I used folk talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Chapter 94 Divine Soldiers Descend from the Sky, Soul-Devouring Squid Monster (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

On the outskirts of Santos, an eerie fog, like an endless high wall, enveloped the entire city.

The clouds hung low, the fog churned, and occasionally a corner of a collapsed rooftop would peek out before being swallowed up again.

Faint, intermittent whispers drifted from the eerie fog, unsettling and causing splitting headaches.

After several twists and turns, the Qidong Provincial Rescue Team arrived overnight.

"The eerie atmosphere here is too strong; it's already interfering with our divine senses." The extraordinary realm expert leading the group withdrew his gaze, his expression slightly grave.

His name is Meng Guangping, the captain of the Qidong Province Supernatural Affairs Division's Action Team. He is in his early fifties, with a robust build, a square face, thick eyebrows, and a steady gaze.

A small bronze lamp hung from his waist, its body engraved with twisted patterns. There was no flame at the wick; only a pale green light flickered.

That was his lord-level natal artifact, the "Netherworld Guide Lamp," which could illuminate the path ahead in the eerie fog and dispel confusion.

Behind him, more than sixty police officers from the Refining Realm stood in formation, their expressions cold and stern.

Zhou Song stood in one of the rows, with Sun Licheng, Ma Guodong, and Zhao Haibo beside him.

Opposite them stood the welcoming team sent by the Samba Kingdom.

The leader was a middle-aged white man, tall and thin, wearing a well-tailored black overcoat with a gold cross badge pinned to his collar—the emblem of the Knights of the Holy Cross.

His name is Enrique Alves, the vice-commander of the Saint John branch of the Holy Cross Knights, and a first-stage Transcendent Realm cultivator.

He was followed by twenty or thirty people, dressed in various styles. A few wore knightly uniforms, while most wore ordinary tactical vests. It was clearly a hastily assembled group.

Enrique's expression wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't dismissive either.

He said in heavily accented Mandarin, "Mr. Meng, thank you for leading your team to provide support. The situation in Santos—"

Not good.

"There were originally two Transcendent Realm experts stationed here. One was Pedro Almeida, who recently went to the capital—well, into seclusion, that's right! into seclusion!"

"The other one is Carlos Mendes. Before the arrival of the Ghost Realm, he was suppressing a Lord-level Ghost in the Mirror Ghost Realm."

"The calamity struck too suddenly; space shattered, and he was thrown into the shallows of the Abyss. A message came through a medium, saying he wouldn't be able to return for the time being."

Meng Guangping frowned: "As a major South American country, don't you have any other transcendent beings?"

Enrique gave a wry smile and spread his hands: "Five cities in the Samba Kingdom were hit by the incident at the same time, and the situation in other places is even more serious."

"The federal government must prioritize protecting the cities of St. John's and Campinas, where the Capitol Building, military bases, and large hydroelectric power stations are located—"

He paused, not continuing, but his meaning was clear.

His tone carried a hint of shame: "I would like to go in, but I'm not familiar with the terrain of Santos City, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get out if I go in rashly."

He pursed his lips: "I've heard that there's a story in China called 'The Calabash Brothers Save Grandpa' — I don't want to be that Calabash Brother."

The young men from Qidong Province who came to help twitched their lips, but held back.

Meng Guangping didn't smile, but simply nodded: "Understood. Lead the way."

Enrique took out a torch from inside his coat. It was completely black and had a dark red crystal embedded at the top.

The moment the torch was lit, a dark red halo spread out, dispersing a small patch of the surrounding mist.

The torchlight shone on my face, sending a chill down my spine as if I were being watched by something.

This is his Lord-level artifact, the "Blood Abyss Torch".

Meng Guangping also lit the "Guiding Lamp for the Underworld".

The eerie green and dark red light intertwined, temporarily suppressing the surrounding fog and opening up a narrow passage.

"Hurry up!"

The crowd filed in.

The eerie mist closed in behind them, and the murmured voices suddenly became clearer.

The sounds seemed to come from underground, or perhaps they were popping up in my head, making me feel uneasy.

The team struggled forward through the eerie fog.

The buildings along the roadside were indistinct, some collapsed and others leaning precariously.

Scattered clothes, broken glass, and dried bloodstains were visible everywhere on the road.

Occasionally, strange creatures would emerge from the fog, but they were quickly dealt with by the police officers.

But the eerie fog was too thick!

Everyone's sense of direction was gradually being lost. When their spiritual senses reached out, it was like throwing a stone into a muddy pond; it could only create a few ripples before sinking back down.

Enrique's "Blood Abyss Torch" continued to deplete his Yin energy and essence, causing his face to grow paler and paler.

His followers were in even worse shape; several of them were already panting heavily, their faces ashen, clearly severely affected by the eerie energy.

Meng Guangping noticed their state and glanced back at his own people.

Zhou Song understood and took out a section of withered yellow root from his backpack. This was the root of the Yellow Elf Plant, emitting a faint spiritual aura.

He held the root under his tongue, and his listless spirit immediately recovered somewhat.

Other officers also took out the medicinal plants and consumed them.

Some were a small handful of sunflower seeds, some were a piece of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium, and some were root slices of Glehnia littoralis.

The spiritual energy entered their bodies, neutralizing the corrosive influence of the evil energy, and everyone's condition improved significantly.

Enrique's eyes lit up as he stared at the Solomon's seal root in Zhou Song's hand: "What is this? Why can it resist the corrosive energy?"

Zhou Song didn't elaborate, simply replying, "A spiritual plant."

Behind Enrique, members of the Knights cast eager glances their way.

One of the female knights couldn't help but speak up: "Could you... could you lend us some? I'm almost at my limit."

After a moment's thought, Meng Guangping handed over several pieces of Solomon's Seal root.

Enrique hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took it, distributing it to the players behind him.

The roots entered the mouth, and the effect was immediate; the several pale-faced people finally caught their breath.

Enrique carefully tucked the remaining roots into his pocket and nodded solemnly to Meng Guangping: "Meng, I'll remember this favor."

The procession continued onward.

A sharp hissing sound suddenly came from the fog, sending chills down one's spine.

Immediately afterwards, the fog churned violently, and more than a dozen grayish-white tentacles suddenly shot out and swept towards the front of the group.

The tentacles were covered with suckers, the edges of which had fine, backward-pointing teeth that gleamed coldly in the torchlight.

"Scatter!" Meng Guangping shouted.

Dozens of police officers from the Refining Realm quickly retreated to make room.

Enrique's "Blood Torch" suddenly lit up, and the dark red light transformed into a wall of light, blocking the first few tentacles.

The tentacles slapped against the wall of light, making a hissing sound and emitting billowing black smoke, but they did not retreat. Instead, they thrashed about even more wildly.

Immediately afterwards, a large hole was torn open in the fog, and a huge monster emerged from it.

It looked like a squid magnified countless times, its grayish-white skin covered with dark brown spots, its streamlined body swimming in the mist, its tentacles swaying behind it like hair.

Its head has no eyes, only a huge, round mouth full of ring-shaped teeth, which opens and closes with a teeth-grinding crunching sound.

This was actually a Lord-level "Soul-Eating Squid".

It feeds on consciousness; the suckers on its tentacles can attach to its prey, quickly devouring its consciousness to complete its parasitism.

New "Soul-Eating Squid" will be born from the host, forming a terrifying swarm under the leadership of the mother.

At this moment, behind it was a large group of smaller "Soul-Eating Squid", all of them elite-level.

Meng Guangping shouted sharply, activating the "Netherworld Guiding Lamp".

The eerie green light condensed into a spear of light, which he held in his hand and hurled out.

The light spear was blocked by the Lord-level Soul-Eating Squid and pierced the body of a nearby Soul-Eating Squid.

A burst of green light exploded, blasting a large hole in the squid's body, from which grayish-white turbid liquid gushed out.

Enrique also raised the "Blood Torch" high, and the dark red light transformed into waves that spread outwards.

Wherever the light wave passed, the Soul-Devouring Squid trembled violently, their suckers contracted, and several were directly torn apart by the light wave.

The Soul-Devouring Squid leader was enraged, its body changing colors like a carousel, making it dizzying to watch.

Meng Guangping was not afraid at all. His body was filled with boiling Yin energy, and he drove the "Netherworld Guiding Lamp" to burn towards the leader of the Soul-Devouring Squid.

Police officers and knights at the Refinement Realm also took action.

Some used strange objects to shoot out ice spikes, while others controlled metal fragments to form storms.

Within the team of the Bureau of Mysteries, several people tacitly took out the "Divine Chicken Talisman" and the "Mysterious Sorrow".

The talisman lit up, and the flames condensed into the phantom of a little rooster, significantly interfering with the Soul-Devouring Squid's visual judgment.

The jujube thorn bracelet emitted purple light needles, which, while not enough to directly kill the Soul-Eating Squid, could create opportunities for other people to attack.

The knights were surprised when they saw this.

A young man couldn't help but ask his companion, "What's that?"

Another person recognized it and exclaimed, "That's a talisman! Created by a newly ordained saint in China!"

In countries like Samba, which believe in Jehovah, prophet priests are revered as "saints".

The battle lasted less than half an hour before the Soul-Devouring Squid swarm abandoned more than twenty corpses and fled into the fog.

Meng Guangping's gaze swept over the group, and his heart sank: four people were missing! Zhou Song's team had vanished.

*

Zhou Song and his three teammates got separated from the main force during the fierce battle.

Unable to discern directions in the eerie fog, they moved blindly and hastily. Gradually, the sounds of battle faded away, and the surroundings returned to deathly silence.

Apart from Zhou Song, the other three were injured.

Sun Licheng had a chunk of flesh torn off his arm by a tentacle sucker. Ma Guodong had been bitten on the thigh. Zhao Haibo had a long laceration on his back.

They leaned against an overturned bus, panting heavily.

Two Soul-Eating Squid chased after him through the mist, their tentacles dragging across the ground with a rustling sound.

"Damn it—" Ma Guodong gritted his teeth, clutching the strange object in his hand, but in their current state, they had almost no chance of defeating the two Soul-Eating Squid.

Just then, a burst of crimson-gold light suddenly appeared in the mist.

A giant, crimson-gold firebird descended from the sky, its wings spread wide, and flames cascaded down like a waterfall.

The two Soul-Eating Squid were engulfed by the flames, and before they could even scream, they were reduced to charcoal.

The firebird landed beside it, shook its wings, raised its head, and let out a short cry.

Zhou Song was stunned.

This is a chicken that is over a meter tall, with golden-red feathers all over its body, a comb like a burning flame, and a faint reddish-gold halo around its body.

Its eyes are like two black agates, exuding an indescribable spirituality.

It looked down at the remains of the Soul-Devouring Squid, then turned to look at Zhou Song and the others.

Zhou Song subconsciously reached for his waist: the "Divine Rooster Talisman" was slightly warm, as if it were responding to the "turkey" in front of him.

Zhou Song was taken aback. He took a deep breath and tentatively asked, "You—you were also created from the 'Divine Rooster Talisman'?"

He still vividly remembers the scene when Jiang Jun used the "Divine Rooster Talisman" during the last Qingjiang disaster, and the rooster crowed to light the sky.

How familiar this situation seems!

Huo Yu tilted his head, strolled over to him, turned to look at the strange object that the Soul-Devouring Squid had dropped, and gestured for Zhou Song to help pick it up.

Zhou Song quickly complied: "I'll keep it for you. Could you please take us into Santos City?"

Fire Feather nodded, pecked at his sleeve with its beak, turned and took a few steps into the mist, then stopped and looked back at him.

The meaning is clear: Follow me.

Zhou Song quickly helped Sun Licheng up and called the other two to follow.

Fire Feather walked ahead, his golden flames carving a clear path through the mist.

It seemed completely unaffected by the eerie fog and had an extremely strong sense of direction.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the fog finally thinned out a bit, and the outline of the street and the shadows of buildings in the distance could be vaguely seen.

We've arrived in Santos.

Upon entering the city, Zhou Song discovered that the situation wasn't as bad as he had imagined. The overall intensity of the strange disaster was far lower than the last time the strange realm descended upon Qingjiang City.

On many of the still well-preserved houses, he saw the existence of "Ghostly Prohibition", "Divine Chicken Talisman", "Gourd for Swallowing Ghosts", and even the latest "Peach Wood Sword".

Although there were still some strange creatures roaming the streets, there were significantly fewer than in the outer areas. Every now and then, a monster tamer would emerge and engage in a life-or-death struggle with the creatures.

Many powerful demon tamers also use talismans as a supplementary means.

Along the way, if they encounter any vicious monsters, Huo Yu will swiftly strike and kill them.

Zhou Song noticed that whenever this "turkey" passed by, the firelight would illuminate the street, and people would peek out from inside the houses.

Some of them knelt in prayer, others made the sign of the cross, muttering something under their breath, their eyes filled with awe and gratitude as they looked at Huo Yu.

Upon seeing Huo Yu, a young mother immediately lifted her baby high in the air, chanting "Phoenix!" and "Holy Fire!"

Things like that.

A Latino man with bone chains wrapped around his body peeked out of the alley. Upon seeing Huo Yu, he bowed and then asked Zhou Song in broken Chinese, "You—are—here to rescue us?"

Zhou Song nodded: "The Huaxia Divine Bureau has been ordered to come to the rescue."

The man paused for a moment, tears welling up in his eyes, and turned back to shout a few times into the alley.

A moment later, a large group of ragged people emerged from the ruins, including the old and the young, men and women.

They surrounded Zhou Song and the others, talking all at once in Portuguese. Their eager eyes and trembling voices conveyed the same message: Thank you, you've finally come.

Before Zhou Song could even exchange words with them, the sound of a car engine approached from afar.

Several black SUVs were parked at the street corner.

The car door opened, and several white men and women in suits stepped out. The leader was a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, accompanied by two members of the Knights of the Holy Cross.

They glanced at Huo Yu with a mixture of apprehension and disdain, muttering a few slang terms.

Fire Feather seemed to have been tainted by something dirty, and hurriedly ran away to seek out the elite-level monster.

The man in the lead walked up to Zhou Song and introduced himself in Portuguese: "I am Fernando Costa, the president of the Santos City Council."

"You're a rescue team sent by China? That's great! Please come with me to the city center immediately; there are plenty of—"

"Mr. Speaker," Zhou Song interrupted him calmly, "we are here to rescue civilians."

Fernando paused for a moment, then frowned: "Civilians? No, sir, you should be protecting government institutions and—"

"Before we arrived, our orders were: to rescue ordinary citizens of Santos, regardless of their status or wealth."

Zhou Song's gaze swept over the well-dressed entourage behind Fernando: "The wealthy and officials in the city center are protected by your country's Holy Cross Knights. We won't overstep our bounds."

Fernando's face darkened, and his entourage behind him also showed displeasure.

He pushed up his glasses and said coldly, "Sir, do you know what those commoners can give you? Nothing."

""

"Our foundation can provide you with ample funding, resources, and even—diplomatic support."

Zhou Song shook his head, his tone remaining calm: "We're not here for money."

Fernando stared at him for a few seconds, then sneered, turned around, opened the car door, and walked away without looking back.

Several SUVs turned around and drove away, disappearing into the fog.

Huo Yu stood on a broken wall, tilting his head to look at the scene, and made a cooing sound, seemingly somewhat confused.

Zhou Song squatted down, took out some dry food and water from his backpack, and distributed them to the citizens who had gathered around.

An old man took the bread, his lips trembling, tears streaming down his face: "Gracas—Gracas—"

Zhou Song patted him on the shoulder without saying anything.

After those people left, Firefeather strolled back lightly, nodded with satisfaction to the four of them, and pointed its wings in one direction: "Clang—"

Zhou Song roughly understood what it meant: "You want us to continue following you?"

Huo Yu nodded and gestured to the Latino man.

The other party then called for the others to hide back in the ruins.

Firefeather flapped its wings and flew towards its home: it smelled an extremely familiar scent on the four people and thought that Marcos would definitely welcome their arrival.

Zhou Song and his three companions hurriedly followed, vanquishing monsters and slaying evil spirits along the way, saving many disaster-stricken people, and thus living up to the trust placed in them by their superiors.