Chapter 184
Chapter 184
The phantom dissolved into black smoke and merged with the statue.
As if coming to life, the statue raised its right hand toward the Blood Eagle. Its movement looked slow but was actually astonishingly fast. Dust cascaded from its body amid a series of mechanical creaks.
In the blink of an eye, the Blood Eagle collided with the statue.
There was no explosion, not even the slightest sound.
It was as though two substances of completely opposite natures had met, silently merging and canceling each other out until nothing remained.
The statue, now missing its right arm, unleashed an earthshaking roar. Snow across Huimu Mountain came pattering down beneath the force of it.
At Jinguang Temple, the middle-aged monk seated in meditation abruptly opened his eyes. Two beams of light an inch long shone from them into the night.
“Namo Amitabha Buddha. An evil demon has emerged. If I do not enter hell, who will?”
With those words, his sleeves billowed and he raced straight toward Huimu Mountain.
After he left, a young monk’s figure slowly condensed into being.
The monk wore a hideous bronze mask. In his left hand he held a black short blade; in his right, a bloodstained letter.
It was none other than Ghost Buddha Faceless, who had been missing for many days.
“Kekekeke! Namo Amitabha Buddha! There is no end to Mount Wutai, and no end to all its little Buddhas and disciples for me to slaughter!”
With a flicker, he shot after the Chief of the Arhat Hall, Master Numu.
On Hemp-clad Mountain, Deaf Granny and Hemp-clad Grandmother coughed up blood as the shamanic art was broken.
Hua Jiunan and Chen Daji hurried to support them.
“Granny! Grandmother! Are you all right?”
The two elders pushed them away. After exchanging one look, they came to the same decision.
Hemp-clad Grandmother struggled to her feet and shouted, “Little sister, kill that wretch first! We cannot allow the Great Ghost Deity to emerge!”
Deaf Granny nodded gravely.
“Xiao Jiu, Daji, return to your places at once. Today, the four of us-grandmothers and grandsons-will root this evil out completely!”
As the desolate horns sounded, Deaf Granny began a strange dance. Vast, sonorous words of power accompanied every step.
The incantation was composed largely of explosive syllables, each one striking directly at the soul.
“You deserve death-abandoned by Heaven, despised by Earth!
“Die swiftly-I summon Heavenly Ghosts to destroy your soul!
“You must die-and fall forever into the Guixu Sea Eye!”
When the incantation ended, Deaf Granny raked four bloody furrows down the left side of her face, then flicked the blood toward the four pairs of paper men and paper horses.
In the same instant, Hemp-clad Grandmother seized the jar of blood wine and splashed it over them as well.
“Duty soldiers, protect the rite! Show no mercy in slaughter-go at once!”
The paper men and horses continued blowing their horns with all their might, but a blood-red shadow flew from each pair and sped toward Huimu Mountain.
Bai Wuwei, patriarch of the Bai Family, watched with his heart pounding in alarm.
“Secret Wu-Shaman Incantation: Heavenly Ghost Slaying! Brother Huang, if you were caught unprepared, could you withstand it?”
Huang Zuo, patriarch of the Huang Family, gave a bitter laugh.
“Forget being unprepared. Even with every defense in place, it would still curse half the life out of me!”
Inside the Ghost Mother Cave on Huimu Mountain, the Ghost Mother Goddess statue barely had time to cry out when it saw the four blood-red shadows appear from nowhere.
“Heavenly Ghosts!”
The four shadows flashed like lightning and hurled themselves at the bound Li Jiao.
“No!”
Amid her scream, the mad and twisted heretical cultivator dispersed like a sand sculpture blasted by a gale. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.
All that remained on the ground was a black, human-shaped Mark.
The desolate horns rang even louder over the altar, and a bloody haze swirled around the four pairs of paper men and horses.
Deaf Granny laughed heartily.
“Root out evil to the last! Offer the blood wine once more!”
This time Hua Jiunan moved first, cutting his wrist and letting the blood flow into another wine jar.
Chen Daji valued brotherhood above all else-blessings shared, hardships borne together. Without hesitation, he slashed his other arm and thrust it into the jar as well.
With the jar blocking their view, no one saw that when their blood mingled with the strong wine, the mixture began to boil and bubble.
Deaf Granny and Hemp-clad Grandmother prostrated themselves upon the Human-Bone Altar.
“A vicious evil has emerged, and the people will know no peace! Three Ancestors, we beseech you to uphold justice for your descendants!”
Hua Jiunan and Chen Daji joined forces to hurl the wine jar into the sky. Then one beat the drum while the other struck the bell, each using every ounce of his strength.
In an instant, bell and drum roared together and the horns shook the heavens. A gale rose as lightning flashed and thunder crashed.
Three enormous phantoms slowly took form in the sky.
The first was a colossal bear with wings upon its back, gazing down upon the world in disdain.
The second was a giant man with an ox’s head. Flames raged across his body, and his eyes in particular resembled two blazing meteors.
The third was a strange bird whose every wingbeat summoned a howling gale. It spread its wings and cried out, lightning coiling around its entire body.