Chapter 380: Unlucky Old Ghost

Raiding a nest of Yin-Bureau criminals, the harvest was certainly not small.

Just the gang-orders alone numbered at least several dozen.

Each one could summon the Yin Bureau's troops once; if he took them, he would be full of confidence, and if he encountered enemies again, he could directly send troops to encircle and suppress them.

At that time, on top of the giant cauldron, besides the gang-orders, there were these five small flags, appearing mysterious, yet he couldn't feel any aura from them.

If he hadn't heard the words of the Yin Bureau's divine general, Li Yan wouldn't have chosen them at all.

In the Mystic Sect, dharma flags were not to be trifled with.

For example, drums were used for communicating with gods, warding off evil, and transmitting messages; the Five Immortal Halls of the Northern Border Shamans used Wenwang drums to invite immortals. His Cloud Thunder Divine Drum was used to ward off evil.

Of course, the most important thing was transmitting messages.

Whenever building an altar for dharma rituals, one must first sound the dharma drum. It is the so-called "Life is empty, death is empty, life and death do not leave the three paths; the wandering soul comes to the dharma altar, listen to me sound the dharma drum three times."

Bells are divided into great bells, reporting bells, repentance bells, and emperor bells. Their functions and occasions for use are all different.

And dharma flags are for summoning ghosts and gods, driving away evil, setting up formations, and sending out troops.

These "Five-Direction Luo Feng Flags" before him were even more mysterious.

This object was no ordinary treasure; it was a bit like his Soul-Hooking Lei Suo, condensed from pure "Qi," invisible to ordinary people.

The greatest ability of this treasure was to provide for the Five Camps of troops.

To put it plainly, it was permanent usage rights.

Before, he needed to consume gang-orders to mobilize the Yin Bureau's troops, but now he could nurture them within the "Five-Direction Luo Feng Flags."

Before it was borrowing troops, now it was raising troops.

But wanting to use this treasure was not that easy.

Every time he summoned the Yin Bureau's troops, he would see darkness descend, all because the Yin Bureau's troops could not exist in the human world for long and had to borrow the Yin Bureau's power to form a special area.

And raising his own troops was also inseparable from this method.

These "Five-Direction Luo Feng Flags" were only the core; he still had to find a dharma artifact to depend on, refining it on weekdays to absorb the Yin-Earth Qi.

The higher the grade of the dharma artifact, the more Yin-Earth Qi it absorbed, and the stronger the Five Camps of troops would be; otherwise, they would be restricted.

The benefit is that with this item, one can deploy formations at any time; it can both conceal one's aura and trap demons and evil spirits. When combined with the "Luo Feng Kao Zhao Great Art," its power is even more ferocious.

The Three-Talent Demon-Suppressing Coins were full of fierce evil qi, just right to be used as material to weave them into special dharma flags.

The power at that time would definitely not be inferior to the Soul-Hooking Lei Suo!

This was the best method he could think of at the moment.

There was another reason: back on Mount Hua, that nameless master of artifact refining had already taught him an extremely high-level weaving method for demon-suppressing coins.

Without needing to ask for help, he could make the dharma flags himself.

Even if he had better materials in the future, he could take the demon-suppressing coins apart and use them to make other dharma artifacts.

Thinking of this, Li Yan looked at another box.

This box was also obtained from the Donghu Ancestor; it was made with ancient lacquer-wood craftsmanship, and the surroundings were inlaid with gold ornaments, appearing very luxurious.

After opening it, inside were several jujube wood needles, the thickness of a little finger, carved with cloud patterns and thunder talismans, filled with cinnabar.

Beside them were a pile of leather ropes, pitch-black, smooth and delicate, exceptionally tough, and couldn't be pulled apart no matter how much force was used.

He had asked someone to look at this thing, and it was also a treasure.

This old monster, the Donghu Ancestor, was enlightened by Master Liu Hai.

Master Liu Hai's most famous story is undoubtedly "Liu Hai Plays with the Golden Toad," which is widely circulated; even on New Year pictures, wood carvings, and suppression coins, it is depicted, having become a treasure map.

And Master Liu Hai, because of the "thread passing through the money eye," also became the ancestor and protector god of the needle industry, similar to the Old Lang God of opera troupes.

This object was related to Master Liu Hai and was a treasure he used to weave golden money dharma artifacts. The leather rope was cowhide, from an old monster, and the wooden needle was thunder-struck jujube wood, which could be used to pinch spells and enter names.

Seeing that the sky was still early, Li Yan immediately began weaving the copper coins.

He picked up the thunder-struck jujube wood needle, pinched the Luo Feng spell, recited the name of the "Qingjia" taboo, threaded the leather rope, and tied a knot on a copper coin.

Whoosh~

Wind surged in the tent, and the visible Yin-Earth Qi turned into black mist, rising and merging into the rope knot.

Every time he tied a knot, he had to pinch a spell and enter a name.

This itself was a kind of artifact refining method.

After calculating slightly in his heart, Li Yan decided to weave nine copper coins as the flagpole, then use the top four as a base, adding three, two, and one in turn to form a triangular small flag.

Each dharma flag would use seventy-five Three-Talent Demon-Suppressing Coins.

As for the remaining six, they would continue to be made into sword tassels.

Compared to that nameless master on Mount Hua, his technique was undoubtedly much worse, but even so, by dusk, he had finished making all five dharma flags.

He took out the token again, concentrated his mind, and five strands of black qi surged out, gathering and attaching to the five golden money command flags.

Li Yan picked up the command flag again, lit incense and candles, and took out cinnabar and yellow paper to write a memorial, the gist of which was to petition Mount Luo Feng to allow him to use the soldiers and horses of the Five Camps of the False Yin Si.

After burning the yellow paper, Li Yan took the Five-Direction Luo Feng Flags, inserted them around him, sat cross-legged, pinched the Luo Feng spell, and absorbed the Yin-Earth Qi to nurture them.

In an instant, Yin wind whistled, and everything around was pitch black.

With such a commotion, the Law Enforcement Hall Daoists in the distant camp naturally could feel it, looking over from time to time and whispering.

"Hiss—! What kind of method is this, it's quite chilling..."

"Don't be nosy, news has already come from the mountain that this Layman Li is highly praised by the Abbot, so he definitely isn't a bad person. I guess it's a method for a living Yin-Bureau official."

"Don't ask randomly later, lest you offend someone's taboos."

"Understood, Feng Feng Shixiong."

"By the way, the Feng Feng Shixiong Brothers from the Five Dragon Palace went to Baokang County; I wonder how the situation is, has any news been sent back?"

"I heard they went to attack the Spring and Autumn Stronghold and had a conflict with the local Miao people, but you know the temper of Feng Feng Shixiong Uncle Yulongzi, he definitely wouldn't compromise."

"The Spring and Autumn Stronghold has already been broken, but unfortunately, the leader, Master Huang Liu, has already escaped, and only some underlings were wiped out..."

"A pity."

"Nothing to pity, this time the Xiangyang Chenghuangmiao was destroyed, and the mountain is truly angry; I'm afraid they will send troops to attack Shennongjia, those monsters won't be able to hide for long..."

Another two hours passed, and the sky grew even darker.

The place they found was a shaded area in the mountains, relatively secret; the Commandant's Office people had already lit bonfires, roasted wild rabbits and river fish, and roasted the flatbreads to eat together.

And Li Yan also finally finished refining the dharma flags, put them in the bag behind his back, and walked out of the tent.

"Layman Li, come, drink some hot wine to warm your body."

A company commander from the Commandant's Office saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to invite him.

"Many thanks."

Li Yan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down to eat and drink with everyone.

Now that it was autumn, the daytime was fine, but the cold wind blew at night, and coupled with the Yin-Earth Qi permeating just now, the entire tent was covered in white frost, and Li Yan was also frozen stiff.

After a few mouthfuls of hot wine, his body gradually warmed up.

"They've appeared again!"

Just at this moment, the man from the Commandant's Office responsible for keeping watch ran over to report.

Li Yan hurriedly stood up and went to the dense forest to watch.

He saw that in the distance, the Ghost Buddha Temple was already shrouded in Yin mist, with figures moving about inside; even at such a distance, Li Yan's ghost-god ears could hear the sound of chanting.

And inside the main hall of the temple, it was brightly lit.

It wasn't the green ghost fire, but real candle flames.

Li Yan frowned and took out his pocket watch; it was just the hour of the rat.

He frowned, "Is it like this every night?"

The Daoist from the Law Enforcement Hall replied: "It's been like this since last night. We suspect someone has entered, but since you said we must not enter, we can only wait."

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Only people use candle flames; it seems this old ghost isn't honest, maybe there's a secret passage to enter."

"I'll go investigate; if I send a signal, you must immediately surround it, and no matter what runs out, you must catch it."

"Understood, Layman, be careful!"

After giving instructions, Li Yan immediately pinched a spell and used the North Emperor Profound Water Escape; his body was wrapped in water mist, becoming blurry.

His footsteps were fast, and not long after, he entered the range of the ruined temple. This old ghost was very troublesome; it was originally a nanmu tree spirit, later practiced Pure Land Buddhist dharma, controlled a place, and gathered a large number of wandering ghosts and wild gods, making it a small force.

If it were suppressed and killed, it would be difficult to avoid ghosts and gods running rampant.

And with this place, wandering ghosts and wild gods near Xiangyang City would be attracted, reducing many dangers.

Precisely because of this, Ancestor Sanfeng gave it a chance.

He had already agreed with Li Yan before to cooperate in capturing the Ghost Sect people; if it harbored evil intentions and went back on its word, then they could only resort to force.

Entering the thick fog, the sounds in Li Yan's ears became increasingly noisy.

The ghost monks around were still putting their hands together, chanting the "Infinite Life Sutra," but the chanting was a bit chaotic.

Li Yan thought to himself and continued to approach.

Just as he arrived outside the ruined temple, he heard voices coming from the temple door and the broken broom behind the room.

"Those people... what are they?"

"Thieves! Thieves!"

!.

"The Abbot can't beat them, can't beat them..."

These little things were wild gods that had developed spirituality; their abilities were average, just a bit more powerful than ordinary ghosts.

Judging by the situation, someone had naturally come.

Li Yan was a bit puzzled; what kind of person could make even the old ghost not dare to make a move?

He became increasingly vigilant and moved forward cautiously.

Soon, he heard voices coming from the ruined temple:

"Master, where exactly is the treasure?"

"See that? It's that beam!"

"It doesn't look like much."

"What do you know? If this thing could be seen by others, it would have been taken long ago; fortunately, we have this treasure, otherwise we would all die!"

"Remember, don't leave the temple before you get it..."

Hearing these words, Li Yan's expression became strange, and he no longer hid, walking directly into the temple.

He saw that in the main hall of the ruined temple, a large ox-oil candle was lit in each of the southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest corners, and copper mirrors were used for reflection, illuminating the entire main hall.

Under the center of the main hall, a spirit tablet was hung by a bracket; it was made of golden-thread nanmu, ancient in age, and a candle was also lit below it.

An old man was leading two disciples, setting up a bamboo ladder, climbing high onto the beam, using a Lu Ban ruler to measure, and driving in coffin nails.

"Old ghost, you're quite miserable..."

Looking at the motionless beam, Li Yan laughed dumbly.

He had already seen the trick.

These people with white towels wrapped around their heads should be treasure-seekers from Shu; he didn't know where they got the soul tablet to come and cut down the nanmu tree.

It is truly said that one thing is the nemesis of another.

The nanmu old ghost was powerful, but it was restrained to death by these people.

"Who!"

The treasure-seekers were startled.

The two disciples had good skills, immediately somersaulted down from the roof, rolled to dissipate the force, and had already drawn their weapons.

In their eyes, they only saw water mist rippling outside the temple door, and a young man in black clothes walked in, with phoenix eyes and dragon pupils, his gaze burning.

"Escape technique? Don't move!"

The old man on the beam knew his stuff and hurriedly scolded the two disciples.

Anyone who could use escape techniques was not someone to be trifled with!

He jumped with force in his legs, like a nimble cat, borrowed force from the wall nearby, landed silently on the ground, and bowed respectfully: "All within the four seas are brothers; may I ask which mountain you worship and which incense you burn?"

"Guanzhong, Li Yan."

Li Yan nodded slightly, not caring.

This old man had deliberately shown off his light-body skills and used underworld slang, clearly wanting to deal with him using underworld rules.

But Li Yan had no sect and simply reported his name.

"So it's Layman Li."

The old man's pupils shrank, and he hurriedly bowed: "This is a desolate wild temple; we master and disciples are here treasure-seeking, not offending anyone, and hope Layman Li will raise your hand."

"Not offending anyone?"

Li Yan laughed dumbly, "You're in big trouble."

After saying this, he was about to step forward to take the soul tablet.

"What are you doing?!"

The old man felt his scalp tingle when he saw this.

The two disciples stepped forward to block him.

Looking at the sharp blades swinging toward him, Li Yan didn't stop his footsteps, shifted his body, entered the gap, and then stretched out both elbows.

Boom!

With a muffled sound, the two disciples flew out at the same time.

The old man also wanted to block him, but felt a blur before his eyes; Li Yan had used a clever force, stepped on the flower-piercing steps, turned his body, bypassed the old man, and grabbed the soul tablet in his hand.

"You!"

The old man was so angry his eyes turned red, but he still screamed: "You're seeking death, run!"

After saying this, he ran away with the two disciples.

However, it was already too late.

He saw Yin wind surge in the temple, the ox-oil candles lit around turned green, and the temple door slammed shut.

Inside the main hall of the ruined temple, it was like a ghost realm.

"Hee hee hee..."

"These three types of karma are the pure karma and correct cause of the three-world Buddhas of the past, future, and present..."

"Kill them!"

There were banging sounds outside the main gate, and all kinds of strange noises continued.

The old man and the two disciples were trembling with fear, hurriedly taking out leather pouches, sprinkling incense ash and salt, and blocking the temple door.

The old man also took out a paper talisman with trembling hands.

Whoosh~

The paper talisman immediately turned black and became ash.

The old man felt like crying, cursing angrily: "You, with such a big reputation, how can you be so reckless? We're all going to die here..."

Li Yan laughed dumbly, and said to the beam: "Feng Feng Shixiong, stop joking with them, ask clearly about the cause first."

He spoke politely, but always held the soul tablet in his hand.

Just as he finished speaking, the Yin wind in the main hall disappeared instantly, the candle flames around returned to their normal color, but mist rose, and everything became blurry.

In the haziness, shadows of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appeared around them, and flying apsaras danced, looking down at them.

Li Yan frowned, "Master, just speak if you have something to say; conjuring these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they aren't real, what's the use?"

"Amitabha..."

An aged voice sounded, "This old monk made a great vow; wherever I am is the Pure Land, and everyone has Buddha in their hearts, as well as the Pure Land, so I manifest the dharma image."

Although he said so, he still retracted his supernatural powers, revealing an old monk's shadow, hands together, his face and figure blurry.

Li Yan shook his head slightly, no longer arguing, but held the soul tablet and looked at the old man, "Speak, where did this thing come from?"

The old man now knew how powerful he was, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "Don't blame us, we were entrusted by others to come here to take the treasure."

"Who entrusted you?"

"This..."

The old man was originally a bit hesitant, but seeing the candle flames around turn green again, he hurriedly screamed: "I'll say, I'll say!"

"It was given by the people of Tang Ya Tusi City!"

(End of chapter)