Xie Lian turned around and saw that the person who had spoken was none other than the "Deadly Blade Demon." He said, "Your popularity is far too strong."
The ghosts all said, "A puppeteer... that's understandable. He has ghost energy too."
Deadly Blade Demon: "No, no, everyone, take a closer look. The demonic energy emanating from this 'puppet master' isn't coming from within. Instead, it seems... to have been contaminated from the outside."
While externally contaminated by ghostly auras, one could have gotten away with it, once they became the focus of the ghosts' attention, details would be magnified. When this Deadly Blade Demon first appeared to stir up trouble, he looked somewhat unintelligent, like someone with a celestial eye. Xie Lian had assumed he was an insignificant minor figure, but he proved difficult to fool. A ghost asked, "This guy seems quite knowledgeable. So, is there a definitive answer? How can we tell? Do you have any advice?"
Deadly Blade Demon: "Yes. There is a tool that can determine what he is!"
He pulled something from his sleeve. Upon seeing it, the ghosts immediately retreated, saying, "Oh my god! You're carrying a yellow talisman?! I think you're the priest who sneaked in!"
The Deadly Blade Demon said sinisterly, "You're wrong! I just killed a few Taoists on my way here and took their belongings. This is just an ordinary yellow talisman, only effective against small ghosts, monsters, and other scum. Since you all made it here, I'm sure this talisman can't do anything to you. Watch out!"
With that, he pressed the yellow talisman against his forehead with a snap. With a sizzling sound, the talisman burned into a puff of black smoke, leaving a dark scorch mark on his forehead. The Swift Blade Demon wiped away the mark and said, "Although this talisman can't harm me, it still leaves a small mark on my face. Doesn't this prove my identity?"
While talisman paper is used to fight demons and monsters, it can also be used to distinguish between human and non-human. Xie Lian said, "If you truly are a puppeteer, apply this yellow talisman to your forehead. See if it leaves a mark, and you'll know for sure."
Xie Lian remained calm, his mind racing, when he heard Hua Cheng say in a deep voice, "Nothing, brother."
Xie Lian knew he had it in his grasp, so he let go of Hua Cheng and calmly stepped forward, taking the talisman and pressing it against his forehead. With a sizzling sound, the yellow talisman burned into a wisp of black smoke. However, when the smoke dissipated, Xie Lian's forehead remained smooth, without a single mark left behind.
This proves that the evil spirit on him was contracted from outside!
Aside from the cloaked figure with his arms folded, hundreds of ghosts instantly surrounded them, shouting and yelling. Many bizarre weapons were about to be launched, but were instantly deflected by an invisible barrier. The ghosts were astonished: "Wow? You're quite advanced!"
Xie Lian spread his hands and said, “I didn’t do anything.”
At this time, Hua Cheng, who was standing behind him, spoke.
He walked up with his hands behind his back and said, "You country brats who have never seen the world, what are you making such a fuss about?"
"Hey, you little devil, have you seen a lot of the world?"
"It's true that he doesn't have any ghost energy. Who are you? Come here immediately!"
Hua Cheng said: "Nonsense, of course he doesn't have it. Because, I am the puppeteer!"
As soon as the words left their mouths, the ghosts felt a gust of extremely cold air sweep through them, as if freezing the entire area. Their constitutions were already cold, and they all shivered. "...What...is...going...on...?"
Hua Cheng said, "Just to let you see the world a little bit."
He withdrew his aura, and the ghosts finally stopped trembling. The Deadly Blade Demon, still apprehensive, said, "You... you're a puppeteer, and he's also a puppeteer. So who is he? No, no, he's definitely not. Who is he?"
Before Hua Cheng could reply, Xie Lian smiled faintly and said, "Of course I am. I belong to him."
The ghosts were confused for a while, and finally figured it out:
"So - so it's reversed? He's the master, and you're the puppet?!"
The Deadly Blade Demon asked suspiciously, "Then why did you say you were the puppeteer? What was your intention in lying?"
Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Because I find it interesting."
Xie Lian also smiled and said, "Yes. The master finds it interesting, and that's the most important reason."
After the female ghosts were shocked, they put away their claws and tongues and began to circle around Xie Lian and discuss him again. But for some reason, the female ghosts' comments on him were completely different from their discussion of Huacheng just now, and seemed much more unrestrained. For example:
"So this little brother is the puppet doll? Oh, I prefer those of this age, I want one even more! Do you really not make it to order?"
Xie Lian said gently, “Well…thank you for your interest. But, I’m actually quite old…”
"Is this made of human skin? It's been processed quite cleanly, without that cloying stench of a living man. Master, how do you take care of it? Do you use any perfume?"
Xie Lian said, "It's human skin. No perfume. Just take more showers and drink more water."
"Wow, I feel like this doll can be used for so many things! All kinds of things. The face and figure are pretty good, right? The skin looks and feels good too. But he's a little skinny, I wonder if there's any flesh underneath his clothes, hehe..."
Xie Lian had been maintaining a modest and proper smile. Seeing a female ghost with gleaming eyes trying to touch his chest, his eyebrows twitched slightly. Hua Cheng put two fingers together, raised them slightly, and waved away a circle of delicate hands and withered hands. Xie Lian quickly squatted behind Hua Cheng and hid. The female ghosts said, "Why? You have to say that this is your baby, and he has a bad temper and doesn't like others to touch him? I think he has a very good temper!"
Hua Cheng reached out a hand, lifted Xie Lian's chin, and said, "He does have a good temper. But I have a bad temper. If I like something, no one else can touch it except me."
Xie Lian followed his gesture, raising his face obediently. His stomach twitched from trying to suppress a laugh, but he still cooperated perfectly. He looked Hua Cheng in the eyes and said sincerely, "No. Three... The master has a very good temper."
Hua Cheng also smiled, looking quite satisfied. The two of them were singing in unison, performing with great enthusiasm when a ghost interrupted, saying, "I still think he smells too much like a human."
The female ghosts asked, "What else do you want?"
The ghost said, "I heard that the stuffing inside the human-skin puppet doll is not flesh and blood, so it won't bleed when stabbed. Let me stab it and try..." Before it finished speaking, it was frightened by a glare and dared not make a sound.
Hua Cheng said coldly, "Who dares to touch him? Just try. Do you think you can just touch something I hold dear to my heart?"
The ghosts had been intimidated by his aura earlier, and now, with his direct threats, they dared not make any rash moves. Unknowingly, they had cleared a large area in their center. The instigator, the Deadly Blade Demon, saw the situation was not going well and instead tried to smooth things over: "Puppet Master, please don't get angry yet. We haven't even entered the territory of Copper Furnace Mountain yet. We'll figure it out once we're inside. Let's not start a fight right now."
Hua Cheng glanced aside and said, "Instead of fussing over my doll, why don't you ask why that person over there still refuses to take off his cloak?"
Beside Xie Lian, a strange cloaked figure had stood for so long, never removing his cloak, his arms folded, his face aloof from the drama. But after Hua Cheng singled him out, the drama ceased to exist, and he became the protagonist. The Deadly Blade Demon stepped forward and said, "Would you please remove your cloak, my friend, so we can have a look?"
The cloaked man paused for a long moment, and just when Xie Lian was wondering if he was waiting for an opportunity to attack and escape, he suddenly reached out and neatly lifted his cloak.
Beneath the cloak was a handsome yet unremarkable face.
Such a person, thrown into a crowd, though not unattractive, would be quickly forgotten, their face forgotten altogether. This led to the ghosts being somewhat disappointed upon seeing his true form. However, Xie Lian's vigilance was heightened.
Hua Chengdao: "It's obviously a fake face."
Only Xie Lian could hear this voice, and he nodded. Sometimes, when some priests or renowned ghosts need to travel to the mortal realm on business, and it's inconvenient to use their real bodies, they'll transform into a fake face. In these cases, the key to the transformation is "plain and ordinary." Whether it's beautiful or not, the more ordinary the better. The transformation must be so that even if someone stares at it for half an hour, they'll instantly forget it. Only then can it be considered a successful transformation. The face of this cloaked man perfectly meets this requirement, so it's most likely not his true appearance. However, it's unknown what this person's identity is.
The Deadly Blade Demon held out a yellow talisman. The cloaked man took it and, without hesitation, pressed it against his forehead. With a sizzling sound, it dissipated into smoke, leaving a mark.
It seems that he is no longer a ghost.
After a while of commotion, the ghosts became a little agitated and asked, "Did any priest sneak in?"
"Who was the first one to bring it up? I hope we're not mistaken."
The Deadly Blade Demon raised his hand and said, "I was the first one to discover it, absolutely true! I definitely smelled the priest's...ah!"
Unexpectedly, as he reached this point, he suddenly let out a scream and fell to the ground. Startled, Xie Lian rushed forward to take a look. Unexpectedly, there was a bloody hole on his body, piercing his lower abdomen. Furthermore, the wound was actually stained with a faint aura, the kind only associated with priests!
The ghosts exclaimed in shock, "Look at his wound! There really is a priest among us!"
The Blade Demon covered the bloody hole and said in fear, "Everyone be careful! He wants to silence us!"
The ghosts were all shocked by this, as if in an uproar. They raised their weapons and attacked in all directions, shouting, "Who is it?! Who wants to silence us?! Where are they hiding?!"
After the Deadly Blade Demon had taken that blow, Xie Lian's first thought was, "Sure enough, people with such pretentious names are often the first to be killed!" He paused for a moment before saying, "You all saw it just now. My master and I were being watched the entire time, and we didn't do anything." He glanced at the cloaked figure. He also raised his hand slightly and said in a low voice, "Same."
Xie Lian leaned over to examine the Swift Blade Demon's wound, saying, "It's a sword wound. Are there any sword-wielding people here..." He turned and saw, speechless. The sword was not only the most popular weapon in the mortal and celestial realms, but also in the ghost realm. Among the four hundred demons and monsters, at least three hundred wielded swords, too many to count. Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, "If I had more yellow talismans like the one just now and tried them all out, I wouldn't have to worry about not knowing who it was."
Of course, he was just saying it casually, feigning enthusiasm. If a fellow priest had truly sneaked in, he didn't want to help catch them. It was impossible for the Swift Blade Demon to have so many yellow talismans in reserve. Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the Deadly Swift Blade Demon actually pulled out several thick stacks of yellow talismans and said, "Oh, yes!"
“…”
Xie Lian couldn’t help but want to look behind him: “Where on earth did you pull that out from?”
Deadly Knife Demon: "It's not important!"
Xie Lian said, “No, this is very important. Normally, you wouldn’t carry so many heavy things with you, right? They could be used as bricks to kill someone… How many Taoists did you kill on the way here?”
The Deadly Knife Demon glared and said, "About twenty or so."
...No wonder. Even if each Taoist priest only carries a few dozen yellow talismans, that adds up to hundreds!
Without further ado, the ghosts, eager to discover who the hidden priest was, quickly devised a plan: two by two, they would place a yellow talisman on each other's foreheads, observing to see if it left a scorch mark. Some of the ghosts were still a little frightened by the talisman, saying, "Are we really going to put it on? Will it scatter my soul?"
"No, it's exactly the same talisman that I put on them just now. It's very weak and will only leave a mark at most."
"oh……"
Hua Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, as if sensing something. Soon, the yellow talisman was plastered on the foreheads of over four hundred ghosts, looking eerie and comical. However, nothing happened after the talisman was applied.
The ghosts looked at each other and asked, "What's going on?"
"Hey, Fast Blade Demon, what kind of Taoist priests are you killing? They're so weak that even their talismans are useless."
Xie Lian had sensed something was amiss from the start, and now he frowned slightly. Just as he was about to speak, a female ghost beside him pouted and said, "I'm not going to stick it on anymore. I'm going to tear it off... Eh? What's going on? Why can't I tear it off?"
Several female ghosts screamed at once: "Me too! Why can't I tear it off?!"
Oh no!
At the same time, Hua Cheng said in a deep voice: "Brother, squat down!"
Xie Lian quickly obeyed, and Hua Cheng quickly covered his ears. The cloaked figure not far away also quickly pulled up his cloak and half-crouched on the ground. Then, “Bang, bang, bang, bang!” A series of loud booms, like exploding firecrackers, echoed through the sky!
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