Fang Jie sighed deeply and whispered, "This subdued solar malevolence is truly formidable. Let's quicken our pace. Within this short period, no ghosts dare to approach the path they have traversed."
I suddenly turned my head to the right, and saw a "person" standing stupidly under a tree.
That was a man, whose body was weak and seemed to be dispersed by the wind. His eyes were more hollow than Yu Xiu's, as if they had no consciousness at all.
"Such a quick...just into a ghost?" My pupils constricted.
Looking at the traces around, the leading Taoist could not have lingered to repeatedly plan against the ghost, which meant they only dispersed it once?
For so long, I haven't been able to turn the ghost into a wraith...
Only before Lao Gong, I almost buried him in the city god temple, tormenting him until his willpower was dispersed...
Ian Yun's instinct was to quicken her pace, but I whispered to her to slow down. Then I explained that there was no need to rush since the surrounding solar malevolence had dispersed. We could quicken our pace anytime. For now, we should move steadily and follow them closely.
Ian Yun slowed down.
Though the pace was slow, at least it was a steady progression. The Ghost Forest wasn't very deep; after walking about three or four hundred meters, we could see the exit ahead.
Actually, the traces left along the way were quite scarce. There were some scattered talismans, and the air's solar malevolence had decreased significantly. However, there were numerous wraiths standing by some trees.
Solar malevolence is meant to intimidate, and wraiths serve the same purpose.
Once we exited the Ghost Forest, what came into view was a huge village!
At the entrance of the village stood a towering archway, enveloped in mist that continually twined around it. The words "Red Ghost Village" were strikingly prominent and piercing the eye.
Ian Yun's face slightly paled, and she lowered her head to look at the ground in front of her.
I glanced over, but saw a few reeds that had been stepped on and flattened, with no trace of life.
"They discovered us..." Ian Yun's voice was filled with unease.
"They've discovered us... So what? They've entered the village too, haven't they? Let's wait here. Once they take out the Red Ghost, we'll just stroll out easily... If they can't do it, we'll go up and finish the job." Fang Jie spoke quickly.
The next second, a whooshing sound broke the air!
A soft snort sounded as a peachwood sword pierced the space between Fang Jie's feet!
Fang Jie's legs immediately trembled as if he were sieving bran, and his eyes almost rolled out of their sockets.
Two figures appeared from the other side.
One of them was exactly the tall and sturdy Liu Ziyu, whose robe couldn't conceal his muscular physique.
Beside him was a long-bearded Taoist, whose robe was old and faded, lacking any of its original color, just a dull gray.
The long-bearded Taoist's eyes were cold and piercing. On his face, in his eyes, there was only dislike.
Liu Ziyu's eyes looked at us with a trace of coldness and rejection.
"Two of you say it's a feng shui issue that brought you to town. I told you the truth, yet you deceived me and even followed me."
"What is your purpose, and what are your intentions?" Liu Ziyu asked coldly.
I kept my expression unchanged, showing no fear, nor any trace of timidity.
First, I bowed my hands and cupped my fists, respectfully bowing to the long-bearded Taoist and said, "I have the honor of meeting you."
Ian Yun reacted quickly, immediately following me in the bow.
Fang Jie was half a beat slower, taking two steps back first, and his legs were still trembling.
Straightening up, I looked at Liu Ziyu and said, "The word 'deception' is a misunderstanding, Master. There's something unusual about the feng shui here, and we were investigating. Since we are strangers to you, it was impossible for us to reveal everything. When you said you wanted to eradicate the ghosts in an entire village, I made an assumption and ordered Ian Yun to release the reed rats. I thought if we were on the same path, it would be a mutual support."
"Just... I didn't expect the Master and the teacher to move so quickly. We only set off today, and the two of you were already here last night."
"We originally took another small path, but we were stopped in front of that Ghost Forest. Ghosts surrounded us and watched, unable to enter the forest, so we remembered that Ian Yun had reed rats following you two. That's when we changed direction and found our way up here."
My explanation was basically the truth.
Liu Ziyu's eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes continued to scrutinize me, as if he wanted to dissect me.
"There are unusual occurrences in the local feng shui. In the outside world, walking corpses are like living people, but feng shui guards this Red Ghost Village from allowing outsiders in. The Red Ghosts of this village have been sighted in Gucun Street several years ago, and people have reported capturing them as supernatural objects. Our purpose for this journey is the Red Ghosts." I spoke firmly.
Liu Ziyu's gaze did not relax; he still had doubts.
I realized then the pros and cons of a straightforward personality.
That is, straightforwardness makes it easy to trust people at first, but once you discover that someone has issues, it becomes harder to trust them.
At that moment, the night pot suddenly shook, and Lao Gong's head floated out. His eyes sparkled with sharpness, and he licked his lips as he said, "My lord, I have a plan! We can seal that ghost east...”
Lao Gong's words suddenly stopped.
Liu Ziyu's expression changed abruptly.
"Keep a ghost!?" His tone was cold as ice!
Similarly, the long-bearded Taoist's eyes showed murderous intent for a moment when he looked at us!
Lao Gong stared at Liu Ziyu straight ahead, sensing a great threat.
"Aaaargh..." The sounds from his mouth kept coming.
Liu Ziyu took a sudden step forward, his hands forming a stance as if he was ready to strike at any moment!
"Hold on!" My expression changed drastically, and I was about to take out the Four Regulations Mirror.
In the first place, I didn't plan to directly confront them.
That was just inevitable.
I didn't expect their reaction to be more intense than what Fang Jie said, especially when they encountered a ghost.
"Rubbish!" Liu Ziyu roared, and his sleeve shot out fiercely!
It was a bronze sword that shot out suddenly!
Lao Gong quickly retreated back into the night pot.
The next second, the bronze sword clanged and pierced the night pot.
A strong force struck, and I lost my balance, staggering backward several steps.
The next second, Lao Gong suddenly leaped out of the night pot. He shouted angrily, "You dead old man, shooting swords randomly, go to hell!"
Lao Gong's tone was mild when he spoke to me.
But when it came to outsiders, he was never like that.
Otherwise, the city's old village wouldn't have been robbed of gold and silver for so many years, and Zhou Yan wouldn't have shown any signs of killing intent before being crushed by Lao Gong in his cradle.
Lao Gong suddenly opened his mouth widely, and his head transformed in an eerie way!
This pose was exactly the same as when he had bitten Wei Yumin's arm earlier!
Liu Ziyu snorted coldly and took a step forward.
Lao Gong widened his eyes, and from his mouth, a foul-smelling aura was spat out, encasing a limb within it!
That arm was extremely thin, with a skin color similar to Lao Gong's, but it wasn't Lao Gong's work, nor was it Wu Zhongkuan's.
A howling sound was heard as the arm rushed towards Liu Ziyu!
Liu Ziyu was about to move again.
But the long-bearded Taoist stepped forward, and he swiftly pulled out a hairbrush from his waist, sweeping it through the air!
With a loud snap, the hairbrush hit the arm heavily!
The dry fingers suddenly clenched, and they gripped the hairbrush's silk tightly!
"Twenty-eight Hell Prisoners!" the long-bearded Taoist shouted. "You are from the Ghost Altar!"
