248: The legends of the Classic of Mountains and Seas actually exist.

"That's right," Ye Bai said. "Although the Locust Tree Demon's main trunk was chopped down, its tree soul remains.

Look at that pond. The locust tree's main trunk is buried there, absorbing a large amount of yin-sha qi. Its tree soul is using the locust tree's Yin Qi to nourish itself and grow stronger."

"Then aren't we in trouble?" Meng Ziyi said, sounding a bit afraid. "Maybe we should leave quickly."

"I wish we could," Ye Bai sighed. "But I'm worried you won't be able to leave.

Even I am trapped now."

He touched the peach wood sword at his waist.

This peach wood sword had a Spirit-Sealing Talisman stuck to it.

The effect of this Spirit-Sealing Talisman was too poor.

"Ah, what should we do then?" Meng Ziyi trembled with fear.

"Don't panic, let's wait and see," Yang Mi said. "This world is far more dangerous than imagined. If my guess is correct, the remains in the Ancient Tomb definitely have something to do with the Locust Tree King.

This Locust Tree King is a ruthless character. It hasn't survived until now just by luck."

She pointed to the corpse on the ground that had already turned to ash. "Look closely; this person must have died recently. There are no wounds on his body, so he was clearly bitten to death by something."

Everyone looked closely.

It really was so!

"Unfortunately, dead men tell no tales."

Yang Mi said, "I've heard that the Locust Tree King is extremely cruel and even dares to kill humans. If it finds out we know its secret, the consequences..."

The viewers in the Live Stream Room also shuddered.

Ye Bai smiled. "Don't worry. I've already found a way to defeat it. In a moment, I'll use the peach wood sword to pierce its head and then burn its main trunk. That way, it won't have any room to resist."

"Ye Bai, stop bragging like that, okay?"

Meng Ziyi had a bitter look on her face. "Don't you know how powerful a Locust Tree Spirit is? If you try to stab its head with a peach wood sword, you'll probably be eaten before you even touch its roots."

The other teammates also nodded in agreement.

"Captain Ye, are you sure you can do it?" Yang Mi asked. "This thing has lived for many years, after all."

"I'm sure," Ye Bai said calmly. "The Locust Tree Demon's weakness isn't its body, but its main trunk."

He paused and continued, "The Locust Tree King was originally a tree demon. Its roots have long been embedded in the soil, connected to its branches."

"If we break its branches, it will inevitably bleed and be injured, which will affect its recovery speed. At that time, its power and intelligence will be significantly weakened or even vanish."

He spread his palm.

A ball of fire appeared in his palm.

"What on earth is this?" several teammates' eyes widened as they stared in surprise at the small blue-purple flower in his palm.

"Before I left this time, I bought a bottle of special 'fire oil'."

Ye Bai said calmly, "The Locust Tree King's roots are very fragile. Once they catch fire, they will burn immediately. It will have nowhere to hide."

After saying that, Ye Bai walked toward the pond.

"Wait!" Meng Ziyi shouted.

Ye Bai looked back at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Meng Ziyi shook her head, appearing somewhat hesitant.

After a moment, she said, "Brother Ye, this pond is completely filled with human bones!"

As she spoke, she pointed to the bones of dead fish and shrimp floating in the water.

These remains were all bloated and emitted a foul stench.

Meng Ziyi frowned and covered her nose.

"It's fine," Ye Bai said. "The remains are rotting, so the smell is strong, but we can use the wind to purify the air."

"But—" Meng Ziyi said, "there are so many bones; how long will it take us to clear them? What if it takes too long and that big locust tree finds out? It's very cunning."

"Do you have a better idea?" Ye Bai asked.

"Of course not..." Meng Ziyi muttered under her breath. "There's no other way besides this clumsy method..."

"Exactly." Ye Bai patted the torch in his hand. "This method is the most suitable. We'll kill the Locust Tree Demon's tree soul first.

As for these remains, we'll leave them to be dealt with slowly later."

"But this is just too disgusting," Meng Ziyi said.

"It's fine. Once you get used to it, you'll find it beautiful." Ye Bai laughed and stepped toward the pool.

He crouched down and took out a Spirit-Suppressing Talisman.

The Spirit-Suppressing Talisman was a talisman paper he had created himself. The Talismanic Incantations he drew carried the fluctuations of the world's spiritual energy and were more powerful.

With a flick, the talisman paper turned into golden light and flew into the pool, creating ripples.

Then, the Talismanic Incantation exploded. A powerful surge of spiritual energy swept through the surroundings.

Rumble!

In an instant, the entire locust grove shook as if an earthquake were occurring.

Near the pool, the floating bones fell to the ground one after another, shattering into pieces.

Splash! The pool churned violently, and thick, scale-covered roots emerged, coiling toward the shore.

"Run!" Yang Mi was the first to charge out, running at full speed.

The other two male police officers also quickly followed her.

Ye Bai snorted coldly, waved his hand, and a wisp of flame shot into the pool.

As soon as the flame hit the water, a miserable scream echoed from within.

"Roar!"

A dark shadow burst out of the pool.

It was a three-meter-tall giant python.

The python's body was covered in greenish scales, each as sharp as a blade.

It flicked its tongue, its eyes cold as it stared at Ye Bai.

"Vile beast!" Ye Bai shouted.

The Talismanic Incantation burned out and transformed into a flying arrow, shooting toward the python's chest.

Bang!

The flying arrow hit the python's chest dead center, piercing straight through.

The giant python let out a shrill scream.

Hiss— It twisted its massive body and lunged at Ye Bai.

Ye Bai raised his hand and struck with a palm.

Pfft!

The giant python flew backward, crashed onto the ground, and rolled in agony.

At this moment, its entire body was charred black. A scorched smell filled the air, pungent and unbearable.

Everyone's eyes were filled with horror.

Yang Mi swallowed hard and exclaimed, "So powerful! Captain Ye, you actually know Daoist Magic?"

Meng Ziyi's eyes sparkled as she looked at Ye Bai with admiration. "Wow! Captain Ye, you're so badass! From now on, if anyone dares to mess with you, I'll help you beat the crap out of them!"

The others traveling with them were also filled with utter admiration.

Although they were somewhat trained, where would they have ever seen such a scene?

Cough, cough!

Ye Bai coughed lightly. "Stop talking. Let's move quickly!"

As he spoke, he bent down and picked up several pieces of wet clothing.

He tossed the clothes onto the ground.

The pieces of clothing immediately transformed into individual puppet dolls.

They opened their eyes one by one.

"Yiya!" A group of little figures jumped onto the ground, excitedly surveying their surroundings.

"What are these things?" Yang Mi was startled.

"Puppets!" Ye Bai explained. "An ancient corpse-refining secret technique that can turn people into puppets that follow orders."

"So impressive," everyone said in awe.