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The parent-child interaction continued until around two o'clock in the afternoon. After much persuasion, Yang Chen finally convinced Yang Xiuyuan and Jin Meifeng to agree to his grand plan for the scientific research estate.
However, Yang Chen also signed a humiliating military order, stipulating that the funds borrowed from Hengyang Group must be returned to the company's account in full within two months, or else... or else it would be meaningless, they couldn't just execute him, right?
Since they had only brought one car, when they left the hotel, Yang Chen naturally used his "eleventh bus" (walking). Watching his parents drive away, he stood alone by the roadside, feeling dejected...
Just as Yang Chen was pondering how to quickly get another sum of money to solve his urgent problem, a brand new white Jaguar XJ with a Shazhou City license plate screeched to a halt in front of him...
Yang Chen didn't even ask why she had arrived so timely and obediently opened the door to get in.
As soon as the passenger door was closed, Zhang Bingyu said with a serious expression and a low voice, "I'm in trouble..."
"I know." Yang Chen nodded and yawned, "I could tell as soon as I saw you this morning. The aura of death surrounding your head wouldn't dissipate. If you weren't at least a third-stage cultivator, you would have been dead by now."
"You noticed?" Zhang Bingyu was taken aback by Yang Chen's words.
The so-called "death aura" is a kind of cold and dark force that forms after a person dies and their soul dissipates, due to various misfortunes in life. Although it eventually dissipates into the universe, becoming pure yin energy particles, in the first few hours after its appearance, it can be utilized by people, often through very cruel means.
According to Yang Chen's knowledge, the notorious great demons in ancient times generally cultivated using death aura, making them a type of yin cultivator, but more brutal and vicious than those who simply absorb yin energy particles.
Long-term exposure to death aura can transform a cultivator into something neither human nor ghost. The terrifying creatures in folklore that can stop children from crying at night are often based on these human cultivators who practice death aura!
If a high-level death aura cultivator were to be described with a vivid term, "half-dead" would be the most fitting, or other terms like "zombie," "monster," or "demon" would also be appropriate.
However, after the great purge of death aura cultivators by Buddhist and Taoist cultivators during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the cultivation methods for death aura were cut off, and there have been no reports of death aura cultivators for several hundred years.
Now, there should be even fewer... So Yang Chen was very curious about what Zhang Bingyu had encountered.
"I accidentally stumbled into a great demon's lair!" Zhang Bingyu gritted her teeth, as if she wanted to tear Yang Chen to pieces. "It was in a large mountain in Qianshan City, Lingnan Province, a dense primeval forest. Deep in the forest, there's a swamp known locally as 'Ghost King'..."
"Why did you go there?!" Zhang Bingyu's words triggered Yang Chen's past memories, and his face suddenly changed. He sternly said, "Ridiculous! Do you want to die?!"
"Do you know about that place?" Zhang Bingyu was taken aback again, then bitterly smiled, "I was tricked into going there. A while ago, a group of young men from Beijing went on an expedition there, and all six of them disappeared without a trace. I thought they might have stumbled into a hidden sect's protective array, but who knew..."
"That place is called 'Ghost Fear,' and it has existed since the Qin Dynasty." Yang Chen tried to keep his tone calm, "All major sects should have ancient records about it, and your Celestial Master's Mansion definitely has them."
"Why have I never heard of it before?"
"Because its existence is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the major sects in Chinese mysticism!" Yang Chen rolled his eyes, "You're not powerful enough, so you wouldn't know..."
"Why is it called 'Ghost Fear'?" Zhang Bingyu asked curiously.
"Because even ghosts fear it!" Yang Chen rubbed his temples, speaking weakly, "It's one of the three most dangerous places in China, rumored to be the gateway to the underworld... The rumors might be exaggerated, but they're not far off."
After a pause, Yang Chen continued, "It has existed for at least ten thousand years. In other places, the death aura dissipates naturally within a few hours after a living being dies, but in that place... the death aura lingers year-round, never dissipating! Over thousands of years, who knows how much death aura has accumulated there!"
"If it's such a malevolent place, why do the sects in the mysticism world keep it a secret? Shouldn't they tell everyone to prevent more tragedies?" Zhang Bingyu found it hard to understand.
Yang Chen sighed and shook his head, "If you had experienced the great catastrophe of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties... you wouldn't say that!"
"The late Ming and early Qing... you mean the battle between good and evil?!" Zhang Bingyu's eyes widened, "What does that have to do with it?"
"The so-called 'good' refers to the current mainstream sects of Buddhism, Taoism, and Martial Arts, while the so-called 'evil' originally came from these three sects but chose to cultivate the death aura left behind by the dead instead of spiritual energy!" Yang Chen explained, "These cultivators are called 'demons,' and the reason for the great battle between good and evil was that death aura cultivators discovered the Ghost Fear swamp... It was once a holy site for demon cultivators!"
"Whoa..." Zhang Bingyu couldn't help but draw a sharp breath!
"Because of the discovery of the Ghost Fear swamp, the power of demon cultivators greatly increased. Coupled with years of war and countless deaths, many weak-willed cultivators from the Buddhist, Taoist, and Martial Arts sects turned to cultivating death aura, nearly driving the righteous cultivators to extinction!"
Yang Chen said, "The brutality of that catastrophe is beyond the comprehension of modern cultivators, but to a certain extent, the Ghost Fear swamp made the demon cultivators of that time. After the brutal battle and the extermination of the demon cultivators, would they dare to reveal the exact location of the Ghost Fear swamp? Secrecy was the bare minimum choice!"
In his previous life, the Chinese Daoist Alliance sent nearly a thousand spirit and martial cultivators to try to destroy the Ghost Fear swamp, but they returned empty-handed, sacrificing nearly a hundred lives.
As the Grand Elder of the Chinese Daoist Alliance and one of the main leaders of that operation, Yang Chen knew better than anyone how formidable the Ghost Fear swamp was. Zhang Bingyu's survival from there was a stroke of great luck!
However, until the Earth was colonized by the Troy Federation in his previous life, nothing significant happened at the Ghost Fear swamp, and there were no large-scale disturbances by demon cultivators like in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It remained quiet, like a beautiful man.
Inside the Ghost Fear swamp, many cold and dark spirit plants grew, all rare and precious. Yang Chen had entered the Ghost Fear swamp alone multiple times and knew that as long as one reached the eighth satellite stage, there was basically no danger.
Zhang Bingyu rarely stuck out her tongue and said sheepishly, "I thought I had stumbled into a great demon's lair... So that's what it was... Am I still salvageable now?"
"The death aura is only swirling above your head and hasn't entered your body, so it won't have a significant impact." Yang Chen looked at her and said, "After eight o'clock tonight, it should dissipate on its own... But you'd better forget about that place. Lady Luck won't always be on your side. If you encounter more death aura, you'll faint on the spot and your soul will dissipate within two hours!"
"I understand... Thank you!" Zhang Bingyu, who had been on edge for so long, finally breathed a sigh of relief. But the moment she said this, Yang Chen, sitting in the passenger seat, was stunned.
The death aura that had been swirling above Zhang Bingyu's head suddenly entered her Baihui point!
Yang Chen couldn't help but curse, "You stupid woman... I told you to keep your mental energy focused to resist it, why did you withdraw it back to your spirit palace now?!"
Zhang Bingyu, feeling a cold and dark aura enter her head and spread throughout her body, was stunned by the curse. She soon felt dizzy and disoriented, and with a gaping mouth, she responded, "You didn't explain clearly... I..."
Before she could finish, her face turned ashen, and her skin was covered with blood-red veins!
As she spoke, Zhang Bingyu fainted in the driver's seat... The death aura spread throughout her body in an instant!
Faced with this situation, seeing Zhang Bingyu transform from a beautiful fairy to a terrifying ghost in a split second, Yang Chen couldn't help but raise his middle finger to the sky, "Damn!" (To be continued...)
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