noveltune Chapter 236 Anyone who dares to come! Slay them!
Chapter 236 Anyone who dares to come! Slay them!
Chapter 236 Anyone who dares to come! Slay them! (5000)
Lu Yuan's eyes darkened, and with a "whoosh," the short sword flipped over, as he swiftly shouted, "Heaven is clear, earth is at peace, yang is in harmony, yin is in balance!"
"The earth possesses the virtue of soil, which can suppress evil and bring peace!"
"Lend me your golden blade, and I'll sever your demonic root!"
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
After saying that, he took a step forward, using the momentum to slash at the white wrist with his short knife.
A flash of light appeared, and a very faint hissing sound came from the black soil.
A dark crack immediately appeared on that wrist, emitting a pungent, burnt smell.
But the hand did not retract; instead, it suddenly jerked, and a second hand emerged from the soil beside it, followed by the shoulder and then the head.
Only then did everyone realize that what emerged was actually a paper effigy of a child.
The boy was only half a person tall, wearing an old, grayish red bib, his face was painted pale, and there were two red dots drawn on the left and right corners of his mouth. His smile was extremely awkward.
It had a faded yellow rope wrapped around its neck, and a half-rotten yellow talisman pasted on its forehead, with twisted ink marks on the talisman, and the character "引" (yin) could be vaguely seen.
The strangest thing is that it is half paper, but the other half seems to have been brought to life by some kind of yin bubble, with the outline of joints faintly visible under the paper.
"Paper dolls attract evil spirits—"
Lin Zhaoxuan said in a low voice, his voice finally revealing barely suppressed anger: "This is using paper effigies shaped like children to receive the spirits!"
Lu Yuan's gaze turned cold: "It's not receiving, it's welcoming."
"In the old customs of the area outside the Great Wall, whenever there was a funeral procession, a ritual to pass through evil spirits, or an opening of the gates to the underworld, people would make paper children, paper horses, and paper carts to 'lead the way' in case of wandering ghosts on the road."
"But this isn't a normal folk custom in this valley; they use these kinds of things for 'welcoming the dead'."
"We are not welcoming the dead."
"It's facing the air vent of that thing below."
As Lu Yuan finished speaking, the paper child suddenly looked up, grinned, and laughed like shredded paper rubbing together.
The next moment, it suddenly pulled its two paper hands apart, tearing a crack about a foot wide in the black soil beneath its feet.
A gust of extremely cold wind blew out from the crack, carrying a distinctly sweet and pungent smell, like blood soaking in cold water, or like a dead person just turned over in a coffin.
"Press it!"
Lu Yuan shouted, and Lin Zhaoxuan made his move almost simultaneously.
He held the token with his left hand and then drew two lines on the token with his right hand, shouting, "Thunder is mighty, evil spirits lurk!"
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"The five directional energies converge at the center!"
"Heavenly decree of thunder and fire, to suppress Yinliang!"
"Imperial Edict!"
As the last word was uttered, a short arc of bluish-white lightning burst forth from the Thunder Token.
The lightning bolt didn't strike the paper doll directly, but was guided by Lin Zhaoxuan to fall diagonally, hitting the edge of the crack.
"boom!"
The black soil at the edge of the crack was immediately lifted up, and half of the paper doll's body was forced to the side by the lightning and fire, and the paper surface quickly turned black.
But the boy didn't retreat. Instead, he stared at Lin Zhaoxuan with his pale face, his mouth opening and closing as if he were imitating a person's speech.
Come on—come on—
"Come and lift me up!"
The sound was thin and sticky, like it was squeezed out of cotton wool.
Enraged, Zhou Heng drew his sword to strike, but Lu Yuan stopped him with a shout: "Don't behead him!"
"It's not the real thing; beheading it would be useless and would only disturb the paper path below!"
Zhou Heng abruptly stopped his sword strike, his forehead covered in sweat: "Then how do we break through?"
Lu Yuan's gaze swept quickly around, finally landing on the few copper bells still trembling under the shady poplar tree.
"It didn't come out on its own."
"They were carried out together by the bell, the red thread, and the soul-binding stone."
"The paper doll is just the first layer."
"The real road is not yet closed."
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, he suddenly stretched out his hand and said in a deep voice, "Cheng An, give me all the black ash on your body."
Wang Chengan didn't dare to hesitate and immediately took out the last half bag of black ash.
Lu Yuan took it with one hand, twisted his fingers at the opening of the bag, and then took out three tiny folded pieces of yellow paper from his pocket, each with a little vermilion pressed on the corner.
"This is a door-suppressing talisman."
"Watch carefully, when I'm paving the road later, no one should step on the wrong step."
As he spoke, he unfolded the yellow paper in front of everyone, then dipped his finger in black ash and quickly drew three short lines on the back of the paper.
Those three lines—one horizontal, one vertical, and one diagonal—formed a minimalist gate layout.
Lu Yuan flipped his palm over, sticking the paper talisman to the ground, and muttered, "Earth Gate below, Heaven Gate above!"
"A line in the middle, and I'll cut off all contact with you!"
"Black and gray for the road, vermilion for the walls!"
"When the living depart, the spirits retreat and hide!"
"Imperial Edict!"
The moment the talisman was affixed, the black ash seemed to come alive, spreading outwards in a flash, leaving a semi-circular light gray line on the ground.
The gray line wasn't large, but it perfectly enclosed half of the open space in front of the paper doll, the ashes of the white coffin, the remnants of the red cloth, and the soul-binding stone.
Song Qinghe's eyes lit up: "Is this a vaginal barrier?"
Lu Yuan nodded: "Not bad."
"Outside the circle is a path for people, inside the circle is a battlefield."
"Cut off its roots first, otherwise this thing can crawl along the soil veins."
At this moment, the paper child saw that the crack under its feet was being suppressed by lightning and fire, and immediately let out a sharp and strange laugh.
It shook its two paper hands outwards, and several thin, long white threads were pulled out from the edge of the tear.
As soon as the white threads touched the ground, they burrowed out of the black and gray circle like nematodes, trying to entangle everyone's ankles.
"It's borrowing soul threads!"
Lin Zhaoxuan shouted.
Lu Yuan's eyes sharpened, and he struck again with his short sword.
This time, he didn't use lightning magic again. Instead, he drew a very low horizontal arc with his single blade, the tip touching the ground, and shouted, "My blade flows through the Yin River, severing your Silk Gate!"
"Open the eight meridians in the hands, sever the three souls in the feet!"
"go!"
The blade swept across the black ash, creating a thin, cold breeze that severed all the white threads.
There was no blood where the white thread broke, but wisps of extremely thin black smoke retreated, like a snake startled by pain.
The smile on the paper doll's face finally faded, and the corners of its mouth split even wider, like a piece of paper being torn open.
It suddenly raised its head and let out a sharp cry towards the direction of the shady poplar tree.
As soon as the scream was uttered, the copper bells rang wildly at the same time.
"Ring—ring—ring one"
As soon as the bell rang urgently, the red cloths that had been hanging loosely on both sides of the stone path suddenly straightened up, like taut tendons.
Immediately afterwards, another row of shadows emerged from behind the red cloth.
This time it's not a white coffin, not a red demon, and not a paper child.
Instead, it was a group of people dressed in old-fashioned wedding and mourning clothes.
The first few were dressed in red and flowers, carrying paper sedan chairs on their shoulders, while the others behind them wore plain white mourning clothes and held white banners and paper lanterns in their hands.
They walked extremely slowly, but their steps were so orderly that it was as if someone was pulling them with a string in the dark. The red and white teams walked one after the other, just like a wedding procession mixed with a funeral procession.
"Another wave is coming—"
Zhou Heng's jaw tightened.
Lu Yuan's expression darkened even more.
"Their actual 'convoy' has arrived."
"The white coffin, the red demon, and the paper child were all meant to speak for this group."
2
As Lu Yuan spoke, he suddenly turned to look at Lin Zhaoxuan: "How much of your lightning magic is left?"
Lin Zhaoxuan gritted his teeth: "I can do it two more times!"
That's enough.
Lu Yuan's gaze darkened, and he immediately put the short knife back into his sleeve. He raised both hands at the same time, his left hand forming a hand seal like a hook, and his right hand forming a seal like a sedative.
He began to chant a very strange and heavy incantation in a low voice.
The incantation wasn't long, but each syllable was deliberate and forceful, like pressing outwards to a drumbeat: "Heaven won't take it, earth won't release it!"
"The mountain does not respond, the water does not flow!"
"I'll borrow your red to suppress your white!"
"I'll lend you my way, but I'll cut off your bridge!"
"When the soul is lost, the ghost goes mad!"
"Overturning mountains and seas to suppress the Yin Liang!"
"The Emperor has decreed: Suppress!"
As soon as the incantation was uttered, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly tightened.
Lin Zhaoxuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately understood that Lu Yuan wanted to use the terrain of the entire stone path to suppress evil spirits. He quickly shouted in agreement, "Borrowing thunder and fire to pass through, suppressing demons and subduing evil!"
"Heavenly lightning forms a lock, earthly evil spirits become a wall!"
"fall!"
The second bolt of lightning struck.
This time, the lightning didn't strike anyone directly, but instead landed on the white coffin frame that hadn't completely disintegrated at the very front of the stone path.
The coffin was already half broken, and when the lightning struck, countless pieces of paper exploded from it.
The moment the paper flew up, many blurry human faces briefly appeared in mid-air.
There were old and young, men and women, all of them pale and with sunken eyes, like remnants of souls trapped in paper effigies.
Song Qinghe's heart clenched at the sight, and she couldn't help but whisper, "These—are all souls it has devoured?"
Lu Yuan's expression was cold and hard: "It's been polished."
"Once a soul enters this place, it can never return clean."
"Some scattered long ago, some were trapped by the paper bodies, and others were ground layer by layer by the soul-binding stone into 'yin powder' to feed the evil gods."
These words sent chills down one's spine.
Just as the second bolt of lightning struck the broken white coffin, the red and white road team finally stopped.
They stopped in perfect unison, as if they hadn't expected anyone to dare block their way.
From the red sedan chair at the very front, a hand slowly emerged.
The hand was covered with long white sleeves, the nails were dyed red, and a black thread was wrapped around the wrist, making it look like a bride or a funeral procession.
It gently raised itself and pointed at the crowd.
The next instant, the red and white banners on both sides of the stone path flipped over simultaneously.
The moment it was turned over, what was revealed behind the banner was not the cloth itself, but rather paper faces pasted on it.
The paper faces all turned around, their mouths splitting into identical smiles.
Then, the paper faces all spoke at once, uttering a chorus of overlapping voices: "Welcome—the bride!"
"Sending off—the—funeral—"
"Borrowing a route"
"Stay alive"
The sounds piled up one after another, like the sound of wind blowing, or like a dead person turning over in the mud.
Everyone's temples throbbed instantly.
Lu Yuan sneered, suddenly taking half a step forward. His short sword was drawn again, the blade held horizontally in front of his chest. He shouted sharply, "This heretical path beyond the pass dares to borrow the lives of the living?"
Before the words were finished, a very long gasp suddenly came from inside the red sedan chair.
It was as if someone in a sedan chair slowly raised their head.
That long, drawn-out gasp, like something slowly being pulled from damp cotton, carried an indescribable, lingering quality.
"Heh!"
The red sedan chair curtain wasn't lifted, but the aura inside had already seeped out first.
The wind on both sides of the stone path changed suddenly.
Previously cold and hard, it has suddenly become sticky, as if countless fine threads are fluttering back and forth in the air, scratching one's face painfully.
The red sedan chair swayed slightly, but the chair frame remained completely still.
The four paper figures carrying the sedan chair seemed to be nailed to the ground, while the sedan chair itself gently sank forward, as if the "bride" inside was slowly getting up.
Song Qinghe felt a tightness in her chest, and the Tai Chi Sealing Disc in her hand began to heat up again.
"wrong."
She whispered, "This isn't an ordinary ghost; it's gathering energy."
Lu Yuan didn't turn around, but stared at the red sedan chair, his gaze heavy as if weighed down by a stone: "It's time for the 'ceremony'."
"In some places outside the Great Wall in the past, when a wedding or funeral procession arrived at the door, the procession would first stand up and pay their respects."
"It's to let the family members, the spirits of the dead, and the evil spirits inside recognize the way, so as not to offend the village entrance or the mountain pass."
"But this thing isn't finding its way; it's resigning itself to its fate."
As Lu Yuan finished speaking, he raised his hand and wiped the blade, managing to remove a trace of blood from his fingertip.
"Zhou Heng, step back three steps to my left and behind me."
"Cheng'an, Erxiao, guard the gray circle and don't let the paper child slip out."
"Lin Zhaoxuan, don't rush to bring down the thunderbolts, wait for my command."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately moved to their new positions.
Zhou Heng swallowed hard, dragged his sword, and stood to Lu Yuan's left rear, his eyes fixed on the red sedan chair.
Just then, the sedan curtain suddenly trembled.
A hand wearing bright red embroidered sleeves slowly emerged from inside.
The hands were unnaturally white, but the nails were painted bright red and looked like a row of small knives.
It first rested on the edge of the sedan chair, paused for two breaths, and then gently lifted it.
The red curtain was lifted half a foot.
The crowd finally saw half of the "person's" face inside the sedan chair.
It was an extremely exquisite paper face.
Her face was covered with a grayish-white powder, her eyes were delicately curved with black lines, her lips were painted with a bright, almost black rouge, and a small gold foil flower was pasted on her forehead.
But the paper face wasn't just an empty sheet; something was wriggling underneath it.
It's as if several tiny black lines are stitching and tightening inside, forcibly pulling it into a smiling face.
What's even stranger is that half of the paper face looks like a bride, while the other half subtly reveals signs of mourning.
She wore wedding makeup on the left corner of her eye, but a small piece of white hemp was tucked behind her right temple.
Joy and sorrow were forcibly mixed together on one face.
"Red and white side by side —"
Lin Zhaoxuan's expression changed: "This thing isn't just one evil spirit, it's two evil spirits combined?"
Lu Yuan's eyes sharpened: "It's not a shared entity, it's a 'married evil spirit.'"
"Some people tie the evil spirits of joy and sorrow together, letting them use the same face, the same road, and the same breath to harm people."
"Red is for welcoming the bride, white is for the funeral. They look opposite, but they are actually from the same root."
"Look at the gold foil flower on its forehead. That's not decoration; it's a soul-stabilizing paper."
"The stitches underneath pass through the seven orifices, locking in the evil heart."
As he spoke, the paper face lifted half an inch further, and the paper lips parted slightly, uttering a few broken words: "Please—go—on—the way—".
The sound was muffled, as if it came from under the sedan chair, or as if it had circled around the back of the paper face before emerging.
Zhou Heng's temple throbbed with anger, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "This thing really deserves to be chopped off!"
Lu Yuan shouted in a deep voice, "Don't move!"
"It is testing the fire in your hearts."
"If you get angry, it will have a way out."
After saying that, he suddenly raised his right hand, put two fingers together on the spine of the short knife and flicked it quickly.
A soft "clang" sounded.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was like striking a bronze bell, causing the paper face in front of it to stiffen slightly.
Taking advantage of that moment, Lu Yuan took three steps in quick succession. His footwork was neither like the ordinary Yu Step nor like martial arts moves, but rather carried a very strange rhythm.
Advance to the left, stagger to the right, press forward, and lock back—it's as if the entire stone path is a sheet of paper being pressed down, with each step marking out a position.
As he walked, he muttered, "Zhongtu Town, all sides submit!"
"For every step I take, the gate of hell retreats a foot!"
With each sentence, the black and gray circle beneath their feet would light up slightly.
That wasn't light; it was the cinnabar vapor in the gray lines that his footwork forced out, like a very thin layer of hot mist, slowly gathering in all directions.
Song Qinghe saw through the trick and exclaimed, "Using the earth's energy to arrange the formation!"
Lu Yuan did not answer. Instead, he flipped his hand over, revealing the "Imperial Edict" character again in his palm.
This time, however, he didn't throw it immediately. Instead, he held it between his fingers and chanted in a deep voice, "The Supreme Mysterious Gate, opening and closing with measure!"
"When Yin and Yang are out of place, they all return to one place!"
'
"With my true energy, I will suppress the path you came from!"
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly flung his hand away.
The talisman did not fly towards the red sedan chair, but instead landed diagonally on the crack between the paper boy and the red and white procession.
With a soft "snap," the talisman fell to the ground and instantly dissolved.
Immediately afterwards, all the white threads that had been crawling outwards from the black and gray circle seemed to hit an invisible wall and bounced back in unison.
The paper child suddenly let out a sharp scream, and half of its body twisted violently to the side.
The paper face inside the red sedan chair suddenly stopped moving, as if it had been held back by something.
"efficient!"
Zhou Heng's eyes lit up.
Don't be too happy yet.
Lu Yuan's voice was cold and hard: "It stopped because it was waiting for something else to take over."
Before he finished speaking, a series of very light footsteps suddenly sounded from behind the red and white road team.
The footsteps were slow and steady, one step at a time, as if someone was walking through the snow.
Everyone looked over.
At the end of the red and white banners, a figure slowly emerged.
The figure was not tall, wearing a tall hat and a gray cloth long gown, but with a small black plaque hanging on his chest.
The black plaque had no words on it, only a strand of white hemp pressed against the corner. He walked slowly, but each step felt like stepping on everyone's hearts, getting closer and closer.
"Are they guarding the road?" Wang Chengan's throat tightened.
Lu Yuan's expression grew even colder: "Not guarding the road."
"It was a roll call."
"In such places, if there is a set of auspicious and inauspicious paths, there must be a person in charge who will call out names and lead the way for the evil spirits."
"The red sedan chair, white banners, and paper faces in front are just for show."
"The one who truly takes charge is often not the most conspicuous one."
"The fact that this person came out means they've decided that this road can be closed off now."
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhaoxuan immediately understood: "So, it wants us to walk in ourselves?"
Lu Yuan nodded: "Yes."
"It's not in a hurry to pounce on people."
"It's about turning us from 'spectators' into active participants."
As he spoke, the figure in the gray cloth robe had already walked to the front of the red and white procession.
He raised his head, revealing not his face, but a roughly pasted white paper mask.
The mask had empty eye holes, but the corners of the mouth were drawn with a slightly upturned arc in red, resembling both a smile and a cry.
He reached into his pocket and took out a thin booklet, his fingertips slowly tracing the pages. Then he raised his hand, which was so thin it was practically just bones, and pointed at the crowd.
"Those who come, please register."
The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a piece of iron scraping across ice.
Song Qinghe felt a chill run down her spine and whispered, "He's calling out the names of the souls."
Lu Yuan's eyes grew colder. He suddenly held the short knife horizontally in front of his chest and replied in a deep voice, "At the foot of Savage Gully, I'll grant you passage, not my life."
The masked figure seemed to pause for a moment, then chuckled softly twice.
The laughter was very soft, yet it was like the wind squeezing out of a cardboard box.
After speaking, Lu Yuan immediately formed a hand seal with his left hand, pressed the tip of his short sword to the ground with his right hand, and shouted abruptly, "The mountain gate closes, the gate of hell opens!"
"Opening the door opens a door, closing it closes a disaster!"
"I have thunder and fire in my bones!"
"Anyone who dares to come will be killed!"