The autumn rain pattered down, falling for three days and three nights without end.
Since Qin Xuan had entered the boiler room, the rain had dragged on for several more days, continuing straight until the Zhongyuan Festival. By then, the dark clouds in the sky grew increasingly thick, as if splashed with spilled ink.
Pedestrians were few and far between in the streets and alleys.
Incense sticks stood outside many doorways, the scent of paper ash mingling with the damp air.
The ordinary townsfolk sensed nothing amiss. On the Zhongyuan Festival, besides laying out offerings for ancestors, floating river lanterns, and burning Dharma boats, burning paper money for lonely souls and wandering ghosts was a routine affair.
A turbid mist hung inevitably in the air.
Yet those who cultivated were exceptionally sensitive to the shifts in qi.
Ominous clouds poured ceaselessly from Hawk's Beak Mountain, spreading in all directions, and every faction across the city, great and small, was startled by the anomaly!
Yuansong Temple's mountain bell tolled, echoing all the way to the foot of the mountain.
Apart from the disciples guarding the mountain, everyone else headed to the temple's Great Hall. This was no morning bell or evening drum for daily recitations—it was sounding an alarm.
Many disciples wore expressions of doubt and unease.
They questioned one another about what had happened.
Amid the chatter, someone pointed toward Hawk's Beak Mountain, bringing up the rumors circulating through the city about the royal tomb. Even Qi Refiners from neighboring prefectures and commanderies had been drawn here, though most who had rashly ventured into the mountain had vanished without a trace.
Inside Pine Breeze Lodge.
The white crane looked toward the dark clouds in the distant sky, growing irritable. "Old Daoist, trouble is brewing. Has the Upper Court made any arrangements?"
Old Daoist Wu was calmer. He nodded slightly. "The Upper Court is waiting for a key figure from the Huanyin Sect to appear."
The white crane disliked beating around the bush. "What key figure?"
"A successor of the Huanyin Sect Master."
The Huanyin Sect Master was of the same generation as Madam Wei; his successor, compared to Guanjiang Mountain, would be on par with the disciples of the Perfected Ones. Hearing this, the white crane drew in its neck. "Don't joke around. How could the likes of us deal with such a figure?"
"The Upper Court will naturally have someone take action. The fear is that this person won't show their face."
Old Daoist Wu knew the inside story. That successor of the Huanyin Sect Master hailed from Nanshanbuzhou and perhaps knew about the ties between his grandmaster and the demon saint of Chaosheng Pool.
However, the game being played behind the scenes was not something the Lower Court could meddle in.
Old Daoist Wu gazed toward Hawk's Beak Mountain. "They are testing the waters, but their timing isn't ideal. Making such a huge disturbance will inevitably imperil the entire commandery. The commander from the imperial court's Prison City has already arrived and cannot simply sit by.
"Liangfeng Temple has been amassing great merit lately, so they will most likely take action as well."
"That does take a great deal of pressure off us."
The white crane nodded. If the commandery's three major powers moved together without hindering one another, that was indeed good news.
As soon as Old Daoist Wu finished speaking, three figures rode clouds over from the direction of the Scripture Pavilion. They were all ascetic elders.
"Temple Head, are we making our move?"
Old Daoist Wu returned a Daoist bow. "Please inform our fellow disciples that magical combat is fraught with danger; one must tread as if on thin ice."
The three understood and bowed in response.
Just as they were about to return to the Scripture Tower, the distant horizon suddenly underwent a drastic change!
Their expressions tightened, and they flew up into the clouds to look into the distance.
The western sky was being swallowed up by surging black clouds.
Rolling ceaselessly from Hawk's Beak Mountain, the oppressive mass of dark clouds swept along the horizon like a rolling juggernaut. Where the cloud crests tumbled, faint patterns of dark-green light flickered, resembling phosphorescent fire seeping from the depths of the earth.
"Whoosh—!"
A great gale blasted from the royal tomb.
Even Old Daoist Wu and the three ascetic elders felt a wave of biting cold. The Elder of the Dip Net, who had helped Qin Xuan capture the crab demon, said:
"It is the dark yin ghost wind."
The Elder of the Fishing Rod said in a low voice, "The ghost path of the Nine Nethers... These are not methods that the Renmao Sect or Huanyin Sect could possess. They are disturbing the tomb."
The expressions of the old cultivators gradually changed.
They could anticipate the moves of the Renmao Sect and Huanyin Sect, but they could not fathom the royal tomb!
The situation had taken an abrupt turn beyond their expectations. The dark clouds seemed endless, surging faster and faster, looking as if they would engulf all of Pingyuan Commandery City.
The ghost wind grew fiercer and fiercer!
In Yuansong Temple, except for the pine tree in Qin Xuan's courtyard, every tree bent in the same direction, as if something invisible were pushing past them.
"Clang—!"
"Clang—!!"
The disciples of Yuansong Temple heard the bell toll once more and raised their eyes to gaze at the darkening sky.
At this moment, save for Elder Pan Ang, who was facing the wall in reflection to temper himself, no one in the temple could remain calm.
Old Daoist Wu flew out alongside the ascetic elders.
At the same time...
Inside the City God Temple, a square-faced, short-haired middle-aged man perusing the City God's official documents suddenly darkened in countenance. He turned his head and cast a sharp gaze toward Hawk's Beak Mountain.
This middle-aged man was none other than Xu Qinian, the commander dispatched by Prison City to investigate demons and monsters within the Divine Way.
To the commandery's City God Temple and Yingyang Prefecture, this Commander Xu was their direct superior.
Captain Lu said respectfully, "Commander, should we concern ourselves with this matter?"
Beside him, Lord City God and Captain Hong kept silent, awaiting the commander's word.
The middle-aged man shifted his piercing gaze from Hawk's Beak Mountain to Captain Lu, making Lu Zongyi squirm with discomfort.
Commander Xu said, "What are you saying?"
Captain Lu panicked, a chill rising in his chest. Daring not even raise his head, he hurriedly corrected himself, "This subordinate meant to ask how we should intervene in the struggle between the demon sects and the Dao Sect."
Xu Qinian narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is the clash between worldly orthodox lineages something you have any business meddling in? Mind your own duties. The Divine Way exists to protect a region and safeguard the empire's peace; it never participates in schemes between great sects.
"For the demon sects to act like this is to disregard the law and disregard Prison City."
Lord City God and Captain Hong immediately understood.
The commanders of Prison City each held different views, and Captain Lu had just run into a stone wall. This Commander Xu was clearly a hardliner who adhered strictly to Prison City's rules.
Captain Lu had stuck his neck out to test his stance.
He had rallied his subordinates intending to report how Qin Xuan had wronged the protector deity of Hawk's Beak Mountain, but now, it was no longer appropriate to bring it up.
"Move."
At Commander Xu's command, all the Divine Way beings within the City God Temple set off toward Hawk's Beak Mountain.
From atop the clouds, they caught sight of a wash of Buddhist light in the distance.
It came riding out from the direction of Liangfeng Temple...
As powerful auras entered Hawk's Beak Mountain one after another, from deep within the gloomy mist where ghost winds howled, the shadowless old man of the Huanyin Sect let out a laugh and called out to those outside: "Friends, you've arrived quite quickly. However, we are still excavating this royal tomb, so please wait ten li out."
Halfway through his words, Qiu Bailu of the Renmao Sect activated the Wood Demon Spirit Formation.
Drawing upon the yin qi and evil qi of the royal tomb, it enveloped the surrounding ten li in a grand formation where wood demons darted back and forth.
The formation flags had been refined by the supreme protector of the Renmao Sect. Within the formation, the spirit wood yin demons could continuously regenerate by drawing upon yin qi, possessed endless variations, and could even devour the magic power of anyone who entered.
Without a Nascent Soul old monster present, breaking the formation in a short time was practically impossible.
The experts from Yuansong Temple, the commandery city's incense Divine Way, Liangfeng Temple, and various local factions, great and small, were all stopped ten li away.
"Fellow Daoists, let us strike together!"
No one knew who shouted it, but everyone present from the commandery's factions responded in unison.
The demon sects were making too great a disturbance; innocent bystanders would soon be caught in the disaster.
Seeing ray after ray of treasure radiance strike into the formation and slay swaths of wood demons, the old man of the Huanyin Sect did not panic in the slightest. Instead, his mocking laughter rang out: "Since you have time to break our formation, let's give you something to keep you busy—!"
Chapter 81