The entire spirit parade left the street, heading to the next one.
"Stop!"
A crisp, ringing word was lightly spoken from Qin Ye's mouth.
Even though the firecrackers were deafening, in that instant, every person in the spirit parade of over a thousand people heard this one true word.
It was as if time was frozen.
This place, whether flowers, grass, trees, even when wind blew, grass blades swayed, firecrackers ignited or exploded, or the entire parade of spirit performers, everything became frozen, unmoving.
Even Xiao Wen and the other two froze in an instant. But the next second, the black aura rising from their bodies broke the freeze very quickly.
Qin Ye wasn't surprised. If celestial deities couldn't even break through a speech-spell of immortals, they wouldn't be a threat.
He just took advantage of this frozen moment, swept his sleeve across the three girls, and in an instant, scattered three yellow beans from his hand.
Xiao Wen and the other two were taken away with a sweep of Qin Ye's sleeve.
Right after that, the three yellow beans landed on the divine sedan platform and turned into Xiao Wen and the other two, completely identical, dancing like high spirits.
Qin Ye also disappeared without a trace.
When he reappeared, Qin Ye was standing in an open space far down the street, with the three girls there as well.
"Release."
Qin Ye immediately spoke another single word, then stomped his foot on the ground, making the entire space light up, surrounded by an illusion spell.
On the other side, the whole spirit parade resumed action.
Thousands of people continued lighting firecrackers, marching grandly to the next street.
The entire process, as if it was never frozen, no one noticed, and in their memory, the parade had never stopped. They also couldn't see Qin Ye and the three girls standing in the open space.
Just like that, the spirit parade of a thousand people left.
Qin Ye didn't pay attention to it anymore. His gaze fell on the three girls in front of him.
At that moment, after Xiao Wen danced for a while, she stood on the ground, bowed her head, like a frozen old monk.
Maybe because she summoned a deity into her body, and wasn't directly infected, thick black aura emitted from Xiao Wen's whole body.
Qin Ye's eyes were sharp like swords, and he spoke.
"Are you the Third Prince Nezha?"
The moment the words were spoken, the name "Third Prince Nezha" echoed in the open space.
The unmoving Xiao Wen reacted, suddenly raised her head, showing her mismatched eyes, one clear, one full of dark aura, and then, under Qin Ye's vigilant gaze, Xiao Wen moved, raising her hand to claw at her own neck.
Her crazy action clearly looked like she was going to tear the flesh off her throat alive.
The unexpected situation, even though Qin Ye was shocked in his heart, he didn't just watch. He struck like lightning, two fingers pointed at Xiao Wen's hand.
Zzzt!
A streak of thunder and golden light shot out, striking Xiao Wen's hand, making her hand bounce away from the recoil, stopping her bizarre suicide act.
"Hehehe..."
Xiao Wen laughed. Although stopped, she didn't stop her behavior. Soon, she raised her hands again.
And this time, Xiao Wen raised both hands, aiming to gouge out her own eyes.
Qin Ye's pupils contracted. 'Is this a symptom of liking self-harm after infection?'
As Qin Ye asked himself, his fingers struck again, flicking Xiao Wen's hands away. But just as he was about to make a move to seal her and stop further self-harm...
'Huh?'
Qin Ye turned his head.
He saw Tanya also freeze, and then the next second, she raised her head.
Her eyes were eerily identical to Xiao Wen's.
But Qin Ye didn't have time to care about that. He focused on Tanya's next move.
"Hehehe..." Tanya laughed. But the laugh was completely different from Xiao Wen's. It was a man's voice, full of masculinity. Then, while laughing, she raised a single finger and stabbed at her temple.
"Another deity summoned just to commit suicide?" Qin Ye spoke.
Without any hesitation, he made a move to stop Tanya's suicide.
The situation was unexpected. Originally, Qin Ye was prepared to fight deities infected by the strange force. Who would've thought the deities Xiao Wen and Tanya summoned acted abnormally, committing suicide as soon as they arrived?
After temporarily restraining Xiao Wen and Tanya, Qin Ye grew curious.
"After infection, do deities not all behave like Brother Hu San, but instead show different symptoms?"
After voicing this, Qin Ye immediately denied the idea.
'No.'
From the priest, to Old Lord Hu San, to the deities summoned, though it seemed to match what he said, at that moment, the third spirit medium also entered a trance.
"Another one summoned?" Qin Ye raised his eyebrow.
This summoning success rate was even higher than his own attempts to summon the Earth God or City God, practically a hundred percent.
Moreover, when the third spirit medium summoned the deity, although she didn't laugh, she also began a suicide attempt.
Seeing this, Qin Ye narrowed his eyes.
Once or twice could be coincidence, but three in a row, clearly not a coincidence anymore.
Qin Ye realized, this suicidal behavior was not just a random infection symptom, but likely had another reason.
"Is it because of the Mystic Root?" While stopping the third girl from suicide, Qin Ye muttered.
All three summoned infected deities. Qin Ye had reason to believe that people with the Mystic Root could summon infected deities through it. After all, spirit mediums had always relied on Mystic Root to invite deities.
"Is this the message Brother Hu San was trying to convey through the Mystic Root chant?"
But Qin Ye immediately denied this again.
"These summoned deities only kill themselves, pose no real threat to the living. Brother Hu San wouldn't go out of his way to send such a trivial message. At most, it only threatens people with Mystic Root…"
When that last sentence came out, Qin Ye's eyebrows twitched.
'Mystic Root chant… Spirit mediums… People with Mystic Root… Suicidal behavior after possession…'
These clues circled in his mind, and an answer gradually formed in Qin Ye's heart. He raised his hand, looking at the Heavenly Prison Cage hanging on it.
Inside the cage, even though the possession by Xiao Wen and the others made Old Lord Hu San stop attacking, he resumed shortly after, staring at Qin Ye, launching attacks. But all were blocked by the cage.
Even the imprisoned priest inside was attacking. Both infected beings attacking Qin Ye on sight...
Seeing this scene, Qin Ye's eyes gleamed. The answer in his heart became certain.
"Brother Hu San, do you remember?" Qin Ye didn't care if Old Lord Hu San could understand. He spoke to him directly.
"The reason we know each other through battle, in the past, a thousand years ago, when we first met, you saw my exceptional body and wanted me to be your outpost spirit."
As the words fell, Qin Ye himself was someone with the Mystic Root, and an extraordinary one at that...
This clue flashed in Qin Ye's mind.
At that moment, to avoid the risk of infection, Qin Ye had kept his distance from the three girls the whole time, always attacking from afar.
But now, Qin Ye walked toward them. As he approached, he released their restraints.
The next second, unexpectedly—
This time, the three girls no longer tried to kill themselves. They all suddenly turned their heads toward Qin Ye, and attacked him.
Facing this, Qin Ye showed no fear at all, instead smiling. Then Qin Ye's calm voice echoed in the open space.
"Since ancient times, those who seek to become powerful cultivators are valued for their Mystic Root. And the Mystic Root chant is a collection of those most suited for cultivation, those with extraordinary roots and bodies."
As he thought of the girls' suicidal behavior and restrained them again, Qin Ye spoke slowly:
"So, you weren't trying to kill yourselves, you were trying to kill them, the ones with Mystic Root."
"So this is the message you were trying to deliver, Brother Hu San… That all infected beings will kill anyone with Mystic Root, or to put it another way, kill all powerful cultivators, and even those with the potential to become powerful cultivators."
"That is the message you were trying to give us, the source that caused the fall of the Heavenly Court, spreading infection, and eliminating threats… removing all threats."
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