Chapter 160: The Cleansing Plan (4)

Drawing the Heart-Inquiring Sword, Wu Zui relied on the protection of his nascent domain to smash directly through the wall at the top of the Twin Towers. He then thrust the sword backward into the exterior wall of the tower. As he fell, the blade carved a long, deep gash down the entire side of the structure.

Just before hitting the ground, Wu Zui triggered a spatial singularity and vanished into thin air, narrowly avoiding any impact injury.

At that moment, flames ignited all along the scar left by the sword, turning the nearly hundred-story Twin Towers into a gigantic torch. As the karmic fire blazed, black matter continually sloughed off the walls, dissolving into ash and vanishing completely.

A streak of black light shot out from the summit of the Twin Towers, fleeing into the distance at extreme speed.

With a flash of dark light, the black book was released by Wu Zui.

A boundless suction force emanated from the tome, firmly locking onto the ghost core fleeing from the tower. Moments later, the six-star ghost core was swallowed whole by the black book.

The Twin Towers—the ninth of the Ten Forbidden Grounds—had been cleared.

Once the entire structure was reduced to ashes by the karmic fire and Wu Zui had confirmed that no lingering traces remained, he got into his vehicle and drove toward the next nearby forbidden ground: the Kangjian Psychiatric Hospital.

This had once been a well-known private asylum in Modu, but its business had plummeted following rumors of scandals. Now, for unknown reasons, it had been overrun by ghosts, and the entity entrenched within was estimated to be of the six-star realm.

Similarly, every five-star awakener who had gone inside to investigate had failed to return alive.

Driving the modified Soaring Dragon II, Wu Zui arrived at the hospital.

Upon reaching his destination, Wu Zui found that the situation here was completely different from that of the Twin Towers. The ghost here had openly released its containment field; a thick, oppressive black mist completely shrouded the surrounding area corresponding to the asylum's boundaries on the map.

Moreover, this black fog was not static; it swirled subtly and incessantly, as though something was constantly pacing back and forth within it. It lurked in the shadows, ready to ambush any intruder foolish enough to step into the mist.

Blocked by the containment field, Wu Zui could not see anything inside at all.

Yet, from the containment field released by this entity, Wu Zui sensed a profound, twisted malice—like a demon whispering into one's ear, luring souls down into the abyss of hell. With just a single glance, he could feel the heavy spiritual corruption saturating the fog.

A blue glow flared around Wu Zui. Shielded by his nascent domain, he bypassed the surrounding blockade of magnetic energy and stepped directly into the black mist. At that instant, several malicious gazes pierced through the thick fog, fixing upon him as he entered.

Once inside the mist, to his surprise, Wu Zui felt no physical discomfort, nor did he encounter any attacks. Aside from the extremely low visibility, there were no other immediate effects.

What Wu Zui did not realize, however, was that the black substance flowing within the river of his sea of consciousness was subtly and steadily increasing. These were impurities gathering in his mind; the more severe the spiritual corruption he suffered, the greater the accumulation of black matter.

For the moment, Wu Zui continued to wander through the black fog.

*Rustle, rustle...*

A faint sound arose from behind him, resembling the noise of some crawling creature dragging its body across the ground. At the same time, an unpleasant stench drifted into his nostrils, growing stronger as the sound drew closer.

With a flash of red light, Wu Zui test-fired a slash of magnetic energy.

*Wuwu—*

An eerie, sharp cry pierced the air, and the rustling sound receded into the distance.

The foul odor began to dissipate as well.

Obscured by the mist, Wu Zui had not clearly seen what manner of creature he had struck. Yet he knew that since the blow had not killed it, the wretched things inhabiting this asylum would soon emerge to greet him.

With this thought, the blue light covering Wu Zui's body began to expand slowly. His nascent domain formed a protective barrier one meter away from his skin, granting him ample reaction time while keeping his magnetic energy consumption at an acceptable level.

*Rustle, rustle...*

Soon, the sound returned. Judging by the volume, the number of creatures this time was vastly greater than before. The foul stench was so pungent it made Wu Zui's eyes sting, leaving him entirely in the dark as to how many monsters were approaching.

As the rustling grew nearer, a red, snake-like tail lashed against the barrier of his nascent domain, causing the blue light to shudder violently. At the same time, a blob of crimson gore splattered across his defense.

The next moment, seven or eight more blows rained down.

This time, the nascent domain was battered to the point of imminent collapse.

Wu Zui felt a jolt of alarm.

The ghost thralls here were far more powerful than he had anticipated!

With a flick of his wrist, the Heart-Inquiring Sword transformed into a lashing chain that shot outward. The karmic fire blazing upon it swirled like a fire dragon, attacking the entities massing outside his domain. The surrounding black mist was steadily vaporized by the flames, gradually revealing the forms of the crimson thralls.

They were grotesque entities, half-human and half-snake, frantically lashing their blood-red tails against his defensive barrier. Their tails resembled strings of rotting, scarlet flesh, appearing utterly revolting in their slimy texture.

Their faces were twisted human visages, with serpent fangs protruding from the corners of their mouths, dripping with viscous fluid. Their blood-red eyes stared fixedly at Wu Zui, and the underlying spiritual corruption sent a strange, unsettling chill through his mind.

Unfazed by the attack of the fiery chain, more than a dozen half-snake thralls took the direct hit. Once caught in the karmic fire, they were reduced to black ashes in mere moments.

*Wuwu—*
*Wuwu—*

Eerie wails echoed from the throats of the surviving half-snake thralls.

Before long, Wu Zui saw countless crimson half-snake thralls writhing as they swarmed in from all directions within the black mist, sealing off his escape. The Heart-Inquiring Chain whipped back and forth just above the ground, batting away the rushing serpentine monsters wholesale.

The intensely burning karmic fire beat back the black fog. When the chain finally came to rest, a thick layer of half-snake thralls lay piled upon the ground, consumed by the raging flames. Some of the creatures that had yet to expire still twitched, emitting low, mournful wails.

As the fire burned down, the black mist temporarily retreated, revealing three five-story buildings arranged in a triangular layout.

The Light Care Ward.
The Intensive Care Ward.
The Isolation Ward.

These red characters were faintly visible on the exterior walls of the structures.

Wu Zui currently stood in the open courtyard between the three buildings and the asylum's perimeter wall. Gazing at the wall, which stood a full three meters high, he couldn't help but wonder how he had crossed it in the first place, as he had no recollection of climbing over.

By now, the karmic fire had nearly finished consuming the surrounding half-snake thralls. As the flames gradually died out, the black fog crept back in, growing thick once more.

Glancing over the characters painted on the three buildings, Wu Zui chose the Isolation Ward—a name that practically screamed "ghost lair"—and charged straight inside. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the isolation building, the black mist closed in once more, enveloping the area.

Tiny, sub-foot-long half-snake thralls rapidly spawned from the dark fog. Feeding on the surrounding mist, their bodies grew at a terrifying speed.

Unaware of this, Wu Zui, who had just entered the isolation ward, had no idea that the half-snake thralls he had expended so much effort to clear were currently regenerating, nourished by the black fog. His attention was entirely captured by the bizarre and sinister atmosphere within the isolation block.

Originally, Wu Zui had assumed the asylum's isolation ward would simply consist of dark solitary cells used to punish unruly patients—places where the confined individuals would be driven to total mental collapse with virtually no hope of recovery, alongside any unfortunates who refused to obey the rules.

Such psychologically fractured patients ought to be the prime breeding ground for powerful ghosts, which was why he had chosen to come here first. Yet what he discovered upon entering completely shattered his preconceptions.

This was not a collection of gloomy solitary cells as he had imagined, but rather a maze of prisons enclosed by iron bars. Most terrifying of all, inside each of these fenced-off enclosures sat a surgical table.

Judging by the dried, blood-stained surfaces and the rotting scraps of flesh scattered about, a dark suspicion welled up in Wu Zui's heart.

*Just how many tortures were carried out here? Or was this an organ-smuggling ring?*

Wu Zui walked into one of the iron cages, running a hand over the dark brown blood crusting the crude surgical table, and pondered the atrocities that must have taken place here.

*Click—*

"Who's there?"

Hearing the strange noise, Wu Zui whipped the Heart-Inquiring Sword through the air.

With a loud *clang*, the blade carved a deep gash through an iron door that had seemingly closed by itself. Twisting his wrist, Wu Zui shattered the iron door completely and bolted outside in pursuit.

Yet there wasn't even a ghost of a shadow out in the corridor!

However, the moment Wu Zui turned back around, the surgical table inside the very cage he had just slashed open now bore a corpse! Staring closely, he saw that the body was covered in fresh blood that continued to drip downward, making it look as though it had only just been murdered.

The corpse's face was a map of gashes carved by a scalpel, and its chest cavity had been sliced wide open down the middle. All the internal organs within the chest were entirely missing, leaving behind nothing more than a hollowed-out shell.

A heavy stench of blood began to permeate the entire isolation ward. In a blur, Wu Zui realized that a corpse had now appeared inside every single iron cage. Their wounds varied, but the hollowed-out chests were chillingly identical.

"Hehe~ Come! Let me see your organs!"

A mocking giggle echoed directly behind Wu Zui.

He spun around and slashed backward with his sword without hesitation!

A figure instantly leaped backward, dodging his strike.

A blood-stained white lab coat, a scalpel smeared with gore, and a single grey plastic slipper combined to form a terrifying figure bearing a twisted, eerie smile. Attentive as ever, Wu Zui caught a faint glimpse of blue stripes beneath the white coat.

In a place like this, blue-and-white striped clothing could only belong to a psychiatric patient. Remembering the corpse he had first laid eyes on inside the iron cage, Wu Zui realized that the calluses on its index fingers were precisely the kind caused by years of wielding a scalpel.