The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 393 - 241: Duel in the Rainy Night_2

Chapter 393: Chapter 241: Duel in the Rainy Night_2

The Red Maiden’s eyes flickered with a mad, bloodthirsty glint as she suddenly grabbed one of her subordinates next to her and bit through his throat, drinking his blood in large gulps.

Li Yan immediately understood.

Every spell has a price.

This "Red Maiden" had used some unknown method to turn her body zombie-like, impervious to blades, but it affected her Divine Soul, making her cruel and bloodthirsty.

That red bridal Magic Artifact was probably used to suppress the corpse energy.

Now that it had been pierced by him and her soul wounded by the twelve Yin Thunders, the Red Maiden was unable to control her bloodthirsty instincts and needed to devour human blood to recover.

As the Red Maiden frenziedly drank blood, Yin Evil Qi rose around her, and she even emitted blood-colored thick smoke.

Those from the Ghost Sect retreated in fear upon seeing this.

How could Li Yan miss such an opportunity?

He pulled Sha Lifei with him and swiftly retreated into the dense forest behind them.

"Hide behind the trees!"

Li Yan gave a low shout and tossed the Blood Jade Cong to Sha Lifei.

The two quickly took cover behind the trees.

This place was relatively remote, with trees thick enough to wrap arms around; even that Divine Fire Gun couldn’t shoot through the large trees and kill them.

Moreover, those people were still avoiding the Red Maiden.

Without any hesitation, Li Yan immediately pulled out the Hook Paper and cast spells once more, chanting, "Qing Jia! Ascend to the black heavens, descend to the black earth... I command in the name of Beiyin Fengdu, hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

This time, the Yin Bureau Ghost Soldiers were successfully summoned.

In the midst of the dense forest, Yin Qi rose, and the encroaching darkness visibly spread outward, accompanied by the faint sound of armor clanking.

It was that terrifying spell!

Remembering what the swordswoman Liu Mei had once said, Bai Ruoxu’s pupils shrank and he turned to flee.

However, he had underestimated the speed of the Yin Bureau Ghost Soldiers.

The massive dark shadows swept over like a raging wind.

"Ah!"

Even the frenzied Red Maiden felt the threat, casting her blood-smoke escape technique again in an attempt to flee.

Yet, with her strong demon aura, she was the main target of the Yin Bureau Ghost Soldiers, who would not let her escape.

Clang clang clang!

Chains sounded in the darkness.

The red mist that the Red Maiden transformed into seemed to be pulled by some force and was directly dragged into the darkness.

This Red Maiden’s Dao was high, reaching the fourth layer, surpassing the limit ordinary Cultivators could achieve.

Even so, it only struggled for a few moments.

The screams were piercing and constant, but they soon subsided to silence.

The Ghost Sect demons didn’t escape either; wherever the darkness passed, they all fell to the ground stiff, covered with frost and their fearful expressions frozen.

As for Bai Ruoxu, he was so terrified that he turned and raised his Divine Fire Gun, suddenly pulling the trigger.

Boom!

The fire burst, accompanied by thick smoke.

However, it was like mud sinking into the sea; the darkness was not hindered at all and engulfed him completely.

Bai Ruoxu only felt the sound of chains near his ear, and his consciousness plunged into blankness, as if falling endlessly into the dark depths.

In just a couple of breaths, the mountain forest turned deadly silent.

As for Li Yan’s side, it was just as dark.

The Wind Daoist squeezed his eyes shut, his forehead covered in cold sweat, muttering prayers, calling on his Ancestor for protection.

Fortunately, the terrifying sensation did not last long.

As the Yin Bureau Ghost Soldiers left, the surroundings visibly brightened, and the rustling sounds of raindrops on leaves once again reached their ears.

The Wind Daoist cautiously looked around and, seeing the dead bodies all over the ground, could not help but gasp and trembled, "Is this... is this the Yin soldiers technique of a living Yin messenger?"

The Daoist certificate didn’t reveal Li Yan’s identity, after all, being a living Yin messenger was a secret.

If it were like Bao Longtu of the Great Song, whose fame spread far and wide and known to all, it might cause some yin criminals to run at the mere mention.

"The Daoist has good insight."

Li Yan put away the Hook Paper and stepped quickly out of the forest.

Quicker than him was Sha Lifei.

"Ha ha... ha ha ha..."

Sha Lifei could no longer contain his laughter, baring his wide mouth, and with three steps taken in two strides, he ran towards Bai Ruoxu.

This former Chang’an broker and hall master, a cunning thinker, was now stiff and rigid, his face shrouded in white frost, eyes wide and mouth open, frozen in the terror of his last moments.

Yet, his hands still tightly clutched the Divine Fire Gun.

Just as Sha Lifei was about to forcibly break his grip, Li Yan hurriedly said, "Uncle Sha, his hands are poisoned, don’t tear the gloves."

"Alright!"

With a hee-hee laugh, Sha Lifei massaged several joint acupoints on Bai Ruoxu’s arm until his hands loosened.

Grasping the Divine Fire Gun, Sha Lifei swiveled it around, his face blooming with joy.

Meanwhile, Li Yan approached the woman in red.

Looking at her wide-open mouth full of sharp fangs, Li Yan’s brow furrowed as he carefully used a knife to move the dragon-phoenix handkerchief, full of Gu Poison, aside, and then cut open the red wedding dress.

Daoist Feng also came over, and upon seeing the body under the red wedding dress, he was taken aback, "The Yin Corpse Longevity Method?"

The woman’s body still faintly retained delicate contours, but her skin was covered in grey fur, emitting a strong stench of decay.

"That’s right."

Li Yan nodded, contemplative.

The "Yin Corpse Longevity Method" was somewhat different from the zombies; it involved refining one’s body into a demonic corpse, adept at shapeshifting and using Wind Escape, with the weakness being difficulty in controlling the Divine Soul.

The demon god worshiped by this sinister technique was called "Gray Tiger," with a tiger’s head and a human body, covered in gray fur, adept at changing form and travelling with the wind, with a preference for consuming human blood.

The red woman had not used a Longevity Method to extend her life at the moment of death but had directly cultivated this technique to transform into a demon, thus she was not a yin criminal.

Only after she passed the threshold of life and death, the corpse energy in her body gradually accumulating, and while still wandering alive in the Human World, would she be wanted by the Yin Bureau.

The Divine Silkworm Longevity Technique, Water God Immortality Technique, Yin Corpse Longevity Technique—upon arriving in Ezhou for just a few months, he had already encountered three Secret Techniques from the Eternal Immortal Vault, indicating there were no small number of practitioners.

The Ghost Sect, murdering and offering sacrifices to ghosts, seeking immortality by any means, was a natural enemy to him, a living Yin messenger.

Li Yan shook his head, pulled the red wedding dress off the "red woman," found nothing inside the pockets, and tossed it to Sha Lifei, "Uncle Sha, this can conceal our presence."

Sha Lifei immediately understood and quickly stored away the red wedding dress.

They had many contraband items and Magic Artifacts, as well as the strange Kasaya they found earlier, perfect for wrapping up their luggage.

Next, Li Yan and Daoist Feng inspected the sedan bearers.

As expected, all were zombies, which was also one of the secret techniques of cultivating the Yin Corpse Longevity Method, though zombies relied on their spirit and soul to move.

And since their spirits were also locked away by the Yin Bureau’s Ghost Soldiers, the zombies lay motionless on the ground.

After busy work, the three of them arranged the bodies of the red woman and zombies together and chopped down the surrounding peach wood to build a bonfire.

Thick smoke billowed up, and the smell of decay spread.

Having done this, the three of them finally relaxed.

The dense corpse energy of these zombies, if not dealt with promptly, could cause further trouble and hauntings.

After burning the zombies, the three searched carefully.

The grand sedan was extraordinary, made of spirit wood, and inside there was an Array arranged to gather Yin Evil Qi.

It was called a sedan, but it was more like a coffin.

No wonder the red woman roamed around in the sedan.

Li Yan, unable to take it with him, simply had it dismantled, handing it over to Daoist Feng to handle, since the rule of the team was that finders keepers.

Daoist Feng understood that by taking this item, he would have to conceal the incident of the Divine Fire Gun for Li Yan.

However, this was a matter for the Captain Bureau, so he didn’t bother to ask more.

Of course, they found many other things, with the most numerous being small wooden Divine Statues, which all the followers of the Ghost Sect had, apart from the red woman and Bai Ruoxu.

The Divine Statues had fierce faces, full of sharp teeth, with pointed horns on their heads, and wrapped in Yin Evil Qi, exuding an ominous aura.

"This is most likely the Gray Tiger deity."

Daoist Feng held the Divine Statue, examining it from left to right, his expression grave, "During the Great Song era, aside from Ezhou, there were unsavory characters in the Capital who also liked to worship this ghost, using its menacing energy to intimidate the souls of their opponents during a duel."

"It seems that the Divine Astral energy of this deity hasn’t dissipated, and someone has rebuilt its Divine Temple, though I don’t know where it’s hidden..."

Additionally, a secret letter was found on Bai Ruoxu.

Li Yan read through it, his expression turning solemn.

The letter, written by the leader of the Longxiang Army, a remnant of the previous royal family, instructed Bai Ruoxu to seek out the red woman to deliver a message to Zhao Changsheng.

The members of the Heavenly Saint Sect had already prepared all kinds of Heavenly Spirit Earth Treasure and Magic Artifacts, inviting Zhao Changsheng to take action and resurrect the Heavenly Saint!

The factions of Ezhou indeed have connections.

More importantly, Zhao Changsheng was also expected to come...