Chapter 140: Return (6)-Deadly Detective(Plain barley wine)

When the karmic fire extinguished itself, the water at the bottom of the well became much clearer, and the pungent odor faded significantly. However, before Wu Zui could clear away the remaining resentment energy, a stream of black water began to slither around the bottom of the well like a black snake.

Soon, the black water began to spread, and before long, the bottom of the well returned to the muddy and foul-smelling state it had been in when Wu Zui first arrived.

It seemed that burning with the karmic-energy fire was merely a superficial remedy rather than a fundamental solution. Since the true entity of the ghost was not located here, the karmic fire could only burn away its resentment energy and could not actually harm the entity itself. Unless Wu Zui could find its true form and burn it with the fire, the problem would persist.

"The young man is actually an Awakened! Ever since the people from City Y fled for their lives a month ago, it's been very rare to see any Awakened running around this place," the elderly man surnamed Liu said with some surprise as he watched the karmic fire released by Wu Zui.

"A month? Has City Y fallen for a whole month?!"

Wu Zui was struck with dismay. City Y had not yet fallen when he left, which meant he had been away for at least a month!

[I wonder if the ancient ritual succeeded or failed.]

"Of course. Even though the sun doesn't come out, isn't the watch still ticking normally?" the elderly man surnamed Li said, lifting his old-fashioned wristwatch.

Wu Zui quickly calmed himself down. Since so much time had already passed, the outcome of the ancient ritual was probably set in stone, and panicking now would accomplish nothing.

"Elderly sirs, how deep is this well of yours?"

After pondering in silence for a moment, Wu Zui asked the two old men beside him.

"How deep? Around... thirty meters or so, perhaps! It's been too long, I can't quite remember. Kids like you probably haven't even seen what it looks like when it's drawn from!" the old man surnamed Li said after a brief recollection.

"Wait a moment, both of you. I'll find a way to check where the bottom of the well connects to," Wu Zui said, summoning the lantern ghost spirit from the inner space of the Heart-Inquiring Sword, and then instructed it, "Tang Yingying, go down and see where this well leads."

"Understood, Young Master!"

Tang Yingying, dressed in traditional red bridal attire, shifted her form and dissolved into an illusory shadow that sank into the ground. As soon as Tang Yingying entered, the foul odor at the bottom of the well began to dissipate rapidly as she absorbed the lingering resentment energy along the way.

Before long, Tang Yingying re-emerged from the ground.

"Young Master, there is an ancient tomb beneath the well. Inside it is a four-star ghost!" Tang Yingying reported as she stood beside Wu Zui once more.

At this moment, the two old men pointed trembling fingers at Tang Yingying, backing away while looking terrified. "A-A-A ghost spirit!"

"Please don't be afraid, both of you. This is Tang Yingying. She was a princess sent out for a political marriage by the Tang Emperor, and now she's helping me out here. She is completely safe," Wu Zui said with a smile, trying his best to reassure the two old men so they wouldn't be too frightened.

[This thing... and it's safe?!!]

The two old men thought in unison.

"There is a four-star ghost spirit at the bottom of this well. Once it is dealt with, the villagers will be able to draw water here and won't have to run all the way outside anymore!" Seeing that the two old men still didn't quite believe him, Wu Zui decided to prove it with practical action.

Wu Zui summoned the Heart-Inquiring Sword from within his body and used its edge to slice open his palm. Several droplets of blood trickled down his hand and fell directly into the well. The karmic fire contained within Wu Zui's blood burned all the way downward along the trail of resentment energy.

In an instant, the water in the well began to boil.

A series of deep roars echoed from the bottom of the well, sounding as if an peerless savage beast was about to burst forth.

The two old men were frightened into retreating repeatedly, taking cover in a nearby house. Meanwhile, the rest of the villagers, upon hearing the noise, all looked toward this direction at the same time.

A massive volume of black gas gushed out from the wellhead like dense smoke. As the black vapor thickened, a giant black serpent formed entirely from the dark miasma, crowned with a single horn on its head, flicked its fork-like tongue as it glared at everyone.

Its primary target was none other than Wu Zui, who had just shed his blood.

Under the serpent's gaze, the two elderly men, Liu and Li, who were observing from the side, instantly felt their bodies grow rigid. A layer of stone-like crust rapidly spread upward from their ankles at an astonishing speed, reaching their knees in mere seconds.

However, Wu Zui, the main target of the serpent's attack, showed no reaction whatsoever. Aside from the fact that his cultivation realm surpassed that of this ghost, the karmic fire physique within him—derived from the Heavenly Dao—would never permit any low-level creature to restrict him using any sort of ability.

The Heart-Inquiring Chains flew out, winding upward around the serpent's tail in the blink of an eye and binding it tightly like a rice dumpling.

"Restore them to normal!"

Wu Zui's fist, ablaze with karmic fire, was pressed directly against the scales on the serpent's vital spot beneath its chin. If it dared to utter a single word of defiance, Wu Zui would show it the true meaning of cruelty.

Yet, before Wu Zui could strike, the black serpent, realizing that its attacks were futile, shrank and shriveled rapidly in size. The Heart-Inquiring Chains bound to its body contracted along with it, leaving it no room to escape.

Soon, reduced to the thickness of a finger and the size of a chopstick, the black serpent was forcibly dragged into the inner space of the Heart-Inquiring Sword. Wang Hua, who had been waiting inside for quite some time, greeted it with a thorough beating, directly thrashing the black serpent until its entire body went limp!

The black serpent's tail twitched feebly as a voice echoed directly within Wu Zui's mind.

[I surrender! I surrender!]

A red seal flew out from Wu Zui's hand, instantly embedding itself within the ghost core of the giant black serpent. Feeling the energy fluctuations radiating from deep within its own core, the giant black serpent realized it had met its match this time. Overcome by despair, it lowered its head in defeat.

Soon, the giant black serpent emerged from the space within the Heart-Inquiring Sword. It looked toward the two old men, who had turned into stone statues. With a subtle flick of its serpentine pupils, the stone crust on their bodies rapidly receded, and they were restored to their original forms in an instant.

By this time, the water in the well had become crystal clear once again.

The two old men, Liu and Li, regained consciousness. While they were petrified, even their thought processes had been frozen.

Catching sight of the giant black serpent staring right at them, the two old men let out simultaneous cries of alarm.

"Ah~~"

"Don't panic, elderly sirs! This fellow has already been subdued by me. From now on, you can freely draw water from this well." As Wu Zui spoke, he beckoned with his hand, and the black serpent quickly slithered back to his side.

Shortly after, both the black serpent and Tang Yingying were recalled by Wu Zui into the inner space of the Heart-Inquiring Sword.

The two old men were still shaken, as the presence of such a powerful ghost hidden right inside their village had caught them completely off guard. The terrifying realization that they could have become food to fill the black serpent's belly at any moment lingered in their hearts.

Fortunately, however, this ghost had now been dealt with by Wu Zui.

Meanwhile, some of the bolder villagers began to gather near the well. Upon learning the whole story, they were naturally filled with awe and gratitude toward Wu Zui, and they warmly hosted a banquet to treat him.

Thus, Wu Zui logically took up temporary residence at the home of the elderly man surnamed Liu. Not long after returning to the old man's house, Wu Zui received a reply from Xiao Anguo.

The message primarily inquired about Xiao Ke'ai's current condition and informed him that a vehicle had already been dispatched to pick him up and transport him all the way back to Beijing.

As for why planes weren't being used, it was because nearly all precision instruments had been destroyed a month ago by a powerful surge of energy that swept across the globe. Forget about outdoor equipment like airplanes; even heavily guarded large-scale weapons such as nuclear warheads had been rendered useless.

Today, those items had basically turned into scrap metal, possessing virtually no destructive capability aside from being heavy.

While waiting for the vehicle to arrive, Wu Zui took some time to learn more about his newly acquired ghost. This black serpent—or more accurately, a black flood dragon—was an emperor who had died young, the kind who ascended the throne at a tender age and kicked the bucket after just a few days.

Because of his young age, he didn't remember the events of his mortal life as clearly as Tang Yingying did; simply remembering that he was an emperor was already a stretch. As for his actual name, the young emperor couldn't recall it at all, so Wu Zui gave him the name Wulong.

The reason he had survived all these years without dissipating was due to a cyan pearl kept in his mouth during his burial. Due to the shift in the world's protagonists and the alteration of its rules, he had only just awakened recently, only to be captured directly by Wu Zui.

Little Wulong didn't have as many schemes as Tang Yingying. With its mouth wide open, it assured Wu Zui that as long as it was provided with meals, it would work diligently.

...Well, Wu Zui certainly had a soft spot for such simple-minded... innocent children.

Having proudly acquired a four-star anomaly, Wu Zui took Wulong to search the vicinity of Longquan Village, intending to see if there were any other ghosts he could subdue. Unfortunately, perhaps due to Little Wulong's presence, there were no traces of other ghosts moving about nearby.

With satellite positioning and navigation completely gone, it took a few days of lingering around Longquan Village with his ghost subordinates before the personnel sent by Xiao Anguo finally managed to locate him.

Having reunited with the organization, Wu Zui handed over his surplus belongings, including food and bicycles, to the villagers of Longquan Village, and then traveled light on his journey back to Beijing.

...

The situation in Beijing was much better than in City Y. The power grid was still operational, and quite a few vehicles were zooming along the streets. However, many shops had already shut their doors, giving the city a slightly desolate atmosphere.

After undergoing a familiar series of security checks, Wu Zui arrived at a military base, where he finally met Xiao Anguo.

The moment they met, Xiao Anguo asked with a anxious expression, "How is Ai'ai really doing? Why did you ask me to contact the researchers?"

"Well... she's still alive... it's just that she's turned into a magnetic-energy lifeform!" Wu Zui held Commander Cat up with both hands so that its feline face was aimed directly at Xiao Anguo, saying somewhat awkwardly.

"Are you playing games with me?!"

Xiao Anguo's face darkened as he barked angrily.

No one could possibly believe that their lively, bouncing daughter had suddenly turned into a cat! Anyone, no matter how thick-skinned, would fly into a rage, let alone someone as detail-oriented as Xiao Anguo.

"Meow~ (Idiot dad!)"

Xiao Ke'ai let out a timely meow.