Infinity: Our Zhongzhou team is really amazing!

Chapter 430 Zhang Dong: You remind me of an old friend.

crunch.

The bus stopped.

Zhuang Boshi, Qin Lao, and the five elders filed down.

"We've finally arrived." Meng Xiaodong looked at the old house in the distance with a complicated expression.

"Life is unpredictable, and I thought we would never have the chance to meet again."

"We've finally reached the last stop," Zhuang Boshi remarked with emotion.

Luo Wensong's revival was unremarkable.

The spirits summoned by the necromancer were infused into the oil painting. The ghost post office was used to exploit a time limit bug in the necromancer's summoning process. Then, Luo Wensong in the oil painting walked into his own body to complete his resurrection.

The work is rough, so Luo Wensong's condition is unstable, and he can probably only maintain it for ten days to half a month.

But that's enough for emergencies.

At this moment, the sky was overcast, with dark clouds overhead, creating an extremely oppressive atmosphere.

There was a break in the dense forest ahead, and a winding path led into the depths of the forest.

Where the forest path meets the asphalt road, there stands a utility pole with a sign on it, which seems to be a temporary bus stop like those in the old days in the countryside.

On both sides of the road are endless forests, but each tree is twisted and strange, looking like menacing figures from a distance.

The trees formed a dense forest, but there was no greenery at all. The trees were still dry and leafless, and their shapes were extremely strange, crooked and twisted, looking quite ferocious and terrifying.

"How many ghosts are buried here?" Zhuang Boshi sighed softly.

Under every tree lies a ghost, and there are at least ten thousand trees here.

Luo Wensong stared at Zhuang Boshi with a defiant look on his face: "Kid, what exactly is your ability to be immune to my inevitable death? Let me weigh you again!"

"Luo Wensong, save your breath. Wasn't your loss embarrassing enough? He has surpassed any of us. You're not even qualified to compare yourself to others," Luo Qian said bluntly, his face expressionless.

"Let Zhang Dong do it."

"Shut up!" Luo Wensong said, displeased.

"So you want me to weigh you?!"

"I'm not afraid of you!" Luo Qian retorted sharply, unwilling to back down.

Zhuang Boshi rubbed his temples: "These two people are over two hundred years old combined, yet they still bicker like kindergarteners."

Is this interesting?

After a day of travel, not only was Old Qin a little tired, but he was also a little tired, while the group of elderly people were full of energy.

Zhuang Boshi was truly intimidated by these big shots.

When he's alone, he can still pretend to be a profound and unfathomable senior.

Once they get together, it's no different from a gathering of ordinary old men and women; they all start reminiscing about the old days.

What do you mean by "the key to that battle lies with me"? What do you mean by "XX is an amateur"?

Some people boasted about themselves, while others made veiled attacks.

For certain events from that year, people started to settle scores and assign blame.

In particular, Luo Wensong and Luo Qian did not get along and bickered almost the entire way.

The ghostly activity on the bus couldn't suppress the two big shots; the bus was constantly being disturbed by knocking on the doors and the appearance of grave mounds.

Luo Wensong was unruly and rebellious.

Luo Qian likes to evaluate his juniors.

Li Qingzhi is very composed but not good at lightening the mood.

Meng Xiaodong enjoys watching a spectacle.

Zhuang Boshi admired Zhang Dong the most, for only he could bring together these unruly and powerful individuals, unite them as one, and bury the previous supernatural era.

“Things have changed. When I first set foot here, there were still many villagers near the Zhang residence. Now, it has truly become a haunted place,” Li Qingzhi lamented.

A chilly aura wafted over with the forest breeze, instantly dropping the temperature by several degrees, sending shivers down one's spine.

In the forest, a white mist began to rise inexplicably.

Meng Xiaodong's expression changed slightly: "A ghost has arrived."

Suddenly, a series of mournful songs rang out in the shadowy forest where white mist drifted through!
Accompanied by mournful music, rows of dark banners hung down from the sky, which had suddenly turned gloomy!

It was deep in what seemed like an endless, withered forest.

In the white mist, figures could be seen moving about.

The white mist rolled in, and the vague figures turned into "people" dressed in mourning clothes with indistinct features!
These "people" were crying and scattering paper money into the sky. More than twenty people surrounded a white coffin and moved stiffly toward the crowd!
"You little brat, do you think this is a place to run wild?!"

Luo Qian cursed, but did not rush to make a move, because the fog beside the funeral procession was swirling.

Then another round of lively and joyous music began.

The mist on that side turned scarlet amidst the joyful sounds.

Several more banners were lowered from the sky!

A crimson mist swept in.

The figures hidden in the red mist suddenly transformed into people dressed in red, with rouge on their cheeks and different hairstyles.

With bizarre, twisted smiles on their faces, they scattered pieces of lucky money and wedding cakes, and surrounded a red wedding sedan chair, bouncing and leaping as they approached Zhuang Boshi!

Two groups of people.

One white, one red!
On one side is the joy of playing musical instruments and singing.

On one side, there was the mournful music of drums and cymbals.

Amidst the interplay of mournful and joyful suona music, the two groups of people walked towards the group in a very eerie manner.

Their goal was very clear; they seemed to be drawn to the bus.

Zhuang Boshi's divine eyes swept across the scene, and those stiff shadows draped in white and red were actually all vengeful ghosts. There were at least fifty vengeful ghosts in the two teams combined.

It's important to know that it's not the lone ghost that's scary, but the hordes of ghosts; in most cases, vengeful ghosts rarely come in groups.

Once a group of vengeful ghosts forms, such as a ghost opera troupe, it will definitely be an extremely powerful and terrifying group of vengeful ghosts.

Luo Wensong looked at the group of ghosts and said coldly, "The Red and White Demons, have they both come back to life?"

Meng Xiaodong smiled slightly: "Back then, when my elder brother was not around, if it weren't for you and I joining forces with the old ghost of the Wu family to knock him down to the underworld, it would probably have caused an extremely serious calamity in the mortal world."

Zhuang Boshi quickly asked, "What kind of evil spirit is this?"

"The vengeful spirits that have been incorporated into weddings and funerals have a chance of appearing whenever there is a happy event or a funeral, and they will take away all the living people along the way," Meng Xiaodong explained.

"They often don't travel the ghostly paths, but instead travel hundreds of miles between towns, and an ordinary living person will die if they just glance at them."

Zhuang Boshi frowned: "They actually went out of their way to find places where people gather."

When such a vengeful ghost appears in a town, every household will be dressed in mourning, and the entire town could easily be wiped out.

"not only that."

Meng Xiaodong continued, "Red Fiend can connect with other vengeful ghosts. As long as a vengeful ghost accepts their lucky money, it will join their ranks, wear red clothes, and add its own vengeful ghost killing patterns to the mix."

"Of course, if the ghost tamer accepts the lucky money, he will become a real vengeful ghost and join the group."

"This group of twenty-odd Red Fiends are twenty-odd vengeful ghosts, each possessing a different pattern of killing."

"Can they be triggered simultaneously?" Zhuang Boshi was a little surprised.

“They can be triggered simultaneously,” Luo Wensong said stiffly.

"There will be no conflict of rules between them, and even the Ghost Realm can overlap."

"The Red Fiend we encountered back then had already gathered more than a hundred terrifying ghosts, and could kill anyone who stood in their way."

This is a bit terrifying. The ghost realms can be superimposed, the killing rules can be superimposed without conflict, and other vengeful ghosts can be invited to join, so the growth is limitless.

Isn't that almost the same as a grown-up starving ghost?

Even starving ghosts need ghost slaves to grow, but this Red Demon can join simply by giving a reward money; the threshold is far too low.

There are now more than twenty vengeful ghosts. It is estimated that as soon as a person gets close, they will be attacked by more than a dozen different killing patterns.

Meng Xiaodong continued, "The White Demon is equally terrifying. Not only can it enter and exit any ghost realm, but it can also create a superimposed sound of weeping, suona, erhu, and gongs and drums."

"Moreover, it can contain the vengeful ghosts encountered in a coffin and nurture them into a white sail."

"Did you see that white sail? A single white sail can grant immunity to a supernatural power."

"immunity."

Bosch was genuinely surprised: "Wouldn't that make it difficult to imprison them?"

Meng Xiaodong said, "Yes, the Red and White Evils that have grown strong are very difficult to deal with. Back then, we spent a lot of effort to make them clash with each other before we could suppress them."

"Those two-headed ghosts are nothing more than ghost messengers," Luo Wensong snorted.

Listen to what they say; they're nothing more than ghost messengers.

"Let's go. Even these two ghosts have appeared, and they seem to have pieced together to form a new ghost. This era is more hopeless than ours."

Although the Red and White Demons look very intimidating and the harm they cause to the outside world is no less than that of vengeful ghosts like the Wraith and the Haunted Ghost, they are really no match for the Five Elders.

With endless knocking on doors and endless burial in the grave, plus Li Qingzhi shattering the puzzle pieces, even the most terrifying ghost can only retreat to the grave to reflect on its sins.

However, just as the group was about to venture deeper into the woods, the sounds of playing instruments and mournful lamentations continued to rise.

As everyone looked, a wedding procession appeared behind them.

Then, a sobbing sound came from ahead.

They broke up again?
"It seems that after their integration, a new pattern has emerged." Meng Xiaodong's smile became more serious.

"I can't help you with anything. These things just came out of the underworld and have no past karma."

"Understood, Eldest Sister Meng."

Luo Qian waved his hand again, and hundreds of graves buried the Red and White Demons.

But after being buried, the Red Demon reappeared at the end of the road, walking over while playing music.

"Backtracking?" Luo Qian frowned.

“It’s not a simple backtracking,” Li Qingzhi stopped him.

"At first, they were only in a state of dual evil, but after being buried in the grave, they became a state of dual evil."

"Now it is indeed a situation of one in front and one behind, with the two sides clashing and creating a clash, which should be a deeper level of change."

"We can't let them succeed in their karmic retribution."

This time, Zhang Bohua and Qin Lao also took action. The group moved quickly and forcibly suppressed the Red and White Duo with supernatural power.

Under the weight of the supernatural, the Red and White Duo couldn't make a dent.

The third dirge and hymn music began, but this time the music and instruments were combined in a mournful way. A procession of more than fifty vengeful ghosts appeared a few dozen meters in front of them, each ghost half red and half white.

Beneath the red wedding sedan chair in the center lay a white coffin.

Cries and laughter mingled, and money and paper money were mixed together; each ghost cried and laughed at the same time.

Then Xijiao and the coffin began to tremble violently, as if something was about to come out!
This scene is truly bizarre.

"A combination of evil spirits?" Luo Qian's expression was indifferent. As the group of evil spirits moved forward, terrifying ghosts crawled out of the soil in the surrounding forest and joined the group.

In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred vengeful ghosts had joined the Red and White Duo.

The cries grew louder and louder, and the white sails appeared more and more numerous.

"This is troublesome. The rules of the Red Fiend Recruiting New Ghosts, combined with the White Fiend's rule that each ghost can be immune to one of the killing patterns, now this combined Fiend team has at least a hundred killing patterns superimposed, and can also be immune to more than a hundred killing patterns."

"Attack together, don't give him a chance to turn back!"

Just as the seven elders' expressions turned solemn.

Sorrow and joy, all abruptly ceased!

The group of demons, which had already joined forces, suddenly stopped. More than a hundred heads of evil spirits turned 180 degrees at the same time, looking at the end of the path behind them.

But the next moment, an invisible force that seemed extremely terrifying swept over the He Sha team.

The fog crashed into the sky!

All demons have fallen!

With a crackling sound, the white sails and red silks fell to the ground and then disappeared.

This terrifying horde of hundreds of vengeful ghosts was thus abruptly wiped out.

Zhang Dong is here!

Zhuang Boshi stiffened; what had he just seen?
Is this some kind of supernatural power?
No, this is an anti-supernatural force.

This was the first time he had ever seen such pure anti-supernatural power in this world.

They seem to be natural enemies of the supernatural!

Meng Xiaodong's expression softened, and he looked into the depths of the alley.

"he came."

The seven elders' expressions softened considerably, and they all walked along the path.

Soon, they arrived at an old house, where an old man stood upright at the door, seemingly waiting for them.

The old man was dressed in a black Zhongshan suit and black cloth shoes. Although his face was also old and full of wrinkles, he exuded a kind of majesty that made people feel uneasy and suffocated, as if even the most bizarre supernatural forces could not cause any trouble in front of him.

This is Zhangdong!
Zhang Dong's serious expression turned somewhat surprised when he saw a group of people emerge from the dense forest.

"You're still alive?"

Luo Qian chuckled and said, "Brother, you said that the only time we would meet again in this life would be in a graveyard. You didn't expect that we would meet again today, did you?"

"Brother, it's been a long time." Li Qingzhi, Zhang Bohua, and Luo Wensong clasped their hands in greeting.

No matter how arrogant they were before, the old men now look at them with reverence.

A smile finally broke through the rigid expression on Zhang Dong's face.

"I never thought I'd get to see you all before I die."

"My wish has been fulfilled."

The five elders burst into laughter.

At this moment, as they approach the end of their lives, they meet again, as if they have returned to a time in the past when they were young and gathered in this old house, drinking, making merry, and expressing their opinions freely.

I am angry at the hardships of the people, and saddened by the cruelty of evil spirits.

They were young once too.

They dream of one day establishing an era where there are no ghosts in the world.

They failed, but when the vengeful apocalypse arrives, they can reunite and burn their last drop of blood.

Isn't that the greatest blessing in life?

At this moment, Meng Xiaodong's phoenix eyes were filled with tears, and she felt a thousand regrets in her heart.

"Xiao Dong, I'm sorry."

When Zhang Dong looked at Meng Xiaodong, there was a hint of guilt in his eyes.

"Brother, it's so good to be alive to see you again." Meng Xiaodong wiped away his tears and smiled.

"I have no fine wine here, only a cup of tea," Zhang Dong said with a smile.

His gaze swept over Zhuang Boshi, lingered for a second, and then looked away.

"Today, close friends and acquaintances gather here, which is an honor to have our humble abode."

"Would you do me the honor of having a cup of tea?"

"Big brother," Li Qingzhi warmly pulled Zhuang Boshi over, "this is—"

Zhang Dong then asked, "Are you surnamed Zhuang?"

Ok?
Zhuang Boshi nodded in surprise and asked a question: "Old Zhang—"

"Do you know me?"

After a moment of silence, amidst the astonished gazes of the other elderly people.

Zhang Dong laughed, his expression full of nostalgia: "Yes, you remind me of an old friend of mine."

“A guide who saved me from being upside down when I was young.”

“An old friend I haven’t seen in a hundred years.”
-
The empty old house became quite lively because of the presence of several people.

In the main hall of the old house, seven chairs were placed in the middle.

The six elders sat down, and Zhuang Boshi, who had no intention of respecting the elderly or caring for the young, also sat in the middle.

Old Qin could only stand to the side, feeling dejected, because there was no place for him.

“The calamities here have far surpassed those of the Republic of China era; they are beyond human capability to overcome.” Zhang Dong sat down and looked at Zhuang Boshi.

"Young friend Zhuang, our crippled bodies are not worth our pity, and we are free to leave the mountain. But do you have any way to avert this calamity?"

Zhang Dong's words left Zhuang Boshi with a bellyful of words of advice stuck in his throat.

This Heavenly Emperor was surprisingly easy to talk to.

Zhuang Boshi always felt that Zhang Dong's gaze towards him was somewhat complicated, but overall friendly.

Zhuang Boshi could imagine the old friend he just mentioned.

That must mean that I traveled back in time and had some kind of interaction with him.

However, Zhang Dong used the excuse of being an old friend to prevent Zhuang Boshi from getting any further details.

"Mr. Zhang, how are you feeling?" Zhuang Boshi asked tentatively.

Zhang Dong smiled and said, "We still have six months left to barely survive, which should be enough to deal with the current impending doomsday."

Meng Xiaodong sighed and grasped Zhang Dong's hand.

"The end of the vengeful spirits is just around the corner. If we can't resolve this now, they'll probably all perish next month."

"I have no regrets about being able to spend these last moments with you."

The star-crossed lovers exchanged a smile.

Zhuang Boshi had no choice but to interrupt, saying, "I still have some questions, could you please answer them?"

"Haha, no need for formalities, I'll tell you everything I know," Zhang Dong said with a smile.

Luo Wensong and the others were somewhat surprised. In their impression, Zhang Dong was always taciturn and silent, like a mountain blocking their way and sheltering them from the wind and rain.

Why was he so kind to this young man he was meeting for the first time, like a long-lost relative?

Zhuang Boshi said, "I heard von Trein say that you were the most powerful ghost tamer of that era, and that you had glimpsed the origin of evil spirits."

"Von Tränne."

Zhang Dong chewed on the name: "Gunter von Trein, I remember him, a German ghost tamer, his vengeful spirits were quite interesting, hehe."

You have no idea that this old Nazi has become a stalker of you, treating you like a god instead of a human being.

“He idolized his elder brother so much that he devoted himself entirely to suppressing the evil spirits. After he finished, I heard that he hid in a mental hospital and never came out of the world again,” Zhang Bohua said with a smile.

"He's just a madman. If my brother hadn't stopped me, I would have killed him long ago in Japan," Luo Qian said disdainfully.

“He died last month,” Zhuang Boshi said softly. “He took good care of his own affairs and remembered the three oaths you demanded of all ghost tamers until his death.”

Zhang Dong seemed silent for a moment, then sighed softly: "Our generation has reached the limit of the road."

"Utilize vengeful spirits, control vengeful spirits, and combine vengeful spirits to steal unlimited power."

"However, you cannot defeat a vengeful ghost by relying solely on it."

"Unless you stop being human," Zhuang Boshi chimed in.

Zhang Dong glared at him: "Becoming a ghost is not an option either. Whether it's physical ghostification or mental ghostification, in the end, humanity will be completely consumed, leaving only the instinct of a vengeful ghost. If you're lucky, you'll just become a ghost; if you're unlucky, you'll become a vengeful ghost with consciousness, causing endless harm."

Zhuang Boshi awkwardly rubbed his face.

If physical ghostification is considered abnormal, then mental ghostification should be like the old man in Whitewater Town later on, who has no physical body but pretends to be a human ghost.

Zhang Dong continued, "Because vengeful ghosts kill people; it's their deepest instinct. There are no vengeful ghosts that don't kill."

"No matter how perfect the sealing or the control, in ten years, a hundred years or even a thousand years, they will eventually escape the seal and roam the world again."

"The longer it is suppressed, the more ferocious the vengeful ghost becomes in killing people."

Zhang Dong pointed to the woodcutter's knife at Li Qingzhi's waist: "Just like this knife, it was passed down from a great general of the Tang Dynasty, and has been with dozens of owners for nearly a thousand years, remaining very stable."

"But its essence is still a ghost, and it will eventually revive and become a truly terrifying and vengeful ghost that can kill anything."

Li Qingzhi rubbed his head; "This knife, it is said, was previously owned by Commander-in-Chief Yuan."

"Thank you for gifting me this knife, elder brother."

"Thank you very much." Zhang Dong shook his head and looked at Zhuang Boshi: "This knife was a gift from someone else, and I am just passing on what I received."

Zhuang Boshi lowered his head in thought, not noticing Zhang Dong's complicated expression: "Old Zhang, I've heard that the resurgence of vengeful ghosts has a cycle. Is there any pattern to it?"

“Most vengeful spirits will resurface in a certain era, and after massacring humans on a large scale, some powerful vengeful spirits will fall into the abyss on their own after killing enough,” Zhang Dong said slowly.

"This is a natural process that cannot be changed by human effort."

"The recovery does not follow a clear cyclical pattern, but I have found that the number of vengeful ghosts has increased over time."

"More?"

“That’s right. Long ago, there weren’t as many vengeful ghosts as there are now.”

"At that time, they were mostly big ghosts. At the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there was a strange man who said that there would be four great ghosts from the other shore, thirty-six heavenly ghosts, and one thousand and eight hundred ghost generals in the world."

"The man's name is unknown, but he left a message on a tombstone."

“Alas, Zhuangzi, listen to this profound text.”

"The source of evil is not magic, but rather originates from the land of holiness."

"The Four Pillars and the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals, the future is without light, the past is light."

"Thousands of mountains are like locks and barriers, only by breaking through the four corners can I find Erlang."

　Updates have been infrequent lately because my child has been hospitalized twice a month – first with pneumonia, then with respiratory syncytial infection. I can only maintain the most basic updates. Sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)