To our astonishment, the shadows broke free from the light and "stood" up from the ground.

They transformed into indistinct, featureless black shadows, holding the same posture as us, staring straight at us.

I immediately felt a chill run from my heels straight to the top of my head.

My grandfather once said,

A shadow is the most important proof of a living person; only ghosts don't have shadows!

And when these shadows left us, there were no shadows left beneath our feet!

So, are we human or ghosts now?

Suddenly, I bit the tip of my tongue to snap myself out of that daze.

I looked around and found that everyone looked bewildered.

"wake up!"

I shouted, and the villagers all looked as if they had just woken up from a dream, as if they had no idea where they were.

I gritted my teeth. I don't know what kind of evil magic this dark figure used, but it was able to stir up my three souls and seven spirits.

The villagers were stunned because they had lost their minds.

Moreover, losing one's soul seems to be just a simple side effect; our real crisis lies in our own shadow!

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, and I remembered what this thing was.

This is a Shadow Gu! An extremely profound evil technique that uses the connection between a living person's yang energy and their shadow to create a malicious clone!

Moreover, if you don't find a way to destroy this clone, it will devour you and turn you into a true walking corpse!

How could a mere zongzi (a type of gluttonous rice dumpling) possess such evil magic?

Moreover, ordinary shadow poisons do not cause the victim's own shadow to disappear.

For a moment, my brain felt like mush.

Soon, these dark figures silently pounced on us.

These shadows have no physical form, and ordinary physical attacks have no effect on them.

I swung the peach wood sword in my hand, and the sword only managed to scatter them slightly before they reformed into shadows in the next moment.

But their attacks were exceptionally deadly!

With each contact, I felt my body heat and strength being rapidly drained away, as if my soul was being frozen and then pulled out of my body.

The villagers were terrified, crying and waving their tools, but it was as if they were attacking thin air; they could only watch helplessly as their shadow pounced on them.

At this moment, Luo Tianhe's portrayal of Zhong Kui seems to have truly stirred a faint trace of righteous energy.

The colors on his costume glowed faintly in the darkness, and the wooden sword in his hand was clearly more effective against the shadowy figure, but it was only enough to barely protect him.

Li Huai was in grave danger; the shadowy figure clung to him relentlessly, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

I was extremely anxious. If this continued, before we even reached the river mouth, all of us would have our life force drained by our own shadows and turn into cold corpses!

"Quick, come closer to me."

I shouted, and the villagers rushed towards me in a panic.

As they arrived, the dark shadows silently surrounded us.

Luo Tianhe asked, panting heavily:

"what to do?"

What else can we do? Just do it!

As I watched the shadows approaching, emanating a chilling aura of death, and the villagers' despairing eyes, I knew it was time to unleash my most powerful abilities!

"Squat down, cover your heads, and under no circumstances open your eyes, and especially do not look at your shadows!"

I shouted sharply, then plunged the sword in my hand into the mud beneath my feet.

In this situation, these villagers were not only unable to offer any help,

And when they discover that their shadows have disappeared, they will only be terrified!

If your soul and spirit are scared out of their wits and merge into those shadows, then you're really doomed!

The villagers were already completely disoriented and terrified. When they heard me say that, they immediately squatted down and covered their heads like ostriches.

Since my grandfather told me about the Shadow Gu, he must have also taught me how to deal with it.

I quickly pulled out a three-edged bone needle from my bag and, without hesitation, made a large cut in my right palm.

Immediately, bright red blood flowed out.

Ignoring the pain, I slammed my bleeding hand against the top of the peach wood sword hilt that was stuck in the ground!

"With blood as the catalyst and sword as the medium, the fire of yang burns the yin, and all shadows fall silent!"

As soon as I finished speaking, the "Qi" within my body surged forth like a floodgate opening, mixing with the pure Yang blood energy in my palm, and frantically poured into the peach wood sword.

I was pale and almost dropped my sword.

My body trembled, but I forced myself to stay alert. I've lost count of how many times I've bled tonight.

The sword vibrated violently, emitting a buzzing sound, and the runes on its surface lit up one after another, like a red-hot branding iron!

"Blood Sun Burning Shadow Formation! Activate!"

With a loud shout, a wave of intense yang energy emanated from the peach wood sword.

Like a pebble thrown into water, it spreads out suddenly.

The ground seemed to turn into the bottom of a red-hot pot, and a scorching yang energy rose up from below!

The surrounding shadows suddenly twisted and contorted, as if they were about to vanish.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain, as if I were being roasted in a furnace.

At the same moment, the villagers also let out painful groans.

For a moment, they forgot all my instructions, opened their eyes, their eyes bloodshot and their faces showing extreme pain.

"Master, what's going on?"

"Let me die, let me die, stop torturing me!"

Is this hell?

The villagers' wails rose and fell, and for a moment, the place resembled a real hell.

Damn it!

This was indeed no ordinary Shadow Gu. As the formation wore away those shadows, we felt the effects as well.

The intense pain made my vision go black, and the screams of Luo Tianhe and Li Huai made me extremely anxious!

"Quickly, cancel the formation!"

Suddenly, Old Man Ge Wang's voice rang in my ears. For some reason, as if possessed, I actually pulled out the peach wood sword stuck in the ground.

The moment I drew the peach wood sword, my face turned deathly pale.

I realized I had made a huge mistake, even though the formation was tormenting us while scorching the shadowy figures.

But this won't cause us any fundamental damage; at most, it will be incredibly painful, but we can just bear it and it will pass!

Now, I have canceled the formation, and I am no longer able to set up the same formation again.

I looked at old man Ge Wang, my eyes bloodshot with rage. If it weren't for him...

But the next moment, all I saw on old man Ge Wang's face was fear and bewilderment.

He stared straight at me, his eyes filled with undisguised fear:

"I...I didn't say anything!"

I swayed as if I had fallen into an ice cave.