The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 134 - 109: The Frenzied Drumming in the Ghostly Night (Part 2)

Chapter 134: Chapter 109: The Frenzied Drumming in the Ghostly Night (Part 2)

Lv San suddenly opened his eyes and got up swiftly.

The so-called mastery of bird and beast language did not involve conversing with them directly, but through the ear divine power, he could listen to the messages exchanged among birds and beasts.

Moments ago, the meaning of the bird language was:

On the opposite mountain, many people, yin objects, dangerous!

Lv San looked into the distance, his eyes filled with uncertainty and suspicion. Suddenly thinking of something, he hit his head hard and dashed towards the mountain at once.

He vaguely suspected he had fallen into a trap.

Initially, with his cautiousness, he wouldn’t make such a mistake. However, upon seeing the ancestral graves of the Wu family gully being excavated, his anger caused him to slip up.

The people in the village were good people, and they couldn’t die because of him...

Lv San ran faster and faster, using both hands and feet, leaping like a beast, while holding a Bone Whistle in his mouth, blowing an ancient and desolate tune.

Beast Taming Skill was not that simple.

This world did not have spiritual energy, nor any blood contract, and controlling animals to follow commands was as difficult as climbing to the sky.

Generally speaking, it was nothing more than the martial and the scholarly.

The martial way used whips alongside drugs, such as some monkey trainers with their monkeys and the Beggar Gang driving snakes and dogs.

The drawback was easy backlash, just like the battle at the Chaotic Burial Mound, where Li Yan and others used spells that frightened, causing some Evil Beggars to die in the snake formation.

The other way was the scholarly approach.

Slowly cultivating affection or relying on spells to convey goodwill, as in old times, there were witches who, when sleeping in the wilderness, were protected by a hundred beasts, which was also a part of Beast Taming Skill.

Lv San chose the latter approach.

His master was none other than that simple-minded village guardian.

No one knew what this simple-minded person’s previous identity was or where he learned the spells and martial arts. He was so reticent outside of this that he never revealed it to anyone.

He only passed it on to Lv San.

Lv San was nurtured by the village guardian, who oscillated between madness and lucidity, and he opened up divine skills, understanding bird and beast languages, becoming proficient in this path while being different from ordinary people by nature.

Wang Daoxuan was right.

Lv San was like an old dog. Though the Wu family gully was small, everything here made him feel at ease, just like familiar scents.

His converging of the remains was not because he felt much affection for those villagers, but because his home was destroyed, leaving him lost and bewildered, making him want to do something.

He even became an enemy with Qiao Sanhu for this very reason.

In the dead of night, the whistle sounded ancient and eerie.

This mountainous terrain seemed to awaken, as where Lv San passed, venomous snakes on the mountain slithered from cracks, badgers and foxes poking their heads out one by one, resembling elves under the moon...

...

In the darkness, Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes.

"Everyone wake up, there’s trouble!"

With a loud shout, he woke everyone sleeping in the ancestral hall.

"What’s the matter?"

"Are there wolves in the village?"

Though the crowd was initially a bit confused, they quickly realized something was amiss.

Although it was the first day of winter, and it was cold late at night, a bonfire could usually ward off the chill; however, the cold felt increasingly intense for some unknown reason.

Outside was pitch black, eerily silent.

"There are many filthy things!"

Li Yan stared outside intently and said in a deep voice, "Daoist, find a way to protect everyone. Folks, later on, close your eyes tight, and whatever you hear or see, do not be afraid."

Following those words, the crowd became more frightened, but at that moment, all they could do was obey the command and close their eyes tightly.

Meanwhile, Wang Daoxuan hurried to the offering platform.

There, the pre-prepared Five Grains were stored inside a wooden box.

Initially meant for the funeral, Sha Lifei bought a few extra pounds without knowing the depth, which came in handy.

Rice (white), millet (yellow), sorghum (red), mung beans (green), and black beans (black) symbolized the Five Elements, called Five-Grain Rice.

Clatter!

Wang Daoxuan recited the incantation, and with Astral Steps, he sprinkled all the Five-Grain Rice in the northeast and southwest directions of the ancestral hall.

These two sides were called the outer and inner Ghost Gates.

And this spell was the Five Grains Exorcism Technique.

After scattering the grains, Wang Daoxuan still felt uneasy and took out the two talismans for suppressing residences and exorcising evil given by Luo Mingzi, pinching the spell, and placed them on the two pillars of the ancestral hall.

He knew Li Yan’s vigilance was by no means simple.

Li Yan was not idle either, directly taking out the Cloud Thunder Divine Drum, placing it on the drum stand, and assuming a stance.

Meanwhile, an anomaly appeared outside:

Balls of green ghost fire appeared at the door of the ancestral hall at some point, floating and flickering.

"Someone is harnessing ghosts for mischief!"

Upon seeing this, Wang Daoxuan’s expression immediately turned serious, "Today is the Ghost Day for Cold Garment offerings, when the yin sha is intense between heaven and earth. Taoist temples release blessings and conduct rituals to appease the wandering souls, and there’s always some Evil Path taking advantage."

"Who has targeted us?"

"I’m not sure."

Li Yan shook his head.

On his journey, he had offended quite a few, such as the remnants of the Maitreya Sect at Chaotic Burial Mound and Jiang Zuo’s magician, You Lao Si. Who knew if it were their companions?

Wang Daoxuan also didn’t have time to think carefully and called Sha Lifei to help quickly set up a magic platform.

His yin soldiers had been destroyed, unable to venture out to investigate, so he could only activate some simple spells to assist Li Yan.

Indeed, dealing with these things, Li Yan was the main force.

Whoo~

Outside the door, the Yin Wind began to howl.

"Daoist, quick, look!"

Sha Lifei widened his eyes, pointing towards the southeast.

On the ground, hoarfrost began to spread, and the scattered Five-Grain Rice suddenly either turned charred black or crackled and exploded.

"So many..."

Wang Daoxuan also took a sharp breath.

His divine power could only discern information through tasting and naturally couldn’t perceive the quantity of ghostly entities.

But now it seemed, the number far exceeded imagination.

Boom!

At this point, Li Yan suddenly struck the drum, chanting the "Hum" True Word, storing his god to activate the Divine Drum.

The drum sound was like a thundering shock reverberating through the night sky.

Swoosh!

Outside, those ghost fires immediately scattered.

Meanwhile, the Five-Grain Rice scattered on the ground no longer changed.

"Brother Yan is mighty!"

Though Sha Lifei was an outsider, following Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan, he learned quite a bit and immediately cheered when he witnessed this.

"Close your eyes, don’t speak..."

Wang Daoxuan quickly reminded in a low voice, "The living one’s emotions change, and resentment follows, making it easy to attract yin objects, which find their gaps for possession in those changes."

Hearing this, Sha Lifei quickly shut his mouth.

But curiosity got the better of him, so he squinted his eyes to peek.

Sure enough, yin entities began to gather outside.

Those wandering ghost fires were just appearances. Li Yan could clearly smell masses of either decaying cold or cruelty revolving outside the door, even more gathered over time.

Given this situation, how could Li Yan hold back?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He simultaneously employed Hidden Energy, storing his god to activate the Cloud Thunder Divine Drum.

Starting slow, then rapidly accelerating, the drumbeats thundered around, shaking every direction.

Outside, big and small yin entities scattered like frightened rabbits, but seemed driven by something, didn’t leave the village, instead scattered all around, stirring the Yin Wind.

Whoo~

From the perspective of those in the ancestral hall, the wind whistled outside, vaguely accompanied by sounds of many people wailing and crying.

Wang Daoxuan’s expression grew slightly somber, "It’s the Soul Hooking Technique. No matter whose voice you hear, don’t respond!"

Sure enough, as the gusts hit their ears, the voices changed, becoming the cries for help from their closest kin.

Fortunately, with Wang Daoxuan’s warning and the gathered old pugilists, especially the porters, knowing many taboos, each clamped their mouths shut.

Yet even so, they were terrified.

"Ungrateful..."

A faint hint of anger rose in Li Yan’s heart; he took out the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Blade Tassel from his bosom and hung it on the Dragon Mouth of the Divine Drum.

This time, storing his god required immense effort.

The two magic artifacts combined, one harboring icy lethal power, the other containing the changes of Yin and Yang, with the drum sound amplifying the spell’s range.

The effect was far beyond simple addition.

When Manager Wan crafted the drum, he warned Li Yan that with his current Dao, he could not wield such a combination, and even attempting it would injure his Divine Soul.

However, he did not know this was not an issue for Li Yan.

Storing his god to activate it, the Divine Drum immediately showed changes.

The Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Blade Tassel shook gently, and icy lethal power overflowed, enveloping the Divine Drum. The killing intent of the Thunder Astral within the body of the Thunderstruck Wood Drum was simultaneously ignited.

Boom!

A thunderous roar shocked heaven and earth.

The drum’s sound echoed, and along the path, weaker yin entities instantaneously were wiped out...