Chapter 19: Lantern Ghost

With his other hand, Old Man Qiao swiftly released several talismans.

One bore dozens of different forms of the character "Fire," which burst into flames with a whoosh; Old Man Qiao could actually control these flames, splitting them into three fire snakes that coiled around the cage. In terms of flame control, Old Man Qiao was no inferior to a Ninth-Rank Dan Xiu.

Yet as soon as the flames burned, the bamboo cage turned crimson and scorching hot; the arm Old Man Qiao had been swallowed by the bamboo cage hissed and sizzled, steaming from the burns!

Old Man Qiao let out a horrific cry, waved his hand to dispel the flames, and activated a second talisman.

This talisman bore his own name and birth data:

Qiao Ziang, born in the Gengyin Year, Yi Chou Month, Bingyin Day, Mao Hour.

These talismans were Old Man Qiao's ultimate life-saving measures.

The effect of this one was: Life Substitution.

As the talisman burned, every calamity Old Man Qiao encountered would be substituted by the talisman.

If trapped in prison, the talisman would transform into a substitute, directly swapping Old Man Qiao out.

But after the talisman burned, before it could transform into a substitute, the bamboo cage suddenly opened wide, becoming enormous, and trapped both Old Man Qiao and the talisman inside!

Cold sweat poured down Old Man Qiao's face; he cried out in shock, "How could this be?!"

How could this little rascal possess such a Craftman Xiu treasure?

My Eight-character Substitute Talisman can at least handle disasters of Eighth-Rank level, yet I cannot escape the confinement of this small cage!

The bamboo cage began to contract rapidly; Old Man Qiao threw out his final talisman.

This talisman unfolded, revealing a painting.

It depicted a Lantern Ghost.

The lantern's face was pale human skin; the lantern's bones were human ribs.

Green ghost-fire burned within the lantern; on its face, a large character "奠" was written in fresh blood, dripping down.

As soon as the scroll unfolded, that Lantern Ghost leaped down, igniting a patch of ghost-fire upon landing, silently burning across a hundred zhang in every direction.

The Lantern Ghost hung suspended in midair at a height of one zhang, seeming to possess a soul-snatching, spirit-stealing power.

Xu Yuan glanced at the Lantern Ghost, and his eyes grew vacant, his movements sluggish.

Suddenly, a pitch-black ghost-claw emerged from nowhere behind Xu Yuan, silently thrusting toward Xu Yuan's back!

The instant the ghost-claw pierced flesh, the nearby flesh and blood were sucked dry by the claw, and the skin turned black-gray.

Overcome by intense pain, Xu Yuan suddenly snapped to alertness and lunged forward with all his strength.

Hiss!

The ghost-claw pulled downward, leaving five deep wounds on Xu Yuan's back!

The flesh around the wounds turned into that black-gray, decayed state, and faint ghost-qi permeated the area!

Xu Yuan rolled on the ground, twisted his body, and spat out "Stomach Fire"; the ghost-claw, injured by the flames, recoiled in pain and vanished into thin air.

But the moment Xu Yuan stopped, he felt a strong sense of danger approaching; he quickly sidestepped, and the ghost-claw reappeared from nowhere, silently slashing past.

Had he not made that final dodge, the ghost-claw would have directly seized Xu Yuan's neck!

This Lantern Ghost was purchased by Old Man Qiao from Guanghuo Street through the Old Locust; for living people to buy things on Guanghuo Street, the only "currency" they could use was blood offerings!

This was also ironclad proof of his collusion with the eerie.

Xu Yuan still dared not linger; he dodged several times in succession, then spread his "Stomach Fire" to cover his entire body.

However, the Stomach Fire of a Ninth-Rank Dan Xiu was limited; protecting his whole body this way, Xu Yuan could not hold out for long.

Xu Yuan stared at Old Man Qiao; the bamboo cage continued to contract, and Old Man Qiao was still resisting desperately. Xu Yuan made a quick calculation and immediately grew pessimistic: Old Man Qiao could endure longer than he could.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth, and a pill spat out!

With a plop, it struck the Lantern Ghost, punching a hole in the human-skin lantern face.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to press his advantage, suddenly, nine more lanterns rose from the sea of ghost-fire on the ground!

They all floated up to a height of one zhang, then spun rapidly; the flickering flames instantly merged into a single mass, making it impossible for Xu Yuan to distinguish which one was the true Lantern Ghost.

Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and sprinted outward; he must escape the range of the ghost-fire as quickly as possible.

The Lantern Ghost did not stop him; as long as one remained within the range of the ghost-fire, the illusions could be guaranteed not to vanish.

Xu Yuan burst out of the ghost-fire's range, feeling slightly relieved; as the Stomach Fire on his body weakened slightly, a ghost-claw silently appeared behind his neck, viciously reaching for him!

Xu Yuan twisted sharply, turned around to face the ghost-claw, and spat out: Plop!

The pill struck the ghost-claw but passed through it without any resistance; the ghost-claw had no physical form.

Ten Lantern Ghosts swayed above the ghost-fire as if dancing, mocking this living human's stupidity.

That pill passed through the ghost-claw, its momentum unstoppable, flying near the Lantern Ghost, but suddenly exploded with a boom, transforming into a giant spider; the spider spat out a large net, enveloping all the Lantern Ghosts.

As the spider-web tightened, it passed directly through those illusions, leaving only the true Lantern Ghost inside the web!

The Lantern Ghost panicked but could not escape; the spider kept tightening the net. While dodging the ghost-claws, Xu Yuan rushed swiftly toward the Lantern Ghost, then gathered all his Stomach Fire into a single Fire Pill, which struck the Lantern Ghost with a plop.

Boom!

Xiong Xiong flames erupted; the ghost-claws relentlessly pursuing Xu Yuan vanished; the Lantern Ghost let out strange squeals in the flames, gradually burning to ash!

Xu Yuan checked the wounds on his back.

They were still necrotic, wreathed in ghost-qi.

Xu Yuan spat out another medicinal pill.

This one had also been refined last night from the villagers' herbs.

This was a Poison-Neutralizing Pill; after rolling it over the wound, the ghost-qi did not diminish in the slightest.

Xu Yuan shook his head; the ghost-qi produced effects similar to poisoning, yet it could not be neutralized by a Poison-Neutralizing Pill.

Xu Yuan released a healing medicinal pill, but as soon as it approached, not only did it fail to treat the injury, the pill itself showed signs of being contaminated by the ghost-qi; Xu Yuan had no choice but to withdraw it.

Try the "Stomach Fire" again—earlier, when he briefly spread the Stomach Fire over his entire body, diluting its power, the ghost-qi had reacted little at that time.

Now, Xu Yuan condensed the Fire Pill and rolled it over the wound.

This ghostly qi indeed feared the Fu Zhong Huo, yet once provoked by the Fire Pill, it burrowed deeper into Xu Yuan's body like a venomous insect!

Xu Yuan quickly withdrew his hand; truly a thorny problem. He could only leave it be for now and devise a plan after leaving Ghost Wushan.

Beside him, the bamboo cage had already contracted, firmly pinning Old Man Qiao inside.

Xu Yuan walked over; the bamboo cage was still contracting. Several bamboo strips had already pierced Old Man Qiao's neck, drilling relentlessly into the flesh, while blood flowed down along the strips.

Old Man Qiao could no longer move. His eyeballs bulged outward as he stared fiercely at Xu Yuan. With his last strength, he spoke in broken fragments: "The people of He Gong Lane... are truly... somewhat sinister..."

Old Man Qiao died with endless regret.

An ancient legend had always circulated in the county town: Do not provoke those people in He Gong Lane.

All sorts of rumors circulated regarding He Gong Lane and the people who lived within it.

Yet Old Man Qiao had lived in the town for decades and had never once witnessed anything abnormal in the lane himself; he had always believed these tales to be baseless nonsense.

Now, he had sacrificed his very life to them.

(End of this chapter)