š Chapter 1170 - Mouth, Eye, Body!
One million zhang below the surface of the Underworld River, there was a mountain. At the top of the mountain was a huge statue of a middle aged man whose face was impossible to see clearly.
The statueās head was lowered, as if gazing into the abyss. It gave off so deathly aura that it seemed like one of the sources of all the deathly aura in the Underworld River.
Beneath the statue was a plain black temple, and in front of the temple was Wang Baole. Without hesitation, he opened the wooden door and walked inside.
He didnāt care about the people who had entered earlier, nor did he care if there were unspeakable dangers lying in wait. No matter what, Wang Baole had to step in, not for himself, but for his senior brother.
For the sake of their former close relationship, and for the sake of repaying his debt so as to have a clear heart, he had to enter.
The possible dangers didnāt matter. The only thing that mattered wasā¦ that Wang Baole himself felt that he should do this.
Thus, his steps were firm and determined as he walked into the temple. As soon as he stepped through the thresholdā¦ he seemed to have entered another world.
Looking from outside, the inside of the temple seemed no different from anywhere else. Only by stepping inside would the difference become clear.
Outside the temple was a world in a bubble at the bottom of the Underworld River. It was filled with deathly aura, and aside from the seemingly bottomless mountain, its full extent could be seen at a glance.
But inside the templeā¦ was a completely different world.
It was a world that could be said to be both huge and tiny. It was huge because the ends of the world couldnāt be seen, and even Wang Baoleās divine sense couldnāt cover everything. But it was tiny becauseā¦ this massive world was almost completely empty. The only thing here was a giant red-clothed woman standing near rows of wooden puppets.
Most of these puppets were dim, evidently inactive. However, a few of them were shining with bright rays of light.
An ethereal voice issued forth from the red-clothed womanās mouth, singing some sort of song.
āOne mouth, one eye, one bodyā¦ having soul, having flesh, having boneā¦
āAll that I see is dazzling, except for the dull woodā¦
āHaving mouth, having eye, having bodyā¦ one soul, one flesh, one boneā¦
āAll that I hear is weeping, except for the little tigerā¦ā
The song had a strange rhythm, as if to pacify the souls of the deceased. When it fell into Wang Baoleās ears, he suddenly paused in his steps, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes. However, this confusion was quickly suppressed as alarm bells rang in his head.
In fact, the content of the song wasā¦ something that gave him chills just from thinking about it.
Looking up, he saw that as the giant red-clothed woman sang her bizarre song, she tinkered with the shining wooden puppets in front of her. She seemed to be dismantling them for materials.
As for the appearances of these puppetsā¦ Wang Baole was actually quite familiar with them. They were the bodies of the Underworld Sect cultivators who had entered this place earlier. Although not all of them were here, there were still at least 70% of the previous entrants among the wooden puppets in front of the red-clothed woman. Each of them seemed to be unconscious, allowing the woman to do whatever she wanted with them.
And the red-clothed womanās appearance was also quite scary. She had no nose, only a single eye and an unnaturally wide mouth. As she softly sang, Wang Baoleās pupils contracted, and his cultivation base circulated rapidly. This woman gave him a powerful sense of crisis.
This sense of crisis had nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao, but came straight from his very soul. His soul was shaking uncontrollably, as if warning him that this placeā¦ was extremely dangerous!
Moreover, Wang Baole noticed that the wooden puppet in the womanās hands at that momentā¦ was none other than one of the great-circle Eternal Star Realm cultivators who had entered just ahead of him.
Wang Baole watched as the red-clothed woman casually twisted her arm and plucked the cultivatorās head right off his body. As the head came off, overlapping phantoms appeared around the cultivatorās body.
These phantoms included the figures of cultivators, mortals, beasts, and even plants. If Wang Baole hadnāt been to Planet Heavenās Mandate, he wouldnāt have realized what he was seeing. But when he saw these phantoms, he was shocked, because he immediately understood what they were. There were the cultivatorās past lives during the previous epochs of the universe.
āWhat the hell is this woman? She can actually directly affect the essential soul. She didnāt just pull off the head of this life, but the head of their essential self!ā
No blood spurted out, as if the cultivator had truly been turned into a lifeless wooden puppet by some bizarre magical technique. The red-clothed woman quickly took the head in her hands and stuffed it onto a different puppet.
After that, the rest of the cultivatorās body was quickly dismantled. His arms, legs, and torso were used to replace parts on the other puppets.
This scene caused Wang Baoleās pupils to contract again. But before he could take any action, the red-clothed woman suddenly stopped singing. A happy smile appeared on her lips as she turned to look at Wang Baole with her singular eye.
āHaving mouth, having eye, having body. Having soul, having flesh, having bone.ā A cheerful voice rang out as the red-clothed woman lifted her right hand and pointed at Wang Baole. Wang Baole wanted to dodge, but before he could, his mind suddenly rumbled. To his horror, his body stiffened and started walking uncontrollably toward the red-clothed woman.
In the end, he arrived at the back of the group of puppets. Standing still, his consciousness gradually faded, and everything in front of him turned into a blur.
Time passed slowly. The red-clothed woman continued to sing cheerfully, but she didnāt immediately grab the Wang Baole who had turned into a puppet. Instead, she looked over the rows of puppets in front of her, and whenever one started shining, she would smile happily before grabbing it, dismantling it, and installing its parts on other puppets.
Meanwhile, Wang Baole finally lapsed into total unconsciousness. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the temple, but on a familiar plain.
There was no greenery anywhere around him. All that could be seen on the ground was crater after crater. When he looked up, he saw the starry sky, and not far off in the distance was a blue planet.
It was very familiar.
āā¦ Earth?ā Wang Baole was completely taken aback. A moment later someone suddenly smacked his back. This person was also familiar. It wasā¦ Jin Duoming from the Federation!
āHow about it? Wanna trade?ā Jin Duoming winked at Wang Baole.
āTrade what?ā Wang Baole asked blankly. Jin Duoming gave him a surprised look and muttered a few words under his breath. Then, not paying Wang Baole any more attention, he turned and left.
After watching Jin Duoming leave, Wang Baole looked around. Soon, his muddled mind became clear, and he remembered everything. Previously, at the Ethereal Dao College, he had obtained the qualification to participate in the moon trial in order to establish his foundation.
āRight, Foundation Establishment!ā Wang Baoleās heart skipped a beat. Eyes shining brightly, he quickly checked his surroundings before rushing into the distance with the speed of a great-circle Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.
As he moved across the cratered lands, he saw many of the moonās native vicious beasts. Whether they were moon fairies or evil spirits filled with baleful aura, Wang Baole had to be cautious whenever he saw one. At the same time, he also encountered many familiar figures one after another.
All of this caused Wang Baole to gradually become completely immersed in this world. He had no idea that there was something strange with his current state.
Meanwhile, in the world inside the black temple in the Underworld River, Wang Baoleās originally dim body suddenly emitted rays of light, as if it had ripened. The red-clothed woman joyously pulled him over, grabbing the head and tugging itā¦
As she did so, the shadows of Wang Baoleās past lives appeared one after another. Whether it was the godling, the zombie, the little deer, or the devil blade, all of them shattered in the blink of an eye. But whatever divine ability the red-clothed woman was using actually pulled out the black wooden board as well, and as soon as it appeared, she couldnāt pull anymoreā¦
She was stunned.
At the same time, in the world of the moon, Wang Baole was working hard to establish his foundation. Suddenly, his body trembled, and the void around him quaked. It was as if something was pulling on his surroundings. This pull didnāt come from Earth, but rather from all directions of the starry sky, gradually converging on his neck.
Howeverā¦ nothing happened. No matter how hard the pull was, Wang Baoleās neck remained firmly rooted on his body. Gradually, the pull faded, and the shaking of the void settled down. Wang Baoleās eyes showed a hint of struggle, but it soon disappeared as he touched his neck. He looked around suspiciously.
"Who's pulling at my neck?"
A moment later, the void shook again, and the pull returned with even greater force than before!