Knife splashing

Chapter 237 The Great Song Ghost Cult
As dusk approached, fires broke out everywhere in Guizhou City.

Thick smoke billowed and shouts of killing continued.

"Chaoshan will rebel, kill him!"

"Brothers, follow me out!"

After all, they are the largest gang in the city. The confrontation between the government offices and the incident at the Wu Mansion, although the news has not been leaked, it has also attracted the attention of those who are interested.

Because this place is the throat of Bashu and occupies an important waterway, and also because it is necessary to guard against the Tusi city, a garrison of a thousand people is stationed here, only two miles away from Guizhou city.

When they saw soldiers leaving and the garrison troops being mobilized, some people in the Chaoshan Society realized something was wrong and quickly left the city and went into the nearby mountains.

Of course, only a part of them left.

The Chaoshan Society was a mixed bag of good and bad people, and it had absorbed many of the city's land rogues and criminals who had nowhere else to go.

They just act arrogantly and domineeringly on the periphery, acting as thugs, unaware of many things and used to being arrogant.

Seeing that the Wu family's house was sealed and the gate of the county government was closed, he called on his friends and gathered a crowd to break in and rescue Wu Defa.

However, when they heard that Chaoshanhui would be declared a treason and that the garrison soldiers had arrived to close the city gates, these people went crazy.

They set fires everywhere, trying to disrupt the situation and escape.

The common people were trembling with fear, and those rich children who had managed to escape first immediately organized their servants to guard their homes and fight with them.

The gangs in the city that were suppressed by the Chaoshan Society also took action.

Under attack from both inside and outside, the chaos was quelled in less than an hour.

The common people and officials organized to put out the fire, while the soldiers of the garrison collected the bodies, escorted the prisoners, and continued to search for the remaining followers of the pilgrimage...

The atmosphere in the lobby of the county government office was as gloomy as water.

The headless bodies were collected one by one, and the soldiers used water to wash away the bloodstains on the ground. The family members of the academy who rushed to the scene were crying and shouting outside.

Li Yan stood on the beam of the county government office, looking at the blood-red setting sun on the river in the distance and the smoke of gunpowder that had not yet dissipated in the city, and he sighed slightly.

This time, my actions were indeed a bit reckless.

Unexpectedly, a big bomb exploded and many people died.

But when I think about it carefully, I realized that I had accidentally broken the game.

The mastermind behind this incident has infiltrated Guizhou City too deeply. If he investigates secretly, he will encounter a lot of obstacles.

Although this move was reckless, it caught the other party off guard. The academy and Magistrate Wu argued with each other, which cleared the fog.

Seeing that the chaos in the city had subsided, Li Yan took three or two steps to the eaves of the house, jumped up, and landed outside the lobby of the county government office.

In the lobby, the judge Zhou Kai was quickly writing a letter reporting the situation here, and he turned a blind eye to the dirty blood that was being washed away.

Taoist Feng on the side also sighed.

Li Yan did not hide anything and asked Taoist Feng in a deep voice, "Master, I didn't bother to ask you just now, but what exactly is this Great Song Ghost Cult?"

“It’s not a secret.”

Taoist Feng sighed, "At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Taoism was fading and demons were growing. All kinds of witchcraft and evil arts emerged one after another. Some mysterious secrets flowed into the folks and were arbitrarily tampered with, making the world like a den of ghosts."

"By the time of the Great Song Dynasty, the country was prosperous and peaceful, but these evil ways were still practiced in private."

"At that time, the witchcraft culture in Ezhou was strong, and people often killed people to sacrifice to ghosts. It is recorded in the "Song Huiyao Jigao" that in the years of leap months, children were killed in the early stage to sacrifice to the temple of obscene people, which was called "Cai Sheng"..."

"A high-ranking official from the imperial court came to Ezhou to take up a post. He suddenly left in the middle of the night. When they found him, his head and liver had been taken away..."

"This matter even alarmed the imperial court. There is a record in the History of Song Dynasty that in the 19th year of Shaoxing, on the 2nd month of the 19th year of Shaoxing, Emperor Gaozong banned Ezhou from using people to sacrifice to ghosts and making poison. Those who violated the law would be punished together with the militia and executed by slow slicing..."

"But even so, it could not be suppressed, and it even spread to the entire southern part of China. Many officials and gentry even killed people on a large scale to sacrifice to the ghosts, and they got used to it..."

"There are also gangsters who help them catch people everywhere. According to records at the time, in Jiangsu and Zhejiang alone, there were more than a hundred gangs that helped people 'collect people'!"

"These evil ways inherited the influence of the late Tang Dynasty and formed a demon sect, known as the Ghost Sect, which fought endlessly with our Xuanmen people. For several decades, our Xuanmen orthodox sect even fell behind."

"The Ghost Cult was so powerful that it even used those possessed officials to enter the palace of the Song Dynasty, causing chaos in the country. It was then replaced by the Daxing Dynasty, which killed all the members of the Ghost Cult without mercy."

"The Daxing Dynasty ruled Shenzhou for a hundred years, and the Xuanmen sect was almost always killing people from the Ghost Sect everywhere. Compared with that, the Maitreya Sect at that time was not worth mentioning at all."

"Later, the Ghost Cult was finally wiped out, and some of its remnants entered the grasslands, merged with the Golden Horde Wolf Shamanism, and invaded the Central Plains, which led to the subsequent confrontation between the north and the south."

"It can be said that this ghost cult is the real devil's way. Both the imperial court and our Xuanmen orthodox sect are on high alert."

“I didn’t expect that now, it will become active again…”

Li Yan was shocked when he heard this.

Wang Daoxuan had mentioned this ghost cult before, but he didn't know much about it, so he didn't take it seriously.

I didn't expect it to become such a big fuss.

Thinking of the "Red Girl" appearing nearby, he felt something in his heart, and inexplicably felt that there was some connection between the two...

While they were talking, Zhou Kai had already written a secret letter and asked the soldier Baili to rush it to Yunyang. Then he said to the two of them in a deep voice: "You two are both from the Xuanmen, you should know that the disaster caused by this ghost cult is no less than the chaos in the southwest."

"Please help me to quickly investigate this matter!"

Taoist Feng nodded and said, "I am not proficient in magic, so I still need the help of Young Master Li. However, I have sent a pigeon to Wudang to ask for support."

Judge Zhou Kai said in a deep voice: "It's too late. The Ghost Cult must have some plot here. If their whereabouts are leaked, they may attack at any time. We must find them and kill them quickly..."

Wow!
As he was speaking, the sound of flapping wings was heard in the air.

Some soldiers immediately raised their crossbows.

"Don't do it!"

Li Yan hurriedly stopped him, and then he saw Lu San's falcon falling from the sky, standing on a wooden frame and combing its feathers.

Taking out the secret letter from the bamboo tube on his foot, Li Yan took a rough look at it, then immediately took out paper and pen and quickly wrote a few lines.

Sharifei beside him whispered, "Did the Taoist priest and the others find anything?"

Li Yan nodded and said in a deep voice: "I have asked them to hide temporarily. Just ask for information and don't expose yourself."

What happened in Erbei Village is very likely related to the Ghost Cult.

Facing an unknown and terrifying enemy, Li Yan naturally had to be cautious, so he ordered Wang Daoxuan and Lu San to hide carefully.

Seeing his mysterious look, Zhou Kai next to him had a flash of suspicion in his eyes and asked directly: "You two, what are you doing?"

"We have partners investigating outside."

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "The Ghost Cult appears, let them be on guard."

Zhou Kai did not hide it and said, "Don't blame me, at a time like this, we should not be suspicious of each other. After all, no one knows how deep the Ghost Cult has penetrated."

"Young Master Li, I don't know much about Xuanmen. Where do you think we should start?"

Li Yan pondered for a moment and said, "First, interrogate those followers of the pilgrimage and Wu Defa, maybe we can find some clues."

"Secondly, there is definitely something wrong with that red pill. All the victims are from the academy..."

"I have some guesses about this matter."

Zhou Kai said in a deep voice: "The ghost cult originated from the Ezhou area at that time. They killed people for sacrifice and the ghost was called 'Leng Zheng Shen'."

"The Yijian Chronicles once recorded that if a person was sacrificed to the Lingzheng God, one official or scholar would be worth three. A monk or Taoist priest would be worth two. In addition, women and children could only be worth one."

"If the records are correct, officials and scholars are their primary targets, followed by people from the Xuanmen sect, and finally women and children."

"I see."

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "According to what the scholar Yuan Feng said, the method of refining the 'Red Pill' was suddenly found in the library."

"The effect of this drug is to make them more energetic and intelligent. They are clearly marked as prey."

"No, there are people from the Ghost Cult in the academy! Those surviving scholars are not safe either!"

Zhou Kai gave the order without saying anything, "Go, search Danyang Academy, check the roster, and see who is absent today. Arrest all the rest!"

"And those scholars, bring them all to the county government office and send people to guard them day and night!" "Come here, bring Wu Defa with you!"

Zhou Kai was also a man of decisive action. After he gave an order, thousands of people in the entire county government and garrison immediately became busy.

After a while, prisoners were brought in one after another.

Starting with Wu Defa, they were interrogated one by one.

Li Yan and Feng Daoren asked questions from time to time and looked for suspicious points, while Zhou Kai's men recorded all the confessions.

The night was already deep. During the day, there was chaos in the city, making the people tremble with fear. In the hall of the county government, candles were lit brightly, and the sounds of whips and screams continued...

…………

On the other side, in the deep mountains and dense forests on the south bank.

“I didn’t expect it to be a ghost cult.”

Wang Daoxuan looked at the secret letter in his hand, shook his head with a heavy face and said, "I thought this evil sect was a thing of the past, but I didn't expect it to revive again."

"These demonic people kill people and sacrifice to ghosts. Ezhou, Xiangxi, and the indigenous mountain villages have a strong witchcraft culture. I'm afraid something big is going to happen."

"Master, I can't figure it out."

Lu San frowned and shook his head, saying, "Why do we have to risk our own life and kill people to sacrifice to ghosts when we have a proper orthodox religious sacrifice and worship the gods of the city and land?"

Wang Daoxuan sighed: "Sacrificing to the gods of heaven and earth, the sun, moon and stars, is hope. But sacrificing to evil spirits is desire..."

"Shh!"

Before he finished speaking, Lu San suddenly looked nervous, motioned him to be quiet, and finally pointed to the left.

Wang Daoxuan immediately understood.

The two men lowered their bodies, hid in the grass and looked down.

The person who does evil things in secret hides things very secretly.

But after Lu San activated the secret method, all the mice, snakes, and birds in the entire forest became his spies, and he was able to find the things easily.

I saw a black thing hanging between the dense trees on a big tree in the valley below. If you don't pay attention, it would be difficult to find.

It was a burnt piece of wood, only half a person's height, engraved with various blood-colored talismans and hung with a cow skull.

This thing is the real body of the wood ghost.

The trees that can give birth to wood spirits are all hundreds or thousands of years old. They have experienced wind, rain, thunder and fire, and have long since turned into treasures of heaven and earth and can hide themselves.

Mu Mei is the elf that guards the spiritual treasure.

The means of manipulation are also evil.

If the body of the wood ghost is destroyed, it will transform into a bloodthirsty spirit to seek revenge, and the caster takes advantage of this.

They would first find the spiritual wood, and control it using a method similar to holding back a treasure, and then set up a formation to confuse the person's mind and take away his will.

Finally, the spiritual wood was burned in a fire.

Wood spirits can burst out with powerful force due to resentment.

And this power is used to harm people through secret methods.

Wang Daoxuan did not destroy it, nor was he in a hurry to extract the breath to prepare for the Seven Arrows Secret Spell. He was just waiting for the person behind the scenes.

I saw people holding torches and walking forward on the mountain path in the distance. There were quite a few of them, like a fire dragon moving through the dark forest.

Wang Daoxuan had already set up the formation, with small triangular flags inserted around it and wrapped with red ropes, vaguely forming the Bagua, which completely concealed the breath of the two people.

Plus, they hide in the dark and won't be discovered.

As the fire dragon got closer, they finally saw the face of the person coming.

This was a group of men dressed in black, with red belts tied around their waists, hoods on their heads, and their faces painted with oil paint to look like ferocious evil spirits.

In this deserted forest, it seems like a group of ghosts are patrolling.

Some of them were holding torches, some were holding sharp blades, and there were eight people in the middle, carrying an ebony coffin. The atmosphere was very strange.

At the front of the team, there was an old man leading the team.

The old man was wearing a green Confucian robe and had white hair. Even though he was old, he walked with his back straight and looked quite imposing.

When he arrived under the big tree, the old man immediately raised his hand.

"stop!"

After commanding everyone to stop, the old man set up the incense table, burned wood and scattered spices, making the air full of smoke.

There were several men in black robes around him, kneeling on the ground, cutting their palms with knives, inhaling the thick smoke from the firewood, shaking their heads, and muttering to themselves, as if chanting a spell.

After doing all this, the old man in the Confucian robe gave an order and asked several men in black to climb up the tree and slowly put down the charred wood.

Then, they put the wood into the coffin, killed a live chicken on the spot, mixed chicken blood with cinnabar to make ink, and drew all kinds of strange runes on the ebony coffin.

Bang bang bang!
Use coffin nails soaked in chicken blood to nail the coffin shut.

After doing all this, everyone carried the coffin and went away.

"It's a ghost cult!"

Looking at the receding fire, Wang Daoxuan's face was solemn, "They probably got wind of it and want to take away the last clue."

"Let the falcon follow from a distance. Just make sure to see where it goes. Don't alert the enemy!"

Lu San nodded and waved his hand.

The hawk soared into the sky and disappeared into the night...

…………

Guizhou City, inside the lobby of the county government office.

The interrogation continued throughout the night under bright candlelight, filling the hall with the pungent smell of cigarettes mixed with the odor of sweat and blood.

The ground, which had just been washed clean during the day, was now covered with bloodstains.

However, no one cared.

The Ghost Cult has reappeared, and no matter how cruel and ruthless they are, it is not an exaggeration.

"This ghost cult is really cunning!"

Looking at the confession in his hand, Zhou Kai rubbed his swollen forehead. "The Chaoshan Society was originally a folk custom of worshipping the mountain god. It exists in all states, but it has developed into a gang in Zigui."

"As soon as Wu Dehai arrived, he took them under his wing, and then they were controlled by someone else. Now it seems that the other party had planned this in advance. The peripheral gang members were responsible for collecting money, while the core gang members were secretive about their whereabouts."

"What we caught were all rotten fish and shrimp."

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "It's not that there is no gain."

"These peripheral gangs, under the guise of loan sharking, often kidnap women and children from people's homes to pay off their debts. So far, not a single one has returned."

"They handed the people over to the core gang members. They are probably used as human sacrifices. They also pretended to be river bandits, robbing passing merchants, stealing money and arresting people."

"I don't know where the sacrifice is hidden?"

Sharifei shook his head and said, "Zigui County has no community commanders and soldiers. Although the Zhushan Cult still often controls soldiers and horses to patrol the mountains, there are too many places to hide."

"To the north is Shennongjia, to the west is Wushan, and to the south are the native mountains and Miao areas. Wow, this place is amazing!"

The face of the judge Zhou Kai was very gloomy. "I will write a petition right away. Strengthen the defense of Zigui, and the Zhushan Sect. If their lineage cannot suppress it, they might as well give the place to the Zhenwu Palace as soon as possible!"

"Report!"

As he was speaking, a soldier walked quickly into the hall.

"Sir, we have made a discovery!"

(End of this chapter)