Chapter 73: Wooden Puppets Hiding in the Dark Forest

"Master Chen's sorcery is brilliant!"

The Zheng-Yuan duo hurriedly flattered him.

They didn't understand sorcery, but that didn't mean they didn't know how to talk.

However, there was no smile on Chen Fagui's face. His eyes were gloomy, and he said urgently, "What are you happy about? This method only blocks people from coming up the mountain; the threat is at the foot of the mountain!"

"The person who came must be my fellow sect member. He has already issued one command Qi, and after a stick of incense, he will issue the second. Once the three command Qi are out, the City God Temple soldiers will arrive, and we will all die!"

Zheng Heibei felt fear in his heart. "Ah? Then why don't we run quickly!"

"Run?"

Chen Fagui gritted his teeth. "To achieve great things, one must face calamities. If we miss tonight, we'll have to wait another three years. I can't afford to wait!"

"Yuan Qu, you go down the mountain."

"No need to fight hard; just interfere with his spellcasting!"

Yuan Qu's face turned pale, and he was about to shirk, but he saw Chen Fagui had already waved his peach wood sword, picked up a talisman paper, lit it, and pointed it abruptly at him, chanting: "Om Hum Hum, Heaven attach, Earth attach, Earth attach, Human attach, Flying soul cross the sea, Capture and attach the living soul, Hurry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Qu stiffened all over.

He could feel an icy Yin Qi carrying murderous intent rising from the ground, pouring directly into his body. His whole person felt like falling into an ice cellar, his mind blank.

But soon, these Yin Qi surged out of his body, gathered on the blood-colored talismans on his skin, and he regained consciousness.

"Are... are you okay?"

Zheng Heibei swallowed hard.

Yuan Qu looked at his hands, his eyes full of disbelief, then squeezed them hard, causing a cracking sound, and grinned hideously. "I'm fine, I... I'm very good!"

He could feel a force rising out of thin air in his body, and his skin seemed to be wearing a layer of icy iron armor. Not only did all his fear disappear, but an endless murderous intent surged up.

Vaguely, a voice kept shouting in his ear:

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Swish!

Without any hesitation, Yuan Qu held his daggers in reverse, jumped four or five meters away, then used the strength of his feet to dart out of the tomb.

Zheng Heibei watched, dumbfounded.

This was the "Monkey Dart" from the Zhou family's Monkey Fist, which relied on the explosive power of the Dark Jin in the legs to burst out with great strength in an instant, approaching the enemy for a lethal strike.

To some extent, it could be considered a finishing move.

But this move consumed a lot of energy, mainly because one had to catch one's breath, otherwise, the opponent would seize the flaw, so it was only used at critical moments.

Using it like this to travel was truly extravagant.

And Yuan Qu didn't even catch his breath between using the Monkey Dart!

Is this the power of the Mystic Sect...

Thinking of this, Zheng Heibei's confidence increased greatly.

And Chen Fagui on the side still had a gloomy expression, his fingers constantly pinching to calculate the time, a hint of anxiety appearing in his eyes...

……………

In the dense forest, Li Yan and Luo Mingzi were hurrying on their way.

The mountain slope here was unusually steep, and the soil and rocks were loose, but fortunately, there were dense pines and cypresses, so they could easily borrow strength to climb.

"There are indeed arrangements."

Seeing the thin mist rising around, Luo Mingzi didn't seem surprised and said indifferently, "This is the Jiuyuan Sect's 'Locking the Mountain with Yin Ghosts,' a side-door strange technique that mobilizes the Yin Sha Qi of the earth's veins to lure wandering ghosts and form a 'Ghost-Hitting-Wall'."

"The Yin Qi is dense, and ghosts can see, but you have the invisibility technique, so those things can't see us. Just don't stare at them, and you won't be discovered!"

"Yes, Senior!"

Li Yan nodded solemnly.

He knew the other party was intentionally pointing him out, and he naturally wouldn't refuse such kindness.

Moreover, he had already activated his nose supernatural ability and could keenly smell the icy Yin Qi around him, and in the distance underground, there were some decaying, resentful scents rising.

Sure enough, they hadn't gone far before they saw strange phenomena.

Under a pine tree, a figure appeared and disappeared.

It was a man in coarse black cloth, short and small, his face as pale as paper, head bowed, back to them, motionless.

A grave robber!

Seeing this attire, Li Yan immediately had a guess.

Sure enough, a grave-robbing hole appeared on the ground in the distance, overgrown with wild grass, clearly ancient.

Most likely, it was an unlucky ghost murdered by his companions.

This was not the first time Li Yan had seen this, and he was well-prepared, so he hurriedly turned his head away and continued forward.

Before long, they saw more Yin ghosts.

These things were still in their clothes from when they were alive and retained their appearance at the time of death.

Some were dressed simply, their bodies broken and shattered; they should have been herbalists who went up the mountain and were ambushed and bitten to death by wild beasts...

Some were dressed in ancient artisan clothes, their heads separated from their necks...

As for the tomb owners in gorgeous clothes, there were almost none, as the Wei and Jin dynasties were too far away, and few Yin ghosts could last until now. Just as Luo Mingzi said, after these wandering ghosts appeared, the decaying and dark Sha Qi in the rocks and withered branches and leaves immediately had a master, swirling in circles around the forest mountain road.

Ordinary people encountering this situation would be invaded by Sha Qi, causing various hallucinations, leading to getting lost or even being possessed—this is called "Ghost-Hitting-Wall."

And Li Yan had supernatural abilities, so such small tricks naturally couldn't stop him.

He pinched the invisibility mudra tightly and led Luo Mingzi to continue forward.

Clatter!

Just as they were about to approach the destination, a violent movement suddenly came from the front, as if something was rushing through the forest.

Luo Mingzi pulled Li Yan behind a tree.

They saw a figure rushing over, with amazing speed, as if crazy, not dodging branches along the way, rushing straight through, even tearing his clothes on the thorns.

In the blink of an eye, the person disappeared.

"Yuan Qu?"

Seeing that person, Li Yan frowned.

It was Yuan Qu himself, but he was entangled by Yin Sha Qi, as if possessed by a ghost, and his strength had increased significantly.

!.

"It is the method of a spirit medium."

Luo Mingzi just glanced at it indifferently. "It's just inviting some Yin ghosts and evil things to possess him, a small trick. Daoist Zhao and the others can handle it."

Although worried in his heart, Li Yan also knew what was more important.

Destroy the altar, save Wang Daoxuan's living soul, and everything would naturally be solved.

Who knew that just as he turned around, a shout came from behind:

"Little Brother Yan, wait for me..."

The voice was faint and blurry; it was Sha Lifei.

How did Sha Lifei follow?

"Don't make a sound!"

Just as he was about to turn around, Luo Mingzi reminded him urgently from the side: "It's the Puppet Soul-Calling Technique. Your invisibility technique is not refined; you've been discovered. If you respond, you'll fall into the trap!"

Li Yan stiffened and slowly turned around.

He could already smell an icy chill. After turning around, he saw a wooden puppet crawling on a tree branch ten meters behind him.

Dressed in a Dan-role opera costume, it was the length of an arm, hanging upside down like a spider, looking at him. Its face was stiff, its mouth opening and closing, and the sound of calling kept coming into his ears.

It really was the Soul-Calling Technique!

Li Yan had experienced it once when dealing with the Cold Altar Chang soldiers, so he was naturally not panicked.

This method is good at Yin things and specializes in targeting the human heart.

He had seen Yuan Qu leave earlier and was worried about Sha Lifei, so naturally, what he heard was Sha Lifei's voice.

Just as Luo Mingzi said, his invisibility technique was only basic, and he had only learned it for an afternoon. It was enough to fool those wandering ghosts, but it couldn't deceive this kind of thing.

And the puppet's gaze was entirely focused on him, ignoring Luo Mingzi next to him, clearly not having discovered him.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Just then, the sound of branches and leaves rang out incessantly all around.

Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou—all five puppets appeared and surrounded him.

"Senior, I'll lead the way; you don't appear!"

Li Yan said in a deep voice, loosened his left-hand mudra, directly abandoned the invisibility technique, no longer concealed his figure, and turned to run.

Luo Mingzi frowned and followed closely.

He knew Li Yan's plan. Since the invisibility technique was no longer useful, he would use himself as bait to attract Chen Fagui's attention, creating an opportunity for his surprise attack.

Although it would be dangerous, it was the best response.

Swish!

Li Yan no longer concealed his figure, and his speed increased sharply.

However, danger also arrived.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

On the tree trunks on both sides, the five puppets jumped and climbed like spiders, with amazing speed, forming a encirclement again.

At the same time, the wandering ghosts on the mountain also set their sights on him.

In an instant, the Yin wind blew violently, and figures appeared and disappeared.

Clang!

Li Yan drew his blade and activated the Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel.

The tassel swayed, and that icy murderous intent overflowed.

This treasure was extraordinarily powerful, and the many wandering ghosts disappeared like frightened rabbits.

Seeing this, Luo Mingzi's eyes lit up.

He didn't expect that this little outer-path sorcerer who hadn't even built his first-floor observation tower would have such an artifact.

Of course, the wooden puppets were not scared away.

Whoosh!

The wooden puppet dressed as an old man rushed over.

It had white hair and a white beard, a kind face, but the dragon-headed cane in its hand was like a sharp awl, with amazing speed, stabbing directly at Li Yan's head...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 74 =====