Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 884 I am the plum blossom, those who block my way, I shall kill!

The next morning, Xiao Ran went out.

Where to go?
Of course, we should go find Master Liu.

Xiao Ran even asked the guesthouse owner about this, but the owner shook his head and said he didn't know. They only knew that they were worshipping the Seventh Master, but they didn't know where the Seventh Master was.

The five immortals—Fox, Yellow, White, Willow, and Gray—correspond to five different surnames.

These first three families are actually easy to find. Those with the surnames Hu, Huang, and Bai must have disciples from those families.

The surnames of the two families following them were not Liu and Hui, but Chang and Dou.

Outsiders wouldn't know the intricacies of this, but Xiao Ran was perfectly aware of them.

After leaving Jin Chanzi and Wu Man at the guesthouse, Xiao Ran stepped outside and spread her mental energy out like a large net.

His spiritual power surged through the street like a tide, and the evil spirits in the buildings on both sides were exposed to Xiao Ran's perception like thin ice under the scorching sun. Their aura, form, and even the resentment they possessed were all laid bare.

He walked straight to the nearest grocery store with a faded sign, and the hinges made a strained hiss as he pushed open the wooden door.

Behind the counter, a girl with a withered face, like rotten wood, lay sprawled on the stained countertop. Her eyes were cloudy and lifeless, and her voice was as flat as a rusty machine: "Buy what you want, take it yourself. Check the price yourself, and once the goods leave the counter, there are no returns or exchanges."

Xiao Ran glanced at the girl.

His three souls and seven spirits had long been devoured, leaving only an empty shell of a puppet driven by evil magic.

He didn't linger, his gaze sweeping into the store.

The shelves are arranged in a deep, dark pattern. The left side is piled with everyday items such as rice, flour, cooking oil, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar, while the right side displays strangely shaped objects.

A copper bell entwined with blood, a bone bottle filled with black liquid, a wooden comb inlaid with human teeth...

They were clearly various cursed objects.

A thick, black mist floated beneath each item, completely obscuring the price tag.

"Heh." Xiao Ran's gaze narrowed slightly, his mental energy piercing the black mist like an invisible needle. The thin mist instantly dissipated, revealing the bloody price tag below:
A bag of brown rice: three years of lifespan
A jar of salt: two months' lifespan.

A bottle of inferior wine: six months of luck.

These supplies are incredibly expensive; compared to them, the Changchun Association probably has to call itself a philanthropist.

The supplies are already so expensive, not to mention the cursed items next to them.

Xiao Ran only looked at two of them.

D-class cursed item [Crying Copper Bell]: Twenty years of lifespan, seven years of hard labor.

Grade D cursed item [Soul-Feeding Bone Bottle]: Half of lifespan, three years of hard labor.

Good grief, these are just two ordinary cursed items, and this guy is trying to rip people off like this??
After scanning the goods, Xiao Ran continued walking inside. Behind the shelves, she saw an inconspicuous little door with a sign on it.

No strangers please.

However, Xiao Ran didn't care about any of that and kicked the door open: "Boss, we have a customer."

With a loud "bang!", the door was kicked open, and a gust of cold wind rushed in from inside. In the cold wind, a large, dark hand reached out to grab Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran raised her head, and her immense spiritual power suddenly spread out.

With over 400 points of mental power, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call Xiao Ran a terrestrial immortal. With just a simple mental suppression, he instantly struck the evil spirit behind the shadows as if it had been struck by lightning.

"what!"

The next second, a scream came from the room, and the eerie wind dissipated, revealing a short, dark figure crawling on the ground, trembling.

"My lord, spare my life! My lord, spare my life! I didn't know you were here. Please spare my lowly life, my lord, for the sake of my hard-won cultivation. I will offer you everything here, including my treasured possessions, as a tribute to you."

The dark figure lay trembling on the ground, no longer displaying the ruthless demeanor it had shown moments before.

Xiao Ran snorted coldly: "What a charlatan!"

As he spoke, he entered the room, where he saw a small shrine with a small, black-faced figure curled up inside. That was the creature's true form.

Xiao Ran pulled over a stool: "What's your name?"

"I wouldn't dare. Just call me 'Black Face' if you're an adult."

Dark-faced and prostrate on the ground, his mind was on the verge of collapse. This wisp of spiritual energy felt like a mountain pressing down on his back. If he made the slightest move, it would instantly reduce him to ashes.

Where did this deity come from?

Never heard of it?
Dark-faced felt uneasy, fearing he had encountered some powerful figure who had come to exorcise demons.

“It sounds terrible!”

Xiao Ran was clearly not satisfied with the name "Black Face" and immediately said, "I'll call you Wangcai then."

"Wangcai?" The dark-faced man was stunned for a second, but then his face lit up with joy, and he crawled forward to Xiao Ran's feet: "This humble Wangcai greets his master, woof woof!"

Upon seeing this, Xiao Ran couldn't help but laugh. He had seen many evil spirits, but he had never seen one so adept at taking advantage of the situation.

But that’s fine too.

"Let me ask you, since this place is under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Master of the Liu family, do you know where the Chang family members are?"

"I know, I know, I know."

Wangcai recounted everything he knew, revealing that he was, after all, an evil spirit, and knew more details than the guesthouse couple.

Since the arrival of the Lost City, the Liu family has been the local tyrants.

Speaking of this Master Liu, we must mention his mentor, Chang Dawei.

Before the Lost City was even reached, the Chang family had already fallen into decline.

The Chang family was dirt poor, but they caught the live-streaming trend. Chang Dawei heard that his family used to be spirit mediums, so he started to tinker with live-streaming on the internet, telling spirit medium stories, and often live-streaming himself going to places like cemeteries to pretend to be a spirit medium.

Unexpectedly, this kid really was a descendant of the Chang family, and somehow became a shaman, even entering the Lost City at a young age.

This can be described as a fish leaping over the dragon gate, achieving enlightenment in one day, and even the chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.

Thanks to his special abilities as a shaman, Chang Dawei's strength also improved by leaps and bounds. After landing in the Lost City, he became the undisputed tyrant of the pass with the help of Master Liu Qi...

Wangcai chattered on and on, telling Xiao Ran everything about Chang Dawei. These things weren't secrets; he had been here for so long, and given that Chang Dawei was the local tyrant, these evil spirits didn't dare to provoke him easily. Naturally, he had found out everything about Chang Dawei's rise to power.

"amazing."

Xiao Ran nodded and praised Chang Dawei.

An ordinary person, despite having some family wealth, was able to rise rapidly in a short period of time, and even suppress evil spirits after landing in the Lost City. This person certainly has unique abilities.

Despite the praise, Xiao Ran immediately had a question on her mind.

Could the Chang family's decline be related to what happened back then?

If that's really the case, then it'll be troublesome.

When Xiao Ran arrived, she specifically asked her grandfather about the whole story of the chaos that Li Jingqi caused in Luo City back then. She knew that the people of the Five Immortals Hall suffered heavy casualties, and very few of them survived.

You should know that those people from the Five Immortals Hall were all elite members of their families who were disciples of shamans back then.

Therefore, Xiao Ran couldn't help but feel a little worried.

He sat in the chair for a moment and then stood up: "Take me to the Chang family. I want to meet this Master Liu."

“Master, this matter…” Wangcai hesitated for a few seconds, then, noticing Xiao Ran’s gaze sweeping over him, quickly said, “Master, the Chang family’s gates are not easy to enter…”

Xiao Ran opened her palm, and a piece of joss paper fell into her hand. The paper quickly changed shape according to Xiao Ran's wishes, and in a moment it turned into a plum blossom. With a gentle push, the plum blossom landed in front of Wangcai.

"Since you say it's difficult to enter the Chang family's gate, I'll give you a token to tell the Chang family that the Plum Blossom Taoist will be visiting tonight."

"Yes, yes, Master, don't worry, I..." Wangcai hurriedly nodded in agreement, but halfway through his sentence, his mind went blank, and he suddenly looked up at Xiao Ran.

His previously dark face was now contorted with horror as he stared at Xiao Ran, his mouth agape, and screamed:
"The Plum Blossom Taoist!!"

In that instant, Wangcai seemed to see the image of the plum blossom forest covering the mountain before his eyes, and he couldn't help but shudder.

By the time he came to his senses, Xiao Ran had already walked out the door.

"Meet me at the intersection ahead at 7 PM tonight."

After saying that, Xiao Ran pushed open the shop door and walked out.

Only after Xiao Ran left did Wangcai breathe a sigh of relief. Looking at the plum blossom in his hand, he felt the small plum blossom was getting hotter and hotter. He dared not delay any longer and turned into a wisp of black smoke, quickly heading towards the Chang family's direction.

The hill behind Windsor Manor.

A magnificent mansion sits atop a hill, overlooking the surrounding gardens and the faint outline of the city in the distance.

Its courtyard covers an area of ​​2,000 square meters, and the main building adopts the style of a medieval castle. The thick stone walls appear even more solemn and cold under the gray winter sky.

At the outermost edge of the mansion, a huge, dark stone gate stands majestically, with a gilded plaque hanging above the lintel bearing two powerful, gold-plated characters: "Chang Mansion".

Just as Wangcai said, the Chang family's gate was indeed not so easy to enter.

Above the gate, two enormous red lanterns hung high, burning not with ordinary candlelight, but with phosphorescent flames emitting a ghostly green glow, burning day and night.

The lantern's surface is painted with ferocious beast patterns and runes, and an invisible force field emanates from it, enough to make ordinary wandering ghosts and spirits retreat and dare not approach it even slightly.

However, there is a sentry post outside the gatehouse.

There were dedicated staff on duty inside. The security guard on duty was actually a beginner, not very strong, only at level D. But he was not afraid of evil spirits like Wangcai, and even seemed a bit arrogant.

After Wangcai revealed the token given by Xiao Ran and the name of the Plum Blossom Taoist, he explained his purpose.

It immediately tucked its tail between its legs, transformed into a gust of cold wind, and quickly left, not daring to stay there for even a second longer.

About ten minutes or so.

The paper plum blossom was then delivered to Chang Dawei.

Chang Dawei was not old, only in his early thirties, a time when he was proud, arrogant, and full of self-satisfaction. He was dressed in an exquisite brocade Tang suit, with a brand-name cigar between his fingers, and a beautiful maidservant standing beside him.

Upon hearing the steward's report, he casually picked up the rough joss paper plum blossom, glanced at it, and his face revealed undisguised contempt and impatience.

Chang Dawei frowned, forcefully stubbed out his cigar in the expensive jade ashtray, and casually tossed the paper plum blossom onto the table, as if it had been tainted with some bad luck.
"Plum blossom, chrysanthemum, peony! These days, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can name a flower and think they can come see me?"

Chang Dawei was unimpressed; he had never heard of the so-called Plum Blossom Taoist. Just as Chang Dawei was about to casually toss the plum blossom into the trash can, the plum blossom on the table suddenly flew up.

The next second, a wisp of firelight lit up the plum blossom.

The temperature in the once warm room suddenly dropped, and a domineering aura spread out.

This startled Chang Dawei, whose expression changed drastically. He immediately flew back, making a hand seal with one hand. In the void behind him, a pair of eyes slowly opened, their gaze fixed on the plum blossom suspended in mid-air.

"The Plum Blossom Taoist!!"

The voice from the void was exceptionally shocking.

Chang Dawei turned around and asked, "Seventh Grandfather, do you know the other person?"

A dark shadow flashed behind Chang Dawei, and the plum blossom that was hanging in mid-air was pulled into the shadow's face the next moment.

The shadowy figure ignored Chang Dawei, instead carefully observing the numerous black plum blossoms, muttering to himself, "It looks like the work of the Plum Blossom Taoist, but it doesn't seem to be his style. Could it be..."

"Seventh Grandpa, is this person very powerful?"

Seeing his seventh grandfather's serious expression, Chang Dawei couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"sharp?"

Master Liu paused for a moment, then said, "I don't know if he's powerful or not, but he's a ruthless character. There's no need to offend him."

"A ruthless character!"

When Chang Dawei heard those three words from Master Liu's mouth, his expression turned serious.

As the saying goes, one cannot stand firm without being ruthless.

Chang Dawei has met all sorts of people to get to where he is today, and he has a deep understanding of those ruthless characters in the underworld.

This kind of person may not be particularly strong, but their ruthlessness is enough to make many people wary.

"This person is coming tonight, Seventh Grandfather. Should we invite Eighth Master Huang and Eighth Master Hu to come and take a look, to keep things under control?"

"Okay, go invite them now. This person is not easy to deal with. Call everyone you can, including those two great evil spirits in the city."

"Ah!" Chang Dawei was taken aback. "Those two old guys are invited too?"

"please!"

Master Liu said with certainty that although he did not like those two evil spirits, if it was really Plum Blossom Taoist who came in person, it would be best to invite those two evil spirits over, even if they were just there to make up the numbers.

after all……

That's the Plum Blossom Taoist!

Soon, news of Plum Blossom Taoist appearing in the city spread.

Once this news spread, it caused all the evil spirits in the city to tremble in fear.

How could I not tremble? Back then, Plum Blossom Taoist, in his sixty-year campaign against demons, killed countless great evil spirits.

It is said that this guy is trying to emulate Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Wudang.

But Zhang Sanfeng, who had subdued demons for sixty years, at least gave people a glimmer of hope. As long as they sincerely repented and crippled their martial arts, Zhang Sanfeng could spare their lives.

However, Plum Blossom Taoist was different. He killed relentlessly, no matter how much you begged for mercy, swore oaths, or even declared that he could bring blessings to the region and would never harm the people. No matter how eloquently you spoke, Plum Blossom Taoist would simply strike you with his sword.

This guy has no intention of leaving any of those evil spirits alive. Every time he kills one, he uses their head to plant trees and then fertilizes them. You see how despicable this guy is?

Therefore, the four characters "Plum Blossom Taoist" are definitely a taboo that cannot be mentioned among many evil spirits.

Now that the Plum Blossom Taoist has actually appeared here, many evil spirits are already preparing to flee.

However, not all evil spirits are like this. There are quite a few evil spirits that have a grudge against Plum Blossom Taoist. Therefore, when they learned that the Chang family had invited them, they all went there, even if it was just to make up the number of people.

Around seven o'clock at night, Xiao Ran arrived at the street intersection and saw Wangcai waiting for her in the distance.

This guy even went out of his way to find a brand new Mercedes-Benz and had it parked by the roadside.

"master."

Upon seeing Xiao Ran, Wangcai immediately came running over eagerly.

"Master, that place is remote. Shall we take a carriage there?"

Xiao Ran glanced at the two brand-new Mercedes-Benz cars, then waved her hand and said, "No point."

"Huh?" Wangcai didn't understand Xiao Ran's meaning and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Xiao Ran took out a handful of money and threw it out. Instantly, a cold wind howled, and a sharp screech came from nowhere.

That was the sound of a suona horn.

Then, a white mist suddenly appeared around them. This feeling terrified not only Wangcai, but also the evil spirits, pedestrians, and even wandering ghosts on the street.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Just then, the sound of whipping came, and the black and white demons walked in front, dancing strangely as they went.

The black and white demons stood on the left and right, one fast and one slow.

He holds a sign in his left hand that reads "Clear the Way".

He swung the whip with his right hand, making a "crackling" sound in the air.

Following behind the procession, a boy and a girl dressed in mourning clothes, carrying flower baskets, waved their little hands, and a shower of white money, like snowflakes, rained down from the sky.

Eighteen female ghosts, dressed entirely in plain white, barefoot and faceless, followed closely behind, each holding a musical instrument. The music was light and melodious, yet it seemed to be filled with great sorrow but also joy.

"go!"

Xiao Ran said "Let's go," and Wangcai suddenly felt a blur before his eyes. The next second, he found himself standing in the line with a sign in his hand that clearly read "Yin Yang Inspector, Plum Blossom Taoist".

Turning around again, he didn't see Xiao Ran, but only a coffin being carried by four blue-faced, fanged, and muscular corpse puppets.

"Just keep clearing the way and moving forward."

Xiao Ran's voice made Wang Cai's spirits lift. He turned around and thought to himself, "Goodness, as expected of Plum Blossom Taoist, this is quite a grand display. No wonder he looks down on that piece of junk."

Thinking that he was now considered a dog under Plum Blossom Taoist, Wangcai could hardly suppress his smirk. He raised his head and strode forward.

Immediately, the entire group followed behind Wangcai, and wherever they passed, a hazy white mist enveloped them, attracting countless wandering ghosts and spirits to unconsciously follow behind the group.

This kind of momentum attracted the attention of countless evil spirits.

Even before Xiao Ran arrived, the Chang family had already heard about him.

In fact, this was the first time Xiao Ran had ever made such a big fuss. This team was borrowed from Huo Dou in the underworld by him burning paper money to send a message to them.

Xiao Ran doesn't care about saving face, but unfortunately he went to the Chang family as the Plum Blossom Taoist.

As the saying goes, even Buddha needs gold plating, and people need fine clothes.

Sometimes, the way you make your entrance can save you a lot of trouble.

It's like going to the same hotel. If you drive a BMW, you can walk right in, but if you drive a Geely, you'll be stopped at the door by a condescending security guard. It's not that they won't let you in, but they need to register your license plate number to make sure you're not a ride-hailing car trying to freeload a parking space.

This kind of thing happens frequently in reality. It's fine in normal times, but if you're discussing cooperation or doing business, doing this will make you lose face and become worthless, making it impossible to discuss business later.

Since Xiao Ran was going to the Chang family, as the Plum Blossom Taoist, she couldn't afford to be without a proper entourage.

The procession traveled from east to west, and the entire city was filled with money meant to guide them.

The evil spirits were so frightened that they only dared to hide in the shadows, peeking out to watch the procession leave before they could breathe a slight sigh of relief.

If they had doubts before, they are now truly certain that the person who came was indeed the Plum Blossom Taoist.

This creature, which strikes fear into the hearts of evil spirits, is said to have vanished long ago, and even the underworld cannot find him.

I never expected to appear in this place out of nowhere.

If this place weren't the stronghold of the Liu family, these evil spirits would probably have fled long ago.

"These wandering ghosts are fortunate."

On top of a building, several evil spirits looked at the wandering ghosts at the back of the procession and couldn't help but feel envious.

These wandering ghosts are even less respected than the living here. Now they are following behind the group, picking up the money left on the ground. If they can eventually return to the underworld with the group and enter the City of the Wrongfully Dead or Fengdu, their treatment will be many times better than that of ordinary wandering ghosts.

The procession marched forward in a grand and imposing manner, growing ever more impressive.

Ordinary people were terrified at just one glance, and even beginners and professionals in the city felt their scalps tingle and hurriedly avoided the area.

But when the group arrived at the Chang family's gate, they saw a thin young man standing in front of them, his hands clasped in a gesture of respect.

"The Chang family, Chang Baihui, respectfully welcomes Plum Blossom Taoist."

Evergreen cypress!
Wangcai, who was walking at the front of the group, was startled. He knew that this person was Chang Dawei's cousin, and that Chang's family affairs were usually managed by him.

So everyone usually calls him Prime Minister.

This means that if Chang Dawei is the local tyrant, then Chang Baisui is the local prime minister.

"Master Dao has come from afar. My grandfather, Liu Qi, along with his guests, welcomes you with open arms. Please alight from your sedan chair, and allow me to escort you inside."

Chang Baisui spoke sincerely, but anyone could sense the arrogance in his bones.

This guy was originally just an ordinary person, but after learning about his cousin's rise to wealth, he shamelessly went to Chang Dawei and cried his eyes out.

Chang Dawei asked him to stay and help him with his work. As time went on and he heard more and more compliments from everyone, Chang Baisui gradually felt that he was someone important and thought that everyone else was just so-so.

Upon hearing this, Wangcai was about to turn around and take a look at Xiao Ran.

But at that moment, Xiao Ran's voice had already reached his ears.

"Ignore him, keep going, those blocking the way..."

kill! "

(End of this chapter)