Chapter 267 | Demonic Beings? Obviously Auspicious Omens!

Before Chen Zhou could speak, the little pig in his arms had already gone completely berserk.

Drawing upon fiendish qi, it formed a massive mouth in mid-air and cursed in a harsh, awkward voice.

"State my name? You think you're worthy?"

The nightmare fragrance drifting from the soul-locking lamp had made its mouth water earlier.

Now, these death-seeking fools actually dared to point chains at its lord?

"Hmph—!!!"

The little pig broke free from Chen Zhou's embrace and floated downward. Its pink, tender body swelled rapidly against the wind, transforming in the blink of an eye into a nightmare beast as massive as a mountain.

The fangs it had kept hidden in the shadows were revealed, and countless fiendish eyes across its body snapped open simultaneously. Dark purple fiendish qi swept toward the Yinsi Guards below like a tsunami.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Under the indiscriminate impact of the Dream Demon, a large number of Yinsi Guards were instantly sent flying.

The chains in their hands shattered, and the detained living souls scattered in all directions.

"Bold monster, how dare you attack the Yinsi Guards!"

The Yinsi Guard Commander at the head of the group grew enraged. Golden light flared brilliantly from his body as the power of merit actually managed to withstand the erosion of the Dream Demon's fiendish qi.

"Form the array! Soul-hooking!"

At his command, the fallen Yinsi Guards quickly returned to their positions. The chains in their hands interlaced to form a massive net of light. The net shimmered with brilliant golden light, desperately resisting the little pig's fury.

Chen Zhou also took a step forward, leaping down from the rooftop.

Boom—!

As he landed, his Ghost Domain spread out, instantly creating a vacuum on the ground.

The Yinsi Guards trying to approach were pushed back several steps by the impact of the Ghost Domain. Those who couldn't retreat in time were crushed directly into black smoke.

Chen Zhou glanced at the defeated rabble, then turned to look at Song Zi'an and the others kneeling on the ground behind him.

They were currently in a state where their living souls had left their bodies, with a translucent soul thread extending from the tops of their heads straight into the sky.

Chen Zhou reached out, a sharp sliver of death qi condensing at his fingertip as he attempted to help Song Zi'an cut the soul thread.

Zheng—

After a crisp sound, the soul thread vibrated but did not break.

On the contrary, Song Zi'an's soul shuddered violently, and his face contorted in extreme pain.

"The soul threads are deeply planted and connected to the source of the soul. If cut by force, I fear it will damage the foundation. At best, he becomes an idiot; at worst, his soul will scatter,"

Wu Gou walked over at this moment, his small face full of gravity as he looked at the soul thread.

"This soul-detaining method is incredibly sinister."

Chen Zhou frowned slightly. With a flick of his finger, a wisp of black Hatred Fire spread along the soul thread.

Sizzle, sizzle—

The soul thread was scorched by the Hatred Fire, letting out a shrill scream as if it were a living creature.

But even so, it remained deathly attached to Song Zi'an's body. Feeling threatened, it even began to suck his essence more frantically.

Song Zi'an's soul visibly weakened by several degrees.

"We can't use force," Chen Zhou retracted the Hatred Fire.

If he forcibly used death qi to erode and assimilate it or used Hatred Fire to burn it, the soul thread would break, but Song Zi'an's soul would also suffer irreversible damage.

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Zhao Fu, the shopkeeper kneeling nearby, recovered slightly. Seeing the man and pig before him who looked like gods of demons descended to the world, he shook like a leaf.

"My Lord, those are Yinsi Guards... they are bailiffs of the provincial imperial dynasty."

Though the shopkeeper was terrified, he couldn't help but try to persuade them.

"We are just lowly commoners; if we die, we die. You all look extraordinary. It's not worth offending the imperial family for our sakes!"

"Yes, My Lord, please leave quickly. These Yinsi Guards cannot be killed; they are protected by the imperial fortune."

The waiter chimed in from the side.

Chen Zhou didn't speak, only looked up at the sky.

"Whether it's worth it is not for you to decide."

Wu Gou folded his hands. Despite his child-like appearance, he exuded the compassionate aura of a high monk.

"Namo Amitābha. All beings suffer. Whether they are imperial relatives or peddlers, everyone has only one life; there is no distinction of rank."

"Shopkeeper, put your heart at ease. Since we are here today, these so-called Yinsi Decrees will have no power over you."

While Wu Gou comforted the two, Chen Zhou followed the soul threads to look at the giant eyeball in the sky.

Not just Song Zi'an and his group—the entire town was covered in countless soul threads converging on that eyeball like a spiderweb.

Even on the Yinsi Guards themselves, there were several hidden soul threads connecting them to the eye.

Chen Zhou activated his Law-Evaluating Eye.

His vision instantly became clear.

He saw that the faint Golden Light of Merit within Song Zi'an was being continuously channeled through the soul thread into the eyeball in the sky.

After the eyeball absorbed the merit of the entire city, it fed back tiny strands of golden light, which were bestowed upon the Yinsi Guards.

Exploiting merit to sustain their lackeys.

"We have to find a way to deal with that ghostly thing," Wu Gou pointed at the eyeball in the sky. "To catch the bandits, one must first catch their leader. That is the eye of the array."

By now, the little pig had fallen into a stalemate with the Yinsi Guards.

The little pig's strength was enough to crush them; a single swipe of its claw could shatter several.

But after the Yinsi Guards were dispersed, they would unexpectedly reform their bodies, and their aura didn't weaken in the slightest.

Connected by soul threads and protected by merit, they made the little pig very frustrated.

Watching this scene, a strange look flashed in Chen Zhou's eyes.

The Dream Demon was now a seventh-stage fiendish creature. In a dream environment, even its casual strikes weren't something ordinary beings could withstand.

Yet these Yinsi Guards, whose individual strength was clearly not great, were managing to hold their ground through the Golden Light of Merit.

Even the Yinsi Guards he had just shattered with his Ghost Domain were quickly reforming.

The Yinsi Guard Commander reformed his body. Even facing the seventh-stage Dream Demon, he showed no fear.

He unfurled a bamboo scroll and began to read Chen Zhou's list of crimes.

"Bold madman, you have disrupted the enforcement of the Underworld, attacked officials, and destroyed soul-locking artifacts."

"Furthermore, you intended to harbor criminal souls and resist the laws of the imperial dynasty."

"According to the law, you shall be executed by flaying and dismemberment, and your soul shall be banished to the Nine Underworlds, never to be reborn."

"I am the Yinsi Commander, representing the imperial authority of the Heavenly Dao. I sentence you to—death!"

As he pronounced the sentence, the golden light on all the Yinsi Guards merged into one, forming a massive character for 'Guilt' that pressed down toward Chen Zhou with the weight of Mount Tai.

Chen Zhou looked at the descending 'Guilt' and scoffed.

"Imperial authority of the Heavenly Dao? You think you're worthy to represent the Heavenly Dao?"

He recalled what Yuheng had said in the Fallen Dream.

Although the fly-whisk was a ceremonial vessel, it was not without combat power.

Merit was actually the best defense and the best weapon.

These Yinsi Guards had no physical forms and were hard to kill by ordinary means. It just so happened that he had a newly acquired authority that he hadn't tested yet.