CHapter 216: Evil bead
Mo Fan pressed again, “Is it him?”
Mochizuki Chihaya turned around, nodded excitedly, and quickly spoke in Japanese to the person in the stone chamber.
A low voice responded from within.
Moments later, her expression turned angry. She came back to Mo Fan and said, “Damn General Takagi. He’s guarding the Eastern Guard Pavilion while secretly lining his own pockets.”
“It turns out the prison’s curse formation doesn’t let the prisoners’ soul source dissipate. Instead, it gathers it together and condenses it into something called a Condensed Evil Bead.”
“Takagi wants to keep that thing for himself to help his summoned beast break through.”
“When my brother Iwata found out, he was thrown into prison.”
“No, we can’t let him succeed.”
But the more Mochizuki Chihaya spoke, the more awkward it felt. Then she suddenly realized it and looked at Mo Fan with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“That’s right… as agreed, whatever we obtain here belongs to you.”
Seeing this, Mo Fan only smiled faintly and nodded.
Mochizuki Chihaya bit her lip. This Condensed Evil Bead was clearly a treasure, yet now it was going to fall into someone else’s hands. But she couldn’t bring herself to object. After all, without Mo Fan, she would never have made it this far.
Mo Fan chuckled and said, “Don’t rush. Let’s find it first.”
Beside them, Zhao Manyan had also roughly figured it out. This so-called Condensed Evil Bead was probably an extraordinary spiritual item formed from a mass of evil power, curses, and soul essence.
They followed the direction Iwata had indicated. The Condensed Evil Bead was hidden in the lowest level of the Pavilion. Due to the complex internal structure of the entire fortress, without guidance it would have been nearly impossible to reach the core node that absorbed the prisoners’ souls in the Eastern Guard Pavilion.
Fortunately, Iwata had already given Mochizuki Chihaya directions and warned her about the dark labyrinth below.
There weren’t any guards in this area at all. It looked just like a broken-down basement, nothing special.
Yet, in the center of the room, a murky, malevolent bead hovered in the air.
The moment Mo Fan saw it, his eyes sharpened. The Shadow Element within him stirred faintly, his Space perception rippled on instinct, and even his Light Element gave off a subtle restlessness.
“This thing reeks of curses and resentment,” Mo Fan said in a low voice.
As for Mochizuki Chihaya, the instant she saw the Condensed Evil Bead, a strange impulse suddenly welled up in her heart.
She acted on it, stepping forward to take it.
But the next moment, a silver ripple flashed, and her body was abruptly pulled back. Mo Fan had used his Space control to stop her before her fingers could touch the bead.
“Wait,” Mo Fan said.
At those words, rage suddenly exploded in Mochizuki Chihaya’s heart, evolving into a sharp and irrational killing intent.
She flung off his hand and shouted, “What’s that supposed to mean?! You already forced me into this situation, and now you want to steal our national treasure too?! You’re going too far!”
Her emotions spiraled rapidly, and gray-blue light shimmered on her hand. It looked like she was about to cast a spell.
Mo Fan frowned.
The moment he entered this place, he had already sensed a faint, invasive negative emotion. It was subtle, almost impossible to notice at first, but the closer they got to the Condensed Evil Bead, the stronger it became. It didn’t attack the body directly. Instead, it slipped in through the cracks of the mind, magnifying greed, anger, desire, and obsession.
Most people wouldn’t notice it until they were already affected.
Mo Fan’s expression turned serious.
This thing was not simple.
He had walked through enough darkness, evil, and demonic backlash to recognize how dangerous this kind of influence was. Compared to ordinary curse objects, this bead was far more vicious because it was formed from condensed soul resentment and long-term corruption. If someone weak-willed touched it recklessly, they might not even realize when they had crossed the line.
Among the three of them, Zhao Manyan had a strong enough will and cultivation to hold out for a bit, and Mo Fan himself had even less reason to fear this kind of spiritual contamination. But Mochizuki Chihaya was different. She had only stayed here a short while, yet her emotions were already being dragged around.
Behind her, cast onto the wall by the dim light, the shadow seemed to twist strangely. It was as though a hideous dark figure was slowly taking shape—headless, many-armed, with a chest full of writhing, blood-red eyes.
Mochizuki Chihaya’s breathing became ragged. “Why are you stopping me?!”
Mo Fan stepped forward.
A dim silver light and a faint holy glow both flickered around him. His Space perception pressed outward, while the tiny bit of Light power he could currently use helped him keep his own mind clear. The oppressive presence rolling off him instantly shattered the distorted emotional pressure in front of him.
With each step Mo Fan took, Mochizuki Chihaya’s expression paled further. The chaotic shadow behind her trembled, as though startled, and began shrinking back.
Eventually, she was forced back against the wall. Only then did her beautiful eyes slowly regain their clarity. The strange shadow behind her returned to normal.
She looked at the floating bead in the center with horror.
“Just now… what exactly was that thing?”
There was still lingering fear in her voice. Ever since entering this place, she had felt a wicked voice circling in her mind, constantly tempting her to cross the line.
“You’ve finally sobered up,” Mo Fan said calmly. “Just because your brother told you something doesn’t make every part of it the full truth. This thing is already beyond what you can handle.”
Zhao Manyan, standing to the side, swallowed hard and muttered, “Damn… this thing is way too cursed.”
Mo Fan ignored him and looked at the Condensed Evil Bead.
His gaze grew deeper.
To others, this thing was a disaster seed, a filthy cursed relic that could corrupt anyone who touched it. But in Mo Fan’s eyes, once the madness, resentment, and curse contamination were stripped away, what remained inside was an unusually dense concentration of dark-attributed soul essence.
A resource like this was too dangerous to use directly, but that didn’t mean it was useless.
If it could be purified… if the chaotic malice could be peeled away and only the pure essence left behind… then perhaps it could be condensed into something else.
An Essence Orb.
A far cleaner and more controllable treasure.
Mo Fan’s mind moved quickly.
Mu Bai’s future path was already drifting deeper and deeper toward darkness. And Zhang Xiaohou… that guy’s future would be even more outrageous. Once he truly stepped onto the path of the Undead Emperor, he would naturally become a ruler of the underworld, a being with extraordinary affinity toward death, demons, and dark forces.
A purified Essence Orb refined from something like the Condensed Evil Bead might be the perfect nourishment for both of them later on.
Of course, the premise was that it had to be purified first.
Otherwise, handing it over directly would be no different from throwing poison into their mouths.
Mo Fan curled his lips slightly.
This trip had really not been in vain.
He slowly walked toward the Condensed Evil Bead.
The murky bead trembled faintly, as if it had sensed something dangerous approaching. Mo Fan didn’t say anything. His Shadow Element quietly wrapped around his hand, and a thread of silver Space force isolated the bead from the surrounding curse field before he reached out and grabbed it.
The moment his fingers touched the Condensed Evil Bead, a fierce wave of dark resentment rushed toward him.
Mo Fan’s eyes instantly turned cold.
His Shadow Element swallowed part of the backlash, his mental strength forcefully stabilized the rest, and the faint Light power in his spiritual world prevented the invading filth from spreading further.
After a brief struggle, the Condensed Evil Bead finally quieted down.
Mo Fan examined it for a moment, then stored it away.
Mochizuki Chihaya stared blankly. She hadn’t expected him to suppress it so directly.
Mo Fan said flatly, “Let’s go. Time to find your father.”
The three of them quietly left the Eastern Guard Pavilion.
Mochizuki Chihaya and the others had no objections. They also felt that this was already a major matter that had to be brought to someone with real authority.
Soon after, deep in the night, the dutiful daughter went and directly woke up Mochizuki Meiken.
The old man, bleary-eyed and drowsy, looked at the three of them with a bitter smile. Even though he had been disturbed, he still maintained a gentle tone. “What’s the matter that you came looking for me?”
When Mo Fan brought out the Condensed Evil Bead, the old man’s expression changed completely, his eyes turning razor sharp.
Mochizuki Meiken asked gravely, “Where did you get this?”
When he heard Mochizuki Chihaya recount everything, he sighed.
“That child Iwata… I owe you all an apology.”
“It’s not that I didn’t care about Iwata. In fact, I already suspected he was imprisoned in the Eastern Guard Pavilion and had been investigating in secret. I didn’t expect it to cause such a misunderstanding.”
He then spoke of old matters regarding the Condensed Evil Bead.
He emphasized, “This Condensed Evil Bead must be purified. If left alone, it will only continue to amplify evil thoughts and eventually give birth to something disastrous.”