Chapter 139: Four Laws (Requesting Moon Tickets)

After this, every so often, some of the people passing by the Old Man's Tomb would be chosen.

Yet in the city, no one feared the Old Man's Tomb opening its grave gate to take people; many of those taken sent dreams to their relatives, saying they had been selected by the Old Man—a great blessing, ensuring a good rebirth in the next life.

Eventually, the locals began spreading rumors that after the Old Man died, he was harassed for bribes by minor demons on the path to the underworld, but his iron will refused to yield, so the demons whipped him.

Many other weak and lonely spirits, unable to pay, were beaten terribly.

Enraged, the Old Man killed the demon and raised a banner in rebellion!

It was said he had already led his troops to seize the "Cliff of Rebirth" and fought the King of Hell to a standstill.

The servants and concubines buried with him in life had become great generals of the netherworld, each capable of holding off a hundred enemies in battle.

But his army was vast while his troops remained few, so the Old Man's Tomb opened its grave gate periodically to recruit ghosts—his great lord was gathering spectral soldiers; if chosen, fight bravely, and even if slain, you would be reborn into wealth and fortune.

Xu Yuan frowned: "Do they really believe this?"

Lang Xiao Ba: "The Huaming people naturally don't believe it, but the locals inexplicably believe it wholeheartedly."

Song Lu said: "Ignorant!"

When still three or four li from the Old Man's Tomb, a sudden thunderous boom erupted ahead, shaking the earth, making the trees by the road tremble violently.

A thick, dark plume of smoke shot up from the hills, exploding at hundreds of zhang high into a monstrous shape spanning hundreds of zhang.

Four heads, eight arms, covered in black scales, with a serpent's tail and eagle's feet.

Each head bore three eyes, crimson and blazing, gazing down upon the land, radiating boundless malevolence and terror.

The captain leading them sprinted forward: "They've already clashed!"

The Old Man's Tomb lay not far from the road, appearing in the distance as a low mound surrounded by dense woods.

Now the mound had been completely torn open, churning black and yellow sludge gushing forth, filling the air with heavy yin energy.

The colossal demonic form loomed overhead, summoning roaring yin winds that swept across the land, kicking up dust and stones, blinding all who looked.

From within the yin winds came frequent, piercing wails of ghosts—a scene of the netherworld overturning the mortal realm, an apocalypse.

Hundreds upon hundreds of ghost soldiers crawled from the sludge, varied in form: some had human bodies with wolf heads, others were dozens of heads bound together by intestines and veins like centipedes, some limbs had turned into rusted swords and spears, others had mouths split open to reveal dozens of ten-zhang-long fleshy tendrils growing from their throats…

Over a hundred officers of the Purification Office formed ranks, each deploying their methods to slaughter the ghost soldiers.

Lin Zijin gripped his talisman—a buffalo horn mosquito net hook—and flicked it upward, shouting: "Huaming Law: Those who harbor fugitives share the same guilt!"

The entire overturned mound was yanked upward by invisible force, revealing countless rotting wooden coffins buried beneath the earth.

Each coffin held dozens or hundreds of ghost soldiers; as the force pulled, they screamed and tore apart, dissolving into smoke.

Lin Zijin was a Law Cultivator, practicing the "Laws."

Suddenly, the force pulling the tomb mound was blocked.

Black and yellow sludge surged up more violently, forming a geyser that lifted a tall old man clad in an odd official robe.

The old man's face was grim, one hand behind his back, the other raised as if gripping something invisible.

Lin Zijin's talisman could not pull, so he roared again: "Huaming Law: Those who resist the law shall be punished doubly!"

Suddenly, an unseen force pushed the demonic form back dozens of zhang.

The old man's hand trembled, as if struggling to hold onto Lin Zijin's talisman.

But a mocking sneer flickered across the old man's grim face; his other hand, hidden behind his back, emerged—thick, scaled, now fully an eagle's claw.

He seized the air with one motion!

A burst of golden light exploded from Lin Zijin's body; a massive eagle claw phantom materialized five chi before him.

Simultaneously, a written charm on Lin Zijin's person ignited.

This precious charm absorbed the Old Man's strike, but its power was utterly spent.

Lin Zijin laughed aloud: "Evil spirit! You've finally revealed yourself—today, you won't escape!"

His cry seemed to be a signal.

From the four directions—east, west, south, north—of the Old Man's Tomb, the grinding sounds of artisan devices activating erupted.

Four "Well Screens" rose, each five zhang tall, their tops not manned by archers, but each bearing a volume of Huaming Law!

They were: the Ritual Law, the Household Law, the Military Law, and the Criminal Law.

Zhu Sili had not appeared—he was holding back the remaining forces, waiting for Lin Zijin's signal to raise the Well Screens.

Each time a Law volume opened, a vast force of legal authority pressed down upon the Old Man!

After the fourth, CRASH—the sludge geyser beneath the Old Man shattered, and he was slammed to the ground, crushed by the law.

Even the elite ghost soldiers, under the weight of Huaming Law, were shackled as if bound in iron chains.

The captains' morale surged; they roared and charged, slaughtering hundreds of ghost soldiers in moments.

But sludge flooded endlessly, more ghost soldiers emerging.

Three or five-zhang-tall great ghosts gathered hundreds of ghost soldiers each, charging the Well Screens, even as the Law punished them, determined to destroy the four Law volumes first.

Lin Zijin raised his talisman and shouted: "Huaming Law: Those guilty of heinous crimes shall be executed without mercy!"

As he spoke, light converged from all directions, rapidly forming a great execution blade.

The blade grew longer and longer, its power surging, with fierce gales rising, whipping Lin Zijin's hair and beard, his official robe flapping like a banner.

Not far ahead of Xu Yuan, the leading captain, seeing this, let out a roar to steel his courage, pulled a wooden mask from his chest, donned it, drew his sword, and charged the ghost soldiers.

Both mask and sword were artisan artifacts; the mask's grotesque design strongly "intimidated" yin spirits, and the sword's blade, forged with unknown materials, cleaved through two ghost soldiers with a single strike.

No matter what intentions the officials from the Southern Office harbored, for this captain, this merit could not be missed!

Lin Zijin spotted Xu Yuan: "Xu Police Inspector, come lend me your aid!"

The Law-constructed "execution blade" had not yet fully formed when the surging ghost soldiers from the sludge had already formed four squads, each attacking one of the Well Screens.

These were siege engines crafted by Artisan Cultivators—sturdier and foldable.

Previously folded and concealed, they had risen only after the Old Man appeared, trapping him instantly.

What Lin Zijin had prepared over the past two days was precisely this device.

Zhu Sili had organized the Captains to defend beneath the siege tower, but it was clear they were short-handed.

The two wagons guarded by Zhu Sili and a Deputy Patrol Inspector were safe, but the other two, led only by a Jiaoxiao, appeared precarious under the relentless assault of countless ghost soldiers who feared no death.

(End of this chapter)