Chapter 115: The Mortal Body as a Cauldron, Forging a Furnace of Life

As the black mist dissipated, the old woman—though short in stature—lifted Xiaobei into the air with one hand. His body was charred black, his clothes reduced to tatters.

Xiaobei kicked his legs helplessly, his arms dangling as his eyes instinctively turned toward me. He was desperate for me to save him, but the moment I moved, a steel nail shot out and struck the ground at my feet.

The old woman turned her head slightly to look at me, illuminated by the faint moonlight outside. For a fleeting second, I saw that half of her face was nothing but a skull!

*Snap!*

Xiaobei’s head lolled to the side, his entire body going limp. He was dead.

She tossed his corpse aside like trash and began to approach me with short, quick steps. I swallowed hard and instinctively retreated toward the gate.

*Bang!*

The gate slammed shut.

"Little Jiang Huai, don't run. Grandma hasn't had a good look at you yet."

I said nothing, merely spitting on the ground. With a grandmother like that, I would rather be dead. If I couldn't escape, I would have to fight. Even if I died, I would tear a piece of bone off her before I went!

I bit my finger, and just as I was about to draw a talisman, three more steel nails whistled toward me.

One, two...

I dodged two of them, but the third caught me. The nail pierced my shoulder and embedded itself into the ancient temple gate. The sheer force sent me staggering backward. I looked down at the bloody hole in my shoulder, and the moment I looked up, the old woman was already standing right in front of me.

"Ah!"

She reached out and clamped her hand directly onto my wound, causing me to scream in agony. Cold sweat erupted across my body instantly.

"Do you have any idea how many of my plans you’ve ruined?"

She leaned into my face, and as she spoke, a foul stench washed over me.

"Pah!" I spat directly into her hideous face.

The old woman froze, seemingly shocked that I would dare treat her this way. A moment later, she let out a shrill laugh. "Good! Very good! Don't worry, I won't let you die just yet. You and Yu Nie are both excellent vessels. Since you’ve ruined my work, you owe me some compensation."

"Go... go to hell!"

Instead of being angered, she laughed even harder. She flicked out her tongue and licked my neck! She pulled out another steel nail, grinning at me as she dragged the sharp point from my face down to my throat.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt. Once you become my vessel, you’ll be my sweet grandson!"

Her eyes turned vicious, and she prepared to drive the nail into my flesh.

At that moment, a gunshot rang out. The bullet struck the nail in her hand with perfect precision, sending it flying. Wang Zihao and his team kicked open the temple gate, swarming in with their guns leveled at the woman.

"Release him!"

The old woman was startled for a split second, then the smile on her face vanished, replaced by a dark, sinister expression. "Since when do you people get a say in matters between me and my sweet grandson, Jiang Huai? You’re courting death!"

A chilling sensation emanated from the hand she had clamped on my wound, and black mist began to swirl around her.

I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Go! Get out of here, now!"

But there was no way Wang Zihao and his men would leave me behind. Xiaobei was dead—he deserved it—but I was different.

At that moment, the black mist completely engulfed the old woman. She suddenly released her grip on my wound, and I seized the opportunity to scramble away, ignoring the searing pain in my body. The bullets fired into the mist were as useless as my talisman fire; they vanished into the darkness without a trace.

Suddenly, the mist cleared, and the old woman had vanished into thin air.

"Go! Leave now! This old demon is nothing like what we’ve encountered before!" I didn't hesitate, grabbing Wang Zihao and another man by the arm and pushing them toward the exit.

"Move! Don't just stand there!"

I didn't know where the old woman had gone, but I felt that the fact that the six of us had managed to leave the temple so easily was far from simple.

Suddenly, the person in front of me stopped dead in his tracks. I looked ahead and saw a figure standing before us—the very person we had come to rescue tonight: Yu Nie!

The old woman had reappeared beside him, holding his hand.

I swallowed hard. I didn't know where Yu Nie had been, who he had met, or what had happened to him. Yu Nie was blind; his eyes had been gouged out, and a nail had been driven into his left brow. His mouth had been sewn shut with dark red thread, and all the fingers on his left hand had been severed.

As I looked at him, my body trembled uncontrollably.

"Sweet grandson, these people want your grandma's life. Don't you think you should do something for her?"

Yu Nie nodded mechanically. The old woman let go of his hand, and he began to walk toward us.

"Jiang Huai! What is happening here?" Wang Zihao stared at Yu Nie, sensing the gravity of the situation.

I wanted to know that more than anyone. The old woman had mentioned "vessels." In the context of humans, I could only think of one thing: the Flesh-Body Cinnabar Cauldron. It wasn't a standard furnace, but one that used a living human body as a container—a vessel specifically crafted to cultivate dark energy and karmic debt. Such a person had to be alive and possess innate power. It was said that the more powerful the person turned into a vessel, the more karma and malice the vessel could store.

As the saying goes: *A living man turned to a furnace has no afterlife; the sins of this life are repaid in this life. With no regard for right or wrong, the body is consumed, the furnace extinguished, and the form of man is lost forever.*