"This remains to be verified," Shen Cang replied.
Prince Ming circled around Hua Jinyan, shaking his head, "The Rainbow Relic is beyond repair, but your weakened state is easy to heal."
With hands fluttering like butterflies, Prince Ming formed a seal, imprinting a mark onto Hua Jinyan’s forehead.
Hua Jinyan’s pale face regained color at a visible rate, and his gray lips gradually reddened.
"Feeling a bit tired now," Prince Ming stretched and yawned deeply, "Little disciple, you only have one chance left..." As his voice faded, Prince Ming’s body became ethereal and gradually disappeared.
Little Taotie clutched the Horse-Faced Bell tightly, left with only one chance.
Shen Cang stayed a while longer before his figure also began to blur, eventually transforming into a single strand of white hair that fell to the ground. Little Taotie reached out to pick it up, only to find the hair had already turned to powder.
What appeared to be a strand of hair on the ground turned into white powder upon touch.
"Is it useless now?" Little Taotie asked in confusion, "The captain used it once last time, and the hair returned to the bottle. It should still be usable. Why has it become one-time use when it comes to me?"
Although Xiangxiang couldn’t see the two powerful figures, she guessed something from Little Taotie’s words, and said, "It’s different. Based on the last incident, the Ghost-faced People ran away as soon as they saw the hair appear. The hair didn’t use any abilities, so its power was preserved. But this time, the hair erased the Formation at the car’s rear, which probably consumed all the energy of the hair."
"So that’s how it is..." Little Taotie looked at Hua Jinyan with concern, asking, "Do you feel better now?"
"I’m fine," he answered.
"But your Rainbow Relic is cracked, can it still be of use?"
Hua Jinyan touched the crack, "It can still hide my aura, but the power that protected me from injury and made the Ghosts fear me is gone."
The once intact Rainbow Relic could not only disguise the strange allure on Hua Jinyan that attracted Ghosts but also created an invisible shield around him, blessed with Buddha’s Light. Any Spiritual Body that approached and touched the shield would instantly disintegrate into ash.
But now that the Rainbow Relic was deeply cracked, because the Buddha’s power from the relic was used once for "Words Conform to Law," the original transparent illumination shattered, ceasing to exist.
The Rainbow Relic’s only remaining function is to conceal Hua Jinyan’s aura, so it does not lure the coveting Ghosts. However, should any Ghost seek to harm Hua Jinyan, he has then become vulnerable, no longer able to use the Relic’s power to threaten the Ghosts into doing his bidding as before.
"Can it truly not be fixed?" Little Taotie sighed like an adult, "It’s very hard to find a second one. If it’s entirely ineffective, unable to shield your aura, you’ll become a Ghost magnet again."
Hua Jinyan pursed his lips, "At worst, I go back to the temple."
Little Taotie remembered the scene of their first meeting, when Hua Jinyan was silent and seemed very depressed. His flat fringe nearly covered his eyes, like a mushroom growing in a dark corner that would die if exposed to sunlight.
She tilted her little head, her bright eyes filled with starlight as she scrutinized Hua Jinyan.
Hua Jinyan was different now, even though he still liked wearing black clothes that seemed lifeless, he would also agree to wear a red pin or occasionally dress in the same color clothes as her after she cajoled him.
His eyes were not as deep and dark as when they first met.
It was as if there was a light in his eyes.
Hua Jinyan met Little Taotie’s scrutinizing gaze, his lips curving into a gentle smile, and asked, "What are you looking at?"