Chapter 246: Leave the Japanese Pirate Reinforcements

Pan Yun erected an incense altar and made offerings, scattering heaps of yellow paper, then sat cross-legged and chanted the "Supreme Savior of Suffering Scripture."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He sat behind her, while Zhang Weiliang and others stepped forward to sit on the ground, all silently reciting the "Supreme Savior of Suffering Scripture."

In the Dantian's spiritual realm, the golden merit bars had retracted, reverting to their original state before her first advancement, with a number now visible at the end: -5200.

"Save all sins, deliver all calamities, endlessly transcending to the immortal source, vast and naturally pure, all sustained by the power of the Great Dao, to subdue all demonic essences…"

Each character carried spiritual power, drifting into the forest like magic, drawing forth the spiritual dots hidden within the bones…

Countless spiritual lights floated out from the mounds like fireflies, converging into two intertwined rivers of silver.

The rivers spun, slowly forming a circle, like a colossal halo suspended above their heads.

As the "Supreme Savior of Suffering Scripture" deepened in recitation, the halo formed by the spiritual dots rose higher and higher…

Everyone looked up and saw a halo in midair, resembling an endless corridor; the glowing dots circled it like golden silk slowly unfurling in the air, one end crashing into the halo and gradually vanishing before their eyes.

But all noticed sharply that after the halo, when the silk of light crashed in, the dots scattered before vanishing.

What lay beyond?

Was it Heaven, or Hell?

Do the dead truly possess spirits? Do spirits truly go to a place called the Netherworld?

Never before had they been so shaken, so tightly gripped by their hearts.

There truly are ghosts, spirits, and a Netherworld…

Everyone felt a chain clamped upon their heads.

Song Bei, however, accepted it well—he had believed since childhood in gods and spirits, and precisely because he believed, he firmly held that his household deity would protect him.

These vengeful spirits were never their match.

The final spiritual dot vanished into the halo, and the halo slowly faded; a gentle breeze blew, and all felt refreshed, no longer burdened by the oppressive, sinister feeling of being in a mass grave.

Hu Jing murmured: "They've truly left…"

Everyone turned toward the path on both sides; under the gentle moonlight, the sides of the road were clearly visible—clearly, they could walk out now, no longer blocked by vengeful spirits.

Pan Yun still sat with eyes closed, motionless, feeling the return of merit to her spiritual realm.

Watching the slow advance of the golden merit bar, Pan Yun had already reached a conclusion.

【One, merit is merely stored in the spiritual realm and not consumed;】

【Two, my misdeeds offset merit, so merit is truly for my use;】

【Three, as my merit decreases, I grow increasingly unlucky—I've felt it;】

【Four, the spiritual realm does not use merit, but once the stored merit reaches a certain threshold, the seal is opened; once opened, even if merit is deducted and storage falls below the threshold, the seal will not reseal—the sealing array, once opened, remains open.】

Pan Xiaohei, seeing she fell silent, asked: "Anything else?"

【Five, you know nothing at all—you don't even know the spiritual realm doesn't use merit but merely stores it? What good are you?】

Pan Xiaohei: "... You're the one who restricted my connection to the spiritual realm, making me unable to comprehend it. Besides, if I understood everything about the spiritual realm, would I need you to break the seal? I could do it myself."

【You don't even understand your own affairs…】

"Ask yourself honestly—do you know where your hidden ailments lie? Do you know which of your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, or kidneys are damaged? Do you know…"

【I know,】 Pan Yun replied firmly in her mind: 【After one full cycle of Heavenly Yuan Qi, any stagnation reveals exactly where the problem lies.】

Pan Xiaohei fell silent, saying: "You have Yuan Qi—but do ordinary people? Not even ordinary people—even second- and third-tier experts here, or even Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He, can't do it."

Pan Yun pondered: 【So in the realm of spiritual entities, you're equivalent to them in talent…】

Pan Xiaohei: …

Pan Yun: 【That means you're far beneath me, Xiaohei—you must work harder. Someone as talented as me deserves better.】

Pan Xiaohei sank into gloom and stopped speaking.

Hu Jing and the others also tensed, whispering: "Master Sanzhu, why has your cat stopped meowing?"

Just moments ago it had been meowing loudly and rapidly—now that it suddenly fell silent, their hearts fluttered uneasily.

Pan Yun said: "Perhaps because enemies are approaching—it's afraid of alerting them?"

Zhang Weiliang immediately turned his head. "Enemies?"

"Of course," Pan Yun turned to him with a grin. "Didn't the Celestial Master's Mansion prepare you for this?"

"Use your brain—if you were sent by boat to meet the convoy and it never arrived, and you waited on the shore for one day, then another, wouldn't you want to investigate that mystical path to see if you could find the convoy?" Zhang Weiliang paused, then said: "Yes."

"Then why didn't you prepare ambush troops?"

Zhang Ning said: "Master Sanzhu, we never intended to clear the fog—we only needed to keep the people trapped inside for two days."

So they hadn't prepared ambush troops, because their mission wasn't to kill.

As long as they held them two days, whether the convoy escaped the mist or the fleet came in to retrieve them, they didn't care—because the ambush was planned for the sea and islands; this place was never meant to be a battlefield, was it?

Zhang Ning said: "Past experience taught us the battlefield must never be on the mainland—if we win but even one Japanese pirate escapes, it's a catastrophe for nearby villagers."

Coastal villages had suffered more than once from a single Japanese pirate wiping out entire families—sneaking in to hide, taking hostages, then slaughtering everyone upon leaving, sometimes two or three households; distant villagers never even noticed.

Pan Yun's expression darkened. "You're right. None must escape—not one."

Zhang Ning paced anxiously. "Now the vengeful spirits are all liberated, the fog is gone—how can we possibly fight them with just our small group?"

Zhang Ning glanced at Song Bei and lowered his voice: "Since you've been constantly stimulating his hearing acupoint, he can't hear us—why not let him go? Let him lead the fleet here?"

Pan Yun glanced at him, silent.

Zhang Ning continued: "There are ambush forces at sea and on the islands. Only by making the battlefield the sea and islands can we avoid harming Great Ming's civilians."

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Pan Yun said: "What you say makes sense, but we can't just release him outright. Let's plan how to let Song Bei go without raising suspicion, so they'll immediately board their ships and leave."

Zhang Ning, relieved she was listening, asked: "What's your plan, Master Sanzhu?"

"Of course," she had countless ideas: "First, we must ease the pressure on our allies—consume some of their strength here in the forest, then break their morale, forcing them into panic and into the sea. What do you think?"

Zhang Ning: "... In plain terms, you still want to fight another battle?"

Pan Yun: "Now that they've come, they must leave something behind."

Zhang Weiliang was the first to support, "Does Long Hushan fear a band of Japanese pirates? I still have plenty of talismans—we can set a talisman array. Even without vengeful spirits, it can trap and kill them."

Pan Yun said, "We have some too—besides talismans, we have several poisons we made but never used."

Zhang Ning lowered his gaze, pondered briefly. Though he thought their plan was risky and would invite trouble, he was no coward—he nodded directly: "Fine. Have the convoy retreat and hide around the corner. Set up the array and ambush right here."

Zhang Ning asked, "Are they still far away?"

"Not far—they've already entered, but it's pitch dark, the path is hard to traverse, and rumors have made them wary, so they're advancing cautiously. We still have time."

The Japanese pirates were advancing step by step, swords raised, bodies bent, moving in threes, their pace painfully slow.

Li Ji immediately carried the two unconscious Jianghu Alliance companions, untied the ropes of several Green Robe Guards, and together they dragged all the carts behind the corner.

As for the captives sitting on the ground, they were split into two groups: A Xin and the others were hidden in the forest; Song Bei and the Japanese pirates were left lying on the road.

Pan Yun and Zhang Weiliang each pulled out their talismans and immediately decided on the two arrays to set. Pan Yun took Seeing Miao Zhen and went to set one; Zhang Weiliang took Zhang Weiqin and the other two to set the other at the very front.

It was an array within an array—with a nested formation at its center.

Zhang Weiliang muttered under his breath, "Those Jianghu people never believe Daoist Priests—they think we're putting on a show. This time, let them see what we're truly capable of."

Zhang Weiqin said, "After we purify the vengeful spirits, no one will think that anymore."

"But that's not enough. Let them see our alchemical arts just now—now let them see the power of our talismans."

He had barely set three array points when he looked up—and locked eyes with a Japanese pirate who had just raised his sword and cautiously peered around the corner.

Pan Yun, who had just finished setting the talisman array, let out a soft "Huh?" and looked up.

Zhang Weiliang instantly shoved all the talismans into Zhang Weiqin's hands, drew his sword, and flung it out, shouting, "You set the array—I'll hold them off!"

Zhang Weiqin: … His yuan energy wasn't deep enough. Even if he converted all his internal strength into yuan energy, it still wouldn't be enough.

But Zhang Weiliang's sword had already shot upward with a hiss—the pirate slashed down, blade meeting sword. The sword was pressed down two inches, then broke free, spiraled halfway around, and flew back into Zhang Weiliang's hand.

Zhang Weiliang had already sprinted forward, snatched the flying sword, and charged in.

The first row of three Japanese pirates immediately leapt from the corner, surrounding Zhang Weiliang from three directions and instantly forming an attack formation.

The second row of pirates quickly filled in.

One-on-one, they couldn't match Zhang Weiliang—but three-on-one, even six-on-one, forming an effective blade formation, could pin him down and keep him from breaking free.

Hadn't Pan Yun been wounded before—precisely because those seven Japanese pirates had formed an array and struck him?

Though not seriously injured, it clearly showed the deadly effectiveness of their blade formation.

(End of Chapter)