Chapter 85: Divine Obsession (2/2)

“You can’t kill him!” Seeing Mo Yi about to attack the man, Diexi urgently stopped her. “The stench of blood will attract the dark creatures again.”

“You’re mine! His Highness the Crown Prince will surely reward me handsomely when I bring him such a prize!” Qi Shenghui howled with laughter, his shrill tones reverberating through the abyss with bone-chilling echoes. Seeing that no one dared stop him, his expression turned increasingly self-satisfied.

He made a hand seal and flashed with an abnormal golden luster again. The eunuch was plainly using the threat of detonating his body and spirit to get his way. He stalked toward Xuanxi, the light of madness in his eyes growing ever more feverish.

Roar!

A dragon roar resounded as an enormous dragon head emerged from the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals and lunged at Qi Shenghui, its mouth wide open.

“What is this!” the eunuch shrieked, his self-detonation art immediately dispelled. He shot backward at an inconceivable speed, narrowly escaping the bite. By now, the timbre of his voice was rough and a strange red glint shone in his eyes.

“Something recognized that Xuanxi is the key to leaving this place. That’s why it’s taken control of Qi Shenghui to seize her,” Qing Han explained as the light of understanding dawned. The scroll flashed black as the dragon head withdrew inside.

“Agreed.” Lu Yun had also discovered this development, but he didn’t dare rush blindly into action when the identity of what’d possessed the eunuch remained unknown.

“It's a divine obsession!” Mo Yi identified solemnly. “When a god dies, convictions that don’t disperse turn into obsessions if they merge with foul yin energy. It’s an incredibly dangerous thing with no form or substance. It’s merely fragments of a thought, so there’s nothing to be done about it.”

“Divine obsession!” Lu Yun suddenly recalled that there was something similar inside the Gates of the Abyss.

A thought fragment belonging to the original master of the burial mound had merged with the corpse coffin, allowing it to control the undead hag. Lu Yun hadn’t fully understood its nature until Mo Yi’s explanation. The thought fragment that’d scuttled inside the gates was a divine obsession.

“No matter what, let’s get rid of that half-man first!” He clenched his teeth. “Feinie!”

“At your service.” At Lu Yun’s command, she waved her hand and released a black light from the Yin Formation Orb. One formation after another emerged above it and moved to quell Qi Shenghui.

“Kekeke—” Strange cackles burst forth from Qi Shenghui. With a sudden shift in his figure, he instantly flashed to Lu Yun. “Die, pathetic bug!”

He aimed a punch at the governor’s chest, deploying the power of an august immortal. The blow would shatter Lu Yun to pieces if it were to land, leaving nothing of him behind.

Boom!

At that moment, an enormous black dragon head interposed itself between Lu Yun’s chest and the incoming punch. It snagged Qi Shenghui and swallowed him whole with one bite.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” Qing Han stood beside Lu Yun, ashen-faced as he gasped for air.

The killing intent that Qi Shenghui was already harboring toward Lu Yun would’ve been magnified by the divine obsession, so Qing Han had long been prepared for the eunuch to attack Lu Yun. At the exact moment of action, he released the dragon inside the scroll to devour Qi Shenghui.

Swish.

When the eunuch disappeared into the dragon’s mouth, a black shadow with a streak of red glow fled from the dragon’s mouth and melted into the darkness.

“Kekeke… for destroying my host, all of you will die!” Laughter that raised one’s hackles rang out as a faint, red shadow condensed in front of them. Soon after, the strong stench of blood filled the air.

When the divine obsession detached itself from Qi Shenghui, it’d brought all of the human’s blood with him. The dark creatures that were fleeing in all directions rushed back in at once when they caught wind of that smell. Their minds were foggy and confused. Their fear was instinctual, but a thirst for blood was also part of their very natures.

The divine obsession shrieked and cried out gutturally, its penetrating voice seeming to summon something.

“I’ve finally found you. A divine obsession is nothing but a fragment of thought, and shouldn’t be so self-aware and independent. So what can you be?” a soft whisper sounded.

“Who is that?” Lu Yun’s group froze when they heard the voice and reflexively glanced into the depths of the darkness.