"Someone died?"
"Doesn't seem like this person just died." Xie Bi An's expression was serious, "Soul weapons are reactive to human souls, but their range is not big unless it's an extremely resentful spirit, in which it will have a very strong reaction. Usually, those who just died will feel muddled and don't even know they have already died."
"Then what's going on?" Fan Wu She heard silence around them, "All of Mount Shu is very quiet. Other than us, it seems like no one else is alarmed."
"Either we've come across a very powerful evil spirit, or a lot of people have died. Either way, this matter is very fishy." Xie Bi An followed Wuqiongbi's guidance all the way to the back of the mountain, "If this is not a newly dead soul, but one that has been there for a long time, why didn't we know about it before? The city god of Mount Shu has never reported such a strong resentful soul, which means it wasn't there before, yet we've been here all night and have only just noticed it."
"Could it have come from somewhere else?"
"Most likely not. Most resentful spirits are here because of their love-hate obsessions in life. Unless they are driven by out someone, they won't leave the area easily, and furthermore, with tens of thousands of cultivators on Mount Shu, the Yang energy is so strong that evil spirits will only avoid it, so unless it was here in the first place, it couldn't have appeared for no reason and without warning."
"Then
there is only one possibility." Fan Wu She said, "That evil spirit
was sealed here, and because somehow the seal was lifted, it was sensed by the
soul weapon."
Xie
Bi An's expression became increasingly grave. He had never seen such a reaction
from Wuqiongbi before, and whatever that thing was, it must not be easy to deal
with.
The two of them left Yunding and plunged into the vast mountain forest. Being guided by Wuqiongbi, they found a cave. The entrance to the cave was concealed by weeds that are as tall as a human. Even if they passed by at close range, they might have not been able to spot it, and it was extremely secretive.
Fan
Wu She drew out his Ting Mo and cleared a path with a few strokes.
The pitch-black cave was like the mouth of a beast, angrily open and waiting for
prey.
They looked at each other and fished out a fire talisman from their Qiankun pouches at the same time. Xie Bi An stepped into the cave before Fan Wu She.
The cave was damp, eerily cold and narrow. The ground was covered with moss and stones. Even with the little glow from the fire talismans, they still tripped occasionally. As far as the fire talismans could reach, it was still dark, as if it was not the cave but the darkness itself that swallowed them up.
"Wu
She, are you afraid?" Xie Bi An said softly.
"Not
afraid."
"You
are only fifteen years old. It's not embarrassing to be afraid."
Fan
Wu She was about to retort when he heard Xie Bi An said, "If you are
afraid, come closer to senior brother."
He
moved closer to Xie Bi An in silence. The two were almost squeezing shoulder to
shoulder as they walked forward.
"No
matter what you see or what happens later, make sure you don't panic and don't
run around. Senior brother is around, everything will be fine."
"Okay."
The two of them went in deeper, when they suddenly heard a slight sound from very far away, like chains dragging across the ground.
Xie
Bi An held Wuqiongbi across his body. Although his sword skills were far better
than his stick skills. Against evil spirits, a soul weapon is more useful.
The
chains rattled every now and then, as if something was rustling around, and
hearing this uncanny sound in the dark and stifling cave was chilling.
"Wu
She, I'm afraid this thing has a physical body, I don't know if it's a walking
corpse or a possessed body. Using the soul weapon can knock the soul out."
"Got it."
A
little firelight in his hand, the further it went to the outer edge, the dimmer
it became. It seemed to be tugging and hovering between light and darkness. The slightest
slip would be turned against it by the darkness. Suddenly, something different
emerged from the edge of the darkness - a length of rope and chain.
The
two men made their steps light and approached slowly. Several chains appeared
in sight, crisscrossing the stone wall. The chains were as thick as a grown
man's wrist. The closest one has its head lodged in the ground.
With the fire talisman between his two fingers, Xie Bi An filled it with spiritual energy, whispered a chant under his breath, and then shot the yellow talisman out.
The
fire talisman burst into flames, instantly illuminating the large cave like
daylight, and in that brief moment of light they were able to see clearly what
was before them.
There
was a formation painted on the ground that looked old.
In
the formation, apart from the Central Gong*, which was the eye of the
formation, other formation points such as the Qian Gong*, the Dui Gong*
and the Zhen Gong*, all had wrist-thick chains inserted, while the other
ends of the chains had been driven into the stone wall. Every point in the
formation was anchored and blocked by these chains, but one of the chains was
obviously loose.
Fan
Wu She's expression suddenly changed.
"This is…” Xie Bi An only felt his scalp tingling, "This should be a kind of soul-binding formation. I can feel the resentment being suppressed by it. I think I've seen this formation somewhere, it's so evil."
Fan
Wu She's pupils were so dark without a bottom, countless thoughts flashed
through his mind, "The Big Dipper Zhengji Binding Demon Formation."
Xie
Bi An searched his memory, "The Big Dipper ... Wait, is it a formation
from the ‘Yellow Emperor's Yin Fu Heavenly Secret Scripture?’"
"That’s
right."
Xie
Bi An was shocked, "How dare someone use an evil technique from the ‘Yin
Fu Scripture’!"
That ‘Yellow Emperor’s Yin Fu Heavenly Secret Scripture’ was a secret book handed down from the ancient times. Although it could be bought from the stalls for a few copper coins, its content was difficult and obscure, and it was incomplete. This book contains various formations, sorcery spells and trickery. Legend has it that the Xuanyuan Clan relied on this to defeat Chi You back then, and if the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman is a military talisman to order the Yin soldiers, then this book is the art of war. If you get one of them, you will be able to take the world by yourself. For millions of years, many people have studied this book, trying to find out the whereabouts of the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman, and how many people have practiced the secret techniques in it, only to either waste their efforts or go off the rails. The benefits are not worth the losses, and gradually no one dared to practice it.
Zong Zi Xiao was the only one who actually found the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman and cultivated the secret technique, but he eventually went off the rail and was doomed forever. As to whether he understood the Book of War first and then obtained the talisman or vice versa, later generations have never known.
"The
Big Dipper Zhengji Binding Demon Formation can lock up souls of profound cultivation
that cannot be suppressed by ordinary binding demon formations, turning the
bound person into a demonic creature that is also a human being and a ghost,
forever straying from life and death. Knowing everything and feeling
everything, but unable to be freed from pain and despair, and unable to be reincarnated, making it an extremely vicious and evil formation." At the
end of his speech, Fan Wu She's voice trembled a little. He was all too
familiar with this formation. He had once wanted to keep Zong Zi Heng in this formation,
but in the end, he had not been ruthless enough.
"Wouldn't
that be the same as, hell on earth?" Xie Bi An shuddered, "The person
who set up this formation has also created bad karma, and in reality, both
sides are completely injured. It seems that the person who set up the formation
is either terrified of the bounded person to the extreme or hates the bounded person
to the extreme."
"What
about the thing that was bound?"
The
two men fell silent.
At this point in time, they had basically figured out that although they didn't know how long the formation had existed. It must have been the earth tremors over the years that had gradually loosened the ropes and chains, and tonight a chain had been shaken off directly. The formation had broken and the demonic creature had been let out.
In
the darkness, the chains clanged again - right above their heads, as if
something had crawled above them. They could even feel a pair of eyes staring
at them from above in the darkness.
Staring
at them silently.
A
cold sweat broke out on Xie Bi An's forehead.
Those
who are bound by this evil formation must have been a high-ranking cultivator
in life, and after death, its resentment is torrential. The heavier the
obsession, the stronger the power. Being so close, Xie Bi An felt the
resentment crawl over his skin like ants, as if it were a tangible nothing.
Fan
Wu She said: "Senior brother, this thing is hard to deal with." The
power of this evil spirit is unknown. To ensure their safety, he may have to reveal
his identity.
Of course Xie Bi An knew when he followed Zhong Kui to harvest souls since childhood that this strong resentment was very uncommon. He said: "Wu She, I'll tank it. You go and find master."
"I
will not leave you here alone." Fan Wu She flatly rejected, "I will
not listen to you on this one."
"You..."
Fan Wu She took out a few empty yellow talismans from the Qiankun pouch and wrote a fire spell using his spiritual energy. The talismans flew and one by one pinned onto the chains, lighting up the whole cave.
The two raised their heads at the same time and a black shadow was towering over them. That thing hugged its body with ragged clothes and long hair draped down messily, its expression blurry.
Xie
Bi An decided to suppress that person. He jumped and stepped onto an iron
chain. His body shot upwards and his Wuqiongbi attacked fiercely.
Fan
Wu She also summoned Bieyanghong. He stepped onto the wall from another side
and went up. He converged his attack together with Xie Bi An.
That thing shrilled and quickly lunged towards Xie Bi An. It's fingers became claws and viciously grabbed at him.
Xie Bi An used Wuqiongbi to block the attack, yet that thing grabbed onto the soul suppressing stick with its 2 hands. A pale face with no eyes suddenly got too close to Xie Bi An, its mouth opened and was about to bite.
Xie Bi An kicked his abdomen and somersaulted back onto the ground. He shouted with terror: “Wu She, be careful, this evil spirit dares to touch the soul weapons.”
The
Great Emperor Beiyin is the head of the Ghost Immortals. His divine thoughts
have a great deterrent effect on spirits. Ordinary evil spirits can't even
stand to be near a soul weapon. This thing dared to touch the soul weapon, it
was really something.
Fan
Wu She appeared behind the evil spirit like a ghost. His soul hooking rope attacked
like an arrow leaving the bow. That evil spirit was so fast that he grabbed the
iron rope and swung it around, dodging it sharply before landing on the ground
and lunging at Xie Bi An again.
Fan
Wu She also jumped down, and the two brothers trapped the evil spirit in the
middle, attacking in a tacit agreement.
The evil spirit dodged several times, hiding behind a chain, weaving back and forth, up and down, between several chains.
The
two men stepped on the iron ropes and chased the evil spirit up and down, but
their speed was inferior.
The
evil spirit suddenly grabbed a loose piece of iron rope and flung it at the
pursuing Fan Wu She.
"Be
careful!"
Despite
seeing the iron rope, Fan Wu She was not able to react in time, and he was
struck by the force of the iron rope even though he was able to use Bieyanghong
to block it. His whole body heavily smashed towards the ground.
The
moment he landed, a black shadow came down from above his head.
Fan
Wu She flung out Bieyanghong, yet that evil spirit caught hold of it. The evil
spirit grabbed Fan Wu She and dragged him towards himself.
Xie
Bi An panicked until his eyes turned red. He used his fastest speed to rush
over, but it was still too late. The evil spirit's sharp claws grabbed Fan Wu
She’s shoulders.
"Wu…”
Fan Wu She felt a sharp pain. His whole arm became numb. The evil spirit's five
fingers pierced deep into the flesh and bone, and the blood that gushed out was
black.
Under
the sharp pain, a white light appeared in Fan Wu She’s mind, as if something
flashed from his spiritual consciousness. He looked at the evil spirit's face
close at hand, and saw some familiarity in the face, which was completely
different from his own.
"Wu
She----" Wuqiongbi struck the evil spirit hard in the chest.
Fan
Wu She took the opportunity to draw his sword and severed the evil spirit's arm
with a single blow.
The
evil spirit let out a ghostly howl and quickly ducked into the darkness, but
his severed arm was still stuck on Fan Wu She's shoulder.
"Wu
She!" Xie Bi An held Fan Wu She in place, his trembling hand not daring to
touch his shoulder at all.
Fan
Wu She couldn't care less about his own injuries as he stared at the evil
spirit, his jaw agape.
This
thing, he might know it, he most likely knew it!
For an ordinary person, one or two decades would be enough to forget another person's face, let alone a hundred years. After being reincarnated as a human, Fan Wu She could barely recall anyone's face, including his own, despite not having drunk Mengpo's soup, except for Zong Zi Heng's features, which he had carved into the depths of his soul, thus he could recognize it at a glance.
So
he was not afraid to face Li Bu Yu, or perhaps Xu Zhi Nan, or anyone who had
ever experienced the time of Emperor Zong, and Li Bu Yu had indeed forgotten
their appearance as well.
This
evil spirit, despite having become inhuman and ghostly, this sense of
familiarity would not deceive him. He must have known this person, but he
really could not remember.
Who on earth was it!?
One of the Royal brothers or maybe even their father? 🤔
ReplyDeleteI am gessing the father
ReplyDelete