Chapter 313: Contention

Don't worry, I have a way. As long as you can hold off these bugs for a while, I can burn all this junk with a single flame." Pangzi was full of confidence, pulling out a small gourd from his body as if performing a magic trick.

Seeing the small gourd, my eyes lit up, and I eagerly said, "Hurry up, I'll do my best to hold him off."

Pangzi hesitated no longer, pinching the Seal Finger as he began to chant the Invocation to the Master.

"I humbly invite Great Emperor Huaguang, Marshal Ma Tianjun, whose divine power reaches heaven and earth, with three eyes on his forehead seeing the three realms, holding a golden brick to vanquish evil spirits, surrounded by samadhi fire, from his pouch he sends forth fire crow soldiers, a thousand miles of following wind, the wind and fire two generals follow my steps……"

What Pangzi had prepared was Great Emperor Huaguang's Earth Fire Technique.

The Five Manifestations Great Emperor Huaguang was originally the lotus wick before the Buddha Shakyamuni's altar; although he later became the Divine Palace Marshal Ma of the Daoist Sect, his true nature remains that of an innate fire spirit. Aside from his profound eyes, ear reports, and martial methods, the fire technique left by Great Emperor Huaguang is also supremely yang and overbearing.

At this critical moment, I unhesitatingly chose to trust Pangzi, doing everything I could to buy time.

Without the command flag, I cannot dispatch troops. Surrounded by so many bugs, I also cannot engage in flower-word melee. Now, all I can do is try the Soul Lock.

The Soul Lock technique, while part of my Yin Mountain Ghost King Method, is not exclusive to the Yin Mountain Sect. Other Daoist sects also transmit some Soul Lock arts, which they call Soul Seizure. A sorcerer wishing to harm someone does not necessarily need the victim's birthdate, fingernails, or hair. Some powerful sorcerers, as long as you stand before them and they gaze at you, can at any moment seize one of your souls and lay a curse upon you.

And you, unaware, will only grow more unlucky upon returning home, with major and minor illnesses, major and minor disasters all rushing in together.

However, this art is rather useless. Leaving aside karmic retribution, moreover, this technique can only be used in the place where a sorcerer cultivates or at the ancestral home where the deity altar is enshrined. Once you go out into the world, after passing a market, this face-to-face Soul Seizure technique may lose its efficacy.

Because a sorcerer's Soul Seizure draws on the power of the local yin deity, and that local yin deity usually does not follow the sorcerer far afield—just like the Horse Immortal family, it is effective only in its own locality; elsewhere, one may not truly be able to summon the immortals to act on one's behalf.

However, this uselessness is only relative to others. In my Yin Mountain Sect, this problem simply does not exist. Why? Because the Yin Mountain Sect itself emphasizes yin, having cultivated alongside ghosts year after year, accumulating yin energy that is in no way inferior to that of ghosts, so we can perform Soul Lock without borrowing the yin deity's power, and its power is even greater than the ordinary sect's Soul Seizure technique.

The severity of the Yin Mountain Soul Lock lies in attacking a person's soul; depending on the caster's control, the harm can be great or small. Severe cases will instantly become souls wounded, immediately faint, and upon waking immediately turn into fools.

I pinched the Five Ghost Finger, tightly staring at Ou Yaofeng standing not far away, and began to chant the Soul Lock incantation.

"Heaven lock, earth lock, I beseech the Yin Mountain Ancestor to release the golden lock. Golden lock, silver lock, spirit offering begins, golden lock seals the spirit, lock……" Having chanted to the end, I stamped my foot and grabbed forcefully.

Strange…… how could it be empty? After a long while, I released my hand and found it hollow inside, with not a trace of sensation.

Could it be…… that Ou Yaofeng has no soul? But…… that doesn't make sense?

At that very moment, the poisonous bugs had already crawled up beside us.

Everything Ou Yaofeng did was strange; he seemed in no hurry to put us to death, but rather deliberately delayed to give us time to prepare. Is he so overconfident that he's treating us like monkeys?

No time to think further; since Soul Lock won't work, I'll have to use Soul Bewilderment. Even if Ou Yaofeng lacks a soul, these poisonous bugs surely have one, right?

I hastily plucked a leaf, placed it in my mouth, blended the incantation into a folk song in the manner of singing, and blew on the leaf.

The Soul Bewilderment technique is also part of the Yin Mountain Ghost King Method; its primary focus is the character "bewilder," confusing human minds and the minds of all beasts and insect spirits.

As I used the leaf to activate the Soul Bewilderment incantation, Ou Yaofeng also froze for a moment, and, hidden in his black robe, began to chant the scripture that drives the poisonous bugs.

At first, this peculiar scene appeared on the ground: those poisonous bugs writhed chaotically, moving forward then backward. Eventually, as time passed, they all moved forward in unison, though their steps slowed by more than a half beat.

I am ultimately no expert in handling gu bugs; I can only delay their advance, unable to fully control them.

Gradually, cold sweat broke out all over my body, and I could barely catch my breath. All I could do was silently pray that Pangzi would hurry up.

Just as I was gritting my teeth, on the verge of collapsing, I finally heard Pangzi's angry roar.

"Heaven's heavenly light, earth's earthly light, sun's spiritual light, moon's essence……"

"Hai Sheng, step aside."

Next, a great force came from my waist; Pangzi pulled me behind him. His whole body was flushed red, veins bulging, as if he had just taken a bath in molten lava, even the hand holding mine steamed with heat.

"Gurgle." Pangzi took out his wine gourd, gulped two mouthfuls of wine, then with a "whoosh" spewed scorching flames from his mouth, burning a large fire ring around the two of us.

The poisonous bugs burned by the flames emitted a foul, stinking odor.

I don't know why, but standing behind Pangzi I began to feel dizzy, short of breath; touching my face, it felt as if my bones and tendons were protruding, and looking at my hand…… good heavens, it had turned a bluish-purple.

Instantly, a terrifying thought popped into my mind…… I had been poisoned by gu.

How could that be? I never even got close to the poisonous bugs—how could I have been poisoned? Perhaps……

Could it be the spiderweb I brushed against while going up the stairs just now? A bad premonition rose in my heart—Ou Yaofeng's composure, my unease at the stairwell? All signs indicate this is a trap set by Ou Yaofeng for us. No wonder he's so relaxed; he's been waiting for Pangzi and me to exhaust our magical power, letting the gu poison erode our bodies and minds.

Right, Pangzi was in front; if the spiderweb got on me, it must have gotten on him too.

I silently cursed "damn," then hurriedly shouted at Pangzi: "Pangzi, stop quickly, don't keep spraying!"

But just as my words fell, Pangzi let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground.

"Cough cough…… how could this be?" Pangzi's face flushed red as he coughed up two mouthfuls of black blood. He pointed at my face, shouting as if he'd seen a ghost: "Your face—how did it become like this?"

"It's poison—the spiderweb on the stairs is toxic, and both of us have come into contact with it. Ou Yaofeng is deliberately waiting for us to exhaust our magical power." I said, propped up on the ground, weak and breathless.

"You bastard, truly despicable." Pangzi swore loudly.

"But how did he know we were coming to the art studio?" A flicker of confusion crossed Pangzi's flushed face.

He looked at me, I looked at him: "We both shook our heads at the same time."

Shaking our heads doesn't mean we have no answer in mind; it's just that we simply cannot convince ourselves to believe this possibility. Pangzi and I came to the art studio, and the only person who knew about it was Pangzi's sister, Xiao Mengxue.

Pangzi and I shook our heads simultaneously, thinking this possibility was too absurd. Given Mengxue's nature—she wouldn't even step on an ant—she is so kind and pure; how could she possibly harm us, who are like brothers to her?

"Hahaha, what's wrong with you two heroes? Just now you were shouting that you'd cut me down, and now you're mute, not saying a word."

On that side, Ou Yaofeng no longer concealed his arrogant aura, freely berating us.

"Do you know how long I've waited for this day? You ruined my plans and nearly turned me into an idiot; to reunite my intact soul, I've endured how much torment."

"Originally, I couldn't find you two, so I planned to put a love spell on that little girl, making her my female slave for my amusement. But when I personally saw last night that she had fainted from fright at the sight of that female ghost, I changed my mind. I knew she would certainly come looking for you two, the elder brothers who are Daoists."

Ou Yaofeng played with the spider in his hand in the deep night, not in a hurry to strike us; it seemed he was bestowing his self-righteous sympathy, letting us be an enlightened ghost.

"I personally set up this trap, placing the precious poisonous plant at the stairwell entrance—I know it's the necessary path to the art studio. Who would notice the spiderwebs in the abandoned little building? You tell me, am I not clever?"

Ou Yaofeng laughed heartily, his expression utterly devoid of concealment for that smugness.

"But rest assured, I truly do like that little girl. After you die, I will attend to her well. Oh, no, I mean I will make her my female slave and have her attend to me……" Ou Yaofeng finally revealed his ferocious visage, a hint of cruelty flashing in his eyes: "Now, you all go die for me!" With a roar, he waved both hands, and the poisonous bugs swarmed forth from mountain and field once more.

"You bastard, you dare mess with my sister—even as a ghost I won't let you off." Pangzi's eyes burned red, ignoring his injuries as he charged forward to fight Ou Yaofeng to the death.

But we are now spent arrows, unable to muster even a fraction of strength. Before we could take half a step, Pangzi collapsed to the ground.

The poisonous bugs swarming over hill and dale arrived in an instant, their speed more than double the original. Although the bugs around us had mostly been burned away by Pangzi's earth fire, more than double the number surged from Ou Yaofeng's body, and in a flash they had crawled up to us.

Could it be that Pangzi and I are truly destined to fall here today? My heart turned cold as I watched the poisonous bugs close in step by step; I could even smell their foul, nauseating stench.