Su Murong heard that Ping Qing and Ping Jian had agreed readily and could not go back on their words. He thought to himself that it was his duty to eliminate the evil and protect the Dao, so he asked,"Zhu Hao, where do you live?"
Seeing that Su Murong and the others had agreed, Zhu Hao's expression was rather complicated as he said,""Follow me. Our village is not far from here.”After saying that, he didn't take the main road and went straight into the forest.
"Why didn't you take the main road?" Su Murong called out to Zhu Hao.”
Zhu Hao looked back and said,"It's faster to take the small path in the forest."”
Su Murong and Murong Su looked at each other and decided to follow them. Ping Qing and Ping Jian had already run to the front. The group of seven followed Zhu Hao into the forest.
The forest was dense, and it was dusk, so it was cool. Cang Yun and the others chatted and laughed, not feeling annoyed. Zhu Hao led the way. At some point in time, the sky had already darkened. A cold wind blew past, causing the Vermilion Bird and Zhu Xue to tremble. Zhu Xue said,"It's a little cold. Senior brother, senior sister, do you feel it?”
Cang Yun did not cultivate mana, so he could not distinguish the power of ghosts. However, when the wind blew, he felt a chill rise from his back and said,"There seems to be something strange."
Su Murong took a deep breath and said," The Yin Qi is a little heavy. However, birds and animals die in this forest every day. Moreover, there is little sunlight. It is normal for the Yin Qi to be heavier at night." Just move forward."
Everyone listened to Su Murong's explanation and their hearts calmed down. Zhu Hao saw that Cang Yun and the others did not retreat and his heart also calmed down a little. He turned around and said," Taoist masters, it's cold in the forest at night. We'll reach the village soon. We can get warm there."”Everyone only felt Zhu Hao's face turn even paler. They felt uncomfortable in their hearts, but they could not say the reason.
Zhu Hao led the way. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped, his entire body trembling. Seeing this, Su Murong quickly took a step forward and circulated his sword qi into his hand. He gently placed it on Zhu Hao's back and said,""Fifth Junior Brother, Corpse Sealing Talisman."
Cang Yun didn't understand why Su Murong wanted the Corpse Sealing Talisman, so he still gave one over. Su Murong took the Corpse Sealing Talisman and stuck it on Zhu Hao's back. Zhu Hao gradually stopped shaking.
"Senior Brother, could it be that Zhu Hao is a ghost?" Murong Su frowned.”
Hearing this, everyone immediately became alert.
"No," Su Murong said,"In my opinion, Zhu Hao was invaded by ghost energy." The Yin Qi here was heavy, causing the Ghost Qi in Zhu Hao's body to act up.”
After a moment, Zhu Hao recovered, and his face was not as pale as before. " Zhu Hao," Su Murong said," you hid my Fifth Junior Brother's Corpse Sealing Talisman in your clothes. It can suppress the ghost power in your body."”
Zhu Hao looked at the Corpse Sealing Talisman and carefully kept it in his underwear."Thank you."
"Zhu Hao, how did you get entangled by the ghost power?" asked Vermilion Bird.”
" Ghosts have been entering our village these days," Zhu Hao said." I saw them last night. It might be because they were infected by the ghost energy." I ran out today to find someone to get rid of the demon, so I found you.”
"Then why didn't your village ask the adults to come out and find people to catch ghosts? Why did they let a child like you come out?"”
Zhu Hao said hatefully," Those adults didn't believe in ghosts. I saw them and they said I was lying. I could only come out and find someone to catch ghosts myself."”
" A child's intelligence is higher than an ordinary adult's," Murong Su said." It's normal for Zhu Hao to be able to see ghosts while adults can't.”
"No matter what, we'll know when we go and take a look," said Su Murong.”
Seeing that everyone believed him, Zhu Hao heaved a sigh of relief and continued to lead the way.
After walking for another four hours, the forest became even denser. Even the starlight in the sky could not penetrate the dense forest. "Zhu Hao, didn't you say it was very close?" Ping Qing shouted. Why was he still not there after walking for almost four hours? What's the name of your village?"
Zhu Hao also looked tired." We're almost there. Just turn around the hill in front. Our village is called Lingshou Village. Outsiders don't know much about it.”
Everyone did not know about Lingshou Village and only thought that they were not familiar with the surrounding villages, so they did not pay much attention to it.
After walking for a while, they indeed passed the hillside. Everyone saw a little light not far away. It was vaguely in the shape of a village, and it was not small. Upon seeing the village, the eight of them quickened their pace. In just a few minutes, they arrived at the entrance of the village. They saw that the archway at the entrance of the village had the words 'Lingshou Village' written on it. It was a little dilapidated. Then, they saw that there were only a few faint lights in the village, emitting a faint green light.
"Everyone, we've arrived," Zhu Hao said.
Su Murong stopped Cang Yun and the others who were about to enter the village and said,""The Yin Qi in this village is very heavy. If there is really only one ghost, then this ghost should be a malicious ghost.”He then looked at Zhu Hao and said,"If it's a malicious ghost, an adult should be able to sense it."”
Cang Yun and the others also looked at Zhu Hao. "I don't know about that, but since you're all here, it's better for you to enter the village and take a look."”
Cang Yun and the others were on guard. Ping Qing and Ping Jian were no longer as relaxed as they had been when they first arrived. They could also feel the Yin Qi that was being suppressed in Lingshou Village. However, since they had already arrived at the village, they would not be satisfied if they did not investigate.
Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced through the sky.
Everyone was prepared to enter the village slowly, but when they heard this scream, they couldn't care less and quickly rushed towards the source of the scream. At the same time, there was the sound of doors closing and windows closing. Cang Yun and the others couldn't care less about it and only rushed to the crime scene.
Everyone rushed to the source of the sound and saw a ghost in a traditional white robe strangling a woman and biting her neck to suck blood.
"Bastard, stop!" Su Murong shouted.”After saying that, a sword aura shot out. The ghost's reaction was quite agile. In addition, Su Murong had to take care of the woman who was being strangled by the ghost. The sword aura was slightly slanted and was not fast, so the ghost dodged it. However, the ghost did not manage to dodge the yellow paper that came at it. As Murong Su chanted the word " thunder ", the ghost let out a miserable cry and fled without caring about the woman.
They couldn't be bothered to chase after the evil ghost, so Cang Yun and the others went to monitor the woman's situation first. The woman's neck was bleeding profusely, and she looked like she was about to die. In the end, he straightened his body a few times and stopped moving. This was the first time they saw a living person die in front of them. Cang Yun and the others felt their hearts beat faster and their stomachs churned.
At this moment, Zhu Hao ran over while panting heavily. When he saw the female corpse on the ground, his face instantly turned pale and he shouted,"Auntie Wu."
It was unknown whether it was because they had heard the ghost's scream or Zhu Hao's scream, but every household had the sound of opening their doors. Gradually, the villagers gathered around and consciously stood in a circle to provide the largest viewing area.
Not only did the villagers see Auntie Wu's corpse on the ground, but they also saw Cang Yun and the others. They began to whisper, but they did not express too much shock at Auntie Wu's death. In the end, more and more villagers gathered, and their voices grew louder until an old man walked through the crowd and walked to the front. It seemed that the village leader had come forward.
The old man looked at Cang Yun and the others, then at Zhu Hao who was standing beside them. His expression changed and he asked,"Ah Hao, did you bring a few Taoist masters here?”
"Yes, Village Chief. I've invited these Taoist masters to catch ghosts."”
The old man saw that among Cang Yun and the others, Su Murong and Murong Su were the oldest, only twelve or thirteen years old. The younger ones, Vermillion Bird and Zhu Xue, were only around ten years old. He shook his head and sighed,"What can you catch with these children?”
"These Taoist masters are very powerful," Zhu Hao said unwillingly."Master Zhao's family in Yunlai Town even invited them to perform a ritual."”
"What? You came to Yunlai Town?" The old man's face turned cold. Are you talking nonsense?"
Zhu Hao realized that he had said something wrong and lowered his head."No, I found a few Taoist masters outside Yunlai Town. I didn't talk to anyone in town.”
The old man's expression eased up a little, but Ping Qing and Ping Jian's expressions changed as they shouted,""You are the village chief? Looking down on us? Didn't you see that we almost killed that ghost?”
When Village Chief heard this, his expression changed a few times and he muttered,""I see. I was being disrespectful and didn't know you. Are you really willing to help Lingshou Village catch ghosts?”
"Exterminating demons and protecting the Dao, catching ghosts and subduing demons is the duty of our generation."”
Village Chief laughed dryly and said," Alright, heroes really come from young people. Would the Taoist masters like to rest for the night and start hunting demons tomorrow?"”
Zhu Xue said," That ghost ran away just now. We'll just go find it and kill it. We don't know where it'll be hiding tomorrow."”
Village Chief said," Alright, I didn't expect you to be so warm-hearted. To be honest, I know where the ghost is. It's just that that place is dangerous. I wonder if you dare to go there?"”
Hearing the Village Chief's words, Zhu Hao's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he was frightened by the Village Chief's cold gaze and did not open his mouth.
" Village Chief, we're here to catch ghosts," Ping Jian said." There's no such thing as a dangerous one. Just bring us there."”
"How did Village Chief find out where the ghost is hiding?" Murong Su stopped Ping Jian and asked.”
" I'm ashamed to say this," the village chief said." That ghost was actually a villager. A few days ago, a fire broke out in the village and burned a rogue to death." After the villagers found his body, no one was willing to pay to bury him. They just rolled up a straw mat and threw it hastily into the cave at the back of the mountain. They did not expect him to be so restless after his death that he turned into a malicious ghost and came out to harm people. It's also our fault for being stingy and not giving the dead a place to return to, which is why we've caused so much trouble. The ghost must have returned to the corpse. I can take you to the place where the villagers dumped the corpse to help you catch the ghost and eliminate the demon.”
Zhu Xue said," Then you guys really did something wrong. No matter what, you should have buried him. How could you just dump the body?"”
"You're right, Daoist Priest. After you get rid of the malicious ghost, the village will naturally bury him again."”
"Then I'll have to trouble Village Chief to lead the way."”
"Alright, I'll personally lead the way," replied the village chief. Zhu Ping, find a few people to collect Wu Jun's body first. We'll hold a funeral another day.”
The burly man called Zhu Ping agreed and found two tall men to carry Auntie Wu's body away. The village chief waved at Cang Yun and the others and said,"Taoist masters, follow me."
Walking to the northeast of the village, there was a low hillside with a big hole at the bottom of the hillside. Village Chief stood still and pointed at the pitch-black hole."Taoist masters, the villagers will throw the scoundrel's body at the bottom of the cave. I'm old and weak, so I can't climb the cave.”
Cang Yun looked at the entrance of the cave. It was pitch-black and there were gusts of cold wind blowing out. He felt a little scared. Then, he looked at Eldest Shixiong, who was as calm as usual, and felt a little relieved.
"Then I wish you all a safe return."”
The seven of them looked at the village chief again and saw that the village chief's face was also pale. Coupled with the fact that his old face was covered in ravines under the dim light of the lantern, it was quite terrifying. The few of them calmed down and slowly entered the cave, leaving the village chief standing alone outside the cave.
Village Chief's eyes flickered and he sneered.
After they entered the cave, Su Murong pulled everyone back and said,""Junior brother, junior sister, there's something strange about this cave.”
Su Murong finally spoke, and Cang Yun and the others listened carefully.
Su Murong continued," As I saw just now, although that ghost was a malicious ghost, it was not the peerless vicious ghost I imagined. It was impossible for it to release so much ghost energy that it affected the entire Lingshou Village. It caused the Yin Qi in the village to be so heavy that Zhu Hao had a large amount of ghost energy in his body.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Only then did they slowly recall the details of the journey.
Su Murong continued," If I'm not wrong, the source of the ghost energy in the village is in this cave. This cave is emitting such a fierce ghost energy. It seems that the village has been immersed in this ghost energy for a long time, which is why it is in such a state." There should be a peerless malicious ghost or a large number of ghosts gathered in this cave.”
The few of them felt their scalps go numb from Su Murong's words. The Vermilion Bird asked,"Eldest Senior Brother, were we deceived by that village chief? Let's go back."
Su Murong smiled confidently." It's fine. Since we're here, we'll take it as it is. We'll go down and investigate."”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。