Chapter 97 - 96: A Brain Is a Good Thing

Chapter 97: Chapter 96: A Brain Is a Good Thing

The old buildings weren’t very tall. This one had seven floors, and above that was the rooftop.

The higher they went, the worse the smell became. The foul stench of rotting corpses mixed with the thick smell of blood, a smell that several masks couldn’t block.

Huo Xingchen’s face grew paler, and he had to gag from time to time. Looking at Gu Qingyin, who seemed completely unfazed, he was in absolute awe.

Of course, Gu Qingyin also found the smell unpleasant. It was just that years of dealing with these things had made her more accustomed to it.

As expected, the residents on the fifth floor were all dead. The manner of death was largely the same: either their throats or arteries had been torn out, and blood was splattered everywhere.

Nearly half the residents on the sixth floor were dead. Those still alive were scared out of their wits, their doors shut tight and barricaded with furniture.

Not knowing any better, Huo Xingchen tried to push a door open, only to be met with a volley of blustering, vicious curses.

The person inside, in a panic, blurted out all the security measures they had taken and the weapons they were holding. In the end, they even tried to divert the trouble, telling Huo Xingchen to try the neighbor’s door.

But his voice was so loud that the person next door heard him and couldn’t help but start yelling angrily. In an instant, the two neighbors, who clearly held a deep grudge against each other, started arguing. The more they argued, the more heated it became, until they completely forgot about the "death threat" outside their doors.

Huo Xingchen gave Gu Qingyin a speechless look.

Gu Qingyin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She shook her head, signaling for Huo Xingchen to keep moving up.

There were many more survivors on the seventh floor. Although they also stayed behind closed doors, Gu Qingyin could hear their whispers.

Though separated by only a single floor, it was like two different worlds. The residents of the seventh floor were clearly much more relaxed than the survivors on the sixth.

Continuing upward, they reached the rooftop.

The moment Gu Qingyin stepped onto it, Huo Yunjing abruptly appeared by her side. He complained with a hint of grievance, "Wife, you took so long."

Gu Qingyin gave his face a perfunctory pat and casually placated him, "Be good. I have to teach our son."

Huo Yunjing pouted, his gaze toward Huo Xingchen turning increasingly hostile.

’This might be true, but could you please stop making him hate me? The pressure is seriously immense,’ Huo Xingchen thought.

He cleared his throat and took the initiative to ask, "Where’s Feng Xia?"

Huo Yunjing grabbed Gu Qingyin’s hand and turned to leave without giving Huo Xingchen so much as a glance.

Feng Xia had turned into a monster, and it was as if her brain had been corroded, leaving it less than functional.

She was trapped in a corner by the Yin Qi Huo Yunjing had released. Unable to find an exit, she paced back and forth, anxiously clawing at her hair and roaring.

Huo Yunjing and Gu Qingyin watched from the side for a while before he said eagerly, "Wife, an idiot like this isn’t worth your effort. I’ll go eat her."

As he spoke, he was about to charge forward, but Gu Qingyin held him back. An idea flashed in her mind, and she asked, "The people who died downstairs—did you eat all their souls?"

Huo Yunjing averted his gaze, his face a picture of guilt. "I was just helping my wife clean up."

Furious, Gu Qingyin grabbed Huo Yunjing by the ear. "Those people died unjust deaths! They should have been sent to be reincarnated! How could you eat them?"

Pulled down by his ear, Huo Yunjing bent over and said pitifully, "Fine, fine, I won’t eat them anymore."

As he spoke, he tilted his head slightly and spat out a soul.

Gu Qingyin froze for a moment, then let go.

Freed, Huo Yunjing flexed his jaw, opened his mouth again, and spat out souls one after another.

All the souls were translucent, standing where they were in a daze. They didn’t even know to run, looking a bit foolish.

Gu Qingyin leaned in for a closer look. All parts of their souls were intact, but they just looked a bit wooden, as if they had drunk Meng Po Soup.

"How did you do that?" Gu Qingyin asked, extremely surprised.

Huo Yunjing also looked bewildered. "I just ate them. I didn’t do anything else."

Gu Qingyin had forgotten that his brain wasn’t working right; asking him was pointless.

With a sigh, Gu Qingyin waved her hand at Huo Xingchen. "Go on. Get rid of her."

Huo Xingchen had been enjoying the show, not expecting a mission to drop into his lap. "How do I get rid of her? Kill her?"

Gu Qingyin nodded, reminding him, "The weak point of the living dead is the head. Go."

Huo Xingchen was a little nervous.

Although he had faced an Evil Ghost alone before, that ghost hadn’t been out to kill him. He knew he wouldn’t die, just get injured at worst. But now, after seeing so many people killed by Feng Xia with his own eyes, how could he not be afraid?

Huo Xingchen touched Mao Mao on his shoulder, then his Jade Pendant, and finally clutched the talisman in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the enclosure formed by the Yin Qi.

’No matter what, my parents are right here. Neither of them would let me die.’

Feng Xia had been spinning around like a headless fly for a while and was already in a state of fury. The moment Huo Xingchen appeared, she charged. She needed an outlet; if she didn’t vent soon, she felt like she would burst from the malice inside her.

Huo Xingchen was used to throwing talismans and reflexively tossed out a Thunder Talisman.

The Thunder Talisman exploded the instant it stuck to Feng Xia. Huo Xingchen expertly dropped into a crouch and covered his head, a move that both shielded his eyes from the light and offered some semblance of self-protection.

Feng Xia shrieked and was knocked back several steps. The lightning blast tore several wounds, large and small, across her body, from which a foul-smelling, black sludge oozed out.

Huo Xingchen couldn’t help but gag again. The stench made him feel irritable, and he started throwing the talismans in his hand as if they were free.

But his stock was low to begin with. After throwing just a few more, he ran out and stood there, dumbfounded.

Huo Xingchen wanted to continue the attack with a Thunder Spell, but he only knew a half-baked version. If he messed it up, he wouldn’t even have the strength for one last fight.

He had to find an opportunity for a one-hit kill.

Feng Xia, on the other hand, was a little frightened by the explosions. She had too many wounds, and her body was smeared with sludge, making her look like a mud monster that had crawled out of a swamp—filthy, smelly, and completely inhuman.

The man and the monster stared at each other for several seconds. Feng Xia finally noticed that Huo Xingchen no longer had any talismans in his hand. She immediately broke into a wide grin, cackling, "JIE JIE JIE," like an idiot.

Huo Xingchen, however, quickly turned and ran. At the same time, he pulled out yellow paper and a brush. With no time to dip it in vermillion, he put the brush in his mouth to wet it with saliva, then unfurled the yellow paper and began to write.

Because he had nothing to lean on, the yellow paper was suspended in mid-air, making it very difficult to write.

With one stroke light and the next heavy, the resulting script was worse than a ghost-like scrawl and had no effect at all.

Huo Xingchen tutted and casually tossed the talisman behind him.

Seeing this, Feng Xia jumped in fright, scrambling backward as she nervously stared at the piece of talisman paper.

But the talisman paper just fluttered to the ground. The expected flash of lightning never came.

Feng Xia stared for two seconds, then cautiously circled around the talisman paper on the ground and continued her pursuit.

But in that short moment, Huo Xingchen had seized the opportunity to draw two more Thunder Talismans that looked like a ghost-like scrawl. Their power was less than before, but they still had some offensive capability.

A cold smile touched Huo Xingchen’s lips, hidden beneath his mask. He raised his hand and threw both talismans.

Feng Xia instinctively wanted to dodge, but remembering the last dud, she thought these two must also be bluffs to scare her. So, she didn’t dodge or evade, but charged straight ahead.

After the sound of two nearly simultaneous CRACKS, Huo Xingchen chuckled. "Figures. No brains at all."