Minglong

Chapter 134 Fellow Daoist, Why Must You Be So Utterly Desperate?

Rumbling--

Thunder rumbled across the sky, and the torrential rain drowned out all other sounds in the mountains and fields.

In an abandoned mine a few miles from Xiahe Town, an old poison master from the Gu poison sect lit a bonfire and held a roasted rabbit skewered on a wooden stick. Even now, he was still shaken.

For a disciple of the Gu Poison Sect, navigating the martial world in the Great Qian Dynasty is no easy feat. To put it nicely, this identity is neither entirely righteous nor entirely evil; to put it bluntly, the authorities want to deal with them, and so do evil spirits and heretics—they are universally disliked.

After settling in at the Iron Lady Inn in the afternoon, the old poison master thought that in the Jianghu territory, he could at least get a bowl of hot noodles.

As it turned out, first seven ruthless villains disguised as dogs attacked, and then a murderous aura soared to the sky above Iron Thorn Ridge, clearly indicating that celestial officials were besieging an evil patriarch.

To avoid being caught in the crossfire, the old poison master employed the characteristic of the Gu poison school—running away with his head in his hands!
Hiding in the rat hole, the old poison master finally found a bit of warmth at home, and even secretly worried about what would happen to his fellow disciple who had turned himself in.

Poison Masters excel at area-of-effect attacks; even novice apprentices can use drugs to massacre villages and hamlets, killing more efficiently than demonic cultivators. However, they lack one-on-one combat ability. In normal cultivator battles, Poison Masters either survive until the very end without a chance to show themselves, or they are the first to die if they do show themselves, just like Du Qingyi, another apprentice of Taishu Dan.

Just as he was lost in thought, the rain outside the mine suddenly made a soft rustling sound:
Puff puff puff~~
The old poison master turned his head and saw a lost mountain sparrow emerge from the rain and land at the entrance of the stone cave, its body covered in raindrops, staring straight at him.

"Eh?"

The veteran drug addict looked slightly puzzled, glanced at the food, and then pulled out a few grains of dry rations:
"Uh-huh~~"

The titmouse did not react, but stared into the old poison master's eyes. Soon, its pupils turned a scarlet light, like a blood-red abyss that bewitched souls, carrying a strange and infectious power.

Da da da……

The old drug master dropped the grain of rice from his hand, his expression instantly freezing as he stared intently into those red eyes. Deep within those eyes, one could see horror, fear, and struggle, but his wooden expression remained unchanged.

Black mist gradually emerged from the fist-sized titmouse, turning into a wisp of black smoke that slowly drifted toward the poison master's brow.

The old poison master had been bewitched. Before him stood a ghostly figure nearly ten feet tall, its body wreathed in black flames. The figure's face was like that of a ferocious demon, its scarlet eyes fixed on him. The figure slowly reached its left hand towards the top of its head and even spoke:

"I'll borrow your body for a while, and afterwards I'll give you a proper burial, huh—?!"

The old toxicologist was wondering why the demon in front of him was gasping for breath when he suddenly heard a sound from outside the cave:
"Chong-"

The piercing cry of the eagle was like a startling alarm bell.

The veteran drug dealer snapped back to reality almost instantly. The illusion vanished, and he collapsed to the ground, scrambling backward as if crawling on his hands and knees.
"Please spare my life, Daoist Master..."

The titmouse at the cave entrance suddenly turned around and saw a black cannonball swooping down from the sky, so fast that it was just a blur as it swept past the cave entrance.

Swah——

The old poison master didn't even see what it was before it vanished, leaving only two scattered feathers and a rapidly receding call:

"Chirp—~~~"

Soon, the rainy night fell into dead silence.

?

What the hell?

The old drug addict was terrified. After a moment, his eyes went blank again. He touched his chest and head, and when he found that he was still alive, he rolled over, got up, and ran away with his head in his hands...
-
Ironthorn Ridge.

Not long after the appearance of Yin energy on the hill, the Eight Directions Illumination Pagoda of the Imperial Observatory received a warning; First-rank ghost cultivators were extremely rare, and almost all the celestial officials of the Imperial Observatory came out. By the time Xie Jinhuan and the others withdrew from the hill, some celestial officials and experts had already arrived at the scene.

Nangong Ye, dressed in a black and white Taoist robe and carrying a yellowish-brown sword box, hovered in the night sky. A torrential downpour fell from the sky, but before it even hit his head, it split to the left and right, forming an invisible rain cover.

The Iron Lady Inn below was brightly lit, and one could see a large group of constables and chivalrous heroes rushing from the towns and villages to put the wounded on carriages.

The two junior constables, wrapped in blankets, were clearly suffering from severe frostbite and were still unconscious, lying on stretchers.

The two royal guards, protected by the black-clad light armor, were unharmed on the surface, but they were also frostbitten and needed help to walk.

Xie Jinhuan wrapped an unknown woman in a blanket. Her sleeves and trousers were riddled with holes, indicating that she had lost a lot of vital energy and blood. Her face was slightly pale, but her hands and feet only had superficial wounds that had been bandaged, so she seemed to be in good condition overall.

My good apprentice, Mo Mo, is unharmed, but he has exhausted himself and looks somewhat weak.

Nangong Ye glanced around and, finding no serious casualties, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Jinhuan's team suffered heavy losses and almost lost all their combat capabilities. They definitely need to return for treatment and cannot continue the mission. However, the Underworld Cult still needs to be investigated.

After watching the convoy speed away under guard, Nangong Ye's gaze passed over Tiejigang and landed on a town dozens of miles away.

The county town is not large, but it is relatively prosperous. At night, it is brightly lit, and there are also scattered lights in the mountains outside the town, forming a huge circle, which is an open-pit quarry.

Nangong Ye flew through the rain towards Hongzhang County. As he passed Tiejigang, he saw three high-ranking immortal officials standing on the still-unmelted ice plain, searching for clues.

She spent many years slaying demons and monsters in the desolate wilderness beyond the Great Wall, and had seen many ghost cultivators. She knew that before a ghost cultivator made a move, he would usually leave a temporary container nearby, which was connected to the main body by the soul. As soon as the main body died, the soul would immediately return to the container, making it difficult to eradicate below the highest grade.

Even for those of the highest quality, the location must be quickly located at the moment of death; once the soul returns to the container, it becomes difficult to find.

However, ghost cultivators also have weaknesses: resources are extremely difficult to obtain, and their strength depends on their physical body.

Without a physical body, even the most skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Even someone as powerful as the Corpse Ancestor can only possess extraordinary spiritual perception and forcefully possess another body to return to life. If he were to possess a mere sixth-rank nobody, his maximum ability would only be to unleash a sixth-rank incantation.

Lost in thought, Nangong Ye soon arrived at the Hongzhang County quarry. He could see hundreds of soldiers carrying torches patrolling around the huge quarry, which looked like a ring of flames from above.

A torrential rain fell and night fell. There were no prisoners working in the terrace quarry; everyone was gathered in the prison on the side of the quarry, where celestial officials were already patrolling.

Outside the explosives depot on the hillside, two celestial officials were examining an overturned wooden box, exchanging words:

"They used to store Drunken Bone Fragrance, but there must have been some unusual activity on the hillside, so they moved it away in a hurry, leaving behind quite a few items..."

"The one who instigated the entire quarry was probably that ghost cultivator who set up the formation, but now it seems he can't cause any more trouble..."

"The Danyang incident happened only a few days ago, and they've already made almost all the preparations here. These demon bandits are truly incredibly powerful..."

"Huh? This piece of paper... it's a map of the mines in Hongzhang, Lanhe, and Zhen'an counties?" "It really does seem to be..."

……

Having overheard this, Nangong Ye immediately set off southwards to see if he could catch the demonic Taoist carrying supplies to the second or third destination.

But after traveling only a dozen or so miles, as they passed through a mountainous area, a strange sound came from the forest below:

crackling-

"Giggle..."

"Guji?!"

……

It sounds like two birds of prey are fighting, and they're quite fierce!
?

Nangong Ye didn't want to pay attention, but in the middle of the night, a torrential downpour began, and two birds were fighting in the forest.

Who could resist taking a peek...?

Nangong Ye stopped abruptly and quietly floated towards the treetop. As his vision became unobstructed, his phoenix eyes trembled slightly.

Beneath the tree canopy lay a deciduous forest, the ground now covered with weeds and fallen leaves, and scattered among it lay the blood-soaked carcasses of more than a dozen birds and animals, including sparrows, rabbits, snakes, hedgehogs, and even a leopard cat—a veritable mass of corpses!
A pheasant with red feathers stands in an open deciduous forest, its body covered in wounds and most of its feathers missing.

On the fallen leaves two zhang away, there was another, larger black bird, its plumage as if dyed in an inkwell, its amber eyes gleaming with a sharp light. They stood facing each other from afar, still:

"Guji?"

Nangong Ye had seen many monsters and spirit beasts fight while traveling in the desolate region, but she had never seen an ordinary bird that knew how to position itself and strike a pose before. She could even roughly understand the intention of the big black bird from its tone of voice—that's all?
What horrified her even more was that the pheasant opposite her clucked twice in response, looking utterly exhausted. If she wasn't mistaken, its meaning was probably—fellow Daoist, why must you be so ruthless…

However, neither side in the fight should understand foreign languages.

Oh?!

Nangong Ye sensed that these two were no ordinary birds and thought they had stumbled upon a great opportunity. Fearing to disturb them, he hid in the shadows to observe.

As a result, these two incredibly intelligent birds almost scared her to death when they attacked!
The pheasant was extremely skilled, leaping left and right through the forest, seemingly trying to trick its opponent into making a move.

The Great Black Eagle, having witnessed countless battles, immediately unleashed a powerful eagle claw strike, followed by a wing sweep and a tail sweep, before crashing its head into the pillar...

The pheasant actually knew to sidestep and, with a swift wing, sent the black eagle tumbling head over heels...

puff puff~
Chicken feathers flew everywhere in the woods, the bushes rustled, and the bird trails were worn away...

? ? !

Nangong Ye stared in disbelief, thinking to himself:

This skillful parrying and movement, could it be that the Bird Path Ancestor is vying for the title of number one in the world?

Who could beat that?

No wonder they accidentally killed a row of innocent birds and beasts...

Nangong Ye was initially a little confused, but he quickly realized that after the pheasant was killed by the black eagle in a dozen or so blows, a wisp of black smoke rose from its body. Then, a squirrel that had been watching the fight scurried down and ripped the black eagle out of its heart, only to be crushed to death by its claws...

Nangong Ye's expression changed drastically as he realized that this was not a spirit beast, but a ghost cultivator who had been resurrected in another's body and had been caught by a raptor in the mountains while trying to escape!
Although somewhat puzzled as to why the ghost cultivator didn't directly possess the black eagle's body, Nangong Ye didn't have time to ponder it further. He flashed forward, raising his right hand as he flew, and flowing light patterns appeared on the sword box behind him, followed by:
Choke, choke, choke——

Seven swords of different shapes detached from their scabbards, darting about in the forest like shuttles and butterflies, each carrying a streak of sword light that shot towards a wild rabbit that had just poked its head out.

Whispering rustling——

Amidst the piercing sound of wind breaking, a terrifying, overwhelming pressure appeared above the mountains and forests.

The rabbit sensed something was wrong and immediately flew into the forest. Unfortunately, even with his true body there, Kui Yunya, who was at the early stage of the first rank, could not withstand two moves, let alone his useless body that couldn't even beat a bird.

bang bang bang-

A burst of fallen leaves and flying sand erupted in the mountains and forests!
The hare was engulfed by the sword light, feeling as if it were being strafed by machine guns. In just an instant, seven round craters appeared in the forest, and its body was instantly blown to pieces, leaving not even a single hair behind.

The Seven Swords landed in a circular formation, and blinding arcs of electricity surged between the swords, instantly transforming into an electric net and forming a blue-white thunder pool with a diameter of two zhang.

Stab la la——

Suddenly, a humanoid silhouette appeared in the previously empty Thunder Pool, its face contorted in a grotesque grimace, emitting a mournful howl, yet no sound could be heard.

Nangong Ye used the Immortal Slaughtering Formation to lock the ghost cultivator's true form, making it difficult for him to escape through another body. He originally intended to capture that rare spirit bird.

In the blink of an eye, the giant black eagle had vanished without a trace. He could only land before the Thunder Pool and gaze at its ghostly form:
"If you fall into the Immortal Slaughtering Formation, you will not die, but you will be imprisoned in the Thunder Box, suffering the torment of being struck by ten thousand lightning bolts day and night until your vital energy is exhausted and you enter reincarnation. With your cultivation level, you will have to endure this torture for at least half a year. Tell me the identity of the secret agent, and I will give you a quick death."

Kui Yunya's figure flickered in the lightning, his face contorted like a vengeful ghost, and he responded in a mournful voice:
"If this wicked beast hadn't relentlessly pursued me, would you have been able to catch me? Even if I were to reincarnate, I would still be reborn into the animal realm. If I lived for another six months, I might still have a chance to escape. Kill me if you want!"

"..."

Seeing this, Nangong Ye didn't say much and simply raised his right hand.

hum~
The seven swords stuck in the forest hummed, then rose from the ground in unison, dragging the ghost and flying towards the sword box on its back!
Clank, clank, clank, clank…

After seven clattering sounds as the sword was sheathed, the scabbard closed shut on both sides, and nothing else happened!

But Nangong Ye himself let out a muffled cough, gritted his teeth, and quickly left the mountains...

……

(End of this chapter)