Chapter 345

In the small courtyard among the mountains, Yao Lao was sharpening his blade.

He had received news from Qiu Qiu Zhiheng that all thirteen mourning cultivators were dead.

The lives of thirteen mourning cultivators would bring the baleful energy of the Mourning Gate Array to its peak, and the Mourning Gate Array would bring a catastrophe to Medicine King Valley.

Where would the catastrophe begin?

No need to ask; it would begin right here with the local deity.

The Mourning Star would bring the calamity of the array to Yao Lao first.

He would also bring the vengeful spirits of those mourning cultivators to Yao Lao.

In Yao Lao's home, under normal circumstances, the Mourning Star would not dare to attack head-on.

By concentrating all the baleful energy in Yao Lao's home, he now dared to strike.

"Old dog, come here!" Yao Lao tested the edge of his three-pointed, double-edged glaive.

He prepared to capture the Mourning Star alive and then force the array he had set up out of him.

Even if he had to risk this old life, he had to break the Mourning Gate Array!

As long as this old life remained, no one could touch Medicine King Valley.

Yao Lao drank his fill of wine, waiting for the Mourning Star to come to his door.

Clatter~

Hundreds of wine jars were stacked against the wall; the one at the very top slowly slid off, about to hit the ground.

Yao Lao swung his long blade, and the wine jar returned to its original place.

This wine was Yao Lao's combat strength; it had been stacked against the wall for who knows how many years, and it had just happened to have an issue at this very moment.

Baleful energy.

The Mourning Star had arrived.

One part wine energy resists one part baleful energy.

Yao Lao tried to use the wine energy to suppress the baleful energy, but the Mourning Gate Array was too powerful, and the wine energy and baleful energy were vastly mismatched.

Gusts of ghostly wind swirled, and five green flames entered the courtyard, crashing about recklessly.

These were the wandering souls of mourning cultivators, coming to lead the vanguard, hoping to destroy the mechanisms and traps in the courtyard.

Yao Lao used his long blade to flick up a wine jar, tossing it into mid-air; the wine splashed down, and the wandering souls shrieked and wailed, turning into smoke and dust in the blink of an eye.

"Turtle son!" Yao Lao spat. "Grandpa has been waiting for you for so long, and you use these stinking fish and rotten shrimp to deal with me?"

Before the words had faded, hundreds of wandering souls rushed into the courtyard, not attacking, but circling back and forth around Yao Lao.

Were these all mourning cultivators?

How could there be so many mourning cultivators?

These were not all mourning cultivators; there were also wandering souls who had been entangled to death by mourning cultivators. This was something the Mourning Star had spent decades of effort collecting. In his hands, these wandering souls were all weapons filled with baleful energy.

Yao Lao swung his long blade again, and hundreds of wine jars flew up from under the wall, splashing wine; the wine rained down in a deluge.

Relying on the wine rain alone should have been enough to wipe out this group of wandering souls.

As luck would have it, a fierce wind blew, blowing the mouths of the jars askew; the wine splashed off-target, splashed too quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was all gone.

This was the power of the Mourning Gate Array.

The wine rain was scattered by the fierce wind, and the wandering souls were still circling around. Yao Lao tapped the hilt of his blade, and the three-pointed, double-edged glaive flew out, its handle extending over ten zhang, skewering dozens of wandering souls like candied haws; with a twist of the blade, dozens of wandering souls were turned into flying ash together.

The long blade returned steadily to his hand, and the remaining wandering souls hid in the distance, not daring to approach. Yao Lao yawned and said, "Old dog, Grandpa is almost falling asleep!"

Having lost so many wandering souls, could it be that the Mourning Star hadn't gained anything at all?

These wandering souls had turned into ashes, but the ashes had not dissipated; they were still hovering over Yao Lao's head.

The ashes silently gathered into a ball, and Yao Lao seemed completely unaware.

This was great baleful energy. If he were truly to be hit by this, Yao Lao would be unable to dodge the next strike, because no matter which way he dodged, an accident would occur.

The ashes fell rapidly, and Yao Lao remained completely unprepared.

Seeing the ashes about to land on his head, Yao Lao suddenly pulled a carved bow from behind his back.

At the same time, four flags flew up, fluttering and dancing, dispersing the dust on his head.

With a feathered arrow nocked, Yao Lao pulled the carved bow, turned abruptly, and shot an arrow behind him.

Dog thief, Grandpa calculated that you would strike.

Yao Lao knew that baleful energy was approaching overhead; if he dodged, he would fall for the Mourning Star's sneak attack.

If he didn't dodge and was hit by this mass of baleful energy, he would suffer heavy damage later.

It was precisely because he had calculated the opponent's tactics that Yao Lao had also calculated the opponent's position.

The arrow streaked through the air, but unfortunately, it failed to hit.

Missing was normal; no matter how good one's archery was, there was always a probability. Under such thick baleful energy, the possibility of a one-shot hit no longer existed.

Yao Lao fired another arrow, and it still missed.

Relying on his experience, Yao Lao changed direction and fired five arrows in succession; finally, one arrow stopped in mid-air.

A hit!

Yao Lao spat a ball of flame at the arrow, and amidst wailing sounds, a figure emerged.

The Mourning Star had revealed himself!

The four flags surrounded him on all sides, crisscrossing and shuttling back and forth, pinning the figure to the ground.

"Dog thief, die!" Yao Lao carried his three-pointed, double-edged glaive and chopped off the Mourning Star's head with one blow.

To prevent the Mourning Star from being resurrected, Yao Lao took out a wine flask and splashed half a flask of wine on the Mourning Star's neck.

With smoke curling, confirming that the opponent was thoroughly dead, Yao Lao let out a long breath.

The Mourning Star was dead, but it was also troublesome; how could this Mourning Gate Array be broken?

Yao Lao had wanted to take a sip of wine to calm his mind, but the corpse on the ground suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and lunged at Yao Lao's face.

Baleful energy head-on!

Was this exploded out by the Mourning Star's corpse?

No, this wasn't the Mourning Star; the one pinned to the ground just now was still the wandering soul of a mourning cultivator.

How could I have misread it?

The Mourning Star and the wandering soul, how could I not distinguish between them?

Dream realm!

Yao Lao had been dragged into a dream realm.

All perception and judgment had been distorted by the dream realm.

When did he enter the dream realm?

Yao Lao knew that the Mourning Star had dream cultivation methods, and he had taken precautions beforehand.

His spirit was highly concentrated; logically speaking, it was impossible for him to fall into a dream realm.

Could it be that he had been distracted earlier?

Entangled by baleful energy, any situation could occur.

Thinking more was useless; Yao Lao spat a ball of flame at his own palm, and amidst the burning, Yao Lao woke up.

He didn't see any wandering souls in front of him, nor did he see the Mourning Star; he seemed to have stepped on something under his feet.

It seemed to be some scattered wine dregs.

Not good, this was a trap.

Yao Lao had stepped right into a trap he had set himself.

The residence in the dream and the real residence had significant differences; when Yao Lao was chasing the Mourning Star in the dream, his footsteps were distorted, and by a stroke of bad luck, he walked into his own trap.

The medicine jar hanging on the warehouse broke, and medicine powder spilled all over Yao Lao.

To think the baleful energy had reached such a point.

This was a poison he had painstakingly formulated, and now it had all fallen on himself.

The poison immediately seeped into his skin; Yao Lao's body stiffened, and the wine energy swirling around his body dissipated by more than half in the blink of an eye.

This wine energy was an important barrier for Yao Lao to resist baleful energy; Yao Lao raised his wine flask, wanting to use the wine to wash away the poison.

He didn't know if his palm was sweaty or if there was wine on it; the wine flask slipped, accidentally left his hand, and fell to the ground.

Yao Lao bent down to pick up the wine flask, and two wandering souls lunged at him from behind.

The three-pointed, double-edged glaive, driven by Yao Lao's intent, went to parry behind him on its own.

As luck would have it, the poison suddenly flared up violently at this moment; Yao Lao felt intense pain all over his body, his intent slackened, his technique became unbalanced, and the three-pointed, double-edged glaive lost control and stabbed toward Yao Lao's heart.

This strike was fierce and accurate, piercing straight through Yao Lao's chest.

Yao Lao pulled out the three-pointed, double-edged glaive, his footing unstable, and while staggering, he stepped on another mechanism he had set up; a jar of strong liquor fell, splashing all over him.

Could this jar of strong liquor wash away the poison?

No.

There was a lot of wine in the courtyard, all of which could wash away the poison, but only this jar could not; this jar of wine was specifically used by Yao Lao to intensify the toxicity.

With the highly toxic poison flaring up all over his body, Yao Lao's skin peeled off, his flesh was a bloody mess, and he stood where he was, moving with difficulty.

Wandering souls wielding various weapons came forward to surround and attack, the four flags struggled to drive them away, Yao Lao's wine energy was about to be exhausted, and even the flags could no longer be driven.

Yao Lao heard the Mourning Star's voice: "Look at your appearance, look at what you consider yourself to be?"

Mournful words.

The Mourning Star suddenly appeared, passed through the flags, picked up the weak Yao Lao, and like a game, threw him to another Mourning Star.

How could there be another Mourning Star?

The Mourning Star picked up Yao Lao and laughed: "Just a drunkard like you, you're worthy of being a local deity? I don't even need to do it myself to kill you; just calling a few wandering ghosts would be enough to take your old life."

Driven by the mournful words, Yao Lao's will to fight vanished completely.

Three wandering souls lifted the three-pointed, double-edged glaive and stabbed it into Yao Lao's chest.

The Mourning Star said: "Are you a person who wants face? If you still care about this old face, hurry up and kill yourself. I'm doing this for your own good. If a local deity really dies at the hands of wandering ghosts, wouldn't it become a laughingstock of the world?"

Dying would be easy.

But what about Medicine King Valley?

The Mourning Star thought for Yao Lao: "I'll leave half of the living people in Medicine King Valley, and I'll send the other half to you as burial companions.

What are you waiting for? Are you reluctant to die? Having lived to this age, you really don't know shame!"

Kill half?

You bastard, just try it!

Yao Lao suddenly snatched back the three-pointed, double-edged glaive and slashed toward the Mourning Star.

The great blade swung in mid-air, and just at this moment, Yao Lao had a bout of tinnitus, slashed in the wrong direction, missed the Mourning Star, and was kicked to the ground by another Mourning Star.

One part wine energy can resist one part baleful energy.

Take a sip of wine, take a sip of wine and he could recover!

There were still a few jars of wine against the wall; Yao Lao climbed up with difficulty, wanting to summon the wine jars against the wall.

A fierce wind blew, the wine energy on his body dissipated completely, and his technique failed.

Yao Lao rushed toward the wine jars against the wall, the Mourning Star appeared again, kicked Yao Lao in the heart, and kicked Yao Lao more than a zhang away.

Before Yao Lao could climb up, another Mourning Star appeared beside him, turned the baleful energy into a long sword, and stabbed toward Yao Lao's heart.

Yao Lao barely dodged, and another Mourning Star turned the baleful energy into an iron hammer and smashed it onto Yao Lao's face.

This hammer cracked Yao Lao's skull, baleful energy poured in, Yao Lao's vision dimmed, and he could only vaguely see some outlines.

Why were there so many Mourning Stars?

Dream realm?

Yao Lao was certain he hadn't entered a dream.

These should be clones.

How could the Mourning Star's clones be so powerful?

Was this also a technique given to him by the Inner Province?

Yao Lao climbed up with difficulty, and before he could stand steady, several Mourning Stars brought a crowd of wandering souls to surround and attack.

Wine, drinking a sip of wine would still be enough to resist him.

After struggling for a few rounds, Yao Lao finally got a wine jar, but before the wine touched his lips, the Mourning Star's clone smashed the wine jar with an iron hammer, and Yao Lao was also slapped against the wall with a hammer.

The wall collapsed, Yao Lao climbed up from the rubble and stood leaning against the bed.

Beside the bed was the clockwork phonograph sent by Li Li Banfeng.

He knew what this phonograph was used for, and he also knew where this record came from.

Listen to it?

He had no face to listen.

He had failed her back then, and today he had even less face to see her.

This battle was fought miserably; until now, Yao Lao hadn't even seen the Mourning Star's true form.

The Mourning Star was right; he really didn't want this old face anymore.

Yao Lao saw the wine vat in the room; this was the last chance, and also the only backup plan he could use right now.

But he knew clearly in his heart that with the current battle situation and fortune, if he rushed directly toward the wine vat, he might not even be able to touch a drop of wine.

Even if he couldn't touch it, he had to try.

Yao Lao had just taken a step toward the wine vat when his knee exerted force improperly, suddenly dislocating, and Yao Lao collapsed to the ground.

He supported his body with both hands and crawled toward the wine vat.

Two wandering souls came forward and stepped on Yao Lao; Yao Lao struggled to get up, knocked away the two wandering souls, and one wandering soul staggered and bumped into the phonograph at the head of the bed.

According to the current fortune, the phonograph should have been broken by this bump.

But the wandering soul didn't break the phonograph; instead, it bumped into the phonograph's switch.

Chila lala~

The phonograph emitted some static.

In the room, all the mourning cultivator wandering souls stopped moving.

Yao Lao's heart tightened; he didn't know what he would hear.

He didn't know what the Marshal would say to him.

Kuang lang lang lang~

The gongs and drums began to sound.

The Mourning Star's group of clones was terrified by the sound of the gongs and drums.

Could this phonograph be a magic treasure?

The Mourning Star immediately manipulated his clones to destroy the phonograph; after the singing began, the Mourning Star's true form's soul became unstable, and together with his true form, he was forced back several zhang.

"This letter has arrived at a fortuitous time,

Heaven helps Huang Zhong achieve merit,

Standing at the camp gate to pass the camp signal,

All you soldiers, listen to the root of the matter!"

It was "Dingjun Mountain".

Yao Lao widened his eyes.

It was the Marshal!

It was her!

When they set out on the expedition back then, what she sang to the soldiers was "Dingjun Mountain".

She still remembered this old thing!

Two of the Mourning Star's clones rushed toward the phonograph again.

His true form was lying in ambush beside the wine vat.

According to the Mourning Star's speculation, Old Yao would desperately rush toward the wine vat; at that time, he would destroy the phonograph and then use his true form to deal with Old Yao, ensuring victory.

But he didn't expect Old Yao not to rush toward the wine vat; he desperately protected the phonograph.

The Mourning Star was secretly shocked: This old thing is a wine cultivator, and what he needs most now is wine. Could this phonograph be more important than wine?

Then it couldn't be left alone even more.

The Mourning Star sent five more clones to surround and attack Old Yao.

While circling, Old Yao was knocked to the ground by the clones and bumped into the table behind him.

The table overturned the cabinet, and the cabinet fell over, smashing right onto the wine vat.

There's really no way to talk about fortune.

Logically speaking, this was bad luck to the extreme.

But he didn't expect Yao Lao to fall, the wine vat to break, and a whole vat of wine to splash perfectly all over Yao Lao.

The Mourning Star was shocked, feeling that the situation was not quite right.

Is this old thing lucky?

With the Mourning Gate Array at its peak, how could he be lucky?

Huff, huff~

In the Leaving Suishenju, Li Li Banfeng lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

Huff, huff~

The Leaving Suishenju gasped along with Li Li Banfeng.

Li Li Banfeng rubbed his hips: "One foot inside the door, one foot outside, digging soil like this is too tiring."

The walls trembled, and Li Li Banfeng heard the Leaving Suishenju's voice: "Four rails, switching back and forth, do you think I'm not tired?"

Looking at the bloody soil in the sack, Li Li Banfeng suddenly burst into loud laughter: "Hahaha!"

The whistle sounded, and the Leaving Suishenju seemed to be laughing along with Li Li Banfeng.

Huff~ huff~

The lady cheered repeatedly, and the drums rumbled continuously.

The Mourning Gate Array, broken!

Boom! Boom! Boom-boom!

In Yao Lao's courtyard, the baleful energy dissipated with the sound of the war drums.

The phonograph was still playing "Dingjun Mountain".

The drum sound was loud, shaking the Mourning Star with terror.

Every word and every sentence frightened the group of wandering souls into shrinking their heads.

"First drum, battle meal prepared!"

The wine flowing on the ground disappeared, drunk up by Yao Lao along with the mud and sand.

"Second drum, tighten the battle robe!"

Yao Lao stood up, tidied his clothes, and the four flags flew up and were re-inserted onto his back.

"Third drum, blade out of the sheath!"

The three-pointed, double-edged glaive returned to Yao Lao's palm.

"Fourth drum, hand over the troops!"

The Mourning Star summoned wandering souls to block Yao Lao, but amidst the singing of the phonograph, the wandering souls had long since lost the ability to act.

Yao Lao waved his long blade, and where the blade passed, wine mist steamed in the room, permeating all around.

Hundreds of wandering souls turned into ashes in the blink of an eye.

Not knowing if it was because of his leg injury or because he was drunk, Yao Lao staggered toward the Mourning Star; with a flash of the blade and a movement of the wind, the Mourning Star was broken into two halves.

This was a clone.

Where was the true form?

Yao Lao couldn't see clearly.

"So what if I can't see clearly? Grandpa will just chop them all!" Yao Lao laughed, and the wine mist instantly shrouded the entire courtyard; the pungent wine made it impossible for the Mourning Star to open his eyes.

Amidst the flying blade light, more than ten clones turned into broken limbs and remains all over the ground.

The Mourning Gate Array was broken, the baleful energy was gradually drowned by the wine energy, and the Mourning Star, seeing that the situation was not good, manipulated a clone to fly toward the outside of the courtyard.

Yao Lao threw out the three-pointed, double-edged glaive, and the long blade went to chase the clone.

The Mourning Star's true form took the opportunity to escape; while moving, he stirred up a slight breeze, and the wine mist moved along with it.

The flags behind him trembled in the mist, and Yao Lao judged the Mourning Star's position.

"Dog thief, where are you going!" Yao Lao reached out toward the wine mist and grabbed the Mourning Star's skull.

Once the skull was grabbed, it would be difficult to escape!

The Mourning Star turned the baleful energy into a short sword and stabbed and slashed at Yao Lao's arm.

Yao Lao seemed not to feel the pain, grabbed the Mourning Star's head, and rushed forward.

The Mourning Star manipulated all the remaining clones to surround and attack Yao Lao.

The four flags fluttered, helping Yao Lao parry.

If he could parry, he would parry; if he couldn't, he would carry it!

Yao Lao didn't care how many blades he had taken; he grabbed the Mourning Star's head and just rushed forward.

The Mourning Star dragged Yao Lao into a dream realm.

Yao Lao's footsteps were distorted by the dream realm, but he was still rushing forward.

Was he dreaming or awake now?

The Mourning Star couldn't distinguish, and Yao Lao couldn't be bothered to distinguish.

So what if he was awake?

So what if he was dreaming?

Just rush forward!

After killing the clones, the three-pointed, double-edged glaive flew back, waiting for Yao Lao in the courtyard.

"Rewards for all who advance, difficult to avoid a blade if you retreat; all generals, return to the camp with Grandpa!"

The old general roared, carried the Mourning Star's head, and stabbed it onto the blade!

Medicine King Valley, baleful energy dissipated.

The Mourning Star, wailing continuously.

(End of chapter)