One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The night was as dark as ink, so thick it was impossible to see through.

The tourists at Longhu Mountain had long since dispersed, and the once bustling ancient temple was now immersed in an eerie tranquility.

Only the mournful sound of the wind blowing through the pine forest seemed to foreshadow something.

The highest pavilion in the Celestial Master's Mansion.

A young Taoist boy was leaning on the railing, gazing at the dark forest below the mountain.

He looked to be no more than eleven or twelve years old, with delicate features. He was wearing a faded, small Taoist robe and was none other than Xiao Yuzi, who usually served tea and water to the old Celestial Master.

"call……"

The young Taoist boy straightened up and stretched.

With this stretch, his timid and cautious demeanor vanished instantly.

Instead, there is a chilling indifference and madness.

"It's been three years."

Gong Qing raised his hand and touched his neck, which was stiff from years of bowing and hunching over. A small smile spread across his face, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"I've been playing the role of a grandson on this mountain for three years, serving tea and water to those old folks every day, and I have to keep a smile on my face."

"This acting was so convincing... I almost believed it myself."

He pulled a crumpled talisman from his pocket and gently stroked the rough surface with his fingers.

That was the token of the acting leader of Quanxing Sect.

"Sect Leader."

From the shadows, a burly man silently emerged, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a low voice:

"Everyone from down the mountain has arrived."

"Four madmen, six thieves, a corpse demon... and those restless individuals who couldn't hold back any longer, a total of two hundred and thirty-seven people."

"Everyone is waiting for your signal."

Gong Qing didn't turn around, but looked at the moon in the distance, half-hidden by dark clouds. The smile in his eyes grew wider and wider, finally turning into a suppressed chuckle:

"Hehe...hehehe..."

"Great, everyone's here."

"Longhu Mountain has been too comfortable for too long, and those old Taoist priests have been living high and mighty lives for too long."

He turned around abruptly, his eyes flashing with a frightening light in the darkness:

"Tonight, let's offer a large stick of incense to this ancient temple!"

……

Halfway up the mountain, there is a secluded pavilion.

This place, which was originally a rest stop for tourists, is now crowded with more than a dozen figures.

The air was filled with a nauseating smell of blood, mixed with cheap perfume and tobacco.

"Oh dear, when will we have to wait?"

A captivatingly charming voice rang out.

Xia He leaned lazily against a pillar, twirling a strand of her long pink hair with her fingers, her peach blossom eyes shimmering in the darkness.

"Everyone's so sleepy, and there's not even a man to keep us company on this mountain. It's so boring."

Opposite her, a bespectacled, refined-looking man pushed up the frames of his glasses and wiped a scalpel in his hand by the moonlight.

Shen Chong was known as the root of all evil.

"Don't rush."

Shen Chong blew on the blade, listening to the crisp echo, a glint of greed flashing in his eyes:

"There's plenty of prey tonight."

"Those disciples from prestigious sects, they're all so arrogant and haughty, I wonder what their Qi tastes like?"

"Amitabha."

A deep, resonant Buddhist chant interrupted their conversation.

Gao Ning sat cross-legged on the stone bench, his large body bearing his signature compassionate smile, like a smiling Buddha.

But to onlookers, that smile was more eerie than a vengeful ghost.

"Benefactor Shen, your killing intent is too strong."

Gao Ning turned the prayer beads in his hand and said with a smile:

"We're here to party, not to eat."

"The greatest respect we can show to Buddha is to make these benefactors repent in despair and sink into rage."

"Alright, alright, stop pretending."

A middle-aged woman with a troubled expression sighed, interrupting Gao Ning:

"It's giving me a headache."

Intestinal poison, Dou Mei.

Just as these demons and monsters were about to make their move.

The VIP guest room area is located several hundred meters away.

Inside a brightly lit private room, the aroma of tea wafted through the air.

Wang Ai and Lü Ci, the two elders, sat facing each other, playing a game of chess.

On the chessboard, black and white pieces intertwine, concealing deadly intent.

"Smack."

Wang Ai picked up a black chess piece and slammed it heavily onto the chessboard, making a crisp sound.

"Did you hear that?"

Wang Ai picked up his teacup, gently blew on the floating tea leaves, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his cloudy old eyes:

"The smell in the wind has changed."

Lu Ci remained expressionless, toying with two iron walnuts in his hands, which made a cracking sound.

"Just a bunch of mad dogs who don't know what's good for them."

"That's all the Quanxing people are good for."

Even mad dogs have their uses.

Wang Ai took a sip of tea, a cold smile curving her lips:

"The old master is very protective of his own, so we can't openly take action."

"But in the chaos of war, swords and spears have no eyes."

"What if Zhang Chulan, or that arrogant Zhang Chu, had accidentally died at the hands of the Quanxing demons..."

At this point, Wang Ai paused, raised her eyelids, and glanced at Lü Ci:

"Then you can't blame us, can you?"

Lu Ci suddenly stopped holding the walnut.

He remained silent for a moment, then let out a cold snort, which was taken as tacit agreement:

"That kid named Zhang Chu is really weird."

"Even my Ruyi Jin (a martial arts technique) can't fathom its depth; keeping it around will only cause trouble sooner or later."

"If the Quanxing gang can remove this thorn for us, it will save us the trouble of getting our hands dirty."

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the unspoken killing intent in each other's eyes.

"Smack."

Lu Ci placed a piece, sealing off the large black group of stones.

"Then let's watch the show."

"Tonight's play is going to be very exciting."

……

Up in the attic.

Gong Qing looked at the talisman in his hand and took a deep breath.

The night wind blew up the hem of his clothes, making them flutter.

"All sexes belong!"

He exerted a sudden force.

Bang!

The talisman in his hand exploded instantly, transforming into an invisible wave that swept across the entire Longhu Mountain in an instant, carried by the mountain wind.

"Let's do it!"

This low shout was like a spark thrown into boiling oil.

boom--!!!

The once quiet back mountain instantly erupted in excitement.

On the mountain road.

Two disciples from the Celestial Master's Mansion on patrol were yawning and chatting casually.

"Hey, senior brother, don't you think Master and the others are being too nervous?"

"It's been days, and we haven't seen a single ghost. What enemy could there be?"

The younger disciple complained, tightening his Taoist robe as he did so:

"It's freezing cold in the middle of the night."

"Stop talking nonsense."

His senior brother glared at him:

"The Luotian Grand Ritual is a major event for our Celestial Master's Mansion, and we cannot afford to be careless in the slightest."

"Hang in there a little longer, we'll go get some late-night snacks after our shift ends..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

A dark shadow fell from the treetops without warning, like a hawk hunting its prey.

Swish!

A flash of cold light.

The senior's voice abruptly stopped.

His eyes widened, his hands clutching his neck tightly, blood gushing out like a fountain from between his fingers.

"He...he..."

He wanted to say something, but could only make this leaky bellows sound.

His body went limp and he collapsed, twitched twice, and then remained still.

"Senior brother?!"

The junior disciple froze for a moment, then let out a heart-wrenching scream:

"ah--!!!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy presence..."

puff.

A pitch-black hand emerged from behind him and pierced straight through his chest.

A still-beating heart was held in that hand's palm.

"So noisy."

Tu Junfang casually flicked the blood off his hands, looking at the two corpses lying in a pool of blood, his face expressionless.

"The first one."

With the fall of these two disciples.

More and more screams echoed from every corner of the back mountain.

The campfires, originally used for lighting, went out one after another.

Darkness surged in like a tide, swallowing up the light.

Flames shot into the sky.

The shouts of battle shattered the night sky.

"The entire sect is here! Anyone who doesn't want to die, get out of the way!"

"Hahaha! Is this Longhu Mountain? It's nothing special!"

"Kill! Leave no one alive!"

A group of Quanxing cult members, dressed in strange clothes and with fierce expressions, brandished their weapons and charged up the mountain path like a flood bursting its banks.

Wherever they went, blood stained the bluestone steps.

The once tranquil Taoist holy site was instantly transformed into a battlefield of carnage.

Guest room area.

Zhang Chulan suddenly sat up in bed, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"They're here..."

Zhang Chulan jumped off the bed barefoot, ran to the window, and pushed it open.

In the distance, towards the back mountain, the firelight illuminated half the sky.

"Sister Bao'er!"

Zhang Chulan didn't even bother to put on his shoes; he grabbed his coat and rushed outside.

"Something's happened!"

"These lunatics...they actually dare to attack Longhu Mountain!"

At the same time.

The inner courtyard of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

The old celestial master, who was meditating, slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes, which usually held a hint of kindness and were somewhat cloudy, were now frighteningly clear.

It seemed to contain endless thunder.

He didn't get up, but simply sighed softly:

"What a calamity!"

But deep in that secluded bamboo forest on the back mountain.

In the dilapidated woodshed.

Zhang Taichu turned over, covered his ears with the tattered palm-leaf fan, and frowned deeply.

He mumbled something in his sleep, full of morning grumpiness:

"Where did this fly come from...?"

"It's so noisy."