Chapter 282 Jinjiang (1)
When Master Ma carefully pushed the door open and went out to check, Master Wang, who was feeling a little sleepy after taking his turn to rest, suddenly woke up because of the cold wind that blew in.
Taoist Wang did not dare to be careless. He held the peach wood sword in one hand and the talisman paper between the fingers of the other hand. He stood in the middle of the hall, staring at Taoist Ma's back seriously.
The other people were also infected by the serious mood of the two Taoist priests.
All the voices of conversation disappeared, and the atmosphere in the air was tense. Everyone dared not breathe, held their breath and huddled together, praying madly in their hearts that nothing happened, and that they could just spend the night in peace and then leave quickly and safely.
But what you fear the most often comes true.
The door slowly opened with the harsh creaking of the door hinges.
When Taoist Ma looked up, he was suddenly met with a stiff face.
He was startled by the sudden surprise, and then realized that it was not a living person.
It's a wood sculpture.
The lifelike face makes the wood sculpture look like a real person at first glance. Only its empty and rigid eyes can reveal some real emotions.
It stared at Taoist Ma blankly, and seemed to look past him into the house. Even the temperature around it was as cold as an ice cellar, making people shiver uncontrollably.
With the faint light, Master Ma could barely make out the appearance of the wood sculpture.
For some reason, Master Ma actually felt that this face... was somewhat similar to Master Li's.
What surprised him even more was that the person wearing this wood sculpture was not wearing ordinary villager clothes, but a Taoist robe.
This makes it look more like Taoist Master Li himself.
But, how is that possible!
Even though Taoist Master Ma had prepared himself mentally for encountering ghosts, he was still shocked to see the person he respected most appear in the form of a ghost. His thoughts were affected and became a mess.
Taoist Priest Ma's hand on the door frame unconsciously loosened slowly. His eyes opened wide, and for a moment he could not tell whether the person in front of him was Taoist Priest Li or the evil wood sculpture.
Or...the ghost is actually himself?
During Master Ma's decades of career in catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits, he had encountered many life-and-death crises and had also witnessed the most thrilling moments.
He knew very well that the evil nature of evil spirits was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
A soul that has fallen into the state of an evil ghost will no longer be able to distinguish between good and evil. The longer its mind is infected by ghost energy, the more its original memories and emotions will become blurred, until it is finally polluted into an appearance that even the soul itself cannot recognize.
Evil ghosts hate living people and take pleasure in their suffering.
Perhaps, the evil ghosts knew their identity as Taoist priests, so they disguised Taoist Li and others as wooden sculptures, using a trick to make them think that their colleagues and masters, who they worked with day and night, were all evil ghosts. So they took action and killed those who were close and respected in their hands?
Or maybe, they are actually dead but don't know it, so in their eyes, the Taoist priest from Haiyun Temple who came to exorcise evil spirits looks like a ghost?
Many thoughts flashed through Master Ma's mind, all mixed up in a mess, making him stand there for a moment, not knowing how to react.
Taoist Wang, who was standing behind him, noticed Taoist Ma's stiff posture. He frowned and took long steps forward cautiously: "What's wrong? What's outside?"
As he walked, Taoist Wang soon passed Taoist Ma and saw the wooden sculpture outside.
His pupils shrank instantly, and he blurted out: "Master Li!"
But after he said this, Taoist Wang reacted immediately. No matter how much the wood sculpture in front of him looked like a living person, it did not have the aura of Taoist Li, who was intimidating without even getting angry and had achieved success in Taoism.
It's evil!
Taoist Wang grabbed Taoist Ma's arm and threw him back into the room. Then he raised the peach wood sword in his hand and jumped towards the wooden sculpture.
"Puff!"
The peach wood sword pierced the wood sculpture's chest squarely.
However, there was no joy on Master Wang's face, only fear.
He could clearly feel that the touch of the peach wood sword... was not wood, but as soft as human flesh.
It was as if the person he had just swung his sword at was not a wooden sculpture, but a living person.
Taoist Wang, who originally thought that Taoist Ma was accidentally possessed by an evil spirit, suddenly understood why Taoist Ma was in a daze.
Because he began to doubt himself at this time.
Was I really dealing with an evil ghost? Or was it actually me who was possessed, with the ghost hiding behind me, making me think that the person in front of me was an evil ghost, so I attacked... Did I hurt an innocent person?
What's worse, have I hurt Taoist Li?
Taoist Wang was so shocked that he couldn't tell what was true for a moment.
The people who stayed in the room only saw the two Taoist priests standing at the door in a daze, without moving for several seconds.
They looked at each other, not knowing what was happening outside.
However, the tense atmosphere in the air gradually made everyone tense, guessing that there might really be ghosts outside, and they were the kind that were very difficult to deal with.
Otherwise, why didn't the two Taoist priests react at the door?
Everyone nervously tried to shrink back, using the furniture and walls in the house to hide themselves.
Their hearts were beating like drums, and they could no longer hear anything in their ears. All that was left was the frantic prayers in their hearts.
Bai Shuang, who was sitting on the bed wrapped in a coat, suddenly felt that something flashed away in the corner of her eyes.
She instinctively turned her head and followed the light, and saw a figure passing by outside the broken window.
But before Bai Shuang could see clearly, the figure had already disappeared at the edge of the window.
Bai Shuang screamed and warned the two Taoist priests loudly: "Taoist priests, there is something in the yard! I saw it!"
"It looks like someone just ran past the window!"
This cry of surprise was like a knife, splitting Taoist Ma's originally confused mind and forcing him to pull his legs out of the swamp. He shivered in the cold wind blowing in his face, but soon came to his senses.
Taoist Priest Ma's eyes flashed, and he gritted his teeth and rushed towards the wooden sculpture that was blocking the door.
Regardless of whether it was really a human or an evil spirit, he chose to believe his own eyes for the time being!
If he really hurts innocent people or relatives and friends, wait until you leave before asking him to apologize!
The most urgent task is the people he protects behind him.
Taoist Priest Ma thought so, muttered something, and formed seals with his hands to hit the head of the wooden sculpture.
He was chanting a spell to kill ghosts. If the person in front of him was a ghost, he would be killed on the spot. But if it was not a ghost, at most he would suffer a mild concussion and there would be no more serious injuries.
But the wood sculpture did not give Taoist Ma time to get close to it.
The wood sculpture that had been standing quietly at the door suddenly moved. It raised its hand and tightly grasped the peach wood sword that had pierced his chest. Then it exerted force with its palm and broke the peach wood sword. It then held the broken sword in its hand and pointed it directly at Taoist Ma.
At the same time, the wood sculpture opened its mouth, as flexible as a real person.
A hoarse and unpleasant sound came out of his mouth.
Even though the other party's voice was unclear and mocking, Master Ma immediately recognized what the other party was saying.
Because that was the spell that Taoist Priest Ma had just mentioned, and he knew it by heart, word for word, all of which he had learned from Haiyun Temple.
Ghost-killing curse!
This wood sculpture is not only not afraid of the peach wood sword, but can use the peach wood sword at will, and can even cast a ghost killing spell.
However, these methods that Taoists usually use to deal with ghosts and monsters are now in the hands of ghosts and monsters and are used against the Taoists themselves.
How ridiculous!
Taoist Master Ma followed his muscle memory and subconsciously moved sideways to avoid the peach wood sword that was stabbed at him by the wooden puppet, but he couldn't stop the shock in his heart.
If someone had told Taoist Ma before today that evil spirits could use the ghost-killing spell against Taoists, he would have thought that person was crazy.
But now, the most impossible thing was happening right before his eyes.
Before Master Ma could sort out his messy thoughts, he heard screams of terror coming from behind him.
He turned sideways and looked back, and saw that the people who had been hiding behind the furniture and corners were rushing out frantically, as if trying to stay away from the furniture as much as possible.
Taoist Priest Ma was confused.
But soon, as the crowd dispersed, something hidden behind the furniture that they were afraid to avoid was revealed.
is a person.
No, to be precise, it was another wooden puppet.
The wood sculpture also had lifelike features and a face. It was wearing a loose piece of clothing and was pushing open the door of the wardrobe and slowly crawling out.
Its expression was frozen in a smile, with its mouth stretched into a standard curve that indicated a standard smile. However, because its eyes and facial muscles had not moved at all, its smile looked particularly terrifying.
When the wood sculpture was holding the wardrobe door to climb out, some people bravely picked up things around them and threw them at the wood sculpture.
But the iron and steel kettles, pots and bowls smashing against the wood sculpture made only crisp sounds, but could not stop its movement at all.
Instead, the wood sculpture slowly turned its neck and looked at the person who attacked it.
The staff member who had bravely stepped forward was immediately frightened by this look and broke out in a cold sweat, and unconsciously took a few steps back.
Taoist Priest Ma wanted to rush over to deal with the wooden sculpture, but there was another wooden sculpture next to him, and it was attacking him, making it impossible for him to get away.
"Master Wang, wake up!"
Taoist Priest Ma shouted: "I know what you are hesitating about, but now is the most important thing!"
Faced with a dilemma, Master Ma gritted his teeth and chose the option at hand rather than the vague possibility.
Even if all of them might have died and turned into evil spirits without knowing it, it was still his duty to protect everyone in the program crew.
Junior Brother Yan was not here, and there were only the two Taoist priests here. If someone from the program team was injured, he would not be able to explain to Junior Brother Yan, and he was ashamed to see the official person in charge and Junior Brother Yan again.
Taoist Priest Ma knew that he was most likely being tricked, but he made a quicker decision and cut the Gordian knot.
If you don't make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences!
Even if it was a wrong choice, he accepted it! He took full responsibility for all the consequences.
Taoist Priest Ma roared and chanted the Golden Light Mantra loudly to protect all those who followed him.
After he dodged the wood sculpture's sword, he ducked and turned in the air, avoiding the peach wood sword in the wood sculpture's hand. He was careful not to get hurt by the peach wood sword, and then he pounced on the wood sculpture.
Not knowing whether the other party was a human or a ghost, Taoist Master Ma simply abandoned all methods of dealing with ghosts and used the most primitive and simple method, pressing the weight of his body against the wood sculpture, continuously accumulating strength through the potential energy brewing in the air, and then pressing the wood sculpture under him irresistibly.
The wood carving's expressionless face also showed a flash of surprise for a moment.
But the next second, the world was spinning.
While Master Ma was knocking the wood sculpture to the ground, he reached out and snatched the peach wood sword from the other's hand. Then he used all his strength, shouted loudly, and stabbed the peach wood sword straight into the wood sculpture that was being suppressed under him.
Then, Master Ma felt the same touch that Master Wang had once felt.
It is soft and warm, without the coldness and hardness that wood should have.
What was under the peach wood sword... was not a wood carving, but a real body of flesh and blood.
Taoist Priest Ma was stunned.
The wood sculpture let out a faint groan of pain, then struggled violently, knocked Taoist Ma over and staggered out of the yard.
Taoist Priest Ma stared blankly at the back of the wood sculpture, and... the warm blood that flowed along the way as the wood sculpture ran.
He sat on the ground for two seconds, looking at the blood on the broken peach wood sword in his hand, not knowing what he was thinking for a moment.
It was not until the exclamations of the people in the room were heard one after another that Taoist Ma stood up like a wandering soul, turned around and rushed back into the room, ready to deal with the wooden sculpture that had frightened everyone.
Even though Taoist Ma wanted to chase after it to find out what was going on and see clearly whether it was a wooden sculpture or a real person, he did not dare to fight, for fear that this was a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
Compared to the truth, he was more concerned about the people in the program crew who were unable to protect themselves.
When Master Ma rushed back into the room, he saw that Master Wang had calmed down from his previous daze. He stood in front of everyone and forcefully pulled the wood sculpture out of the closet.
Then Taoist Wang shouted and swung a chair beside him, smashing it down on the wooden sculpture in his hand. The intensive attack like a storm made the wooden sculpture lose its strength to resist and unable to fight back.
Then, without waiting for the wood sculpture to react, Taoist Wang pinched the joints of the wood sculpture's limbs with his bare hands and exerted force suddenly. With a "click" sound, the limbs of the wood sculpture were all removed by Taoist Wang.
The wood sculpture also fell to the ground, motionless.
Its head was twisted 180 degrees during the fight and twisted onto its back, but its stiff face was still smiling without stopping.
It seemed to be mocking everyone's futility.
Then, the pair of wooden carved eyes of the wood carving slowly dimmed.
"Crack!" There was a sound. Although no one was attacking the wood sculpture, its chest suddenly collapsed, followed by its head, torso, and limbs...
A series of crisp sounds were heard, and the wood carving collapsed as if it was run over by a heavy object.
A bloody stench emanated from the broken body of the wood sculpture.
Black pus spread under the wood sculpture and flowed unrestrainedly on the ground.
The stench was like the rotting and fermenting smell of a piece of meat that had been left in a box for decades.
Straight to everyone's head.
They gagged at the stench and quickly raised their hands to cover their mouths and noses.
But their eyes were too pungent to open because of the stench, and they could only blink desperately. Physiological tears flowed from the corners of their eyes to moisten their eyeballs, making them feel a little better.
Wherever the pus passed, people retreated, fearing that the unknown liquid would get on their shoes and trouser legs.
Only Taoist Wang was stunned as he looked at the collapsed and damaged wood sculpture in front of him.
The wood carving was smiling at his face.
But it was more like a mockery of him.
Taoist Wang only felt anger and panic intertwined in his heart, and a feeling of emptiness that he had never experienced since he became a master was spreading in his heart.
On the path of cultivation, Master Wang has never been confused.
Taoist Priest Li and Haiyun Temple are like beacons for all disciples of Haiyun Temple.
As long as Taoist Priest Li is still here and Haiyun Temple remains standing, no one will lose their direction.
All the predecessors of Haiyun Temple who sacrificed their lives for the faith have paved the way for their future disciples with their corpses.
——Guard the yin and yang, and protect the safety and happiness of ordinary people.
The way of Haiyun Temple is among the people of the world.
This goal has always been set far away, so that Master Wang can see where his path lies whenever he looks up.
Therefore, I remain steadfast.
But now, Master Wang is confused.
The scene before him overturned his previous cognition. The two thoughts in his mind fought with each other, with no clear winner. However, it made him wonder what was real for a moment, and whether he was a human or a ghost.
And the person he beat to death...was he a human or a ghost?
Taoist Wang didn't even dare to think that if he had actually died long ago, and what he thought was protection was actually hurting truly innocent living people, or even other Taoist priests in Haiyun Temple.
Then how should he deal with it?
Just as Taoist Wang was staring at the pool of rotten flesh and wood chips in a daze, a hand gently fell on his shoulder.
Taoist Ma sighed: "Don't think too much. At this time, just treat yourself as a fool."
"Thinking the other way around, what if those evil spirits want us to doubt ourselves like this?"
Precisely because of their rich experiences, the more mature Taoist priests are, the more and more complicated their thoughts will be when facing a crisis. They need to balance all the information obtained and choose the most appropriate way to deal with it.
Just like Yan Shixun, he never easily believes what he sees.
Only after calm and careful observation and inference will he carefully and solemnly come to a conclusion and decide how to deal with the evil spirit in front of him.
——is sent to the underworld, punished and then reincarnated.
Or they will be thrown into hell and suffer endless pain and torture for eternity to pay for their sins.
Although Taoist Ma is not like Yan Shixun, he treats all evil spirits and living people equally before making a final judgment.
His position naturally tends to protect strangers.
But after all, he has been independent for decades, has his own meticulous thinking, and has carefully referred to all past experiences.
But now, this experience that allowed him to deal with ghosts with ease has become a rope that binds him, tightly entangles his thinking, makes him indecisive, and makes him hesitate.
The same is true for Master Wang.
Because Master Ma had experienced similar psychological struggles, he could understand what Master Wang was thinking at this moment.
He sighed, squatted down beside Taoist Wang, and carefully examined the rotten corpse.
Then, Master Ma's face gradually became serious.
He discovered that the woodcarving that was hiding in the closet and attacking everyone was very different from the woodcarving that was outside the door.
The most obvious thing is the clothing and appearance of the two wood sculptures.
Although this wood sculpture is also wearing a Taoist robe, it is draped loosely and does not exude the integrity of an ordinary Taoist priest. Instead, it looks like a street urchin who has stolen other people's clothes to go out and play. The loose Taoist robe makes it look like a gangster.
More importantly, the wooden sculpture outside the door, which looked so much like Taoist Li that it shook the minds of the two Taoists, was obviously more sensitive and powerful than this one, and it left decisively after being seriously injured, and the blood it shed along the way was also warm and fresh.
No different from a stranger who had just been injured.
However, the wooden sculpture killed by Taoist Wang turned into a rotten corpse after its "death".
It looked like a long-dead corpse was hidden in the wood carving.
Taoist Priest Ma turned a blind eye to the stench of the corpse. Even though his eyes turned red and tears flowed from the stink, he still looked carefully at the corpse, trying to get more clues from it.
He thought very clearly.
If his guess is true—or if two completely different guesses are both true—then the evidence for their authenticity lies in the different details of the two wood carvings.
A new guess emerged in Master Ma’s mind.
Perhaps, they and Taoist Li and others were all under a trick at the same time?
Evil ghosts mingled among them, covering their tracks and confusing the sight of all the Taoists, trying to disrupt the battle and make them kill each other.
These wooden sculptures, who are wearing Taoist robes but do not look like Taoists and have rotten corpses hidden inside, are actually evil ghosts.
And the man who just looked like Master Li...
It is very likely that he is the real Taoist Priest Li.
Thinking of this, Taoist Ma's hands began to tremble unconsciously. He couldn't help but feel scared, but he also knew that at that time, he had no better choice.
Master Ma told Master Wang about his guess, and everyone in the program crew around him listened attentively, and were shocked by the horrifying truth.
"Wait, wait."
Someone was distracted by Master Ma and asked hesitantly, "Does that mean we have to face not only evil spirits but also good people? And the people on the other side are the same. We have to distinguish who is who between the evil spirits and us?"
Others exclaimed: "That's right! We could easily be mistaken for evil spirits by the Taoist priest on the other side and sent away directly?"
The crowd suddenly became agitated.
"Are those Taoist priests powerful? How do they compare to Brother Yan? They must not make mistakes!"
"If the people on the other side make the wrong judgment, then we are doomed, right?"
"Why is this happening? Aren't we human? Why have we fallen to the same level as evil spirits?"
"I used to not understand Brother Yan. I thought he always thought too much. I didn't know why he didn't just get rid of the evil spirit like other masters did... But now I take back my previous thoughts. I sincerely hope that all masters will be like Brother Yan and make careful judgments before taking action."
"I never thought that one day I would be able to experience the feelings of an evil spirit. This is truly an unprecedented experience in my life."
"Master, will we be okay?"
"Then, the one that the Taoist priest just injured could be the Taoist priest from the other side? Oh, this, this! The same people are fighting each other, oh."
Everyone's uneasy emotions could only be vented through conversations with their companions.
But the more Taoist Priest Ma listened, the heavier his heart became.
What everyone said reminded him of one thing—why do evil spirits look the same as living people?
If it is an ordinary evil spirit, can it really do this?
Several decades ago, the entire Bai village was wiped out because of the evil spirit. Later, even the exorcist was sacrificed, and the evil spirit was suppressed by using ebony statues related to ghosts and gods.
Taoist Master Ma is well aware of how ferocious the evil spirits are when they counterattack after a failed suppression.
But to this extent, he could openly switch the identities of everyone in front of heaven and earth. First, he used shadow puppets to hide from heaven and earth, and then he went even further, reversing the positions of evil ghosts and living people...
It is obvious that the avenue is leaning towards ghosts!
Humans are no longer the most intelligent creatures on earth, ghosts are.
Because it was still early when they arrived at Baizhi Lake, Taoist Priest Ma and the other Taoist priests did not know that Taoist Priest Li had already brought the other Taoist priests to Baizhi Lake, nor did they hear Taoist Priest Li's divination.
But the strange incident before his eyes made Master Ma gradually guess the truth.
When he thought it through, he did not feel the joy of learning the truth.
Instead, my heart sank.
Tao follows the laws of nature. The power that practitioners have that transcends the scope of science comes from the countless living beings under the Tao. They are favored by the Tao and rely on the power of gods from all directions.
This is why the decline of the Great Dao will have such a huge impact on those who practice Taoism.
——They cannot leverage any force, so their deterrent effect on ghosts and monsters is naturally weakened.
But at that time, even though it was difficult, the Taoist priests were still able to draw on the power of all directions, and the talismans and peach wood swords in their hands were still able to scare away the ghosts and monsters.
But now...
Evil spirits are in power.
How should strangers deal with themselves?
Taoist Priest Ma’s eyes were cold.
He stood up and said to Taoist Wang, "Taoist Wang, you stay here. I'm going out to take a look and will be back soon." Then he turned around and left, walking towards the gate of the courtyard.
If his guess is true, then he must find a way to convey the message to the other side, so that they can also realize that they are not evil spirits, but human colleagues.
They cannot fall into the trap of ghosts and kill each other, which will weaken their strength.
I don’t know how to sacrifice for such a meaningless thing!
Taoist Master Ma looked determined and walked out of the yard.
The deserted village was still the deserted village he was familiar with.
The village houses, which had long been uninhabited, were covered with blue-black moss, and the roads were covered with weeds as tall as a person. In the desolate and dead silence, the cold mountain breeze gently blew the weeds.
It seemed that the whereabouts of the escaped wood sculpture were completely hidden in the weeds and could no longer be found.
Taoist Priest Ma pondered for a moment, then took a step forward and walked in the direction of the swaying weeds.
He found that not all the weeds were shaking, but only some of them were shaking from near to far.
It was like there were invisible people moving through the weeds.
Taoist Priest Ma soon proved his guess. He followed the path where the weeds were swaying and indeed found a wooden sculpture.
But it was not the one he had stabbed before.
The wooden sculpture stood quietly under the eaves, half of its body swallowed by the darkness, and its head lowered, making it impossible to see its face.
Only the neatly-dressed Taoist robe on his thin body seemed to reveal his identity.
Taoist Priest Ma was stunned for a moment, then realized that this might be another Taoist priest whom he had regarded as a demon.
He walked over slowly, indicating that he had no intention of attacking, and asked the other party softly: "You are, Haiyunguan..."
Before Taoist Ma could finish his question, he saw the wooden sculpture slowly falling forward, and with a loud "bang", it fell to the ground.
Then something behind the wood carving was revealed——
It's another wood sculpture.
When the wood sculpture heard Master Ma's voice, it slowly raised its head and looked over.
Blood was still dripping from the peach wood sword held tightly in its hand.
…
"Master Li, this village is full of wooden sculptures with moving mouths and eyes!"
An urgent warning sounded from not far away.
The Taoist priest pierced through the wooden sculpture that pounced on him with his sword. Before he could catch his breath, the sense of crisis sounded a warning, and he turned around vigilantly to look behind him.
Then he saw that behind him, in the shadow of the wall, there was a wooden sculpture, staring at him silently.
The Taoist priest rushed over without thinking and wanted to get rid of the wood sculpture as well.
But he was a little slow and suddenly felt that the face of the wood carving looked very familiar to him.
Isn’t this...Master Ma?
As the Taoist priest thought about this, his hands slowed down. He blinked and looked at the wood sculpture in doubt and confusion, not knowing what was going on with it.
Just now, when the Southwestern Ghost Exorcist was introducing the wooden puppet with living mouth and eyes, he also mentioned that for many powerful ghosts known to the ghost exorcists, in order to successfully exorcise these ghosts, the ghost exorcists would generally first find out the identity and appearance of the ghost when he was alive, and then make an identical wooden sculpture based on the ghost's appearance.
In this way, evil spirits will be attracted to wood carvings that look similar to themselves and will take residence in the wood carvings, turning from invisible to visible, giving the exorcist a target.
The Taoist priest couldn't help but think that Taoist Priest Ma and Taoist Priest Wang had entered Baizhi Lake before them and have been out of contact ever since, their whereabouts are unknown, and their life or death is unknown.
Is there a possibility that Master Ma and others have died, and their souls have been used by ghosts after death and trapped in the wood carvings?
Otherwise, why does this wood sculpture look so similar to Taoist Ma?
For a moment, the Taoist priest was at a loss as to what to do and did not dare to attack directly.
He weighed the options, turned around decisively and ran out of the deserted house, loudly explaining his discovery to the other Taoist priests.
After this shout, many Taoist priests immediately responded.
After Taoist Priest Li first discovered something was wrong, the other Taoist priests scattered and checked the entire village.
As they searched, they were surprised to find that there were many wood carvings in other houses as well.
Moreover, both their living habits and facial features are no different from those of a living person.
It was as if this was a village where wooden puppets gathered, and it was the most normal thing, but they barged in recklessly and destroyed the peaceful lives of the wooden puppets.
Although the Taoist priests quickly struggled out of this confused illusion and re-established their defense, they disabled the wooden sculptures' ability to move and threw them back into the deserted house, and locked the door to prevent them from coming out and disturbing their investigation.
However, the Taoist priests still had some doubts about this strange sight.
Many Taoist priests have discovered that many of the wood carvings that emerged from the houses looked very familiar to them.
After thinking carefully, the Taoist priests exclaimed, aren’t these the people who were missing from the program crew?
Because many staff members of the program team neither appeared on camera nor sent back any news, the abbot was worried that the Taoist priests would not be able to recognize the staff members of the program team and would accidentally hurt their own people.
Therefore, before the Taoist priests set out to leave Haiyun Temple, the abbot specifically asked for a backup copy of the program crew list from the special department. The list contained the resumes and photos of all the people who participated in the filming, to facilitate the Taoist priests in rescuing people.
And now, the preparations made by the Supervisory Yuan have paid off.
But it also hindered the actions of the Taoist priests.
For a moment, they were unable to tell whether these wooden puppets that looked like the program crew members were real people or a malicious means by which evil spirits could confuse them.
The southwestern exorcists watched helplessly as the Taoist priests, who originally had the upper hand, gradually fell into disarray because they were restrained and dared not attack. Many of them were even injured.
He was so anxious that he slapped his thigh repeatedly and tried hard to recall the notes from his master's school that he had read, trying to think of something that could help the Taoist priests.
Suddenly, an idea came to me.
The southwestern exorcist shouted, "The ancestral tombs in the Bai family village are all empty! My master talked about this. He said that the missing bodies were probably stuffed into the wooden carvings with moving mouths and eyes."
"Master, I can't say anything else, but if there's a bad smell in the wood carving, it must be a ghost!"
With the words of the Southwest Ghost Exorcist, the Taoist priests immediately eliminated many options.
Even if they didn't know the true identities of the other wooden puppets, they could at least recognize the true identities of some of them.
Kill as many as you can. Killing one means one less evil ghost, and the situation will be better.
Just when all the Taoist priests regained their resolve and fiercely attacked the wooden sculpture disguised as an evil spirit, Taoist Priest Li stopped because of a statue placed in one of the houses.
This is a house with traces of fire.
Unlike the other dilapidated and deserted houses, this house was filled with boxes everywhere. When the lids of some of the boxes were opened, one could see the gold, silver and jewelry inside, which sparkled even in the dark.
It's like the owners just moved in here.
Only in the living room, there were four armchairs neatly placed.
Sitting on the main seat is a statue of a couple.
The man had a simple and honest smile. He turned his head to look at those around him and there seemed to be honey flowing in his eyes, full of anticipation for a better future.
That's his wife.
The female wooden doll is pregnant, and her round belly looks like she will soon give birth.
But her face did not show the same joy as her husband's, nor did it show a gentle smile, but rather a ferocious resentment.
She held her belly with her hands and looked straight at the fetus under her belly, her mouth opened as wide as possible as if she was roaring hysterically.
Taoist Priest Li could even see the belly of the female wooden doll bouncing up and down.
It looks like there is really a fetus in the belly of the wood sculpture.
On the armchairs on both sides, there were a man and a woman sitting respectively.
The man is middle-aged, but the woman is still a little girl.
They looked at each other, but they were on edge. They didn't look like a family, but rather like enemies.
Next to the little girl stood a slender and noble wooden sculpture of a man. He looked at the little girl intently, his handsome and mature face full of worry and pity.
But what caught Master Li's attention was not just the wood carvings in the room.
But... the black mist lingering in the air.
The black fog was eerie and cold as if it had substance, wrapping around the belly of the female doll in strands, as if it was intimately sticking to the fetus inside and was unwilling to leave.
Taoist Priest Li realized the uniqueness of this exceptionally magnificent house almost as soon as he stepped into it.
Even the air here is filled with a strong ghostly aura.
No...it's not just ghost energy.
Taoist Priest Li's expression gradually became serious.
In addition to the ghostly aura, there is also a more upright demeanor, as if it comes from the power of ghosts and gods related to death.
Taoist Priest Li, who is over a hundred years old, has experienced the era a hundred years ago when the Great Dao had not yet fallen into decline. He grew up in an environment where ghosts and gods existed when he was young, and has seen the Yin Cha and Fengdu Gui Cha with his own eyes. Therefore, he is much more sensitive in distinguishing ghost aura than ordinary exorcists and Taoists.
The ghostly aura at this moment made Taoist Li feel as if he was pulled back to a hundred years ago, reminding him of the day when he met the Fengdu Ghost Messenger.
This feeling is so similar to the one that the Fengdu ghost gave him!
Could it be that the vague ghost power mixed in with the ghost energy... belongs to Fengdu?
Could it be that Fengdu was involved in the birth of the ghost?
Taoist Li was shocked.
At this moment, the door that was originally open suddenly closed behind him with a loud "bang!"
The house was isolated from the outside world, leaving only Taoist Li here.
Taoist Li turned around suddenly and saw that the door was locked automatically.
The lamps on both sides of the door lit up automatically, and the flickering candlelight illuminated a space, but the shadows cast were like the fangs and claws of an evil ghost.
The black fog grew thicker and thicker, almost covering the entire house. Apart from a few vague outlines, nothing could be seen clearly.
When Taoist Priest Li turned around calmly, he saw that the female wooden sculpture who was originally sitting in the main seat was now standing behind him, staring at him with a deep and dead look in her eyes, and the distance between them was only a few centimeters.
If he had panicked or moved too much, he would have collided with the female sculpture.
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