Chapter Ninety: Cheng Lian Reveals His True Face

Feng Tianlin beckoned to the ghostly woman, signaling her to come closer.

She said nothing more and drifted over at once. “Boss, what is it?”

He raised a brow at her. “Come a little nearer. I’ve got something good for you.”

“Something good?” She was puzzled, but still moved a little closer.

At that moment, Feng Tianlin exchanged some points in the system for her skill Wailing, and at once a surge of power filled her body.

Before she could react, Feng Tianlin spent another two hundred twenty thousand to raise the skill all the way to level ten.

The system detected that the host had raised the ghost woman Chimei’s skill Wailing to level ten, and it evolved into Devil’s Whisper.

Devil’s Whisper: Any living being that hears the devil’s whisper will be forced to confront the terror of death, as though cast into hell, and may suffer mental damage. Its effect depends on the skill level.

Feeling the new power within her body swell rapidly, Chimei’s face lit up with delight.

“What is this?”

“Devil’s Whisper. Try it on those humans over there.” As he spoke, Feng Tianlin even pointed toward the second carriage, which had been set aside for holding humans.

With a new skill in hand, how could Chimei possibly pass up such a chance to test it? She darted straight into the second carriage and began using her new ability.

The instant she entered, the humans inside trembled in terror. In unison they dropped to their knees, begging for mercy and pleading with Chimei to spare them.

But Chimei had no intention of sparing them. She stood still, guided the energy within her body, and released it.

The sound carried no discernible syllables, like an echo reverberating through a cavern. When it reached their ears, the people all fell into a daze; some even foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.

“Such good effect? I barely even tried.” Looking at the humans before her, Chimei’s lips curved into a smile. She seemed very satisfied with the skill.

Feng Tianlin could not help but nod as well. This skill really was impressive. Even he had been affected by it, losing himself for an instant.

But then a new idea occurred to him. If he used a radio to record Chimei’s Devil’s Whisper, and then played it on a loop inside the terror-emotion factory, wouldn’t the efficiency of producing fear greatly increase?

Still, that was a matter for after they returned. For now, the main task was to find that altar.

After several wrong teleports, they finally arrived at one of the seven villages.

As soon as they got off the train, Cheng Lian shook his head. “Not here.”

Then they went to a second village.

Cheng Lian still shook his head. “Not here either.”

Then they went to a third, then a fourth, and by the time they reached the last village, Cheng Lian was still shaking his head. “It seems to have been the first one.”

Hearing that, Feng Tianlin nearly lost the urge to kill him on the spot. Seeing Feng Tianlin’s anger, Cheng Lian hurriedly explained.

“You can’t blame me for this. It’s been thousands of years. Things have changed far too much.”

Feng Tianlin could only sigh helplessly. That much was indeed not his fault. After all, even mountains would change a little after thousands of years, wouldn’t they?

So they returned to the first village. Looking at Cheng Lian, who was still glancing all around, Feng Tianlin asked, “You’re sure it’s here?”

Cheng Lian nodded, though not very confidently. “Among those seven villages, this one looks the most like it. But we still need to confirm the altar’s exact location.”

At that, Feng Tianlin finally grew serious. He wanted very much to see what this so-called altar actually looked like.

It was night, and people in the countryside slept early. By now they had all gone to bed. Feng Tianlin and the others had no fear of a few villagers anyway, so they strode down the main road without the slightest caution.

“How much farther is your altar?” Long Mengting, riding atop the orange cat, asked impatiently with a pout.

“Not far, not far. It’s in that cave ahead, look!” Cheng Lian said, pointing to a cave not far away.

From the outside, the cave was pitch-black, its depths impossible to see into. But that was only from a human point of view; Feng Tianlin and the others could see clearly.

Inside that cave, there was plainly a crowd of people.

“Is the altar concealed in some way, or built a little more discreetly?” Feng Tianlin looked at Cheng Lian and asked with a smile.

“Nope. It’s just in that cave. Go in and you’ll see it.” Cheng Lian looked utterly unconcerned.

Feng Tianlin was speechless. Resurrection should be a matter of great importance, should it not? Why build it in a cave? Weren’t you afraid someone might destroy it?

Perhaps seeing Feng Tianlin’s confusion, Cheng Lian made up a plausible excuse. “If it were built too secretly, the awakened one might not be able to find the way out. Altars are usually built by trusted companions; he himself doesn’t even know the exact location.

“And if the altar were hidden, leaving aside how difficult that would be, what if the strange beings sent to receive him couldn’t find it either? That would be awkward.”

Feng Tianlin thought about it. It did sound reasonable.

But there were many humans inside—though none of them were martial artists or spirit masters—but why on earth had so many gathered there at night?

Just in case, he looked at the orange cat, who was being ridden by Long Mengting. “Do you smell anything?”

The orange cat shook his head, far smaller than his body. “No, meow.”

Feng Tianlin could wait no longer. He pulled everyone along and used instant movement, reaching the cave entrance in the blink of an eye.

The others all knew about this skill of Feng Tianlin’s, but Cheng Lian did not. Standing to the side, he kept praising him nonstop.

“That’s incredibly fast. I’m afraid only the roc in the heavens could match you.”

Feng Tianlin ignored the praise and pointed toward the depths of the cave. “What do you think those people are?”

Deep inside the cave there was not a trace of light. Everything around them was pitch-black, yet in that darkness the cave was filled with kneeling figures—ordinary people, all of them.

The greatest difference between them and ordinary people was their lack of spirit. They were gaunt, hollow-eyed, and motionless as they knelt there.

At first glance they were no different from corpses, yet Feng Tianlin could tell from their breath that they were all alive.

Cheng Lian gave a faint smile. “That’s the subtlety of this altar. It can control the minds of those nearby, making them willingly offer up their blood and vitality to activate the altar.”

Feng Tianlin nodded. “So how exactly are you going to use this altar to recover your strength?”

Cheng Lian rubbed his hands together and walked straight toward the depths of the cave. Feng Tianlin and the others followed behind him.

At the deepest point of the cave stood a statue. It depicted a giant bird with only one leg. Though it had but a single leg, it still held its head high and spread its wings, exuding an overbearing majesty.

Just as Feng Tianlin was about to ask what kind of statue this was, Cheng Lian walked directly beneath it, took out the jade pendant he had shown before, and placed it into a recess beneath the statue that matched it perfectly.

At once, a protective barrier appeared around the statue, wrapping Cheng Lian tightly within it. Countless strands of energy also surged toward his body.

Cheng Lian was lifted into the air by that power, rising to the same level as the bird statue, as though the two were about to merge.

Feng Tianlin tested the barrier and found it remarkably strong; he was actually unable to break through it. He raised his head and looked at Cheng Lian. “What are you doing?”

A smile spread across Cheng Lian’s face. Looking at Feng Tianlin, his expression was full of contempt. “What am I doing? I’m recovering my strength. Once I recover it, everything you have will be mine.”