Chapter 20: Annihilate Junior Sister, just like the sun.
The old woman held the statue reverently in her hands. As cultivators, they could all see blood energy swirling around the seemingly simple wooden carving, emanating from it.
Shen Lixia reached out and took the statue, cradling it in her hands. She lowered her gaze to the face, worn and blurred by time. In the depths of her memory, there was a long, endless scroll, now missing a corner after hearing the legend. She couldn't describe the feeling; it was empty yet filled with melancholy.
In the end, she simply sighed and asked, "How can I dispel this resentment?"
Simmons, a Buddhist disciple, replied to her question, "Since it's wood, just burn it. Legend has it that her soul is imprisoned in the temple, so it would be best to destroy the temple as well."
Shen Lixia looked up at the old woman. She had just drunk water and eaten some food after speaking, and her spirits had improved considerably; her eyes had brightened. The old woman raised her hand to touch the statue, trying to wipe away the deep red mark, but after wiping it repeatedly, nothing changed. She shook her head, gave a bitter laugh, and said hoarsely, "Please, esteemed immortal masters... grant Lord Ba complete peace."
The old man paused, then said worriedly, "With the statue destroyed, Lord Ba will no longer protect the temple. Once the barrier here is broken, the priest will likely bring his horde of ghosts to attack. You immortal masters should leave this place as soon as possible."
“Old man, what about you?” Tang Huairou sensed something was off. “Are you still going to stay here? If you leave too, how will the story of the goddess be passed down? Cultivators rarely linger in the mortal world. Why don’t you leave Kuizhou with us and reveal the true history to the world?”
Although they too could tell this story to the world, it's ultimately better left to the elderly. A cultivator might not enter the world for a hundred years, and a hundred years is enough for several generations to change for ordinary people. For the truth to be passed down forever, it still depends on the people. Perhaps, at that time, the demon could be reshaped through the power of incense offerings and return to the human world.
The old man fell silent for a moment after hearing her words. Tang Huairou knew that once a person made up their mind, it was not so easy to change it, so she also stopped talking and waited for the other person to think it through.
At this moment, Shen Lixia suddenly spoke up: "No, we won't run away."
Qiao Yanshen immediately understood her intention, and the corners of his lips slightly lifted—as expected of his junior sister. Only she would make such a decision.
Before anyone else could respond, Shen Lixia quickly said, "How long will it take to clean up this group of monsters who are left to fight each other? It might even bring disaster to Jingzhou. Besides, that would be too easy on them. We might as well kill them all now."
Simmons was the first to groan, "Fellow Daoist, have you lost your mind?! There are as many monsters as there are men in Kuizhou, how can we possibly kill them all with just a few of us? If your Senior Sister Tang were a sword cultivator, that would be fine, but she's a healer—"
Tang Huairou was displeased upon hearing this. She pressed the pressure points on Simmons with both hands, causing her to suddenly stop talking. She snorted and said, "If you think that medical cultivation is ineffective, Huairou also knows some other techniques."
The woman, whose pressure points had been acupunctured, was on the verge of tears—that wasn't what she meant!
Seeing that Xi Mengsi had quieted down, Shen Lixia continued, "Before I left, I glanced at the inn. The leader was the only one who remained conscious, the innkeeper. I think he must be the 'priest,' perhaps the backbone of this group of monsters. We may not be able to kill all the monsters, but we can break through the encirclement. As long as we capture that person alive and release him from his restraints, cultivators from all directions will surely sense the rising evil aura and come to our aid. We can also take the old man away first and guard the border."
After speaking, she turned to the silent old woman and said loudly, "Grandma, we are determined to take you away. Are you coming or not?"
The boy's bright voice echoed in the temple, seemingly possessing a strange power to invigorate everyone present. The old woman slowly raised her head and saw the boy's golden eyes, like an inextinguishable moonlight in the dark night.
I haven't seen someone so spirited in a long time.
In her dream, the goddess had shown her such a flamboyant young man. Dressed in dazzling red, he led a vast army through the flames of war, vanquishing demons and bringing peace to all living beings. At that time, the goddess was also behind the young man, standing with him, causing even the darkest places to be illuminated by light.
She was just a child then, fearfully clutching the last scroll that had been passed down to her, yet in this dream all her anxieties were soothed. Following the graceful goddess, she thought to herself—
The goddess was even more imposing than the leader.
Finally, she nodded and said, "If something happens to the priest, the others will be leaderless, and that will be a good time to wipe them out."
This means promise.
Shen Lixia smiled brightly, holding the statue in her hands. She activated the scorching spiritual power flowing within her body, and sparks burst forth from her palm, suddenly brightening and engulfing the statue. As the statue burned in the raging fire, the resentment that had been intertwined with black and blood red seemed to finally break free from its restraints and gradually become clear.
The girl gazed at the firelight, within which a phantom appeared, flickering in the flames. She saw that the phantom's face was gentle yet resolute, capable of being both a sharp blade and the strongest shield for its protector. The goddess, her robes fluttering, met her gaze with a look of astonishment, her lips moving slightly as she uttered silent words.
Shen Lixia's heart suddenly sank. She stared intently at the other person's unreal figure and silently replied: What should we do?
Ba smiled gently, her burning gaze still filled with the same reverence for her old friend. She leaned forward and gently tapped Shen Lixia's forehead.
An unfamiliar scene unfolded rapidly in the boy's mind: on a bustling battlefield, an arrow pierced the sky, shattering the clouds in an instant. A strong wind, carrying the heat of flames, made everything on the earth tremble. In mid-air, the arrow, woven from golden and red hues, split into countless streaks of fire, raining down on all directions, burning everything into a sea of fire.
In the long, dark night, it was as bright as day in an instant.
When she came to her senses, Shen Lixia could no longer find the shadow of Ba, and the fire in her hand had also disappeared, leaving only a handful of ashes. She reached in and turned it over, touching a small, crystal clear pebble, still warm, with a faint pink hue, like the color in the eyes of a goddess when she looks down on the world.
Shen Lixia solemnly handed the pebble to the old woman, who seemed to understand her meaning and carefully hid the pebble away.
Perhaps one day, it will regain its consciousness and return to the world.
At the same time, a faint cracking sound came from outside the temple. Shen Lixia looked towards the entrance; the mist had dissipated, leaving only the deep, dark forest ahead.
Meanwhile, in Quetzalcoatl, the gentle-faced priest suddenly opened his eyes, his expression turning fierce. He shook the copper bell in his hand, driving the pale ghosts scattered on the ground toward the temple.
Shen Lixia's fingertips glowed with spiritual energy, drawing a tactical diagram in the air for the group. Simultaneously, she spoke: "Later, Senior Sister and Senior Sister Tang will set up a barrier to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation and kidnapping Grandma; Fellow Daoist Xi, please add a Buddhist purification spell to reinforce the barrier. When they arrive, Senior Sister and I will hide behind the temple and use our divine sense to locate the priest and capture him. During this time, please try to attract the monsters as much as possible; I will then—"
The pupils in his golden eyes contracted slightly, a cold light flashing within them.
"Exterminate them all."
I'll just have to trouble my senior sister to run faster with the Simmons mattress.
After explaining their plan, the group hid themselves, while the old woman waited within the protective barrier.
Soon, monsters surged out of the mountains and forests, their pale, undulating figures resembling worms wriggling on the ground, their slippery skin reflecting a cold, eerie light.
They tried to enter the temple but found a transparent barrier blocking their way, so they immediately began to tear at it. Even here, there were still those in the group who killed each other. Some wrestled and devoured each other while tearing at the barrier, and the sticky gnawing sounds echoed in the silent night.
At that moment, several beams of pale green spiritual energy suddenly shot out, piercing through the heads of several of the monsters. The monsters then looked in the direction from which the spiritual energy had appeared, and saw a woman in green riding a sword, with a figure behind her wearing golden robes that shimmered in light, but whose face was covered in cold sweat.
"Get down." Tang Huairou stopped her sword within the designated area, grabbed Xi Mengsi by the back of her collar, and threw her down. "Fellow Daoist, live!"
As she spoke, she jumped down from another spot, gripping her longsword tightly, ready for a fierce battle. Hearing her resolute words, Simmons would probably have been moved to tears if she hadn't been grabbed by the collar and thrown down.
A healer and a dream cultivator ignited the fire; Shen Lixia is quite the clever little devil!
Just as he was cursing inwardly, a drought demon suddenly attacked, followed by several more. Simmons chanted obscure characters, and the golden light on his robe suddenly formed an arc of radiance. The more fiercely the demons pounced, the stronger the counterforce they received. They were blasted into the air, their bodies tracing graceful arcs before crashing to the ground into a bloody mess. After twitching a couple of times, they fell silent.
Another one, unshaken, opened its mouth, revealing extremely long canine teeth, its stench assaulting the cultivator's face. She frowned, dodged to the side, and then grabbed the drought demon by the neck with her other hand. With a gentle twist, a cracking sound rang out, and the pale monster's head and neck were instantly dislocated. Simmons shook it off, casually wiping her hand on her robe, several golden rays of light wrapping around her fingertips.
However, cultivators who don't usually go to the battlefield have many trump cards to protect their lives.
If you are unwilling to listen to the sutra, I also know a little about martial arts.
The two fought with all their might, their blades flashing and golden light scattering, leaving a trail of blood and flesh in their wake. Monsters fell one after another, one wave after another rushing in like an endless tide. Protected by their protective aura and magical robes, they were not injured, but they feared that this dragged on would become unbearable. Simmons wiped the sweat from her brow, looked back at the temple behind her, then at the overwhelming pale ghostly aura, and cried out in grief and indignation:
"I've never tried Jingzhou's famous hot pot before!"
Suddenly, a bright light flashed before her eyes. Thinking it was a monster's trick, she quickly fell silent and focused on dealing with it. But the light grew brighter and brighter, no longer shining directly in front of her, but rather descending from the sky—
Simmons looked up.
Countless meteor-like fireworks burst from the sky, their vibrant colors pure and unadulterated, unlike the deadly fires that seemed to bloom like beautiful bouquets in the night sky.
Behind the monsters' ranks, a streak of fire flashed and landed at one of their feet, illuminating her snow-white robes.
Qiao Yanshen tightened his grip, pulling the man's neck upwards a little more. The sound of dripping blood became clearer.
Seeing the flames rising around her, and even threatening to engulf her, Tang Huairou quickly ran to the stunned Simmons, pulled her up, and ran into the temple.
The sluggish monsters were instantly engulfed in the raging flames, unable to even utter a scream. All that could be heard was the crackling and popping of flesh and tissue being burned, accompanied by the stench of burning.
Seeing the blood aura above dissipate and the barrier sealing Kuizhou collapse, Qiao Yanshen, who was standing behind, released his grip, letting the man fall to the ground. He coughed as he crawled forward on his hands and feet.
With a flash of sword light, the man was instantly decapitated. Qiao Yanshen did not look at him again, but instead lowered his hand thoughtfully, feeling the coldness of the sword hilt.
Just now, when she was drawing her bow and arrow, she saw Shen Lixia suddenly frown and cold sweat trickle down her forehead.
His appearance clearly showed that he was in extreme pain.
A note from the author:
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I wrote this in a hurry, I'll revise it later!
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