Chapter 405: Burning Eyebrow Crisis and the Dispersing Green Smoke

Humoukou is located at Taodushan in the Netherworld; since the gate towers collapsed three years ago, the Ghost Gate has never opened again.

Many departed souls harboring obsessions were unable to return to the world of the living during the Ghost Festival, and heroic spirits from all walks of life were also trapped in the Youming Land, unable to receive offerings of incense; with long-accumulated grievances, wandering souls covered the entirety of Taodushan.

There were originally two divine beings on Taodushan, one called Shentu and the other Yulei; the two managed the wandering souls passing through the mountain, but three years ago they were recalled by Fengdu and have not returned to this day.

Although it is unknown what Fengdu's true intentions were, it truly resulted in Taodushan being filled with wailing and resentment soaring to the heavens.

However, a few days ago, accompanied by bursts of phoenix cries, the Ghost Gate towers miraculously stood tall once again.

Upon learning of this, the various wandering souls on Taodushan told one another, gathering together at Humoukou, jostling in front of the Ghost Gate Pass, waiting for the Ghost Gate to open wide.

The Ghost Gate did indeed open, yet not a single one got their wish.

Just as those souls were crowding together, a beam of auspicious light whistled over; seeing it, all the ghosts fled in every direction. This beam of auspicious light also dispersed the resentment soaring in the mountain, and in just an instant, it vanished on the other side of the gate towers.

The ghosts did not know what had happened, and for several days they dared not approach the Ghost Gate, so the area around the towers was quite peaceful.

However, these ghosts were ultimately unwilling to give up; seeing that there was no further movement for several days, some of the bolder ones gathered around the Ghost Gate again, waiting quietly for another opportunity.

The saying goes that hard work pays off for those who are determined, and the same holds true for ghosts.

Just today, the Ghost Gate finally had movement again.

Beneath the dougong of the gate towers, it was like a drop of water falling into a calm surface, with ripples spreading and diffusing; before long, a wilderness was revealed within the gate.

The ghosts were overjoyed and rushed forward, wanting to dash into the world of the living, but they did not expect that with the sound of a bell, they would all be shaken back.

Gusts of cold air rolled out from the gate, and within the mist, several figures could be vaguely seen, of varying heights, walking toward this side of the gate.

The arrivals were none other than the group led by Xin Yi, and as they stood still, the mist dissipated, and the scene inside the Ghost Gate also vanished.

Looking back at the majestic tiger patterns on the Ghost Gate towers behind him, Chiyanzi could not help but sigh; he never expected that he would be able to visit the Youming Land while still alive, truly living up to this cultivation journey.

Just as he was sighing, Zhao Wuyang cried out in a panic.

"Seventh Brother! Seventh Brother!"

Looking back, they saw Long Qi with his head drooping, carried on the shoulders of Zhao Wuyang and Liu Xia, motionless, as if he had fainted.

Chiyanzi hurriedly had the two put Long Qi down and reached out to place his hand on his wrist.

After checking the pulse, no problems were found; Long Qi looked as if he were just sleeping, which was truly baffling.

Chiyanzi did not know how to diagnose it either, only saying that perhaps because it was his first time stepping into the Netherworld, his triple burner had been struck by the Nether Qi, which was why he had fainted.

Hearing this, Lianqiao curled her lips and could not help but mutter to herself: This reckless fellow is barely a man, so how is his physique not even as good as hers, a woman? It's a waste of his tall and sturdy frame; he really is a silver-tipped pewter spear, good to look at but useless.

If Long Qi knew this, he would surely jump up—what did she mean by "barely"? He was a man!

Because of Long Qi's unconsciousness, they could not just leave him here; after all, the Youming Land was not a safe place.

After some discussion, the group decided to wait here for Long Qi to wake up before planning their next steps.

But how could everything go exactly as one wishes?

The souls that had just been shaken back, upon smelling the scent of the living, lost their reason and drifted over from all directions; each one looked like a fierce ghost or evil spirit, eyes gleaming with malice, terrifying to behold.

"Oh no!" Zhanli shouted that it was bad, blaming himself for being too careless.

Zhanli is of the Demon Race, and Adao is of the Monster Race; these two are neither human nor ghost, so they were still relatively safe in the Netherworld, but the others were different.

The yang energy of the living is like poisonous wine to ghosts, and to souls with deep resentment, it is poison upon poison.

Among the group, Xin Yi and Liu Xia had decent cultivation, but they did not know how to drive away ghosts, while Zhao Wuyang and Lianqiao, seeing so many ghosts, had long since lost their composure, clinging to Chengkai and howling incessantly.

Fear born of ignorance is human nature, but these two were at least practitioners of the Daoist Sect; being this cowardly was somewhat inexcusable.

Chengkai's ears ached from their howling, but he had no solution. Although Zhaoming Zhenren had taught him Array Formation before his death, he had only learned the basics and had not yet grasped many things, let alone using them to deal with evil ghosts.

Although Chiyanzi knew a little about the way of driving away ghosts, for one person to deal with such a number of ghosts was somewhat of a pipe dream; moreover, in this Youming Land, the methods of driving away ghosts used in the mortal world might not necessarily work.

With Long Qi unconscious and Liu Lan, who knew no witchcraft, the situation was as precarious as a pile of eggs.

Chiyanzi ordered the group to stand back-to-back, surrounding the unconscious Long Qi, the panicked Zhao Wuyang and Lianqiao, and the powerless Liu Lan, while teaching them some simple methods to drive away ghosts and quickly thinking of a countermeasure.

Even if it was sharpening the blade at the last minute, it was better than sitting and waiting for death, right?

Fortunately, Xin Yi and Liu Xia had decent aptitude and understood the methods Chiyanzi described instantly, while Zhanli, as a member of the Demon Race, was born in the Netherworld and had his own set of ways to deal with resentful ghosts, so for a time, they were able to cope with ease.

It was just that Chengkai and Adao seemed to find it a bit obscure; they were currently ruminating on the mental cultivation method Chiyanzi had taught, but those resentful souls had already surrounded them, giving them no chance to comprehend it.

Fortunately, Lianqiao reacted in time; after coming to her senses, although she was still a bit afraid, she pulled Adao back—she was, after all, a member of the Daoist Sect, and she could not just watch a child fall into danger, could she?

Although Chengkai had not grasped the method to drive away ghosts, he instinctively brandished his Jinglei Staff; a set of thunder-galloping staff techniques, with thunder roaring incessantly, actually scared those evil ghosts so they dared not approach for a moment.

The four trusted each other, entrusting their backs to one another, each showing their own special skills, dealing with the ghosts filling the sky and earth while protecting the people behind them.

But they were, after all, flesh and blood; no matter how high their cultivation was, facing so many evil ghosts, they gradually became exhausted, not to mention that they were only driving the ghosts away and could not destroy them at all.

Looking at the four exhausted people and the ghosts that were only increasing, Zhao Wuyang and the other two also became anxious, hurriedly calling out to Long Qi in their panic.

"Seventh Brother! Seventh Brother!"

"Long Qi! Long Qi!"

"Reckless fellow..."

Perhaps due to his advanced age, coupled with old injuries from three years ago that had not yet healed, Chiyanzi was the first to be defeated.

Seeing this, Liu Xia hurriedly supported Chiyanzi and retreated behind Xin Yi and Chengkai, but this gave those evil ghosts an opportunity.

Groups of evil ghosts swarmed over like a tide; Xin Yi and Chengkai were also unable to fight off so many with just their four fists, and it looked as if they were about to be submerged in this crowd of resentful souls.

Just at this critical moment, a burst of fragrance wafted over, and wisps of green smoke diffused, surrounding the group and isolating them from the swarming evil ghosts.

"Hold your breath and focus your mind, do not panic!"

It was the eldest young lady of the Liu family, Liu Lan, and this green smoke had actually come from her hands!

Everyone was stunned—

Could this be the Strange Gate Incense-Splitting Technique? It is actually this powerful?