208: Chapter 208 Why is your Emperor's Banner emitting black smoke!

"Thank you, Big Brother! People from Blue Star are the best after all!"

Chu Wushuang rubbed his hands together, the fawning expression on his face practically overflowing.

Lu Chen didn't respond.

He glanced down at Yue Shiyun in his arms. The little loli's red eyes were half-open, her small hands clutching his collar. She was quiet, but her gaze remained fixed on Chu Wushuang, never wavering.

Her eyes were filled with the anticipation of watching a good show.

Lu Chen patted her back and ran his fingers through her silver hair a couple of times.

Lu Chen's right hand emerged from his sleeve.

His movements were slow—so slow that Chu Wushuang thought he was about to pull out some incredible treasure.

In fact, he did pull out a treasure.

A banner.

The moment the black banner flew out of Lu Chen's Storage Ring, the temperature of the entire pocket dimension plummeted by over a dozen degrees.

The banner wasn't large, about three feet long. The pole was a pitch-black bone, the joints clearly defined, with a dark red light seeping from the seams.

The banner unfurled on its own in the windless Void Realm, growing as it caught the air, expanding from three feet to ten feet, and then swelling to thirty feet.

Black mist surged out from the banner.

It wasn't a mist condensed from spiritual power, but a thick, tangible black smoke carrying a foul, rotting stench.

The black smoke churned, forming a vortex around the banner. Deep within the vortex, countless distorted faces were faintly visible.

Those faces had their mouths wide open, howling silently.

Every face was different: men and women, old and young, Human Race and Yao Race. Some had complete features, while others had only half a face left. Some had hollow eye sockets, with dark liquid oozing out from the black pits.

A gust of Yin Qi wind lunged out from the banner.

The smile on Chu Wushuang's face froze.

Cold—a chill that shot straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. It wasn't the cold of a low temperature, but the cold of being preyed upon by something.

He instinctively took half a step back, his Adam's apple bobbing.

The black mist on the banner grew even thicker.

Those distorted faces leaned halfway out of the banner, their skeletal arms clawing wildly in the black smoke. Their sharp nails scratched against the Void Realm, producing a screeching sound.

Then, Chu Wushuang let out a scream.

It wasn't the scream of a single person, but the screams of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of voices layered together.

Shrill, desperate, frenzied, pleading. The roars of men, the shrieks of women, the wailing of children—all jumbled together, surging from the depths of the banner and pouring into Chu Wushuang's ears.

His legs went weak.

Yue Shiyun covered her ears with her small hands, her little face scowling slightly.

Lu Chen's left hand moved up half an inch, the heel of his palm resting against the back of her head. He channeled a wisp of Evergreen Qi into her, blocking out the sound.

The little loli let go and hugged his neck again.

Lu Chen held the black banner in his right hand and smiled.

"Fellow countryman."

Chu Wushuang's back was as stiff as an iron plate. His legs were shuffling backward, but the grayish-white ground of the Void Realm was endless; it was the same no matter where he retreated.

"For the sake of your safety."

Lu Chen nudged the banner pole forward, the black mist lunging toward Chu Wushuang with the movement.

"I have a top-tier Magic Treasure here called the Human Emperor Banner."

Chu Wushuang's face had turned completely pale.

"It's filled with abundant Spiritual Qi and is absolutely safe. As long as you stay inside to Cultivate, I guarantee no one can harm a single hair on your head."

When Lu Chen said this, his tone was exactly the same as before—slow, nonchalant, and even carried a hint of concern.

But the wails of the vengeful spirits and malicious ghosts on the banner made this concern seem chilling to the bone.

Chu Wushuang stared at the banner.

His cultivation was at the Early Stage of the Xiantai Realm. He didn't have much experience, but he wasn't so stupid that he couldn't recognize this thing.

Human Emperor Banner?

No, the Human Emperor Banner is a supreme treasure of the Righteous Path that suppresses all evil. Where would vengeful spirits and malicious ghosts come from?

This banner was shrouded in black mist, its Yin Qi soaring to the heavens, stuffed with who knows how many tens of thousands of resentful spirits.

This is the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

An extremely sinister and auspicious object of the Demonic Path.

Those sucked inside would have their Divine Soul refined into a resentful spirit within the banner, never to be reincarnated, becoming a banner spirit for all eternity and suffering endless torment.

Chu Wushuang's scalp tingled. He swallowed hard, his throat felt dry, and his tongue was tied, but his mind was racing.

"Big Brother."

He squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying.

"There's no need for this, right?"

"This Magic Treasure looks quite creepy."

He took another half-step back, trying to make his movements look less panicked.

"I'm a young man; it's so boring to hide away and Cultivate. I'd rather wander around outside more to gain some experience."

Lu Chen didn't speak, and he didn't pull back the banner pole.

Chu Wushuang's mind raced. He couldn't enter that banner; if he did, it would be over. But he couldn't piss off this Great Emperor either; he had to think of an alternative.

He rubbed his hands together until they were sweaty.

"How about this!"

Chu Wushuang's eyes darted around as he squeezed out an expression of extreme sincerity.

"Big Brother, give me one of your exclusive summoning jade talismans!"

He got more excited as he spoke, gesturing with his hands in the air.

"That way, when I'm out flex—oh no, when I encounter danger during my travels, I can shake the talisman to call you for backup. Isn't that a win-win?"

After he finished, he even gave Lu Chen a thumbs-up.

There was silence for two breaths, and then Lu Chen laughed.

It wasn't the gentle smile from before, but a laugh of genuine amusement.

The smile vanished instantly.

Lu Chen's face turned cold, colder than Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice.

"You certainly have a beautiful imagination."

Lu Chen's voice lowered.

"Using a summoning jade talisman to call this Emperor?"

He tilted his head.

"Do you think this Emperor is some hired thug or summoned beast you've raised?"

Chu Wushuang's smile shattered.

When those words came out of Lu Chen's mouth, he finally realized something, albeit belatedly.

From beginning to end, Lu Chen had never used the word "brother."

Every single time, it was "fellow countryman."

When fellow countrymen meet, one stabs the other in the back.

"Big Brother, I..."

"Since you're unwilling to go in voluntarily."

Lu ChenHe interrupted.

His right hand held the pole of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. Black mist swirled between his fingers, but the moment it touched the Great Emperor Law, it vanished into nothingness, unable to get anywhere near him.

"Then this Emperor can only help you, my fellow countryman."

The Great Emperor's pressure poured out.

There was no warning, no buildup, and no time given for Chu Wushuang to prepare.

With just ten percent of the pressure, Chu Wushuang's knees buckled. There was a crisp crack of bone, and he slammed onto the grayish-white ground.

His back was bent by an invisible force, his forehead pressed against the ground, his teeth grinding together.

Chu Wushuang lay prone on the ground, his limbs unable to support him. He was crushed into a pancake, pinned to the Void Realm floor, unable to move.

His mouth was still moving.

"Big Brother! Big Brother, I was wrong! I shouldn't have..."

Lu Chen didn't listen. His right hand let go of the pole of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

The black banner suspended in mid-air. The vengeful spirits and malicious ghosts on the banner shrieked manically, the black mist churning even more violently, and the entire banner rattled in the Void Realm.

Lu Chen's right hand rose.

His five fingers spread open, then slowly curled inward in the Void Realm. A giant hand condensed from pure Great Emperor spiritual power took shape from his palm.

The giant hand was pitch-black and translucent, with golden Law patterns flowing over every knuckle. The fingertips were sharp, and the space beneath its claws was distorting and shattering.

The giant hand descended, its five spiritual-power-condensed fingers precisely gripping the crown of Chu Wushuang's head.

Chu Wushuang's body suddenly arched.

A suction force erupted from it. It didn't act on his Physical Body; it directly targeted his Soul.

That power penetrated his skull, his Meridians, and his spiritual sea, seizing his Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits.

And then, it began to pull.

Chu Wushuang's screams tore through the entire pocket dimension.

That wasn't a sound a human could make; it was a screech squeezed from the deepest depths of existence when the Soul is forcibly stripped from the flesh.

His limbs clawed frantically at the ground, his nails scratching ten bloody trails into the grayish-white Void Realm floor.

Tears and snot flowed freely, saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his entire body convulsed and struggled.

Guided by the giant hand, his Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits were pulled out of the crown of his head inch by inch.

With every inch extracted, he felt his consciousness blur further.

With every inch extracted, he felt the connection between himself and his Physical Body sever further.

That feeling couldn't be summarized as mere pain; it was being pulled out of one's own body alive.

Yue Shiyun lay on Lu Chen's shoulder, covering her eyes with her small hands.

But she left a gap between her fingers, her red eyes peeking down through the slit.

Above Chu Wushuang's head, a translucent phantom was being dragged out of his skull. The phantom looked exactly like him, its features distorted, its mouth wide open in a silent scream.

When the Soul was one-third out of the body, Chu Wushuang's screams came to an abrupt halt.

It wasn't that he stopped screaming, but that his throat could no longer make a sound. His body was still shaking, but his limbs were motionless, his eyes rolling back until only the whites showed.

His lips quivered, squeezing out a few broken syllables from deep within his throat.

"No... don't!"

Lu Chen looked down at his fellow countryman on the ground.

His hand didn't stop.

The Ten Thousand Soul Banner vibrated violently in mid-air, the thousands of resentful spirits on the banner stretching out countless withered arms, clawing manically toward Chu Wushuang.

They were welcoming a new companion.