Chapter 276

"Li Linglong?"

"Last year?"

Just two keywords exploded in Zhang Fan's head like the Five Thunders Orthodox Dharma.

"That woman was really beautiful, and her figure was also good. I don't know which pig she let root her. These days, good cabbages are all blind," Old Nian squinted his eyes, drank another sip of wine, his face flushed, and he was faintly drunk.

"No... are there photos?" Zhang Fan looked at Old Nian blankly.

His mother died ten years ago, died under Long Hu Mountain. This involves the Thirteen Zodiacs, involves the Wu Wei Sect, and even involves the Daoist sects...

Back then, because Zhang Fan was trapped in the Great Night Without Light, Zhang Lingzong told him that Li Linglong died in a car accident.

Zhang Fan could completely understand this point.

But now, a mountain patrol uncle tells him that he saw a woman last year who was also called Li Linglong.

This is simply too absurd.

"Stolen photos?"

Old Nian squinted his eyes, turned his head, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Zhang Fan clearly carried a hint of respect.

"Young man, I didn't see that coming. You're a pro."

"..."

"You're young, after all, and bold... If you get caught and it's uploaded to the internet, you're done for," Old Nian warned earnestly.

"What kind of nonsense..."

Zhang Fan rolled his eyes and pressed, "Are you sure that woman was called Li Linglong?"

Old Nian squinted his eyes and drank another sip of wine: "It was called Li something... Li Ling something..."

"The man beside her called her Li Ling something..."

"Linglong... Linglong, she lives up to that figure."

Old Nian raised his hand to trace a graceful arc, leaned into the corner, and gradually began to snore.

"Li Ling... followed by a man?"

"Li Linglang!?" Zhang Fan's brow furrowed, and a name suddenly jumped into his mind.

He could not forget that night, the woman he met at the Jiuye Shuan Meat Shop. She called herself Li Linglang. One disagreement, and she almost took Zhang Fan's life. Even with Liu Fusheng using all his methods, he couldn't block that woman's ferocity.

In the end, a mysterious expert appeared suddenly and forced that crazy woman back with the 【Vacuum Refining Form】, one of the legendary nine great internal elixir methods.

Just hearing the name, he knew that this woman had an inextricable connection with their family.

Liu Fusheng also said that the woman was a relative of Zhang Fan's family.

"Li Linglang... should be a relative on my mother's side... could it be her?" Zhang Fan was thoughtful.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never heard of any relatives in his family. Whether it was his father's side or his mother's side, every year during the New Year, other people's homes were lively with visiting relatives, but only their home was desolate.

Sometimes, Zhang Fan really doubted whether his parents grew up in an orphanage.

"What's wrong?" Qi Delong stood up and asked.

"Nothing, let's go."

Zhang Fan shook his head, glanced at the soundly sleeping Old Nian, and turned to walk out of the house.

Qi Delong followed closely, and the two disappeared into the vast night.

Inside the narrow wooden cabin, the hanging lamp swayed faintly, making the dim yellow light sway even more dazzlingly.

"Pity the plum blossoms have their own worries, the south branch faces warmth while the north branch is cold..." Old Nian leaned in the corner, murmuring to himself, the corners of his mouth seemingly raised, as if lost in a dream.

"Sister flowers... sister flowers..."

The sleep-talking was like a thin thread, intermittent, scattering into the silent night of Cangshan.

……

Whoosh...

The sound of the wind in the mountains whistled, roaring in his ears like a wild beast.

Zhang Fan's figure was like a remnant shadow, running in the depths of Chanbao Mountain.

"Why did you suddenly speed up?" Qi Delong caught up and couldn't help but ask.

"This mountain doesn't give me a good feeling... let's find the place sooner," Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

If the woman Old Nian met was really Li Linglong, and she had been to this mountain, then there was a big problem.

Whoosh...

Just at this moment, under the pale moonlight, a figure darted out from not far away, blocking their path.

Zhang Fan looked closely and couldn't help but call out: "Ergou!?"

"Brother Fan." Qin Ergou was panting, covered in sweat, and his clothes were stained with mud.

"Why are you here?" Qi Delong couldn't help but ask.

"A group of Daoist priests came into the mountains, they should be coming for you, Brother Qi," Qin Ergou panted.

Meng Qiwu, Gu Chuanyin, and that group of people did not avoid Qin Ergou at all during their conversation along the way. In their eyes, Qin Ergou simply did not exist.

"That group from Mount Zhongnan?" Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow and looked at Qi Delong.

"It must be them," Qi Delong's gaze sank slightly, "They are biting really hard. They must have gone back to bring reinforcements."

"Experts from Mount Zhongnan have also come?" Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

"They can recognize my Mount Laojun Daoist arts. Those elders naturally disdain to take action. Among the younger generation... only An Wuyang is quite troublesome. If he comes, then it will be troublesome."

"An Wuyang? The successor of Mount Zhongnan?"

As early as in Yujing City, Zhang Fan had heard the people from the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance mention this name more than once.

"You are the successor of Mount Laojun, are you still afraid of him?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but say.

In his view, the successors of the ten great Daoist mountains of the world might have some gaps between them, but it shouldn't be impossible to bridge.

Unless it was an accident like Fang Changle's, which made him half a beat slower than others in cultivation, but his foundation was still there, his talent remained, and if he obtained an opportunity, he could catch up.

"You don't know..." Qi Delong shook his head.

"An Wuyang is gifted with extraordinary talent. Some say his aptitude can be mentioned in the same breath as Li Changgeng of the Bai He Temple in Shangjing..."

"The most critical thing is that he has been practicing in Mount Zhongnan since he was young and once obtained the enlightenment of a Pure Yang Dharma Treasure."

"Pure Yang Dharma Treasure!?" Zhang Fan's expression changed suddenly.

Generally, those refined and born for less than a hundred years can only be counted as Dharma instruments.

Only those over a hundred years old can be called Dharma treasures, which are divided into 【Yellow Feather Dharma Treasure】, 【Green Feather Dharma Treasure】, and 【Purple Feather Dharma Treasure】 according to the years of sacrifice and worship.

Above all treasures is the Pure Yang Dharma Treasure. That is the supreme treasure that only existences who have reached the Pure Yang Limitless Realm could possibly leave behind, and it is the true foundation of a great sect.

Mount Zhongnan is one of the ancestral courts of the Daoist sects, with a long history and many experts, such as Wang Zu Wang Chongyang, Qiu Zu Qiu Chuji, Liu Zu Liu Haichan, etc., all of whom were existences who realized the changes of Pure Yang Limitless.

"Pure Yang Dharma Treasure, supernatural powers are hard to resist..." Zhang Fan subconsciously looked at Qi Delong.

"Does your Mount Laojun also have a Pure Yang Dharma Treasure?"

"Naturally, there is."

Before Qi Delong could speak, Qi Dongqiang spoke first.

"Shut up," Qi Delong reprimanded.

Qin Ergou stood by, looking blank.

"I have only seen the Pure Yang Dharma Treasure of our Mount Laojun once. To be honest, the soul-aspect cannot peek, the supreme cannot be blasphemed, that feeling..." Qi Delong murmured softly, a look of awe rising in his eyes.

"It's like facing the Transcendent True Person... that is already the difference between heaven and man."

Speaking of this, Qi Delong sighed in a deep voice.

"Mount Zhongnan has more than one Pure Yang Dharma Treasure. An Wuyang once obtained enlightenment. What a great opportunity is this?" Qi Delong said solemnly.

"So he is different."

"Brother, he dares to come because he is aiming at us. The killing of successors is the struggle of orthodoxy," Qi Dongqiang's voice was cold, revealing a hint of ruthlessness.

"If An Wuyang really comes, then we are in trouble."

As he spoke, Qi Delong looked at Qin Ergou and asked: "Is there a man among them who has very white skin and likes to be barefoot?"

"No," Qin Ergou shook his head, "I led them to the Old Pig Lin Zi, then took a detour to find you."

The Old Pig Lin Zi is a dangerous place in Chanbao Mountain. Whenever it is deep at night, strange pig calls come out. Some say there are wild boars hidden in the forest. In fact, that forest grows at the "toad's" throat, so whenever it is night, "toad calls" come out.

Ordinary people get lost at most, but if the soul-aspect is awakened and one hears the toad calls, one often falls into an illusion, seeing various external scenes of the soul-aspect, unable to extricate oneself.

"I'm afraid the experts from Mount Zhongnan won't be trapped for too long," Qi Delong said solemnly.

Last time he also passed by that forest and knew the power of the toad calls.

"Ergou, don't go back for now, follow us," Zhang Fan pondered slightly, fearing that if Qin Ergou went back, he would disappear like Zhang Wang last time.

"Alright, I'll follow Brother Fan," Qin Ergou nodded heavily.

"Ahead is the Toad Mouth," Qi Delong said in a deep voice.

Walking another three miles, there is a gorge. If the whole mountain is a toad, that place is the toad's mouth, and the pearl it holds is inside.

"That Daoist also built the great tomb in the toad's mouth."

Qi Delong's expression was solemn. Last time he only took a turn around the outside of the Toad Mouth, and his soul-aspect suffered considerable damage, almost folding there.

"Let's go, let's go and see!"

In the night, the three walked for half an hour and finally arrived at the Toad Mouth.

Under the pale moonlight, a black shadow blocked the gorge, like a monument.

"Don't get close..."

A hundred steps away, Qi Delong raised his hand to stop everyone. He looked vigilant, staring fixedly at the black shadow.

"What is that?" Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

"This thing is very evil. I was caught by it last time," Qi Delong's expression was ugly.

To be ashamed, he still hasn't figured out what the black shadow in front of him is. It seems to blend into the surrounding night, and even the moonlight cannot splash into it.

"Let me see," Zhang Fan's heart jumped, his soul-aspect ready to come out.

"Don't..." Qi Delong's expression changed suddenly, wanting to stop him, but it was too late.

Zhang Fan's soul-aspect had just left his body, and the surrounding wind roared, like ghosts crying and demons howling, as if thousands of mountains and monsters were wailing.

The pale moonlight twisted and deformed around the black shadow, and a fishy, foul smell permeated the gorge, vast and mighty, like rot and decay.

"Retreat!" Qi Delong's expression changed suddenly, pushing Qin Ergou behind him. Two soul-aspects intertwined and permeated; it was the two brothers, their soul-aspects merged, their divine power vast, resisting the terrifying aura.

"Zhang Fan..." Qi Delong and Dongqiang called out in shock.

Rumble...

Under the moonlight, Zhang Fan's soul-aspect crouched three feet above his head. The terrifying fluctuations constantly impacted like ripples. In a trance, firelight flickered in the void, breaking people's soul-aspects and moving people's hearts.

"His soul-aspect can even resist such strangeness?"

Qi Delong's expression was solemn. The two brothers' soul-aspects merged, and they still had to retreat three times.

But Zhang Fan's soul-aspect actually took the initiative to meet the strange aura.

Whoosh...

At this moment, Zhang Fan finally saw clearly that the black shadow was a mound, filled with broken limbs and skeletons, as if it were built from them.

"Jingguan Corpse Mound!?"

!

Zhang Fan's soul-aspect returned to his body, and he subconsciously took two steps back, a look of horror appearing in his eyes.

"Did you see clearly? What is that?" Qi Delong stepped forward to ask.

"Jingguan Corpse Mound!" Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

"What?" Qi Delong's face trembled, his expression becoming unnatural.

"That Daoist is truly crazy."

In ancient times, there was a sacrificial method in war, which was to pile up the corpses of the enemy's fallen, seal the earth, and ram it, forming a tall mound, firstly to sacrifice to heaven, and secondly to deter the enemy.

This kind of corpse mound is called Jingguan.

"Jingguan Corpse Mound... This Daoist used this thing to seal the toad's mouth. No wonder all the precious energy of the mountains and rivers gathered in the toad's belly, not leaking a single bit for so many years," Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

This is equivalent to sealing the heavenly secrets.

Besides this...

"So many human lives are equivalent to dividing the calamity for nurturing a naturally born spiritual fetus."

Last time on Fangs Mountain, only one naturally born strange treasure was born, and so many people died, and the Qin family was finished because of it.

If it really is a naturally born spiritual fetus, how great would the calamity be?

So that Daoist used so many human lives to fill it!

"Ergou, you said your ancestors lived in these mountains for generations, there was originally a village, right?" Qi Delong seemed to have thought of something and asked suddenly.

Qin Ergou nodded: "I heard from my grandfather that later there was a plague, and everyone in the village died, and even the village was burned clean."

"When did this happen?" Qi Delong asked suddenly.

"Not long after that Daoist came."

Qin Ergou seemed to have thought of something, raised his head, and looked at the towering corpse mound in the dark night.

"Ruthless, I'm afraid it's not just this many human lives," Zhang Fan gritted his teeth.

Just a glance, that 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】 had at least a thousand corpses.

"This thing is lying here, I'm afraid it's not easy to pass," Qi Delong looked at Zhang Fan, and saw that the latter's face was almost bloodless, showing that although his soul-aspect blocked the strange aura of the Jingguan Corpse Mound, he was still affected to some extent.

"We must pass."

Zhang Fan gritted his teeth. At this moment, he was more certain that there might really be a naturally born spiritual fetus inside.

Thinking of this, he took out a piece of skin from his bosom, a mouthful of true Yang entered, the skin became full, and it transformed into Zhang Beijiang.

"Spirit Zombie!?" Qi Delong's eyes lit up, and he recognized it.

"Taiyin becomes evil, corpse changes without spirit..." Zhang Fan said in a deep voice: "Using him to open the way should be possible."

Zombies have no soul or spirit, so they won't be affected by the strange aura of the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】.

"Old Qi, protect me!" Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

As the voice fell, Zhang Fan's soul-aspect left his body and attached itself behind Zhang Beijiang.

"Rest assured."

Qi Delong formed a Dharma seal, protecting Zhang Fan's physical body, and watched Zhang Beijiang walk toward the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】.

Whoosh...

The wind rose, ghosts cried, and the sound of wailing filled the sky from the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】. The strange aura was overwhelming, even more surging than before.

Qi Delong kept his heart and spirit, protecting Zhang Fan's physical body.

Zhang Beijiang was ignorant and fearless, constantly approaching the corpse mound in the dark night.

"It really works," Zhang Fan attached himself to Zhang Beijiang's body. Although he was still affected, it was extremely weak.

"Brother, it really works, this spirit zombie is truly extraordinary," Qi Dongqiang said excitedly.

"Don't be distracted," Qi Delong scolded.

Whoosh...

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Beijiang had approached within twenty steps of the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】. The ghastly white bones became clearer, just like corpses crawling out from the depths of purgatory, poured and imprisoned here.

Even, one could see hideous and twisted faces, already turned into dried corpses. Apparently, some people were still alive when they became part of this corpse mound.

Splash...

Suddenly, the wind stopped, and a piece of sticky black liquid seeped out from the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】, spreading toward Zhang Beijiang like a swamp.

"Retreat quickly!"

Qi Delong saw this, his expression changed suddenly.

That black blood was nurtured for many years by the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】 using corpses as nutrients. Once entangled by it, one would become part of that corpse mound.

Hum...

The black viscous liquid seemed to have spirit. Its speed was extremely fast. Only a trace entangled Zhang Beijiang, and other liquids surged in. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed most of Zhang Beijiang.

Roar...

Zhang Beijiang roared to the sky. Under the moonlight, a ghastly chill appeared on his pale face, and red light flickered in his eyes.

"Zhang Fan, abandon that spirit zombie, come back quickly," Qi Delong shouted loudly.

"Tsk tsk, so you are here."

Just at this moment, a cold voice came from afar.

Qi Delong's expression changed suddenly. He turned to look and saw a familiar face.

"Gu Chuanyin?"

"Successor of Mount Laojun, last time it was my eyes that were clumsy," Gu Chuanyin walked over slowly.

Ma De and Aoye, two experts, followed closely behind. They stared at Qi Delong with tiger-like eyes.

Last time, they suffered a big loss at the hands of the man in front of them.

"Defeated generals, do you still dare to come?" Qi Delong said coldly.

As a dignified successor of Mount Laojun, he really didn't take these few cats and dogs in front of him seriously.

"Entering the mountains to worship gods... Qi brothers, you came to the territory of my Mount Zhongnan without even saying hello, isn't that unreasonable?"

Just at this moment, a cold voice sounded in the faint night.

Qi Delong raised an eyebrow and looked up. He saw a beautiful figure standing under the moonlight, graceful, with eyebrows like frost. A powerful aura surged in, and there was primordial light flickering behind her, burning and inextinguishable.

"Triple Primordial Light!?"

Meng Qiwu, this woman's realm was exactly the same as Zhang Fan's, actually reaching the level of the third level of the Great Being.

"Meng Qiwu!?" Qi Delong squinted his eyes and said.

"You recognize me?" Meng Qiwu crossed her hands in front of her chest, quite surprised.

"At this age, with this cultivation... there are only a few people in Mount Zhongnan," Qi Delong said lightly.

"Worthy of being the successor of Mount Laojun, indeed having bearing," Meng Qiwu nodded.

This kind of temperament of not changing color when facing great events and not being afraid when seeing great enemies is indeed not something ordinary people can have.

"This friend of yours is finished."

Meng Qiwu looked at the 【Jingguan Corpse Mound】 in the distance, then shook her head: "Daring to touch this kind of thing is simply looking for death..."

As she spoke, Meng Qiwu took a step, like a violent wind, and had already arrived in front of Qi Delong.

"He is dead, you don't have to be distracted, you can fight me."

As the voice fell, Meng Qiwu slapped out with one hand, striking directly at Zhang Fan's heavenly spirit.

"You are looking for death!"

Qi Delong roared wildly, his voice like rolling thunder, and the terrifying aura shook Meng Qiwu back.

Whoosh...

A violent wind suddenly rose, producing a force of trapping, actually pulling Qi Delong over.

"Destroy that physical body," Meng Qiwu said lightly.

As the voice fell, Gu Chuanyin moved.

"Qi Delong, under my Mount Zhongnan, let's see how you can be arrogant," Gu Chuanyin sneered and walked straight toward Zhang Fan's physical body.

"You..."

Rumble...

Qi Delong failed to rush forward, and a piece of thunder boiled, blocking his path.

"Senior brother, let us help you."

Ma De and Aoye looked at Qi Delong with a sneer, as if they had avenged their last big hatred, and followed Gu Chuanyin's footsteps.

Rumble...

Just at this moment, a terrifying fluctuation rose into the sky, and everyone subconsciously looked over.

Before the Jingguan Corpse Mound, the black viscous liquid suddenly exploded, and a figure walked out from it, which was Zhang Beijiang.

His whole body's blood energy was crazy, rushing nine zhang into the sky, and faintly there was a blurred light shadow flickering, dragon and tiger crouching, the character 'North' hanging in the sky.

Just at this moment, incense energy slowly rose behind Zhang Beijiang, condensing into a phantom in a trance, like a fairy god statue in a temple. The phantom had five heads, holding a large seal in its palm, fierce and evil, imposing and powerful.

"This is..."

"North Zhang lineage, Five-Fierce Army Lord!?" Meng Qiwu's expression changed suddenly, and she shouted in shock.

(End of chapter)