Knife splashing

Chapter 366: The City God's Disaster
As the sky was just beginning to brighten, Li Yan and his companions rode their horses forward.

When crossing the river, he turned his head again and looked back. The dilapidated Zhaode Temple had completely disappeared from his sight.

"Young Master Li, can you believe what that old demon said?"

Wu Dehai looked hesitant and couldn't help but ask.

"It doesn't dare to lie."

Li Yan said in a cold voice: "The ghost monk in the temple is reciting the Amitabha Sutra. If I am not mistaken, that thing is extremely terrifying, and its inner and outer parts are in harmony, and it has become a pure land in itself."

"However, the monk can escape but the temple cannot. Its 'pure land' is trapped here and it is difficult to leave. That is why it would rather be suppressed for a hundred years in order to rebuild the temple."

"This old man is also smart. Even if he sets fire to it, it is unlikely to damage its foundation. So he is just trying to take advantage of the situation and pretend to be pitiful, hoping to use our strength to escape the disaster."

"I see…"

Wu Dehai suddenly realized, then frowned and shook his head and said: "Young Master Li said that this place was banned by Sanfeng Zhenren, why didn't he just kill him directly?"

Li Yan looked thoughtfully at the Xiangyang city wall in the distance, "Firstly, God is merciful, those creatures did not do anything bad at that time, and Master Sanfeng was kind-hearted and did not do anything cruel."

"Secondly, this place is in harmony with the treasures of heaven and earth, and it is a bit strange. If it is not handled properly, it will cause resentment to breed and evil spirits to run rampant."

"Whatever the reason, there must be something wrong with the City God Temple!"

"Captain Wu, gather your troops immediately after returning and surround the City God Temple!"

"Okay, I'll listen to Young Master Li."

Everyone immediately rode at full speed towards Xiangyang City.

On the other hand, Captain Zhou led his troops to the villages mentioned by the Tiansheng Sect captives, to capture the monsters and eliminate the hidden dangers...

…………

Halfway through the journey, the Duwei Division had already released falcons to deliver the message.

Therefore, when they returned to Xiangyang City, the manpower had already gathered.

The status of Xiangyang City is not as high as that of the three towns of Yunyang and Wuchang, but as an important wharf on the Han River, the Thousand Households Office of the Duwei Division is still equipped with nearly a thousand people.

At Wu Dehai's command, the team headed towards the south city in a rush.

Because they were afraid of leaking the secret, when the people from the Duwei Division arrived at the City God Temple, they learned about the target this time and looked at each other in bewilderment.

The City God Temple is not a place that you can easily mess with.

The captain has always been a slippery person, how come he suddenly offended these people?

Although Li Yan came into contact with the garrisons and the Duwei Division in Xiangyang City, there was more than one force here, there were also government offices, chambers of commerce, academies, local gentry, and underworld gangs.

Such a big commotion immediately attracted a lot of attention.

Inside the government office, the previous magistrate Wu was unlucky and was infected with the plague, so an assistant magistrate hurriedly brought people over.

In the garrison, the commander-in-chief, who originally did not want to deal with people from the underworld, also came on horseback with his men.

Naturally, there was chaos in the City God Temple.

The tightly closed door opened, and a pale-faced old Taoist walked out of the City God Temple. He could not hide his anger, and said to Wu Dehai in a cold voice: "Captain Wu, what do you mean by this?"

Wu Dehai smiled awkwardly, then clasped his fists and said, "Master Yuchenzi, we followed this young man Li to investigate a case and found some things that we would like to verify with you."

The old Taoist frowned, turned his head and looked at Li Yan, and said in a cold voice: "This must be Mr. Li, you have a good relationship with my Zhenwu Palace, why do you want to do this?"

Li Yan pinched the magic formula, took a deep breath, then jumped off the horse and said as he walked: "Master, please don't misunderstand me. It's just that we have found the source of the plague and want to ask the City God Temple to perform a ritual to eliminate the plague."

"Oh?"

The Taoist priest was stunned for a moment, "You found it, where is it?"

"It's over there..." Li Yan pointed to the back.

But just as the old Taoist looked up, Li Yan's hidden power suddenly burst out from under his feet, and he instantly came in front of the old Taoist.

"You little rat!"

The old Taoist was startled and flew into a rage.

Seeing Li Yan rushing towards him, he did not dodge but directly stepped forward into the mud, his body like a dragon, and grabbed Li Yan's throat with his claws.

The one used was Longhua Fist.

But when he was about to get close, he suddenly changed his palm, made a seal with the back of his left hand, and a dark wind rose up from the palm, which suddenly grew bigger in Li Yan's eyes.

Zhenwu secret technique, Soul-sucking Palm!

Li Yan did not dodge or evade. He swung his arm and chiseled down like an axe, with his fist making a crackling sound of electric arc.

Bang!
There was a loud bang.

The old Taoist had a broken arm and was groaning as he retreated.

Li Yan was unyielding and rushed forward again. The Dust-Breaking Sword came out of its sheath with a clang and hit the old Taoist directly between his eyebrows.

"What...what are you going to do?!"

The old Taoist held his broken arm, feeling both shocked and angry.

Li Yan ignored him and gave the order in a deep voice: "Seal off the entire City God Temple, don't let anyone escape, but if there are any resistance, kill them without mercy!"

Wu Dehai at the back opened his mouth wide and was covered in cold sweat.

He thought Li Yan was going to come and question him, and he had instructed him to do so before, so why did he suddenly change his mind and directly kill someone?
Whoosh!Whoosh!
Before he could ask any more questions, two figures jumped up from the side yard, jumped off the wall, kicked the cavalry of the Duwei Si away, and tried to seize the horses and escape.

At this point, the people in the Duwei Division knew that something had happened.

Wow!
The skilled fighters around immediately threw out their meteor hooks, which tripped the horses' legs, and the two people on the horses were thrown to the ground.

As soon as they tried to escape, sharp blades were put at their necks.

There are thousands of people from the Duwei Division, so most of them are Ming Jin, and only Xiaoqi has stepped into the An Jin. But there are too many people, even if a Hua Jin master wants to escape, it is not that easy.

Although the two people who were surrounded were dressed in Taoist robes, they had fierce eyes and messy Taoist buns, and they were obviously thieves in disguise.

Everyone in the Duwei Division looked at each other in disbelief.

Judging from the situation, the City God Temple had already fallen.

There are masters from the Law Enforcement Hall inside, and they have dealt with them before. It is hard to imagine how they would fall so easily.

Seeing that the matter was exposed, a trace of panic flashed in the old Taoist's eyes, and a small black bottle appeared in his hand from the wide sleeves of his Taoist robe.

But before he could do anything, he screamed and fell to the ground. It was Li Yan who shook his wrist and swung his knife to cut off his arm.

One of the Taoist's hands was broken and the other was chopped off. He had no strength to resist at all and his face looked as pale as death.

"Search, everyone, put on vinegar cloths!"

Without Li Yan saying much, Wu Dehai immediately gave orders, and all the people in the Duwei Division tied the vinegar cloths on their faces and rushed into the City God Temple.

The City God Temple had previously released news that they had gone out to investigate and had accidentally been infected with the plague, and were now being treated behind closed doors.

There was such a fight at the door, but no one came out. Everyone had expected this.

Sure enough, they rushed into the side halls and immediately made a discovery.

There were many Taoists and Taoist children lying on the beds, but their faces were already pale. Their chests had been cut open and their internal organs had been taken out, and the stench of blood filled the air.

There is no living person in the entire City God Temple!
At this time, a deputy governor of the government office had also arrived. When he saw the scene, his face turned pale. "What, what's going on?"

Li Yan looked at the old Taoist in front of him with cold eyes, "Of course it was an internal thief colluding with external bandits. The City God Temple had been tampered with a long time ago. I only realized something was wrong when I approached it just now."

Wu Dehai also frowned, "Master Yuchenzi, you are a disciple of the orthodox religion and will soon be a temple priest. Why do you want to harm these disciples?" The old Taoist looked ashen, sighed, and said nothing.

Judging from his appearance, he won’t be able to explain for a while.

Li Yan didn't bother to ask more questions and walked straight to the main hall.

The City God is the god who guards the city. He is of great importance in the national worship of gods, and troops are stationed there.

The enemy must have a big conspiracy to capture this place.

After entering the hall, Li Yan took a breath of cold air.

In the spacious hall, there was a statue of an old man wearing the official uniform of the Han Dynasty, holding a red brush, wearing a tall crown, with white hair and beard. There were also two statues of military generals on both sides.

Xiangyang has been a famous city since ancient times, and the city god worshipped here is naturally not a simple person. He is Xiao He, a famous prime minister in the early Han Dynasty.

In addition, there are stepped wooden racks on both sides, filled with densely packed black soul jars, surrounded by oil lamps and yellow talismans.

But at this time, the eyes of the City God and the two statues were wrapped in blood-stained talismans, and the rich smell of incense was also tainted with a layer of blood.

And on the altar, there were piles of internal organs.

"What kind of evil method is this?"

When Wu Dehai saw this, he felt his scalp tingling.

Li Yan remained silent, pinching his fingers to make hand gestures, and activating his two magical powers at the same time. All kinds of smells rushed into his nostrils, and many strange sounds came to his ears.

An angry voice kept coming from the City God statue, "Demons and goblins, behead them! Behead them! Behead them!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The two servant gods next to them were equally crazy.

And there was also a rustling sound that kept coming from that pile of flesh and blood, with a clicking sound of the tongue, as if someone was chanting some ancient spell.

At the same time, Gou Die also became hot.

In just a moment, Li Yan's expression changed and he shouted, "Everyone, leave the hall immediately!"

"Quick, quick, retreat!"

Although Wu Dehai didn't understand what was going on, he knew something big had happened when he heard Li Yan's anxious voice, so he quickly led everyone out.

At the same time, inside the hall, Li Yan also took out the warrant, pinched the magic formula, and said loudly: "The sky has rules, the earth has rules, the underworld is arresting souls, and the living people should stay away!"

When Lu San outside the palace heard this, he quickly shouted, "Everyone turn around. If you don't want to die, don't look back!"

The people in the Duwei Division were puzzled, but when they saw Wu Dehai nodded and gave the order, they all turned around.

Soon, a creepy feeling rose from behind.

The entire City God Hall was plunged into complete darkness.

The sounds of rattling chains, breaking bottles and jars, and the roar of some wild beast...all blended together.

Everyone was terrified after hearing this and dared not look back.

After a long time, when the sound gradually faded away, Li Yan was heard speaking from inside the hall, "Okay, come in."

Wu Dehai secretly turned his head and saw that nothing had happened, then he re-entered the City God Temple with a few of his men.

The place was in a mess. All the soul jars on the shelves were broken into pieces, as if they had been swept by a strong wind. Even the towering pillars were covered with claw marks.

"What... happened?"

Wu Dehai swallowed and asked carefully.

Li Yan picked up a stick and pulled apart the flesh and internal organs on the altar, revealing a small black statue of a god.

The upper body of the statue is a middle-aged man with white beard and black eyebrows, dressed in black, and barefoot, revealing a pair of huge chicken claws, which were covered in blood because they were previously wrapped in internal organs.

Large cracks had appeared in his chest and abdomen.

"This is the demon god of the Ghost Cult!"

Li Yan looked up and looked around, and said with lingering fear: "This thing is good at disguising itself and can steal incense. The ghost sect uses the five internal organs of practitioners as offerings to infect the city god and control the community commander's soldiers and horses."

"Once they succeed, Xiangyang City will be conquered!"

Just now, he triggered the underworld mission again.

Previously in Wuchang City, he killed "Liu Niang" and learned the real demon god worshipped by the Ghost Cult.

His name is Ran Tong. He was originally an ancient mountain god, transformed by an ancient witch, and later became a demon god. He was suppressed after the Battle of the Gods.

This demon god is the most cunning. He passed down the "art of longevity" and can also disguise himself, or pretend to be a real god, steal incense, or change his identity.

The big ghosts worshipped in various places of the Ghost Cult, whether it was the "Lingzheng God" in Ezhou or the "Ningdeng God" in Tokyo City at that time, were all his incarnations.

This guy escaped from the underworld with five evil spirits. One was caught in Wuchang City at that time, but I didn’t expect that there was also one hidden here.

"No wonder."

Wu Dehai wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief. "Use the plague to cut off the waterway of Xiangyang City. Then the surrounding villages will riot. The Baokang County garrison will come back to support us, and the Xiangyang Sheling troops will be dispatched... What a chain of plans!"

They were all smart people and immediately figured out the Ghost Cult's arrangement.

Li Yan looked at the statue of the City God and shook his head, saying, "The soldiers and horses of Xiangyang City Sheling have been corrupted and will cause trouble if they come out. They have been dealt with, but the City God is still awake."

"Send a message to Wudang Mountain immediately and send people to support us!"

"it is good!"

When Wu Dehai heard this, he hurried over to deal with it.

With such a big incident happening, several high-ranking officials who had rushed over to question the crime immediately stopped talking and helped to deal with the matter after explaining themselves.

They all groaned in their hearts. Not to mention the plague, but they had also caused such a big incident. They were afraid that they would not be able to avoid the crime of dereliction of duty this time.

Li Yan didn't bother to pay attention to them. He sighed slightly, took out three incense sticks and burned incense to the statue of the City God.

Within the Goudie, a strong underworld divine power surged into the body.

The Daluo Dharma body, which was originally covered with scars and on the verge of collapse, was immediately repaired for the most part, and the length of the soul-catching rope was also increased a lot.

When something like this happens, they naturally have to wait for the results.

Li Yan and Lu San returned to the Duwei Division to stay and rest.

Subsequently, various news came one after another.

Captain Zhou of the Xiangyang Guard Station led his men into those villages. The villagers, who had been bewitched by the evil spirits, fought desperately with them using knives, guns, sticks and clubs under the leadership of the evil spirits of the Tiansheng Sect.

These people were all infected with the plague, like zombies. Although the soldiers razed the village, many people were also infected with the plague...

Chunqiu Village in Nanzhang County got the news from somewhere and realized that the conspiracy had been exposed, so they took action directly, went down the mountain and captured the county town.

At present, the road to Baokang County has been cut off.

The only good news is that they found one of the sources of the plague, that piece of nanmu wood that was filled with resentment.

Taixuan Orthodox Religion has a ritual to eliminate the plague. As long as we have this item, at least the plague in Xiangyang City can be eliminated.

Towards evening, reinforcements from Wudang Mountain finally arrived.

What happened in the Xiangyang City God Temple obviously made the Zhenwu Palace angry, and they directly sent nearly a hundred Taoists.

The leader was the Dragon Master of the Five Dragon Palace, accompanied by the Five Dragon Masters...

(End of this chapter)