Techniques and Dao

Chapter 92: Disaster

Upon hearing the name "Young Master Lan," Hua Sheng felt a weight lift from his heart. After all, this name had been mentioned continuously since boarding the ship. Now, with his life hanging by a thread, Young Master Lan's arrival was not only a savior for him, but also the answer to many long-standing mysteries.

Thinking of this, the invisible force binding Hua Sheng instantly dissipated. Hua Sheng landed on the ground, half-kneeling and raising his head. He saw a middle-aged man in a blue shirt, his clothes tied in knots, sitting on the iron railing above Wu Wang's back.

The middle-aged man held Wuwang by the hand as if tethered by an invisible thread, while his other hand held a wine jug. He sang leisurely and contentedly:

"Singing and drinking blue wine, how much of the world can we live in?"

Beauty fades like spring blossoms, time flies like a shuttle.

The ancients have gone and never returned, while modern people are coming in droves.

In the morning, I ride a phoenix to the heavens; in the evening, I see white waves rising over mulberry fields.

A long, bright sun shines in the sky; golden and silver palaces rise high and majestic.

After slowly finishing his song, the middle-aged man named Lan Gongzi floated down from the railing, dragging his wine jug, and drunkenly looked at Wuwang: "Strange. What is this fellow? I have traveled in the mortal world for over a thousand years, why have I never seen anything like it before?"

Hanamori exclaimed, "This...this is a monster!"

Young Master Lan swayed and glanced at Hua Sheng: "Young man, you probably haven't seen what a demon is! Strange things happen every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual. But this fellow is not a demon!"

“Whatever it is, this Wu Wang is definitely not a kind person!” Hua Sheng said.

Young Master Lan picked up the wine pot and took a sip: "Indeed. This fellow's eyes are full of murderous intent. Even if he is not a monster, he is as murderous as a demon."

"Young Master Lan, be careful of this dangerous fellow!" Hua Sheng was anxious to call for help, but he also remembered to remind the other party not to underestimate the enemy.

At this moment, more than a dozen Gu eagles around them, seeing that they could not do anything to the little girl, rushed towards Young Master Lan.

Young Master Lan seemed completely oblivious, preoccupied with examining Wu Wang.

Hana, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer and shouted, "Be careful! It's coming at us!"

Without even looking up, Young Master Lan simply shook the wine jug. Instantly, a circle of lotus petals appeared around him, first forming a circle before scattering in all directions. The moment a petal touched the Gu Diao, it vanished without a trace, leaving not even mud behind, turning directly into dust and being blown away by the sea breeze.

Seeing how easily those once ferocious Gu Diao were defeated, Wu Wang became enraged and said, "You little deity, why did you ruin my plans?"

"Oh?" Young Master Lan asked, "What have I done to ruin your plans?"

"I came here only to eliminate Mingyou. What does it have to do with you?"

"So that's her name?" Young Master Lan glanced at the little girl in black, then his expression turned slightly serious. "Hmm? Strange? Is this Netherworld also an unsolved mystery? This immortal has certainly broadened my horizons today. Where did you two come from?"

"Don't meddle in other people's business. If you don't let Wuwang get rid of her, don't blame me for getting rid of you today too!" Wuwang gritted his teeth.

Young Master Lan laughed and said, "Old man, you are mistaken. I see that you are currently paralyzed from the waist down and have difficulty moving around. Do you really intend to make things difficult for me?"

Wu Wang's face turned fierce, and he suddenly let out an extremely sharp whistling sound. To Hua Sheng, it sounded like the unbearable high-frequency sound waves from a speaker and microphone facing each other.

Hua Sheng immediately covered his ears, but the sound seemed to pierce through his palms, directly into his eardrums. Unable to bear it, Hua Sheng rolled around on the ground, his eardrums immediately ruptured and bleeding profusely. At this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Wu Wang's body begin to split apart, breaking free from Lan Gongzi's restraints. In mid-air, it simultaneously reassembled, appearing completely unharmed. After breaking free, Wu Wang suddenly pounced on Lan Gongzi.

Although Young Master Lan remained unmoved by the strange noise, he was startled by the bizarre magic that had been used without warning, and shouted, "What kind of monster is this!" He then took to the air.

At this moment, Wu Wang transformed into a wisp of black energy and rushed straight towards Young Master Lan.

Young Master Lan shouted, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Resentment, begone!" Then a golden light shot out from his palm.

Under the dazzling golden light, Wuwang was unable to dodge in time and began to melt as it was illuminated, letting out an extremely shrill scream.

Then an unbelievable sight appeared: he saw Wuwang transform into squares, which then broke into smaller squares, and so on, until they became fragments of different colors. Each fragment then exploded, releasing material that spilled onto the nearby ground and walls.

This change was completely different from when the Gu Diao was eliminated. This incredible fragmentation and differentiation of the flowers had never been seen before.

Could this be the real exorcism technique? Why is it so different from what I've seen in books and movies? Hua Sheng, barely able to recover, was at a loss in the face of this strange sight.

In just a few seconds, Wuwang was reduced to powdery fragments by the explosion. The powdery material from the explosion fell onto half of the bow deck.

Some powder fell onto Hua Sheng's sleeves. He looked down and saw that his sleeves were covered with extremely short, stick-like and circular patterns, which puzzled him even more. He tried to brush it off with his hand as if it were a stain, but he found that once the pattern was applied, both his sleeves and the deck looked as if they were printed with designs.

The entire bow deck was covered by tens of millions of these fragments.

Looking again at Young Master Lan, one could see that his blue robe was also stained with the same pattern.

Young Master Lan looked puzzled, his face flushed with drunkenness. He patted the powder off his blue robe, but it looked as if it had been stained with paint.

"How strange! What kind of monster is this? Could it be that it was transformed from a dye vat?"

Hua Sheng, dragging his exhausted body, limped over to Young Master Lan and said, "Young Master Lan, great immortal, thank you for saving my life!"

Young Master Lan waved his hand and asked, "Did you set up that magic array? Where is that Brother Xu?"

Hua Sheng then remembered Xu Ge's matter and said, "He's no longer here..."

Young Master Lan calculated with his fingers and shook his head: "How pitiful and lamentable, this immortal has been unable to offer any assistance."

"It's probably like the old saying goes, it's all predetermined," Hua Sheng thought of fate.

Young Master Lan asked him, "Then who are you to him?"

Hua Sheng was momentarily at a loss for words to explain properly: "I'm just here on this ship to fulfill the obligations he entrusted to my friend."

"By the way. I foresaw that a calamity star would descend upon the world tonight, bringing great disaster. That Wu Wang just now must be..." As he spoke, Young Master Lan began to calculate with his fingers again, then suddenly his expression changed, "Not good!"

Hua Sheng hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"The calamity hasn't been eliminated!" Young Master Lan quickly calculated with his fingers again, then looked around and solemnly pointed at the little girl half-squatting on the ground, saying, "The calamity is here, it's this child!"

Suddenly, a torrential downpour began in the darkness, accompanied by flashes of lightning and thunder.

The little girl, clutching her chest, slowly stood up in the pouring rain, gasping for breath. Then she raised her head; a few freckles adorned her nose, and there was not a trace of fear in her eyes.

"Shut up! Lan Caihe! You little immortal, don't spout nonsense! How could I, Mingyou, be some kind of jinx? My daughter has come to save the world!"

A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky. The sea breeze grew stronger, and the surroundings grew colder, cold enough to freeze time itself.

Just as Young Master Lan raised his hand towards the little girl, Hua Sheng suddenly stepped in front of him, staring intently into Young Master Lan's eyes.

"Child, this young girl is a harbinger of disaster. You must protect this one who brings calamity?"

"I believe what I see."

"If she is left in the world, a huge upheaval will surely occur in the world a year later. Perhaps even the fairyland will be affected."

“But she’s clearly just a child!” Hua Sheng said with particular conviction.

"Foolish! Why believe what you see with your mortal eyes? She may look like a child, but I have already sensed that she possesses an extremely vast amount of immortal magic, and it is constantly growing."

"If the jinx is so powerful, why isn't she your match?"

"Even I, an immortal, do not know. Perhaps it has just been born and needs some time to adapt to this place."

How can I believe that?

"Seeing is not necessarily believing. Think of Wu Wang. That old hag Wu Wang and this little girl both come from the same unknown place and both have the aura of the spirit race, but I have never seen such a spirit race before." Young Master Lan's expression was solemn.

"Since you claim to be an immortal, you should be saving all living beings from suffering! Why are you harming living beings instead?"

Just as Young Master Lan was about to reply, he suddenly sensed something was wrong and shouted, "Damn it! The calamity star's magic power is rapidly expanding! You brat! Get out of the way! Let this immortal destroy this monster first!"

Young Master Lan stretched out his hand, and Hua Sheng was bounced more than ten feet away. Then, a ball of flame rose in his hand and he threw it at the little girl.

Unexpectedly, after falling to the ground, Hua Sheng leaped up with lightning speed, rushed forward, and grabbed Young Master Lan's arm with such force that Young Master Lan was taken aback. But time was of the essence, so he frowned, pushed Hua Sheng away, and shot out flames from his hand.

But Hana-sheng reacted even faster, shielding the flames with his body, instantly engulfing himself in a fireball. Hana-sheng screamed and retreated, clutching his face.

"What a sin! What a sin! Why did you have to turn into ashes to save this beast!" Young Master Lan shook his head and sighed.

But after Hua Sheng screamed two or three times, the flames on his body grew smaller and smaller, and in the end, they were all absorbed into his body. Then, Hua Sheng raised his head, and a beam of blue light shot out from his eyes.

Young Master Lan took a step back: "No wonder you wanted to save her. You are actually... a demon!"

Hua Sheng lost her mind and pounced on Lan Gongzi like a mad beast.

"Since you are both vicious creatures, today I, the immortal, will rid the mortal realm of you two wicked beasts!" Young Master Lan soared into the air, pointing downwards, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Arise with Samadhi True Fire!"

With a deafening roar, the entire cruise ship was engulfed in flames, and the air was filled with an unsettling smell of burning.

Hua Sheng spreads his arms and uses his body to shield the little girl, and the two of them are enveloped by the Samadhi True Fire.

The little girl seemed unable to bear the flames, covering her face and screaming desperately. But amidst her screams, the surrounding fire began to subside, gradually being absorbed by Hanamori's body.

After the fire subsided slightly, Hua Sheng knelt on the ground, panting heavily, her eyes still radiating blue light. The little girl behind her, severely injured by the Samadhi True Fire, had her black hair wither and turn silver-gray.

Seeing that the two were powerless to resist, Young Master Lan landed on the ground. Then, the steel of the cruise ship behind him tore and deformed, turning into dozens of steel swords, which were about to be shot at Hua Sheng and the little girl.

To Lan Gongzi's surprise, Hua Sheng suddenly moved faster, picked up the half of his iron rod that had fallen to the ground, rushed in front of Lan Gongzi, and with a "thud," stabbed the iron rod into his chest.

Young Master Lan was surprised to be stabbed by the iron rod and sent Hua Sheng flying with a palm strike.

How could a mere iron rod possibly harm him? But upon closer inspection, the iron rod had been scorched a bright red. When Young Master Lan tried to pull out the iron rod, it wouldn't budge. He pulled harder and discovered that the iron rod had pierced through his immortal body and was difficult to remove.

Unable to move, Young Master Lan glared angrily at Hua Sheng and shouted, "You insolent brat! How dare you... kill an immortal?"

(End of this chapter)