Shi Chun leaped up, drawing his blade, and charged forward rapidly.
His opponent's sword was too heavy, so Shi Chun caught up in no time.
The two surged forward without any effort to conceal themselves, their steps clattering on the stony ground.
This commotion caused several people ahead to turn back in surprise.
Wu Jinliang's stature and the size of his sword were too obvious; even without a clear view of their faces, Shen Youkun immediately recognized who they were.
Unable to suppress his alarm, he shouted, "It's Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, run, run!"
He was truly panicked.
Was it really those two? Qi Ziru was also visibly surprised.
He thought those two had fled, not expecting them to be lurking under his nose, waiting for a chance.
He guessed Shi Chun's intentions as they seized the moment to strike, and sincerely praised, "What courage! What a move! When a guest comes calling, how can you refuse to meet? Halt the sedan, meet our guests."
Two sedan chair bearers ceased running, turned, and set down the chair, positioning themselves on either side.
The masked big man also paused, releasing Shen Youkun from his grip.
Shen Youkun stumbled and rolled down a small slope, scrambling away frantically, looking back frequently, his face drained of color.
He clearly doubted this group was any match for Shi Chun's team.
Seeing their targets waiting atop the slope, Shi Chun sensed something amiss.
Yet, Shen Youkun's frightened retreat looked genuine, clearing some doubts, allowing Shi Chun to charge full speed ahead.
Upon reaching the opponent, he leapt and slashed with his blade, sending a fierce, decisive arc of cold light slicing through the air.
Two sedan chair bearers stepped in front of Qi Ziru, preparing to defend against the attack.
The masked big man, however, stood still, focused not on Shi Chun's incoming slash, but on Wu Jinliang instead.
Wu Jinliang also dashed forward, shouting excitedly, "Take my slash!"
The swooshing sound of the giant blade slicing through the air was terrifying.
As he drew nearer, the masked big man finally acted.
He flicked his hands, shooting out two yellow shadows under the moonlight—one aimed at Shi Chun, the other at Wu Jinliang.
Shi Chun's blade shifted mid-air, trying to intercept the incoming object, but was suddenly engulfed by a wave of dizziness.
What's happening? Alarmed, he steadied his mind to realize it wasn't true dizziness.
The void before him twisted, and he felt an unseen force slowing him down.
His fierce charge and strong swing morphed into slow motion; his blade faltered, missing the yellow shadow that flew towards him.
At such close range, he saw it clearly—a piece of yellow talisman paper covered in intricate crimson symbols.
His gaze fell, helplessly watching the talisman adhere to his chest.
His movements sluggish, he had no chance to dodge.
He vaguely sensed an unknown force emanating from the talisman, leaving him unable to move.
Suspended in mid-air, he froze in a blade-swinging stance.
Though immobile, his mind remained clear.
In an instant, he realized what had occurred: the immobilization talisman! He had encountered the legendary Immobilization Talisman!
To him, it was nothing short of legend.
He had never seen such a thing, only heard tales of its existence beyond these lands.
Yet, here it was, brought in by these people.
Filled with regret, he cursed his own lack of foresight.
They managed to bring all sorts of supplies here, so why wouldn't they bring talismans, too? He had already escaped but circled back—wasn't he courting death?
The sight of Shen Youkun fleeing replayed in his mind, cursing his ancestor.
However, he deduced this wasn’t Shen Youkun’s doing.
Shen Youkun might not have even known about it; it must have been the calm and composed figure on the recliner who orchestrated this.
Behind him, Wu Jinliang also fell silent, frozen too, a look of terror in his eyes.
He realized this was indeed the end.
Death didn’t scare him; he expected it since the day he risked his life.
But he feared being tortured to death.
Wanting to speak, only muffled “mmm-mmm” noises escaped him, wanting to ask Shi Chun what to do next.
He knew Shi Chun probably had no solutions, but at this moment, who else could he turn to?
Shen Youkun, who had been glancing back during his retreat, stopped.
Observing carefully, realization dawned on him.
No wonder his uncle said even someone at the Advanced Martial Realm couldn't escape—it all made sense now.
With a sinister grin, he turned and ran back.
Shi Chun saw this.
Though immobilized, he could see perfectly.
Eyeing Shen Youkun closing in for revenge, he desperately tried to break free, using all his cultivation power.
Initially, he managed to stir the force binding him, but soon, it felt like being cast in iron, offering no discomfort, but no escape either.
Worse, even his abilities seemed frozen, unable to unfold beyond his body.
Although he had long been in the cultivation world, accustomed to fighting straightforward clashes of strength, this talisman technique left him clueless, unable to fathom the power from a mere piece of yellow talisman paper.
Without a way out, his voice reduced to "mmm-mmm" sounds, Shen Youkun approached, his face twisted in wickedness under the moonlight.
Then he truly panicked.
The panic triggered a pain, as though struck with a stick, his spine felt like being gnawed by countless ants—an experience he couldn't wish to repeat.
Now unable to hold his head or roll to alleviate the pain, he could only gasp and groan.
Expectedly, with the pain came the bizarre visions in his right eye.
To his surprise, his body seemed covered in glowing tendrils, like transparent fibers, extending in all directions, gently waving and emitting a faint blue light, beautiful yet unreal.
Although his sight couldn't move, entrapped by the pressure on his eyeball, any attempt would cause discomfort, fearing blindness; he dared not act recklessly.
But he imagined similar tendrils must be elsewhere on his unseen body.
Interestingly, while these tendrils were powerful enough to bind, they were imperceptible by touch.
Yet, he was certain they lacked strength on their own.
This knowledge came from watching the prominent cyan color—previously unseen, now condensed under the influence of those faint blue lights, adhering to the tendrils.
No longer purely illusory, the cyan substance, having taken tangible form, encased him, stifling his power as if bound by real ties.
Exploring his circumstances, he realized their odd nature of growing if unstressed by significant pressure, explaining their resilience.
Nonetheless, the tendrils and the cyan substance surrounding them passed through Qi Ziru and the others without impact, leaving him unsure of reality versus illusion.
Once the talisman's power was fully dispersed, the tendrils ceased growing.
The cyan substance, too, halted its expansion, their influence linked directly to their reach.
Now, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang appeared as large, spiny orbs embedded in the ground.
From a ground-level view, they seemed crushed beneath a towering mountain range, immovable and submerged in the weight of the earth.
Having seen the talisman's influence through those tendrils, Shi Chun refused to give up and awaited death.
He tried using his powers to break the tendrils, only to find them unbreakable.
Yet he discovered something strange; though invisible, his powers could affect these tendrils.
While they stretched and thinned under force, they wouldn't break.
Perhaps it wasn't breaking them that was impossible, but rather that the cyan material tightly bound powers to his form, limiting their efficacy and rendering them unable to reach the tendrils' elastic limit to snap them.
Consequently, they couldn't break free completely.
In desperation, he tried cutting them with slash techniques, finding them ineffective.
Severed tendrils simply reattached, like water from a split stream—a very peculiar situation indeed.
Cut but not severed, undeterred, he tried isolating them longer with his powers, hoping the delay would break the cycle.
When at wit's end, a bit of unexpected fortune arrived.
Roughly after five or six moments, Shi Chun's frightened eyes caught a flicker of surprise—a few tendrils on his blade-hand gently drifted away, still glowing blue, taking along the encased cyan substance, detaching entirely.
Once free, they weren’t tied to the oppressive mountain any longer, drifting independently—reminding him once more of illusion versus reality.
Shi Chun's wild struggles and thoughts seemed lengthy but transpired quickly.
From the outsiders’ viewpoint, it was a sudden charge, ending swiftly, with Shen Youkun still on his way back.
Shi Chun’s slashing blade hovered just half a yard from the masked man.
Reassured nothing moved, the hand that cast the talismans slowly retracted.
Turning to Qi Ziru, reclining calmly, the masked man awaited instructions on how to proceed.
Qi Ziru motioned for the bearers to step aside, taking this chance to study their attackers carefully.
Shi Chun’s airborne slash, Wu Jinliang leaping with merely a two-foot gap, wielding an oversized sword—frozen mid-strike appeared both absurd and somewhat humorous.
Even so, Qi Ziru couldn't hold back a "tsk tsk" of admiration.
"As expected of the Big Boss of the Eastern Nine Plains. To return like this, utterly surprising. Without a little treasure, he’d have had me for sure," he acknowledged, "No wonder my nephew felt mere trinkets in your grasp."
Then, laughing, he remarked to the masked figure, "Seizing opportunities is one thing; whether you're given another chance is another. They escaped you once, yet came willingly to your doorstep. We should treat them well and clear up our doubts—take them down for questioning."
(End of Chapter)