Eternal Night

Chapter 25 The decisive battle begins

The three of them returned to the charity cemetery in a daze. Xu Rongyu collapsed to the ground. Only Lin Heier and Wu Xianxiao briefly told them what had happened outside.

More than a hundred horse bandits were almost wiped out, including the leader of the Yanshan Yaozi, Xu Zhenshan, whose life or death is unknown... No, looking at the situation, Xu Zhenshan is probably dead... No, he has been turned into a paper man.

"...Mr. Xu Zhenshan has been active in Xuanhua Prefecture and outside the Great Wall for more than 20 years. He is a well-known master in the north. I didn't expect that he would die here." Lin Heier said dejectedly.

Wu Xianxiao didn't know how to comfort Xu Rongyu. He thought for a while and said, "Xu Rongyu, I'm sorry. You can still inherit your father's legacy. I heard you say before that your father had thousands of bandits under his command. Only more than a hundred people were killed here. Your father should have confidants or something, right? After you go back this time, you can continue to be a mountain bandit, a promising job."

Lin Heier looked at Wu Xianxiao in surprise. Xu Rongyu, who was crying bitterly, had his mouth twitching constantly. Even Yamadea and Xu Shilan felt their faces turning red.

Yamade said directly: "Wu, if you can't comfort others, then don't speak."

Xu Shilan also said: "In this era, those who can come on horseback and have firearms must be Xu Zhenshan's core confidants. You said that the team has thousands of people, but the core confidants may be at most dozens of people. I was very surprised when I heard you say that there are hundreds of people. This proves that Xu Zhenshan has a strong control over his team. But once these core members are lost, I am afraid Xu Rongyu will die without a burial place once he returns."

Wu Xianxiao was stunned for a moment, then said to Xu Rongyu in shock: "No, you are horse bandits, not the palace, why are you fighting among yourselves?"

Everyone looked at Wu Xianxiao in silence. It was the first time they discovered that Wu Xianxiao had such a complete lack of common sense.

In fact, this is also because Wu Xianxiao has read too many unreliable novels, such as the one about 500,000 cavalrymen on the frontier, and the one who kneels down and hands over power immediately after receiving an imperial edict, and then the one who is wrongly accused and dies, etc.

Lin Heier said to Xu Rongyu: "If you don't mind, brother Xu, please follow me back to Tianjin after this battle. Whether it's the Boxer Rebellion or the Red Lantern Society, we are all good friends. Brother Xu will have a place to stay."

Xu Rongyu lowered his head in pain, still saying nothing.

Wu Xianxiao said at this time: "Let's survive this first... Let's not say anything unlucky, let's talk about something realistic, those paper figures have become stronger."

Everyone fell silent.

There is no doubt that those paper figures have really become stronger and started to possess some supernatural powers. It can be seen from the ghost wall they ran out of. It took them seven or eight minutes to run a short distance. The key point is that except for Wu Xianxiao, the others didn't even notice it. This is very scary. Perhaps if they fall into that situation, they will be no different from horse bandits.

Being swallowed or transformed by the paper man without even realizing it.

Lin Heier raised this doubt on the spot. After thinking about it, she refuted it herself: "This possibility should not exist, because the master's Yin-Yang eyes, or wisdom eyes, allow us to see the paper figurines. Whether we see them or not, whether we discover them for the first time is very important. This is called awakening in Buddhism, and it is also enlightenment. The reason why Elder Xu is in the Tao is probably because he has never discovered all this. Otherwise, with Elder Xu's ability, it would be no problem for him to escape."

Xu Shilan shook her head and said, "But from your description, it can be seen that the paper men are getting stronger, and the speed of strengthening is not slow. This is absolutely certain. Now they have killed more than a hundred people, some of whom have turned into new paper, and the old paper men devoured wandering ghosts and wild ghosts, and then devoured these living people. How powerful will they be?"

Yamade added, "Don't forget, Xu Zhenshan has also been turned into a paper man. He is the master you all talk about. It is still unknown what abilities he has after being turned into a paper man, and how strong he is."

This is also one of the main concerns of Wu Xianxiao and Lin Heier.

They are all dark force warriors, so they naturally know how big the gap is between the dark force warriors and ordinary people. It is no exaggeration to say that they are crushing them. However, they dare not touch the paper people transformed by ordinary people at will, so what about the paper people transformed by the dark force warriors?
Xu Shilan then continued, "And there's another strange thing. Don't you think it's been too quiet these days?"

Everyone looked at her, and Xu Shilan spread her hands and said, "More than a dozen paper figures are besieging us. Even if they are afraid of fire, you have seen how slowly they burn. What about us? Except for Wu Xianxiao and Lin Heier, or you two, or Yamade, who can be considered as fighting, only three of the five of us are fighting. Under the siege of more than a dozen paper figures, we can only flee to the back mountain. Then why did these paper figures flee in the beginning, and why didn't they enter the charity cemetery in the past few days?"

Wu Xianxiao immediately said, "You mean... those wandering ghosts?"

Xu Shilan nodded and said, "Perhaps what the magic conch said was not misleading, nor was it intended to frame us. Rather, staying away from the living and getting close to the dead will allow us to fight against these paper figures. These paper figures are not only enemies of the living, but also enemies of the dead. It's a pity that we reacted too slowly. Now most of the wandering ghosts have been devoured, and we also lack the means to communicate effectively with them, so now we are the only ones left fighting alone."

Everyone felt even more heavy-hearted, so Wu Xianxiao stood up and walked towards the side hall.

Everyone looked at him. Lin Heier followed Wu Xianxiao to the side hall. Yamade asked, "What are you doing?"

Wu Xianxiao said without even turning his head: "We missed the chance to defeat the wandering ghosts. Now the paper man has become stronger again. I estimate that the siege will last for two days. Even if it's just a last-minute effort, I have to practice the Lotus Sitting Strength as soon as possible, otherwise we won't even have the strength to fight."

Xu Rongyu had already raised his head and sat up. Hearing this, he said in panic, "We can run to the back mountain. Didn't Brother Wu and I already explore the road?"

Wu Xianxiao then turned his head slightly and shook his head helplessly, saying, "That was before. Those paper people moved slowly, like ordinary people walking. We could hide and run. But you saw today that those paper people can already fly. Their speed is slightly faster than that of ordinary people running. If we really run to the back mountain, Lin Heier and I might be able to hold on longer. What about you? If you can't run three miles, you will all die there, and then it will be my turn." After that, Wu Xianxiao went to the side hall without looking back, and Lin Heier followed him without saying a word, then carefully observed his posture and pointed out his shortcomings.

That night, the rest of the people only slept a little, waking up from time to time.

Wu Xianxiao and Lin Heier did not sleep all night, trying to figure out how to successfully comprehend the power of sitting on the lotus.

The more Wu Xianxiao studied, the more he felt that the power of sitting on the lotus was indescribable.

In his complete set of Tiger Demon Kung Fu, there is a vague description of Dan Jin.

That is after reaching the stage of Hua Jin, when the whole body is trained to be transparent, so that not even a feather can be added and not a fly or insect can land, and the power is concentrated to a few inches between the surface of the skin.

The external power of Chinese martial arts actually reaches its end at the stage of transforming strength. To go further, one can only seek from within, and this is Dan Jin.

Transporting one's own Qi and blood to a certain acupoint in Dantian, thereby forming the so-called "golden elixir" or Dan Jin. In fact, in essence, it is the achievement of Chinese martial arts practitioners to completely control the direction and circulation of their own Qi and blood. Once reaching Dan Jin, the control over one's own Qi and blood reaches an incredible level, which results in many changes, such as the re-growth of the physical body, the cleansing, purification, and repair of the body and so on.

At the same time, Dan Jin warriors can unleash explosive power that is ten times more than that of Hua Jin masters in an instant, and they can control this enormous force in minute detail, displaying many powers that seem like magical powers, such as turning iron into mud and blowing cups into powder.

It is naturally impossible for Wu Xianxiao to achieve Dan Jin at the moment. Even if he wants to forcefully condense Qi and sit astride, his Qi and blood will definitely flow backwards, and he will die in the process of condensing the Golden Elixir. He hasn't even found the acupoints for condensing the Golden Elixir.

However, the Lotus Sitting Power is different. It does not let you condense the elixir for real, but creates a virtual condensation acupoint in the dantian, simulates a fake elixir in a short period of time, and then explodes quickly, using about 10% to 20% of the power and control of the real elixir power to consume the condensed elixir power and blood.

In this way, although it will cause great damage to oneself, the foundation will not be damaged. It can be repaired slowly with time, and the qi and blood condensed in the fake elixir will burst out without causing qi and blood exhaustion and backflow. At the same time, you can use the false to cultivate the true, and figure out the practice of Dan Jin, which is also of great benefit to the achievement of Hua Jin.

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Xu Shilan started to make breakfast. She made food with all the remaining ingredients and piled it all over the table. Everyone lost interest in talking and just sat around the table eating.

After the meal, Xu Rongyu cheered up and started to help Yamade make throwing tools, while Xu Shilan quietly checked the fuel, made torches, and placed them in appropriate locations. At the same time, she repeatedly patrolled the lighting nodes of the entire charity cemetery.

Everyone knew that the decisive battle was about to come, even Wu Xianxiao, Yamade, and Xu Shilan had no intention of delaying it for more than five days.

There is no way the paper men will let them survive for more than five days. Either they get rid of the cause of the paper men and everyone survives, or everyone dies together in the subsequent siege by the paper men. There is no third possibility!

In the morning, at noon, and at dusk, the expected siege by paper figures did not happen, but everyone's hearts became heavier. Until the sunset, when the last ray of sunlight disappeared, cries, howls, and shouts were heard from all around the charity cemetery.

"Master sister, where are you?"

"Big sister, we have all ascended to heaven and gone to our home town of Zhenkong. Why don't you come with us?"

"Rong Yu, your father has finally attained enlightenment. Come out quickly and follow me to the heaven."

"It hurts, please don't kill me..."

"My money is all here, please let my wife and children go..."

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…”

A thin mist filled the charity cemetery, and a vague figure appeared from the mist.

Those were not paper figures, but humanoid creatures with dull expressions and facial features outlined by black lines. They showed the same dull smiles, bringing the uncanny valley effect to the extreme.

Ten, a hundred, a thousand...

Thousands of human figures emerged from the mist, all walking stiffly towards the charity cemetery!

(End of this chapter)