Chapter 278: Petty Tricks

Fang Chuanzong was getting anxious.

Yeah, how could one not be anxious when encountering something like this?

After all, at the beginning they got the civilians to evacuate under the pretense of a flood caused by a heavy rainstorm.

But now people have been dying one after another.

Moreover, without exception, all the victims had their hearts torn out……

Everyone speculated wildly about what had actually happened.

Rumors ran rampant.

The older folks all said it was the River God's wrath, that a sacrifice was needed, using virgin boys and girls to appease the disaster.

Some also suggested that a serial killer might have sneaked into the mountains.

……

The more it spread, the more outrageous it became.

Later, someone even brought up the legend from over a hundred years ago, when a mine tunnel collapsed and buried dozens of miners, speculating that the heavy rain might have washed open the collapsed tunnel, letting zombies rush out……

Whatever the case, it was enough to make people's scalps tingle with dread, leaving them uneasy.

If the situation continued to escalate, eventually only thunderous measures could forcibly suppress it.

Fang Chuanzong certainly didn't want to see that scenario, so he had to speed up his actions, nipping every crisis in the bud.

In fact, we were also anxious inside.

After all, the incident in Changshi could very well involve Wufu Town, and even Huicheng.

We also quickly adjusted our battle plan in the afternoon.

So Liu Junyan directly agreed.

But he emphatically added: "Old Fang, success or failure hinges on this move; I don't want the previous disagreement to happen again."

Fang Chuanzong patted his chest and promised: "That's just a bunch of clueless kids; I guarantee nothing like that will happen again, Seventh Lord, you can rest easy."

At ten o'clock at night, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

A shaft of golden light suddenly shot up from the direction of the grave pit, flashing briefly, yet it stirred a commotion.

Inside the grave pit, a layer of golden scales was buried once again.

I stood in the dark holding the Soul-guiding Lamp, a black cloth covering it to block its light.

After a quarter hour, I received the first message from Hui Yumo:

In the barrier five li to the southwest of the rear mountain, dozens of lamas burst out, each heading in a different direction.

Fang Chuanzong immediately dispatched four sects to meet them, and the fighting became fierce.

In the end, our side emerged victorious.

Over twenty of the senior lamas were killed or wounded, and they quickly retreated back into the barrier.

But then four corpse formations rushed out, tightly locking down the four victorious sects, still entangled in combat.

From the messenger's description, I basically confirmed that these four corpse formations came from Ox-Tiger Mountain.

The members of the corpse formations are refined from death-row inmates in the prison at the mountain's base, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

Initially, to suppress that corpse formation outside the temple of Ox-Tiger Mountain, Hu Yulin forcibly activated the Nine-Tailed Obscuring Heaven Formation.

From this, it seems those four sects won't be able to break free anytime soon.

Fortunately, Fang Chuanzong had summoned more than ten sects, which for now appears sufficient.

After waiting another quarter hour, a second wave of news arrived: the corpse phantoms had appeared.

Guarding the corpse phantoms, besides the corpse formations, there was also a troop of yin soldiers.

Judging by their attire and weapons, they appear to be from the Republican era.

I nodded, enduring the wait.

My eyes remained fixed on the direction of the grave pit.

This is the task Liu Junyan gave me: bury the golden scales, stay hidden in the dark, and act rashly not permitted.

But what I didn't expect was that the third wave of news was delivered personally by Hui Yumo.

She was truly furious, her fists clenched so tightly they creaked: "Older sister, your and Seventh Lord's advance planning and precautions were correct; Fang Chuanzong's side really has a problem."

My expression hardened, I lowered my voice and asked: "What else went wrong?"

"At first everything was fine, but once the corpse phantoms and that three-eyed toad appeared, the few sects opposing them hadn't even exchanged a few moves before they all clutched their stomachs and screamed in pain." Hui Yumo said, "They can't possibly stop the corpse phantoms; each one is now struggling to survive, and the corpse phantoms will soon follow the golden scales over here."

I frowned, puzzled: "How could they all suddenly get stomachaches at the same time?"

Hui Yumo shook her head: "I don't know if they're faking it; otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? If Seventh Lord hadn't beforehand told my people to hold back, I really would have wanted to lead the charge myself!"

"Faking is impossible," I said. "Something must have gone wrong."

The people Fang Chuanzong personally invited are all famous sects of the Yin-Yang Dao in the East China region; if they didn't want to wade into this muddy water, they could have refused from the start—there's no way they'd retreat mid-battle.

And yet they're all so neat and uniform.

These major sects care most about their reputation.

I clenched the hand holding the Soul-guiding Lamp and said: "Never mind them; we need to keep our eyes on the corpse phantoms and the three-eyed toad."

Hui Yumo nodded, patiently keeping me company while we waited.

From the ancient battlefield's barrier to the grave pit is over five li.

We estimated when the corpse phantoms might appear, not daring to relax for a moment.

Yet more than twenty minutes passed, and the corpse phantoms still hadn't shown up.

I felt a faint unease rising, constantly glancing toward the grave pit, wondering if our little trick had been seen through by the three-eyed toad.

That thing is actually that clever?

But that guess was quickly shattered when Hui Yumo's people came to report, saying the corpse phantoms had broken out, only to be surrounded halfway by the Taoist priests of Maoshan.

Thatch Mountain Daoist?

I remember those few Thatch Mountain Daoists; the leader was called Mao Jingxuan.

Those few troublemaking students earlier were Mao Jingxuan's disciples and grand-disciples.

They were not invited by the Fang Chuan Sect.

Mao Jingxuan came uninvited, to apologize.

Apologizing…… I suddenly remembered something.

When Mao Jingxuan came to apologize, he gave the Fang Chuan Sect several pills he himself had refined, saying they had the effects of invigorating blood, dispelling stasis, and returning qi to protect the meridians.

He had the Fang Chuan Sect dissolve the pills in water for everyone to drink.

From the Fang Chuan Sect's demeanor at that time, Mao Jingxuan's pills were surely precious.

Such precious things, surely they must be dissolved in water for everyone to drink, right?

Could it really be the problem of those pills?

If that's the case, then we on our side have actually avoided a calamity.

After all, when those pills were dissolved in water, we weren't given a share.

Hui Yuemo asked me: "Sister, should I bring people to kill them over there?"

After all, plans can't keep up with changes; now that the Fang Chuan Sect side has run into trouble, we here should also coordinate with the changes.

After thinking, I asked: "Where did Mao Jingxuan ambush the corpse shadows?"

The messenger replied: "Right at the foot of the mountain on the backside."

I immediately made a decision: "Yuemo, you take your people and sneak to the back of the mountain, don't reveal yourselves, just observe the battle for now, wait for my signal."

Hui Yuemo immediately set off to obey.

I hesitated a moment, then also followed up carrying the Soul-guiding Lamp.

But I didn't go directly to the back of the mountain; instead I chose a spot on the mountainside, halfway up the slope, to wait.

This position allowed me to see the faint golden light emanating from the Golden Scale in the tomb pit, and also to overlook the battle at the mountain's base.

At that moment, the foot of the mountain was in utter chaos.

I was a bit far away, and actually failed to catch the corpse shadow's figure right away.

Because it was too chaotic down there, looking out, I saw the great troop of yin soldiers converging from the southwest toward this area at the foot of the mountain behind the mountain.

Those yin soldiers…… were no longer the corpse formations or Republican-era yin soldiers mentioned in the earlier messages.

They wore armor, held spears and bows, marching while actually shouting slogans……