Knife splashing

Chapter 772 Old Enemy Appears
When everyone rushed into the backyard, they were met with a scene of utter chaos.

But all that could be seen were withered corpses scattered on the ground. Whether they were skilled guards or servants and their families, they had all died long ago, their necks torn apart and their skin eerily pale.

Among them were several young children, who were Wang Maode's grandsons.

The strong, pungent stench, mixed with the sweet, foul smell unique to corpses, almost materialized and smeared the mouths and noses of everyone who rushed into the courtyard.

The candlelight flickered, casting the large blood-stained area on the wall in an intermittent glow.

In the main hall of the backyard, a Taoist nun sat with her head bowed in a grand chair.

The dim lighting created an air of mystery.

Wang Maode, who arrived shortly afterward, stared intently at the two small corpses not far away.

Those were his two grandsons, who now looked like discarded rag dolls, withered and bluish, maintaining a curled-up, crying-for-help posture, their empty eye sockets staring straight at the sky.

A howl, inhuman in sound, exploded out.

"what-!"

"All of you, get her! Chop her up! Chop her up—!"

Wang Maode's eyes were bloodshot, and he roared like a mad bull as he violently shoved the servants beside him, who were already terrified and whose legs were shaking like leaves.

Driven by the master's fury, the servants, their fear temporarily overpowering their panic, hoarsely charged forward, brandishing their knives, spears, and clubs.

But their steps were unsteady and hesitant, clearly their legs had gone limp with fear.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Yan stopped the crowd without turning his head.

He narrowed his eyes, looked into the hall, and said in a deep voice, "She's long dead..."

At this moment, everyone also heard rustling sounds.

Suddenly, the head of the Taoist nun inside the hall fell off and rolled on the ground.

Behind it, the Jinhua cat demon was lying on its back, tearing at something, its face covered in blood.

Seemingly due to absorbing a lot of essence and blood, the cat demon's originally withered fur regained its luster, and its muscles bulged and knotted, digging into the nun's flesh at a twisted angle.

Thick, murky saliva mixed with the nun's mangled flesh dripped continuously from between her menacing, sharp teeth.

Looking at the surrounding scene, Li Yan had roughly guessed what had happened.

This Taoist nun had no ability to control the Jinhua cat demon at all; she was merely its puppet. Because she had not obtained the essence and blood of the pregnant woman's fetus and had been backfired by the magic, the cat demon went mad, causing the tragic scene before her.

And Wang Maode is certainly not completely ignorant.

Most of the time, they're trying to get something from a tiger, and they're just asking for trouble.

Of course, Li Yan didn't have time to ask any more questions at this moment. He brandished the Duan Chen Blade, which crackled with lightning, and with a burst of speed, he entered the main hall in an instant.

But at the same time.

"call out--!"

A sharp, piercing whistle suddenly sounded from the distant courtyard wall.

The whistle was piercing, carrying a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing force.

As if summoned, the cat demon leaped into the air and crashed through the roof.

A group of experts has arrived, and there's more than one!
They are probably the real mastermind behind it all.

Li Yan had some guesses in his mind, but his hands didn't stop moving.

Having already met the cat demon before, he knew that the cat demon was highly skilled in escape techniques and incredibly fast. So how could he be unprepared? Two soul-hooking ropes had already shot out, swirling into a net in the air.

Without wielding the Soul-Severing Flying Knife or using lightning magic, its power was weakened, but its concealment was enhanced, and it directly blocked the Golden Flower Cat Demon's path.

"Hooooo——!"

The cat demon, bound by the soul-snatching rope, froze.

However, the beast's wild instincts kicked in, and it howled as it tried to break free.

Li Yan was also somewhat surprised. The souls of demons were indeed different from those of humans, being more violent and chaotic. In addition, this cat demon was quite powerful, which was why it was able to struggle.

Of course, he has plenty of backup plans.

zizi~
The newly crafted arm guard, imbued with stored lightning energy, instantly surged upwards along the Soul-Hooking Rope, forming a lightning net that bound the cat demon.

At the same time, Li Yan stepped on the beams and pillars, leaped into the air and smashed through the roof, his Duan Chen Blade whistling down as it slashed at the cat demon's head.

puff!

The cat demon's head was chopped off.

Li Yan, holding his head, did a somersault to his feet and stood firm, then looked at the other side with his knife in hand.

On the opposite courtyard wall, ripples of air spread out like water waves.

Like a stage curtain being drawn back, several figures quietly solidified, some dressed in theatrical costumes, others with face paint, all bearing elements of a theatrical troupe.

One of the young female performers, her robe sleeves and skirt fluttering in the night breeze, moved with a lightness that seemed weightless. Her true face was concealed by pink and white makeup, except for a spot on her lips that was as red as blood, curving in an indescribable and eerie way, a smile that was neither a smile nor a laugh.

She stared intently at Li Yan, her voice suppressed and tinged with theatrical intonation:

"Oh dear~ You have to compensate my cat~"

"Humph!"

Li Yan's eyes were icy cold, and lightning crackled in his left hand.

Crackling lightning flashed, and the cat's head was charred into a pile of ashes. The cat demon's writhing spirit, which had turned into black mist and was struggling, was also shattered and scattered.

Even if the other party has some tricks up their sleeve, there is no chance of recovery.

But unlike him, the others in the courtyard behaved quite differently.

Silence, a deathly silence, enveloped the backyard.

The clamor of shouting, crying, and running seemed to have been crushed by an invisible giant hand.

Xu Zhenshan, nicknamed "Thunderbolt Hand," looked wary, took a step back, and gritted his teeth, saying:
"Ghost Opera Troupe..."

Wang Maode's mouth was agape, his face contorted and drained of color, his teeth chattering.

The overwhelming anger from just now seemed to have been instantly drained away.

As for the salt merchants, including the guards, they all retreated in fear.

Li Yan glanced at it indifferently, somewhat surprised.

The Ghost Opera Troupe, this evil cultivation organization, is naturally an old rival.

Before leaving the capital, Luo Mingzi also instructed him to keep an eye out and investigate, as these demons might have already cooperated with Jianmu and were wreaking havoc in Jiangnan, and he didn't know what kind of conspiracy they were plotting.

He just hadn't expected the ghost troupe to have such a terrible reputation.

There were five people from the ghost opera troupe, and the leader slowly stepped forward.

He was dressed as a Taoist priest in theatrical costume, his figure thin and bony, the wide black Taoist robe making him look even more empty, and a soul-guiding banner on his back. The night wind blew through his sparse, withered hair, revealing his gaunt face.

"The Wanderer of the Underworld!"

"Thunderbolt Hand" Xu Zhenshan roared, "So it was you who was behind this! This is Yangzhou City, where the Sheling troops can be mobilized at any time to make you all flee in terror!"

Although his words were harsh, his voice trembled, clearly indicating that he was forcing himself to speak.

"Woo~"

No sooner had she finished speaking than the female lead who commanded the cat demon began to weep and sing: "I sent my cat servant into the city, only to find it was the local deity's army. The matter is settled, but my poor cat..."

After saying that, she looked at Li Yan again, "You, you, you have such a cruel heart~"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhenshan's expression changed drastically.

He wanted to organize a breakout, but looking around, he realized that the entire house was shrouded in thick fog. He knew he was trapped in a maze, so he quietly retreated to think of a solution.

The senior disciple Huang Quan Sanren, who was at the head of the group, ignored him and instead looked at Li Yan:

"So you are Li Yan. We have been waiting for you for a long time..."

"Ouch."

Li Yan's lips curled into a smile, and he said half-jokingly, "Interesting. We sail in secret and don't make a fuss about it, yet everyone knows about it. Tsk tsk."

Although he wore a smile, his eyes were as cold as knives. He had already clearly seen the appearances of the five people and was secretly using his supernatural powers to investigate them.

While in Sichuan, he had already dealt with the ghost opera troupe and knew a lot of information.

The so-called "ghost opera troupe" is not a single opera troupe, but a huge organization that recruits many evil masters and forms small opera troupes with the roles of "male lead, female lead, painted face, old man, and clown" as their identifiers.

Needless to say, the neurotic woman who controls the cat demon is "Dan".

The leader of these "Yellow Springs Hermits" is an old man.

The remaining three also exuded a sinister aura.

The "clown" was hunched over, dressed in baggy, tattered clothes, and moved with contorted, clumsy movements. He wore a wooden mask depicting a crying and laughing face and carried an old camphor wood chest on his back, the contents of which were unknown.

There was another student, also an older student, thin and withered, with a sallow face like an old shopkeeper. His old long gown was stiff and yellowed from being starched, and he wore a small hat. A greasy old abacus hung from his waist, emanating the smell of corpse oil.

The last one was also a clown, short like a seven or eight-year-old child, wearing a bright red bellyband and white pants, with a pigtail sticking up in the air, a deathly pale face with bright red blush, empty eyes, and a strange smile.

Li Yan was not surprised to see this.

This "ghost troupe" is not necessarily complete; it is divided according to the characteristics of each person.

What chilled him to the bone was that these people possessed strange auras and were at the fourth level of cultivation, making them significantly stronger than those he had killed in Shu.

This is just one of the teams.

Where did the Ghost Opera Troupe gather so many masters in such a short time?

"Hahaha~"

Hearing Li Yan's self-deprecating remark, Huang Quan Sanren laughed loudly, "Do you know how much the bounty is on you? Not to mention us, even those Earth Immortals would be tempted."

"You've walked right into our trap, saving us a lot of trouble."

He spoke harshly, but still didn't move.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "You're stalling for time... No, that's not right!"

A chill ran through him, and he suddenly flung out the Soul-Severing Flying Knife.

The throwing knife whistled down, circled in the air, and swept directly over the crowd.

But strangely, the five people slowly dissipated like smoke and dust.

"Hahaha~"

"If you want to kill us, find us first..."

The ancient, eerie laughter faded into the distance, disappearing into the mist.

"It's an illusion!"

Xu Zhenshan's face turned pale, then flushed red.

At this moment, he no longer pretended to be profound, and directly turned around and cupped his hands, saying, "Young Master Li, the ghost opera troupe has entered the city to cause trouble, they must have a purpose. Forgive my poor eyesight, but do you recognize what kind of formation this is?"

Li Yan frowned slightly. "I don't know him."

He had figured out what had happened earlier.

Since these "ghost troupe" members know him, they must have gathered a lot of information about him.

He wasn't afraid of being besieged; he summoned the army of the underworld, and not many could withstand it.

They dared to show themselves and stall for time, relying on this magical illusion.

Seeing that Li Yan was also unfamiliar with the formation, Xu Zhenshan could only lead the disciples of the Enforcement Hall to rush out, but they returned in a daze after walking only one street.

Others, including Li Yan, received the same result.

"What a powerful formation!"

Xu Zhenshan's eyes were filled with disbelief. "Judging from the situation, this formation has already covered the entire city of Yangzhou... This is bad, they are colluding with those Japanese pirates!"

Thinking of this, he suddenly turned around, grabbed Wang Maode, and roared, "You idiot, you've let a wolf into the house! Tell me, what else do you know?"

Now that things have come to this, everyone realizes they've been tricked.

What were they discussing about dealing with the Japanese pirates?

It seems they intend to gather them all here to facilitate the actions of the Japanese pirates.

Wang Maode was utterly despondent at this point, and without being forced by the crowd, he revealed the reason.

Unsurprisingly, he recruited the fairy maiden purely because she was skilled at controlling cat demons and, after arriving in the city, secretly eliminated several of his rivals.

The purpose of taking action against Yu Hailin's son was to distract him and prevent him from competing with him for business.

"You are so brave!"

Xu Zhenshan was so angry that his face turned red. He never expected that this guy would dare to use evil magic to harm people right under his nose. Thinking of the benefits he had received before, he was both anxious and furious.

What did she do in the city?

Li Yan asked in a deep voice.

Wang Maode replied, "I am not a sorcerer and do not understand these things, but that witch often bewitches my wives and concubines to go to the City God Temple to tie dolls, saying that it can help them have children..."

Everyone immediately realized that the City God Temple had most likely been tampered with.

"correct!"

Wang Maode suddenly remembered something and said, "She also asked me to offer a large reward to find a family surnamed Cui and buy a bronze mirror that was broken in two from them..."

"It's a 'Jade Mirror Stand,' no wonder!"

Xu Zhenshan blurted out in shock, "This thing is still here!"

Seeing Li Yan's confusion, he explained, "This 'Jade Mirror Stand' is a magical treasure from ancient Yangzhou. The 'Collection of Strange Tales' records that the Cui family of Yangzhou had a jade mirror stand, and after a long time, a woman's image would appear in it. When Cui Sheng spoke and smiled at the mirror, the woman would respond. Later, the mirror shattered, and the woman wept and left."

"This treasure is most adept at illusions. Those demons must have already repaired it, but if they want to cover the entire Yangzhou with the great formation, this thing alone is not enough."

"I think I know what it is..."

A sudden inspiration struck Li Yan, and he looked up at the misty night sky.

"We're trapped in the 'Ghost Stage'!"

…………

On the other side, in the inner courtyard of Yu Hailin's mansion.

Wang Daoxuan's fingers flew across the yellow talisman as he chanted incantations.

As the incantation was chanted, wisps of foul black mist, visible to the naked eye, drifted out from the mouth and nose of the unconscious Yu Qing. His pained expression gradually calmed, and the pungent, fishy smell also diminished.

"It's done!" Wang Daoxuan shouted in a low voice, then stopped his hand seals and focused his mind.

Meanwhile, Yu Qing on the bed coughed violently, vomiting a clump of thick, black filth covered with sparse cat hair. His face turned from pale to sallow, and his breathing became steady.

Yu Hailin breathed a sigh of relief, tears streaming down his face, and quickly bowed and clasped his hands in greeting:
"Thanks to the two immortal masters! Their kindness is immense..."

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and smiled, "Only after Brother Yan gets rid of the demon can we succeed here."

As he was speaking, he frowned slightly and looked outside.

Both he and Lü San could feel a chilling aura suddenly appear outside.

Without bothering to explain to Yu Hailin, the two immediately leaped out and onto the roof.

They saw a sudden night wind rise, and a thick, gloomy fog spread rapidly from the north of the city, swirling and swallowing up the lights of countless homes along the way, as if darkness had descended.

Just as the Yu family was about to be enveloped by the thick fog, they saw flames suddenly erupting and shouts of battle filling the air at the port.

Then, it was completely obscured by thick fog.

"problem occurs!"

The two looked at each other, their eyes both serious.

"Why is there such a thick fog?"

Yu Hailin, accompanied by his servants and carrying lanterns, ran out and greeted the two men with a beaming smile, saying, "Rest assured, Immortal Master, no matter how thick the fog is, I will still go and get the pass for you."

Upon hearing this, Wang Daoxuan smiled wryly: "I'm afraid we can't leave..."

(End of this chapter)