Qin Luo and the abbot both shivered from the cold. The abbot then affixed a self-drawn protective talisman to Qin Luo to ward off evil spirits.
The two walked for more than an hour, but they didn't encounter a single ghost, let alone a human.
Qin Luo took out a hunting dog mechanical beast, injected energy into it, and then had it lead him to find the little Taoist and the others.
The hunting dog circled the abbot twice, then ran off in one direction.
Although the abbot was surprised, he did not ask any questions. His priority now was to find his disciple.
The two men had only been chasing the hunting dogs for a quarter of an hour when they were stopped by a barrier.
The hunting dog ran a short distance, then turned around and saw no one.
It even came back specifically to see why the two of them hadn't caught up, and when it saw that the two of them couldn't come over, it was so anxious that it kept wagging its tail!
Qin Luo touched the transparent barrier in front of him; it felt familiar, yet he couldn't break through it no matter what he did.
The abbot put down the bag, took out a ritual ruler, and swung it in front of him.
The sun, moon, and twenty-eight constellations engraved on the ruler shone brightly for a moment.
A chorus of wails erupted all around! The barrier had been breached!
The abbot carefully put away the ritual ruler, picked up the sack again, and dragged Qin Luo along as they continued running after the hunting dogs.
The two jogged for half an hour and encountered a group of pitiful ghosts hiding in an empty alley, sobbing.
Qin Luo knew that they were all victims of the massacre of the city, because even their souls were still dressed in tattered clothes and withered faces!
She couldn't bear to see them suffer, but she didn't have the power to help them pass on to the afterlife, so she could only turn to the abbot for help.
"Master, can you help them?"
The abbot glanced at the group of ghosts and shook his head at her.
"Unless the vengeful spirits that have placed this barrier are removed, we cannot send them to be reincarnated!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Luo hoped that Jingming could arrive quickly. As a Buddhist disciple, his presence would undoubtedly increase the chances of success.
Little did they know that Jingming's feet were practically burning from walking so much in his haste to get back to Chiling Mountain.
When he arrived in Shipo County, the chieftain said that Qin Luo had probably already reached Chunyang Prefecture, and he even considered buying a few fast horses.
But the temple keeper and his fellow disciples all said that cultivation couldn't be abandoned halfway, and Qin Luo would definitely be waiting for him outside the city.
Only then did he calm down and begin his journey towards Chunyang County, taking one step at a time.
Qin Luo and the abbot searched inside for a whole day before finally finding the young Taoist priest, Qi Yu, and Thirteen.
However, the other two, besides Thirteen, were not in good condition. Although they were alive, much of their life force had been drained away.
If Thirteen hadn't shared the pills Qin Luo gave them with the two of them, they would probably be old men by now.
Only Thirteen remained the same as when she entered. Qin Luo didn't know if it was because of the human skin mask, so she didn't ask any further questions.
The abbot looked at his beloved disciple with heartache and quickly took out the contents of the cloth bag to feed them.
Qi Yu greeted Qin Luo shyly.
"Brother, what are you doing here?"
Qin Luo looked at him with annoyance.
"Now you know I'm the younger brother, right? Isn't it great to leave now?"
Qi Yu, with a face that looked to be around forty, smiled at Qin Luo.
"It was my mistake, and I promise I won't do it again! Please forgive me."
Qin Luo didn't say anything, but took out a water pouch and told the group to drink quickly.
Although their faces didn't return to normal after drinking, they felt much more refreshed.
Wu Hua told Qin Luo in her mind to distribute some Bodhi leaves to the group.
It's said to be able to temporarily preserve its life, but it should be replaced promptly if damaged.
After listening, Qin Luo immediately took out a handful of Bodhi leaves from his cloth bag and distributed some to everyone.
"Keep this in your bosom; it will stop you from aging further. If it gets damaged, remember to ask me for it again!"
Upon hearing this, the group obediently stuffed the Bodhi leaves into their pockets.
The abbot looked at her in surprise again, but still didn't ask any further questions.
After all, these were people sent down from the heavens by gods; some rare items were actually quite commonplace.
Thirteen took out the Bodhi leaf from before and showed it to Qin Luo; half of the leaf had turned black…
It looked like it had been burned; with a gentle breath, the blackened parts crumbled away.
Qin Luo told him to throw away the damaged items and gave the group some pills, instructing them to take one every hour.
After they packed their things, they prepared to go look for Twelve.
The clueless Qi Yu had no idea that Thirteen had come to protect him.
Hearing Qin Luo call him "uncle," I assumed they were relatives and followed suit, calling him "Thirteenth Uncle."
Thirteen was caught off guard by his call, unsure whether to agree or not.
Qin Luo told him that it would be foolish not to take advantage of a good deal, and besides, such good deals don't come around often.
Once we get back to the capital, I'll change into a human skin mask; I guarantee Qi Yu won't recognize me.
Thirteen found this very reasonable and then began calling him "nephew" repeatedly with great pleasure.
Qin Luo instructed the hunting dog to continue searching for Twelve, and the group followed behind it.
In less than an hour, the group found him. He was squatting in the middle of a group of ghosts, listening to them recount the events of his past life.
"I'm not bragging, but I'm the best hunter in our village! I always catch the most game!"
Twelve, still cheekily agreeing, said, "Really? I don't believe it!"
The ghostly aura was spreading everywhere.
"How can you not believe me? I'm telling the truth!"
"You're lying to a ghost! You said before that you were bad at archery, but now you're saying you have the most prey. You're obviously lying to a ghost!"
"No, I'm not lying to you! You can ask my neighbor if you don't believe me!"
After he finished speaking, a strong ghost floated out from behind him.
"Yes, I'm his neighbor, and he always hunts more game than I do!"
Twelve looked at the ghost with suspicion.
"You didn't become the best hunter by stealing prey from your neighbor's trap, did you?"
"I didn't, you're lying!"
"Why are you panicking if you're not around?"
The ghostly aura was so intense it was practically turning into a vengeful spirit; a strong ghost pounced and gave it a good beating.
"I knew you weren't a good person. Poachers all deserve to die!"
Then several other ghosts said that their prey had definitely been stolen by him as well.
Once all the ghosts were fighting together, Twelve finally ran away listlessly.
Qin Luo really couldn't bear to watch this time. Did the Dark Dragon Guard train him to be a scoundrel?
Upon seeing them, Twelve immediately flew over and went to complain to Qin Luo.
"Luo Luo, they isolated me and abandoned me among these ghosts. It scared me to death!"
Qin Luo slapped his arm
"I'd rather come see you than come here! You seemed to be having so much fun!"
Twelve didn't care at all even after being beaten.
"Hehe! I'm so bored and can't find anyone, so I can only tease ghosts~"
Qin Luo rolled her eyes. Although she didn't want to talk to him, she still stuffed some Bodhi leaves into his hand and told him to put them away carefully!
Qi Yu made a point of going up to greet him.
"I hope Uncle Twelf is well!"
Twelve looked at the middle-aged man in front of her, feeling both familiar and strange.
"Uncle, you look much older than me, yet you call me uncle?"
Thirteen tugged at him and made a gesture.
Twelve was stunned on the spot.
"How did you get like this? Can you ever recover? What are we going to do when we get back..."
Before he could finish speaking, Thirteen covered his mouth, dragged him aside, and recounted the whole story.
Upon learning that he could turn back and even take the opportunity to become the prince's uncle, he was so happy that he wanted to kill someone on the spot to celebrate!
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