.

The two forces collided like opposing armies, tearing savagely into one another.