Chapter 543: It Happened So Suddenly
Yang Haoran was cautious because he didn't know what tricks Feng Laotou would pull next. Given his personality, he usually wouldn't show anything on his face when completely unsure about something, but his heart would certainly be on high alert.
Feng Laotou had previously promised him a satisfactory outcome. Now that the matter was resolved, Feng Laotou hadn't given him any benefits; instead, he wanted to take him somewhere. This inevitably made him suspicious.
In his opinion, Feng Laotou's collection should all be within his independent spatial storage. To give him benefits, he could simply take them out directly from there. Why would they need to go somewhere else? This approach seemed illogical to Yang Haoran, which was why he suspected Feng Laotou might be up to something again.
"Feng Laotou, where are you planning to take me? " Yang Haoran asked with a smile, following behind Feng Laotou.
"You'll know if you just follow me," Feng Laotou replied indifferently, continuing to walk without offering an explanation.
Seeing that Feng Laotou was unwilling to say more, Yang Haoran didn't press further. He knew that even if he continued to question, it wouldn't yield any results, so he simply stopped asking. He followed Feng Laotou, paying close attention to everything around him, hoping to discern something.
All around, there was nothing but roaring flames and pervasive poisonous smoke. Beyond that, he currently found nothing else.
Shortly after, Feng Laotou, walking ahead of Yang Haoran, stopped.
Before them, there was indeed a restrictive formation.
Within this valley, there were a total of two restrictive formations. The one where Feng Laotou had battled the three Black Talisman Masters was one, and besides that, there was another restrictive formation in an inconspicuous corner of the valley, a formation that had been revealed by the raging fire.
When this restrictive formation appeared, Yang Haoran had considered entering to investigate. However, after careful deliberation at the time, he decided to rescue Feng Laotou first, abandoning the immediate exploration of this formation.
But now, Feng Laotou had actually led him personally to the outside of this very restrictive formation.
Feng Laotou bringing him here clearly meant he intended to lead him inside the formation. However, Yang Haoran didn't know what was within the formation, and once they entered, the initiative would shift into Feng Laotou's hands.
"The things are inside. Come in with me."
Feng Laotou waved a hand gently at the formation before him, and an opening appeared in the barrier. He uttered that single sentence and then stepped into the formation alone.
This scene had played out before, only the details were slightly different.
Watching Feng Laotou step into the formation, Yang Haoran hesitated for a moment, then also stepped into the rift in the formation with a smile.
He clearly understood that once he entered the formation, the initiative would fall into Feng Laotou's hands, and he would become passive.
However, having come this far, he couldn't possibly give up. At the same time, he wanted to see what tricks this Feng Laotou was truly up to, so he simply followed Feng Laotou into the formation.
As he stepped inside the formation, the rift in the barrier vanished, and everything he saw before him made Yang Haoran slightly stunned.
The small house, the herb garden, the vegetable patch, the young girl – all of it was exactly the same as the scenery he had seen outside a formation previously. However, the formation he had looked at then was a different one, not the current one.
After that formation had exploded, he hadn't seen these sights within that other formation. Thus, he knew that what he had seen was merely an illusion created by Feng Laotou to lure enemies; things like the small house and the herb garden simply didn't exist.
Yet, what he hadn't expected was that the scene he believed to be an illusion had now reappeared before his eyes.
He wanted to activate his Ghost Eye to discern the truth, to confirm whether the scene before him was real. Just then, the young girl, her face filled with anxiety, ran towards Feng Laotou ahead, a joyful cry escaping her lips.
"Master! Are you alright, Master!"
Disregarding the mud all over Feng Laotou, the young girl rushed into his embrace, clutching him tightly as if terrified of losing him.
Yang Haoran watched this scene unfold, but the young girl's words and actions didn't change his decision. He still secretly activated his Ghost Eye, carefully observing his surroundings.
Under the gaze of his Ghost Eye, no problems were found in his surroundings. However, given Yang Haoran's cautious nature, he certainly wouldn't just go through the motions. Since his Ghost Eye revealed no issues, he immediately increased the infusion of Spirit Power.
However, just at that moment, the young girl embracing Feng Laotou ahead spoke again. This time, her voice was not only panicked but also tinged with a sob.
"Master! Master, what's wrong with you! Don't scare me!"
Hearing this, the smile on Yang Haoran's face vanished. He subconsciously looked towards Feng Laotou's location, only to see Feng Laotou now sprawled on the ground. The young girl wore a look of utter helplessness, crying out and shaking Feng Laotou's body.
Beside Feng Laotou, a rift had torn open in space, and a deluge of items continuously spewed forth from the spatial crack.
Yang Haoran's expression changed. He quickly dispersed his Ghost Eye and hurried to Feng Laotou's side. He didn't concern himself with the young girl or the various items gushing from the spatial rift; instead, he immediately began examining Feng Laotou's body.
A moment later, Yang Haoran sighed in disappointment, his expression immensely complex.
Upon his inspection, he was shocked to discover that Feng Laotou's physical body showed no signs of life whatsoever. Not only that, but within Feng Laotou, he couldn't sense the presence of a soul either.
In other words, Feng Laotou was not only dead, but his soul had undergone Soul Transformation!
To Yang Haoran, this had simply happened too suddenly. He knew Feng Laotou's body was extremely weak, but he hadn't expected Feng Laotou to undergo Soul Transformation immediately upon stepping into the formation.
Feng Laotou had been afflicted by the Soul Dissipation Curse – this much Yang Haoran knew. Although Feng Laotou had claimed to know how to break the curse, in Yang Haoran's eyes, that was likely a lie.
At the time, he hadn't personally killed the old exorcist, but rather tied him up and handed him over to Feng Laotou. This was, in effect, a veiled warning to Feng Laotou, hoping he would think twice. If Feng Laotou insisted on killing the old exorcist, it was Feng Laotou's own business and had nothing to do with Yang Haoran. Even if Feng Laotou underwent Soul Transformation afterwards because of it, it would still be Feng Laotou's own choice.
As for him, he would simply collect his benefits and leave. Whether Feng Laotou lived or died, he wouldn't care, nor could he control it.
But what he hadn't expected in his wildest dreams was that Feng Laotou would undergo Soul Transformation after such a short while.
According to his estimation, Feng Laotou's death was likely greatly related to his injuries. Coupled with his advanced age, he didn't have much time left to live anyway, and the ordeal today had caused his physical body to completely collapse, costing him his life.
During the fight, Yang Haoran had seen Feng Laotou consume Pharmacist's Medicine twice. Each time, the dosage was considerable, and after each consumption, he would become ferocious as if experiencing a final burst of energy. Although Yang Haoran didn't know what kind of Pharmacist's Medicine Feng Laotou had consumed, in his opinion, these liquids should have some negative effects on his body.
He had witnessed it twice. Before the formation had exploded, who knew how many more times Feng Laotou had consumed Pharmacist's Medicine to boost his strength?
Everything in moderation; once you exceed the limit, all that awaits you is harm.
As for why his soul dissipated, this matter naturally involved the Soul Dissipation Curse.
Yang Haoran didn't understand this technique, but he had seen related records in an ancient text. This Soul Dissipation Curse bore striking similarities to the Soul Dispersing Needle he had once been afflicted with. The Soul Dispersing Needle scattered the soul but left the spiritual essence, turning the target into an immobile vegetable. The Soul Dissipation Curse, however, caused the target's soul to undergo Soul Transformation.
Both were methods targeting the soul. As for which was more malicious, different people might have different interpretations.
After a target was afflicted with the Soul Dissipation Curse, the time for the technique to activate was determined by the caster. This time could be one day, two days, or even longer, but the earliest it would erupt was after one full day.
Furthermore, the power of the Soul Dissipation Curse varied depending on the caster's strength. If the caster's power was too weak, while the afflicted individual's power far surpassed the caster's, then the afflicted person, even without knowing how to break the curse, could forcibly dispel the technique.
However, one point was extremely important: if a target afflicted with the Soul Dissipation Curse died physically before the curse was dispelled, their soul would also be affected by the curse and dissipate, causing them to cease to exist in this world forevermore.
These were all things Yang Haoran had learned from the ancient text. As for how much of this information was true and how much was false, he couldn't be certain.
However, judging from Feng Laotou's current situation, his understanding of the Soul Dissipation Curse was likely correct – at the very least, the point about a target's soul immediately dissipating after death was true.
But now that Feng Laotou was dead, what was he to do?
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