Chapter 390: Disguising the Organs (Three-in-One)

The two hundred soldiers of the River Channel Camp surged out of the ancestral hall like a swarm of bees whose hive had been stabbed, scattering in all directions throughout the village.

They shouted demands to search every household.

The villagers dared to be angry but not to speak.

They rushed inside, overturning chests and cupboards, claiming they were checking whether the villagers were hiding evil spirits.

The result was naturally nothing found.

Yet during the search, some moved fast and some slow, and without realizing it, they had surrounded one household in the center.

Then, at Lu Renxing's command, all the soldiers suddenly lunged toward that household.

The River Channel Camp was an elite force.

Moreover, the River Channel Camp possessed a "Suppressing Object"; every soldier carried an old armor plate, said to be taken from the armor of all enemy generals, great and small, slain during the Great Ming's campaigns to subdue the four barbarians.

Each was engraved with the soldier's name, native place, and camp number.

When the Suppressing Objects of the entire camp were linked together, they could form the effect of "establishing a prison upon the ground" and "gathering sand into a tower."

The ordinary soldiers of the River Channel Camp were not of high caliber, roughly at the level of entry-level but not yet ranked, akin to the ninth rank.

What allowed them to suppress and extinguish high-caliber evil spirits was precisely this method.

These were all things Zhu Zhanmei had told Xu Yuan in that letter.

Xu Yuan then secretly conspired with Lu Renxing to have the River Channel Camp surround that villager's home.

Xu Yuan had noticed something wrong with the rope coiled on the roof beam and had not acted directly because his "Gaze at Fate" technique revealed the object was peculiar.

Xu Yuan feared that if he struck, the thing might flee.

So he did not startle the snake by stirring the grass.

But with Jia Luojing and Lu Renxing bringing over two hundred people into the village, Xu Yuan could wait no longer.

For the ancestral hall could not possibly house so many people.

When night fell, the villagers would transform back into evil spirits.

They would be pure gold; once the soldiers saw them, they would likely follow them into the river to pan for gold.

With so many people, Lord Xu could not possibly stop them.

Therefore, before tonight, the restrictions within this village must be thoroughly broken.

Xu Yuan did not deploy more personnel from the Purification Bureau, to avoid casualties among his own subordinates.

After all, the River Channel Camp alone was sufficient.

Since you fools have rushed in, then exert yourselves a bit more.

After Lu Renxing gave the command, a faint yellow light flickered in the void near the villager's home.

Even this stretch of land was sealed off.

Even if that evil spirit possessed the means to burrow underground, it could not be used.

Xu Yuan stood behind with his hands clasped behind his back, watching a squad of soldiers lift a massive battering log and, with a boom, smash the courtyard wall down.

Then two squads of soldiers leaped inside.

They rushed to assault the two rooms in the courtyard separately.

Lord Xu also nodded inwardly; the River Channel Camp was indeed elite.

One room was empty, but the other suddenly had its doors and windows burst outward—

Boom!

Shattered wood and bricks flew like hidden weapons.

Two golden shadows followed closely behind, launching attacks toward the River Channel soldiers.

Thud!

Thud!

The two golden shadows struck two River Channel soldiers with heavy force.

The two men were knocked flying more than a zhang away.

But upon hitting the ground, they rolled up in one motion.

At the moment of impact, a layer of yellow light suddenly converged upon them.

It was the army's Suppressing Object taking effect, channeling the power of the entire camp to protect them.

The two golden shadows hit the ground with a heavy, dull thud.

The villager couple had already transformed into golden men.

Xu Yuan thought to himself: Indeed, they are different from Zhao Xianze and the others.

They transformed directly into evil spirits during the day, rather than having their heads cut off by me as Zhao Xianze had been.

Upon the two golden men, a brilliant golden radiance shone.

In the eyes of the surrounding River Channel soldiers, a gleam of greed inevitably appeared.

Xu Yuan glanced sideways; even Lu Renxing, standing beside him, looked somewhat amiss.

Xu Yuan snorted coldly and activated the "Hundred Taboos Forbidden" fate.

Lu Renxing immediately came to his senses, cursing angrily: "What are you staring at? This is the evil spirit's trickery! If you cannot resist, you too will turn into this ghastly form."

Xu Yuan could not yet wield "Fate Arts"; the Hundred Taboos Forbidden could only influence one person and could not yet cover the entire camp.

But Lu Renxing's voice was extremely loud; this curse was like an exploding thunderclap, instantly sobering the soldiers under his command, who all shouted as they surrounded and attacked the two golden shadows.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

More than a dozen blades and axes struck the two golden men simultaneously, yet the golden men's bodies suddenly became incredibly hard.

Yesterday, a group of unarmed villagers had smashed and divided four golden men belonging to Chen Baonian; today, elite soldiers of the camp could not even split these two golden men.

The soldiers' weapons were knocked aside, and the golden men swung their arms with a mighty whoosh!

Boom—boom—several strikes sent the camp soldiers flying out.

In Zhengzhou, there's a strange weapon called the One-Legged Bronze Man; these two are themselves twin Golden Legs!

But Lu Renxing remained calm and composed, watching the battle without haste.

The camp soldiers were flung out, but the entire courtyard wall had already been torn down by other soldiers.

One squad after another charged in.

The more soldiers joined the battle, the stronger the golden light coalesced.

They surrounded the two Golden Legs completely.

The front-line soldiers' golden light resembled turtle shells.

Earlier, one swing from the Golden Legs had sent them flying; now they stood firm, refusing to retreat.

Yet they were still shaken, spitting blood continuously.

The River Camp kept reinforcing; the small courtyard now held nearly a hundred men.

They steadily pressed inward, not seeking victory, only containment.

Soon, they forced the two Golden Legs into a single spot, leaving no room to maneuver.

From behind, Xu Yuan saw the courtyard packed tightly with men; the golden light thick and solid, completely trapping the two Golden Legs.

This was the River Camp's method for dealing with malevolent spirits; Xu Yuan felt a mix of amusement and disbelief: He'd never seen anything like it.

"Hahaha!" Lu Renxing laughed triumphantly: "My lord, I've got it for you!"

But before his words ended, the two rooms suddenly BOOMED to life!

Bricks, tiles, doors, windows, beams, even the furniture inside—split apart and reassembled, transforming into a monstrous deity statue!

The statue resembled some ancient god of Southern Jiaozhi, yet also bore traces of a belief originating from Zhengzhou of the Great Ming.

It had three heads and eight arms, but its lower body was that of a plum deer.

Its four deer legs sat in lotus posture; its head bore no eyes, yet the plum blossom spots on its body were each a pair of eyes!

Yet the statue moved like a puppet, every part connected by strings.

The strings were filthy and ancient, as if any passerby could snap them with a tug—yet they bound together two entire rooms, turning them into a statue!

The statue's eight arms slammed down together!

Boom…

The earth trembled; the "Immovable Prison" formed by the army's talismans swayed violently, as if unable to contain this malevolence!

Lu Renxing cursed and stormed into the midst of his men.

The near-collapse of the "Immovable Prison" made Lu Renxing feel deeply humiliated.

He was a Sixth-Stream Wu Xiu; the talisman plates on his armor came from the battle helmet of a foreign general.

The golden light shuddered!

Then, like a millstone, it split into layers, rotating in opposite directions, beginning to wear down the deity statue's malevolence.

The statue raised its eight arms again—and this time, all the eyes on its deer body blazed with crimson light.

Xu Yuan still watched, not rushing to join the battle.

The first time he saw the string, he sensed something strange.

He had several theories about the origin of this malevolence.

In the letter Zhu Zhanmei had shot into his hands, she didn't primarily speak of the River Camp's army talismans, but of an ancient ruined temple she'd found upstream from the village stream.

The temple had long been destroyed, but Zhu Zhanmei noticed that though the statue inside had been toppled, its abdomen had only recently been smashed open—and inside, it was hollow.

This was almost certainly connected to the village's malevolence.

Xu Yuan could thus conclude that this string was one of the "Inner Offerings" from the temple statue.

When a statue is nearly complete but not yet fully consecrated—specifically, after carving or molding is done but before "robing"—various symbolic objects must be placed inside as its "inner organs."

"Robing" means applying color to the statue.

Only after the "Inner Offerings" are inserted does the statue gain "spirit," transforming from mere sculpture into a true deity.

Common Inner Offerings include scriptures, bronze mirrors, five-colored thread, jewels, and medicinal herbs.

This string was one of the five-colored threads.

But where were the other items?

Xu Yuan had summoned the River Camp to ensure this malevolence was trapped and captured.

Only then could he use the connections between these malevolent entities to retrieve the others.

After capturing them, purging their yin energy, he could place them alongside Fu Chongjiu's Dragon Pearl inside the Leather Dragon!

Then, with the Leather Dragon, he would cultivate the "Transformation into Dragon Art"—his chance of success, Xu Yuan estimated, would rise to ninety percent!

When Xu Yuan first discovered this string malevolence, he didn't act immediately; he wanted to secretly observe and then net them all at once—because he had several theories about the string's origin, and this possibility occurred to him.

The statue's first strike was all eight arms slamming into the ground.

Its second strike: all eyes opened at once, and all eight arms thrust forward together.

A force like a mountain collapsing and sea overturning rolled toward them!

Lu Renxing had just merged with his soldiers, ready to unleash his full power—when this force shoved him violently, his body swaying like reeds in the wind.

Had the army talismans not been linked as one, this single blow would have sent him and all two hundred soldiers flying.

Yet without the army talismans, they couldn't have withstood even the first strike.

Even… they couldn't have subdued the malevolence formed by the village couple.

Lu Renxing was terrified—this malevolence was at least Fifth-Stream level.

Likely Fourth-Stream!

My general and my men can at most contain it.

Lu Renxing's earlier boldness vanished; he obediently stayed within the formation, relying on the talisman to resist the malevolent spirit.

Then he turned and gazed sadly at Xu Yuan: "My lord, please hurry."

Xu Yuan had asked their River Camp to " lend a hand," and Lu Renxing had been delighted.

Having been "tricked" into this by Jia Luojing, Lu Renxing had felt guilty at first—but if my lord needs our strength, then General Lu and his men are clearly of great use.

So even though we survive only because of Xu Yuan, we need not feel so ashamed—we have more confidence now.

So after trapping the malevolent spirit, Lu Renxing wanted to "show his divine might" and simply help my lord eliminate it outright.

But after stepping into the fray and taking a single blow, Lu Renxing immediately saw the truth.

We can only beat the side drums…

We lack the ability to deal with this malevolent spirit.

We must rely on my lord.

Xu Yuan had been observing the malevolent spirit this whole time and now had his own judgment.

If Lu Renxing had discussed this with my lord, they would have found their assessments differed greatly.

Xu Yuan judged the malevolent spirit to be at most fifth-rank—impossible to be fourth-rank.

If it had fourth-rank power, it would have struck down the Purification Office members in the shrine last night.

The formidable strength it displayed now… was mostly just "three axe swings."

The malevolent spirit's greatest ability lay in luring people into greed and corruption.

It was likely unskilled in direct combat.

Lu Renxing let out a pitiful cry, and Xu Yuan immediately moved forward, unleashing the body technique from the Dragon Form Scripture—like a living fish in water, slipping between the soldiers, vanishing in an instant to stand before the statue.

The statue's three heads slowly and heavily swayed.

Waves of power rippled outward.

Eight arms reached from all directions, trying to seize Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan refused to reveal the Dragon Transformation Method, so he could not rely on his own strength to resist.

The Dragon Form Scripture did not come from the Dragon Transformation Method.

Xu Yuan deliberately revealed the body technique of the Dragon Form Scripture precisely to prove to the Wang Fu and the Fu family: I, the official, have other sources of Wu Xiu skills.

A rope suddenly shot into the air.

In an instant, it wove into a three-dimensional grid, dropping downward to trap the statue inside.

The statue's three heads roared together.

Its body twisted and writhed.

Its eight arms strained to tear free.

Lu Renxing had never faced the statue directly—he only watched from behind—but even so, he could feel the crushing power in every movement of the statue.

Yet no matter how it struggled, every motion was repeatedly restrained and blocked by layer upon layer of the grid.

Xu Yuan declared loudly: "Futile. Why struggle?"

Xu Yuan tossed the carriage upward; it grew endlessly larger, then descended like a lid, swallowing both the statue and the beast-tendon rope.

Only the carriage, Xu Yuan feared, might not contain the malevolent spirit.

Then, Xu Yuan pressed his lips together and gently exhaled a thread of inner fire.

The fire entered the carriage but did not spread—it remained a single thread, darting nimbly between the grid's knots.

Like a hot blade, each pass left a clear wound on the statue's body!

This was the astonishing effect achieved by a fifth-rank Dan Xiu, combined with the control of the Five Cauldrons Cooking Technique.

Moreover, Xu Yuan was cunning—he made sure that, on average, every third pass, the fire sliced directly across the malevolent spirit's true form.

Causing the malevolent spirit to tremble and bellow in agony.

It felt like a prisoner, tightly bound, watching helplessly as an executioner performed lingchi upon him!

Xu Yuan sealed the carriage but did not order Lu Renxing to withdraw his troops.

The effect of the ground-bound prison still held.

Lu Renxing's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Could such a powerful malevolent spirit really have been captured by my lord?

Seeing my lord standing motionless, expression solemn, he dared not approach to disturb him.

Since my lord had not ordered the talisman removed, he kept faithfully maintaining it.

He was utterly cooperative.

At the same time, he mentally cursed Jia Luojing of the Shanhe Office over and over.

At this very moment, even in his heart, he had drawn a clear line between himself and Jia Luojing!

Jia Luojing belongs to the Shanhe Office—he has nothing to do with our River Camp!

After a full hour, Xu Yuan suddenly retracted the carriage.

There, on the ground, lay two ropes, twisted together in a coil.

Xu Yuan raised his hand; the ropes flew back and wrapped around his arm.

"Follow me," Xu Yuan said, and walked ahead.

Lu Renxing obeyed instantly, waving to his men: "Quickly, follow!"

Two hundred soldiers surged out, racing along the village path—when suddenly, streaks of Jin Guang flashed from the courtyards and houses on either side!

The villagers had all transformed into Jin Guang malevolent spirits!

They ambushed the River Camp along the way.

Lu Renxing's weapon was a long spear, but he also had another technique: the chain-and-flail.

A golden man evil spirit tackled a camp soldier, pinning him to the ground and smashing him wildly.

Yellow light protected the soldier's body, but under such heavy blows, he still spat blood in a frenzy.

Lu Renxing opened his palm; the hammer head slid from his sleeve. He kicked the chain with his foot, applying a clever force.

The melon-sized meteor hammer flew straight out with a whoosh, crashing heavily onto the golden man's head.

Crack!

The head exploded into pieces, and the golden man fell to the side.

At this moment, Lu Renxing finally found the chance to unleash his "great divine might"; a single meteor hammer flipped and danced around him. By occasionally pulling or pushing the chain with some part of his body, he could cleverly change direction without slowing down.

This meteor hammer was truly wielded by him with the feeling of "a meteor chasing the moon."

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Golden men were constantly smashed and flung away, after which the camp soldiers rushed forward to chop them into pieces.

Xu Yuan used the fire in his belly to refine that rope evil spirit.

The other evil spirits in the village went into a riot.

Besides the rope, there were several other types of "vessel-filling objects"; Xu Yuan had already followed the rope's guidance and knew they were hidden in the small river.

Therefore, Xu Yuan's main focus of spirit at this moment was on the leather dragon in the small river.

The leather dragon was controlling the Evil Filth Net, searching and hunting within the river.

All the golden men in the village charged out; at first, it was just ambushes by golden men along the way, but it quickly turned into hundreds of golden men besieging the River Channel Camp!

"Hold the line! Hold the line!" Lu Renxing roared.

That divine statue was taken down by Lord Xu; we, the elite of the River Channel Camp, cannot possibly let Lord Xu handle these "small evil spirits," can we?

The River Channel Camp has its pride!

After all, we are not the trash of the Shanhe Office.

This Shanhe Office specifically refers to a certain Lord of Laws.

The camp soldiers were also fighting for their lives; relying on the army's Suppressing Object and the ability to gather sand into a tower, they barely held off the siege and advanced rapidly behind Lord Xu.

Xu Yuan's sword pill flew out; every time it flashed, a golden man was sliced into dozens of pieces.

Without the rope evil spirit, these golden men were greatly weakened, not as hard as iron as the village couple had been.

Xu Yuan absolutely did not linger in battle; there were too many golden men, and even if chopped to pieces, they would soon turn into gold-water and gather together again.

To solve them, one must still cut off the firewood from under the pot and directly seize those vessel-filling objects in the river.

The great battle alarmed everyone in the Ancestral Hall's Evil-Dispelling Office; Xiang Qinghuai immediately led people to rush over for support.

But upon reaching the vicinity of the battlefield, they discovered it seemed inappropriate to intervene...

The River Channel Camp has an army Suppressing Object; the entire army is a unified whole.

If they charged in, they would only disrupt the other side's formation.

Xiang Qinghuai suddenly raised his hand, ordering everyone in the Evil-Dispelling Office to stop, then followed from a distance, only moving forward if the River Channel Camp truly needed support.

Golden men charged up in layers and layers, severely slowing the advance speed of the entire formation.

But Xu Yuan was not in a hurry, because the leather dragon had already found the other vessel-filling objects.

These evil spirits, realizing they were no match for the leather dragon, tried to scatter and flee.

But the Evil Filth Net had long since expanded to cover this section of the river channel in the village.

Dropping down, it encompassed them all.

Then, it quickly drew the net in.

They struggled desperately within the net; the leather dragon opened its mouth and swallowed them along with the Evil Filth Net.

At this point, Xu Yuan finally curled the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile.

Inside the leather dragon's body, the fire in the belly rose.

Everyone in the River Channel Camp suddenly discovered that the golden men besieging them had slowed down, and every strike was not as heavy as before.

After a while, the leather dragon had finished refining those vessel-filling objects, removing all the yin energy.

Suddenly, all the golden men in the village stopped, standing motionless, and then one by one cracked open, shattering with a clatter!

In an instant, the ground was covered with golden man fragments, shimmering with the luster of gold, looking especially tempting.

Greed rose in some hearts once more: The evil spirits have been exterminated; this gold should be no problem, right? Just take one piece back, and one would immediately become a wealthy patriarch!

Especially the camp soldiers of the River Channel Camp; their pay was inferior to the salaries of the Evil-Dispelling Office, so they were even more greedy for money.

Xu Yuan suddenly shouted: "You all, look more carefully! What exactly is this gold!"

The leather dragon swallowed those vessel-filling objects, and the weirdness in the village began to dissipate.

The gold blocks on the ground slowly turned back into flesh and blood!

The ground was full of filth, and a foul stench rushed to the face.

Even though the camp soldiers had fought for years and seen all kinds of bloody scenes, the sight of several hundred people all turned into chopped corpses still made many feel a wave of discomfort.

Xu Yuan beckoned to Lang Xiao Ba and the others: "Clean it up immediately."

"Yes, my lord."

The Evil-Dispelling Office immediately organized all the Rank Dan Xiu to use the fire in their bellies to burn the corpse fragments on the ground into ash.

The Rank Dan Xiu in the River Channel Camp also came over to help.

With this Weird Gate Village resolved, the heavy stone pressing on everyone's heart was lifted, and everyone felt very relaxed.

A Rank Dan Xiu joked with Lord Xu: "My lord, every time after a fight, they can rest, but we Rank Dan Xiu still have to keep working; this requires extra pay."

Everyone burst into laughter, and the Rank Dan Xiu joined in the chorus: "Extra pay, extra pay."

Xu Yuan, having obtained the object to feign illness, was in high spirits and did not mind bantering with his brothers under his command, so he smiled and said, "Very well, add money. From now on, every month, the Rank Dan Xiu will receive two taels of silver more!"

This money will come from our private treasury.

However, since you are receiving more money, you must treat everyone to a drink at the end of the month."

The Rank Dan Xiu immediately wore bitter expressions.

Receiving only two extra taels of silver a month, yet having to treat everyone to drinks; with so many people in the Zhangcheng Office, those two taels would barely be enough for the treat.

This was equivalent to not receiving any extra money at all.

The other Captains immediately cheered as well: "My lord handles affairs with justice!"

"The brothers of the Rank Dan Xiu have worked hard; this money must be added. We are all brothers, so you must also treat us to this drink."

"Hahaha..."

In the ancestral hall, only Jia Luojing and the old village head's family remained.

When the fighting broke out earlier, Jia Luojing had also wanted to go out with Xiang Qinghuai.

But Xiang Qinghuai had stopped him in a sarcastic manner.

"My lord Jia should remain in the ancestral hall; if you do not help, that is the greatest help of all."

This made Jia Luojing's liver ache until now.

Hearing the laughter outside at this moment, he felt puzzled: Could it be that Xu Yuan had truly broken the Spell of the Ghost Village?

Jia Luojing immediately rose and walked out.

He did not want to stay here; when Xu Yuan returned, he feared he would have to endure another round of mockery.

He did not go to the village entrance either, but simply found a random spot and walked out.

Before long, he truly walked out of the village!

"He actually broke it..."

Jia Luojing's mood was extremely complex; having survived the calamity, yet filled with envy and hatred toward Xu Yuan.

He checked the direction and prepared to return first to the Canal Wharf.

But suddenly, a splash of water came from the small river behind him, as if some massive creature had emerged from the water.

He turned his head and looked, his face filled with terror!

A ferocious dragon leaped out of the river and swallowed him in one bite!

(End of this chapter)