The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 381 - 236 Great Song Ghost Sect

Chapter 381: Chapter 236 Great Song Ghost Sect

As dusk approached, Guizhou City was ablaze everywhere.

Thick smoke billowed, and shouts of killing echoed incessantly.

"The Chao Shan Alliance is rebelling, kill!"

"Brothers, follow me and break out!"

After all, being the largest gang in the city, confrontations with the government had occurred, and though news about troubles at the Wu Mansion had not leaked, it had caught the attention of some vigilant people.

Since this place was a strategic throat in Ba Shu, controlling vital waterways and guarding against Tusi City, a thousand-person garrison was stationed only two miles from Guizhou City.

Upon noticing soldiers leaving and the movement of garrison troops, some members of the Chao Shan Alliance had already sensed that something was amiss and quickly left the city to enter the nearby mountains.

Of course, only a portion left.

The Chao Shan Alliance was a mixed bag, having recruited many local ruffians and desperate criminals from the city.

They merely strutted around the peripheries, acting as enforcers, ignorant of many affairs and habitually arrogant.

Seeing the Wu Mansion sealed off and the county government’s doors tightly shut, they irresponsibly called their friends to gather and storm in to rescue Wu Defa.

However, when they heard that the Chao Shan Alliance was declared rebellious and garrison soldiers arrived to lock the city gates, these people went mad.

They set fires everywhere, trying to stir chaos and escape.

The commoners trembled in fear, and those wealthy families, who had fortunately left earlier, promptly organized their servants and guards to fight against them.

Other gangs in the city suppressed by the Chao Shan Alliance also took action.

Under attack from both inside and outside, the chaos subsided within an hour.

Civilians and officials organized firefighting efforts, while garrison soldiers collected bodies, escorted prisoners, and continued searching for the remaining Chao Shan Alliance members...

Inside the county government’s main hall, the atmosphere was gloomy like water.

Headless bodies were collected, and soldiers washed away the blood stains on the ground, while the family members who rushed from the Academy wailed outside.

Li Yan stood on the beams of the county government’s building, gazing at the distant river where the setting sun bled, the lingering smoke from the city, and sighed slightly.

This action was indeed somewhat rash.

He had not expected to set off such a storm, resulting in many deaths.

But upon further thought, he had unintentionally broken through the enemy’s plans.

The masterminds behind this matter had too deeply infiltrated Guizhou City; had he investigated covertly, he would have faced numerous obstructions.

Though rash, this operation caught the enemy off guard, causing the Academy and County Magistrate Wu to turn on each other, dispersing the fog of confusion.

Seeing the chaotic situation in the city being settled, Li Yan quickly moved to the eaves, leaped, and landed outside the county government hall.

Inside the hall, Prefect Zhou Kai was rapidly writing a letter to report the situation, oblivious to the flushing of filth.

Beside him, Daoist Feng sighed heavily.

Li Yan did not hide his concerns and directly asked Daoist Feng in a deep voice, "Daoist, I didn’t have time to ask earlier, but what exactly is this ’Ghost Sect’ of the Great Song?"

"This matter is not a secret."

Daoist Feng sighed, "At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos, the path of righteousness declined, and demonism rose. Various witchcraft and vile techniques emerged endlessly, and some secret techniques from the Xuan Sect leaked into the public, altering wickedly and turning the human world into a realm of evil spirits."

"By the time of the Great Song, the empire was prosperous, and peace was gradually restored. However, underground, these evil techniques never ceased."

"Back then, Hubei had a strong presence of sorcery, and there were continuous cases of people killing for ritual sacrifices." ’Song History’ also records that in Hubei and Hunan folk customs, every intercalary year, people commonly kidnapped and killed children for obscene sacrifices, known as ’harvesting life’..."

"There were high-ranking court officials serving in Hubei who suddenly fled in the middle of the night. When they were found, their heads and livers had been removed..."

"This even alarmed the court," as recorded in the ’Song History’, in the nineteenth year of Shaoxing, on the day of Ding Chou in February, Emperor Gaozong banned using humans for sacrifices and producing Gu Poison in Hubei. Violators and their entire communities were executed by dismemberment..."

"But even so, it was impossible to suppress, and it even spread to the entire southern Divine State, where numerous officials and nobles routinely killed massively for ghostly rituals, accepting it as normal..."

"And there were scoundrels from the pugilistic world catching people for them; just in Jiangsu and Zhejiang alone, according to the records, there were over a hundred gangs involved in ’harvesting life’!"

"These wicked paths, descending from the poisons of the late Tang Dynasty, formed the Demon Sect, known as the Ghost Sect, and continuously conflicted with our Proper Xuan Sect for decades. At one point, the Proper Xuan Sect was even at a disadvantage."

"The power of the Ghost Sect was so vast that they even infiltrated the Imperial Palace of the Great Song through demon-possessed officials, causing great chaos across the realm. Eventually, the Great Xing Dynasty replaced it and executed anyone associated with the Ghost Sect without hesitation."

"The Great Xing Dynasty ruled Divine State for a hundred years, and during that time, the Xuan Sect was primarily engaged in eradicating members of the Ghost Sect. At that time, compared to the Maitreya Sect, it was hardly worth mentioning."

"Eventually, the Ghost Sect was eliminated. A part of their remnants entered the steppes and merged with Shamanism of the Golden Tent Wolf Country, invading the Central Plains, which led to the later standoff between the north and south."

"It can be said, the Ghost Sect was the true Demon Path, heavily guarded against by both the court and our Proper Xuan Sect."

"I never expected them to become active again now..."

Li Yan listened, his heart shocked.

This Ghost Sect had been briefly mentioned before by Wang Daoxuan, but he knew little about it and had not paid much attention.

He had not anticipated it to be so severe.

Recalling the ’Red Girl’ spotted nearby, his mind stirred, vaguely sensing a connection between the two...

While they were speaking, Zhou Kai had finished writing a confidential letter and dispatched a soldier to deliver it urgently to Yunyang. Only then did he gravely address them, "Both of you are from the Xuan Sect and should know of the calamity caused by the Ghost Sect, no less severe than the turmoil in the Southwest."

"Please help me in quickly clarifying this matter!"

Daoist Feng nodded and said, "My skills are not refined, and I need the help of Young Hero Li. However, I have already sent a message by carrier pigeon to Wudang for support."

Prefect Zhou Kai said gravely, "It’s too late. If the Ghost Sect is here, they must have a plan. Their movements have been exposed, and they might act at any moment. We must find and execute them quickly..."