Chapter 109: Retirement Day 109: An Xin Dies, I Will Let Him...
Gong Xiang's face was solemn, and the Sanqing Bell behind him was magnified countless times by magic, like a mountain hanging in the air. The slightly swaying bell made a dull sound, striking the hearts of people and ghosts directly.
His eyes were fixed on Sang Qiqi, and his shock at Sang Qiqi's methods turned into relief after Ping Yangzi's words.
Indeed, it would be ridiculous if the nine of them combined forces could not kill a single evil ghost!
Thinking of this, the swing arc of the Sanqing Bell behind him began to become larger, and the speed of the swing also changed from "dang-dang-dang" to "dangdangdang". The rapid sound was extremely harsh. Several Taoists were obviously familiar with this movement, but Sang Qiqi was not. She clearly felt a bit of dullness coming from inside her body, as if there was a hand trying to gather and grab her heart at the chest, and then quickly crush it when she became powerless.
Hui Ming and his group noticed the change in Sang Qiqi's expression, and their uneasiness immediately turned into excitement.
Sure enough, ghosts are ghosts.
No matter how powerful a ghost is, it has to withstand the natural suppression force when facing Taoist priests and magic weapons!
So everyone stopped hesitating and brought out their best skills.
Hui Ming sat cross-legged on the ground, his talisman hanging suspended in mid-air. Gong Xiang and the others quickly dispersed to other positions, forming a nine-person circle, attempting to completely encircle Sang Qiqi, leaving her no room for escape. Suddenly, all sorts of talismans reappeared, and all manner of curses rained down upon Sang Qiqi without mercy. Amidst this chaos, a strange shadow emerged from the black fog, landing on the ground and gradually expanding its area.
Within seconds, the shadow quickly covered the entire ground in the space.
Seeing this, Hui Ming and the others immediately applied talismans to their bodies, narrowly avoiding the shadow's spread. Meanwhile, Sang Qiqi, who had also observed the scene, was surprised to find that the Taoist priest, a step behind, had his shoes nearly melted into a puddle when he touched the shadow. The surrounding black mist, flowing and permeating, actually made a crackling sound, as if it were burning, when it came into contact with the shadow.
...Pingyangzi's curse seems interesting.
I just don’t know whether he is willing to teach.
Her thoughts drifted away for a second, then were quickly pulled back as the shadows gradually approached. Sang Qiqi looked around, her lips curling up slowly. The dark environment she had created was indeed the best way to breed shadows, but she also had some ways to create light.
As the shadow lurked and crawled to her feet, a piece of talisman paper appeared between Sang Qiqi's fingers.
"Talisman paper?"
Hui Ming was stunned by this simple action. Sang Qiqi was a ghost, and a big ghost that looked extremely ferocious. Why did she take out a talisman paper for no apparent reason?
Hui Ming and the others, bewildered, frowned in unison until the girl's practiced hand gestures were imprinted in their eyes. The magical instrument used to deal with the ten thousand yuan had been returned to Ming Xin. As usual, Sang Qi Qi used her own method to infuse countless ghostly energy into the talisman paper. The black mist was absorbed by the talisman paper and then burst out at a rapid speed. In an instant, countless flames shot up into the sky. The flames flew into the sky like meteors and fell from the sky, landing on the shadows, illuminating a large area of the pitch-black environment and burning the shadows, emitting a strong and foul smell.
"This... How is this possible!" Gong Xiang's voice was a little distorted in shock. "How can a ghost like you know magic?"
"I learned it." Sang Qiqi flicked her fingers, and more talisman paper appeared between her long fingers. Watching the shadow gradually ignite with flames, like a spark igniting a prairie fire, the fiery red light quickly spread out. She curled her lips and said, "Even though I've only learned it for a few days, I think it should be no problem for me to fight a few moves with you guys."
Dozens of talismans hung in mid-air, radiating various curses through the thick black mist surrounding her. Within a second, Huiming felt a slight itch creeping up his body. Sensing something was amiss, he lowered his head and unzipped the sleeve of his robe, only to see shadows bulge beneath his arm. Then, with a sizzling sound, a dark-green branch burst through the skin, blood gushing from the ruptured veins. The blood was quickly absorbed by the roots, and then, before everyone's eyes, a flower bud sprouted from the branch.
What?!
Huiming's face paled at the sudden sight, and he instinctively grabbed the flower bud and tried to pull it out. The hooded man beside him noticed his movements and shouted in a hoarse, unpleasant voice, "Wait!"
But it was too late.
The bud, along with its stem, was torn off. However, unlike what one might imagine, as the branch was pulled up, countless dense roots supported the skin, leaving traces of curves and bulges on the outside. Then, a sizzling sound was heard, and Huiming let out a sharp scream as the entire skin on his arm was torn away along with the stem.
In an instant, the skinned arm was reduced to a bloody skeleton.
Grass.
Even the experienced Gong Xiang and his companions couldn't help but take a step back upon seeing this, their eyes tinged with fear as they looked at Sang Qiqi. But they had obviously forgotten that the curse on Hui Ming came from only one of the talismans in front of Sang Qiqi; the others were still staring at them intently.
The first person to sense something was wrong was an old Taoist priest with a black mole on his face. He suddenly felt his body become stiff, and the fingers holding the whisk became petrified bit by bit. With a click, the magic weapon fell to the ground without warning, and wherever he looked, he saw that the skin began to change color, and it seemed to be covered with a thick layer of lime powder.
Seeing this, Gong Xiang immediately formed a hand seal and enveloped the Taoist priest with the glow of his talisman paper. That glow competed with the lime-colored hue on the Taoist priest's arm, a tug-of-war. But as the demonic energy within Sang Qiqi's talisman paper gathered more and more, the lime-colored hue instantly expanded from the thickness of a small snake to a massive python. In an instant, the glow was completely consumed, and the lime-colored hue spread rapidly, covering the Taoist priest's entire body in the blink of an eye.
A strong wind blew, and the strong force made the old Taoist's stiff body shake.
Gong Xiang quickly recovered from his spell failure and raised his arms to try to support the falling Taoist priest. But at the moment his palms touched the Taoist priest's back, the Taoist priest opened his eyes wide, and his palms shattered into countless pieces with a snap. The pieces were then blown by the wind and turned into debris and dust, which hit his face.
The debris hitting his face did not cause any pain, but Gong Xiang's eyes, mouth and nose seemed to be covered, and he had difficulty breathing for a while.
The same goes for others.
No one expected that the head of a branch of the Jiuyou Tongshen Society would die in such a simple way at the hands of Sang Qiqi.
What's more, there is not even time to struggle and change bodies before death.
Seeing the soul-binding chains spreading from Sang Qiqi's body easily hooking the old Taoist's soul and pulling it back, Gong Xiang and the others turned pale.
Until Ping Yangzi shouted angrily: "Don't waste time and let her defeat you one by one, hurry up!"
He tapped the talisman paper with his whisk, and layers of scarlet light instantly enveloped the remaining people like a barrier, attempting to block out all of Sang Qiqi's strange curses. Ping Yangzi's abilities were clearly far superior to those around him. When Sang Qiqi rammed the black mist into the barrier, it made a thud-thud-thud sound, but it remained sturdy and firm.
Gong Xiang heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this scene.
But when he caught a glimpse of Huiming out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly took a deep breath.
It had only been a short time, and Huiming's body was already covered in flowers! The branches not only penetrated Huiming's skin, but even penetrated his clothes. They were so dense that they looked like fungi growing on rotten wood in the mountains. They even swayed gently in the wind, which was creepy.
"What should we do with Huiming?!" Gong Xiang, who had gained some breathing space with the help of Pingyangzi's barrier, asked anxiously. In the past, his relationship with Huiming was just average, but now that he had seen how powerful Sang Qiqi was, he naturally knew that if they lost more people, Sang Qiqi would be even more difficult to deal with.
Therefore, Huiming must be rescued!
The hooded man frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on Huiming's bloody arm and pale face. He said in a deep voice, "This woman's curse is quite powerful. It will probably be difficult to break it."
It might be possible to break the curse with their abilities, but the biggest problem now is that they don't have enough time.
"I'll try." Pingyangzi stepped forward with a serious face, muttering obscure words in his mouth, and quickly made hand seals, but the seal appeared from behind Huiming, lasted only a few seconds and then disappeared, and Huiming looked even weaker than before.
Everyone clearly saw that the blood color on his body gradually faded, and his fat figure became thin and tall in a short period of time. The flesh piled up on his body seemed to be swallowed up in the blink of an eye. In contrast, the flower buds on Huiming's body, which grew from his face, neck, arms, and chest, now bloomed in large areas.
this……
Weird, so weird!
Gong Xiang couldn't help but growl, "Where on earth does this woman come from? How could she possess such a horrible thing? She doesn't look like a decent person at all!"
The hooded man sneered at this. "A decent person? She's a ghost, have you forgotten?"
Gong Xiang choked.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly gloomy due to Huiming's condition, Pingyangzi unexpectedly opened his Qiankun bag and pulled out a corpse, preserved intact by talisman paper. He looked at Huiming, his meaning clear, and the latter nodded frantically.
Gong Xiang and the others found him horrified, and so did he. Furthermore, because he could clearly feel his flesh and blood being swallowed and absorbed by the branches, he felt an immense panic.
He couldn't understand how such a beautiful girl like Sang Qiqi could be so cruel and vicious!
He tried to open his mouth, but a branch also emerged from it. Unable to do so, he could only use his eyes to urge Pingyangzi to quickly replace his soul. Pingyangzi didn't waste any time at this moment. With a slight movement of his fingertips, the peach wood sword touched the talisman paper, and a vague soul gradually emerged from Huiming's body. However, with just one glance, everyone present fell silent.
Even Ping Yangzi's hand movements paused for a moment.
…Those flower buds are actually filled with Huiming’s soul!
"Wow!" An exclamation rang out from her ears. Through the thin but extremely solid barrier, Sang Qiqi stared at Hui Ming's soul and couldn't help but applaud like a seal. She even took out her phone and snapped away frantically, boasting, "As expected of me, my new and improved curse is really powerful."
After a pause, she seemed to remember something and suddenly said to Ping Yangzi and his group, "Oh, by the way, I suggest you stay away from him. If the flowers bloom, the pollen will spread."
Several people's faces changed instantly and they took two steps back.
But Gong Xiang, who was closest to Hui Ming at the time, suddenly felt an itch coming from his body. An idea struck him, and he quickly pulled up his sleeve. His skin was bulging, as if something was trying to get out. It was exactly the same scene that had just occurred to Hui Ming!
Witnessing the terrifying power of this curse on Huiming, Gong Xiang looked at his arm again, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. His eyes began to swell with bloodshot. He tried to call for help from Pingyangzi, but when he looked up, he found that the people who had been close to him had silently retreated several steps, putting some distance between them and him.
Then, someone unexpectedly said, "Even souls are like this. Once you're caught in this curse, there's absolutely no way to break it. Pingyangzi, throw them out. Otherwise, when the buds bloom and the pollen spreads again, none of us will be able to escape!"
The moment he finished speaking, Huiming and Gong Xiang suddenly looked up and stared at him intently.
"Geng Cao, are you still human?"
Geng Cao's expression remained unchanged as he said in a deep voice, "This is for everyone's consideration."
Pingyangzi remained silent, but his gleaming eyes clearly told everyone he was moved by Geng Cao's proposal. Caught off guard, Huiming and Gongxiang felt a sudden, painful squeeze, and their breathing became difficult. Between them and Pingyangzi's group, a faintly shimmering barrier loomed, creating a natural barrier that separated the two sides.
The flowers on Huiming's body had almost completely bloomed. His body shrank suddenly, and his bones became extremely loose. He could no longer support himself and fell to the ground with a thud. He lay prostrate on the ground, his arms, only bones left, slowly reaching towards the barrier in front of him. But the moment his fingers touched the barrier, his bones seemed to have been hit by a heavy impact, and they shattered into powder.
Hui Ming's consciousness began to fade. Sang Qiqi walked over to his side, raised her eyebrows and said, "Don't worry, I'll let them accompany you."
Immediately, her palm was placed on the barrier.
Like Hui Ming, Sang Qiqi also felt a strong force accompanied by burning heat piercing into her palm, but she curled her red lips and took a deep breath. All the black mist flowing around her gathered into her body in an instant, and then smashed out from her palm!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of collision continued, and Pingyangzi and others who were inside the barrier suddenly felt the trembling and shaking of the ground. At the same time, countless black fogs rolled up a hurricane and swept in from the other side. When approaching the barrier, it condensed into an extremely sharp dagger and pierced into the barrier.
Click, click, click.
The moment the subtle sound rang in his ear, Ping Yangzi's expression suddenly changed. Almost as a subconscious reaction, he suddenly pulled his legs out, and the moment he stood up, the barrier that had become like a protective umbrella suddenly shattered.
Then, the strange air and flying pollen all blew towards me at this moment.
Everyone was horrified, erecting barriers to block the attack. But Sang Qiqi didn't give them another chance. The talisman dangling in front of her remained motionless for a long moment, until she immersed a wisp of ghostly energy into it. Then, a slender, lean hand with sharp nails emerged from within. Again, without revealing its entire form, only a forearm, the black mist and imposing aura it carried lashed out at the Taoists like a violent storm.
The black robe of the hooded man was torn by the wind blade, and the hood was blown away, revealing his entire face.
His ugly features were set against his bumpy skin. One of his eyes was a normal black, while the other had a hint of scarlet. His face seemed to be split in two, looking extremely strange.
Sang Qiqi's attention was drawn to him. After a few careful glances, she let out a wow and rubbed her chin, exclaiming, "Interesting."
There are two souls squeezed into one body, one belongs to a human and the other belongs to a ghost.
If they can get along harmoniously... then they have some skills.
But it doesn't matter now.
As the crazy wind blew the Taoists away, they suddenly realized that they had become light and floating. When they looked closely, they were shocked to see that their bodies were actually swept up in the air by the wind.
"What the hell…"
Unspeakable shock overflowed from their throats, and the faces of several Taoists had turned pale.
If they still don't understand at this point that they are powerless against Sang Qiqi, then they are really stupid!
All their struggles are like an ant trying to shake a tree!
But the opposite of them was the hooded man. After his soul was peeled out of his body, he went to the body on the ground that was originally intended to receive Hui Ming without hesitation. Unfortunately, the moment his fingers touched the cold skin of the corpse, Sang Qiqi stepped on the corpse's neck.
Facing the hooded man's suddenly wide eyes and the heartbreaking "Stop", Sang Qiqi pushed hard on her toes.
Click.
The larynx was shattered into pieces by her force, and the head of the corpse fell down with a snap, and was kicked away by Sang Qiqi.
The hooded man, who had witnessed the entire incident, was visibly choking with blood, his hoarse voice emitting a spurting blood. His eyes were filled with ferocious malice as he looked at Sang Qiqi. But Sang Qiqi's expression remained unchanged. He used the soul-binding chains to trap the Taoists, leaving them with no chance of resistance, and tossed them into the Qiankun sack.
Then, his gaze slowly turned to Pingyangzi, who was the only one left at the scene.
Pingyangzi was indeed the most capable among the nine Taoists, and he was able to barely avoid the collision that caused the separation of his body and soul.
but……
Sang Qiqi tilted her head to watch him kneel on one knee, panting like an old dog with his mouth wide open. His black and gold robe was tattered, and bloody wounds could be vaguely seen beneath the tatters. But the most striking thing was the ferocious expression on his face. A wisp of black mist swung towards him again, and this time Pingyangzi could only roll awkwardly on the ground to avoid the attack. Unfortunately, he dodged the black mist, but completely forgot that Sang Qiqi was standing beside him.
She leaned over, stepped on Ping Yangzi's calf with her toes, and inserted her fingers into his wound, grabbing his soul.
With a crackling sound.
"ah--!"
A hoarse scream instantly pierced his eardrums, and Sang Qiqi, expressionless, ripped his soul out. The intense pain caused Ping Yangzi's soul to twitch wildly. Sang Qiqi curled her lips and said with a half-smile, "I heard from Qianxu that you like to switch souls. This is your first time trying to separate your soul and body without talisman paper as a medium. How does it feel?"
Pingyangzi was in so much pain that he couldn't speak, but his open eyes were filled with hatred, as if he wanted to cut Sang Qiqi into pieces.
Sang Qiqi nodded to herself: "It seems good. I'm so happy that I can't speak."
Without wasting any more time, Sang Qiqi stuffed the Pingyangzi into the Qiankun sack. She looked around and took back all the talismans. The evil ghost's hand was still clinging to the talisman paper. She smiled and waved at it, saying, "Thank you, you are amazing."
He paused as he retracted his hand, and although he didn't speak, he waved it slightly.
The thick black fog around dissipated completely. Sang Qiqi glanced at the dilapidated house, raised her hand to remove the formation, tidied up briefly, then turned and looked in a certain direction.
Holding the Qiankun sack in her hand, the words of the hooded man echoed in her head—
After tonight, perhaps the spirit you need will appear.
Sang Qiqi always remembered what Duan Sui had told her about the disaster that would be brought about when the evil spirit took shape, and she wondered if Duan Sui could stop it in time.
…
Tengxing Province, Danlin City.
Late at night, the streets were silent. A ragged homeless man, carrying a heavy bag, trudged along the roadside. After a while, he stopped on a bench near the park. These benches had always been their beds. He simply placed his backpack beside his head and was about to close his eyes to rest when a nearby roadside screen lit up.
Then, a few lines of text appeared on the screen:
Fengshi Pharmaceutical, using science to create the light of hope!
To recruit drug trial volunteers, please dial: 0023XXX0987
Testing medicine?
The homeless man closed his eyes after just one look, but within two minutes, he suddenly opened his eyes again and dragged his sleepless body step by step towards the hospital that had a cooperation with Feng Pharmaceutical.
At the same time, in the most luxurious villa in Danlin City.
The young Taoist priest gazed at the massive golden statue before him, eyes filled with excitement. Beside it lay piles of corpses. As time passed, the corpses began to silently dwindle, and the golden statue began to tremble slightly. With each tremor, an extremely terrifying aura emanated from it.
When the aura completely enveloped the entire space, the golden statue slowly opened its scarlet eyes.
A light suddenly flashed in the young Taoist's eyes.
——The God has taken shape!
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