Chapter 311

The stars were sparse, and the night was intertwined with thin mist.

The ground after the rain was a bit muddy, mixed with withered branches and fallen leaves; after walking a few steps, a large lump would stick to his feet, the surrounding tree shadows were mottled, and water droplets were still dripping.

In the dark depths of the dense forest, it seemed that something was watching.

However, the three Meishan brothers could not care about that, accelerating their steps and shuttling through the forest at high speed.

Passing through this dense forest, the scene before their eyes suddenly opened up.

Under the moonlight, a vast lake appeared.

The lake surface was like ink, reflecting the twisted tree shadows on the shore, and the coldness penetrated the bones.

The water mist on the shore was hazy, carrying a strange pressure.

This is Donghu near Wuchang City; the large lake connects to small lakes, which is intricate and complex, and it is connected to the Yangtze River; whenever the rainy season comes, floods are frequent, bringing a lot of trouble to the surrounding common people.

But precisely because of this, it has created beautiful scenery here; since ancient times, literati and poets have visited it.

Qu Yuan's "Chanting by the Marsh," King Zhuang of Chu beating drums to supervise the battle, Liu Bei setting up an altar to sacrifice to heaven, Li Bai inscribing on the Eagle-Releasing Terrace... the stories are endless.

This lake area is extremely vast, and there were originally villages around it, but because of the Barbarian King's Tomb nearby, many people were secretly captured for blood sacrifices, and the common people all fled and left.

In the water mist by the lake, there were indistinct figures, and strange sounds were emitted.

There were also flickering fires on the shore, surrounding many people.

The three brothers accelerated their steps to approach, only to see that the people staying on the shore were the experts sent by the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect to help.

A simple ritual altar was set up by the lake, filled with all kinds of strange bones, and Po Liuhan Baling's severed arm was also placed on it.

Fires were burning around, and Granny A-Lang from the Miao region of western Hunan was shaking her head and tossing her brain in front of the ritual altar, constantly scattering pungent powder, her appearance extremely crazy.

On the ritual altar, all kinds of strange flying insects were crawling densely, sucking the flesh and blood of the severed arm, and then taking off into the night sky again and again.

However, the people around were clearly a bit impatient.

They seriously injured Po Liuhan Baling and got rid of one of the opponent's arms; this old sorceress said she had a way to find his whereabouts, and maybe she could even cast a spell to suppress and kill him.

Unfortunately, this old sorceress clearly overestimated herself.

A full hour of spell-casting had passed, and they couldn't even find the person.

Seeing the three brothers return, Protector Wang hurriedly asked: "Why are only you three here? Where is Liu Niang?"

The Ghost Sect also had a force outside the city, and they naturally already knew about the events that happened in the city, so they hurriedly let the three brothers go out to inquire.

"Sub-sect Leader Liu is already dead."

Their words made everyone's expression change instantly.

Although because of certain things, they looked down on people like "Liu Niang" and "Red Woman," this place was, after all, where the Ghost Sect was laying out its plan.

With Liu Niang dead, I'm afraid the plan will fail completely.

Whether it was the Ghost Sect or those bewitched Miao people, they didn't care how many died. But if they failed here, the pressure faced by the Jingchu mountain area would not be relieved.

But before Protector Wang could get angry, the eldest of the three brothers hurriedly said: "There is also an old senior from the Ghost Sect who has arrived, passing down a secret method, asking us to get the Red Mohe as quickly as possible and send it to the Barbarian King's Tomb."

"We have also found the location of the feng shui layout of Yu Lanshan, which is at the Parrot Island Wharf; as long as that place is destroyed, the imperial court will not be able to stop us!"

After Protector Wang heard this, his expression softened slightly, and he said coldly to the old sorceress: "Granny A-Lang, stop being busy, leave it to them."

The old sorceress heard this, stopped her spell-casting with a resentful face, but still said stubbornly: "That Po Liuhan Baling must be hiding in some feng shui layout."

The three brothers hurriedly stepped forward and picked up the severed arm.

Protector Wang was still a bit worried and asked: "Why didn't that old senior of the Ghost Sect you mentioned come?"

The three Meishan brothers didn't know what was going on, so they had to make it up: "That senior should be traveling with his yin-spirit, he is not in this place."

"Traveling with his yin-spirit?"

Protector Wang's pupils shrank, a trace of wariness flashed in his eyes, and he asked again: "What secret method did he pass down?"

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers looked at Donghu and said: "The land of Ezhou and Jingchu has had many spirits and demons since ancient times; now, although the righteous Mystic Sect controls the luck of the world, there are still many spirits and wild gods hidden in the shadows."

"That old senior said that a water demon is hidden in this Donghu, named Donghu Ancestor. He was enlightened by Liu Hai; although he practices in seclusion, the nearby water veins and the fish and shrimp spirits in the Yangtze River must all obey his orders."

"Zhao Changsheng has old ties with him; one only needs to offer tribute to ask him for help in searching."

"Oh?"

Protector Wang became interested upon hearing this, "Near Wuchang City, there is actually such a thing hidden; why not invite him to help this time?"

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers shook his head and said: "Donghu Ancestor is a different kind of practitioner, he doesn't care about human affairs, and his cultivation is profound; that old senior said not to provoke him recklessly."

Granny A-Lang on the side sneered: "What a joke, now that the human path is changing, who can escape? In the Jingchu mountains and forests..."

Before she finished speaking, she saw Protector Wang suddenly turn his head, staring at her fixedly, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Granny A-Lang felt a chill in her heart and hurriedly shut her mouth.

Protector Wang then snorted, turned his head, and continued to ask: "What tribute is needed?"

The eldest of the three brothers said: "We need victory flower coins, the more powerful the better; we just happen to have them with us."

After saying this, he took out a brocade box from his bosom; after opening it, there were more than twenty flower coins inside, and a biting murderous intent immediately spread out.

Protector Wang picked one up and was a bit surprised: "Three Talents Demon-Subduing Coins?"

"Yes, this thing was collected by Liu Niang; she told us to bring it when she left, probably also wanting to ask this old demon for help."

The eldest of the three brothers explained a few words, then came to the lakeside, scooped up soil and inserted incense, pinched the magic seal and kowtowed, and also strung the more than twenty Three Talents Demon-Subduing Coins into a string, constantly shaking them in the lake water while kowtowing.

The people of the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect waited quietly on the side.

They could clearly feel the biting murderous intent of the Three Talents Demon-Subduing Coins constantly escaping along with the magic seal.

But after waiting for a while, there was still no movement in the lake.

Just as Protector Wang was about to ask, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart and looked at the distant lake.

Under the moonlight, the lake water was as black as ink.

Clatter!

Suddenly, the fish and shrimp in the lake boiled, then thick fog rose on the lake surface, the surrounding air became cold, and the fog became thicker and thicker, almost making it impossible to see one's fingers.

Several people had supernatural powers, so they could naturally perceive more.

Someone heard a dull snoring sound coming from under the water...

Someone saw a huge shadow appear at the bottom of the water...

Afterwards, accompanied by the heavy footsteps of "baji baji," a huge monster crawled out of the lake; it was a huge toad, squatting there, about the size of a hall room.

Several people had solemn expressions and did not dare to move randomly.

As people of the Mystic Sect, they had naturally all heard the story of Liu Hai playing with the golden toad; the thing before their eyes, although it was definitely not the original exotic three-legged golden toad, was also definitely not an ordinary artifact.

The bumps of various sizes on its body actually shone with a metallic luster, looking like copper nails forged from brass.

And its momentum also made them unable to breathe.

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers hurriedly knelt down, respectfully presented the string of treasure coins with both hands, and said: "Junior pays respects to Donghu Ancestor; we are people of the Ghost Sect, and I hope the Ancestor will look at the past ties and help us with a favor."

Seeing that the big toad was not angry, but just staring at them with indifferent eyes, everyone felt terrified in their hearts.

Swish!

Just then, a black shadow flashed by.

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers felt his hands sink, and all the treasure coins disappeared, leaving only his hands full of mucus.

He was not surprised but happy, hurriedly presented the severed arm beside him with both hands, and said: "Please Ancestor, help us find this person."

Swish!

Another black shadow flashed by, and the arm also disappeared. They didn't see it clearly, but Protector Wang of the Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect saw it clearly, and was secretly shocked in his heart.

That black shadow was clearly a fleshy tentacle, protruding from the big toad's body and quickly retracting into its body; the speed of the movement and the precision of the control were not something ordinary Hua Jin experts could compare to.

And looking at the appearance, there was more than one!

"Croak!"

Just as he was surprised, the big toad suddenly opened its mouth, a dull frog croak, and the surrounding water vapor surged.

The water vapor formed a vortex in the air, and then a blurry light and shadow appeared in the center, constantly changing and reorganizing.

It was the Du Yuanguang Technique!

Several people saw this, and their eyes were filled with horror.

The Du Yuanguang Technique is a type of divination method, and its reputation in the Mystic Sect is not small; even in the Jin Sect, there is a type of specialized Du Yuanguang sorcerer.

Of course, most of these Du Yuanguang sorcerers are liars.

Even those who are truly proficient in this technique use a spirit medium to perform it, with the medium seeing things and then verbally relaying them.

Such an intuitive Du Yuanguang Technique is already close to immortal magic.

!.

Not long after, the light and shadow became stable, showing a temple hidden in a bamboo forest, surrounded by a stream.

On the plaque of the main gate, it was clearly written with the three characters "Lianxi Temple."

Afterwards, the light and shadow changed again, traveling underground.

They saw that deep underground in this temple, there was actually a small underground palace hidden, and there was a secret passage connected to the stream outside.

A monk was lying inside with a pale face, his half-severed arm bandaged and stopped bleeding in a mess, clearly sleeping.

Whoosh~

Suddenly, the wind whistled and the thick fog surged.

The light and shadow dissipated, and the huge toad also turned and burrowed into the thick fog, disappearing into the lake water...

Protector Wang saw this and frowned: "Why not let it stay? Help us break the feng shui layout?"

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers said with a difficult expression: "According to what that old senior said, the Sect Leader Zhao Changsheng once helped this Donghu Ancestor, but the other party only promised to take action three times, and this was the last time."

"Even if we offer more tribute, the other party will not appear."

"Humph!"

Protector Wang snorted, "These mountain and marsh spirits are all people who refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit; I really can't understand why your Ghost Sect is wary of them."

The three Meishan brothers looked at each other and didn't speak.

They had practiced since childhood and were also very respectful to these spirits hidden in the mountains and marshes; unless there was a conflict, they would not interfere with each other.

This kind of thing seemed very normal to them.

Of course, they had also vaguely heard some things. The Lord Lord Tian Sheng Sect had received help from something in the Jingchu mountains and forests, and with the advantage of firearms, they had wantonly hunted and killed the spirits in the mountains to practice the demon-body longevity art.

The two sides had different styles of doing things, so they couldn't say much.

Protector Wang also didn't want to entangle, "Forget it, do you know where that Lianxi Temple is?"

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers replied: "Lianxi Temple is on Panlong Mountain, eight miles east of Wuchang City; it is one of the four major Zen sect forest temples in this area, and it is a nunnery."

"There are many Zen sect experts sitting in it; if we fight hard, it's hard to say whether we can get the item, and it will definitely alarm the Zen sect."

Protector Wang frowned, "Why would that Po Liuhan Baling hide there? Could it be that the item has already been taken by the Zen sect?"

The eldest of the three Meishan brothers replied: "I do know something about this; Liu Niang had investigated it in detail."

"Lianxi Temple is ancient, and there is a treasure of the temple inside, which is a black jade Guanyin idol from the Northern Wei Dynasty, with 'Great Wei Zheng Guang Fourth Year Gui Mao True King Du Luozhou prays for Liuhan not to supply at the south of Luoyang' carved on it, which is exactly related to Po Liuhan Baling."

"Perhaps this underground palace was excavated a long time ago, and the nuns of Lianxi Temple don't know about it. Or perhaps they have some connection and are secretly protecting it."

"No matter which one it is, if we want to attack Lianxi Temple, we need more manpower, but the people of my Ghost Sect are all trapped in the Barbarian King's Tomb by the Buddhist sect, making it difficult to leave..."

Protector Wang thought for a moment after hearing this, "In that case, we will do two things at once, and wait for the reinforcements from Tusi City to arrive before taking action."

"In a few days, the final battle of the Dragon Boat Race will create chaos, divert the imperial court's attention, and use gunpowder to blow up the Parrot Island Wharf."

"At that time, the Buddhist experts will definitely go to rescue, and we will break through Lianxi Temple, take the Red Mohe, and enter the Barbarian King's Tomb."

"Once the Corpse Immortal comes out, the Buddhist sect here will definitely be reduced to scorched earth; let's see who can stop us then!"

"Protector Wang is wise!"

After a discussion, the few people left immediately and entered the mountains and forests.

Half an hour after they left, thick fog filled the lake surface again, and there was a faint sound of wind and thunder.

Two huge monsters emerged from the water, confronting each other.

One of them was Donghu Ancestor, with dense fleshy tentacles surging on its body, and a pair of big eyes turned blood red, like lanterns.

And the other one was the giant pig-woman dragon that Lu San had encountered...

…………

When Li Yan returned to Wuchang City, the sky was already bright.

He had been busy for most of the night and hadn't eaten a grain of rice, so he was already hungry and couldn't wait, so he found a breakfast stall at random.

Because it was close to the wharf, some merchants were unloading cargo overnight, and the journey was tiring, so they had some morning wine and ate meat and chatted early in the morning.

Li Yan and the others were busy in the shadows, but what the common people in the city were most concerned about was undoubtedly the Dragon Boat Race.

Inside the small shop, almost everyone was discussing it.

"Who won yesterday?"

"That goes without saying, it's naturally the Chamber of Commerce and the Pai Sect; one has money, and the other has many experts in the water; the other teams simply can't win, they are just here to be foils!"

"Tsk tsk, I heard there is a competition for the Wenjin Academy today; they won the championship the year before last, so there should be no suspense today..."

Li Yan naturally had no heart for this; after wolfing down his food, he got up and returned to the Ezhou Chamber of Commerce Hall.

At the entrance of the hall, a man wearing a martial robe stood there, with a tall build and a heroic face.

Before he could get close, the man hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands and said: "Is it Li Li Shaoxia Yan Li?"

Li Yan nodded, "Who are you?"

The man smiled: "I am Lei Poshan from Huang Mei County; my father Lei Zhen has often mentioned Li Li Shaoxia."

"Oh?"

A smile appeared on Li Yan's face, "So it's Brother Lei; I originally thought about meeting you at the Guishan competition, but I didn't expect you wouldn't come."

This Lei Poshan is the son of Lei Zhen; the Lei family of Huang Mei County is skilled in Yue Family Fist, which can also be considered a martial arts powerhouse in Ezhou.

Lei Zhen is a Dan Jin expert, and his son Lei Poshan is also a rising star in the Ezhou martial arts world.

Li Yan and Lei Zhen also had some friendship, so naturally, he wanted to make friends, but he didn't expect the other party wouldn't come at all.

There was also surprise in Lei Poshan's eyes; he didn't expect this rising star Li Yan to be so amiable.

Hearing Li Yan's inquiry, he hurriedly shook his head and said: "The situation in Unlike Yichang is becoming more and more complex; I have to accompany my father to sit in town there."

"I came this time to escort a batch of supplies to Unlike Yichang, and also, to deliver a letter for someone on the way."

Saying this, he took out a letter from his bosom.

Li Yan took it and looked at it; the signature was clearly Yan Jiuling...

(End of chapter)