Chapter 161
Chapter 161
A muffled explosion sounded behind us. I couldn’t help looking back — and saw the blood sphere burst apart, splattering crimson across the entire mountainside.
Up ahead, Li Qingying was returning after seeing Guo Zhen off. Hui Moqiong waved at her. “Cover your mouth and nose, hold your breath, and run!”
The faint scent of blood drifted through the air. I immediately covered my mouth and nose as well, and the three of us sprinted desperately toward the town.
As we ran, the color of the sky seemed to change.
The night was deep, without a trace of moonlight.
Yet the sky now glowed an ominous red. What began as a pale crimson gradually deepened until the entire sky was almost bloodred.
Screams began to ring out in the distance, and dead birds fell from the sky every so often.
The carcass of an owl crashed down in front of me. My steps faltered, and I saw it lying there with its eyes wide open and beads of blood clinging to its feathers.
Almost the instant it hit the ground, those beads burst. Blood seeped into its body, and in the blink of an eye, the owl that had been alive only moments ago was reduced to a skeleton.
My heart pounded wildly. I skirted around the owl’s bones and kept running.
Only after we reached the main road did we dare stop to catch our breath and look back at Niuhu Mountain.
At that moment, the bloodred glow overhead began to fade. The Blood Mist drifting through the air was enveloped in golden light and compressed, gradually gathering once more over Niuhu Mountain.
People were crying all around us.
The people of this town had grown accustomed to strange phenomena descending from the heavens over the years. They had also been thoroughly indoctrinated with the belief that “whenever a strange phenomenon descends from the heavens, an auspicious sign is sure to follow.” So when another phenomenon suddenly appeared tonight, some of the bolder, thrill-seeking Townsfolk had all rushed outside.
There were also those who had come to stay in town with ulterior motives. Many of them had been lingering at the foot of Niuhu Mountain when it happened.
When the Blood Mist descended, some were reduced to bare bones. Others managed to survive, but were left maimed…
The Blood Mist continued to contract under the pressure as golden light flashed incessantly.
Another peal of the Bronze Bell rang out. The ground jolted violently up and down, and a streak of golden light came from the west, cleaving across the entirety of Niuhu Mountain before slashing down like a sword.
The roar that sounded like both an ox and a tiger rose to a deafening peak the instant the golden light struck.
Immediately afterward, a familiar figure soared into the air from the direction of the Temple on Niuhu Mountain. He stood proudly atop the golden light, clutching Prayer Beads in one hand and the Golden Scale in the other. The sound of him chanting scriptures and incantations rang out soon after.
It was Liu Junyan!
At that moment, he looked like an enlightened monk delivering salvation to all beings, standing high above the nine heavens.
Not far below him was the Nine-Tailed Sky-Covering Formation.
With two tails missing, the Nine-Tailed Sky-Covering Formation was incomplete and nowhere near capable of covering the sky. Even so, it could still help suppress the Qiongqi Evil Formation.
Hu Yulin sat cross-legged atop the Formation, his head bowed as he chanted scriptures as well.
At the same moment, Hui Moqiong suddenly sat down cross-legged beside me. He held one hand upright before his chest and lowered his head. His reverent chanting joined the two voices coming from Niuhu Mountain, continuing without pause.
The irrepressible chatterbox that was Hui Moqiong had vanished.
In his place was a genuine Gray Immortal.
I glanced instinctively at Li Qingying.
She was staring blankly at Hui Moqiong.
Beside her, Jin Wuya was silently watching her.
Before long, however, Jin Wuya withdrew his gaze, strolled to the other side of the street, and lit a cigarette.
I sighed inwardly. Without disturbing any of them, I quickly headed toward the small courtyard we had rented.
The intermittent roars of the creature that sounded like both an ox and a tiger could still be heard, but they were growing weaker and weaker. The tremors beneath our feet had also diminished considerably.
It looked like Liu Junyan and the others had the situation under control. I needed to go back and check on Yu Nian and the Black Cat.
As soon as I reached the courtyard gate, I saw the ground carpeted with insect carcasses. There were so many of them that my scalp prickled.
The gate stood open, and the trail of dead insects stretched all the way into the courtyard. There had to be tens of thousands of them.
Every step I took was accompanied by the crunch of insect carcasses beneath my feet.
Where had all these insects come from?
Was Yu Nian all right?
I crossed the courtyard and reached the Main Hall. Yu Nian stood before its doors, gripping the Thousand-Soul Banner in her right hand, its pole planted upright against the ground.
She looked like a valiant woman general on the battlefield, ready to defend her territory to the death!
Though I hadn’t been here to witness what had happened, the countless insect carcasses made it obvious that this little courtyard had just weathered a Calamity of its own.
Hearing my footsteps, she swung the Thousand-Soul Banner around and pointed it straight at me. “Whoever you are, stop right there! Otherwise…”
“Yu Nian, it’s me-Xiao Jiu.” For some reason, my voice trembled.
I strode over and took Yu Nian’s hand, then looked into the Main Hall. The Black Cat stood imposingly atop the Altar Table. The paper effigy beside it was still bound in Red Thread and remained upright, perfectly protected.
However, Guo Zhen’s Birth Date and Time, which had previously been written on it in Cinnabar, had vanished.
ROAR!
ROAR! ROAR!
The ox-and-tiger-like roars coming from Niuhu Mountain suddenly grew louder. Several consecutive bellows rang out, and the ground began to shake violently.
Yu Nian sneered. “It’s just a cornered beast making its final struggle. It won’t last much longer.”
Just as she said, after a few desperate death throes, the creature was gradually suppressed by the combined pressure of Liu Junyan’s Formation and Hu Yulin’s Formation. Eventually, all movement ceased.
I stood beside Yu Nian, and together we gazed toward Niuhu Mountain.
I watched with my own eyes as the Blood Mist was swallowed by golden light.
The golden light was then drawn into the Golden Scale in Liu Junyan’s hand, and the Nine-Tailed Sky-Covering Formation disappeared with it.
The whole of Niuhu Mountain fell silent.
“We won,” I murmured.
Yu Nian nodded. “Yes. We won.”
We waited for about fifteen minutes before Hui Moqiong and Li Qingying returned.
Liu Junyan and Hu Yulin arrived soon afterward.
I hurried forward, grabbed Liu Junyan, and asked, “Did you get the Dragon Aura?”
“I collected a small portion of it,” Liu Junyan said. “The rest was used to suppress the Qiongqi Evil Formation. It shouldn’t be able to emerge and cause trouble again for at least the next ten years.”
I didn’t ask what would happen after those ten years.
Because I knew we weren’t going to wait that long.
We would definitely return to deal with the Qiongqi Evil Formation once more.
And next time, it would be a fight to the death.
“Xiao Jiu…”
Hu Yulin stood a short distance behind Liu Junyan. Suddenly, he called my name softly.
My grip on Liu Junyan’s hand tightened sharply. I lowered my head, not knowing how to face Hu Yulin.
I knew he wasn’t a bad person. He had even saved my life. But I couldn’t forget what he had said to me outside Qilin Temple. My right hand was still burning with pain, trembling uncontrollably.
The blade hidden in the rib of his fan had pierced straight through my palm. I couldn’t put any strength into that hand now, and I had no idea whether it would be permanently crippled.
When I didn’t respond, Hu Yulin seemed hurt. Even so, he reminded me, “Xiao Jiu, you need to treat the wound on your hand first. If you leave it too long, it might cause lasting damage. I’m afraid… afraid you may never be able to draw a bow again…”