Muoying and Fan Jie both sensed something was amiss, and they hurried to the window.
"How could this be...?" Muoying anxiously asked.
Fan Jie's face took on an even sadder look.
At that moment, one of the ghosts outside the courtyard suddenly dashed into the courtyard!
Invisible, he turned into gray mist, dispersing…
Another invisible wind appeared, blowing the gray mist out of the courtyard and into the fog on the village road.
The ghosts outside the courtyard began to stir up.
As if the ghost that entered the courtyard had opened a gap, one by one, three ghosts followed in, and without exception, they all became gray mist and were blown out.
Only, their dispersal slowed down.
The talismans are effective; in a strict sense, they are consumables. The duration of effectiveness and the strength of the talisman are directly related to the Taoist who creates them.
If Han Zuezi or the Martial Saint of four-principles mountain were to draw talismans, they could definitely make them last longer.
To me, this is too much of a stretch.
"The talismans are about to expire..." Fan Jie was extremely anxious: "Although those ghosts may not be the Eight Widows, their numbers are too great, and they can exhaust us."
I felt the same heaviness in my heart, but I was not afraid.
I pulled open a door and stepped out of the main room, only to be met with a gust of cold wind.
At the same time, three more ghosts charged into the courtyard.
They did not immediately dissipate, but rather, they were emitting white vapor and were closing in on me!
The fierce and resentful expressions were as if I were their father's murderer.
My gaze fell on the previous townhouse talisman, which was already very weak and would disintegrate at any moment.
"Come in! The talisman is about to fail... After a while, Old Gong will be able to come out, and then we can fight them!" Muoying looked anxious.
I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.
Then, I took out the half-staff broom from my backpack. The tip of the broom was still moist with blood.
Without hesitation, I thrust the broom towards the door and began to draw the symbols!
"Gods protect the door, no taboos, safeguarding the home in peace! Order of Master Jang Taigong!"
I roared out the spell, and my drawing speed of the talismans accelerated!
The broom was too big, and the talisman that safeguards the house covered a whole door.
The three ghosts had been closing in on me from behind, but at that instant, they burst apart into gray mist and were blown out of the courtyard by a strong wind!
A stone sent waves rippling, and the ghosts outside seemed to be enraged, surging into the courtyard in groups.
In an instant, at least half of the ghosts on the village road rushed into the courtyard!
In an instant, a phantom phosphorescence seemed to blaze up within the courtyard, enveloping the ghosts.
In places where the Yin energy is strong, such as graveyards, or certain forests, phosphorescent flames will appear. The uninitiated people would take them for ghost fires.
Blood light suddenly flashes!
The talisman on the courtyard gate was like a face made of blood ink, imposing and unyielding.
The phosphorescent flames instantly extinguished, and that large group of ghosts completely dissipated, with a large patch of gray mist being blown onto the village road.
With so many ghosts dispersed, even the mist on the village road became thin, revealing all the remaining villagers' ghost forms.
Their eyes were still full of resentment and cruelty, and suddenly, I understood why they were staring at me like that.
It was because of her soul! That remnant essence of Yu Xiu within me!
They saw me as Yu Xiu, as one of the Eight Widows, as the killer who supposedly killed them, or as the one who indirectly caused their deaths!
For so many years, they were not a match for the Eight Widows and died, only to be enslaved. The accumulated resentment naturally made them fierce and vengeful.
I looked at them coldly, but showed no fear.
I glanced down at the broom, even though a faint dizziness was creeping into my head, the effect of this talisman was far beyond my expectations!
These ghosts cannot enter the courtyard and cannot harm us!
Gradually, the dissipating gray mist began to coalesce into shapes, and the ghostly figures outside once again gathered in a cluster.
This time, they dared not charge in here.
Fan Jie swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Muoying gave the broom in my hand a closer look, also expressing surprise.
"A bunch of ghost things! They really take themselves too seriously!"
Fan Jie stepped out of the main room and licked his lips, looking triumphant.
"No matter you, the Eight Widows in front of me, are all warming the bed, hurry up and get out of here! Or else I'll turn you into restless souls!"
Fan Jie roared out once more!
It was obvious that Fan Jie had been holding back too hard, which is why he was now letting out his inner resentment.
Muoying slightly furrowed her brow, clearly believing that Fan Jie's words were somewhat excessive.
The ghosts on the village road seemed to have become more vicious, but this time, none of them dared to advance due to the previous mishap.
Fan Jie's face was even more excited as he walked forward.
As he walked, he said, "Father, even though I lost all my stuff and the women that Akkha brought are now useless, and our plan with Old Gong is ruined. I don't need to keep fighting over these corpses. As the saying goes, 'There is a will in heaven', these ghosts have a lot of bad energy in them. The weakest are vengeful ghosts and their quality gets better and better."
"I can collect a dozen or two, properly train and cultivate them; I'm sure they won't be any worse than the violent corpses!"
My brow also furrowed.
Even though I was painting a big cake for Fan Jie, it didn't mean that I was really going to give him such a big opportunity.
The ghosts in Akkha Village were indeed very fierce, and if Fan Jie were to collect them and raise them, it might cause a stir in the area.
As I was pondering how to stop Fan Jie, the ghosts suddenly started to shiver all at once, their fierce expressions disappearing and being replaced by infinite fear.
Fan Jie was even more excited and let out a loud laughter.
"Ha ha ha! Yes, yes! You see this, Father? They are all very well-behaved!"
"But, no matter how well-behaved you are, I can't choose all of you." The latter part of the sentence was Fan Jie talking to those ghosts.
"I'll choose a few with strong evil spirits and great potential, yes, female ghosts, the ones who are especially beautiful and pretty. Old Gong in my family likes this, and perhaps Father won't mind changing his taste either." Fan Jie spoke solemnly as he had reached the courtyard gate and was about to step outside.
I furrowed my brow and worried tightly. His words were getting more and more nonsensical.
And, I felt something was off.
Just because I used a broom to draw a townhouse talisman, for these villagers' ghosts to be so afraid? This seems unlikely…
"No... something's not right..." Muoying's face changed slightly as she called out, "Fan Jie, come back!"
Fan Jie not only didn't come back, but he also didn't turn around. He muttered under his breath: "Miss Xiao Muoying, what are you in a hurry for? I like to collect bad corpses; it's his hobby. I'm handling things for him, and I have to get it done right. You women need to be smart, don't upset him!"
I: "…"
Muoying wasn't angry; she just had a single sweat bead the size of a bean on her forehead.
And I suddenly felt a heart-wrenching sensation.
All the village ghosts outside, one after another, suddenly knelt down on the ground!
And as they knelt, they slightly retreated to make a path.
The mist grew thicker, and within the thick fog, something was rising and falling.
Four ghosts were carrying a sedan chair and stopped in front of the courtyard gate.
This happened very quickly. Fan Jie's excitement from the previous moment turned into terror in an instant, and he whirled around, his face filled with panic and desperation, and started running towards me!
An unexpected change occurred!
Suddenly, the ghosts kneeling on the ground raised their heads all at once and swarmed forward, charging into the courtyard.
Half of the ghosts who had their heads up transformed into gray mist in an instant, while the other half were slowly fading away, but those at the back were unscathed.
Half of the door's talisman, was completely gone.
At least twenty villagers' ghosts were on top of Fan Jie, madly burrowing into his body.
Fan Jie let out piercing screams, sounding like he was in excruciating pain, like a pig being slaughtered.
