Chapter 181: Gunpowder and Sorcery

Squeak squeak!

The mouse hid in the distance, squeaking and not daring to get close.

The Yin thunder was muffled, but living creatures could instinctively sense danger.

Li Yan smelled its scent, slowly finished his practice, and opened his eyes. Only then did the mouse scurry over, crawling around in front of him.

After unhooking the cloth strip and reading it for a few moments, Li Yan picked up the charcoal pen, wrote "Wait for work at ease, act according to the situation" on the cloth strip, then tied it to the mouse's leg and let it leave.

Watching the mouse disappear rapidly into the darkness, Li Yan couldn't help but praise: "Brother Lu San's ability is truly useful!"

In fact, ever since Lu San returned from Wu Family Ditch and took all the blame for the case, Li Yan had wanted to invite him to join.

Without any other reason, although everyone in the martial world hangs the words "loyalty" and "righteousness" on their lips, such responsible men are becoming fewer and fewer.

And Lu San's ability really shouldn't be underestimated.

The other party could understand bird and beast language. Every time they entered an unfamiliar area, they could always get quite a bit of intelligence, and it was true and effective.

After all, animals wouldn't lie.

And Lu San also had a taming sorcery, which could temporarily command small animals in the surroundings. For fierce ones like the falcon, he could only tame one or two, but rats and snakes, which could be seen everywhere in heaven and earth, could be easily commanded by him.

To tell the truth, Li Yan was even a bit envious watching.

But the threshold for this kind of sorcery was quite high. Opening the Ear Perception was just the foundation, and its inheritance also required a pure heart and closeness to nature to practice.

The village-guarding person back then was a simpleton, and he didn't know where he had learned it. Even Lu San himself had learned it in a muddled way.

Being able to easily reach Huayin was largely thanks to Lu San.

After all, they had already become targets on the greenwood path.

That night, they obtained twelve name tokens. After Shopkeeper Wan took two, he refused to take any more, giving them all to Li Yan.

Shopkeeper Wan was an old martial world hand; how could he not see Li Yan's intentions?

Killing Xiong Baodong was to help them eliminate future trouble.

This friendship, although the old man didn't say it on his lips, he kept it in his heart and would definitely find an opportunity to repay it, so how could he split the spoils with him?

Li Yan took one of the ten tokens and handed the remaining nine to Night Crying Lang to handle. After all, this guy was quiet but had quite a wide network in the Mystic Sect.

But what he hadn't expected was that the spots were so valuable.

The nine tokens sold for over ninety thousand taels in total. Night Crying Lang took ten thousand as a reward and sent the rest to them in silver notes.

The commotion was too big, causing people to be jealous.

Of course, there was no lack of enemies fanning the flames.

Although Xiong Baodong was dead and the Fire Bear Gang was looted by many martial world people, it was estimated that it would completely dissipate before long.

But some of Xiong Baodong's subordinates still had some loyalty, desperately grabbing some silver and joining forces with the Fengyang Qiao family to offer a bounty for Li Yan's head.

Five thousand taels for a head—martial world people would weigh it.

But if it was accompanied by eighty or ninety thousand taels of silver, the people it would attract would be wave after wave.

"Guanzhong is not a good place to stay anymore..."

Li Yan shook his head slightly and continued to sit cross-legged in meditation.

He came here to practice for a reason.

The Mount Huashan cellar opening wasn't that simple.

After all, that batch of money and spiritual materials had been buried when the Great Xuan Dynasty was first founded, nurtured for nearly a hundred years in the spiritual apertures of a blessed land, and were no different from heavenly spiritual treasures.

If opened improperly, the attached Gang Qi and spiritual charm would dissipate.

This year, the Beginning of Spring was on the tenth day of the first lunar month. From that day on, the Daoists of the Profound Heaven Sect on Mount Huashan began to perform rituals.

The ritual lasted for a full fourteen days. Only after the spiritual objects inside had completely settled would the cellar be officially opened.

That is to say, in four days.

After Li Yan learned the "Northern Emperor Yinshan Method," with the help of the Great Luo Dharma Body to repair his soul, his practice speed became faster and faster.

It just so happened that the time was about right, so he planned to completely stabilize the first floor before going up the mountain and build the second floor on Mount Huashan.

Before the third floor, they were all mortal sorcerers.

With the method of the Luo Feng ghosts and gods, the speed was naturally surprisingly fast.

This old Tang tomb was built by a feudal lord in the late Tang Dynasty. At that time, the national power had already declined, so it was built somewhat crudely. Plus, it had been repeatedly looted later, so it was already empty.

But the Yin Sha gathered here, which was just right for him to use for practice.

The "Northern Emperor Yinshan Method" could only be practiced at the Zi hour of the night. The team of bandits who came to sneak attack before had just happened to bump into the gathered lonely ghosts and spirits.

During the day, he used it to practice another method:

"Northern Bei Bei Di Yin Lei Hand!"

The so-called Yin thunder is the thunder of the Underworld.

Of course, this was just a way of saying it; it was more to describe the characteristics of this thunder—gloomy, heavy, turbid, and lingering, best at injuring people's souls. Once hit, it was extremely difficult to recover.

And Yang thunder is unmatchable in its rigidity and ferocity.

With one strike, everything ends.

Like other sorcery, this "Northern Bei Bei Di Yin Lei Hand" was also the foundation for practicing thunder methods in the future. It was a bit like the Palm Thunder, which could be cast by pinching a formula and slapping it out.

How much power it had was related to one's Dao practice.

Li Yan, under the guidance of Lady Li, had fused Pi-Gua and Red Fist, and with the Great Cloud Thunder Sound, he had the rhythm of thunder.

If he learned the Yin Thunder Hand and then found an opportunity to learn the Palm Thunder in the future, with Yin and Yang combined, his martial arts would be considered to have a solid foundation.

Dan Energy, or even Gang Energy, would all be within reach.

Thinking of this, Li Yan pinched the dharma formula again, lit a Yin-Gathering Talisman, and smeared the talisman ash on his palm.

His left hand pinched the Yang formula, his right hand pinched the Yin formula, sometimes swapping the two, while his palms slowly rotated and rubbed.

The Yin Sha Qi divided into Yin and Yang, instantly crackling and popping...

At the same time, the group of sword-bandits also arrived at the foot of the mountain.

"We're here, it's in this mountain!"

Yuan Zhetian looked at the small mountain in front and sneered: "The target is hiding in a grave, I don't know what evil arts he is practicing."

"You seniors only need to break this kid's sorcery, then we'll bomb it all at once. No matter how high his martial arts are, he'll be dead or crippled!"

The three heterodox sorcerers looked toward the front.

This place was already a desolate wilderness. The bandits who died two days ago hadn't been buried. Some corpses had been disemboweled by wild beasts, and some were already slightly black.

From a distance, the stench of corpses hit them in the face.

The three exchanged glances, and the black-clad old woman walked forward, pried open the eyelids of a corpse to look, then turned her head, her voice hoarse: "Find some black cloth to cover the light, this old woman will ask him."

Talking to a dead person?

The sword-bandits felt their hearts go cold and looked at each other.

"What are you still standing there for!"

Yuan Zhetian frowned and cursed: "If they were alive, I could hack them to death. Why be afraid of a bird now that they're dead? Go, find a black cloth to cover it."

"Good man!"

The one-eyed big monk gave a thumbs up and praised: "Evil souls are born from seven emotions and obsessions, and emerge from Yin Sha Qi. With Brother Yuan's evil aura, ordinary ghosts wouldn't dare to get close at all."

"Senior Xiaoyue, you praise me too much."

Yuan Zhetian laughed, but he became more vigilant in his heart.

Don't look at his indifferent appearance, or even taking out explosives to threaten the three, he was guarding against them at all times.

He dared to cooperate, naturally he had inquired about their background.

The big monk was called Xiaoyue, originally the abbot of a small temple, but he was born greedy and lustful, practiced bewitching evil arts, raped female pilgrims who came to the mountain, and fled the martial world after the matter was exposed.

Not only did he not die, but he became stronger and stronger.

The Daoist carrying the gourd, nicknamed Bao Daoist, came from Laoshan, was expelled from his sect for being obsessed with evil arts, and like him, specialized in murder-for-hire...

As for the old woman, nicknamed Silver Flower Snake, she was a Xiangxi Gu-woman, also with a fierce reputation, but because she had some background, she lived steadily until now...

These three, none of them were good things. They were unwelcome in the Mystic Sect and acted unscrupulously. If it weren't for their clean work, they would have been arrested by the Law Enforcement Hall long ago.

Of course, Yuan Zhetian was also ill-intentioned.

He already had a plan in his heart: once the sorcery was broken, he would immediately make a move and blow these three to death!

The few were hypocritical, but the sword-bandit subordinates were agile, pulling up a large black cloth to block the old Gu-woman and the corpse underneath.

Only to see the Gu-woman "Silver Flower Snake" take a handful of dry grass from her bosom, light it with a fire-starter, and hang it above the corpse's head.

Three circles left, three circles right, muttering incantations in her mouth.

"It... it's alive!"

Before long, everyone around widened their eyes, and even Yuan Zhetian couldn't help but lean forward to watch.

Only to see the pungent smoke from the burning dry grass all rushing into the corpse's nasal cavity, as if this decaying corpse was breathing.

The Gu-woman shook her head and swayed, the strange incantations in her mouth becoming louder and louder...

!.

The sword-bandits only felt their hearts go cold. Some couldn't help but rub their eyes, seemingly feeling that the corpse had suddenly turned its head, opened a pair of pale eyes, and was grinning at them.

"Ah—!"

Finally, someone couldn't help but scream and retreat repeatedly.

Life and death have always been taboos.

Don't look at how they kill without blinking on weekdays, but when they really encounter such things, they still can't help but feel fear.

"What are you all doing?!"

Slap! Slap!

Yuan Zhetian also felt cold, but he was born with great courage, so he immediately drew his horse whip and lashed out left and right.

Bloodstains appeared on the faces of the retreating sword-bandits.

Although they were whipped, it also dissipated some of the fear in their hearts.

After all, ghosts might not necessarily harm people, but this Yuan Zhetian was a living Yama who killed without blinking.

Fortunately, the Gu-woman "Silver Flower Snake's" sorcery ended quickly. She looked at the small mountain above, shook her head, and sneered: "These people were sneaking an attack at night and bumped into evil."

"Yin Sha Qi gathers in this place, the other party must be summoning a group of ghosts to form a ghost-wall. Now it is noon, the Yang Qi is flourishing, which is the time to make a move!"

"Good!"

Yuan Zhetian originally had this intention, and upon hearing this, he immediately agreed, sneering: "That Li fellow is hiding in a grave, thinking I would be like those idiots and drill into a thief-hole to find him?"

"Release the wolf smoke and force him out!"

"Yes, Big Brother!"

The sword-bandits immediately went up the mountain, quickly found several thief-holes, took out large grass balls from their backpacks, lit them, piled them at the cave entrance, and fanned them desperately with large fans.

The grass balls didn't know what they were made of, but they immediately emitted pungent smoke after being lit, drilling into the mountain along the thief-holes.

These things were naturally seen by Wang Daoxuan and the others.

They lay on the side ridge, all with solemn expressions.

"It seems this bunch came prepared!"

"What to do?"

"Make a move, lest Brother Yan be trapped inside!"

There were many people below, but the three were fearless.

Wang Daoxuan had already set up the dharma altar, but it was noon, the Yang Qi was flourishing, and the rampant soldiers couldn't be summoned, so the ones mainly making a move were Sha Lifei and Lu San.

Sha Lifei first quickly loaded the flintlock firearm and placed it aside, then picked up a long bow and nocked an arrow.

In front of the arrowhead, a bamboo tube was tied.

This thing was called a Bamboo Thunder Arrow. Because it was simple to make, every station of the Great Xuan Dynasty was equipped with it. Its lethality was average, and its greatest role was to scare horses.

In the Battle of Niubei Mountain, the station soldiers relied on this to make the bandits' horses panic and flee, thus winning a great victory.

Sha Lifei raised his eyebrows at Lu San and said: "Brother Lu San, your firearm is powerful, but playing with this kind of thing, I'm an expert."

"See that? They will inevitably panic their horses, and a few will surely fall to their deaths!"

Lu San glanced faintly. "You talk too much."

"Heh heh."

Sha Lifei didn't mind, pulled the bowstring tight, lit the bamboo tube's fuse, and then released it violently.

Whoosh!

The rocket whistled out and fell toward the bandit horse troop.

"Careful, there's a hidden projectile!"

Yuan Zhetian was the most skilled, and he heard the sound immediately.

But after he turned his head, his pupils shrank. His leg Dark Energy erupted, and with a "swoosh," he leaped high and jumped behind a giant rock to hide.

The three sorcerers all had supernatural powers and sensed something was wrong. They were shocked and hurriedly found places to hide.

Pfft!

Sha Lifei's arrow hit the package next to a bandit's saddle.

Seeing the smoking bamboo tube, the bandit's pupils shrank.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Like a series of muffled thunders, flying sand and rocks, blood and flesh splattered.

This bunch of sword-bandits were playing with explosives for the first time, thinking the more the better, and almost everyone had two packages on their horse's back, and they were gathered together.

The most terrifying thing was that the explosive packages were bought from the black market, crudely made, and almost ignited at a touch.

The earth shook, and dirt and rocks fell with a crash.

Sha Lifei was startled, covered his head, and after the explosion stopped, he carefully poked his head out, dumbfounded.

Seeing Lu San's look like he had seen a ghost, Sha Lifei hurriedly shook his head. "Not me, these idiots were actually carrying explosive packages..."

Saying this, a look of pride appeared in the corners of his eyes. "See that? This thing isn't something just anyone can use."

Lu San thought for a moment and nodded.

"Any more? Make the fuse longer!"

"High!"

Sha Lifei was full of excitement, ran to the earth cave opposite the earth temple, and carefully took out an object.

It was an earthenware jar, inlaid with many iron pieces, only the size of a fist, with a chain on top, like a meteor hammer.

"This thing is called a Fire Caltrop."

Sha Lifei said proudly: "A military firearm from the Song Dynasty. I restored it according to the 'Wu Jing Zong Yao.' Its power is not bad. Can your precious falcon pull it?"

"About the same." Lu San looked at it and nodded.

Sha Lifei was full of excitement. "That's good, I'll make the fuse longer..."

Just as they were busy, Yuan Zhetian below also crawled out from behind the giant rock, covered in dirt. Looking at the miserable scene in front of him, his eyes turned blood red:

"It's Li Yan's accomplices, I want their lives!"

After saying this, he ran toward the hillside.

He was already at the peak of Dark Energy. With a "clatter," he drew his double knives, his feet Dark Energy erupted, mud splattered, and he rushed toward the mountain ridge.

The old Gu-woman "Silver Flower Snake," although she had supernatural powers, was not skilled in martial arts, so her movements were slower, and she was smashed by flying rocks until her face was covered in blood.

Her expression was ferocious, and she roared: "Two fellow Daoists, hurry and catch the people above, force that kid to hand over the things!"

The one-eyed monk Xiaoyue and Bao Daoist immediately understood.

"Hmph!"

Xiaoyue the monk picked up his convenience shovel, and simultaneously Dark Energy erupted. He leaped out, following closely behind Yuan Zhetian.

And Bao Daoist unhooked the big gourd from his back and placed it on the ground.

He pulled out the gourd stopper, lit a yellow talisman, muttered incantations in the air, and pointed violently upward. "Go!"

Buzz buzz buzz!

From inside the gourd, dense swarms of big hornets flew out, whistling toward the mountaintop...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 182 =====