Chapter 43 The Tortured "She is the tortured one within the Taiyin/Dao Body..."
This nemesis stood unmoved beneath a crumbling wall, surveying the sudden gust of cold wind that had raised the soul-summoning banner—a condensed array that had stirred the earth's energy.
In the blink of an eye, countless soul-summoning banners have been erected on the ruins of the former Ghost Office, covering all directions and fluttering in the wind, resembling connected walls.
Several Taihang Dao disciples busily moved about within the walls built of soul banners, arranging array stones and drawing talismans.
With each completed corner of the array stone talisman, a cold and hard yin wind howled inwards, and the dark clouds above grew thicker and thicker, gradually obscuring the starry sky.
The disciples, who were drawing talismans with cinnabar, became increasingly uneasy. Before the ritual was even completed and no demons or monsters had been summoned, the clear night suddenly turned into a stormy night with dark clouds gathering.
One disciple hesitated and asked, "Senior brother, what exactly are these talismans we've drawn? I've never seen them before."
The senior brother paused for a moment, then said truthfully, "Actually, I've never seen it either. Liu Yun is a disciple of the Celestial Master, so what he has learned must be more complex and sophisticated than what we have. Just carefully copy the drawing, and don't make any mistakes."
"We dare not make a mistake."
The talismans are things that cannot be drawn incorrectly; every stroke must be drawn according to proportion. The slightest carelessness can ruin them or cause problems. Now, it is time to set up an array and summon spirits, so no one dares to be careless. If they mess it up, they could lose their lives.
The young disciple couldn't help but glance at Li Liuyun beneath the crumbling wall, always worried that a gust of demonic wind might sweep in at any moment, knocking down the precarious wall and burying him alive.
Fortunately, Li Liuyun didn't stay long before he moved away from the dangerous wall. He wandered around the ruins for what seemed like the nth time, as if he were measuring the ground with his feet, while also inspecting the array stones and talismans that his disciples had set up.
He then stopped, stood under the broken wooden beam, dipped his brush in cinnabar, and made a heavy stroke on the foundation stone.
As soon as the brush fell, an unusual cold wind suddenly swept into the Soul Banner Formation, carrying a musty smell, as if it had been sealed in some dark underground for hundreds of years and had finally been brought to the human world, making people feel uncomfortable and even more ominous.
An ominous wind blew, striking the Taoist bells scattered among the soul banners. Countless Taoist bells, attached to taut red threads, began to ring out in a tinkling, echoing incessantly.
Li Liuyun paused, his hand holding the pen still: Here it comes.
This indicates that the formation on this foundation is still connected to the things within the Taiyin/Dao Body, confirming his prediction; he could not hide it from the wind.
All the disciples of the Taihang Sect were on high alert, gripping their swords at their waists, focusing their attention, keeping their eyes and ears open, and guarding their positions in a state of high alert.
The young disciple inexplicably developed goosebumps on his arms and felt a sense of unease, a kind of unease that came with impending danger.
Sure enough, an extremely cold aura rushed in from behind, chilling him to the bone. Before the young disciple could even shiver, he was blasted away by the powerful force, and with a crisp crack, a sharp pain shot through him; he felt the bone in his left arm break.
At the same time, a long row of soul-summoning banners guarding the position of the junior disciple was cut off at the root, broken in the fierce wind. The sound of tearing cloth was incessant, and the soul-summoning banners were torn into pieces, flying all over the sky like tattered rags.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Even though they were prepared, they were caught off guard because no one could see it clearly.
"Do you know where this is? A few greenhorns dare to come here and tear down the soul banner. Is there nowhere else for you to train? You have to come and mess with the big boss."
You can only hear their voices but never see them.
The chilling voice blended seamlessly with the Dao bell, as if it were right next to their ears, ringing everywhere.
The Taihang Dao disciples looked around and simultaneously drew their swords. One of them shouted, "Who?!"
As soon as he finished shouting that, the red line beside him seemed to be touched by something invisible, and the bells attached to it began to shake violently and ring incessantly.
Distracted by the bell, the disciple suddenly swung his sword, the sharp edge slicing through five soul-summoning banners.
The sound seemed to travel everywhere, right next to his ear.
"I don't even know who I am, yet I dare to come here and cause trouble. I'm just a newborn calf, ignorant and fearless."
The disciple's sword strikes all missed their mark in the air, followed by a chill down his spine, almost freezing him to the bone. He whirled around, catching only a fleeting glimpse of a white blur as fast as lightning, before being sent flying, crashing into the crumbling wall and vomiting blood on the spot.
"Hmm? Just you little brats? Where are your elders who taught you how to set up battle formations and plant flags?"
Another Taihang disciple said with righteous indignation, "The few of us are enough. There is no need for the elders to come in person. What kind of evil spirit are you? There is no need to hide your head and tail. Why don't you show yourself at once and come out to die?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a cold laugh came from behind. The arrogant disciple didn't even have a chance to raise his sword before his body crashed into the pile of rubble, as if he had rolled over a bed of nails.
“You mere flesh and blood bodies can’t even withstand my fury. If you don’t want to die here, you’d better know your place and carry your bunch of tattered flags back to where you came from.”
The youngest disciple in the northwest corner craned his neck and retorted, "This isn't a tattered flag, it's a soul-summoning banner for you to carry!"
The lurking ghost seemed to have heard a joke, and its laughter was incredibly eerie: "So where did you come from, this filial son and grandson, to actually come and carry my soul banner?" She spoke lightly, as if teasing this still-childish disciple, "Unfortunately, even you elders are not qualified!"
The young disciple, still quite immature and not at all good at arguing, retorted angrily, "You... what a big mouth you have!"
"So, are you getting out or not?"
A blast of cold air rushed into his ear canal, like a chilling venomous snake burrowing into it. The young disciple, still quite naive, suddenly widened his eyes, feeling his blood run cold and his hair turn to frost. He was completely paralyzed.
The chill that seeped into his veins sent shivers down his spine: "No..."
"If you don't leave, then leave your life behind." The voice that pierced his ear suddenly turned chillingly cold. The junior disciple shuddered violently as a sharp, spider-web-like thread tightened around his neck. The voice whispered in his ear, "I gave you a way out."
On the brink of life and death, the young disciple launched a fierce counterattack, like a small beast fighting for its life. He brandished his sword wildly, completely losing his moves and discipline. He casually scattered a stack of talismans, which flew around like fallen leaves.
The thin thread was severed by the chaotic sword strikes, leaving a bright red line of blood around the young disciple's neck, indicating that his little head had almost been severed.
The young disciple, still quite young and inexperienced, was startled when he suddenly saw a blurry figure flash by, erasing the talisman he had drawn on the ground. The speed was as fast as light, and he only felt a blur before his eyes.
What kind of demon or monster did the soul banner summon?
The young disciple's heart choked in his throat. The row of soul-summoning banners behind him snapped in two with a snap, more swiftly than chopping melons and vegetables. He suddenly wondered how he had managed to escape with his head, whether he had just gotten lucky.
As the raised banners fell in large numbers, countless red threads tied with Taoist bells were torn from the fallen flagpoles, crisscrossing and weaving into a huge net that was cast into the void.
Li Liuyun, who had been waiting patiently, timed this moment perfectly. He leaped up and gripped the end of the net tightly: "Retract!"
The Taihang Dao disciples finally saw the illusory figure hiding in the shadows, stirring up trouble. It was teleporting out of the net woven by the Dao bells with lightning speed, and in the process, it erased the runes they had drawn on the ground.
Li Liuyun threw out a stack of talismans, wrapped in protective energy, and struck the illusory figure: "Heaven and earth are in harmony, evil energy disperses!"
The phantom paused briefly within the light of the magic net, before being forced to reveal its true form.
But before anyone could react, or even see what the demonic creature looked like, dust and sand suddenly billowed up. The demonic spider, trapped in the net, spun countless strands of ice silk, instantly severing the net woven from red threads.
Li Liuyun felt a lightness in her hand; she had only grasped a red thread less than an inch long, not even enough for embroidery.
"The net of justice has been broken!" The young disciple, still quite immature, stared in disbelief, his heart pounding like a drum: Could it be a spider demon?!
Until the demon in the dust and smoke revealed its true face, everyone saw its hideous and terrifying face, as if they had seen a vengeful ghost that had been torn to pieces in hell.
After the initial shock, Li Liuyun's eyes darkened as he recognized what the scars meant: "She is the victim of torture within the Taiyin/Dao Body."
His fellow disciple turned around in astonishment: "What?"
“That was torture.” Li Liuyun was shocked. “The torture of Gao Yao.” Ting Feng knew that she was the one who refused to tell the truth.
"So she's... a vengeful ghost?!"
Li Liuyun's intuition told her that it was not as simple as a vengeful ghost, but the resentment and evil spirits lurking within her were so intense that they were overwhelming, like a hungry ghost devouring a ghostly realm, devoid of any benevolence.
Bearing such deep resentment, he is definitely destined to wreak havoc on the world.
Without hesitation, Li Liuyun drew his sword and rose up, his sword energy sweeping through the dust and sand, directly slaying Bai Yuan.
Bai Yuan squinted, staring at the young man's swordplay. At such a young age, his sword had gathered the Qi of the Five Elements and cultivated Dao Qi. What a talent!
Bai Yuan leaped up from the ground, soaring several feet high, and the dust she raised surged towards Li Liuyun's sword energy like a huge wave. Then she swooped down, and her raised sword fingers also gathered a kind of energy, but it was a ghost energy that was not worthy of being called elegant, an evil energy that cultivators deeply hated and everyone wanted to kill.
"Liu Yun, be careful!" His fellow disciple drew his sword to help, but before he could even get close to the battle, he was blasted away by the clashing energies.
"Senior brother." The junior disciple quickly helped him up so that he wouldn't fall flat on his back and could stand up steadily.
“This evil spirit is incredibly powerful,” the junior disciple said. “Can… can Li Liuyun handle it?”
Having experienced the power of evil spirits firsthand, the senior brother was not confident at all, because when he tried to intervene, he couldn't even get close to the two of them. The battle was like a raging storm, enough to knock people over.
Li Liuyun's sword light dazzled everyone, yet he didn't manage to stab the evil spirit with a single blow. Several times, he was almost slapped in the mouth by the evil spirit.
The young disciple watched the battle with a cold sweat running down his forehead, feeling tense and angry at times, anxious and worried at others, and extremely fearful.
Neither side gained an advantage. On the bright side, the fact that neither side gained an advantage suggests that they might be able to handle the situation.
However, just as he was getting optimistic, Li Liuyun was suddenly trampled in mid-air and crashed down with a loud bang, startling his junior disciple into shrinking back.
"Flowing Clouds!"
All the Taihang Dao disciples formed a sword formation and rushed forward.
Bai Yuan's eyes darkened, a sinister killing intent flashing within them. Because of the stagnation and blockage of his internal energy, he couldn't even handle a few brats, who were running around like hooligans right under his nose.
Bai Yuan was forced to endlessly engage in swordplay with them, which enraged him so much that he decided to kill them all to end things.
Li Liuyun sensed the other party's murderous aura surge and roared, "Don't go!"
The fierce wind and malevolent energy swept over, but it could not stop the disciples of Taihang Dao from working together bravely and forming a sword formation to attack, actually managing to pinpoint the head of that great evil spirit.
Before they could advance even an inch, Bai Yuan's surging malevolent energy blasted them away, throwing them all out of the ruins of the Ghostly Government Office, their fates unknown.
Li Liuyun's expression changed drastically. Ignoring the deaths and injuries of his fellow disciples, he suppressed the surging blood and qi in his lungs, stood up, quickly formed hand seals, controlled dozens of his fellow disciples' longswords, and poured all his strength into his Dao Qi, launching a swift and unstoppable attack: "Subjugate them!"
The Daoist energy tore through the malevolent aura, and one of the sharp swords pierced straight towards Bai Yuan's brow.
Bai Yuan frowned and raised his hand, intercepting the sword hilt from a distance, clearly struggling to hold on. Just before his internal energy was about to stagnate, Bai Yuan violently shattered the longsword hanging above his head. However, several other longswords behind him unexpectedly changed direction, carrying heavy Dao energy, and embedded themselves into the foundation of the four directions.
A long gust of wind suddenly ripped away the dust and sand covering the surface, revealing a blood-red rune array!
She thought she was safe after wiping away one layer, never imagining that they had hidden another layer underneath, and that this layer was the real magic array that was meant to deal with her.
Bai Yuan's mind was suddenly shaken, as if his skull and limbs had been pierced by a divine weapon and nailed firmly to the "chopping board".
Li Liuyun finally caught his breath, swallowed the mouthful of blood that surged up, wiped away a drop of blood that had spilled from the corner of his mouth, and slowly said, "I think this formation should be connected to your energy channels."
Bai Yuan remained motionless, as if pierced by a long sword, his eyes wide open in horror, reflecting the swirling night sky.
Dark clouds loomed over the city, hanging low and oppressive over the rooftops, almost enough to induce nightmares.
After drinking his herbal medicine that night, Zhou Yaren drifted off to sleep, and then one dream after another began to haunt him. In his dreams, he experienced a series of fleeting moments. From carefree joy to imprisonment, from utter despair to waiting for death, he prayed countless times to heaven and earth, entrusting his hopes to the gods who had never shown their power. Finally, at the end of his desperate situation, he saw a pure white figure, carrying a death-bringing umbrella upside down in its hand.
He chased after her desperately, as if he had found a glimmer of hope: "Who are you? Are you here to save me?"
The man's voice was devoid of warmth, even colder than the death row cell: "No."
"Then you come..."
She said, "It's to announce a death."
"What?" Zhou Yaren asked, bewildered and stunned, almost woodenly, "Announce the death? To whom?"
He stared at her cold, indifferent lips as she spoke, word by word, devoid of any emotion: "Here you go."
"What's the meaning?"
"You are dead."
You are dead.
Zhou Yaren suddenly opened his eyes, waking up from the nightmare with rapid breathing. Before he could even recall how strange the dream was, his grandmother's anxious and worried voice came from outside: "It's already the middle of the night, why hasn't Bing'er come back yet? I sent him to chase after that girl, how come he's been gone for so long? Could something have happened to him? Why don't you go out and look for him?"
Old Man Lu said, "He's a grown man, and this isn't the first time he's come home so late at night. Don't worry, go back to your room and rest. I'll go out and check on him."
Zhou Yaren got up and went to the main room to call out to Old Man Lu, who was about to leave: "I'll go find him."
His grandmother stepped forward and pulled him back: "Ya-ren, why did you get out of bed? Go back to your room and lie down. I'll have his father go and take a look."
“Grandma, I’m fine. I have good hearing, so I’ll listen to where he’s still out so late.”
"Okay, okay, can you help us find out where he is now?"
Zhou Ya felt uneasy and worried that Lu Bing might run into trouble, so she sat down on a wooden chair, calmed her mind, and spread her spiritual sense outwards.
A gust of evil wind swept through a corner of the North, inevitably crashing into his spread-out divine sense. He heard a familiar voice slowly speak: "I think this formation should be connected to your energy channels."
Zhou Yaren suddenly opened her eyes, stood up abruptly, and said urgently to the two elders, "Lu Bing has not been found yet, but a friend of mine has had an accident, and I need to go out now."
"Eh..." Before the old lady could even speak, Zhou Yaren had vanished like a gust of wind.
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