FCRCG Chapter 17

“Xiao Tu?” Nan Deng pushed open the kitchen door, but the room was empty and quiet.

He closed the door and muttered to himself, “Where did it run off to…”

Outside the house, the circular formation on the ground glowed, enveloping the entire building and cutting off all sound.

The celestial masters who had been attempting to break through the formations paused and looked toward the back.

There, the malevolent energy surged into the sky and the compass needles reached their limits, indicating that an extremely fierce creature had suddenly appeared.

“Is it the ghost king?” someone asked.

But soon, the answer to this question became apparent.

It wasn’t a ghost king; it was a giant beast.

The creature stood at least four stories tall, with a body made of different parts like it had been stitched together from dozens of animals. It had three massive red eyes.

Despite its enormous size, the beast moved incredibly fast. Its thick tail swung toward the group. In an instant, it was in front of Gu Xu.

Then, all the celestial masters witnessed Gu Xu kneeling directly in front of the beast, showing no intention to strike at it.

By this time, someone had recognized the beast’s identity and spoke in a trembling voice, “It’s… it’s the Chaos God.”

A massive, ugly creature resembling a wild beast with three red eyes, accompanied by intense malevolent energy when it appeared.

The Chaos God, Hui Shou.

Gu Xu was overcome with excitement, reaching out to touch the giant beast. “Finally… you’ve finally shown yourself…”

Hui Shou had disappeared for nearly twenty years and there had been no trace of it anywhere. Had Gu Xu not seen it with his own eyes, the overwhelming malevolent energy would have made him mistake it for a ghost king with a similar aura.

Among the three gods, the Chaos God was the most powerful, with a violent and ferocious temperament. It was like a beast, lacking in wisdom, yet it obeyed the mountain god’s commands.

In various rumors, it was also described as the mountain god’s steed.

Or perhaps, its pet.

At that moment, Gu Xu had completely forgotten about Zhuo Qing and Lian Yi.

The direct encounter with the Chaos God made him ecstatically fantasize that the mountain god was likely nearby and that he had been chosen to be the one to come into close contact with a divine being after all this time.

However, in the next instant, the giant beast opened its enormous mouth and lunged at him.

Gu Xu was unprepared, but his years of experience as an elder had honed his reflexes. He quickly dodged the attack, though the beast’s sharp teeth left deep gashes along his back.

The intense pain brought him back to his senses. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, “Fall back!”

The celestial masters around him were still stunned by the appearance of the Chaos God. The sudden change took them by surprise. Several of Gu Xu’s subordinates quickly reacted, protecting him and retreating.

The giant beast was relentless, launching another attack. Many celestial masters hesitated to strike at the Chaos God, and within moments, a few were swallowed whole by the beast.

The scent of blood began to spread. Some of the older celestial masters finally recalled their fear of the Chaos God.

The will of chaos could be both good and evil, balancing the yin and yang.

Like the low-intelligence beasts tamed and controlled by the mountain god, the earth spirits didn’t like humans but would never attack them unless provoked. Hui Shou, on the other hand, was completely different.

It was unrestrained by anything other than the mountain god and acted completely on its whims.

To put it simply, it consumed everything—both ghosts and the living.

There had been rumors that the malevolent energy unleashed by Hui Shou when it appeared was actually a bait—it would swallow any creatures drawn in by the energy.

If one happened to encounter Hui Shou without the mountain god nearby, fleeing was the only option.

Gu Xu retreated to a distance, pulling out several pills to swallow.

The scene was chaotic. With his injuries, he couldn’t afford to worry about anything else. The spiritual tools he summoned could only protect himself and those near him.

“Elder!” one of his subordinates exclaimed with joy. “Reinforcements have arrived!”

The intense malevolent energy accompanying Hui Shou’s appearance had been detected by celestial masters on patrol elsewhere and they rushed over immediately.

Not far away, on the edge of the street, Lin Jiu led his team to the scene.

But Gu Xu’s face remained grim. “Don’t get too excited just yet.”

The malevolent energy attracted not only the celestial masters but also a large number of excited and frantic resentful spirits.

On the other side, the circular formation still protected the house in the center, the lights inside quietly shining, as if it were in another world.

Nan Deng stood in the hallway, raising his voice. “Xiao Tu, I’m getting angry!”

He had searched nearly the entire house but still couldn’t find the rabbit head.

At first, Nan Deng thought maybe he had neglected it in the past few days and it was upset, deliberately hiding.

But as time ticked on, he started to worry.

Nan Deng walked to the window, hesitated for a moment while holding the curtain, but still didn’t open it.

Lian Yi hadn’t returned yet. He didn’t dare to act recklessly. He only peered out through a small gap in the curtain.

Outside the house was pitch black, enveloped by the tranquil night.

Under the effect of the formation, Nan Deng saw nothing.

However, outside the formation, the situation was chaotic.

The giant beast attacked indiscriminately, eating both humans and ghosts. The resentful spirits that had come to the scene realized it wasn’t a ghost king. Some fled, while the rest, taking advantage of the confusion, began attacking the celestial masters present.

Lin Jiu first had his team escort Gu Xu away and retreat to a more remote area of the outskirts to avoid inadvertently hurting innocent residents.

After retreating two blocks, he swung his sword, injuring a resentful spirit. It was then that he noticed the giant beast had disappeared.

It had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, without leaving a trace.

Lin Jiu placed the injured resentful spirit into a ceramic jar, speaking in a deep voice. “You all head back first.”

They stopped dealing with the remaining resentful spirits, sent the injured comrade back to the talisman shop for treatment, and began clearing the scene.

The giant beast mostly devoured its victims alive. There were few bloodstains left on the open grass and street pavement. Lin Jiu had only suffered a minor injury and stayed behind to help with the cleanup.

“Hui Shou…” he murmured the name of the Chaos God, his brow furrowed.

Lin Jiu’s team had arrived the earliest and had almost witnessed everything. They didn’t need to ask many questions; they could roughly guess what had happened.

It now seemed that the malevolent energy that had appeared twice earlier likely came from the Chaos God, not a ghost king.

A rough estimate put the number of celestial masters lost at more than ten, mostly Gu Xu’s subordinates.

Lin Jiu could also guess why Gu Xu had brought people here in the middle of the night.

The appearance of the Chaos God also proved one thing—the mountain god was likely here as well.

Lin Jiu stood still, silently gazing at the house in the distance, its lights still on.

“What are you doing?”

A familiar, indifferent voice rang out. Lin Jiu turned in surprise.

It was Lian Yi, who had somehow returned from outside and seemed to have not been at the residence just now.

“Chief Lian,” Lin Jiu stepped forward a few paces, “Where did you go?”

Lian Yi, dressed in black, held a ceramic jar in his hand.

He tossed the jar to Lin Jiu, saying, “Caught a few ghosts.”

Lian Yi had followed the water ghost’s teleportation to its destination, but he had not encountered the fog-shrouded specter.

He was in the basement of an abandoned factory, where a large number of resentful spirits had gathered, all of them marked by the fog-shrouded specter, just like the water ghosts.

The basement was sealed from the outside as if to deliberately delay time. Lian Yi found himself surrounded by the resentful spirits within.

“Eh? How did this person get in here?”

“Run, run…”

“He’s… he’s Lian…”

The spirits sensed something off about Lian Yi’s aura and tried to flee, only to realize they couldn’t escape.

In the pitch-black basement, a faint light began to rise, emanating from a Bagua ring.

The light illuminated Lian Yi’s cold, handsome profile, accompanied by the continuous wails of the resentful spirits.

To save time, he didn’t refine these ghosts on the spot but instead stored them in ceramic jars.

In the end, Lian Yi broke through the basement and rushed back immediately.

Lin Jiu tore off a corner of the talisman on the ceramic jar and couldn’t help but gasp.

This wasn’t just a few ghosts—there were at least thirty.

He quickly put the jar away and explained everything that had happened earlier to Lian Yi.

When mentioning how Gu Xu had first brought people here, Lin Jiu lowered his head and vaguely indicated that he didn’t know anything about it.

Once he finished speaking, Lian Yi showed no response, his voice cold. “Okay.”

He then turned and walked away toward his residence.

—

In the bedroom, Nan Deng crouched on the floor, peering under the bed.

He had already checked the wardrobe and there was no sign of the rabbit head. All the doors and windows were securely closed.

Nan Deng smoothed out the bedsheet, sitting on the floor, unsure of what to do.

At that moment, he heard a faint “click” from the direction of the study, as if a window had been closed.

Nan Deng hurriedly opened the door to check and the rabbit head jumped out from the study.

“Where did you run off to!” Nan Deng scolded, grabbing the rabbit’s ears and lifting it up. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

The rabbit head licked its lips and wiggled in Nan Deng’s hand.

It had eaten quite a bit tonight. Although transforming had drained a lot of its energy, it was still somewhat satisfied overall.

Nan Deng hugged it to his chest and rubbed its head. “If you don’t behave next time… I’ll starve you for a whole day!”

Just as he finished speaking, the sound of a door unlocking came from the front door.

It was Lian Yi returning.

Nan Deng stuffed the rabbit head into his pocket and ran over to hug him excitedly. “You’re finally back…”

Lian Yi responded softly and saw the rabbit head squirming out of Nan Deng’s pocket.

It landed on the floor, looked up at Lian Yi, and stared at him for a few seconds before hopping onto the sofa.

“You wouldn’t believe it, but Xiao Tu just disappeared,” Nan Deng pouted as he complained to Lian Yi, “I was all alone at home. I didn’t dare go out.”

In truth, he wasn’t angry at the rabbit head for running off, just a little worried about it. And he had a somewhat clingy dependence on Lian Yi.

Lian Yi raised his hand and touched his forehead, soothing him. “Don’t be scared.”

He was still wearing the black coat he had on before leaving. Nan Deng looked at it with increasing displeasure and began to unbutton it, intending to take it off.

Lian Yi lowered his gaze in silence, allowing Nan Deng to move about.

Before returning, his heart had begun to ache again, but seeing Nan Deng had somewhat eased the pain.

At that moment, footsteps approached outside.

Someone knocked on the door, calling out, “Chief Lian…”

It was Lin Jiu. Before he could finish his sentence, a powerful spiritual force suddenly erupted from inside the room, gripping his throat tightly.

Lian Yi turned to the door, coldly commanding, “Leave.”

The voice was full of impatience. Lin Jiu quickly stepped back. After a short distance, he felt he could speak again.

He saw that the lights inside the house were still on. Originally, he had a few more questions to ask Lian Yi, but now, he dared not stay any longer and quickly led the remaining team members away.

When Lian Yi turned back, he saw Nan Deng tightly gripping his sleeve, looking at him with unease.

“Who was that?” Nan Deng seemed startled, his voice small. “You were so fierce just now…”