Chapter 364

This pagoda had black tiles and gray walls, built quite solemnly, with the large characters "Qiong Ze" on the first-floor gate. At the base of the pagoda stood a stele with the names of the donors carved in red. He Lingchuan first looked at the pagoda's name, then at the stele inscription, and clapped his hands: "It is as I thought!"

Wu Jingsong also looked, but didn't understand: "What is?"

He Lingchuan smiled without a word, to prevent the person behind the scenes from monitoring their every move.

The characters on the pagoda name and the stele inscription were correct, unlike in Wu Ze County.

So, was the Wu Ze County he was in earlier a reflection cast by the mirror, while this battlefield was not?

To take a step back, was the Wu Ze County reflection the scene easiest for the person behind the scenes to control, which is why that was where He Lingchuan ended up as soon as he entered?

Later, when the person behind the scenes discovered they couldn't snatch away his soul, did they throw him onto this battlefield, hoping to use the power of war to kill him?

Thinking of this, his hanging heart actually settled.

If the person behind the scenes couldn't control this battlefield, then he and Wu Jingsong and the others were relatively safer.

The only plan now was to find a path to escape.

Where would the exit be?

He switched back to the eyeball spider's perspective, but unexpectedly, everything before him was pitch black, while in his ears, he heard Gan Sanye Gan's muffled voice, seeming to come from very far away:

"There's even this kind of surveillance method? I'll just seal your senses, let's see what you can do!"

Oh, in just this short time, the eyeball spider had been discovered? He Lingchuan felt a sense of unease. Standing behind Wu Jingsong, the guard Xu Dongdong suddenly said: "Today seems to be the first day of the lunar month."

"So?"

Xu Dongdong looked up at the moon: "The first day of the lunar month is also the dark day, yet the moon in the sky is still so round!"

Everyone looked up and indeed saw a full moon hanging high in the sky, large, round, and bright.

He Lingchuan remembered that earlier, Wu Ze County was also bathed under such a full moon.

But when he brought Gan Sanye Gan to the shores of Mo Chou Lake to find the shamaness, it was clearly raining in the sky.

Sure enough, this was the vastly different inconsistency; it was just that he had been searching everywhere earlier and had ignored that it was hanging brazenly in the sky! He channeled his true qi into his eyes, and the sesame-sized shadows on the full moon became clearer the more he looked; they seemed to be—

They seemed to be the furnishings inside the small building.

He vaguely even saw Gan Sanye Gan sitting in front of the mirror, staring straight at him.

It was just that the distance between the two sides was too far, so far that even if there were shadows on the moon, he wouldn't have looked up to see them.

He Lingchuan immediately leaned into Wu Jingsong's ear and whispered: "I think I have a way to get out."

He even covered his mouth with his hand while speaking, to prevent Gan Sanye Gan from hearing or seeing.

After Wu Jingsong heard his plan, he nodded: "Good, we will cooperate."

Gan Sanye Gan in front of the mirror really wanted to listen, but their volume was too low, which made him so angry he slapped the table: "Abominable!"

The four of them turned back and quietly approached the center of the city.

When passing a burning house, the stone tiger in front of the gate suddenly opened its mouth: "He Lingchuan."

Wu Jingsong and the others were all stunned. He Lingchuan's gaze shifted slightly: "Gan Sanye Gan?"

He recognized it was Gan Sanye Gan's voice, and there was also a small evil ghost clinging behind the stone tiger; the human voice was actually produced by it.

Because He Lingchuan could see this thing, the stone tiger's voice transmission was not only not mysterious, but actually two parts funny.

He Lingchuan's heart stirred; he calmly took off the divine bone necklace and threw it on the ground.

The next instant, the small evil ghost disappeared from his line of sight.

Ha, it really was like this.

Since when could the divine bone necklace allow him to see demons? Did this change appear because he had fed the divine bone the remains of Zhu Xiuer not long ago?

The stone tiger didn't know what he was doing, but it didn't care: "Hand over the passage token, and I will let you out."

"Hand it to whom?" He Lingchuan shook out the small cloud-brocade flag and at the same time took out a small bottle and handed it to Wu Jingsong: "One pill each, take them."

Wu Jingsong and the others didn't doubt it and poured the small red pills from the bottle and swallowed them.

As soon as the pills hit their stomachs, they felt their eyes heat up and their noses swell, their mouths turned sour, and their bodies felt cold... as if they had caught a cold. However, the three of them immediately changed expressions and retreated two steps in succession.

They also saw the evil ghost clinging to the stone tiger.

This pill was Du Hunsan; taking it could allow a person to see unclean things for a short time, and it could also temporarily mask the life-fire on their bodies from living human breath, but it would fail once they entered combat.

At this time, the stone tiger had already opened its mouth wide: "Just put the passage token inside."

"How do I know you will keep your word?" He Lingchuan smiled. "Let us out first."

"You are trapped here; even if you aren't killed, you will eventually die of hunger and thirst." There was no human food here.

"Very moving, but your encounter warns me not to make any deals with the shamaness." After He Lingchuan finished speaking, his blade swept across the stone tiger's back, killing the small evil ghost.

He also fed Du Hunsan to the three horses and took one himself.

After shivering and waiting for the medicinal power to take effect, he whispered: "Follow me, and remember, no matter what you hear or see, do not look back!"

Otherwise, the masking effect of the life-fire would weaken.

Four people and three horses returned to the battlefield.

The necklace, of course, automatically returned to He Lingchuan's neck, never leaving for a moment.

Wu Jingsong and the others gripped their weapons, ready to start a fight if things went wrong. Who would have thought that when passing by the commoners, troops, and monsters, they didn't even look back; those who were supposed to fight continued to fight, and those who were supposed to flee and scream continued to flee and scream, not even sparing them an extra glance.

This was the effect of Du Hunsan.

In a world full of evil ghosts, as long as they didn't look back randomly, they were effectively invisible.

Only after confirming that the evil ghosts in this war were all immersed in combat and would not obey Gan Sanye Gan's commands did He Lingchuan have the confidence to do this.

He Lingchuan suddenly said: "These don't seem to be evil ghosts, but vengeful spirits."

They were lonely souls who died carrying resentment.

Commoners came fleeing from the opposite side again, with pursuers hot on their heels.

The four of them carefully dodged, fearing they would be bumped into and their disguise would be seen through, while also having to avoid the explosions and falling beams at the fire scene...

Just like this, they approached the center of the city. He Lingchuan muttered: "I think it seems to be located near here."

The group finally found a small drill ground, adjacent to the river.

The layout here was a bit like the drill hall in Panlong City, probably also a place where soldiers trained and competed in peacetime. Now it was guarded by heavy troops sent by General Yu, and the enemy was attacking crazily, so the fighting here was the most intense in the entire field.

He Lingchuan and the others didn't dare to charge up, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire of the chaotic supernatural powers, so they repeated their old trick and climbed a large tree several yards away to observe.

Coincidentally, this position was also favored by archers, so they even stealthily killed a few archers to occupy the best viewing spot.

Looking down from a height, Qingxu and several other sorcerers stood at the four corners of the drill ground, each holding a bronze mirror to control that red bird.

The size of this demon bird had shrunk to one-fifth of its original size, with a body length of only two yards; he didn't know if it was its original form or the work of the mirrors.

He Lingchuan was somewhat familiar with the mirrors in these people's hands.

Thinking carefully, wasn't the bronze mirror he saw on the shamaness's table when he first entered the bamboo building of this exact style?

The golden light from the mirrors shone on the red bird, making all its struggles futile.

In addition, He Lingchuan also noticed that the feathered arrow was still stuck in the base of the big bird's wing. It tried to lower its head to peck and pull it out several times, but unfortunately, the immobilization power of the mirrors was too strong, and it couldn't even lower its head.

The feathered arrow shimmered with purple light, clearly indicating that the primordial power also had a suppressive effect on it.

Mirror + feathered arrow, only then was the red bird controlled here.

He Lingchuan also noticed that sometimes when the red bird struggled violently, it would cause the sorcerers holding the mirrors to stagger.

Clearly, they were also under great strain.

This kind of stalemate was the most draining on true qi, and he didn't know who would win in the end. He Lingchuan actually saw two sorcerers take out profound crystals and silently refine them to replenish their qi.

Those were deep red profound crystals; just looking at them made his mouth water.

Fortunately, he understood that everything here was illusory and none of it could be taken away, otherwise He Lingchuan would really have wanted to get a few pieces before leaving.

And the endless stream of enemy attacks was just to rescue the red bird and throw it back into the battle.

There were also archers shooting from nearby trees, but the drill ground had a layer of blue light flickering, blocking all the arrows outside.

Sure enough, a battle formation had been set up here.

This red bird was He Lingchuan's target, but it was trapped in the hands of Qingxu and the others.

He Lingchuan didn't think jumping down recklessly was a good idea; that layer of formation was not to be trifled with.

Fortunately, this situation was already within his expectations. The best way right now was probably to wait for "stones from other hills to attack the jade."

Soon, the "stones from other hills" arrived. He Lingchuan and the others had also passed by it while on the road earlier, but hadn't alerted anyone—

A behemoth appeared at the end of the street; it was a giant ox clad in heavy armor, standing over three yards (ten meters) tall. Its horns were very small, but its forehead was round and protruding, as if a large drum were covered over its brow.

He Lingchuan breathed a sigh of relief: "The swollen-headed ox has finally arrived."

He had guessed that this thing was rushing over to crash General Yu's party.

There were really many exotic beasts appearing in the mirror illusion; even the long-extinct swollen-headed ox had appeared. Of course, this was a nickname given by later generations; it had a proper name, called "Xu Guang."

The long street was perfect for a running start. When it accelerated into a mad dash, Wu Jingsong and the others knew where its real name came from: its swollen forehead actually began to glow, and the faster it ran, the brighter the light became.

When "Xu Guang" was at full speed, it was comparable to a locomotive; no one dared to stand in its way. General Yu's subordinates tried their best to obstruct it, but they were either knocked into the air like flying people or trampled into meat paste; the giant ox's speed didn't diminish in the slightest.

The gate of the drill ground was originally guarded by heavy troops, but seeing it come with the mountains shaking and the earth quaking, everyone's face changed color, and they jumped away at the last second.

With a loud bang, the giant ox crashed into the gate, and light burst forth.

The strong light was dazzling, and even He Lingchuan and the others in the tree turned their heads at the first moment, fearing damage to their eyesight.

This kind of strong light was also one of the means of attack; any enemy who dared to collide with the giant ox was easily blinded, and when used during a siege, the enemy troops were busy closing their eyes, which also bought the giant ox precious time to turn around.

The blue light flickered, and the defensive battle formation was knocked into a state of chaos.

This thing was even more ruthless than a battering ram, and it even had the attributes of turning around and secondary attacks. The gate of this city had been smashed open by it; now that the enemy had dragged it to attack the mere small gate of a drill ground, how could it not be smashed?

(End of chapter)