Lighting Lanterns in the Mountains and Seas

Shi Chun also leaped up, drawing his sword, and quickly charged forward. The former's sword was too heavy, and before long, he was overtaken.

With no attempt to hide after they burst out, and the sound of pebbles clattering underfoot, those ahead began to turn around one by one.

Wu Jinliang's stature, along with Wu Jinliang's sword, were too conspicuous. Even if they could not see the face, Shen Youkun recognized them instantly and couldn't help but cry out in alarm, "It's Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, run, run!"

He was truly panicked.

Was it those two? Qi Ziru too was taken aback. He had thought that the pair had already fled, not expecting them to linger nearby, waiting for an opportunity. He genuinely admired their courage and strategy, "What bravery! What skill! When guests arrive, how can we refuse to meet? Stop the sedan, and let's greet them."

The two sedan bearers ceased running, turned around, and set the sedan down, positioning themselves to the left and right of it.

The masked strong man also stopped and released the struggling Shen Youkun.

Shen Youkun, terrified, rolled down the hillside, scrambling away in panic, frequently looking back, his face blanching with fear. He clearly didn't think the few on this side were a match for Shi Chun and his companion.

Seeing that their pursuers had stopped on the hillside to wait for them, Shi Chun also sensed something was amiss. However, the sight of Shen Youkun fleeing in such terror didn't seem feigned, easing his doubts significantly. Without slowing down, he charged up to his adversaries, leaped into the air with momentum, swinging his sword in a sweeping arc, cleaving the chill air mercilessly and decisively!

The two sedan bearers positioned themselves in front of Qi Ziru, ready to face the battle, but the masked giant stood still, not bothering to dodge Shi Chun's slashing sword and instead focused on Wu Jinliang.

Wu Jinliang had also charged in, excitedly shouting, "Take my sword strike!"

The sword swung through the air with a terrifying whoosh.

When he got close, the masked strong man finally made his move, a flick of his wrists, under the moonlight, dispatched two yellow streaks, one toward Shi Chun and one toward Wu Jinliang.

Shi Chun's blade veered through the air, trying to split the incoming object, but suddenly, a wave of dizziness dazzled his vision.

What's happening? Feeling a sudden alarm internally, he quickly steadied his mind and realized it wasn't dizziness; rather, the very air before his eyes seemed to ripple with distortion. At the same time, he felt an encroaching sluggishness envelop his body.

He discovered that his fierce, forceful attack had slowed to a crawl. His blade had slowed and missed intercepting the flying yellow streak, and up close, he could see clearly—it was a yellow paper charm, scripted with intricate, vermillion talismanic symbols.

Looking down, he watched helplessly as the talisman adhered to his chest.

His movements were delayed, too slow to evade, and he faintly sensed an unfamiliar power releasing from the symbols, then he found himself unable to move.

Midair, he remained fixed, still in the motion of his sword strike.

Though his body couldn't move, his mind was clear. He instantly realized what it was—an immobilization charm!

He had encountered the legendary immobilization charm!

For him, it was legend; he had never seen one before, only heard of its existence. It never crossed his mind that these people would bring such a thing.

Regretting his decision deeply at that moment, he cursed his lack of knowledge. He didn't consider that, since they could bring in so much material, how hard could it be to bring in a charm? He had run away, only to circle back—wasn't this courting death by knocking on its door?

Thinking about how Shen Youkun had managed to escape, he cursed Shen Youkun's ancestors in his heart.

However, seeing Shen Youkun flee in such terror, he realized that it surely wasn't Shen Youkun's doing. Shen Youkun might not even be aware, which meant it was probably the relaxed and composure of the person on the chair.

Behind him, Wu Jinliang also became motionless, frozen on the spot with astonishment and fear in his eyes, his mouth still open, acutely aware that this time he had really met his downfall. Death was nothing—he'd known it was inevitable from the day he'd chosen to risk his life. His only fear was enduring unbearable torture before an awful death.

He wanted to speak but could produce only indistinct "mmph" sounds from his mouth, wondering what to do next.

He knew that Shi Chun probably had no solutions, but who else could he turn to in such a moment?

Shen Youkun who kept looking back as he fled, now stopped. After a thorough check, he seemed to understand something. No wonder his uncle said that not even someone at the High Martial Realm could escape—it was like this. His face twisted into a sinister smile as he turned back and ran.

Shi Chun saw this scene. He was immobilized, but his eyes were not blind. He couldn't close his eyelids even if he wanted to and knew that Shen Youkun was out for revenge.

Falling into anyone's hands but Shen Youkun's was preferable to him, so he desperately rallied all his cultivation in resistance, trying to break free from the bonds. At first, he could somewhat shake the force that bound him, but soon it felt as if he'd been cast in a block of steel—while he didn't feel much pressure, he was powerless to move even slightly.

What was more terrifying was that his mana seemed to be frozen as well, unable to manifest outside his body.

Having been immersed in the Cultivation World for many years, he had faced countless battles and skirmishes, relying solely on his personal strength and cultivation. Facing these talismanic methods, he couldn't fathom how a mere piece of yellow paper could hold such formidable power to lock him down. The mystery baffled him, beyond his comprehension.

The crucial point was that he had no way to escape from his predicament at all; even if he wanted to talk his way out, he could only emit a whimpering sound, as he couldn't articulate a single word, while Shen Youkun was getting closer and closer. Under the moonlight, he could even see the ferocity on Shen Youkun's face.

This time, he truly became nervous.

But as soon as the nervousness set in, it was as if someone had prodded his brain with a stick. He suddenly felt a split, and his spine instantly felt as if it were being gnawed by thousands of insects—a terrible pain that one would never want to experience again emerged yet again.

This time, he was unable to clutch his head or roll around to relieve the pain; all he could do was gasp violently and make strained noises in his throat.

As expected, with the onset of that pain, the bizarre and fantastic images appeared again in his right field of vision.

What was different was that his own body seemed to be covered with glowing tendrils, like transparent hairs spreading out in all directions, long and floating, emitting a faint blue light, which was quite beautiful to behold.

At this moment, his field of vision was also hard to move, because even his eyeballs were being suppressed, and any movement would cause friction with unknown objects in the void, which was uncomfortable. Fearing blindness, he dared not make any rash movements.

But the movements of waving his hands and slashing with his knife were still before his eyes. He could see many thread-like tendrils wrapped around his arms and the knife, and he could imagine that other unseen parts of his body were similarly bound.

Strangely, though these tendrils could bind him, his body could not feel their presence at all.

But he was certain that these tendrils restraining him did not have such a strong oppressive force, for he could feel and see where the real pressure was coming from.

In the bizarre image seen by his right eye, that bluish-green color that seemed like the background of the image had a presence and a magnitude like the earth and mountains that can be seen everywhere in the real world, stable and fixed. Before, he felt it was illusory, totally imperceptible to him, but now a considerable part of it was quickly gathering and solidifying on the tendrils under the summoning of the faint blue light they emitted.

After the shape altered, it was as if it had intruded into the real world, enveloping Shi Chun like a tangible object, and his mana was also being suppressed by this tangible force.

The tendrils that spread out in all directions continued to meander and grow longer, also attracting more of the bluish-green substance to coalesce onto them.

These tendrils and congealed bluish-green substance even passed through the bodies of Qi Ziru and others without affecting them in the least. Qi Ziru and others appeared as if they were just illusions within a dream, causing Shi Chun to become somewhat unable to distinguish what was illusion and what was reality, unsure how to define it.

As the power of the immobilization charm was fully released, the countless floating tendrils ceased to grow, and the accumulation of the bluish-green substance gradually came to a halt. The influence of the tendrils was apparently related to their extent of expansion.

At this moment, to some extent, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang were like a giant bur embedded in the earth. From the ground level, they appeared to be suppressed by a small mountain brimming with peaks, the heavy solidity making it impossible for either of them to move even slightly.

Not being able to see might have been better—then he could only struggle blindly. Now that he had seen the charm's power came from those glowing tendrils, he naturally thought of strategies to address them. Even if it seemed hopeless to struggle free, Shi Chun was not willing to sit still and wait for death.

He tried to cast a spell to break open the thread-like tendrils on his body, only to find that these tendrils were actually very tough, capable of being stretched and thinned, but not of being broken.

Perhaps it was not that they could not be broken, but because of the close suppression of the bluish-green substance, his mana could only work on the surface of his body. The space created was not enough; it did not reach the limit of the tendrils' elasticity, and thus he could not break them.

But to his surprise, he discovered that although he could not feel the presence of these tendrils, his mana did have an effect on them.

If he could not break them, he tried to use a spell to cut them, only to find it was also futile. His mana could easily cut the tendrils, but once cut, they would automatically reconnect, almost like drawing a sword through water, somewhat demonic in nature.

If they could reconnect after being cut, he tried to keep the tendrils severed longer with his mana.

It was a desperate measure, truly a last resort. He would try any possible method; he must treat the hopeless situation as hopeful, rather than resign himself to fate.

But sometimes happiness arrives quite unexpectedly.

About five or six counts later, a look of astonishment flashed across Shi Chun's frightened eyes. Several tendrils in his knife-wielding hand gradually drifted apart, still emitting a faint blue light after separating, with the bluish-green substance attached to them not dispersing, but also drifting away as one.

Once separated, it was evident that they no longer had any connection with that suppressing small mountain. It was as if they drifted away from the mountain body, once again demonstrating the distinction between illusion and reality.

The series of struggles and attempts in Shi Chun's body and mind seemed slow, but the whole process happened very quickly.

To the others, it was just a sudden rush forward, then being frozen in air for a while, with Shen Youkun not yet in position.

The knife held in Shi Chun's hand and poised to strike was only half a zhang away from the masked man's head.

The masked man stared intently at the blade above his head and, having confirmed that there would no longer be any movement, slowly retracted the hand that had tossed out the double charms. Turning back, he looked towards Qi Ziru, who sat on the lounge chair with calm composure, waiting for his instruction on how to handle the situation.

Qi Ziru raised his hand, indicating for the two sedan bearers blocking the front to step aside, taking the opportunity to get a good look at the two assailants.

Shi Chun's leap with his sword in mid-swing, and Wu Jinliang, who had just leapt into the air, were about two chi from the ground, dragging a large knife behind. The image of the two frozen mid-air was somewhat comical.

After observing, Qi Ziru couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration, "Worthy of being the Master of the East Nine Plain, just for your ability to retreat and return, quite unexpected. Had I not had some treasures with me, I would have surely fallen into your hands, no wonder my nephew seemed like a plaything in your grasp!"

Then he mockingly said to the masked man, "Opportunities, sometimes it's one thing to be able to seize them, and another whether one is willing to give you another chance. The man escapes from your grasp, you worry about searching the vast ocean, yet unexpectedly, he delivers himself to your doorstep again. How could one not treat him well? There are questions to be answered; take them and interrogate."