Chapter 585: Killing Intent Suddenly Arises

The side doors of the martial world naturally had their own set of methods.

Although they couldn't compare to the orthodox Mystic Sects, they still had their roots.

For example, the "Water Mist Ghost Wall" used by the Salt Gang elder had a vulgar name, but behind it lay a tragedy.

Back then, when the Golden Tent Wolf Kingdom invaded the south and broke through the Yellow River defense line, ten thousand salt workers formed a righteous army to resist, but they were brutally suppressed, and three thousand corpses were sunk into the old Yellow River levee.

Since then, fleets passing the Yellow River at night often encountered eerie mists, and helmsmen would dream of floating corpses in the water knocking on the boats to beg for food. Later, the Salt Gang leader "Iron Anchor Li" collected the bones and set up a "No-Sacrifice Altar," calming the resentment while also creating this method.

In places where water vapor was dense, one could stir up thick mist to block vision.

Li Yan's Northern Emperor Profound Water Escape was better at hiding, while the Salt Gang's sorcery borrowed dharma flags, making it more suitable for creating mist over a large area.

Tang Jiuniang of the Yanzi Sect's flying shuttle divine skill also had an ancient heritage, originating from the "Shadowless Ladder" of the Xi Cai Sect.

In the late years of the Great Xing Dynasty's Far View era, there was a female thief who used flying shuttles to specifically rob corrupt officials and distribute the wealth to orphanages; since then, this technique had shaken the martial world.

The cooperation of these two could be described as seamless.

In the distance, the guards at the gate of the Grand Commandery Prince's Mansion looked up, full of suspicion, and asked the person beside them: "Strange, why is there mist on such a cold day..."

Before the words fell, they suddenly fainted to the ground.

In their necks were inserted silver needles as thick as a little finger.

And inside the Grand Commandery Prince's Mansion, it was also a scene of chaos.

First, the thick mist rose, making it impossible to see one's own fingers, then black shadows fell from the sky. Those who resisted were directly beheaded, and the servants and maids who didn't know martial arts were slapped unconscious.

In the thick mist, blade light flickered, and soon there was no sound.

Those who launched the surprise attack first were all martial arts experts, and the leader, Wuxiang Young Master, had movements even more like a ghost.

The guards of the Grand Commandery Prince's Mansion didn't have a shred of power to resist.

"Xun wind sweeps away the dust, Li fire illuminates the netherworld, by order, disperse!"

With a low shout from the Salt Gang elder, the surrounding thick mist dissipated at a speed visible to the naked eye, taking no more than half a cup of tea's time.

At the main gate of the Commandery Prince's Mansion, two Chengdu underworld experts had already changed into guard uniforms, observing the surroundings with cold eyes.

After all, this was the Commandery Prince's Mansion, and even if there were some high-ranking officials nearby, they lived very far away, and no one discovered anything.

Inside the Prince's Mansion, it was the same.

As the Prince's Mansion was controlled, more than twenty of Wuxiang Young Master's subordinates also climbed over the wall from outside the inn, tied up those maids and servants, and changed into their clothes.

This was the plan that had been decided beforehand.

Quickly control the Commandery Prince's Mansion, then set a trap to capture people.

In the main hall, it was also a scene of people fallen to the ground.

These people were men and women, old and young, mostly dressed in gorgeous clothes; they were all relatives and descendants of the Grand Commandery Prince's lineage.

Unlike Xiao Jinghong, the Grand Commandery Prince had become a grandfather at a young age.

And directly behind the front hall, Wuxiang Young Master used the "Bone-Dislocating Hand" to pin someone firmly to the ground, also pressing his knee against the person's neck.

This person was dressed in a python robe, his features sinister, his skin fair; it was the Grand Commandery Prince.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth, letting out bursts of roars like a wild beast, but he was unable to move.

Li Yan also walked quickly into the front hall.

His task was not to invade, but to use his powerful divine ability to scout and search for movements in the surroundings, so as not to fall into a trap.

Although he didn't make a move, it was even more critical.

"Sure enough, cursed!"

Seeing the Grand Commandery Prince's appearance, many people breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that they were gloating, but this matter carried risks.

After all, the Prince of Shu being possessed by an evil person and the Commandery Prince being cursed were things unheard of. Once they made a mistake, it would be a big trouble.

Seeing everyone's appearance, Wuxiang Young Master didn't care, turned around, and cupped his hands toward the back: "Senior Jin, I'll have to trouble you."

Accompanied by the sound of silver ornaments, an old woman in black walked out from the back.

She had white hair and a youthful face, dressed in an indigo hemp robe, wearing a silver "Three-Eyed Crown," with a vertical-eye silver piece hanging on her forehead, and even her cuffs were adorned with nine copper bells.

She looked very unkempt and had difficulty walking; she hadn't come through the secret passage, but was carried in a sedan chair from the street.

Even so, no one dared to underestimate her.

Even Li Yan cupped his hands respectfully.

Wuxiang Young Master had another ability, which was his extensive connections.

This old woman was known as "Granny Jin," the orthodox successor of the Twelve Altars of Shu Nuo, the Nuo Altar Goddess of Bashu.

She could be considered a top figure among the side doors.

The so-called "Twelve Altars of Shu Nuo" was the core system of Bashu Nuo opera, originating from ancient Shu shamanic sacrifices and integrated with Daoist secret methods.

The Nuo Altar Goddess belonged to one of these lineages, revering the Queen Mother of the West, Magu, and Zigu as the three saints.

The twelve altars were divided into "Upper Four Altars, Middle Four Altars, and Lower Four Altars," corresponding to Heaven, Earth, and Man, and each altar was a Nuo opera.

For example, the Middle Four Altars suppressed the human world: Yin soldiers passing, Zhong Kui marrying off his sister, Erlang searching the mountains, and the Judge checking wishes.

The "Mulian Saves His Mother" performed by Situ Qian's Netherworld Opera Stage previously belonged to the Lower Four Altars communicating with the netherworld.

Ever since knowing Situ Qian had brought the Netherworld Opera Stage, Wuxiang Young Master had been on guard and specifically invited "Granny Jin" from near Chengdu to restrain the Yin Nuo opera.

Besides this, he also had to ask her to break the curse.

Only then did the old woman, Granny Jin, come before the Grand Commandery Prince, ignoring his roars, and pinched his pulse to perform secret methods of investigation.

The old woman's left eye quickly turned gray-white, and she extended a withered palm, continuously stroking the Grand Commandery Prince's brow.

"Ah! Ah!"

Accompanied by screams, the Grand Commandery Prince's brow actually turned blood-red.

The old woman was thoughtful, then took off his boots and socks, formed a seal with her hands, and pressed firmly on the Zusanli point.

"Ah—!"

Another scream, and everyone was surprised to see black-purple vein patterns appearing on the meridians of his heels, shaped like a centipede crawling.

"Blood on the brow, yin insects wrapping the feet..."

Granny Jin turned to look at everyone and said in a deep voice: "It is indeed the curse method of the Yin Nuo opera. I need some things."

"Senior, please speak."

Wuxiang Young Master was overjoyed and quickly cupped his hands.

The key to this plan was breaking the curse; as long as the curse was broken, everything could be easily solved.

The old woman said calmly: "I need three-year-old sticky rice, Bashu coarse salt, mugwort ash, rootless water (rainwater), and a Bagua mirror."

"Go get them quickly!"

Wuxiang Young Master turned to give orders.

After his subordinates left, he looked at Granny Jin again, "Senior, the situation is urgent, how long will it take to break?"

"Breaking the curse is fast, but it must be at the noon hour."

The old woman said in a deep voice: "What I use is the Yang Rice Breaking Yin technique, which requires exposing the sticky rice to the sun under a Bagua mirror at noon and scattering salt to break the curse. At other times, it will only lead to the curse's backlash."

"Noon hour?"

Wuxiang Young Master frowned solemnly, turned to look at everyone, "Everyone, the time will be slightly delayed, we must not reveal any flaws."

"Also, tell those brothers to hold back the Prince of Shu's procession at all costs. No matter what happens, I will not treat their families poorly..."

Listening to the other party's arrangements, Li Yan took out his pocket watch and looked at it.

It was just past the Chen hour, and the Joyous God's tour at the Martial Marquis Shrine would end at the latest by the end of the Si hour.

With such a long time, wanting to hold them back, I'm afraid it's a bit difficult......

…………

The wind and snow cleared, and the sunlight pierced through the clouds.

Outside Chengdu Prefecture, the massive Joyous God procession was passing over the Wanli Bridge.

Because there were many people and the bridge was narrow, the speed of travel was not fast.

Looking from afar, the ice surface of the Jin River was covered with snow like plain silk, the stilt houses on both banks hung with icicles, and red paper scraps drifted in the wind.

The "Joyous God's tour" had another rule, which was that someone had to play Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Zhuge Wu Hou, walking at the very front of the procession.

Even the Prince of Shu's ceremonial procession had to follow behind.

Just then, at the intersection on the other side of the Wanli Bridge, more than a dozen people were kneeling by the roadside with food and drink, welcoming them.

In the bamboo baskets were salt army pot helmets and several bottles of Pijiang wine.

This was an ancient custom of sending off the army and also the most solemn rule for welcoming the Joyous God's tour.

According to the rules, those playing Liu, Guan, and Zhang had to go up and take a bite of the pot helmet and a drink of the wine.

However, the four people in front ignored them completely.

One of the "people" gave a wink, and the others immediately swarmed up with bamboo baskets.

"My Lord, try the humble one's craft." "Joyous God's tour, auspicious and peaceful."

These people said nice things, but their backs were all tense.

Clang!

Suddenly, the person playing Guan Yu fiercely raised his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, stepped forward, and with both arms exerting force, performed a horizontal sweep.

In an instant, blade light flickered, blood sprayed, and heads rolled.

"Act!"

Seeing that they were exposed, these "people" immediately drew short blades from their waists, and some lifted the pot helmets, taking out the gunpowder bamboo tubes hidden underneath.

"Hahaha!"

The person playing Zhang Fei held a serpent-headed spear, rushed out in two or three steps, and used the "Rainstorm Pear Blossom" spear technique.

In the blink of an eye, he stabbed three or four more people to death.

The "people" behind were just about to light the gunpowder barrels, but "Liu Bei" had already leaped up, holding double swords, flying up and down, hacking off arm after arm.

!

These actors were all experts in dark energy.

Soon, these "people" were all slaughtered.

The last person was stabbed through the heart, fell to the ground, his eyes staring fixedly at the stone bridge, full of unwillingness and doubt...

"Murder!"

The people behind were so frightened they retreated repeatedly.

But just at this moment, the Chief Eunuch of the Prince's Mansion, Eunuch Liu, gave a wink, and immediately the inner guards took down a package, grabbed a handful of scattered silver from inside, and suddenly scattered it toward the sky.

"The evil people have been eliminated. The Prince of Shu has ordered to continue forward, do not delay the auspicious day—!"

With this, the people behind stopped immediately.

They were dumbfounded, and then their eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, rushing forward crazily.

What was scattered before was only "Joyous God Money," but now it was real silver.

Although it was cut very small, only the size of a little finger, grabbing just one or two was enough for the whole family's expenses for the whole month.

Who cared about dead people anymore?

Even if the sky fell, they had to go up and grab it.

The crowd swarmed up, and with the Prince of Shu's ceremonial procession speeding up, the massive procession soon passed the Wanli Bridge.

A few people fell behind, jumped directly over the stone bridge, and ran from the bank toward under the bridge.

They had sharp eyes and saw more than a dozen pieces of scattered silver falling under the bridge.

In the dead of winter, the river surface was already frozen.

They stumbled to under the bridge, and before they could grab the silver, they were so frightened they fell to the ground.

Only to see that under the bridge deck, several people were digging into the brick seams, hiding under the bridge deck with the agility of geckos, with gunpowder barrels tied to their waists.

But these people were already dead.

One by one, their faces were pitch black, their muscles curled up, as if burned by something, but their clothes were still intact...

The last part of the journey went smoothly.

The Prince of Shu's ceremonial procession arrived outside the Martial Marquis Shrine.

They scattered silver several times along the way, attracting people to follow, and only a dozen people were afraid in their hearts and left the procession early.

The Prince of Shu followed the ceremonial procession and entered the Martial Marquis Shrine.

But before the Three Virtues Temple, the three animal offerings had already been set up, and the temple priest led several Daoist acolytes to welcome them respectfully.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

This temple priest carefully stepped forward to greet them.

He had naturally heard about the affairs of Chengdu Prefecture and had thought that since the Martial Marquis Shrine was not in the city, he could avoid trouble. He hadn't expected this Prince of Shu to go mad and actually hold a "Joyous God's tour."

Even two days ago, he had sent people to control the Martial Marquis Shrine.

This Martial Marquis Shrine priest was also a member of the Huang Ling Sect, and thinking of his fellow disciples who had been thrown into prison in the city with unknown fates, he felt uneasy in his heart.

Before entering the Martial Marquis Shrine, the Prince of Shu had already stepped out of the sedan chair.

He ignored the temple priest's ugly expression, stepped forward to the altar, and personally lit the incense candles.

However, he refused to insert them for a long time.

The blue smoke of the incense curled, swaying with the wind.

Seeing the Prince of Shu motionless, the temple priest was somewhat suspicious and quickly stepped forward to cup his hands: "Your Highness, you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a guard behind the Prince of Shu suddenly step forward, wave his hand, and sweep away all the heads of the three animal offerings on the altar.

Bang, bang, bang!

As the three heads hit the ground, they suddenly exploded.

Hum!

Three strands of black smoke rose up, actually all being dense swarms of poisonous insects, calling out toward the procession.

The temple priest watched, dumbfounded, his whole body icy cold.

Who was playing this trick?

Wasn't this going to cost him his life!

Swish, swish, swish!

On the roofs on both sides, several white shadows drew bows and arrows; they were the Western Shu "Yin Mountain Kites" archers.

In the gloomy shadows of the Three Virtues Temple roof, several figures leaped out, wanting to escape, but were shot in mid-air and fell to the ground.

The arrowheads were highly toxic, and they didn't even have time to speak before their faces turned iron-blue, foaming at the mouth, and they stopped breathing.

"What a pity..."

The "Prince of Shu" looked indifferent, looked at the trembling temple priest, and said: "I received news that the people from Mount Qingcheng have already come. Didn't they contact you?"

"Ah, this... no... no."

The temple priest was dumbfounded, his heart growing even colder.

What Joyous God's tour, it turned out to be a trap.

Fortunately, his cultivation was not high, and it was only because he was good at management that he was sent here, and he hadn't participated in this matter......

"Trash!"

Just as the old Daoist was secretly happy, a cold voice sounded. Before the old Daoist could react, his head was slapped into a shattered watermelon by a blood-red hand.

The person who acted was none other than the one playing Liu Bei.

He tugged at the bulge on his neck, pulled hard, and discarded the human skin mask, revealing a head of white hair.

It was the Prince of Shu's confidant, the Blood Nuo Master Ba Daiza.

"Your Highness, it seems that old ghost didn't take the bait."

Ba Daiza's face was gloomy: "The ones who blocked us earlier were precisely those old ghosts of the Cheng family. It's a pity they escaped."

The "Prince of Shu" didn't care, shook his head and said: "Cheng Jianxin has shaken the Shu region for decades. Even if there was a slip-up, his martial arts experience is still there; he's not so easily fooled."

"What's the situation in the city?"

"Preparing."

"What a pity, today's work was not fully accomplished..."

The "Prince of Shu" looked calm, turned his head to look at the terrified people behind him, and laughed dryly: "Didn't lure the people out, but let's do what we should do. This is probably our last 'Joyous God's tour'."

The one playing "Guan Gong" heard this, stepped forward directly, his fake legs knocking on the ground, making a thumping sound.

It was Situ Qian of the Ghost Opera Troupe.

He had messed up his mission last time, and although the Prince of Shu didn't blame him, it made him even more vigilant; how could he dare to be negligent?

Arriving before the dilapidated altar, he shook his beard and sang in a high-pitched Sichuan opera style: "Snow drifts on the Crouching Dragon Ridge, the Joyous God arrives and all evils vanish!"

After singing, he himself felt it was absurd.

In the eyes of others, they were evil demons, yet they were doing this at the sacred site of the Martial Marquis Shrine...

"Let's go, go catch the rats in the city."

After finishing this last scene, the "Prince of Shu" turned around immediately.

But just at this moment, his heart trembled, and he quickly turned to the side.

Clang!

In the distance, blade light exploded, and a white glow like a bolt of silk whistled over, carrying a biting killing intent.

"Audacious!"

The Blood Nuo Master Ba Daiza gave a cold snort, suddenly pulled a blood-colored curved blade from his waist, and fiercely blocked in front of the "Prince of Shu."

He chanted a mantra, and the blood-colored curved blade emitted rolling black smoke, colliding with that bolt of white glow, sizzling.

Afterward, ding-ding-dang-dang sounds rang out, the white glow dissipated, and it was actually a short sword the length of a forearm.

Seeming to have exhausted its power, the short sword fell directly to the ground, and its metallic luster also became dim.

"Cheng family flying sword?"

The Blood Nuo Master Ba Daiza sneered: "Only learned a bit of fur, yet you dare to come out and show off."

"Quick, seven hundred meters southwest of the shrine!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 586 =====