Chapter 542

"What did you say?"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei was startled and stood up abruptly.

He naturally knew what the "Ghost Opera Troupe" was.

Like them, this was also a wandering immortal team, and it had a bigger reputation and more experts, causing quite a stir in the Mystic Sect martial world at the time.

But unlike them, the "Ghost Opera Troupe" had gone down an evil path, acting without a bottom line as long as it was beneficial to them, and was eventually wiped out.

One of them, "Ghost Flower Face," had hidden in the Shu Prince's mansion and was later killed by Li Yan, but he also learned a piece of news:

The "Ghost Opera Troupe" had been secretly re-established.

Li Yan had already warned them to be careful of these people.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei did not expect that this matter would also be related to the "Ghost Opera Troupe."

"It seems you know."

Seeing their appearance, Hou Da Xuan nodded and continued: "I am not a person of the Mystic Sect. I heard this name by chance when drinking with Lu Laoge Lu."

"Thirty years ago, there was a wealthy family surnamed Yang in Captain Guan County. Their family was well-off with plenty of farmland. Only this Master Yang had been ill when he was young and never had a son. He burned incense and prayed to Buddha, seeking famous doctors everywhere, but it was useless."

"Later, during a water-releasing festival, this Master Yang spent a lot of money to organize a sacrifice to the Manifested Saint True Lord, and successfully allowed his concubine to become pregnant with a son."

"Having obtained this son, Master Yang was overjoyed, holding a big banquet to celebrate when the baby was a month old, and even hired an opera troupe. Who knew that something would happen that very night..."

"According to the survivors, strange things happened frequently in the Yang mansion that day. Many people suddenly went crazy, attacking people indiscriminately, and there were bandits entering the city, burning, killing, and looting..."

"That night, the Yang family was wiped out, the mansion was burned to the ground, and even now some people say there are ghosts inside."

"This matter was a big case at the time, and the common people all said it was done by bandits, but after all, I mix in the martial world, so I heard some things. Later, I learned about the 'Ghost Opera Troupe' from Lu Laoge Lu."

"So that's how it is..."

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei pondered for a moment and continued to ask: "It seems you were quite close to Lu Laoge Lu?"

"Not bad. Lu Laoge Lu was righteous. If I encountered any strange things, I would often find him for help."

"Were there any children around Lu Laoge Lu?"

"No, Lu Laoge Lu was always alone. I wanted to introduce him to a widow so he would at least have someone to take care of him, but he firmly refused."

Speaking of this, Hou Da Xuan suddenly laughed: "Lu Laoge Lu was quite interested in a little widow, often going to her house to deliver mutton. As a result, he delivered for many years, but she still wouldn't..."

Hearing this, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei understood what was going on, and asked urgently: "Where is that person?"

"Dead long ago."

"Dead?"

"Yeah, she was old, so it counted as a happy funeral. At the time, Lu Laoge Lu even asked me to send brothers to help carry the coffin."

"Did she have any offspring?"

"She had a son, who grew up quite sturdy and didn't like to talk much. After that widow died, he didn't know where he ran off to..."

"Brother Hou, can you take us to see?"

"Of course."

Hou Da Xuan was somewhat surprised, but still agreed readily.

…………

"This is the old house of that widow."

Hou Da Xuan led them, avoiding the yamen runners on the street, and arrived outside a small courtyard in the west of the city.

I saw the outside of the courtyard piled with broken debris, smoke rising from inside, and the sound of adults scolding children, obviously someone was living there.

Hou Da Xuan explained: "After that widow died, the house became vacant. Lu Laoge Lu sold it. I helped him run the errand at the time. Do you want to go in and take a look?"

Lu San's ears moved slightly, and he shook his head: "No, let's go. Let's go see that Yang family's abandoned mansion."

This place had changed hands many years ago, so no clues would be left behind.

"Good, please follow me."

Hou Da Xuan didn't talk nonsense, led them to avoid the patrols, and arrived at a remote river beach.

"Why build it so far away?"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei looked around, somewhat surprised.

"The Yang family had been here for generations."

Hou Da Xuan explained: "There used to be a village here, plus a wharf, and the fertile fields they reclaimed, which was much more comfortable than being in the city."

"But because of this, trouble happened. I heard that after the Yang mansion was destroyed, strange things still happened frequently. The surrounding people didn't dare to live here, so they moved away one after another, and this place was abandoned..."

As he spoke, he pointed forward: "Look, that is Yang Village."

Hearing this, everyone looked up, only to see a small ancient village standing there, overgrown with weeds, most of the houses already collapsed, and the ruins covered in snow.

"Wait!"

Wang Wang Daoxuan, who was on the side, suddenly spoke, raised his hand to stop everyone, and said with a solemn face: "There are many footprints in the village. Someone has been here. Let's see if there is an ambush first."

Lu San understood, waved his hand, and the hawk Lidong soared into the sky, circling over the village and moving up and down.

"Rest assured, there is no one in the village." Lu San shook his head.

Only then did everyone feel relieved, drawing their weapons and entering the village.

Sure enough, there were dense footprints on the ground, as if they had been stepped on during the heavy snow two days ago, and later covered with a thin layer of snow.

"It seems they have already searched."

After observing the surroundings, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei shook his head slightly.

It was not strange that "Ghost Flower Face" had served in the Shu Prince's mansion and knew about the events of that year, and it was very likely that the other party had leaked it.

But what was strange was that "Ghost Flower Face" had died some time ago, and the Shu Prince's mansion was only looking for it now, so he didn't know what had happened...

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei was somewhat puzzled, but couldn't care about thinking too much, turning his head to ask: "Where is the old Yang mansion?"

"Just ahead."

Hou Da Xuan led everyone to a ruin.

"Wait."

Wang Wang Daoxuan frowned, pushed aside the snow, and picked up some extinguished red candles and half-burned talisman paper.

"Someone has performed Dharma here."

He looked up at the surroundings, then took a leather bag from his waist, grabbed a handful of incense ash, formed seals and chanted incantations, then sprinkled it suddenly into the air.

In an instant, the incense ash drifted, dancing in the wind, vaguely forming a trajectory, falling toward the ruins on the left.

This was also a type of divination method.

Incense ash itself is a commonly used material for performing Dharma, and it is used many times; Wang Wang Daoxuan used it to divine the traces of the other party's Dharma performance.

Following the trajectory of the incense ash, everyone arrived beside the ruins.

But under a charred and rotten beam, a pit appeared, with messy bones around it, looking like it had been many years.

"What did they dig away?"

"Not clear."

Just as everyone was puzzled, a hawk's cry suddenly sounded in the sky.

"Be careful, there are fire weapons, hide quickly!"

Lu San hurriedly reminded, while grabbing Wang Wang Daoxuan and leaping, hiding behind a broken wall in the ruins.

Others also reacted quickly, hiding one after another.

They were experienced and knew what to do when facing fire weapons.

Only Hou Da Xuan, who was after all just a local martial world big shot, was grabbed by Wu Ba and hidden behind the broken wall, still somewhat confused, "What's wrong..."

Boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a loud noise.

I saw the ground where they had just been standing explode, mud and snow splashing everywhere, and a deep pit appeared instantly, smoke filling the air.

"It's a new type of fire weapon!"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei took a look, immediately made a judgment, and reminded loudly: "Noon position, three hundred paces, it's a sorcerer!"

In the martial world, they counted as the first batch of people to come into contact with fire weapons, and they had conducted targeted training very early on.

Not only fighting with fire weapons, but also defense.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei was experienced, immediately judged the position, and guessed that the other party was a sorcerer, which was why they could get so close.

"San'er, how many people?"

Thinking of this, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei hurriedly asked. Lu San looked at the sky and said in a low voice: "Two people have touched over, and more than ten people are running down from the mountain opposite."

"Get them first!"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei gave a low shout, taking two black pellets from his leather bag.

These were Thunder Fire Pellets, Dharma artifacts of the Law Enforcement Hall of the Taiquan Orthodox Sect; once thrown, thunder and fire would intertwine, with thick smoke rolling.

In the dark, they could serve as flashbangs, and in the daytime, they could release smoke, which was very useful. Every time they went to the City God Temple, they would buy some.

Crackle!

Two Thunder Fire Pellets were lit and thrown, and sparks splashed everywhere, red and black smoke rising, obscuring the surrounding vision.

"San'er, move to cover!"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei shouted in a low voice again.

Lu San was very tacit, directly forming seals and patting the gourd at his waist.

At that time, near Chongqing Prefecture, they were looking for treasures and accidentally found a poison bee nest, which they fed entirely to the Demon Gourd.

Not a single word wrong, read it all at once!

The Demon Gourd had originally exhausted its poison bees and was severely injured, but after absorbing this treasure and undergoing long-term nourishment, it had reached a higher level.

The newly born poison bees were small in size, pitch black all over, not only faster, but their venom was also more violent.

Hum!

A humming sound rang out, and a stream of black smoke whistled out from the gourd, spinning in the air and flying toward the distance on the other side.

"Ah—be careful of the poison insects!"

In the dense forest in the distance, screams rang out immediately.

And Sha Hearing Sha Lifei also leaped out simultaneously, running fast in the ruins with his body lowered, then leaping, jumping to the broken wall at the edge of the abandoned village.

Crack!

When he landed, he had already replaced the magazine.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei was originally proficient in fire weapons and counted as a sharpshooter; after awakening his body divine ability, his five senses were sharp, and his marksmanship had improved even more.

He didn't even look, just moved his ears slightly, judged the general direction of the other party, then stood up abruptly and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

With a loud noise, the snow in the snow forest fell with a rustle.

And while Sha Hearing Sha Lifei fired, he had already leaped, jumping behind another broken wall.

Boom!

Someone fired from the opposite side at the same time.

The earthen wall he had been hiding behind exploded instantly and collapsed with a rumble.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei gave a cold laugh, stood up again, and pulled the trigger.

Since he knew the other party was a sorcerer, how could he not be prepared? The power of the Divine Fire Gun was enough to pierce through walls, and neither side would have a second chance.

Boom!

With a loud noise, there was no more movement from the opposite side.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei knew that the person who fired had already died.

After all, there was the harassment of poison bees; if they were alive, even if they could withstand that heart-piercing pain, they would still be unable to help but retreat.

Sure enough, when he arrived in the dense forest, he immediately saw two corpses lying under broken branches.

One was a gunman, dressed in a black robe, wearing official boots, his chest hit by him, opening a huge hole.

Beside him was a Daoist, his temple sliced open by shrapnel, still holding a Dharma artifact in his hand, his body swollen and blue from being stung by poison bees.

"People from the Commandant's Office?"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei took the token from the gunman's waist, took a look, and sneered: "Sure enough, there's no lack of greedy people."

The Commandant's Office is directly under the Emperor's jurisdiction. Given the current relationship between the imperial court and the Shu Prince, not to mention surveillance, they shouldn't be too close.

The thousand-household officer who came from the capital before had warned them that someone in the Shu Commandant's Office had defected to the Shu Prince's mansion and could not be trusted lightly.

He didn't expect them to lead Divine Fire Guns to help directly.

Not caring to pay more attention, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei hid behind a big tree, took a fire caltrop from the bag behind him, and said to Lu San, who was also rushing over, in a low voice: "Calculate the time."

Lu San immediately blew a whistle toward the sky.

Clatter!

The hawk flapped its wings and descended, chirping twice.

"Three breaths!"

"Good!"

Hearing this, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei took a fire rope from his bosom, lengthened the fuse of the fire caltrop, and then lit it.

The hawk Lidong also cooperated skillfully, immediately grabbing the fire caltrop and soaring into the sky, flying to a high altitude in the distance before dropping it directly.

Just as Sha Hearing Sha Lifei expected, the people opposite were from the Shu Prince's mansion.

"Be careful!"

"Scatter quickly!"

They had Mystic Sect experts who immediately sensed something was wrong.

The more than ten people rushing down from the mountain hurriedly scattered.

However, it was already a bit late.

Boom!

Just as the fire caltrop was about to hit the ground, it exploded with a bang.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei had added ingredients to this thing, and the power of the new type of gunpowder was extremely astonishing, the explosion sounding like thunder.

Accompanied by rolling air waves, mud and snow splashed everywhere, and the iron pieces and ceramic fragments embedded in it fell like a rainstorm.

Several people couldn't dodge in time and were directly blown to pieces, or covered in bloody holes, falling to the ground.

The remaining people, even if they weren't injured, were blown away by the terrifying air waves generated by the explosion, looking extremely miserable.

Hum!

Before they could react, the poison bees whistled toward them.

"Run!"

The leader screamed sharply.

This person was dressed in a Daoist robe, with a face full of flesh, disheveled hair, and was exactly that evil cultivator of the Sanfa Sect who had harmed Lu Laohei.

He had played tricks in the village and originally wanted to fish, but didn't expect to kick an iron plate, being stunned by this series of attacks and wanting to escape.

But he had seriously underestimated Sha Hearing Sha Lifei and the others.

Under the cover of the poison bees, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei and Lu San approached quickly.

The two didn't mess around, one holding a mace, the other holding a Divine Fire Gun, only shooting those holding fire guns.

Boom! Boom!

With two loud noises, the only two remaining gunmen had their heads shattered.

Swish!

A figure suddenly darted out; it was a good hand holding a knife in both hands, his face full of terror, shuttling through the forest, wanting to escape.

But he had only taken two steps when he heard a fierce wind whistling behind him.

Before he could react, his whole body was split in two by the huge board axe, blood splashing everywhere.

Thump thump thump!

Accompanied by a huge rumbling sound, Wu Ba rushed out directly.

A shoulder bump sent one person flying.

Swinging his fist, he smashed another person's head directly.

"Fall!"

That Sanfa Sect sorcerer was scared out of his wits; seeing Wu Ba rushing over, he hurriedly formed seals, holding a talisman paper, and pointed at Wu Ba.

This was the Soul-Bewitching Curse, specifically for dealing with martial artists.

However, before he could successfully perform the Dharma, he felt dizzy, chest tightness, and his body swaying.

Not good, someone is casting a curse!

The sorcerer was shocked, but before he could react, his head was smashed by Wu Ba, who rushed over and slapped him.

In the distance, Wang Wang Daoxuan, holding the jujube kernel he had taken from Lu Laohei's body, stopped chanting and threw it aside.

Casting a curse on someone also leaves flaws.

Wang Wang Daoxuan had kept this object at the time for this very opportunity.

In a short time, everyone had achieved victory.

Hou Da Xuan, who was hiding behind the broken wall, only then came out carefully, looking at Sha Hearing Sha Lifei and the others, swallowing his saliva.

When Wang Wang Tianzuo left, he ordered him to be respectful to these people and take good care of them.

At this moment, he knew the reason.

So this is the Twelve Yuan Chen...

(End of chapter)