In the first half, Mao San's explanation of qi from the earth resonated with me, leaving me with a partial understanding.
But the latter part he spoke was particularly straightforward, so much so that it gave me an icy chill running down my spine!
The essence of the Plague's curse, it turns out, is like this?
Under the earth's qi, there is actually a plague ghost?
It is always watching every aspect of me?!
My first reaction was one of disbelief.
Meanwhile, the icy chill rising from the bottom of my feet spread to my head, making me feel more alert!
I remembered many things that didn't seem right.
For example, when the earth's qi was trying to swallow Shiye, Shiye was clearly climbing out of the earth's qi, but was forcibly pulled back!
Or like when I got the copper key, opened the copper box left by Old Qin's head, and saw the letter, through a series of coincidences, I managed to control the earth's qi for once! Even the Ninth Elder was under my control!
No, it's not just like that.
So many things happened, and the pace was so fast, leaving me no time to carefully think things through.
In fact, there were many clues, but without someone guiding me, I didn't notice them!
The most crucial point is that earlier, when I was absorbing the Yang Shen's life force, an invisible power expelled the Yang Shen's life force from my body!
Was it because my body couldn't bear the amount of life forces?
It was clearly capable of holding them!
Or was it because of… the existence of the earth's qi! The plague ghost's obstruction?!
If I regain the Yang Shen's life force, I will certainly no longer use the means of the earth's qi.
Then it will no longer be able to control me step by step!
On the contrary, if Mao San hadn't said all this, by the time I had grasped it, it would probably be my deadline!
The plague ghost in the earth's qi doesn't eat me; it merely gives me time so that I can use the earth's qi to devour more people!
This is what Mao San meant by the "wedding garment"!
My breath became extremely rapid, and my chest rose and fell irregularly.
I looked at Mao San, asking one word at a time: "How to peel it off?"
Mao San's hand suddenly fell onto my shoulder. Though his palm was broad, like a fan, his fingers were especially nimble, and my upper body's clothes were directly pulled off.
"You're quite smart, knowing that you need to solve the plague in the earth's qi before you can absorb back the Yang Shen's life force. You're also decisive, not feeling deceived by Old Mao."
Mao San's fingers suddenly touched my heart!
His fingers were too forceful, making me feel as if my chest were about to burst.
I let out a low grunt.
Zhu Ying pressed her mouth, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at my heart.
My heart skipped a beat. Looking down, I felt a chill run down my spine.
I didn't know when, but my chest skin had become as black as ink, and a faint face appeared to float on the chest.
Mao San's fingers were precisely on the middle of that face's brow!
The next moment, the blackness suddenly faded, and my chest skin returned to normal.
"Huh? Trying to run?"
Mao San gave a cold snort and then took out another four Rules of Clarity, directly shining them on my body!
The four Rules of Clarity did not produce electric arcs like they did when dealing with the ghost altar's two individuals; instead, they were abnormally silent.
The only thing visible was a person lying flat on the mirror's clean surface, on top of me.
The person's lower body was fully inserted into my body, and the upper half was dangling on my shoulder. There were no facial features on his face, just a completely anonymous expression!
Black gas flowed through his body in waves, and on those black gas threads, there seemed to be thin, fine lines wrapping around him as if to trap him. This scene made my scalp more prickly!
This is the plague ghost? The real plague ghost!?
In the next second, Mao San reached out again, his hand coming towards my shoulder!
However, he caught nothing!
The plague ghost was visible because of the four Rules of Clarity. The shadow of the plague ghost only appeared in the mirror, and there was no trace on my body. Therefore, Mao San couldn't grab it.
Even the shadow of the plague ghost in the four Rules of Clarity gradually disappeared...
It was hiding somewhere on my body...
My breath seemed to be tainted with black gas.
"You've let him eat too much and over-supplement too much, making it extremely difficult to extract."
Mao San's face was unusually ugly.
"Since you were dull when I asked you questions before, that means Qin Wei Zi asked a question, why didn't you listen?"
"Young people, they don't like to listen to teachers, grandparents, or elders. They prefer to take the initiative? Don't you think that with the earth's qi by your side, you are mighty?" Mao San spoke without any reservation.
For a moment, I only felt my face flush red.
I felt frustrated, but there was no place to vent...
Mao San gave a cold snort before saying, "Thankfully, I have the four Rules of Clarity on me. Otherwise, I would think this ghostly thing might not be able to contain itself and want to eat those corpses in my family."
"Thankfully, your trust in him made him not take advantage of my family earlier."
Clearly, Mao San's words held some aftereffects of fear.
I understood why he made me leave his house.
It was because he had taken precautions against the plague ghost.
"What should we do now?" Zhu Ying's face looked extremely uneasy, asking Mao San.
"How to deal with it?" Mao San's pea-sized eyes spun rapidly. Suddenly, he threw the four Rules of Clarity at me!
I quickly reached out to catch it, afraid it would fall to the ground.
However, the moment I caught the four Rules of Clarity, I felt a slight difference.
My body seemed to be lighter.
Originally, I had nothing on my body. Now, I felt even lighter.
This indicated that the plague ghost had actually been weighing heavily on me, though I hadn't noticed because I was used to it.
The four Rules of Clarity have repelled the plague ghost's erosion on me!
"Qin Wei Zi is indeed a remarkable individual. I couldn't tell that there was some seal among your symbols, so I couldn't help but deepen it. However, the four Rules of Clarity can keep you safe as long as you don't give it another chance."
"I need to remind you that the one in front of you could have already come out of you at any time."
"You can't take the four Rules of Clarity off your body; then he can't do anything," Mao San explained word by word.
Zhu Ying slightly let out a breath, and I also looked at Mao San with gratitude in my eyes.
However, unease also rose in my heart. The four Rules of Clarity are very important. Regardless of how Mao San acquired them, this is the artifact from the Four Rules Mountain, and I just took it away, which means I owe Mao Yan three a big favor!
Without the four Rules of Clarity, my safety couldn't be guaranteed.
Mao San directly pointed out the danger of the earth's qi. That plague ghost will definitely attack me!
"But... This only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause, Mr. Mao. It must be removed from Sheng Shen's body for the earth's qi to be expelled. It can't rely on external suppression all the time. You definitely have a way, don't you? Even if it wasn't pulled out just now, ample preparation must have been made!"
"Are you saying that since Shen Shen is helping you, you will help Shen Shen? Is that what you mean?" Zhu Ying's words came out in a rapid succession, like beans being poured out.
She watched Mao San's expression, which was earnest and hopeful.
