Chapter 266

Chapter 266

The moment the Ghost Soldier Commanding Formula was invoked, I tensed.

So it had finally come after all!

If the enemy could practice Corpse-Nurturing in this prime feng shui site to create a Corpse Fiend, how could they possibly not know Corpse Control?

They had gone to tremendous lengths to raise this Corpse Fiend and were on the verge of succeeding. They would protect it even if it cost them their lives.

And that wasn’t all. They also intended to take away the 81 zombies trapped in the mine tunnels beneath the Nine Heavens Soul-Locking Formation!

I immediately crouched, my eyes fixed on the burial pit.

The instant the Corpse Fiend moved, I would head into the pit with my lantern.

Just then, a hand landed on my shoulder without warning.

Cold sweat broke out all over me.

Amid this torrential rain, thunder, and lightning, someone had managed to approach me without my noticing.

No, that couldn’t be right. Even if I hadn’t noticed, had none of Hui Moqiong’s subordinates stationed nearby seen them either?

I turned around and saw Old Madam Hui standing there with her Dragon-head Cane.

She was one of ours.

Old Madam Hui shook her head and whispered, “Don’t move. Wait a little longer.”

I crouched even lower and edged closer to her before asking quietly, “Do you know who’s using Corpse Control?”

“It should be a lama from the Tibetan Region,” Old Madam Hui replied. “Many years ago, I heard that an eminent lama from the Tibetan Region had passed through Chang City while on a Worldly Pilgrimage. He cultivated deep in the mountains for some time before leaving. I didn’t think much of it back then. By the time I tried to investigate, the Great Lama had already left Chang City without a trace.”

“A Worldly Pilgrimage?”

This was the second time I had heard that phrase.

The first had been after Liu Junyan returned from Mount Song.

He told me that Master Kongji had foreseen a Calamity in his future. To avert it, Liu Junyan would have to return to Great Dharma King Temple and embark on a Worldly Pilgrimage as a Chan Master.

Once he left… he would be gone for at least ten years…

So when I heard Old Madam Hui mention a Worldly Pilgrimage again, I instinctively asked, “Aren’t those who undertake a Worldly Pilgrimage supposed to be enlightened monks? Don’t they travel from place to place, passing on scripture and teachings to each Temple and its monks along the way? Then what’s going on with this Great Lama?”

“That’s one kind of Worldly Pilgrimage,” Old Madam Hui said. “But another is even more common. A Worldly Pilgrimage can also refer to an eminent monk leaving the lofty halls of his monastery, stepping into the mortal world, and undergoing the Tribulation of Sentient Beings.”

Keeping my eyes fixed on the burial pit, I asked, “The Tribulation of Sentient Beings? What does that involve?”

“The Tribulation of Sentient Beings can take countless forms. Anything is possible,” Old Madam Hui explained. “The dazzling mortal world is full of temptation. Some so-called eminent monks are raised within monastery halls from childhood. They’re as pure as blank sheets of paper and free of distracting thoughts, but that also makes them extremely vulnerable to corruption by worldly desires. Their cultivation crumbles, and they stray onto an evil path. The one using Corpse Control is clearly such a person.”

Old Madam Hui’s words sent my thoughts into turmoil, and countless possibilities flashed through my mind.

Liu Junyan was the last person I should have worried about losing himself during a Worldly Pilgrimage.

Forget ten years. Even if it took a hundred or a thousand, I would still believe in him.

But my thoughts inevitably turned to something else… the Copper-Coin Figure.

Its circumstances seemed remarkably similar to the second kind Old Madam Hui had described.

He had come from Mount Song and traveled onward, staying in who knew how many places along the way.

But in the end, he had met his downfall in Wufu Town.

They called him the Evil Monk…

Just then, a low roar rose from deep underground. Mingled with the croaking of toads, it sounded like a demon awakening in hell, and the entire ground trembled faintly with the sound.

At the same time, the ringing of the Copper Bell abruptly grew louder. The black mist spreading through the mountains nearly reached the burial pit.

Then came a thunderous bang. A coffin lid burst into the air through the curtain of rain, trailing clods of earth, as golden light erupted from the Golden Scale.
Amid the golden light, an armored zombie covered from head to toe in white hair rose rigidly upright.

The golden light was emanating from its shoulder, where the Three-Eyed Golden Toad was perched.

The eye on the Three-Eyed Golden Toad’s forehead was none other than Golden Scale.

Even now, everyone continued to hold their positions.

Liu Junyan, who had been fighting someone atop the mountain earlier, had vanished into hiding somewhere.

Hui Moqiong’s people had not emerged to interfere either.

It was almost as if no one had intruded into these mountains tonight.

The Corpse Fiend stood in the burial pit for a while.

When the Three-Eyed Golden Toad on its shoulder suddenly croaked twice, the Corpse Fiend sprang into the air and leaped high out of the burial pit.

Its jumping power was astonishing. As it leaped up, its armor clattered loudly, and the weapons hanging from its waist turned out to be two… Golden Mace weapons?

I wiped the rain from my face and took another careful look. If I wasn’t mistaken, they really were Golden Mace weapons.

Golden Mace weapons belonged to the whip family and were around four feet long. They had no blades, but each possessed four raised edges. Supposedly, they were so heavy that they could crush a man to death through his armor.

Such weapons were relatively common during the Tang and Song dynasties.

Judging by the Corpse Fiend’s armor, however, it looked more like something from the Early Tang Period.

After leaping out, the Corpse Fiend did not act immediately. Instead, it stood at the edge of the burial pit, craned its neck, and roared without pause.

The ground beneath its feet trembled with every roar.

It was summoning the eighty-one corpses beneath the Nine Heavens Soul-Locking Formation.

At that moment, Liu Junyan burst out of the darkness and charged straight at the Corpse Fiend.

The Corpse Fiend did not move, but the Three-Eyed Golden Toad on its shoulder suddenly spun around. With a sharp croak, it spat a tiny golden sword straight at Liu Junyan.

Liu Junyan instantly launched a Golden Copper Coin in response.

The Golden Copper Coin collided with the golden sword in midair. There was a crisp clang, and both shattered at the same time.

I was stunned. The hidden weapon fired by the Three-Eyed Golden Toad was terrifyingly powerful!

Even so, I still did not dare move.

I knew Liu Junyan had not used his full strength. His goal was to lure the Corpse Fiend away, not fight it to the bitter end beside the burial pit.

On the other side, Hui Moqiong finally revealed himself.

Hui Yumo and her team joined him in circling toward the direction from which the Copper Bell was ringing in the mountains.

It was the siblings’ first time working together, yet as they closed in from east and west, their coordination was flawless.

The instant the Copper Bell’s ringing and the spell chanting descended into chaos, the Corpse Fiend seemed to lose its bearings.

Liu Junyan attacked again and again, relentlessly provoking it.

At first, only the Three-Eyed Golden Toad retaliated. Under the control of the Copper Bell and the incantations, the Corpse Fiend remained as immovable as a mountain.

But as soon as the Corpse Control was thrown into disarray, Liu Junyan formed a hand seal and chanted, directly summoning Golden Scale back into place.

The Three-Eyed Golden Toad raised both foreclaws, brought them together over Golden Scale, and held it down as it croaked frantically.

Seizing the opening, Liu Junyan formed another Thunder Seal and aimed his Sword Finger at the Corpse Fiend. The next instant, a thunderbolt struck the Corpse Fiend dead-on.

The Corpse Fiend finally flew into a rage. It pulled out both Golden Mace weapons in one motion and chased after Liu Junyan.

Having achieved his goal, Liu Junyan led the Corpse Fiend eastward.

This was the plan we had settled on from the start. We had already set up a Formation to the east.

Low-level zombies were easy enough to deal with. A single fire could burn them to ash.

But a high-level creature like the Corpse Fiend could not be burned away by ordinary flames, especially in this torrential rain. Our only option was to trap it inside the Formation first.

The moment Liu Junyan succeeded, Old Madam Hui braced herself on her cane, rose nimbly to her feet, and followed after them.

What I had not expected was for another group to follow as well.

I recognized the man leading them.

It was Fang Chuanzong…