noveltune Chapter 239 The banquet is over, time to collect the debt.
Chapter 239 The banquet is over, time to collect the debt.
Chapter 239 The banquet is over, time to collect the debt. (4400)
The "thump, thump, thump, thump" sounds from the depths of the stone path were not uniform; instead, they sounded like muffled thuds rising layer by layer through a thick layer of mud.
Each thud was light, yet extremely heavy, like someone using their back to push against the coffin lid, slowly and tentatively trying to get up.
Lu Yuan's eyelids twitched, and he hissed, "Not even a bite of food."
"It's four breaths."
"There are four furnaces in this yin-heavy room."
"The shrinking coffin in front is just the opening of the Yin furnace. With all the commotion around us, it seems that all four doors are closing inwards."
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhaoxuan's knuckles tightened involuntarily, and the blue and white lightning patterns on the Thunder Token seemed to tremble slightly, as if drawn by the underground tremors.
"What is a four-door furnace?"
Lu Yuan stared at the ground and said coldly, "Some of the old evil practices from beyond the Great Wall don't just use a single coffin or a single evil spirit. Instead, they set up furnaces at the four corners and bury a yin vessel in each of the four cardinal directions, using the four elements of paper, wood, soil, and corpse to nourish each other."
"When all four directions move together, and the central palace rises again, it becomes a furnace of four gates."
"There's probably more than just this one coffin in this Savage Gully."
No sooner had he finished speaking than another deep thud came from underground.
This time, it wasn't just a thud coming from underfoot; the black soil on both sides of the entire stone path undulated gently, as if there really was a huge thing slowly turning over underneath.
Song Qinghe's face turned pale, and she looked anxiously at Lu Yuan: "What do we do now?"
"How long can this barrier of light last?"
Lu Yuan did not answer, but suddenly raised his hand and pointed three fingers in the air.
The first finger points to the red cloth stake on the left, the second finger points to the black wooden frame on the right, and the third finger points to the top of the shrinking coffin.
With each point that landed, he uttered a deep voice: "The left is the Azure Dragon Gate, the right is the White Tiger Gate, and the center is the Ghost Fetus Gate."
"The doors are interlocked, and the interlocking doors lead to the underworld."
"Today I will not tear down your door, but I will break the heart of your door."
""
Having said that, he turned around abruptly and shouted at Wang Cheng'an, "Fire starter!"
Wang Chengan hurriedly pulled out the last half of a tinderbox from his body, his hands trembling so badly he almost dropped it.
Lu Yuan took it and pinched it between his fingers. He then quickly brought his hands together and formed a very rare "Finger-Clasping Fire Technique".
He pressed his left index finger against his middle finger, then his middle finger hooked his ring finger, and his thumb supported it from below, as if locking an invisible flame between his knuckles.
He muttered to himself, "Heavenly fire does not fall to the mortal world, and earthly fire does not burn firewood without roots."
"I borrow a three-inch fire from the human world to ignite your dark furnace and bring you joy."
When he got to the third line, he suddenly blew on it.
"call"
The last spark in the tinderbox was ignited between his fingers by this breath, turning into a thin line of fire that snaked and shone for a moment.
But the fire didn't actually boil; it only left a very short and thin scorch mark at the edge of the black ash circle.
"Not enough."
Lu Yuan's expression was cold and hard.
He suddenly reached into his sleeve and tore open a section of the lining.
Hidden inside the lining was a small pinch of extremely fine grayish-white incense powder, like the incense ash left after the incense had burned to the bottom in a temple, mixed with a very faint sandalwood scent.
Then Lu Yuan dipped his thumb in saliva, dabbed it on the ash, and rolled it into three tiny ash balls.
Then, he pressed the three ash pellets onto the wicks of the three candles respectively.
"Heavenly fire has been ignited, and earthly fire has been set ablaze."
"Incense ash is the bone, pine resin is the blood."
"Three lamps illuminate your three gates."
"Where the door faces fire, even ghosts see light."
"Once the Yin Bridge is broken, all evil spirits have no basis."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the three candles actually lit up all at once.
The firelight was small, even somewhat bluish, like a ghostly lamp sheltered by the wind on a winter night.
But as soon as these three sparks appeared, the sticky, chilly aura around them immediately receded by half a foot.
Song Qinghe felt relieved and was about to speak when she saw the black mist seeping from the cracks of the coffin suddenly stop, as if it had been forced back by the firelight.
"it works!"
Zhou Heng said in a deep voice.
"Don't rush."
Lu Yuan's eyes flickered: "It's not that it's afraid of fire, it's that it's afraid of fire revealing its true nature."
Before Lu Yuan could finish speaking, the masked man slowly raised his head.
Within the three cracks on the white paper mask, the black and white layers of paper shifted slightly, as if something inside was opening its eyes.
The voice changed as well.
"Three lamps in the sun—"
"The light shines on the table, but not on the Lord."
It spoke with a very slight smile.
"If the master does not show himself, the three lamps will guide the living."
Lu Yuan's eyes suddenly darkened.
"It knows I'm stalling for time."
Lin Zhaoxuan said in a low voice, "Then let's not delay any longer."
Lu Yuan glanced at him, then nodded: "Okay."
He suddenly turned around and shouted to the crowd, "Listen to my command!"
"Zhou Heng, sword in hand, guard the left side of the fire!"
Song Qinghe, press down on the central palace, keep your eyes fixed on the coffin seam!
"Lin Zhaoxuan, keep this order close at hand. When I set up the altar, your lightning will only strike the spot I point to!"
"Cheng'an and Erxiao, add another layer of black ash along the ash circle to create a 'broken door ash' finish!"
Everyone immediately complied.
Zhou Heng crossed his sword to the left, while Song Qinghe held up the Tai Chi Sealing Plate with both hands. The black and white jade pieces in the plate spun rapidly, and the yin-yang fish in the center had already become a line.
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao hurriedly shook out the remaining black ash and sprinkled it around the original ash circle again.
The moment the black ash landed, it was as if tiny ash insects had burrowed into the soil, quickly stabilizing the edge of the circle.
While everyone was making arrangements, Lu Yuan quickly pulled a thin rope from his waist.
The rope wasn't hemp or cotton; it was shiny black, as if it were made of hair and oiled thread, and a small copper bell was wrapped around the end of the rope.
"This is the altar cord."
Lu Yuan explained in a low voice, "It was left behind by our predecessors, specifically for harnessing the earth's energy and drawing upon the family's lineage."
He pressed the copper bell to the ground, then tapped it lightly with the back of his short knife.
"bite."
The bell rang very softly, yet it sounded like a tap on a bone deep underground.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Yuan stepped onto the rope, first to the left and then to the right, each step extremely steady, as he slowly recited a longer incantation for the altar: "The earth has a square, and the square has boundaries."
"Every boundary has a gate, and every gate has a vein."
"The pulse connects to Yin, and Yin connects to evil."
"The evil spirits are hidden in the earth, and the earth nurtures the monsters."
"I now tread upon your territory with mortal steps, I beg your earthly spirit to open a gap, I beg your mountain soul to lend me a thread."
"Lend me the path between Yin and Yang, lend me the return of the four directions to their rightful place."
"All evil spirits obey my command, and all monsters flee in terror."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
With each word spoken, the guiding rope tightened slightly, as if something below was being slowly pulled up.
As the incantation continued, the black and gray circles on the ground began to emit an extremely faint "rustling" sound.
It wasn't the wind blowing, but rather it felt like soil was slowly moving and rearranging itself beneath the circle.
Song Qinghe's palms tightened as she watched, and she couldn't help but whisper, "Is he setting up a 'Temple of Earth'?"
Lin Zhaoxuan kept his eyes straight ahead and said in a deep voice, "It seems so."
"It's not like it."
Lu Yuan's voice suddenly came.
"It's the Temple of Earth."
Lu Yuan took another step, and the altar rope suddenly trembled, finally producing a clear, light sound from the copper bell.
"bite"
At this moment, several of the paper faces with red and white banners pasted on both sides of the stone path tilted their heads at the same time, as if they had heard the bells coming from other intersections.
"The bell guides the soul and leads the way."
Lu Yuan's eyes flashed with a cold light: "You set up a red and white road, I'll show you how to open a straight road."
After saying that, he suddenly raised his knife and lightly sliced it from his fingertip.
A drop of blood seeped out, but Lu Yuan didn't feel any pain. Instead, he raised his hand and wiped his forehead, pressing the bloodstain into a very thin red line.
Then, he pressed two fingers together against his chest with a snap, and his words suddenly shifted to a shorter, harsher, and more forceful incantation: "I have a knife, not for killing people, not for killing ghosts, but for killing the gates of the underworld!"
"I have a thread of blood, which never falls to the ground, never returns to the earth, and is used to seal away the heart of evil!"
"I will now use blood to open the altar, a knife to cut off the path, and lightning to suppress the gate!"
"Imperial Edict!"
As he uttered the last word, Lu Yuan suddenly pointed his knife at the ground.
Lin Zhaoxuan unleashed thunder almost simultaneously.
"Thunder!" A blue-white arc of lightning swept out from the Thunder Commander, but instead of striking the shrinking coffin directly, it precisely struck the base of the red cloth stake behind the coffin, which had already been broken.
"Snapped!"
A loud bang.
Suddenly, everything went blurry before their eyes, and they felt something in the air suddenly loosen.
The next moment, the black mist around the coffin began to swirl wildly, as if some invisible thread had been severed.
"It's done!"
Zhou Heng shouted loudly.
But Lu Yuan showed no sign of relaxation; instead, his gaze deepened: "Something's not right."
"It wasn't broken up; it just made room for others."
Sure enough, as the red cloth stake was struck by lightning, two of the nine black iron nails that were originally firmly nailed to the left side of the stone path began to seep out a deeper dark red color.
The dark red color wasn't blood, but rather something like a sticky oil, slowly seeping up from under the nail hole.
"Oil-fueled stunner".
Song Qinghe's expression changed.
Lu Yuan said coldly, "Yes, the fire at the bottom of the Yin Furnace has risen."
No sooner had he finished speaking than another loud thud came from underground.
Then, the red and white banners on both sides of the stone path seemed to be blown up from behind by the wind, billowing out in full arcs.
That's not real wind.
It was as if something unseen had simultaneously risen behind the banner.
"Don't look at the back of the banner!"
Lu Yuan shouted.
But it was too late.
Xu Erxiao was timid by nature. When he heard the sound, he turned his head and glanced at the scene. He saw a huge white paper face suddenly pressed against the back of the banner, with black hole-like eye sockets facing him.
"ah--!
""
Xu Erxiao screamed in terror, his legs went weak and he almost knelt down.
The white paper face then made a soft "clucking" sound, as if it were about to fall off the back of the banner.
Wang Chengan grabbed him, his voice trembling: "Don't be afraid! Don't look!"
At this moment, Lu Yuan shouted, "Song Qinghe, use the Sealing Disc to reverse Yin and Yang!"
"Lin Zhaoxuan, Lei Ling, move three inches to the left and forward!"
"Zhou Heng, cut off the flag's base!"
"Cheng'an, Erxiao, black ash scattered in an inverted triangle!"
Without hesitation, everyone sprang into action.
With a flick of her wrists, Song Qinghe caused the Tai Chi Sealing Disc to suddenly rotate in the opposite direction.
In an instant, the yin-yang symbol in the dish reversed its color, turning black and white, and emitted a thin layer of cold light, pressing down on the back of the banner.
Lin Zhaoxuan then moved the Thunder Token three inches to the side and shouted, "Thunder and fire, lend me your path, seal your Yin Leg!"
A thin bolt of lightning descended diagonally from the tail of the flag, striking the flagpole to the left front of the stone path.
Zhou Heng's longsword was already drawn. This time, instead of slashing at the banner, he aimed diagonally at the junction of the banner's base and the ground.
As soon as the sword passed, a ring of charred black lines immediately appeared around the base of the red banner.
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao hurriedly shook off the dust, drawing an inverted triangle shape on the ground.
Once the gray line was drawn, it actually managed to trap the shadow of that white paper face at the outer edge of the triangle.
"It wants to possess the banner!"
Song Qinghe said urgently.
Lu Yuan was frighteningly calm: "It can't get up."
"The banner is its curtain, and its feet are its roots."
"If its leg is broken, it can only hang there."
After saying that, Lu Yuan suddenly turned around and took a step that almost skimmed the ground.
Instead of rushing towards the shrinking coffin or the paper-masked man, he went straight to the middle of the stone path, towards the thin book that the paper-masked man had been carrying!
"It needs to be registered, so I'll destroy the register first!"
"Zhou Heng, stop it!"
"Lin Zhaoxuan, Lei Feng Right Rear!"
"Song Qinghe, you are the reincarnation of my predecessor!"
"Cheng'an, Erxiao, step back! Don't touch the books!"
Zhou Heng reacted extremely quickly, raising his longsword horizontally and stepping sideways to block Lu Yuan's side.
Upon seeing this, the paper-masked man actually flipped through the book to block it.
The pages unfurled with a rustling sound, and the line of blood inside suddenly sprang outwards, coiling towards Lu Yuan's wrist like a living thing.
As soon as the blood appeared, a fresh, fishy smell filled the air, like freshly cut meat.
Lu Yuan's eyes hardened, and he suddenly flipped the short knife, raising the blade from bottom to top, while chanting sharply, "Write your name on paper, and your life will be taken in the underworld."
"The book records the bones, and the root is hidden within the mutilation."
"I will now cut off your account books and dismantle your registers."
"If debts are not repaid, the books will be torn up and not kept!"
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
The moment the blade touched the blood, it emitted a sharp "hissing" sound, like red-hot iron tearing through a wet cloth.
The bloodline receded abruptly, and a corner of the thin page instantly turned black.
"good!"
Zhou Heng shouted and, in one swift motion, thrust his sword into the chest of the paper-masked man.
The sword didn't pierce through; instead, it felt like it had struck the thinnest layer of sinew inside layers of cardboard.
The paper masked figure paused, and the thin booklet fell to the ground with a "thud".
Taking advantage of the situation, Lu Yuan stepped onto the edge of the thin book, and with a backhand slash, pressed down on the spine of the book.
But just then, a very long sigh suddenly came from deep within the stone passage.
The sigh wasn't loud, but it seemed to come from several or even tens of feet deep underground, so slow it sent chills down one's spine.
Immediately afterwards, the continuous "thump" sounds from underground suddenly stopped.
Everything has stopped.
The surroundings fell into a deathly silence in an instant.
Even the wind seemed to have been sucked away.
Lu Yuan froze, his eyelids twitching suddenly.
"wrong----"
The moment he uttered those two words, the "master" who had never truly appeared deep within the stone path finally spoke.
A very low, deep, and slow voice rose layer by layer from the earth, from the coffin, and from behind the door: "The mat is—complete—."
As soon as those three words were uttered, the entire stone path seemed to be firmly held down by an invisible hand.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was as deep as a stone millstone ground from the bottom of a grave, making one's eardrums numb and even the soles of one's feet feel weak.
The red and white banners that had been fluttering earlier suddenly dropped all at once.
It was as if all the paper offerings, wooden frames, and shadows were bowing their heads toward the unseen "master" at the end of the stone path.
Lu Yuan's eyes suddenly turned cold. The short knife was still pressed against the edge of the thin book, but his wrist suddenly sank slightly.
He knew that the most dangerous moment had finally passed.
"The fact that it opened its mouth means that the earth veins have reached the root of the gate."
Lu Yuan whispered, "Don't let it fold up the mat."
Lin Zhaoxuan immediately pressed down on the Thunder Token with his fingers, causing the blue and white lightning patterns on its body to hum: "Then I'll press down another layer!"
Lu Yuan raised his hand to stop him: "No rush, don't let the thunder fall yet."
"The moment it opens its mouth, just as it's exhaling its breath, if a heavy thunderbolt strikes, it could easily force it to retaliate against a living person."
After saying that, Lu Yuan suddenly pulled on the altar rope on the ground, and the copper bell rang with a "ding".
The sound was extremely faint, yet it was like prying open a crack in the dead silence.
Lu Yuan took a half step forward, still using the same short steps, but this time his steps were slower and heavier, each step feeling like he was stepping on mud.
He then recited a shorter, more forceful incantation to subdue evil: "The earth will not collect it, the heavens will not accept it."
"If the door is not closed, the evil spirits will not be unleashed."
"I'll borrow a breath of my true qi to suppress half an inch of your yin teeth."
"receive!"
As he uttered the last word "收" (shōu, meaning "to collect"), he pointed his fingers like a hook and suddenly pulled them forward.
The thin book that had fallen to the ground suddenly flipped open and rolled a page inward on its own, as if an unseen hand was inside rolling back the list.
The paper masked man swayed, and the moldy paper money that had fallen out of the crack in his chest suddenly flowed back into the book.
"It's collecting payments!"
Song Qinghe lost her voice.
"good."
Lu Yuan's gaze was icy: "Now that everyone's seated, it's time to collect the bill."
"It wants to nail down every single name it just wrote down."
Just then, a very thin line suddenly rose up from the black soil at the end of the stone path.
The line was initially only a finger's width wide, but it arched higher and higher, as if something underground was using its spine to push through the earth.
Black ash, shredded paper, tattered cloth, and fine wood chips were all thrown to both sides, and in the blink of an eye, the mound of earth had swelled up to half a person's height.