Chapter 107: Strange Six-Headed Hand

Yinyin Island is located at the northeasternmost tip of the Congyun Sea. Li Fan spent over twenty days in total to reach its vicinity.

The island was small and barren of vegetation. Only a square, imposing building stood on the island. From a distance, faint wails of human suffering could be heard carried by the sea breeze.

"Is Senior Yinyin present, fellow Daoist?" Li Fan called out in a clear voice. His voice echoed across the entire island. However, a long time passed without any reply. Li Fan patiently asked again. Only the mournful howl of the sea wind answered him. Li Fan spoke up once more. Still, there was no response.

After pondering for a moment, Li Fan confirmed that his destined opportunity was indeed located here. He cautiously maintained his guard and descended, landing in front of the square building on the island. The building appeared to be constructed from some kind of dark greenish-black stone, with no other doors or windows apart from a large main entrance in the center. Inside the doorway, it was pitch black, a darkness that seemed to swallow not only light but also spiritual sense. This made it impossible to discern the precise situation within. Only intermittent cries and wails continuously emerged from it. The place exuded an eerie aura, forcing Li Fan to heighten his vigilance as he slowly stepped inside.

Just as he was about to enter, he suddenly heard a rapid sound. A small, dog-like creature scurried out from within, heading straight to collide with Li Fan. Li Fan initially thought it was an attacking strange beast and was about to strike it down. However, a sweep of his spiritual sense revealed it was just an ordinary small creature. As a guest, it would be inappropriate to casually kill the host's pet. So, Li Fan extended his hand, grabbed it by the neck, and lifted it up. Taken by surprise, the small creature let out a frightened whimper, trembling all over. With a soft thud, the item it had been holding in its mouth also dropped to the ground.

Examining the creature closely in front of him, Li Fan felt a chill of disgust. The creature resembled a dog, but its four limbs were like human hands. On its belly, five or six eye-like organs moved around, shifting back and forth. They blinked occasionally, staring intently at Li Fan. "What in the world is this..." Suppressing the urge to immediately throw it away, Li Fan held it and placed it behind him. He slowly walked into the darkness.

After a moment, as Li Fan's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could discern the scene before him. Contrary to his expectations of a grim and terrifying place, the interior was quite clean. The floor was spotless, with no traces of blood. Scattered within were transparent cages, holding many peculiar-looking creatures. These bizarre creatures were all listlessly sprawled in their cages and didn't seem particularly aggressive. They remained indifferent even when someone approached. It seemed the cages were one-way transparent, as the creatures inside couldn't see out.

Among these strangely shaped creatures were giant pythons with two heads, entangled in what appeared to be a perpetual struggle. Some resembled a large disc covered with tiny, constantly wriggling maggots, swimming in water. Others were clearly stitched together from two different species, having a goat's head and a turtle's body. The most disturbing to Li Fan was a monster composed of six human heads fused together. From the top of each head, two arms extended, embedding themselves beneath the previous head, giving the appearance that one head was holding up another. From the bottom of the lowest head, two small hands grew out. This "six-headed hand" creature's entire body stood upright, resembling a gigantic insect, crawling around its cage using its lowest small hands as feelers. As it crawled, its six heads turned in different directions, their pale faces devoid of any expression. Even in his most terrifying nightmares, Li Fan had never encountered such a grotesque monster. Suppressing the discomfort rising within him, he glanced at it only briefly before quickly moving on.

"I must find you, I must find you..." Listening intently, he heard faint whispers, seemingly repeating themselves endlessly, coming from deep within the building. Li Fan followed the sound further inside until he reached a large, rectangular transparent cage. Four smaller cells, two on each side, were connected to this rectangular cage. Each of these smaller cells held an ordinary human. Strange devices were connected to their bodies. It seemed as if something was moving inside them, as noticeable bulges rapidly shifted across their bodies. Each time a bulge reached a spot, it caused the flesh to rapidly fester. However, as the bulge moved on, some of these lesions slowly healed, while others worsened. In an instant, a deep black hole would form, exposing the white bones beneath. The plight of these mortals was no less brutal than the most agonizing torture; they writhed and wailed on the ground. Some had already ceased breathing, reduced to a mere mass of flesh that still twitched incessantly.

A figure stood directly in front of the large rectangular transparent cage. Li Fan looked, observing that the person's hair was somewhat disheveled, a mix of black and white. Their clothes were slovenly and ragged, as if they hadn't been changed in years.

"I must find you, I must find you..." The figure stared obsessively at the transparent cage in front, muttering the phrase repeatedly.

"Senior Yinyin, fellow Daoist?" The person's cultivation was indeed at the Foundation Establishment stage, and he was the only one present. Li Fan spoke, maintaining some distance. However, the other person paid him no heed, showing no reaction whatsoever.

"Woof woof woof!" Just then, the human-handed dog that Li Fan was holding began to struggle and bark frantically, seemingly calling for help from its master.

Startled by the barking, Senior Yinyin suddenly turned his head. Looking at Li Fan, he then seemed to realize, "Oh! A guest has arrived!"

"Oh! A guest has arrived!" Two voices, however, spoke one after another, as if echoing within him before being emitted outwards.

Li Fan's eyelids twitched slightly. Releasing the human-handed dog, he bowed and said, "Greetings, fellow Daoist!"

The moment the small dog landed, it whimpered and scurried to Senior Yinyin's feet, constantly nuzzling him ingratiatingly.

Senior Yinyin tidied his messy hair, looking a bit embarrassed. "I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't hear your call, please forgive me!" Still, two voices strangely spoke one after another, and Senior Yinyin kicked the human-handed dog aside. He then said to Li Fan with considerable enthusiasm, "This isn't the place for conversation. Please, this way, fellow Daoist!"

As he spoke, a nearby door suddenly opened wide, and Senior Yinyin walked inside. The human-handed dog barked cheerfully and trotted along after him.

As Senior Yinyin led the way, he seemed to remember something and turned back to Li Fan. "Oh, by the way, I'm not called Senior Yinyin."

"My name is Senior Yin."

"Senior Yin."

Two voices, one after the other, spoke, making it sound like "Senior Yinyin."

"So that's how it is," Li Fan realized instantly. It was possible that the cultivators of the Congyun Sea used that name to mock him.

"Greetings, Senior Yin, fellow Daoist!" Li Fan greeted him anew. Seeing his name correctly pronounced, Senior Yin was very pleased.