Chapter 184: Entering the Village! Saving the Old Man!

The journey was silent, filled only with heavy panting and the rustling sound of crushed leaves and branches underfoot.

Hu Huxu was practically running, driven by his familiarity with the terrain and the ominous premonition in his heart.

Lu Yuan followed closely behind, his face tense, the jade pendant in his bosom seeming like the only thing anchoring his heart.

But the image of the old man being used as "blood food for the Malevolent Deity" still made his heart clench repeatedly.

From dawn to dusk, then into the deep night.

The two of them almost went without sleep or rest, relying on Hu Huxu's vague guidance and intuition about mountain and water veins, trekking through the vast, deep mountains.

When hungry, they gnawed on some dry rations; when thirsty, they drank a few mouthfuls of mountain spring water; when sleepy, they splashed cold water on their faces.

Lu Yuan was young and strong, and as a two-star Celestial Master, his physical strength and zhenran could still hold up.

Hu Huxu was struggling a bit more. He was already on the older side, and carrying the heavy bundle while running left him gasping for breath.

Finally, close to eleven at night.

The two climbed over an extremely steep, almost impassable ridge, crouched behind a dense thicket of bushes, and looked down.

Before them was a scene completely different from the surrounding deep mountains.

Below was a moderately sized valley basin, and within the basin, surprisingly, sat a small village.

Though it was late at night, the village wasn't pitch black.

Scattered, dark red lights flickered in the windows or doorways of some houses. The light wasn't warm; instead, it exuded a sinister, eerie quality.

The entire village was shrouded in an extremely faint, but undeniably present, grayish-white mist.

The mist flowed slowly, making the scenery outside the village appear somewhat distorted and blurry.

In the air, that fishy, bloody smell became extremely thick.

It was mixed with an indescribable, strange odor, like a blend of aged blood, rotting flesh, and the burning of some kind of cheap incense.

It drifted downwind, nauseating.

Even more bizarre was the utter silence of the village.

A mountain village late at night should be quiet, but this silence was deathly still.

No dog barks, no insect chirps, not even the sound of wind brushing over rooftops could be heard, only the silent flow of the grayish-white mist.

Occasionally, one or two blurry human figures could be seen moving stiffly within the village, their movements slow, like marionettes.

"This is the place."

Hu Huxu's voice was pressed extremely low, carrying a pant and a barely perceptible tremor.

"The Liu Family's lair. We all call it... 'Ghost Wailing Village'."

"The lights burning in those houses aren't oil lamps. They are the 'soul fires' that the... things... they raise... like."

"Those walking around... aren't necessarily people."

Lu Yuan crouched behind the bushes, his gaze sharp as a torch, fixed tightly on the deathly still village below.

Lu Yuan's heart pounded wildly.

Found it! The old man is down there!

Lu Yuan could feel that deep within the gray-black mist, there was a faint, extremely oppressive, yet incredibly familiar Dao resonance struggling.

Like a spark about to be extinguished in the darkness.

That was the old man's lingering aura!

"Let's go!"

"Down there!"

Lu Yuan almost immediately rose to charge down.

According to Lu Yuan's plan, as long as he charged into the village, found the old man's precise location, and then crushed the jade pendant to summon Gu Qingwan.

All problems would be solved!

Before absolute power, what Malevolent Deities, what traps, were all just clay chickens and pottery dogs!

"Wait! Daoist Priest Lu!!"

Hu Huxu was startled, using almost all his strength to grab and hold Lu Yuan's arm firmly.

His strength was immense, and coupled with Lu Yuan being caught off guard, he was actually pulled back behind the bushes.

"What are you doing?!"

Lu Yuan whipped his head around, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes, almost about to use Thunder Techniques to shake him off.

The old man was in imminent danger, every second was crucial!

"You can't just barge in like that!"

Hu Huxu panted heavily, sweat and mud mixed on his face, but his eyes were unusually anxious and resolute.

"Listen to me!"

"Let me finish!"

Lu Yuan forcefully suppressed the anxiety and anger in his heart, staring at him intently, squeezing out a single word through gritted teeth:

"Speak!"

Hu Huxu took a few deep breaths and quickly whispered:

"Daoist Priest Lu, think about it! Who is your master?"

"Before you and Shen Shulan, Li Xiuye was the most talented Celestial Master in the Taoist community beyond the Great Wall!"

"He is the 'perfect material' the Liu Family has been dreaming of to refine a top-tier Malevolent Deity!"

"The Liu Family set up such a big trap, using the Malevolent Deity's power to trap him. What's their goal? Is it just to kill him directly?"

Lu Yuan frowned slightly.

Seeing Lu Yuan was listening, Hu Huxu spoke even faster:

"No! They can't bear to!"

"From what I know of the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family, they want to 'simmer' him!"

"Drain his zhenran, grind down his will, strip away his soul!"

"And then... either use his body and cultivation as the core to refine an unprecedented, powerful Malevolent Deity!"

"Or, use his soul to feed and strengthen one of their existing Malevolent Deities!"

"Whichever it is, this process won't be quick, and it can't be done in one go!"

"Your master is definitely still resisting!"

Hu Huxu pointed at the deathly still village below:

"Look at this village, so quiet, the evil energy is restrained inward, no signs of large-scale conflict. It means the 'simmering' inside is still ongoing!"

"Your master is still holding on!"

"Otherwise, if he were truly subdued or killed, the Liu Family would have already made a big move, either the Malevolent Deity's power erupting in celebration, or they'd have started to relocate!"

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered. Hu Huxu's analysis indeed made sense.

What kind of person was the old man? Even if he fell into a trap, surrounded by multiple Malevolent Deities, capturing him easily was absolutely impossible.

The Liu Family's greatest possibility was wanting to "capture alive" for use, not "kill".

"So!"

Hu Huxu gripped Lu Yuan's arm tightly, his voice dropping even lower, carrying a hunter-like calmness.

"If we barge in now, if we make too much noise, or if the Liu Family discovers us prematurely, if they feel the situation is hopeless and become desperate..."

"To prevent your master from being rescued, or to avoid greater losses, they might very well... directly use heavy-handed measures!"

"For example, directly and forcibly destroying your master's body, or forcibly extracting his soul. Even if the effect is greatly reduced, they'd rather not leave him for you!"

"By then, even if you have sky-reaching abilities, what you rescue might just be a corpse, or a broken soul!"

These words were like a basin of ice water poured over Lu Yuan's head, which had grown somewhat feverish with anxiety. He sobered up abruptly.

Right! It's true he had a trump card to flip the table at a critical moment, but the premise was that the table was still there, and the "old man" on the table hadn't been directly discarded by the other side yet!

If his own recklessness stimulated the Liu Family into "destroying the dish" prematurely!

Then even if Gu Qingwan came and obliterated the Liu Family along with the Malevolent Deities, what use would it be?

The old man might already be gone!

Hu Huxu didn't know about Gu Qingwan's existence. His worries were entirely based on his analysis of the Liu Family's methods and the current situation.

But this worry unexpectedly pinpointed the greatest potential risk in Lu Yuan's plan.

Timing!

Couldn't alert the enemy, couldn't push the Liu Family to the point of immediately "destroying" the old man.

He had to find the old man before the other side reacted, or at least before they made the "destroy" decision.

And ensure he could instantly control the situation, or... instantly take the old man away!

After all, even if he crushed the jade pendant and Qingwan could come immediately, there would definitely still be a dozen or so seconds in between.

Enough time for the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family to do some desperate things!

The impatience in Lu Yuan's eyes rapidly faded, replaced once more by cool sharpness.

He glanced at the deathly, eerie "Ghost Wailing Village" below, then at the panting, nervous yet resolute-eyed Hu Huxu beside him.

"What's your plan?!"

Seeing Lu Yuan was convinced, Hu Huxu visibly relaxed, letting go of Lu Yuan's arm and wiping the sweat from his face.

"We need to prepare first."

Hu Huxu said while starting to untie the heavy bundle on his back.

"This Liu Family village definitely has alert arrays or 'things' outside."

"We need to find a way to sneak in silently, at least locate the approximate area where your master is trapped, then plan further."

"Some of the tools I brought can help."

He opened the bundle and began pulling things out.

Those several "Soul-Sustaining Lamps" carefully wrapped in oilcloth, talisman paper, talisman brush, Soul-Guiding Ink, copper bells, blood thread, Soul-Nurturing Stones...

"Daoist Priest Lu, you are orthodox Taoist. Breaking arrays and repelling evil is your expertise."

"But many of these Liu Family things work on the level of soul perception. Taoist methods are sometimes too 'open and aboveboard', easily triggering alerts."

"Using the Hu Family's methods, combined with your Taoist arts, might allow us to open a path more stealthily."

Hu Huxu fiddled with those ritual tools exuding an eerie aura while speaking quickly:

"Give me half an... no, one stick of incense time. I'll set up something to at least temporarily shield our auras!"

"Disrupt the perception of those peripheral 'eyes'."

Lu Yuan watched Hu Huxu take out those objects clearly not belonging to the orthodox path, even carrying a heavy yin-evil aura, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

But thinking of the old man's current predicament, of the huge risks Hu Huxu had analyzed, Lu Yuan finally nodded.

The Taoist tradition had many techniques for concealing traces, like the one Lu Yuan used when tracking Hu Yangyang.

However, clearly, Hu Huxu understood this, and the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family, better than Lu Yuan. Listening to him now was definitely the right move.

"Alright!"

"What do you need me to do?"

Upon hearing Lu Yuan's agreement, Hu Huxu quickly whispered:

"You first meditate, recover your physical strength and zhenran."

"Once we go in later, there probably won't be time to rest."

As he spoke, Hu Huxu had already begun using that dark red talisman brush, dipping it into the fishy-smelling Soul-Guiding Ink.

He quickly drew some twisted, bizarre symbols on that specially made Yin Talisman Paper.

"Once I'm done, we'll sneak in from the northwest corner of the village, the place that looks the most dilapidated and where the soul fires are the dimmest."

"The evil energy there is the most 'sluggish', the defenses are probably also the loosest."

Lu Yuan did as told, sitting down, closing his eyes to meditate, but his ears and senses were fully extended.

He paid attention to Hu Huxu's every movement and any sign of activity from the "Ghost Wailing Village" below.

Lu Yuan didn't completely trust Hu Huxu, but the current situation was special, requiring the other's understanding of the Liu Family's methods.

He saw Hu Huxu first quickly use the talisman brush and Soul-Guiding Ink to draw seven or eight symbols on that stack of dark yellow Yin Talisman Paper.

Those symbols were twisted and bizarre, not Taoist cloud-thunder patterns, more like a combination of simplified, distorted ancient totems and ghostly scribbles.

They exuded a sense of savagery and yin coldness.

Lu Yuan could feel that with each stroke, weak, yin-aligned strange energy was gathered into the symbols.

After drawing the talismans, Hu Huxu put down the brush and picked up those "Soul-Sustaining Lamps" wrapped in oilcloth.

He carefully unwrapped the oilcloth, revealing several ancient-looking, bluish-black lamp bodies engraved with twisted symbols.

The lamps were no larger than a baby's fist, cool and heavy to the touch.

He didn't light the wicks. Instead, he dipped his fingertip into a bit of that pungent Soul-Guiding Ink.

On specific symbols on each lamp's body, he re-outlined and deepened a few strokes.

As he traced, the lamps seemed to glow faintly for a moment, then quickly dimmed again.

As if something inside was "awakened", yet forcibly suppressed.

After this, Hu Huxu took out those irregularly shaped "Soul-Nurturing Stones" and "Soul-Suppressing Stones" from the bundle, then picked up that section of dark red blood thread.

He crouched down and began burying these stones along the edge of the bushes where they were hiding, following a specific orientation and sequence.

He buried them deep, his movements light, making almost no sound.

Each time he buried a stone, he would lightly wrap the blood thread around it a few times, tie a strange knot, then cover it with soil.

Lu Yuan noticed the positions where he buried the stones vaguely formed an irregular, inwardly contracting circle.

These stones subtly "encircled" the small area where the two of them were.

This wasn't a defensive array; it was more like a setup for... "confusion" or "assimilation".

After burying the stones, Hu Huxu picked up those drawn Yin Talismans and stuck them on the branches of the bushes directly above several burial spots, with the talisman faces outward.

Then, he picked up those rusted copper bells strung with red cord and gently shook them.

The bells didn't produce the crisp ringing sound Lu Yuan expected.

Instead, they emitted an extremely muffled, soul-striking "hum... mmm..." sound. The sound wasn't loud, but its penetration was strong.

Hu Huxu shook them slowly, rhythmically, pausing for a moment after a few shakes, tilting his head as if adjusting some "frequency".

Lu Yuan could feel that with the muffled sounds of the bells, the already gloomy forest around them seemed to become even more "still".

Not a stillness of sound, but a "blurring" of perception.

As if the location where the two of them were was slowly being "stripped away" or "covered up" from the normal "background" of this mountain forest by some force.

Even the foul, evil smell drifting up from the "Ghost Wailing Village" below seemed to fade a bit, no longer so directly assaulting the senses.

This method... was indeed unorthodox.

It wasn't like Taoist techniques like "Breath-Concealing Talismans" or "Invisibility Spells" that directly acted on oneself or distorted light and sound.

It was more like altering the "field" of the surrounding environment.

Or rather, simulating a false impression of being "harmless", "of the same kind", or even "non-existent".

To deceive any possible alert mechanisms based on yin energy, souls, or Malevolent Deity perception.

Hu Huxu shook the bells for about half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before the muffled ringing finally stopped completely.

He carefully hung the bells on a low branch of an old tree nearby, letting them hang naturally, no longer touching them.

Finally, he picked up those processed "Soul-Sustaining Lamps".

This time, he didn't use fire. Instead, he bit his right index finger.

A drop of bright red blood fell onto the wick position of each lamp.

The blood droplets didn't slide off upon landing on the wicks but were quickly absorbed.

Immediately after, Hu Huxu began chanting an extremely strange, guttural incantation, as if a mix of beastly growls and the sound of wind wailing.

This incantation lacked the rhythm and sense of power of Taoist chants, yet it carried a primitive, wild, eerie aura that resonated with something deep within this land.

As the incantation was chanted, inside the bodies of those "Soul-Sustaining Lamps", an extremely faint, dark green light slowly lit up!

The light wasn't flame; it was more like a cold "phosphorescence" originating from the soul or some kind of yin energy.

The light was very weak, almost invisible in the darkness.

But Lu Yuan could clearly feel a weak yet continuous, yin-cold "lamp fire", carrying Hu Huxu's own bloodline aura, emanating from these lamps.

It intertwined with the "field" generated by the Soul-Nurturing Stones, Soul-Suppressing Stones, Yin Talismans, and copper bells he had previously buried.

Forming a more complete, stable "camouflage" domain.

After finishing all this, Hu Huxu's face was already pale, fine beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead, clearly having expended considerable energy.

He let out a long sigh and looked at Lu Yuan, whispering:

"It's ready, Daoist Priest Lu."

"I've temporarily 'covered' our spot here with the 'Shadow-Hiding Soul-Concealing Array'."

"As long as we don't make too much noise, don't directly run into the Liu Family's 'living corpses' on night patrol, or touch the core alert restrictions."

"Within one shichen (two hours), those peripheral 'eyes' that rely on yin energy and soul fire perception shouldn't be able to detect us."

"This array simulates the aura of 'wandering ghosts passing by' and 'natural accumulation in yin places'."

"As long as our movements aren't too bold, and we don't emit too strong a living human aura or orthodox Taoist Proper Aura, we can slip through."

Hu Huxu pointed at those most dilapidated houses in the northwest corner of the village below, where the soul fires were also the dimmest.

"We'll sneak in from there."

"The evil energy there is the most sluggish. It might be the edge of the village, or near some unimportant corpse-nurturing ground or yin-gathering pool. The defenses are relatively lax."

"After going in, we should try to avoid places with soul fires and moving human figures. First, find a way to determine the precise location where your master is trapped."

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, stood up, his gaze sweeping over this seemingly simple yet eerily profound circle of arrangements Hu Huxu had set up, and nodded.

Though the methods were unorthodox, incompatible with Taoism, they were indeed practical at this moment.

"Let's go."

Lu Yuan didn't ask further, just said briefly, while retracting his own aura to the extreme, even turning his zhenran into the most internalized turtle-breathing state.

Only maintaining basic perception and mobility.

Hu Huxu also took a deep breath, hoisted the bundle that was noticeably lighter on his back.

Crouching low, he took the lead, silently and stealthily moving towards the slope below, heading for the deathly, gloomy northwest corner of the "Ghost Wailing Village".

Lu Yuan followed closely behind. The figures of the two soon merged into the shadows of the slope and the faint gray-black mist.

As if they were truly two inconspicuous "wandering ghosts", drifting towards that village radiating ominous aura.

Into the village! Save the old man!