Sunshine Boy said hurriedly, "Mother, don’t panic! Our lifeblood is connected, I’m right here! If you don’t believe me, feel it for yourself—aren’t our lives linked by blood? It’s Hao Yunsheng who’s interfering, trying to sever our bond."
The Rattle fell silent.
Behind the black curtain, the Deceitful Mother was stunned for a moment, then began to weep with joy. "My son, my son!" she cried. "Mother thought you had run away. Let Mother have a good look at you..."
As she spoke, six thick, plump, and doughy white arms snaked out from behind the black curtain like giant pythons, extending slowly toward Sunshine Boy.
Unlike before, the surface of each arm was cracked, leaking a grayish-yellow mist.
The Captain looked at Sunshine Boy, who explained, "When Deceit isn’t manifest, it’s untouchable. When it manifests in the world, it can be harmed in countless ways. What we are seeing is real! You can’t kill the Deceit, but you can injure its manifested body! Remember, do not charge into the black curtain."
Suddenly, Sunshine Boy’s body trembled, and he shouted, "Mother, I chose the name Ye Han, and because of it, my Fate Grid is being controlled by Hao Yunsheng! Please, weaken Hao Yunsheng’s Fate Grid and take back my body. I’m spouting nonsense... I can’t control my own body anymore!"
As he spoke, Sunshine Boy caressed the Qiankun Ring on his hand, putting his things away. He then checked the items inside, cursed Hao Yunsheng under his breath, and began reading the *Dinggu Studio Notes*, quickly flipping through it for useful information.
The Captain took the lead. "With me! Block the Deceitful Mother!"
He infused his True Essence into the Divine Pattern Flying Sword. A two-foot-long white Sword Qi shot from its tip. Wielding the sword like a saber, he executed the Night Cutting Saber Technique of the Night Guard.
With several flashes of Sword Qi from the Eighth-Grade Martial Cultivator, all six hands were severed at the wrist and fell to the ground.
The six large white hands melted into a grayish-yellow liquid that corroded the ground, SIZZLING and emitting white smoke.
"My hands..." The Deceitful Mother’s voice held no trace of pain, only rage. Her arms thrashed about in midair like six white pythons as new, large white hands slowly began to grow.
The Captain felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down to see that the Blood Lotus had grown a size larger. The Wooden Talisman People in his robes had lost a leg, and a leaf of Mugwort had withered.
He glanced at the unconscious Hao Yunsheng, then at Sunshine Boy, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. Taking a deep breath, he said in a low voice, "The Deceitful Mother’s arms have no technique; it is not a Cultivator. They are merely infused with Deceitful Power. Everyone, avoid the liquid! Also, injuring it worsens our condition as Victims of Deceit. At this point, we can only press forward! I’ll handle four of the arms. The rest of you, divide the other two among yourselves!"
The other four Night Guards conferred. The Book Listener and the foodie would take one arm, while the dual-wielder and the spearman would handle the last.
Once the six arms had regrown, the foodie was about to smash one with his Familiar Copper Rod when the Book Listener stopped him. He grabbed a Thunder Talisman imbued with ten percent Magical Power—a gift from Sunshine Boy—wrapped it around a black iron dart, and hurled it forward.
The Thunder Talisman landed on a large white hand and exploded with a BOOM! Electricity CRACKLED, surging up the arm and scorching half of it black.
The others brandished their weapons and lopped off the other white hands.
"Give me back my son..." The Deceitful Mother seemed to feel no pain. Her arms continued to squirm, growing five new hands.
The arm that had been scorched by the Thunder Talisman was still writhing, regenerating far slower than the others.
"Do you have more?" the Captain asked, overjoyed.
"Lots!" The Book Listener immediately handed Thunder Talismans to the others. They followed his example, using darts or getting in close to slap the talismans onto the Deceitful Mother’s arms.
Sunshine Boy suddenly took out a large stack of Thunder Talismans and placed them on the ground, exclaiming at the same time, "Damn that Hao Yunsheng! He’s controlling my body again! You are forbidden from taking these Thunder Talismans!"
The Book Listener took them without hesitation and distributed them to the others.
"You bastards! Mother, be careful," Sunshine Boy said with feigned concern, his attention simultaneously divided as he read the Life Book.
"Don’t worry, my son, they can’t hurt Mother. Mother just... can you kill that Hao Yunsheng?"
Sunshine Boy said helplessly, "My body is under his control. If I develop the intent to kill, I won’t survive."
"Alas, my poor son..."
Sunshine Boy turned his consciousness back to his Life Mansion.
In the sky of his Life Mansion, the Deceitful Mother Fate Grid looked like glistening white chunks of chopped fat, scattered everywhere, slowly wriggling toward the center to coalesce.
The Light Chain still existed, linking the Deceitful Mother and Deceitful Infant Fate Grids.
On the other side, the Iron Armor Talisman Man stood at the edge of Hao Yunsheng’s Life Mansion. Endless golden light erupted from Hao Yunsheng’s Life Mansion, shining upon the Deceitful Mother Fate Grid and isolating the fragmented chunks of fat.
Suddenly, the Long Qi Fortune Bridge trembled lightly, its surface rapidly cracking, threatening to collapse at any moment.
Sunshine Boy pointed a finger, and a Qi Fortune Fish leaped out, reinforcing the Long Qi Fortune Bridge.
Then, a sudden inspiration struck Sunshine Boy, and he began to chant the Life-Hunting Technique.
"Life and death, longevity and doom—this is Fate. Rise and fall, poverty and success—this is Fortune..."
With the first recitation, the Destiny Fishing Rod flew up. Its hook swept repeatedly across the glistening chunks of fat, tearing off a small piece with each pass.
With the second recitation, the Destiny Measuring Ruler flew up. It ignored the large chunks and smacked fiercely at the smaller pieces, shattering them further.
With the third recitation, the Destiny Scale flew up. Its scale weight whistled through the air, smashing the small pieces of fat.
Under the golden light from Hao Yunsheng’s Life Mansion, the smallest pieces of fat slowly melted and disappeared.
Sunshine Boy glanced at the Great Cutting Sword on Destiny Star Mountain. He commanded the three Life Artifacts to continue their assault, then withdrew his consciousness from his Life Mansion to resume reading the Life Book.
The *Dinggu Studio Notes* was written by Dinggu True Scholar, a renegade of the Celestial Fate Sect. Its contents were fragmented but profound.
Dinggu True Scholar had once encountered a Deceitful Mother—though not this specific one—and the notes contained everything he could remember about it.
However, Dinggu True Scholar had not been the Deceiver at the time. After the Deceit was resolved, parts of his memory had been eroded by Deceitful Power, so he could only recall parts of the process. Much of the content was his own speculation.
Sunshine Boy first skimmed through the sections related to the Deceitful Mother, then read them again carefully.
Aside from a few minor details, most of it was just as Hao Yunsheng had described. Dinggu True Scholar had deduced two methods for resolving the Deceit.
As a Fate Master and a two-time Victim of Deceit, Sunshine Boy could see at a glance that Dinggu True Scholar had completely forgotten the specific details.
This Qiankun Ring was exceptionally magical, like a Divine Artifact for searching. With a single thought, it could flip any book inside to the relevant page.
Soon, Sunshine Boy found a detail that Hao Yunsheng had not mentioned, one that happened to involve the Great Cutting Sword.
As he learned more about the Great Cutting Sword, Sunshine Boy sighed internally. ’If only Hao Yunsheng had shared this notebook just one day earlier, this journey to resolve the Deceit would have been much smoother.’
’Unfortunately, it’s too late. There are three Techniques inside for enhancing the Great Cutting Sword, but I have no time to cultivate them, let alone use them.’
According to Dinggu True Scholar’s notes, the Celestial Fate Sect believed that no one could ever truly slay Deceit. The so-called annihilation of Deceit by the Great Cutting Sword was merely the severing of its "manifestation." The true root of Deceit lay in the "Deceit World," and the Celestial Fate Sect believed that the Deceit in that world was eternal and indestructible.
Any Deceit whose manifestation was severed could never again enter the present world, which was equivalent to being annihilated.
Great Deceits were profoundly mysterious and unpredictable, but ordinary Deceits always followed certain patterns. Some would entrust their power to a physical object in the present world.
Therefore, finding that physical object and severing the connection between it and the Deceit was another method of resolving Deceit.
In this section, Dinggu True Scholar added a line, speculating that the best way to resolve the Deceitful Mother was likely this very method: severing its connection to a physical object.
Seeing this, Sunshine Boy breathed a sigh of relief.
’I’ve finally found it.’
Back in the Imperial Prison West Courtyard, someone had mentioned this method of resolving Deceit, but it hadn’t been suitable for the Yellow Springs Mysterious Land at the time.
Sunshine Boy looked up at the scene before him.