Chapter 58
Chapter 58: The Land of Evil Spirits
The mystical Corpse Control Art practiced by the disciples at Crow Ridge had been passed down for over two thousand years. Ever since the disciples could remember they had started mingling with corpses and graveyards. It would not be considered as an exaggeration if they were to say that they could not sleep without using a tombstone as a pillow. However, the expressions on the disciples of the Luo family now were panic-stricken.
The witchcraft and the murderous battle from the dense jungle did not follow them any further. Wen Leyang retrieved the cloth strip from his chest pocket and passed it to Mumu. The pores on his body simultaneously contracted and relaxed as he sensed his surrounding attentively. After a while, he abruptly opened his eyes wide and warned loudly, “Be careful!”
There were countless unidentifiable objects underneath the dried riverbed. They flowed like water as they converged from all directions towards them.
Little Chili Pepper gave a crisp and clear instruction to her men, “Guiding Lights!”
The remaining four men from The Centipede immediately guarded the four cardinal points as they retrieved some translucent lanterns which appeared to be made from moth’s wings from their backpacks. They turned their Spirit Needles the other way around and lightly pierced it into their chests. A few drops of deep red-colored fresh blood flowed down along the side of the long needles and dripped into the core of the lantern.
The disciples of Wen Bucao opened their eyes wide as they watched the Luo family disciples display their mystical cultivation.
Little Chili Pepper’s family origin had been passed down for many generations. She had indeed received strict training in the graveyard and she explained to Wen Leyang in a low voice, “This riverbed was an ancient burial ground and it’s surrounded by the foothills of the Seven Maidens Mountain as well as the swamp and the dense jungle. Year after year, evil spirits would accumulate here without a way to disperse. The spirits have now taken a form, once any living beings come into the graveyard they will immediately be corroded by the malevolent energy.” As she was speaking, her charming red-hot gaze settled on the evil energy around them and she looked around attentively, “If this wasn’t caused by widespread flooding then it must be an ancient river which had changed its course. There’re just too many grieving spirits underneath this place!”
Wen Leyang finally understood the situation as he had led them into this graveyard, “We should be more cautious as the witchcraft practiced by the Miao Bujiao in this graveyard could be different from the mystical cultivation of the Luo family.”
The thick blood had seeped into the core of the lanterns and a dark green flame immediately ignited within. The four good hands of The Centipede inhaled deeply, suppressed the trembling of their body with all their might, and started releasing the lanterns.
Little Chili Pepper shook her head and continued to explain to Wen Leyang, “You don’t get it, a graveyard of this size is utterly uncontrollable by any human’s power. It…it’s a naturally formed murderous troop, an evil influence of this size can’t be stopped by any human! You can toss a swimming champion and a bunch of non-swimmers into the middle of the ocean and they’d all die.” She then leaped up and stepped as lightly as a feather onto Wen Leyang’s shoulder to look around. She said, “There will always be a balance between the forces of yin and yang in this world so there must be a vitality point in a land heavy with evil spirits.”
Wen Buzuo overheard their conversation and he shook his arms as he ran over, “We were better off back in the jungle, at least we could still continue to run there!” Though he had run the slowest out of them all, he had been quite proficient at flying through the air instead.
Little Chili Pepper answered in a neutral voice, “It’s too late now. Once we’ve stepped into this place it makes no difference whether we’re at the edge or in the middle of the graveyard…I need to get higher!”
Wen Leyang answered her demand as he supported Little Chili Pepper on his shoulder and stomped his legs hard onto the ground. He utilized his surroundings by jumping on top of Wen Buzuo’s head.
The three-inch nail-like Wen Bushuo who had been watching the exchange from a distance ran over and bent to grab his brother’s legs. He exerted his strength and heaved the three people onto his shoulders.
Wen Buzuo, who was in the midst of a pressing affair stiffened his neck as he said to his brother, “Your attitude was pretty good but the effect is somewhat lacking. Why do I have such a short brother?!”
The four dark green colored Spirit Guiding Lights slowly floated into the air. Each lantern trembled non-stop, as if it would explode at any time.
Wen Leyang could feel a gloomy and cold air gathering from all directions like a merging river. The sinister air surged around the area illuminated by the Spirit Guiding Lights and continued to flow around them as it became thicker and faster. In Wen Leyang’s senses, it was as if a huge swirling vortex was wrapped firmly around the little group of people in the middle of it.
Little Chili Pepper could see the terrain clearly now. She immediately leaped down and started doodling her calculations onto the ground. Wen Buzuo was even more appreciative towards the opportunity to speak when faced with imminent disaster as he explained to Wen Leyang, “The Spirit Guiding Light actually guides the evil energy in the area. The ancient evil spirits which had taken form followed this evil energy and it will go wherever this energy can be found. The Luo family is using the Spirit Guiding Lights to absorb the evil energy in this area so the evil spirits cannot enter here temporarily but by my estimation, I think that the Spirit Guiding Lights will not last much longer.”
Wen Buzuo glanced at Little Chili Pepper who was still calculating nonstop on the ground. He once again stirred up the same old topic and said to Wen Leyang with a smile, “Actually, there’s nothing to be afraid of as we did not die this way in our nightmare…”
“Bullsh*t!” The person who spoke was the three-inch nail brother, even he could not keep silent any longer, “Luo Seventh dreamt that his brain was devoured by bugs in the nightmare but he ended up falling into the pit. Can’t you see that the nightmare was not reliable?!”
Wen Buzuo was elated that someone had responded to his conversation, “It was possible that Luo Seventh’s brain got devoured by bugs after he fell into the pit, you know…”
This time, it was Little Chili Pepper who jumped up and shouted in rage, “Stop talking! I found it!” As she said that she pointed at the oddly shaped old temple in the distance, “It’s in there!”
The Wen brothers who were in the middle of their argument held their tongues and asked Little Chili Pepper, “Was it even necessary to look for the temple?!”
Without the need to calculate where the vitality point was at, any fool would think of running to the temple to escape the evil presence in the area. Mumu blushed scarlet for a moment but she felt that she had justified herself to the folks.
Suddenly, there was a dull bang as the lantern on the east was extinguished. The good hand who had been in charge of that Spirit Guiding Light moaned in pain and thin rivulets of blood flowed from his seven orifices. The battle formation as broken and the other three lanterns did not last long after that as they were quickly extinguished.
The four disciples of the Luo family suffered heavy injuries as they all dropped to the ground!
The Miao Bujiao do not practice this kind of ability nor do have a need for it as they did not cast their spells from this ancient giant burial ground. The evil presence here was utterly beyond the power of any human to control, even for the Luo family’s disciples who had depended on their ability to manipulate evil corpses to stand tall in the world for thousands of years.
Wen Leyang sensed that the evil presence below the ground had shrunk away when the lanterns were extinguished, only for it to rush forward after that like a raging tide towards the group!
Little Chili Pepper cried out in surprise as she jumped, she pointed at the odd temple in the distance and shouted loudly, “Run!”
The surviving people of the Death Trademark scooped up the severely wounded Luo family’s disciples and started running towards the odd temple. However, the first person to step out had only taken two steps forward before he let out a long and agonizing moan. A layer of ash rapidly crawled up his body and even before he had fallen over, he had turned into a dried-out corpse and was left with only skin and bones as his flesh and blood vaporized into the air.
Wen Leyang yelled out as he grabbed the two closest people next to him. Without sparing a look he immediately threw them with great force at the direction of the odd temple as he growled, “Good brothers, Godspeed!” His telegnosis ability could not determine the extent of the raging evil energy and he could only hope that his throw would send his comrades out from the concentrated area of evil presence around them. Otherwise, if they only counted on their two legs, they would never be able to step out of this haunted land!
Wen Leyang’s movements were so agile that it was incomprehensible. The survivors had only felt a strong and ruthless force against their faces as their bodies were tossed high into the air. Of the remaining six people from the Death Trademark; some were holding onto their companions, some who were all alone, were all thrown up one by one. The two brothers Buzhuo and Buzuo had unexpectedly held onto each other at the critical moment, they resembled a big koala bear spooning a small koala bear as they were both tossed up into the air by Wen Leyang.
The last person who was grabbed by Wen Leyang had a pair of soft and delicate hands. Just as he swayed forward to throw them the pair of little hands firmly entwined themselves into his arms. Mumu’s huge eyes were burning with an expression that no one could understand as she pointed her sharp chin at the direction of the old broken temple, “Let’s both go forward together!”
Wen Leyang too no longer talked rubbish as he tightly pulled Mumu’s slim waist into his arms and leaped into the air!
Everything happened at a lightning-fast speed. As Wen Leyang began to dash forward, the first person he had tossed over was still sweeping through the air in an unstoppable arc.
The pores on Wen Leyang’s entire body were tightly shut. Each time he’d landed onto the ground he would shake ferociously as countless evil spirits slammed into his body. However, though they were unable to enter his body the power of those spirits were like millions of huge hammers and exploded upon his skin savagely. Wen Leyang’s body, which had been tempered with hundreds of poisons had evolved into an extremely resilient structure with copper skin and metal bones but he still felt an unsettling sensation as he took the three to five jumps on the land.
Mumu’s charming eyes took no notice of the ground as she gazed upon Wen Leyang’s face with a smile. She raised her hand gently as if to caress the scar on his cheek.
The first person from the Death Trademark who had been tossed over started to come down. At the moment when his feet touched the ground, he channeled the strength into both of his arms like what Wen Leyang had done and threw the injured man from The Centipede towards the broken temple with all his might. As he did that, a layer of ash flashed onto his body and turned him into a dried skeleton.
The man from The Centipede was not tossed too far and his feet too touched the ground soon after. The layer of ash immediately swept towards him followed by three crisp snapping sounds. The next attack of the evil spirits had visibly slowed down and after another crisp snapping sound was heard, the good hand of the Luo family too was reduced into a dried corpse by the evil spirits.
Each of the master cultivators of Crow Ridge had brought along a Spirit Guiding Light, a Necromancy Seal and a pair of Spirit Needles on this mission. These items had been refined by the Luo family using their mystical methods which had been passed down from Grand Master Tuoxie. These items could control corpses and ward off evil spirits but faced with the boundless evil spirits in the ancient burial ground, these treasured items could only restrain the evil spirits for a short while before failing.
The second pair of men from the Death Trademark and The Centipede started falling towards the ground. The man from the Death Trademark intended to follow suit and started to channel the strength into his arms when the person from the Luo family grabbed onto his arms firmly. His smile was a combination of warmth and determination.
We should live and die together, for we are brothers!
The ash flashed past, followed by three crisp snapping sounds and a pair of dried corpses fell onto the ground with their four hands were still holding onto one another.
The brothers Bushuo and Buzuo’s momentum from the toss were gradually slowing down. Wen Buzuo somersaulted in the air and spared no effort to throw his brother on top of his, “When I touch the ground, step on my back and try to leap again!”
Without saying a word, Wen Bushuo’s hands gripped tightly onto his brother’s shoulders like a leech. His eyes stared at the ground in preparation to throw his brother up as well. The two brothers then simultaneously exerted their strengths and neither managed to throw the other forward. They turned into a convulsing octopus and screamed in fear as they dropped onto the ground.
Just as they had already smelled the gloomy and chilly air blowing against their faces, the clopping sound of horses’ hooves was heard from the direction of the broken temple.
Seven to eight stools were rushing forward with a clopping sound from the broken temple!