"Master Chen's arts are truly profound!"
Zheng and Yuan were quick to flatter him.
They understood nothing of sorcery, but that did not mean they lacked silver tongues.
Yet not a flicker of a smile crossed Chen Fakui's face. With a dark scowl, he snapped urgently, "What is there to celebrate? This art merely halts anyone climbing the mountain; the real threat is at the bottom!
"The newcomer must be from my own sect. He has already unleashed one command gang. In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he will unleash a second. Once all three command gangs are released, the City God Temple's She Ling spirit soldiers will arrive, and we will all be dead!"
Fear gripped Zheng Heibei's heart. "Ah? Then shouldn't we hurry and flee?!"
"Flee?"
Chen Fakui gritted his teeth. "To achieve great things, tribulation must be faced! If we miss tonight, I will have to wait another three years, and I cannot afford to wait!
"Yuan Qu, go down the mountain.
"You don't need to fight him to the death. Just disrupt his casting!"
Yuan Qu turned pale. Just as he was about to make excuses, Chen Fakui swept his peachwood sword, spearing a talisman paper. He ignited it, thrust it sharply toward Yuan Qu, and chanted, "Om hum hum! Heaven attaches to earth, earth attaches to man! Flying souls cross the sea, seize and possess living souls! Swift!"
The moment the words fell, Yuan Qu froze completely.
He could feel a surge of yin qi, laden with frigid killing intent, erupting from beneath the earth and pouring straight into his body. It was as though he had plunged into an ice vault, and his mind went entirely blank.
Soon, however, the yin qi welled out from his interior and converged upon the blood-red talismans covering his skin, returning him to consciousness.
"A-Are you all right?"
Beside him, Zheng Heibei swallowed hard.
Yuan Qu stared at his hands, his eyes wide with disbelief. Then he clenched his fists with a sharp crack of knuckles and grinned savagely. "I'm fine. I... I've never felt better!"
He could feel a tremendous surge of power rising out of nowhere within him, while his skin felt armored in cold iron. Not only had all fear vanished from his heart, but boundless killing intent surged in its place.
Vaguely, a voice kept shouting in his ear:
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Whoosh!
Without the slightest hesitation, Yuan Qu reversed his grip on a pair of daggers, leaped four or five meters in a single bound, and then kicked off with both feet, bolting out of the burial chamber.
Zheng Heibei watched in stunned silence.
This was the Ape Leap from the Zhou family's Zi Monkey Fist. It unleashed hidden jin in the legs, erupting with formidable force in an instant to close in for an ambush kill.
To some extent, it was considered a secret technique.
Yet this move was taxing, demanding a moment to recover one's breath and qi; otherwise, an opponent could easily exploit the opening, so it was reserved only for critical moments.
To use it merely for travel was downright extravagant.
What was more, Yuan Qu hadn't paused to catch his breath between leaps at all!
Is this the power of Xuanmen...?
At that thought, Zheng Heibei felt his confidence surge.
Beside him, Chen Fakui's face remained grim. His fingers twitched incessantly as he calculated the time, a flicker of anxiety showing in his eyes...
……………
In the dense woods, Li Yan and Luo Mingzi pressed forward.
The hillside here was exceptionally steep, the loose earth and stones shifting underfoot, but fortunately thick pines and cypresses grew everywhere, offering easy handholds to pull themselves upward.
"As expected, he has made preparations."
Watching the faint mist rise around them, Luo Mingzi did not seem surprised. He said calmly, "This is the Jiuyuan Sect's Yin Ghost Mountain Locking Art, an unorthodox secret technique. It mobilizes the yin sha qi of the earth veins to summon lonely souls and wild ghosts, forming a ghost wall.
"The yin qi is thick, allowing the specters to see as well. But you have the art of concealment, so those things cannot see us. As long as you do not stare at them, they will not detect you!"
"Understood, Senior!"
Li Yan nodded solemnly.
He knew the other man was offering guidance, and naturally he would not refuse such goodwill.
What was more, with his divine nose power already awakened, he could keenly scent the frigid yin qi around them, as well as the rotting, resentful stench rising from deep underground in the distance.
Sure enough, before they had gone far, an eerie phenomenon appeared.
Beneath a pine tree, a figure flickered faintly in and out of view.
It was a short man clad in coarse black cloth, his face as white as paper. He stood motionless with bowed head, his back turned to them.
An earth rat!
Taking in the creature's attire, Li Yan immediately had an inkling.
Sure enough, an overgrown robber's tunnel appeared in the ground nearby, clearly of considerable age.
Most likely, this was an unlucky wretch who had been murdered by his own crew.
This was not the first time Li Yan had encountered such things, and having braced himself beforehand, he quickly looked away and kept moving forward.
Before long, they spotted even more spirits.
These apparitions still wore their mortal clothing and retained the grisly states of their deaths.
Some were simply clad with shattered, mangled bodies—probably herb gatherers who had climbed the mountain only to be ambushed and mauled by beasts...
Others wore ancient artisans' clothing, their severed heads parted from their necks...
As for lavishly robed tomb occupants, there were virtually none; the Wei and Jin dynasties were far too distant, and few spirits could endure for so long.
Just as Luo Mingzi had said, once these lonely souls and wild ghosts emerged, the foul, dark sha qi nestled within subterranean rocks and rotting leaves found a guiding force, swirling in loops along the mountain path and through the trees.
When ordinary people ran into such a situation, the sha qi would invade their spirits, spawning all kinds of hallucinations that led to getting lost or even possessed—what was known as a "ghost wall."
Yet with Li Yan's divine power, such petty tricks could hardly hinder them.
Maintaining his concealment seal, he led Luo Mingzi forward.
Rustle! Crash!
As they drew near their destination, a violent clamor erupted ahead, as if something were tearing rapidly through the woods.
Luo Mingzi yanked Li Yan behind a tree.
A figure came bolting toward them at startling speed, careening as if possessed by madness. The runner did not even swerve around tree limbs, smashing straight through branches and tearing his clothes on thorns.
In the blink of an eye, the figure was gone.
"Yuan Qu?"
Recognizing the man, Li Yan furrowed his brow.
It was Yuan Qu without a doubt, but his entire body was enveloped in swirling yin sha qi, resembling a ghost-possessed vessel whose prowess had surged considerably.
"It is a spirit medium technique," Luo Mingzi remarked with a brief glance. "He has merely invited some yin ghosts and foul things to possess him—a minor trick. Fellow Daoist Zhao and the others can handle him."
Though worry tugged at his heart, Li Yan knew what took priority.
Once they shattered the altar and rescued Wang Daoxuan's living soul, everything would naturally be resolved.
Yet just as he turned around, a cry floated in from behind:
"Little Brother Yan, wait for me..."
The voice was faint and hazy, unmistakably sounding like Sha Lifei.
How could Sha Lifei have followed them up?
"Don't make a sound!"
Just as Li Yan moved to turn, Luo Mingzi warned in a low, urgent whisper, "It's a puppet soul-calling art! Your concealment art is rudimentary, and you've been spotted. If you answer, you'll fall into its trap!"
Li Yan stiffened, then turned slowly around.
He could already scent a bone-chilling cold. Upon turning, he was startled to see a wooden puppet perched on a branch ten paces back.
Dressed in the attire of a theatrical huadan, it was no longer than an arm's length. Clinging like a spider, it hung upside down, staring at him with a rigid face. Its mouth opened and closed in rhythm, the cries relentlessly ringing in his ears.
It was indeed a soul-calling art!
Li Yan had experienced something similar when dealing with the cold-altar rampaging soldier, so he did not panic.
Yin creatures excelled at this art, targeting the vulnerabilities of the human heart.
Having just seen Yuan Qu depart and feeling concerned for Sha Lifei, he had naturally heard Sha Lifei's voice.
Just as Luo Mingzi had said, his concealment art was purely foundational and learned in a single afternoon. While sufficient to dupe lonely souls and wild ghosts, it could not fool a creation like this.
And the puppet's gaze was fixed entirely upon him, utterly oblivious to Luo Mingzi beside him—it clearly had not detected the Daoist.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Right then, leaves and branches rustled ceaselessly all around.
Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, Chou—all five puppets emerged, surrounding him.
"Senior, I'll draw them off and lead the way. Don't reveal yourself!"
Li Yan muttered in a low voice. Releasing his left-hand seal, he dropped his concealment art altogether, no longer hiding his presence, and wheeled around to sprint.
Luo Mingzi's brows knitted slightly, but he followed close behind.
He understood Li Yan's plan: since the concealment was already useless, Li Yan would act as bait to draw Chen Fakui's attention and create an opening for Luo Mingzi to launch a surprise attack.
Though perilous, it was the best course of action.
Swish!
With his concealment abandoned, Li Yan's speed surged.
Yet danger descended immediately in turn.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Along tree trunks on both flanks, the five puppets bounded and scrambled like spiders with terrifying speed, rapidly closing their circle around him once more.
At the same time, the lonely souls and wild ghosts upon the mountain locked their sights on him.
In an instant, a gale of yin wind howled, and ghostly silhouettes flickered in and out of sight all around.
Clang!
Li Yan drew his saber from its sheath and activated the demon-suppressing coin saber tassel.
As the tassel swayed, a chilling killing aura radiated outward.
The treasure possessed remarkable power; the swarming lonely souls and wild ghosts scattered like frightened rabbits.
Witnessing this, Luo Mingzi's eyes brightened.
He had not expected that an unorthodox novice who had not even built the first tier of the tower would possess such a magical artifact.
Of course, the wooden puppets were not frightened away.
Whoosh!
The puppet dressed as an elderly laosheng came whistling through the air.
Sporting white hair and a white beard with a benevolent expression, the dragon-head walking stick in its hands was nonetheless sharp as an awl, hurtling with astonishing speed straight toward Li Yan's skull...
Chapter 73