Chapter 137: The Art of Ghost

　　Outside the City God Temple, the soaring white hair separated a huge batch of military guards from the City God Temple. The slightest touch of the white hair would cause one to fall into a coma immediately. The policemen attempted multiple methods, such as burying it with sand and burning with fire but they still did not manage to enter. They could only wait for the reinforcement of the helicopter…

　　Wen Leyang pronounced the phrase ‘the Sword Immortal, a Solitary Heaven Guardian’ for a few times attentively. His face revealed the expression of sudden enlightenment as he grabbed the little supreme leader Liu Zheng, “Your esteemed master…the enlightened person Tian Shu came from the Black and White Island?”

　　The seven words of ‘the Sword Immortal, a Solitary Heaven Guardian’ were mentioned by the jade knife Guo Huan before. Two thousand years ago, Chang Li lured Guo Huan to the Black and White Island, she broke the Heaven’s cone nail there and drew the attention of the Sword Immortal to chase after her.

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng peered at him once out of surprise, “That is correct! So you know about the Black and White Island as well?”

　　The Black and White Island was not only used to suppress Xiang Liu the Nine-headed monster but there were also the Sword Immortals with the ultimate cultivation base living in seclusion there. However, in today’s cultivation world, that was nothing but a legend. Just like that fierce battle when Tuo Xie and Chang Li joined hands to resist against the master cultivators of the world two thousand years ago, it was blurred by the passing of time into faint and indistinctive traces. Some observant conscientious persons smiled when they saw these immortals but those unobservant and unconscientious could be looking at them but could not see them.

　　The master cultivator of One Word Palace and the big monk Hope Aware were important personages in the cultivation world. Of course, they had heard of the classical allusion of the Black and White Island but they had never thought that the big boss behind the Kunlun Sect was unexpectedly the Sword Immortal of the Black and White Island.

　　Wen Leyang did not answer the little supreme leader Liu Zheng’s question but continued to inquire closely, “Hanba is killing demons and extracting their vitality in order to save Xiang Liu? Hanba is working under Xiang Liu?”

　　The enlightened person Tian Shu that was floating in the air was still conversing with Fifth Brother Hanba with one person asking in a hoarse voice and another person answering in a childish voice. Tian Shu was trying to find out the whereabouts of Xiang Liu, while Hanba’s answer was still the same simple denial.

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng’s expression was a little puzzled, he did not understand why Wen Leyang was asking about all these, “Naturally, otherwise there is utterly no purpose in collecting all this demonic primordial energy…” He was halfway through his sentence when the expression of vigilance suddenly appeared on Liu Zheng’s face. He no longer acknowledged Wen Leyang but raised his head and looked up to the enlightened person Tian Shu, “Esteemed master, someone is here!”

　　An uproar of noise echoed indistinctly from the outside all of a sudden. The communication sound of megaphone and shouting voices echoed one after another, followed by intense gunshot noises akin to the explosion of beans. A series of sonic boom sounds were heard. Close to a hundred people wearing all kinds of attires that appeared no different from any other common people dashed through the barricade set up by the police and effortlessly passed through the white-haired drought spirits from the edge of the commercial area. They walked in quick strides to the ‘Year 221 Before Christ’ porcelain product shop’s door and gathered around Fifth Brother Hanba.

　　Qin Zhui raised his brows. It was as if he was afraid that the world would be in peace, he laughed, “Hanba still has some helpers?” Upon saying that, he hesitated for a moment before he gathered his ugly face in front of Wen Leyang and asked, “When everyone is fighting later, whose side are we on?”

　　Wen Leyang shook his head. He turned around and spoke earnestly towards Qin Zhui, the disciple of One Word Palace and the big monk Hope Aware, “When the chaos arises, can the three of you please escort the three of them out of the City God Temple!” As he was saying he stretched out his hand and pointed lightly on Xiaoyi, Chi Maojiu and the well-behaved child Luo Wanggen’s forehead.

　　The monk and the person from One Word Palace did not say anything but Qin Zhui felt that it was unfair.

　　Chi Maojiu and the well-behaved child Luo Wanggen’s face simultaneously flowed with infuriation, while Xiaoyi considered for a moment before she slung the big-muzzled weapon on her hands onto Wen Leyang’s body and spoke softly, “I will not create any more trouble, I will wait for you to come back!” As she was saying that, she took out a stick of carrot from her bag and placed it on Wen Leyang’s hand.

　　Wen Leyang smiled as he received the carrot, his other unoccupied hand caressed her silky black hair softly for a few times. Her hair felt slightly cold and soft.

　　The people who killed demons and extracted their vitality had developed into an enormous organization. Fifth Brother Hanba was, unsuspectingly, the organization’s leader. The moment the drought spirit was released in the City God Temple, his people in Shanghai immediately came rushing over to offer reinforcement.

　　Before this group of people entered the scene, the little Taoist priest Liu Zheng’s expression was slightly nervous. However, upon meeting them face to face, he was completely relaxed.

　　The corners of the enlightened person Tian Shu’s lips curled into a charming smile, yet his hoarse voice still remained as terrifying as before, “Why is there a necessity for you to summon all of them to seek their doom?”

　　Hanba’s smile was extremely similar to an evil ghost that was suffering from death by burning, “Their lives belong to me. You do not need to worry about them being alive or dead.”

　　The enlightened person Tian Shu sniggered twice in the air, he instructed Liu Zheng, “Leave Hanba out, the rest of the evildoers shall be executed without pardon!” Upon saying that, he opened his arms vigorously in mid-air. His sleeves fluttered in the wind, just like a raging eagle that was waiting to launch its attack. The thousands of Kunlun divine swords that were gathered behind him simultaneously shook rapidly. With a gush of raging dragon-like long moans, the swords dispersed off abruptly, akin to the phoenix that spread its wings. Covering the sky, the swords followed the enlightened person Tian Shu’s mannerism as they firmly pinned onto the top of Fifth Brother Hanba’s head, ready to be launched in a touch!

　　The cultivators standing behind Hanba were a bunch of motley crews as compared to the Kunlun Sect’s disciples, the moment they saw that the Kunlun Sect was prepared to fight, without awaiting the leader’s order, they wrapped their bodies underneath the protection of their treasured weapons as they squalled and pounced towards the enemies.

　　It was as if Fifth Brother Hanba was truly pinned down by the enlightened person Tian Shu’s divine swords such that he could not budge at all. He stood on the same spot and did not move.

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng, who had been standing next to Wen Leyang all along suddenly jumped up, he shouted solemnly, “Taoism code, the disciples of Kunlun, execute the demon!”

　　All the Kunlun disciples standing behind him responded in unison, attacking simultaneously under the supreme leader’s summon. The long swords that were suspended in the air behind everyone shot out as fast as lightning!

　　Wen Leyang seized the opportunity when the two sides started fighting. He immediately shouted urgently towards the big monk and the rest, “Leave quickly…don’t wait a-a-any longer…”

　　The violent fight in everyone’s imagination did not happen, the battle between the two parties took the time less than the blink of an eye and ended.

　　There was no agonizing scream, no shrill scream, hundreds of flying swords shot out in a sonic boom and almost simultaneously pierced through the enemy’s bodies. Blood and swords rained from the sky in a flash. Hundreds of lives were sacrificed in the blink of an eye!

　　After the flying swords pierced through the corpses, the swords immediately shook off the blood stains on its blades. The swords’ glow became clear once again as the swords spun back next to its masters.

　　Wen Leyang did not even manage to finish his sentence about the escape plan when he was interrupted by the spluttering sound of corpses falling onto the ground.

　　Even the eyes of the well-behaved child Luo Wanggen were glimmering in puzzlement, “So soon?”

　　It was as if Fifth Brother Hanba was shaken by the sudden massacre, a few seconds of extreme silence passed before he gave out a sudden heartbreaking long howl, as sorrowful as a lonely beast that was mourning its last companion’s death, as unwilling as the little ghost condemned to hell that watched as a soul-splitting saw cut into its body!

　　The sound of a ghost weeping could be heard. It occupied every corner of the City God Temple in a flash. The enlightened person Tian Shu that was guiding the Kunlun thousands of swords to pin down Fifth Brother suddenly changed his expression. His appearance, which could only be described as enchanting and charming, was suddenly penetrated by a gush of profound shock and rage. He shouted loudly, “Death to the evildoer!”

　　The divine swords that were covering the entire sky flowed out with a loud bang akin to a violent storm! Within the ruthless sword rain, Fifth Brother Hanba moved about akin to a ghost. His movement was so swift one could not capture him with one’s vision!

　　Thousands of swords that carried along copious amount of tremendous strength and sunk deeply into the ground in a slanted or horizontal position struggled about unwillingly for a moment before breaking out and attacked Hanba again.

　　The City God Temple was immediately annihilated by the sword’s hum and loud noises that were as sharp and loud as the apocalypse. It madly tossed the torn and shredded air everywhere but still could not conceal Fifth Brother Hanba’s ghost weeping!

　　As the chilled air swept across Wen Leyang face, he felt the desolated energy that was caused by the thousands of swords was like a solid form, so strong such that it was difficult for Wen Leyang to stand firm. He hastily summoned the Poison Stream’s undercurrent. Together with the big monk Hope Aware, Qin Zhui and the disciple of One Word Palace, they protected Xiaoyi and the other two persons as they retreated continuously. It was the same thousands of swords. However, under the conduction of Tian Shu, the power was stronger by many folds as compared to when the little supreme leader Liu Zheng launched the swords in the Wen family village.

　　If the person that was resisting the sword rain was not Hanba but the Weeping Buddha, the Buddha would have since been crushed into a piece of flat iron sheet already.

　　The enlightened person Tian Shu did not manage to raid and kill Fifth Brother Hanba on a few attempts. The expression on his face became more and more nervous, he growled in a hoarse voice. The sword formation that was waving madly in the air divided into a bunch of one hundred long swords. Each of the swords was pinned into a cultivator’s corpse that was recently murdered by the disciples of the Kunlun Sect.

　　The densely arranged long swords were akin to the solemn heaven stakes that pierced accurately into the corpse’s heart, all the way to the hilt, firmly wedging the corpse onto the ground.

　　Qin Zhui was stunned for a moment, “What is the purpose of nailing the corpses? Is he afraid that they will turn into zombies…” Before his voice died, the cultivator’s corpses that were already dead and had four to five transparent pits that were pierced through their corpses, started struggling after hearing Fifth Brother Hanba’s weep. Their fingers trembled in an attempt to pull out the long swords that were nailed to its bodies!

　　The ugly youth Qin Zhui was stunned again. He did not expect that his prediction was rather accurate. His mouth widened into a smile as he sneered, “These zombie corpses are useless. How can the people who engaged in heaven’s cultivation be afraid of these good-for-nothing glutinous rice dumplings?”

　　Xiaoyi’s little face was initially ghastly pale. When she heard of Qin Zhui’s words she suddenly broke out in a snigger. She turned around and peered at him once, “So you’ve read the novel ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’?”

　　Fifth Brother Hanba’s ghost weeping abruptly vanished. He gave out a series of sneers as he no longer dodged blindly. His arms suddenly beat about, the dozens of long swords next to him suddenly exploded into bits and pieces. Hanba finally started to counterattack. He was like a floating dragon that was attacked from all sides, every time he moved he would destroy a stretch of flying swords next to him with agility!

　　A strand of frost-like sharpness flashed past the enlightened person Tian Shu’s gaze. He elevated his spirit as each of his hands brought out a blood red-colored talisman. He squalled hoarsely once, “Taoism code, the sword dragon, lock!” The long swords that appeared to be waving about messily in the air following Tian Shu’s summon. The swords were akin to piranhas that picked up the scent of blood. The swords suddenly picked up the speed and arrived in all directions in a flash. Thousands of long swords formed into a large round sphere in mid-air with a loud bang and firmly trapped Fifth Brother that was pouncing forward within it. Layers upon layers of swords stabbed towards him!

　　The blood red-colored talismans also grew longer in the wind and turned into two streaks of domineering red silks. One was positioned horizontally while the other was positioned vertically to lock the sword ball that had a diameter of almost a hundred meters! Waves upon waves of loud metal clanking sound densely gathered into one in the core of the sword ball.

　　The enlightened person Tian Shu used thousands of Kunlun divine swords to trap down Fifth Brother Hanba, yet his expression remained as tense as before. He kept his left hand behind his back while his right hand moved about in the immortal gesture, rapidly circled around the sword ball as he continuously drew one after another huge seal script symbols in the air. The seal script symbols took form and suddenly bore into the sword ball!

　　A tyrannical sound as dense as exploding beans surged skywards. There was no sign of it pausing or slowing down at all.

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng witnessed the hundreds of corpses struggling on the ground. Even though he could not recognize the art of magic that was used by Hanba, he could understand that Hanba’s ghost weeping had already awakened all these corpses here. The dead were turning into zombies, trying to struggle free from the flying swords that were pinning them down. He immediately made a decision promptly and issued a summon, “Chop the hands!”

　　A stretch of sword’s essence immediately rippled akin to water. Dozens of Kunlun disciples guided their flying swords, accompanied by the howling sound, as the swords swept through the corpses that were wriggling about. The bloodshed erupted. Chunks upon chunks of arms accompanied by sword’s reflection flew messily in the sky. It appeared rather shocking, Wen Leyang hastily covered Xiaoyi’s eyes.

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng realized that these corpses that were turning into zombies were so fragile they could not even withstand one blow. He was about to heave a long sigh of relief when a stretch of agonizing screams filled with fear and incredulous erupted abruptly behind him. Arms of every Kunlun disciple, who used his flying sword to chop off the zombie’s arms earlier, suddenly snapped without a sign as if countless invisible quick knives, chopped away their arms vigorously!

　　Wen Leyang covered Xiaoyi’s eyes but she seemed to be aware of the situation outside. Her voice trembled slightly, but she spoke earnestly, “This is not an Art of Magic, but it is the Art of Ghost. It is known as the Ghost’s crossing, crossing from a corpse into a poltergeist, the drought spirit is capable of turning these corpses into ghosts![1]”

　　There was such a peculiar recording in the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death. Xiaoyi had read the recording as if she was reading a horror fiction novel in the past, she would never have thought that today was the day she had the opportunity to witness one in the wild.

　　Xiaoyi did not wait for the others to start questioning. She explained to them softly, “The poltergeist is a hostile type of ghost that bears the most grudges. It will avenge even at the smallest grievance. Whoever harms it will be cast with its spell, the Kunlun Sect’s Taoist priests chopped off the poltergeists’ arms, so their arms were chopped off as well.

　　Qin Zhui was startled. He immediately retracted his Tang knife.

　　Dozens of Kunlun Taoist priests lost their arms out of a sudden. They soon understood that it was caused by the corpses that were still nailed to the ground by the long swords. A few of the bravest disciples did not care about their lost arms but jumped high up into the sky while screaming fiercely. Their feet were akin to mountains as they stomped heavily onto the zombie corpses’ heads!

　　The enlightened person Tian Shu focused all his attention towards fighting and killing Hanba. He had forgotten about everything else and did not pay attention as to what his Kunlun disciples were doing.

　　In between Wen Leyang’s fingers, Xiaoyi saw that the few Taoist priests who lost their arms tried to sacrifice their lives for the greater cause and wanted to perish together with the zombie corpse. She immediately screamed out in surprise, “You can’t do that!”

　　Her crisp shouting was accompanied by a few muffled noise of crushed watermelon that echoed in unison.

　　The Kunlun disciples crushed the heads of a few of the zombie corpses, which had lost their arms and were still struggling underneath the long swords. Their bodies convulsed for a few times vigorously and stopped moving! There was no exception for the Kunlun disciples. Moments later, their heads exploded with a pop, their bodies swayed weakly before they tumbled onto the ground.

　　The scene was extremely bloody. Even for the disciple of One Word Palace, who disregarded the sanctity of human lives all the while, Qing Zhui and the rest frowned. The big monk Hope Aware chanted the Buddha’s name softly before bending over and asked Xiaoyi, “Little girl, what is there that can be done? In order to kill these ghost, one can only exchange the ghost’s life with his life.”

　　Xiaoyi was startled by the splashing skin and fresh blood earlier. She no longer dared to peer out from between Wen Leyang’s fingers. She closed her huge eyes tightly, her long lashes were still trembling, “These are not zombie corpses. They are the poltergeist ghosts! The poltergeists possess Yang’s soul, their souls would never disperse off even after they are dead. When they still have their bodies, the poltergeist’s souls can never break away from their bodies but when their corpses were destroyed, the poltergeist ghosts turn into poltergeist souls. Their powers remain the same but we can’t see them with naked eyes anymore…”

　　Wen Leyang shuddered with fear upon hearing that. He gave a forced smile as he asked Xiaoyi, “So how do we deal with them?” He had never heard of such an incisive form of Art of Ghost that these resurrected poltergeists were invincible. Any harm that was inflicted on them, the person who inflicted the harm would be reflected with the harm. Any braver person, who risked his life to perish together with the poltergeists, the poltergeist zombies would still turn into poltergeist souls and still triumphed over the enemy.

　　Xiaoyi shook her head, “There is no way to deal with them, this form of Art of Ghost is supposed to be something out of legends unless the person who is casting the spell is killed…”

　　Before Xiaoyi could finish her sentence, a series of alarming cries echoed from the Kunlun disciples. In the blink of an eye, around seven to eight Taoist priest were attacked in a baffling manner and they tumbled down from the roofs of the shops.

　　Wen Leyang immediately reminded Liu Zheng loudly, “There are tyrannical souls here!”

　　Liu Zheng was stunned upon hearing that, he jumped up in exasperation, waved his hands and tossed a streak of aquamarine-colored triangular streamer and roared loudly, “Taoism code, the heaven’s light, illuminate the demons!”

　　The streamer flag surged straight into the vault of heaven with a swoosh. A layer of blue-colored brilliant rays of light rippled akin to waves. Five to six ghost’s shadows that were raiding the Kunlun Taoist priests was revealed within the blue-colored rays of light!

　　The Kunlun Sect’s Taoist priests’ battle formation was in slight disarray. A few of the experienced and prudent head priest gave out the instruction to stop their disciples. They pinched out paper talismans that were used to wrap around their flying swords and pinched their fingers into the sword-control gestures as they went after the poltergeist souls. Even though the five to six poltergeist souls were still as swift as lighting, they could not cause too much trouble. It did not take long for the master cultivators of Kunlun Taoist to destroy and disperse off these poltergeist souls.

　　Liu Zheng heaved a long sigh as he looked towards Wen Leyang in preparation to flash him a smile of gratitude when the humongous sword cage in the air suddenly erupted in an infant-like childish squall, “Rise, kill the enemy!”

　　Following Hanba’s tyrannical howl, a layer of gloomy yet ghastly pale wind swept past everyone’s body without a sign, the poltergeist ghosts that were nailed by the long swords onto the ground gave out a series of rustling sound in unison. The poltergeists straightened its bodies ferociously and forcefully pulled themselves out from the long swords before pouncing mercilessly towards the Kunlun Sect’s Taoist priests!

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng’s squall was filled with helplessness and rage. There was no way they could win this battle!

　　Qin Zhui who had been bitter from his insatiable craving for fights all along stomped his foot in rage as he asked Wen Leyang, “Can we leave now?”

　　Wen Leyang immediately nodded, “I will send all of you away from here. Be careful of the military guards outside!” He then urged the Poison Stream’s undercurrent forward as they dashed towards the outside of the City God Temple.

　　The edge of the City God Temple was still covered with a layer of thick and heavy white hair spirit, which was used to prevent the outsiders from entering the City God Temple. Wen Leyang’s Poison Stream surged and squeezed through the white-haired drought spirit with a loud crash and guarded around the big monk and the rest. Xiaoyi bawled as she turned around and shouted to Wen Leyang with all her might, “I will not create any more trouble. I will wait for you to come back…”

　　The big monk shouted with a high-pitched voice, “The Buddha has no concrete form and therefore all living creatures also have no concrete form! I cast the spell of Heaven’s Omniscient Eye!”

　　The thundering Buddhist hymn echoed through the entire sky. A stretch of scorching and solid-like golden-colored Buddha’s light descended from the sky!

　　The divine monk Hope Aware’s supernatural power of Heaven’s Omniscient Eye was capable of concealing the enemy’s five senses entirely. When they were on Mount Emei, even the rogue cultivators had no way to resist this attack and were thrown into a disarray, let alone these ordinary people. The fully armed and well-trained policemen carrying fully loaded guns could not see anything within the thick Buddha’s light, nor could they hear anything. They had utterly no idea what just happened.

　　The big monk brought along the rest of the people as he seized the opportunity and dashed outside, occasionally shouting, “Ugly ghost, you are walking in the wrong direction…”

　　The City God Temple was in a chaotic mess. The poltergeist ghosts pounced and attacked towards the Kunlun disciples recklessly, while the Kunlun disciples could only dodge cautiously. They circled around the opposing party desperately, while the little supreme leader Liu Zheng’s body leaped here and there. The moment he saw his fellow disciples of the same school were in danger, he would approach swiftly and kick away the poltergeist ghosts, the ghosts tumbled over in the opposite direction. It did not take long before the ghosts’ bodies were covered in footprints. When Liu Zheng unintentionally realized that Wen Leyang was still there, he asked in exasperation, “Why aren’t you running away?”

　　Wen Leyang gave a forced smile as he shook his head. He wanted to run away also but this encounter of his in the City God Temple was truly filled with too many doubts. All these matters were closely related to his Grand Master Tuo Xie’s efforts for two thousand years, and the life and death situation of his Grand Master Chang Li. He would never be at peace as long as he did not clarify the situation.

　　The matter was just as described by his four grandfathers. Grand Master Tuo Xie was nothing but a vague and insubstantial legend for them. The story of their ancestors’ thunderous escape carried a tinge of classicism and romanticism… but right now layers upon layers of clues were being revealed. Grand Master Tuo Xie gradually transformed from a piece of wood tablet into a person that was made of flesh and blood, whose survival was uncertain. After all, they were all the descendants of Tuo Xie after all, there was no other way but to continue the investigation.

　　Both Wen Leyang and Liu Zheng hesitated for a moment before they started leaping here and there to offer reinforcement to the Kunlun disciples.

　　Other than the anxiety of life and death, Wen Leyang offered his help to the Kunlun Sect for one more important reason – Tian Shu was the Sword Immortal that came from the Black and White Island.

　　No one in the world would know about Xiang Liu more than the people in Black and White Island. Wen Leyang believed what the Sword Immortal said, that Fifth Brother Hanba was collecting demonic primordial energy in order to protect the primordial soul of Xiang Liu the nine-headed snake.

　　Ignoring Leyang Wen from Painting Town, who rescued the life of Hanba, everything would seem simpler! Grand Master Tuo Xie tried to prevent the resurrection of Xiang Liu, while Fifth Brother Hanba was helping the resurrection of Xiang Liu. Of course, Hanba was against Wen Leyang.

　　Wen Leyang felt that the situation was a little comical, it was estimated that the moment the Sword Immortal from the Black and White Island met the demon cat Chang Li and Grand Master Tuo Xie, he would immediately unsheathe his sword to fight them desperately. However, even though both parties were certainly each other’s deadly enemies, in order to suppress Xiang Liu once again, they would fight side-by-side.

　　Wen Leyang was finally enlightened! It was his demon cat ancestor’s fault!

　　He immediately recalled Chang Li’s sweet, magical beauty and delicateness and he was enlightened for the second time. Grand Master Tuo Xie was also rather wicked. He waited until Chang Li smashed the Heaven’s cone nail before he was willing to formally recognize this extremely beautiful and enchanting girlfriend of his and fight a grand battle against the master cultivators in the world. What else could he be if he was not a miserable wretch?

　　[1] (Author’s note: The word 魆 (ghost) is pronounced as Xu, hehe, I found this word through a thorough checking)