"How dare you!"
Luo Mingzi flew into a rage at the sight, poised to hurl the precious sword in his hand.
Yet Chen Fakui showed no trace of fear as he snatched up a candle from the table.
Luo Mingzi stiffened, halting in his tracks.
For Chen Fakui, realizing he could not hold Luo Mingzi off, had arranged several satchels of gunpowder on the altar, even piling loose powder around the fuses to ensure instant detonation.
Gunpowder was no rarity in the Great Xuan Dynasty.
Though the imperial court strictly prohibited civilian possession, many jianghu gangs and forest outlaws were armed with it, making enforcement all but impossible.
Particularly after the maritime ban was lifted, ocean voyages, bloody naval clashes with foreign nations, and roaring cannons demanded vast quantities of it, prompting many merchant guilds to stockpile it in secret.
By now, the ban existed only in name.
Even so, jianghu figures rarely employed it in their feuds, for using it made an incident a major case that might invite direct investigation by the Commandant Bureau. Right or wrong, anyone who set off gunpowder faced a capital offense.
If Chen Fakui were to toss the candle, the entire tomb chamber would be blown to pieces; neither the children nor Wang Daoxuan's wandering soul jar would survive.
Just then, a faint gleam flashed in Luo Mingzi's eyes.
Gifted with extraordinary vision, he spotted a hand reaching out from a robber's tunnel high in the rear of the tomb chamber, gently pressing downward to signal him not to act rashly.
It was Li Yan, who had slipped inside and used an invisibility technique to conceal his breath, but, also noticing the gunpowder, had held back from dropping down to attack.
Seeing this, Luo Mingzi kept his expression unchanged and urged in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist, Daoist Zhao Facheng told me you once protected your lands as well. Why stoop to this?"
"Protecting my lands?"
Chen Fakui seemed touched by a raw nerve. He gave a tragic laugh. "Yes, I once thought that way too—accumulating yin virtue, staying true to my heart, comprehending the profound mysteries, and bringing glory to my master's lineage in the future.
"But what did I get for it?
"Why should wicked scoundrels live hale and hearty to die of old age in peace, while my ambitions remain unfulfilled and I am stricken with a terminal affliction?
"To hell with yin virtue! The Heavenly Dao is unjust—why should I uphold it?!"
Seeing his growing madness, Luo Mingzi narrowed his eyes slightly and coaxed, "You have not yet committed an irreversible mistake. Even if you die, you could still pass peacefully into reincarnation. But once you tread the demonic path, there will be no turning back."
"Reincarnation?"
Chen Fakui sneered, "Attaining immortality, longevity, reincarnation... Everyone has spoken of them since ancient times, but who has ever witnessed them? They are nothing but lies to dupe fools."
Luo Mingzi gave a cold chuckle. "That only shows your shallow ignorance. Throughout the generations of Xuanmen, countless cultivators have possessed brilliant talents—did you think they were all fools?
"To tell you the truth, I actually know a thing or two..."
"Oh?"
Chen Fakui's attention was hooked, and his grip unconsciously loosened.
Behind him, how could Li Yan miss such an opportunity? He vaulted out into the open, his right hand flicking outward as a locust stone whistled through the air.
Smack!
The candle in Chen Fakui's hand was instantly knocked away.
He knew nothing of hand-to-hand combat; his reflexes were no match for a martial artist's.
Across from him, Luo Mingzi struck with even less mercy. With a flick of his arm, the Seven Stars Sword shot forth like a bolt of white silk, piercing Chen Fakui's chest with a sickening squelch.
Simultaneously, Li Yan landed and swung his Guanshan blade backhanded. Chen Fakui's head instantly took flight, tumbling round and round across the floor.
Thud. The headless corpse collapsed, and Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, Luo Mingzi leapt forward and quickly moved the surrounding braziers and candles away from the satchels of gunpowder in the center of the altar.
Twelve children still lay on the ground; if one of them suddenly woke up and knocked over a brazier in terror, everyone would end up buried alongside them.
Li Yan quickly sheathed his blade and moved to assist.
Right then, however, the hairs on his neck stood on end. A sudden chill surged into his heart, as if a wild beast had materialized out of thin air behind him.
Clang!
Li Yan hurriedly drew his blade and spun around.
He found Chen Fakui's severed head on the ground, staring fixedly at him.
The man was dead, yet a surge of resentful malice rushed straight at him.
"Audacious!"
Luo Mingzi noticed it as well. Unhooking a soul-calming bell from his waist, he shook it with his left hand while forming an incantation seal with his right, barking in a low voice, "Guard your mind! I'll dispel the curse for you!"
Before dying, Chen Fakui had used his final shred of intent to detonate his own spirit preservation belvedere, placing a curse upon Li Yan.
The soul-calming bell jingled crisply, sending waves of gang qi rippling outward with its chimes.
Yet it was a step too late after all.
Li Yan's vision went dark and a splitting headache seized him. Chen Fakui's venomous shrieks seemed to echo in his mind, while hallucinations swam before his eyes:
The six slits Chen Fakui had sliced across his forehead were slowly opening, turning into six eyes that looked in different directions—a truly eerie sight.
Right at that moment, an intense scorching pain shot through his abdomen.
Though agonizing, the pain jolted Li Yan's mind back to clarity.
Looking at Chen Fakui's forehead again, where were the six eyes?
Enduring the agony, he reached to his waist and pulled out an object—it was none other than Wu Laosi's nether warrant!
After Wu Laosi died, this token had returned to normal, its presence vanishing entirely like that of an ordinary medallion.
Sha Lifei had been too frightened to deal with it, so Li Yan had wrapped it in red cloth and tucked it at his waist. He had never imagined it would suddenly undergo an anomaly at such a moment.
Cold sweat covered Li Yan's face as he clutched the nether warrant. It felt as though he held a red-hot branding iron, and the acrid stench of burning flesh even drifted up, yet he could not fling it away no matter how hard he tried.
The pain was like a blade drilling into his heart, numbing his entire arm.
Inside his dantian, the Daluo Dharma Body began repairing itself of its own accord.
The wounds on his hand vanished at once, only to be burned anew by the nether warrant a moment later.
In a brief span, the cycle repeated several times.
At last, the searing pain subsided.
The nether warrant clattered to the ground with a clack. Li Yan's vision went black, and he nearly collapsed.
He raised his palm to look, and there on his flesh was a brand left by the nether warrant.
Scorched black, it resembled a tattoo.
Nearby, Luo Mingzi had dispelled Chen Fakui's dying curse. He pasted a yellow talisman onto the forehead of the severed head before finally putting away his soul-calming bell.
When he caught sight of the scar on Li Yan's hand, he froze in disbelief:
"A nether warrant? A living underworld runner?!"
"How can this be?!"
Whoosh!
Just then, a fierce gale howled outside.
The She Ling spirit soldiers had arrived. Howling winds and yin mist enveloped the entire hilltop. The lonely souls and wild ghosts hiding in the light fog seemed dragged by invisible tethers, lifted straight into the sky and vanishing from sight...
It was truly a magnificent spectacle.
With his divine power of smell active, Li Yan sensed it even more acutely.
No wonder the City God Temple could preserve peace throughout the territory; these She Ling spirit soldiers were like a disciplined army. Though individually they could not compare to that cold-altar rampaging soldier from before, their numbers were vast, enough to send any yin soul or fierce ghost fleeing in terror at the mere sight of them.
Looking down at Chen Fakui's corpse, Li Yan remarked with a sigh, "Do these spirit soldiers always show up at the very end to clean up the mess?"
"Tonight was an exceptional case. In ordinary times, it wouldn't have been this troublesome."
Luo Mingzi shook his head, then turned to Li Yan with a grave expression and said in a solemn voice, "Never mind that—you're in big trouble.
"You're not an underworld crosser, yet you've become a living underworld runner...
"I have never heard of such a thing!"
***
Morning light filtered through the window lattice, casting beams across the room.
Wang Daoxuan's eyelids fluttered repeatedly before slowly opening to reveal the circle of figures gathered around him.
Li Yan, Shopkeeper Wan, Sha Lifei, and an unfamiliar Daoist.
Awakening as if from a long nightmare, he felt dazed for a moment.
"Daoist, how are you feeling?"
Sha Lifei asked anxiously in a hurry.
The voice served as a key that rapidly unlocked Wang Daoxuan's scattered memories; piecing together the circumstances from before, he deduced what had happened.
"Thank you all for saving me."
He managed a weak smile, his voice hoarse.
Luo Mingzi stepped forward quickly, pulled back Wang Daoxuan's eyelids to examine the whites of his eyes, and nodded. "He's fine now. His divine consciousness suffered damage, but two days of rest should see him recover."
"That's wonderful. Many thanks, Daoist Luo."
Shopkeeper Wan let out a sigh of relief and waved his hand. "Let's step outside for now. Daoist Wang, rest first. We can talk about everything once you're well."
Wang Daoxuan nodded. Speaking those few words seemed to have exhausted all his energy, and closing his eyes, he sank into a deep slumber.
Once outside, Shopkeeper Wan promptly cupped his hands. "We owe Daoist Luo immense thanks for your aid this time. I have prepared some modest wine..."
After locating the wandering soul jar, Li Yan had invited Luo Mingzi to Shangyi Village to help recall Wang Daoxuan's soul, guarding against any mishaps.
A disciple of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect was truly extraordinary, resolving the matter with ease before dawn.
"Senior Wan is too kind."
Luo Mingzi shook his head. "The aftermath has yet to be settled, and I have other urgent business. I will leave after exchanging a few words with Little Brother Li."
With that, he drew Li Yan toward a secluded spot.
The others tactfully made themselves scarce.
Luo Mingzi asked Li Yan in a low voice, "It's daylight now. Check if the mark on your hand is still there."
Li Yan quickly raised his hand. On the palm of his left hand, the emblem of the nether warrant had not vanished; instead, it had grown even clearer, resembling an inky black tattoo.
"Senior, what is going on here?"
Confronted with this, Li Yan could not help feeling a surge of panic.
For it was not just on his flesh-and-blood hand—the exact same nether warrant brand had appeared upon the hand of the Daluo Dharma Body inside his dantian!
Chapter 76