Chapter 91: The Nightmare of a Lawkeeper

"Brother, so he was the one who stole your Seven Fiends Gourd? You should have said so sooner. I would have had Uncle cripple the brat. Still, it is not too late now. Heh, heh, boy, you have quite the nerve."

Heitu fixed Chen Yuyi with a sinister smile.

Chen Yuyi smiled faintly. "If I didn't have nerve, would I have dared board the true person vessel?"

Heitu was taken aback by the remark. "What do you mean?"

At that moment, Yidao's expression changed slightly. "Boy, do you mean to say you discovered some secret aboard the vessel?"

Seeing that look on Yidao's face, Chen Yuyi became even more certain of his suspicions. "What do you think?"

Shen Youlin and Liang Bingyan could make little of the exchange.

"Brother-in-law, what secret is there on this true person vessel?" Shen Youlin could not help asking.

Liang Bingyan was also looking at him in confusion.

Heishan became even more guarded. He had always feared Chen Yuyi to some degree, and now he edged two steps closer to Yidao.

"We can ask him about that secret," Chen Yuyi said with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Hand over the Seven Fiends Gourd, and I may still let you live one more day!" Yidao rose to his feet, his face icy with cold.

Terrified by his aura, Liang Bingyan and Shen Youlin both retreated a few steps.

Chen Yuyi stepped in front of them, spread his hands, and said teasingly, "What gourd? I do not have any gourd on me."

That gourd and jade pendant had already been used to nourish the Great Luo Star Plate.

"Looks like you refuse the toast only to drink the forfeit!" Yidao's gaze sharpened abruptly, and his hand lifted, palm forming the shape of a blade.

"Even Master Zhong does not frighten me. Why would I fear a freak like you?" Chen Yuyi said calmly with his hands behind his back.

Looking at Chen Yuyi now, Shen Youlin felt as though he had become a completely different person. She stared at him, almost dazed. Was this really her brother-in-law?

Liang Bingyan had already realized that Shen Zhujun's bargain husband was not simple. Unexpectedly, after so many years of success in the business world, she too had misjudged someone.

"How dare you call my uncle a, a, a freak? You're courting death!" Heitu relied most on Yidao, and naturally would not tolerate such an insult to his uncle. In his eyes, Chen Yuyi was already a dead man.

Heishan, however, quietly warned Yidao, "Uncle, do not be careless. This boy has some means."

"What can a filthy brat possibly do? Let me teach him a lesson first!" Though Heitu had not learned any real skill, he was emboldened by his uncle's presence and wanted to make himself look good, to regain some face. Seeing that Chen Yuyi seemed utterly unremarkable, he charged straight at him.

Heishan tried to call him back, but it was already too late.

Chen Yuyi merely raised a hand, and Heitu was sent flying backward.

"Trash like you still dare dance in front of me!" Chen Yuyi said as if swatting away a fly.

Shen Youlin was struck dumb. This brother-in-law was not only rich; he could fight too. No, it was more like sorcery. With a single wave of his hand, he sent someone flying away. How astonishing!

Liang Bingyan was equally stunned. Who exactly was this man?

Heishan hurried to help Heitu up, only to see that his face was covered in blood and his mouth was frothing red. He was drawing in a breath with no strength left to exhale. Fury instantly flashed in Heishan's eyes as he glared at Chen Yuyi. "Boy, you dare kill my junior brother!"

Even Yidao, after that one strike from Chen Yuyi, let a trace of surprise flicker through his eyes. This far exceeded his estimate of the man's strength. In his eyes, such a petty trick was nothing to speak of, but he could tell that Chen Yuyi's earlier casual move had been anything but serious, and the true extent of his power was still difficult to fathom.

"You do have a few tricks. Then try taking my blade-palm!"

Yidao's blade-palm was formed from the power of conjured law and a ghostly wind. It was a vicious art he had refined through countless corpses. The wind from his palm was frigid and eerie, and it specialized in severing a person's life force. It would not kill immediately. Rather, it would torment its victim to death, like ten thousand ants gnawing at flesh.

At once, a chilling energy filled the entire room.

Shen Youlin and Liang Bingyan both clung to each other in terror.

"Good, this is more like it!" Chen Yuyi smiled. The more powerful a law-caster was, the more he liked them. It was not only beneficial to him; they were also the finest nourishment for the Great Luo Star Plate. Having just fed the previous jade pendant and the Seven Fiends Gourd to it, his spiritual power had increased considerably, leaving him with a faint sense of incompletion. The law power revealed by Yidao now suited him perfectly.

The Great Luo Star Plate was not picky about what it devoured. Yin or yang, so long as the power was formidable, it was delicious to it.

Thus there was no need for Chen Yuyi to use his own body to meet that ghostly wind blade-palm.

He flipped his hand, and the Great Luo Star Plate appeared in his palm.

Then he gave a soft cry: "Go devour it!"

The Great Luo Star Plate spun like a top, whirling rapidly as though in excitement, then shot out in a flash.

Before Yidao's blade-palm could even reach Chen Yuyi, it was completely swallowed by the Great Luo Star Plate, leaving him utterly stunned.

"What is that thing?" Shen Youlin blinked as she stared at the Great Luo Star Plate, her curiosity piqued. It had completely overturned everything she knew.

Liang Bingyan's eyes, however, lit up. That was a true magical artifact!

After absorbing the palm strike, the Great Luo Star Plate did not stop spinning. Instead, it flew straight toward Yidao.

Yidao's face changed dramatically. Sensing danger, he began retreating again and again.

But how could he outrun the Great Luo Star Plate?

The Great Star Plate came down over his head in an instant, and the starlight on its surface began to flow.

Yidao felt as if he had been bound by a freezing spell and could not move at all. Terror surged through him.

Heishan, seeing this, was equally alarmed, but he did not dare step forward. He could only watch helplessly as his uncle was trapped beneath the star plate.

Strands of white light, thin as silk or thread, began rising from Yidao's head and surging into the Great Luo Star Plate.

Yidao's face twisted in agony, his eyes filled with hatred.

All of his power was being absorbed by the Great Luo Star Plate, and he was utterly helpless.

Inwardly, he kept wondering what this treasure was, and who that man could be. How could such an unbelievable artifact exist in this world?

After a long while, the Great Luo Star Plate finally ceased spinning and flew back to Chen Yuyi's side.

By then, Yidao had collapsed limply to the floor. His power was completely gone; he was no different from a废人, a crippled husk. He lacked even the strength to stand. Glowering in unwilling rage, he asked weakly, "Who are you? How can you possess such a treasure?"

With his experience, he naturally understood that owning such a treasure meant any highly skilled law-caster would be no match for this man. Worse still, their power would be absorbed by it. It was a nightmare for law-casters.

"Were you not all waiting for me?" Chen Yuyi said, stroking the Great Luo Star Plate.

Having devoured Yidao's power, the Great Luo Star Plate seemed to have eaten its fill as well. The starlike points upon it flickered on and off, expressing its satisfaction.

"You are that Mister Chen!" Yidao suddenly recalled someone.

"Now do you still think Zhong Zhenren can do anything to me?"

Yidao laughed toward the heavens a few times. "Even if you can keep yourself safe before Zhong Zhenren, so what? You cannot leave this ship! And everyone aboard will die because of you. Can you bear watching them perish? Besides, you have no idea what you are about to face!"

"Brother-in-law, what does he mean? What do you mean everyone on the ship will die?" Shen Youlin asked in confusion.

Liang Bingyan was also deeply puzzled as she looked at Chen Yuyi.

"Do not be afraid. With your brother-in-law here, nothing will happen to you," Chen Yuyi said, hearing her call him brother-in-law and feeling a little pleased.

"And you need not be afraid either." He turned to Liang Bingyan. This woman seemed rather agreeable to him. Though she had opposed him somewhat at the gathering, she had done so for the sake of Shen Zhujun and him. And since she had just stayed behind voluntarily to help him, he would not allow her to come to harm.

"Give me the hand with the bracelet on it." He intended to erase the evil eye from Liang Bingyan's bracelet as well.

By now, Liang Bingyan trusted Chen Yuyi completely and immediately held out her hand.

After Chen Yuyi removed the evil eye from her bracelet, he said to Yidao, "How could such a petty trick hide from my eyes? What living dead, what healing the white bones? Is it not merely drawing others' life force into yourself so you may cultivate some evil art?"

Yidao stared blankly for a moment. "So you really discovered this secret. But what of it? Can you save one person? Two? Three? Even ten? Can you save everyone on this ship?"

"Why must I save them one by one? If I simply destroy Zhong Zhenren, would anything still happen?" Chen Yuyi shook his head. "What nonsense about Zhong Zhenren. The reason I came aboard this true person vessel was to send that master and disciple pair to meet in the underworld!"

Suddenly, the entire ship began to shake violently...