The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2343: Nightmare of the Evil God (part 3)

"You have perceived me."

The Taoist was startled, his mind racing with disbelief. "Impossible, I never turned my head, how could I have seen these things?"

He quickly spun around to verify, but just as he faced the direction from which the voice came, seeing nothing, a chilling realization dawned upon him:

"Oh no, I've been deceived!"

Yet, it was already too late. His Primordial Spirit reacted sluggishly, but his physical actions were far too swift.

By the time he comprehended the predicament, the Taoist had already spun his head. In that fleeting instant, a severed head became visible, dangling amidst the skeletal branches of withered trees.

It was a solitary human head, just that—a head. Though its flesh was decayed, its eyes remained disturbingly intact, fixed upon him with a sinister, grayish-white gaze.

But it was not merely one head; a multitude.

The Taoist not only saw the single head but also the entirety of the withered forest, his face instantly draining of color.

The desolate expanse of the withered forest was adorned, its barren branches densely laden with a multitude of human heads.

"I have perceived you!"

The head that had been directly scrutinizing the Taoist let out an eerie, grinning sound.

Simultaneously, every head within the desolate withered forest swivelled in unison, their mouths creaking open as they began to laugh with grim malice.

All of them echoed:

"I have perceived you!"

In an instant, thousands of sinister, piercing voices converged, transforming into demonic bellows that ripped through the Taoist's eardrums and assaulted his very mind. His head swam, and his Primordial Spirit swayed precariously.

True Man Situ, who had been leading the way, his expression contorting in alarm, cried out, "Not good!" He immediately channeled his Primordial Spirit, activating the True Mantra and summoning the protective luminescence of the Seven Stars Formation to shield everyone's Divine Thoughts.

However, while the Seven Stars Formation's radiance could repel Evil Qi, it offered little defense against the incantations woven by the sinister voices.

The wails of the damned continued to reverberate in everyone's ears.

The spectral visages of the heads seemed to hover at their ears, whispering:

"I have perceived you!"

"You cannot escape!"

"Remain forever..."

The one enduring the greatest torment was Wenren Wan.

His cultivation only reached the Golden Core stage, rendering him incapable of an out-of-body experience. His Divine Thoughts, manifesting through the guidance of the Great Dream, were inherently the most vulnerable to telekinetic assaults. Compounding this, he had forcibly breached the Sea of Consciousness to forge a bridge with his Divine Sense, bearing the burden of everyone's passage through the black mist and into the Evil God's nightmare. At this juncture, his Divine Thoughts were already fractured, and the assault of the demonic voices caused his Divine Soul body to show immediate signs of splintering.

Witnessing this dire turn of events, True Man Situ felt a surge of shock and urgently commanded:

"Quickly, the Three Pure Ones Bell!"

The female True Man clad in white, positioned beside Wenren Wan, hearing the command despite the cacophony of sinister voices, swiftly employed the Lotus Skill. A pure, white flow of Divine Thought emanated from her, manifesting a bell crafted from golden jade, adorned with ancient inscriptions, before her.

This artifact was the renowned Three Pure Ones Bell, a supreme treasure of the Divine Way, its refinement and activation exclusive to those possessing a Taoist inheritance and an unblemished, righteous heart.

The white-clothed female True Man exerted her full might to activate the Three Pure Ones Bell. In an instant, its pure chime cascaded outwards, silencing the malicious voices.

The demonic din ceased its assault on their ears, and Wenren Wan's perilous condition saw significant improvement.

"Hurry, let us depart!"

True Man Situ's voice was a deep, urgent command.

Without further hesitation, everyone hastened their retreat, shielded by the righteous, resonant hum of the Three Pure Ones Bell, leaving behind the withered forest and the countless ghastly heads suspended above it.

Emerging from the withered forest, they reached a mountainside shrouded in a black-gray pallor. Here, still trembling from their ordeal, the group paused for a brief respite.

However, time was of the essence, and little rest could be afforded.

"We must press onward; our objective is the depths of Black Mountain as swiftly as possible," True Man Situ stated, rising to his feet. As he scanned his surroundings, his gaze suddenly froze, and a frown creased his brow.

Someone was missing.

Exchanging uneasy glances, everyone's expressions immediately shifted as they apprehended the gravity of the situation.

"Where is the scholar?"

"Wasn't he with us when we exited the withered forest?"

"Is that so?"

"I cannot precisely recall if he managed to escape..."

A palpable heaviness settled over everyone's faces.

True Man Situ's brow furrowed in thought. After a moment's contemplation, he declared, "We shall return to search for him."

Having faced peril together, they could not simply abandon him to his fate if he were in distress.

Furthermore, the scholar's role was uniquely significant; with his Heavenly Secret Skill and the Eight Diagrams Exorcism Plate, he offered invaluable assistance.

The group retraced their steps, and before long, they spotted the scholar's solitary figure standing just outside the threshold of the withered forest.

Though he wasn't ensnared within the desolate forest, subjected to the cacophony of demonic voices, which could have been seen as fortune turning favorable; True Man Situ and the others collectively exhaled in relief.

However, before any true relaxation could settle in, the robust man adorned with Runes spoke with a furrowed brow:

"His demeanor... appears rather peculiar?"

Despite the evident emptiness surrounding them, the scholar, with his back to the assembled group, seemed to be holding and caressing an unseen object.

The burly man’s frown deepened as he stepped forward to grasp the scholar. He recoiled instantly, pushing him away with haste.

As the scholar pivoted, the onlookers were met with a shocking sight: his face and neck were marred by vivid crimson lip marks.

These marks, imprinted by an unknown essence, were as red as blood. They writhed like vermin, draining vitality, consuming flesh, causing the scholar’s body to perish incrementally. The lip marks themselves continued to expand, encroaching further bit by bit...

Upon witnessing this spectacle, everyone's countenance shifted dramatically.

True Man Situ let out a sharp gasp.

The scholar's expression was a complex tapestry of obsession and profound regret.

He appeared lost in a haze of desire, incapable of breaking free, yet acutely aware of his predicament, battling remorse and bitter anguish.

Recognizing the dire urgency, True Man Situ did not hesitate. Drawing forth a Pure Yang Talisman, he pressed it against his heart, thereby suppressing the relentlessly spreading, resplendent red, yet simultaneously blood-soaked and cruel 'lip marks.'

Under the talisman's restraint, the scholar's Primordial Spirit seemed to endure an intense sun-like scorching, wisps of white smoke rising from it.

Nevertheless, the malevolent Qi persisted in its insidious advance.

True Man Situ's fingertips emanated a starlit glow. Concentrating his focus, he pointed towards the scholar's forehead. Capitalizing on a fleeting moment of lucidity granted by the Seven Stars Entering the Divine technique, he urged:

"Quickly! Recite the incantation!"

The scholar's lips moved, betraying a palpable reluctance and unwillingness.

True Man Situ implored, "If you do not depart this moment, you shall face utter annihilation, body and spirit!"

The scholar clenched his teeth, seemingly ashamed of his own perceived frailty. His face contorted with both humiliation and agony as he managed to utter the mantra True Man Situ had imparted. The Seven Stars Formation then flared, and his entire Primordial Spirit began to contort, forcibly extricated from the nightmare by the Seven Stars' power.

Yet, he was already irrevocably 'tainted.'

Whether he would survive or succumb to his fate in the aftermath was beyond True Man Situ's knowledge.

A slow sigh escaped True Man Situ as he surveyed his surroundings, his heart growing heavy.

He remained uncertain of the precise events that had transpired.

However, it was clear that some monstrous entity had operated from the shadows, ensnaring the scholar and corrupting him.

And so, without even confronting the Evil God itself, one of their fourteen had already been lost.

The insidious fangs of this Evil God's nightmare had finally, invisibly, bared themselves...