Mythology

Chapter 316 Shen Gongbao is a crucial person
As dawn broke, the mortuary finally fell into a deathly silence.

Zhang Guifang patrolled the surroundings, stepping on sticky blood plasma. Her shoes inevitably picked up bits of flesh and blood. In order to suppress the corpses in the coffins, more than four hundred ghost soldiers had been lost last night alone.

The iron armor pieces lay scattered haphazardly, with only a few bones and fascia remaining inside.

What chilled him to the bone was that the surviving ghost soldiers still maintained their discipline. "Can these ghost soldiers still be called human?"

Furthermore, after the ghost soldiers died, the remaining four thousand or so people all became stronger.

"If the Shang Dynasty had 100,000 ghost soldiers, it wouldn't have been difficult to quell the rebellion in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Perhaps the existence of Jiuqu Town was also a way to delay the Western Zhou Dynasty."

Zhang Guifang looked bewildered. The Shang Dynasty was full of half-human, half-ghosts. Could it be that what the Western Zhou said was true, and that the Shang Dynasty was going against the tide?

Ahh ...

At that moment, screams of agony suddenly erupted from inside the mortuary.

The voice came from Yin Jiao. As Zhang Guifang set off, she took out her magic seal and used it to contact the approaching Jiejiao cultivators.

After confronting Shen Gongbao's true identity, Yin Jiao's situation remained far from optimistic.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

"No...it's nothing, I'm just a little hungry."

Zhang Guifang entered the mortuary and saw Yin Jiao wolfing down food in a corner, with half of a bloody and mangled ghost soldier's corpse beneath him.

His heart skipped a beat; the yin energy emanating from Yin Jiao was becoming increasingly chaotic.

He's gone mad from practicing qi cultivation?!

Unlike Shen Gongbao's demonic possession, Zhang Guifang believes that Shen Gongbao was more likely to have deliberately allowed his body and soul to become food for evil spirits.

Yin Jiao, on the other hand, is a pure ghost. This prince of the Shang Dynasty was already half-human and half-ghost, and now his body and soul are completely out of control. The characteristics of evil spirits have begun to dominate, and he has lost all his former rationality.

"Zhang Guifang, bring two more, no, three more ghost soldiers over here!!"

"Your Highness, you..."

"I'm not crazy!!"

Yin Jiao's skin peeled off inch by inch, revealing the flesh and blood underneath; his arm bones were twisted and deformed, and sharp bone spurs extended from his fingertips.

"hurry up!!"

“Your Highness, please remain true to yourself. Several Daoist masters from the Jie Sect will soon arrive in Jiuqu Town,” Zhang Guifang said tentatively.

Yin Jiao stopped responding and made a strange gurgling sound in his throat.

A horse-faced demon appeared on Zhang Guifang's chest. She could feel that Yin Jiao's soul was becoming increasingly strange. If it continued to deteriorate, it might turn into an evil spirit.

"Damn it, if Yin Jiao dies, I might as well betray the Shang Dynasty."

Yin Jiao suddenly looked up, and the grotesque, blue-faced demonic faces on either side began to devour the human face in the middle, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere.

"Ho ho..."

His body convulsed violently, and fleshy growths swelled up on his skin.

Their gazes also fell on Zhang Guifang.

"not good!"

Zhang Guifang turned to leave, but Yin Jiao had already crawled over on all fours. The Soul-Stealing Technique of Calling Names only made the latter stagger.

"Zhang Guifang, I'm hungry!!"

Just then, the temperature in the mortuary suddenly spiked without warning.

While Zhang Guifang was still in a daze, Yin Jiao was already enveloped in colorful flames, his flesh sizzling, but his ghost transformation was somewhat restrained.

"Who?"

pat pat pat.

Dense footsteps approached from afar.

A dozen or so bald, raggedly dressed monks stepped across the threshold. Each of them had six holes in their heads that went deep into their brains, and dust billowed from them.

The elderly man leading the group had already reached the Void Returning Realm, and he put his hands together and said.

"My name is Shoujing. I have come to Jiuqu Town on the orders of my master, Ma Shan."

“Ma Shan?” Zhang Guifang gripped her sword tightly. “Your master once practiced at the Wuguang Temple on Bailong Mountain?”

“Exactly.” Shoujing grinned, revealing his uneven black teeth. “My master said that Crown Prince Yin’s life was not meant to end, and he specifically ordered us to come and guide him.”

Yin Jiao let out a painful roar amidst the flames, and all three heads turned towards Shou Jing at the same time.

Shoujing clasped her hands together and said, “My master also mentioned Shen Gongbao. He is cunning, but he is also connected with my master Ma Shan.”

Zhang Guifang's pupils suddenly contracted, feeling that Shoujing's words and actions were very strange.

"Master Shen left the mortuary last night. If any of you wish to find him..."

The monks opened their third eye between their brows, and a ghostly light swept across the mortuary, instantly revealing the phantom of Shen Gongbao, reenacting yesterday's scene.

“We already know that Shen Gongbao has also gone mad with evil spirits. Since that’s the case, we can help him escape his suffering.”

Shoujing pressed down on Yin Jiao's crown, and a dozen or so gold needles, each as thick as a chopstick, were suddenly thrust into it.

Yin Jiao let out a mournful wail that sounded inhuman, and his flesh and blood melted like wax.

The demonic possession did not stop; instead, it intensified. However, Yin Jiao still retained his rationality and continued to chant complicated scriptures.

Shoujing looked at the person next to him and said, "Junior Brother Shouchen, I would like to trouble you to make a trip and invite Fellow Daoist Shen Gongbao to join us in receiving the conversion."

Zhang Guifang was horrified. What kind of salvation was this? It was clearly the creation of evil spirits.

If Shen Gongbao is found by them, he will probably suffer the same fate.

Zhang Guifang wanted to leave the mortuary, but before she could take more than a few steps, she was being watched and had no choice but to stay inside.

.........

In front of the main tent at Qinglong Pass.

Jiang Ziya frowned, constantly making hand gestures to calculate the divination results. Blood gradually flowed from his face, and his forehead turned from bluish-purple to dark black.

"Grandpa."

"Grandpa!!"

When Jiang Ziya came to his senses, he saw Ji Fa, who had just recovered from a serious illness. The latter had almost died due to the influence of the Three Immortal Maidens, and only managed to save his life thanks to the protection of the innate treasure.

"Greetings, my lord." "Why are you so worried, Grandfather? Haven't Yang Jian and the others already headed towards Qinglong Pass?"

Jiang Ziya shook his head and said, "The divination is extremely ominous, and I tried to contact the Twelve Golden Immortals of my sect, but none of them responded."

Ji Fa noticed that Jiang Ziya seemed hesitant to speak.

"Could it be that the Twelve Golden Immortals have encountered an attack from the Jie Sect?"

"I don't know."

Jiang Ziya did not tell Ji Fa that the hexagram of the Twelve Golden Immortals was a death hexagram, and that he had spent ten years of his lifespan to find a glimmer of hope.

Surprisingly, the chance of survival was closely related to his junior brother, Shen Gongbao.

He hesitated for a moment, then telepathically instructed Yang Jian and the others to search for Shen Gongbao's whereabouts.

.........

Yang He brought Manjushri, the Heavenly Venerable of Vast Dharma, back to the house.

Or to be more precise, a Taoist temple of flesh and blood.

The house appears ordinary on the surface, but its interior has been occupied by the roots of the Blood and Flesh Taoist Temple, which is shrouded in an invisible small world of corpses.

Manjushri, the Heavenly Venerable of Vast Dharma, entered the courtyard and took the form of a seventy-year-old man.

Yang He groaned, the Yin energy three times stronger nourishing his body and soul. With a little effort, he broke through the bottleneck of the Returning Void Realm, and his advancement was a natural progression.

His injuries had mostly healed, including his skin and Taoist robe.

Looking around the courtyard, the simple house was incredibly cozy.

"Grandson, come and try the fruits and melons I just planted."

Dao Xing Tianzun, like a barefoot old farmer, was bending over and sowing seeds in the blood-soaked soil. With each seed he sowed, weeping could be heard from the earth.

A leather pouch that was constantly bulging was hanging from his waist.

The Taoist Cihang, dressed in plain clothes, sat cross-legged on a futon and chanted scriptures. With each verse he chanted, a Sanskrit character appeared in the ghost fetus that the black cat had transformed into.

Besides promoting black cats, Sanskrit also imbues fruits and vegetables with spirituality.

"Grandson, the kitten will be born soon."

"Thank you both, gentlemen."

Yang He plucked a bluish-purple fruit from the vine. The fruit cried out incessantly, and juice dripped from between his fingers, carrying a faint sandalwood scent.

He swallowed it in a few bites, and his newly broken-through cultivation level was stabilized.

Yang He looked at Manjushri, the Heavenly Venerable of Vast Dharma, who naturally embraced the idea of ​​retirement and then offered his opinion, "Grandson, it would be great if there was a pond at home, where we could raise some carp."

Yes, yes, absolutely.

Yang He had long noticed that the three immortals not only provided him with yin energy, but also nourished the Blood and Flesh Taoist Temple. It would be a waste not to use this energy to expand the area.

Of course, he couldn't reveal the existence of the flesh and blood Taoist temple, so he had to maintain its original appearance.

A thought came to my mind.

The ground in the courtyard trembled slightly, suddenly increasing from a dozen meters to a hundred meters, but the size of the houses remained unchanged.

Immediately afterwards, a deep pit appeared in the southern corner.

"Not bad, not bad." Manjushri Bodhisattva smiled broadly.

Yang He introduced some of the yin energy into the deep pit, and the liquefied yin energy accumulated at the bottom. Whether or not fish can be raised there depends on Manjushri Bodhisattva.

After settling his godfather in, he took advantage of the early hour to cleanse his body and soul.

The ghost body still cannot solidify into a physical form, relying on its skin and Taoist robe to barely maintain its human form. It is easy for the body and soul to lose control if it is not careful.

However, in terms of cultivation, the ghost body has an indescribable advantage.

After all, in a sense, the unity of man and ghost is a manifestation of being close to the Dao, and even a naturally born immortal body cannot compare to a ghost body in terms of cultivation.

"If I master the Twelve Phases of the Ghost Immortal Technique, my cultivation efficiency can be further improved!"

Once you become a Ghost Immortal, even if your cultivation level is still lacking, your body and soul will be extraordinary, and any bottleneck will become easy to overcome.

Yang He looked eager. The Twelve Phases Ghost Immortal Technique wasn't too difficult; all that was needed was to complete the task of purifying the twelve golden immortals. However, it involved a great deal of trouble.

"call."

He took out the Dharma Seal, and the Jie Sect continuously transmitted their thoughts to Shen Gongbao.

According to the information, the Jie Sect immortal will arrive before the marriage. His name is Yi Qi Xian. He has not yet reached the level of Daluo Jinxian, but his strength is extraordinary.

Yang He had never heard of the One Qi Immortal, but he was sure it wouldn't be simple.

"The Chan Sect will be here soon too."

"The Twelve Golden Immortals have fallen, and it is unknown which immortal was involved."

The eye worms that Yang He had hidden in Yin Jiao's body had all died, but he still managed to glimpse the group of monks. Ma Shan also had quite a history with him.

"The Five-Colored Flame Buddha Ma Shan is the wick of the lamp of the Burning Lamp Taoist. The two must be wearing the same pair of pants."

"Oh shit."

Yang He spat and silently made up his mind.

"We'll gather all twelve Golden Immortals tonight!!"

"Multiple forces will arrive in Jiuqu Town in the next day or two. If they dawdle, they will surely die. How can I, Daoist, possibly contend with an immortal?"

Yang He closed his eyes to rest. Ghost soldiers passed by the houses from time to time, but none of them noticed the Blood and Flesh Taoist Temple that had concealed its aura.

"There's another problem. The Twelve Golden Immortals have gone crazy and want to open a business. There's only one shop in Jiuqu Town right now, so we need to make it lively."

Yang He remained silent, his mind racing with plans for the trip.

Soon, dusk fell like blood, staining the eaves and tiles of Jiuqu Town.

Only the steamed bun shop in the west of the city had wisps of white smoke rising from it.

Seeing that the sun was already setting, Yang He pushed open the creaking wooden door of the house and swept away all the ripe fruits and vegetables.

The leather Taoist robe was torn open with gaps, revealing eyes all over its body.

(End of this chapter)