Chapter 567

Could it be... the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun?

Li Yan's eyes lit up, and he walked forward with some excitement.

Chengdu Prefecture is now filled with demonic energy; although they also have many allies, such as the Six Hermits of the Bamboo Forest, and the reinforcements from Mount Qingcheng who are about to arrive.

But Li Yan is always a bit uneasy.

He knows that the most critical link has not yet been found.

He also has a faint premonition that the root of all these events is related to Erlang Zhenjun, yet his reincarnated body is elusive, appearing as if none of this has anything to do with him.

Regarding this Chengdu hero, his deepest impression is his love for mutton; roasting mutton in the middle of the night makes it hard for him not to make some associations.

At this moment, the night sky is like a dome, with no stars or moon to be seen, and the wind and snow howl all around, making the wharf in the middle of the night pitch-black.

Perhaps because of the frequent strange occurrences, even the large and small fishing boats docked at the wharf are empty.

No fishing lights are seen, only accumulated snow covering the edges of the boats.

Li Yan walked rapidly through the flying snow, while simultaneously forming the Yang Seal, fully utilizing his divine abilities to scout, wanting to find the reincarnation of Erlang Zhenjun.

But after taking two steps, he narrowed his eyes and stopped.

"Come out!"

Li Yan hooked his left hand onto his scabbard and looked coldly ahead.

In an instant, the surrounding wind stopped and the snow vanished, leaving a dead silence, with faint yin mist rising from the ground, quickly becoming blurry, making it impossible to see the river surface in the distance.

"Living Yin Messengers?"

Li Yan looked around, his expression becoming ugly.

He had just scouted and discovered that someone was following him from behind, and had detoured to surround him, clearly with ill intent.

Given the current situation in Chengdu Prefecture, this is not strange.

Whether it is the Shu Prince's Mansion, the Ghost Opera Troupe, or the Dragon Worship Sect, they all have grudges against him, and as long as they find an opportunity, they will certainly not let him go.

But he never expected that it would actually be Living Yin Messengers!

Because someone in the Huangquan organization betrayed them, causing the death of his close friend, Wu Qu was disheartened and had decided to withdraw from the organization.

He had told him about some secrets regarding the Living Yin Messengers. Combined with what he saw in Fengdu, Li Yan had already figured out the current system of Living Yin Messengers.

In short, it is a hodgepodge.

Its core classic is the "Six Paths Sutra," and its techniques integrate both Buddhist and Daoist schools, along with some characteristics of dharma lineages, divided into the "Ksitigarbha Scroll" and the "Xuanming Scroll."

Its cultivation registration is the Three Altars of Great Precepts.

The Impermanence Precepts, the Impermanence Precepts, and the Yama Precepts.

As long as one's cultivation is sufficient and one observes the precepts, one can obtain the divine abilities of the Yin Office; for example, the Impermanence Precept is the Soul-Hooking Rope.

On the surface, it lowers the difficulty of entry.

But Li Yan knows clearly that the upper limit of the current Living Yin Messengers has been locked.

The array trapping him now has yin-sha energy rising all around, converging in the air to form six vortices invisible to ordinary people, arranged in the shape of a dipper.

This is the Southern Dipper Six Stars.

It is precisely the "Southern Dipper Six Stars Soul-Locking Array" from the Xuanming Scroll.

Li Yan really cannot figure out why these people are looking for trouble with him?

Whoosh~

As soon as the words fell, thick fog rose in front.

He saw an old man dressed as a merchant, wearing a bamboo hat and holding a Zen staff, slowly walking out of the fog.

He raised his head, and under the bamboo hat was a pair of eyes filled with resentment, while his right hand began to form seals.

"What's the hurry!"

Li Yan frowned and gave a cold snort, "If you want to take action, you have to explain the situation clearly; if you want to die in a daze, I don't want to kill in a daze!"

He said this for two reasons: one was confusion, and the other was to stall for time.

The enemies surrounding him were not just the one in front of him.

The "Southern Dipper Six Stars Soul-Locking Array," based on the opponent's cultivation, required at least six people to set up in order to trap him here.

Furthermore, there was a hair-raising feeling from behind his back.

There were still experts hiding in the dark.

Or, they were aiming with new-style firearms.

As long as he revealed a flaw, the other side would immediately take action!

"Hahaha..."

Hearing Li Yan's inquiry, the middle-aged man dressed as a merchant let out a shrill, strange laugh and gritted his teeth, "Fine, I'll let you die knowing why!"

"The Huangquan organization has split, and it's all because of you!"

"What?!"

After hearing this, Li Yan was clearly somewhat surprised.

He had heard Wu Qu say that the Huangquan organization had grown increasingly large over the years, but it was also a mix of dragons and snakes, filled with different voices.

Because of his affairs, there had been arguments, and in the end, because these people opposed it, he did not join the Huangquan organization.

He never expected that there would be a follow-up.

Seeing Li Yan's expression remain normal, that person became even more furious and cursed, "You little bastard without a father or mother, if it weren't for your reckless behavior, things wouldn't have come to this..."

"You're courting death!"

A fierce light flashed in Li Yan's eyes, and he suddenly lifted his foot to step forward.

This move also revealed an opening.

But this was also a feint; the moment he took the first step, his supporting foot suddenly exerted force, and he drifted out diagonally with a swoosh.

Boom!

A gunshot roared in the dark night.

The place where he had originally stood was instantly splattered with broken stones.

Sure enough, someone was firing a black shot; perhaps fearing he would notice, they were at a distance and even used divine abilities to assist.

If he hadn't also understood firearms, he would have surely suffered.

And the man dressed as a merchant opposite was clearly ready at any time; seeing him dodge the black shot, he immediately took action.

He saw this person pinch a dharma seal with his left hand, hold a dharma staff in his right, shift his feet, and stomp fiercely on the ground.

In an instant, the surrounding scene changed drastically:

Black wind and snow howled, as if the air had been frozen into ice needles, and countless people were naked, their bodies covered in frozen blisters, their flesh and blood scraped away by the cold wind, revealing frozen blood-red color.

The shrill wailing sound was like a mountain calling and a sea roaring.

What was heard, what was seen, what was smelled...

Everything was impacting people's nerves.

However, Li Yan's expression remained normal, and he was not panicked at all.

This is a secret technique from the "Ksitigarbha Scroll" of the Living Yin Messengers:

Eight Cold Hells Method!

The so-called Eight Cold Hells are the Blistering Hell, the Bursting Blister Hell, the Teeth-Chattering Hell, the A-Jiu-Jiu Hell, the Hu-Hu Hell, etc.

The Eight Cold Hells Method, combined with the Southern Dipper Six Stars Soul-Locking Array, can make people feel as if they have fallen into hell; those whose spirits are not firm will have their souls scattered on the spot.

It looks terrifying, but what is fake is fake.

He drew his Broken Dust Blade with a clang, his footsteps crisscrossed, as if shifting shapes and changing shadows, and he charged toward the man dressed as a merchant.

Boom!

A gunshot rang out behind him again, but it couldn't hit him at all.

Just as Li Yan was about to approach, his left hand suddenly drew a flintlock pistol from his waist and pulled the trigger toward the front.

With a boom, fire and smoke splattered everywhere.

The man dressed as a merchant was startled when he saw Li Yan draw his gun, stopped casting his spell, and leaped out.

However, he had completely misjudged.

Li Yan used the firearm to make up for his shortcomings in mid-range combat; ever since he discovered that the enemies were getting stronger, he had given up on shooting to kill directly.

Therefore, the flintlock pistol was loaded with scattered pellets.

The power was immense, and the coverage was wide.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

With a few muffled sounds, the man let out a miserable scream and rolled to the ground; his right lower leg was already a bloody mess.

At the same time, the surrounding Eight Cold Hells scene disappeared.

Seeing Li Yan approaching, he also became fierce, threw away his dharma staff, formed seals with both hands, and chanted in his mouth: "Om! Ban! Zha! Sa! Duo! Hum!"

The "Ksitigarbha Scroll" and the "Xuanming Scroll" each have three major secret techniques, all integrated from the inheritances of both Buddhist and Daoist schools.

This is precisely the "Vajrasattva Sin-Eliminating Mantra" from the "Ksitigarbha Scroll."

Each mantra sounded like a great bell or drum.

If ordinary people heard it, their minds would inevitably be shaken.

However, Li Yan had the arm guard "Thousand Thoughts" to protect his body, and the copper coins on his left arm clattered, directly disrupting the mantra.

"What are you waiting for!" Seeing that the secret technique was useless, the merchant's eyes were full of fear, and he screamed in shock.

Clatter!

On his body, the sound of invisible chains rang out.

It was precisely the Soul-Hooking Rope of the Living Yin Messengers, clearly wanting to use this divine ability to block him.

But this was no different from showing off one's axe before a master.

His Soul-Hooking Rope was no more than a meter long, and the quality of the yin energy gathered was negligible to Li Yan.

Clang!

Li Yan blocked with his left arm, and the gang-sha energy gathered by the "Thousand Thoughts" arm guard easily deflected the Soul-Hooking Rope, and then he swung his blade in a sweep.

Blood splattered, and a head flew up.

"Big Brother!"

A shrill cry came from the darkness in the distance.

Immediately after, a sinister voice sounded.

"At that time, the World-Honored One emitted great light to illuminate the Yama Kingdom..."

【Content omitted】

After hearing this, the murderous intent in Li Yan's eyes grew even stronger.

This is the mantra for summoning Yin Office troops in the current "Six Paths Sutra," which is completely different from his "Luo Feng Sutra," but the power is no different.

These people actually used the Gang Order to kill him!

Without the slightest hesitation, after chopping off the merchant's head, Li Yan leaped again, jumping seven or eight meters to the right.

With a boom, the merchant's corpse was blown to pieces by the firearm.

The new-style firearm takes time to reload the magazine, so Li Yan gave up dodging left and right, dragged his blade with his right hand, tapped his toes on the ground, and charged toward the direction of the voice like a cicada catching a dragon in eight steps.

At the same time, the opponent also summoned Yin Office troops.

Whoosh~

In an instant, yin wind raged all around.

The "Southern Dipper Six Stars Soul-Locking Array" deployed by these people was almost immediately dispersed by the Netherworld Yin-Sha energy.

The deep darkness, accompanied by the sound of armor, permeated the air.

Li Yan was not afraid at all and charged into the darkness with his blade.

As the array collapsed, those people also revealed their figures; there were men and women, dressed differently, but all were dressed luxuriously.

In the distance, there was another person holding a Divine Fire Gun.

There are taboos for summoning Yin Office troops; these people did not dare to watch and all closed their eyes, waiting for Li Yan to die.

In the darkness, the sound of chains rang out constantly.

Li Yan ignored them and moved forward holding his Gou-Die.

Wherever he passed, the yin soldiers retreated one after another.

He now holds the position of "Heavenly Official," so ordinary mortal gods must retreat, and Yin Office troops cannot arrest him at will.

Completing the Fengdu Dharma can also be considered as having registered in Fengdu.

These yin soldiers are simply not qualified to arrest him.

Clatter!

Arriving in front of a woman who was setting up the array, Li Yan did not hesitate, twisted her head off directly, and swung his blade to chop off another person's head.

He already knew the identities of these people.

Most of them were those who had opposed his joining back then.

The Gou-Die of the Living Yin Messengers is issued very randomly.

Not everyone is willing to uphold the righteous path, and there are quite a few within the Huangquan organization who use this identity to seek profit.

Looking at their attire, not one of them was a pauper.

Li Yan broke the agreement, which naturally made these people unhappy.

Just as he expected, these six people setting up the array had low cultivation, having just stepped into the First Layer, and were only able to successfully set up the array by relying on their numbers.

They were closing their eyes and hadn't figured out what was going on before they lost their lives directly.

But at the same time, the yin soldiers who could not make arrests dispersed rapidly.

The darkness, mixed with yin wind, disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The person holding the gun was a middle-aged man.

What surprised Li Yan was that the other party was actually wearing the uniform of the Commandant's Office, black robes and official boots, embroidered with silver Taotie, and should be a gunman trained by the Commandant's Office.

He never expected that the Huangquan organization had also infiltrated it.

This person also had divine abilities; hearing footsteps, he hurriedly opened his eyes, and seeing Li Yan walking over with a blade, he screamed like he had seen a ghost: "You... how are you still alive!"

Having said that, he was about to raise his gun to shoot.

Pfft! Pfft!

Just as he moved, two blade lights flashed by.

It was Li Yan activating two Soul-Severing Flying Daggers, which flew from ten meters away and pierced directly into the tiger's mouth of his hands.

The Divine Fire Gun clattered to the ground.

"Ah——!"

The man let out a miserable scream, and then felt a chill spread from his arm, rapidly permeating his whole body, as if frozen stiff, and could only watch helplessly as Li Yan approached.

"I ask, you answer."

Li Yan's eyes were indifferent, "If you dare to say one word of nonsense, I will whittle you into a human stick. What happened to the Huangquan organization?"

This man was clearly terrified by Li Yan.

It was his first time seeing someone who was not afraid of Yin Office troops, and he stuttered as he told the reason.

It was related to Wu Qu.

A few days ago, the Huangquan organization held a gathering, and Wu Qu, filled with anger, went to make a scene, saying that there was a traitor who had sold them out.

Within the Huangquan organization, there was already some division, and some people took the opportunity to be sarcastic, forcing everyone to open an altar and take an oath.

It was originally intended to cause trouble for their opponents, but they never expected that someone would actually panic and want to run away immediately.

They were caught by experts from the Huangquan organization, and only then did they learn the reason.

The leakers were precisely these people.

They had long been held hostage by a group of people, and were even prepared to coordinate from within on that day, intending to detonate explosives hidden on the ship when they boarded to go to Mount Ming for worship.

This was a vicious scheme; the ship was filled with new-style gunpowder, and they even used precious dharma artifacts to cover it up, making it impossible for divine abilities to scout it.

There were also many mysterious people hiding in the river near Fengdu; seeing them inspecting the ship, they knew the matter had been exposed and fled without a trace.

Although they escaped a disaster, the Huangquan organization was also completely chaotic, accusing each other that very day, and even coming to blows.

In the end, several senior leaders of the Huangquan organization said that the world had changed greatly, and I fear the hunting of Living Yin Messengers would begin again.

Given the current situation of the organization, targeted attacks would not stop, so the Huangquan organization also completely split amidst mutual suspicion.

From then on, they would only contact people they trusted.

Many original Living Yin Messengers also changed their identities and left.

This group of people were all birds of a feather, using the identity of Living Yin Messengers to amass wealth; now that the Huangquan organization had split, their protectors also scattered due to profit...

They came to Chengdu, wanting to exchange their houses and land for silver notes.

It just so happened that someone was negotiating with others at Mingxiang Pavilion and discovered his trace, and because he wasn't carrying his Gou-Die, he wasn't discovered by him.

"Hmph, the Yin Office is truly blind to look for you people!"

Li Yan gave a cold snort, then frowned and said, "That's not right, you are all from out of town, and this wharf is not far from the shanty area; with such a big commotion, who else helped you cover it up?"

"It... it was the local boat boss."

The man from the Commandant's Office had a forehead full of cold sweat and said tremblingly, "I used the Commandant's Office token to ask them to help clear the area."

"What a fool, being sold and not even knowing it..."

Li Yan cursed and swung his blade directly.

Before the head hit the ground, he had already turned to look at the wharf.

But he saw that on the calm water surface, water suddenly surged, and a decaying wooden boat rose up, with bronze coffins tied to it with iron chains.

On the bow of the boat, an old fisherman was rowing with an oar, his face as pale as a dead person, and his two eyes were pitch-black.

Clatter!

The terrifying yin-sha energy caused the area around the boat to begin to freeze.

Li Yan felt something, "Water Ghost Craftsman, Tian Qi Ye?"

The person who came was precisely one of the evil path demon heads of the Southwest under the Shu Prince.

But just as Li Yan was on guard, the old fisherman suddenly looked to the right as if he had seen a ghost.

He saw a burly man with a beard in a brocade robe walking out of the cabin opposite, carrying mutton, and cursing:

"Keep fighting, are you ever going to finish!"

(End of chapter)