Chapter 420 - 298: Aberration

The four of them slowly approached. The only sounds in the room were their footsteps and the strange, mimicked noises coming from the woman’s mouth.

As they drew near and got a clear look at the woman’s face, twisted like that of a Fierce Ghost, Shen Hong and Peng Lin’s breath caught in their throats. Their fists clenched, and their bodies tensed.

Zhao Xuanqi, however, had a look of interest in his eyes.

The Echo Worm was a type of Formless Yin Spirit. After possessing a human, the victim’s hearing becomes exceptionally sensitive, and they begin to unconsciously pick up and repeat every surrounding sound, never ceasing for a single moment.

Even locking the person in a completely silent room was useless, as the Echo Worm would also pick up the body’s own natural physiological sounds, like the heartbeat and the flow of blood. A truly silent environment was impossible.

As the Echo Worm’s possession continued, the victim would be unable to eat or drink, and the mimicked sounds would grow progressively louder until they finally died screaming themselves hoarse. This process usually took one to two days.

After the host’s death, the Echo Worm would devour their Primordial Qi and resentment, then split and multiply, going on to possess more hosts.

The records Zhao Xuanqi had read even contained cases where entire villages of hundreds had been wiped out, all possessed by Echo Worms, simply because they didn’t understand what was happening.

However, this type of affliction didn’t affect large numbers of people at once, had a relatively long period before becoming fatal, and wasn’t very mobile. As long as it was properly contained, its threat level could only be considered average. If dealt with promptly, even the victim’s life wouldn’t be in danger. For these reasons, its hazard rating was only the lowest, D Class. Otherwise, a mission to eliminate this threat would never have been given to Zhao Xuanqi and his group.

Generally, without cultivators present, ordinary people stood no chance against this kind of Formless Yin Spirit. Their only recourse was to tie up the victim, take them to the remote mountain forests, and pray that after the Echo Worm killed its current host, it wouldn’t return to the village but would attack somewhere else instead.

In the current state of affairs, any region without a master to guard it would face a truly hopeless situation.

SNAP!

After a quick inspection of the target’s condition, Chen Zhanyun snapped his fingers. The middle-aged woman immediately mimicked the sound. He then made a few other noises, and she copied each one in turn.

He then gave the woman’s body a quick examination, confirming there were no other abnormalities.

"It’s an Echo Worm, no doubt," Chen Zhanyun said with a nod. The woman at his side immediately repeated his words, her voice an uncanny imitation of his own. It was incredibly eerie. "If it were any other kind of affliction, she wouldn’t have survived this long."

Having confirmed the situation, Chen Zhanyun relaxed a bit. The Echo Worm was arguably the easiest of the lower D Class threats to handle. As long as one had mastered how to manifest Blood Qi, it was possible to touch and destroy it.

SWISH!

He grabbed the ropes binding the woman, and with one powerful motion, lifted her gaunt frame from the bed and laid her down in the open space in the center of the room.

Then, he turned to face Zhao Xuanqi and the other two.

"The Echo Worm is one of the easiest threats to deal with. If you use the right method, its true form will be immobilized for a short time after it appears. A single strike with Blood Qi is enough to destroy it. It’s perfect practice for you all. I’ll watch your backs this time. You’re up."

After saying his piece, Chen Zhanyun stood up and moved to the side, leaving the area around the woman to Zhao Xuanqi and the other two.

The three exchanged a look and formed a triangle around the woman, with her at the center.

"With an Echo Worm possession, the key is to force it out of the host’s body. Do you two remember how?" Shen Hong asked, looking at Zhao Xuanqi and Peng Lin.

Zhao Xuanqi and Peng Lin both gave a slight nod.

The Echo Worm was not an uncommon type of Evil Spirit; they had just recently learned about it in Hua Guangcan’s class.

To deal with possessive Formless Yin Spirits, the most important step was to force them out of the host’s body. Of course, killing the host was the most direct solution, but they were here to save a life, not take one.

There was, however, another method. Since the Echo Worm made its host repeat every sound it heard, if one were to recite something it *couldn’t* repeat, it would be forced out of the body.

"Get ready. I’m starting the recitation," Shen Hong said in a low voice. The three of them assumed attack stances, revealing the Blood Qi Runes on their palms.

"Heartfelt Conversion Ceremony."

"Innate Main General, One Qi Divine Monarch."

"All Heaven Inspector General, Three Realms Selfless Brave Officials and Generals."

"Golden Eyes and Vermilion Hair, known as the No. 35 Train Thunder God."

Shen Hong began to recite, word by word. It was the Imperial Decree used to cultivate the True Essence Skill.

The Imperial Decree communed with heaven and earth, containing a wondrous power. The Red Heart Sect’s True Essence Skill was a Cultivation Technique of a distinctly firm and masculine nature; the entity described in the decree was incomparably mighty. Simply reciting it held the power to suppress Evil Spirits. Even an ordinary person who chanted it regularly would gain a slight protective effect.

Of course, this effect was only noticeable against the lowest-level threats, such as the Echo Worm.

As Shen Hong recited, the woman’s mouth also began to chant the same Imperial Decree. Before she could finish the third line, her body began to tremble violently. Her voice became broken and strained, as if she found it impossible to continue.