Chapter 367: Exorcism, Consecration, and Plague Elimination

The Five Long Gong has come down the mountain!

This news instantly spread throughout all of Xiangyang.

Inside the Prefectural Yamen courtyard, the elderly Prefect Lu Deqian heard the news and hurriedly climbed out of his 'sickbed', telling people to pack up and go to the main hall to handle government affairs.

"Master, isn't it just a group of Daoists..."

A trusted subordinate was somewhat puzzled and hurriedly advised him.

Although Prefect Lu was old, his only illness now was a mental one; the reason he hid in the back courtyard of the Yamen and refused to contact anyone was for fear of being unlucky and catching the plague.

"Sigh~ Wudang is truly furious."

Prefect Lu shook his head helplessly, "What kind of place is the Five Long Gong? Their precepts are strict, their cultivation is extraordinary, and they are the sharpest sword of the True Martial Palace."

"Those evildoers have committed a taboo this time. The Chenghuangmiao is the foundation of the Mystic Sect; to act so recklessly, the True Martial Palace will surely respond with thunderous means!"

"At a time like this, it is better not to court bad luck..."

…………

Chenghuangmiao, inside a side wing room.

"That is how it happened..."

Li Yan said in a deep voice, "That Demon God Ran Tong is best at disguising itself, but it was unlucky to run into me. If it had been delayed another day or two, I fear they would have succeeded."

He recounted the matter from beginning to end.

Master Yulong nodded slightly after listening, "Many thanks, Benefactor Li. For this matter, the True Martial Palace owes you a favor."

"You have already found the source of the plague, so the mission is considered complete. Leave the subsequent matters to us. Do not worry about the illness of Daoist Wang and the others; after the consecration and plague elimination later, it will all be handled together."

"There is one more thing."

Li Yan hurriedly said, "The Alligator Master we know was designed and captured by an old demon, and we do not know where it has been hidden."

"That old demon goes by the name 'East Lake Ancestor' and is a toad demon. It was once enlightened by True Man Liu Hai, but now it has stepped onto an evil path and is mixed up with Master Huang Liu of the Ghost Sect."

"I set a trap with the old ghost of Zhaode Temple outside Xiangyang City, but I also promised the other party that after this matter, I would not pursue their responsibility."

Master Yulong pondered for a moment after listening and nodded, "That is fine. This old ghost has not done evil for a hundred years and has not violated the original agreement; the fault does not lie with him."

"The hundred-year period has arrived. Tell him that after this matter, the soul tablet will be returned, and the True Martial Palace will not obstruct the rebuilding of the temple."

"Also, at that time, I will send the Five Dragon Sons to assist."

"Many thanks, Senior."

Li Yan's expression softened slightly, and he hurriedly cupped his hands in thanks.

He also knew what it meant for the Five Dragon Temple to come down the mountain.

This time, a bloody storm was inevitable!

……

Li Yan walked out of the wing room and saw that inside the entire Chenghuangmiao, people were coming and going. The Daoists of the Five Long Gong were handling corpses, burning incense, and performing rites to drive away the gloom; everything appeared orderly.

They were the true elite of Mount Wudang.

Although they were better at martial arts and combat, they were no less skilled than anyone else in various rituals, and were even more proficient.

These people moved swiftly; as room after room and hall after hall were cleaned, the pungent stench of blood quickly dissipated.

Arriving outside the main hall of the Chenghuangmiao, Li Yan immediately saw the Five Dragon Sons, led by Gu Linzi, surrounding Lu San.

Li Yan frowned slightly, walked over quickly, and smiled, "Fellow Daoists, is there something the matter?"

"Benefactor Li, do not misunderstand."

Gu Linzi performed a Daoist salute, "We gained some opportunities, which were due to this Benefactor Lu. Everyone left in a hurry at the time, so meeting again now, it is only right to thank him."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Li Yan understood instantly.

At the time in the True Martial Dragon Cave, he had gained many benefits, thoroughly mastering his martial arts and also cultivating the Undying Seal Technique.

But only after coming out did he see that the real bulk of the gains had all been taken by these Five Dragon Sons; the scene at that time was simply bizarre and shocking.

They were called the Five Dragon Sons, the Five Long Gong worshipped the Five Qi Dragon Lords, and the five dragon-shaped patterns in the True Martial Dragon Cave... various clues had already led Li Yan to have his own guesses.

Beside him, Lu San shook his head, "It was just a chance encounter. I didn't understand the situation at the time either, so there is no need for such formalities."

Gu Linzi replied with a calm expression, "We have nothing of value on us now to give as a gift, but we can tell you a piece of news."

"Is what Benefactor Lu cultivates the ancient Chu Shaman heritage, the 'Mountain and Sea Spirit Response Sutra' of the Mountain Ghost lineage?"

Lu San's pupils shrank, "How do you know?"

Gu Linzi did not answer, but continued, "Shamanism has now declined and is not as glorious as it once was, but according to my knowledge, the Chu Shaman lineage still has three places of heritage."

"The first is the Divine Palace of Lord Yunzhong in Yunmeng Marsh. The Alligator Master you know may know of this matter; you can ask him carefully."

"The second is the Water Mansion of Lord Xiang in Dongting Lake. But when the First Emperor toured, his subordinate alchemists caused trouble and sealed the Water Mansion. To enter it, one must find a way to break it."

"The third is Mount Wu, which was the Divine Mountain of the Chu Shamans at the time. There is still a lineage of the Mount Wu Goddess, but they rarely appear before people. Benefactor Lu has cultivated the Mountain Ghost technique; perhaps they will come out to meet you..."

After speaking, he nodded and led the others to turn and walk away.

"They..."

Lu San frowned deeply, but just as he was about to pursue the question, Li Yan stopped him and shook his head, "Let's talk about this later; don't ask too much."

He was now completely certain that these Five Dragon Sons definitely had a close relationship with the Five Qi Dragon Lords.

Such secret information was not something an ordinary person could know.

Of course, the Five Dragon Sons did not bother with them either.

Inside the Chenghuangmiao main hall, the statues of the City God Xiao He and the two divine generals had already been cleaned, leaving only the blood-colored talisman silk over their eyes unremoved.

At this moment, two altars had been set up inside and outside the hall respectively.

After the Five Dragon Sons entered the hall, they began to burn incense and pray, beating wooden fish, and using willow leaves dipped in water, stepping on the 'Gang' steps, and chanting in their mouths, "Heaven and Earth are natural, filthy qi disperses, the profound emptiness within the cave, bright and vast is the Great Origin. The divine power of the eight directions, makes me natural..."

Li Yan had heard Daoist Wang Daoxuan chant this curse; it was the 'Pure Altar Curse', used to purify the altar area before rituals to welcome the gods.

As they sprinkled water and chanted, Li Yan could clearly smell that the stench of blood and filth inside the Chenghuangmiao main hall had completely vanished, the air had become fresh, and there was a faint scent of incense.

However, angry shouts and killing sounds could still be heard from within the City God statue.

Before long, Master Yulong also came out in a brand new Daoist robe and joined them to perform other rituals.

This old Daoist's performance was even more imposing.

He brandished a peach-wood sword, stepped on the 'Gang' steps, sprayed water from his mouth, held the Thunder Mansion Command Token, and silently chanted toward the sky.

On the Command Token, electric arcs actually crackled and appeared.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The old Daoist held the Command Token and slapped the offering table three times in succession.

It was like three muffled claps of thunder; the surrounding air vibrated, and the last trace of bloody filth was washed away.

The blood-colored talisman silk covering the eyes of the several statues immediately snapped and fell to the ground, and black smoke visible to the naked eye dissipated from the statues.

When Li Yan saw this, his eyes immediately lit up.

This was true Mystic Sect Thunder Magic!

Thunder Magic was ever-changing and was not just about calling thunder.

Internal cultivation of Thunder Magic could clear away distracting thoughts and inner demons...

Altar-setting Thunder Magic could wash away filthy and evil qi...

Summoning Heavenly Thunder could eliminate all demons and evils in the human world...

And the Thunder Magic he cultivated was the Martial Lei Gang, which was better at fighting enemies; although its power was extraordinary, it was far from as profound as these Thunder Mansion techniques. Of course, the benefits he gained from the interference of the Thunder Department were even more extraordinary.

So he had no specific technique, but the 'Soul-Hooking Rope' divine ability seemed to have been refined by the Thunder Mansion into some kind of Dharma Treasure!

Not a Dharma Tool, but a Dharma Treasure!

It was simply as profound as those Dharma Treasures in myths.

As his cultivation improved, the Soul-Hooking Rope continued to grow longer and stronger, and the amount of thunder it could absorb and contain also grew more and more.

This Soul-Hooking Thunder Rope had already become his greatest trump card.

More importantly, its potential was limitless.

Of course, after reaching the Third Floor, the techniques would also undergo changes.

First of all, the 'North Emperor Body-Protecting Curse', 'North Emperor Yin Thunder Palm', 'North Emperor Straw Spirit Technique', 'North Emperor Divine Movement Technique', 'North Emperor Profound Xuan Xuan Shui Dun', and 'North Emperor Calamity-Elimination Technique' cultivated before the Third Floor would all have new improvements.

Their power would be greater, and their changes more numerous.

!.

For example, the 'North Emperor Body-Protecting Curse' could now not only be applied to oneself, but could also be attached to objects to form restrictions.

It was a bit like Great Sage Sun's circle, which, when combined with the Earth Vein Qi and Dharma systems, formed a defense to avoid the invasion of demons, ghosts, and fierce beasts...

For example, the 'North Emperor Profound Xuan Xuan Shui Dun' could finally be attempted to jump into water to perform water escape; in a place like Ezhou with many rivers and lakes, it was simply like a fish in water...

Of course, he could also start learning new techniques.

At the Third and Fourth Floors, there were many more attack techniques.

There was the 'North Emperor Treasure Bottle Technique', specifically for suppressing and subduing various mountain spirits and wild monsters, and fierce and violent qi, but it required a Treasure Bottle Dharma Tool to cooperate...

There was the 'North Emperor Divine Control Technique', which could use Thunder Magic to forcibly suppress ghosts and gods, making them obey orders...

But the most important one was the 'Fengdu Examination and Summoning Great Law'.

This was a large-scale altar ritual technique that could remotely capture various demons and evils, bring them into the altar area, and subject them to skin-peeling, water, and fire punishments, interrogating and suppressing them; it was extremely brutal.

Originally, this technique required a large number of troops and could only be used by powerful Dharma lineages and Mystic Sect orthodoxies.

However, he had the Command Token to drive the False False Yin Si troops, so its power was even stronger, and it could be performed as long as the altar was set up properly.

Simply put, the previous False False Yin Si troops were only passively deployed, but with this technique, the False False Yin Si troops could be directed like an arm.

Just as Li Yan was pondering, Master Yulong had already broken the evil qi and was re-consecrating the City God statue.

He brandished a Dharma sword, drew talismans in the air toward the statue, and chanted, "Divine light flashes into the divine fetus, Chancellor Xiao He is like a god present, Heaven is round and Earth is square, the god is honored, enter the divine spirit fetus to connect with divine qi..."

On the City God statue, the scent of incense quickly gathered.

Subsequently, Master Yulong picked up a vermilion brush, stepped on the 'Gang' steps, and pointed in the air, "Heaven and Earth open in peace, an auspicious time, point to open the light on the head, the head releases a halo, point to open the left eye to know the secrets of heaven, point to open the right eye to understand the geography, the sun and moon eyes shine clearly..."

After the set of procedures of driving away gloom and consecration, the City God of Xiangyang City finally recovered, and the scent of incense soared into the sky, covering the entire city.

The only pity was that the Xiangyang City garrison troops, because they had been tainted by evil qi, had all been struck into the False False Yin Si by Li Yan; to recover, it would likely take several years of hard work to re-recruit and train them.

After doing all this, Master Yulong led a group of disciples to perform rituals on the high altar of the Chenghuangmiao.

They used the 'Disaster-Dispelling and Plague-Eliminating Jiao'.

This technique was mainly used to eliminate the plague and govern from the source; it could not do without the root object. For example, after a war, Daoists would perform rituals over the corpses on the battlefield.

Of course, this technique only isolated the source and still needed to be combined with medical skills and decoctions to be completely eliminated.

The people of Xiangyang City also learned of this matter.

Although the streets of the prefecture city were all sealed, they also stayed at home and burned incense and worshipped toward the Chenghuangmiao.

Except for the insane, everyone hoped the plague would pass soon.

The ritual lasted from morning until dusk; finally, that piece of rotten and moldy Nanmu wood turned to ash in the raging fire, emitting billowing black smoke.

A violent wind suddenly rose, coming from the river, passing through Xiangyang City, and seeming to blow away all the gloomy qi that had gathered over many days...

Master Yulong came down from the altar; even after performing rituals for a whole day, he was still full of spirit. He picked up the map nearby, marked more than a dozen points on it, and then said in a deep voice:

"Gu Linzi, I have already found the remaining sources. You immediately take people, retrieve them all, and burn them on the spot with peach wood."

"If any evildoers obstruct, kill them without mercy!"

"Yes, Master!"

Gu Linzi and the others cupped their hands in unison, and finally led a large group of Daoists, as well as several hundred cavalrymen sent by the Garrison to assist, and rode away.

The warhorses thundered, and they quickly headed toward the wharf...

Master Yulong then turned his head to look at Li Yan, pondered for a moment, and took a jade bottle from his bosom, "These are a few Dew Disinfection Pills, refined by the True Martial Palace using some spiritual herbs. Eating them can resolve the plague. You have other important matters and cannot afford to delay."

"Many thanks, Senior."

Li Yan was overjoyed, hurriedly took the jade bottle, and took his leave.

After they left, Master Yulong looked solemn, went to the wing room, picked up a pen to write a few letters, and then handed them to the disciples beside him.

"Send these letters to the Yunyang Prefecture camp. Since the evildoers are causing trouble in Xiangyang, it shows they plan to launch a surprise attack from here. Ask the Marshal to mobilize troops; we will investigate the intelligence and attack into Shennongjia from Baokang County!"

As he spoke, his eyes were full of killing intent...

………………

Inside the wing room of the Commandant's Office courtyard.

Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei lay on the bed; their faces were blue and purple, their mouths were already full of moss, and even their breathing was somewhat labored.

After Li Yan returned, he hurriedly had the two take the pills.

The Dew Disinfection Pill was a common pill for treating plague, but after replacing the medicinal herbs inside with spiritual herbs, it immediately had a magical effect.

The two first vomited for a while, the moss mixed with gastric juices quickly turned charred and rotten, and then they drank several large basins of water in succession.

After squatting in the latrine for half a day, the color of their skin when they came out had returned to normal.

"How is it?"

Li Yan hurriedly asked.

"Much better."

Wang Daoxuan's face was still somewhat pale, but his eyes had spirit, and he smiled bitterly, "This time, we have dragged you down."

Li Yan shook his head, "What nonsense is the Daoist talking about."

Just at this moment, Wu Degui ran over hurriedly, his face full of exasperation, "They confessed, that old thing Yuchenzi confessed!"

"The other person in charge in the city is Master Lu of the Longzhong Academy. They used a trick to abduct Doctor Li from the Yamen, and he is currently hidden in Mount Lumen..."

"Master Lu?"

A figure appeared in Li Yan's mind; it was the old Confucian scholar who had stepped forward to stop the chaos in the city at the time.

Seeing his righteous appearance, he hadn't expected him to be an evildoer too.

The surname Lu...

Could it be the scholar who suppressed the Nanmu King back then?

The second update will be posted in the afternoon.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 368 =====