Knife splashing

Chapter 773 The Opera Troupe's Demon
"Ah...this is..."

After calming down, Master Yu finally realized that something was wrong.

Wang Daoxuan looked around, stroked his beard and frowned, saying, "This fog locks in the energy and shrouds the entire city. It is no ordinary method. And the docks over there, it may be the work of the Japanese pirates."

As they spoke, the sound of flapping wings rang out in the air. The eagle Lidong landed on Lü San's shoulder and chirped twice. Then Lü San shook his head in confusion and said, "The air is also blocked by thick fog, a maze has been set up. Do those Japanese pirates have this ability?"

"I don't know."

Wang Daoxuan said with a solemn expression, "There are many people at the dock, so it's not a big problem. What I'm worried about is Brother Yan. He's all alone and hasn't come back for so long. I'm afraid something has happened to him."

As they were talking, a sudden surge of mist appeared outside the door.

Then, the little white fox Chuqi darted out of the thick fog and jumped onto Lü San's body.

"The seventh day?"

Lu San smiled and patted the little white fox's head, but then, hearing the fox's cry, his expression gradually turned serious. He stood up and said, "Something has indeed happened."

"Brother Yan found the mastermind and followed him to the house of a wealthy man. He ran back on the seventh day to report the news, but there was thick fog and ghost walls on the way. Fortunately, his sense of smell was amazing, and he was able to see through the illusion with his supernatural powers, so he ran back."

"I see…"

Wang Daoxuan immediately said, "Then let's not delay, let's go."

Without bothering with pleasantries, the two bid farewell to Master Yu and immediately went out onto the street.

"The seventh day!"

With a low shout from Lü San, the little white fox rushed into the thick fog without hesitation, leading the way.

Walking through the fog, all five senses are lost.

All around was an endless expanse of gray and white, the moon was dark, and my sense of direction was completely distorted.

Within the thick fog, eerie and distorted whispers could be heard, seemingly coming from underground, yet also appearing right beside one's ear. In addition, there were faint phantom sounds of clashing swords, screams, and children's cries, which assaulted the mind.

But that ethereal white figure remained in front, appearing and disappearing intermittently to guide the way.

Of course, just in case, Wang Daoxuan also took out the Mammoth Armor Compass.

With the help of this treasure and my keen sense of smell on the seventh day of the lunar month, the dense fog was no longer an obstacle.

They turned a blind eye to the ghost wall that could trap ordinary people to death.

Along the way, we also encountered many people who were stranded.

There were drunkards reeking of alcohol, city swindlers active at night, young masters seeking pleasure, as well as night watchmen and patrolling officials—without exception, they were all trapped on the street.

They panicked and ran around in a panic as if they had seen a ghost. Wang Daoxuan and Lü San were standing just a few meters away, but these people couldn't see them at all.

However, the situation was urgent, and the two of them couldn't spare the time to help.

Led by the little white fox, they headed towards the "Jiyu Garden" of salt merchant Wang Maode.

After running for a long time, passing through winding streets and alleys, Chuqi, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

Wang Daoxuan and Lü San took a few steps forward. Through the slightly swaying gaps in the mist, a magnificent mansion appeared before them, shrouded in an almost solidified black mist.

The vermilion gate was tightly closed, and the huge stone lions on both sides were faintly visible in the mist.

The black fog blocked out light and sound, making it look like a haunted house.

"arrive!"

Lu San narrowed his eyes and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "This is it!"

Wang Daoxuan quickly observed the changing formations around him, then looked at the mackerel compass in his hand, frowning as he said, "It seems this mansion is the core of the formation; the illusions are even more condensed, making the main gate difficult to enter..."

As he spoke, he began to walk forward.

"Wait a minute!"

However, Lü San stopped him abruptly, his ears twitching slightly as he stared intently ahead, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Something's not right up ahead."

Wang Daoxuan knew of Lü San's abilities; he could hear the language of birds and beasts. Although he couldn't understand the language of ghosts and gods like Li Yan, he could still hear some special sounds, and even more clearly.

"The sounds of gongs and drums, erhu, opera singing, and lots of wailing..."

After saying this, Lü San himself felt it was somewhat absurd.

He had no idea what could be causing this.

At that moment, a chill ran through both of them.

"Wow——!!"

A heart-wrenching cry, so piercing it seemed to tear at the soul, exploded in their ears without warning!

The sound did not come from one direction, but seemed to emanate from all directions, even from inside his own skull, piercing straight to his soul.

Although Wang Daoxuan possessed profound cultivation, his mind was still shaken, and his head felt dizzy.

"Crackling sounds... crackling sounds!"

A rapid, cold, emotionless clanging of abacus beads, like a death knell, came from the depths of the thick fog to the left of the gate.

The sound carried an eerie rhythm. With each crackling sound, Wang Daoxuan felt as if his heart was being squeezed hard by an invisible, cold hand, and his blood and qi suddenly stagnated.

It felt as if my muscles and bones were tightly bound by invisible threads, making me sluggish and stiff!

Wang Daoxuan's face turned pale instantly.

"Taoist Priest!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lü San quickly shielded Wang Daoxuan behind him.

"It's a curse of karmic debt, protect me!"

Wang Daoxuan's forehead was sweating as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

Upon hearing this, Lü San immediately felt worried.

There is a saying in Taoism that when each person is reincarnated, they borrow a "debt of the underworld" from the netherworld. This debt may take the form of earth energy, blessings, or money, and it will determine the course of one's destiny.

Among them, official debts are called debts of birth, and private debts are called debts of enmity.

Furthermore, there are also debts involving human skin, merchants, officials, and marriage.

There is also a very complex calculation method.

Whether this claim is true or false, no one knows. Within the Xuanmen (Taoist sects), there are those with wicked intentions who use the guise of "repaying karmic debts" to amass wealth, while there are also genuine cultivators who use this method to help people overcome tribulations.

However, there are also heretical practitioners who use this method to cast spells.

They had discussed this matter on the way, and Li Yan guessed that it must be an innate flaw in everyone's Qi. As the saying goes, no one is perfect, and everyone will have shortcomings.

Those who are indecisive will miss opportunities.

A person who is cold-hearted by nature has shallow ties with their relatives.

Furthermore, most people have deficiencies in the Five Elements, which, when reflected in the Five Internal Organs, create vulnerabilities. The "Yin Debt Curse" attacks based on these vulnerabilities.

Although it was just a guess, Wang Daoxuan figured out a way to break the "Yin Debt Curse".

Without hesitation, he took out the "Wish-Fulfilling Pearl." The moment he opened the wooden box, moonlight flowed, isolating the Qi and the curse at the same time.

Then, the Taoist priest took out a yellow talisman, made hand gestures and chanted incantations, and then ran it over his body.

Although he is kind-hearted, he is not a weak person who can be bullied, and has begun to retaliate.

However, the appearance of the treasure's radiance also attracted covetous eyes.

"The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel!"

From the shadows, a weathered and greedy voice rang out.

Swish!
Lü San immediately took action, and two steel cones shot out with a whoosh.

His hearing was sharp, and he had already detected the other party's location.

Wow!
The sound of beads rattling rang out. In the distance, a lean figure appeared on the courtyard wall, wearing a faded old long gown and a small hat. His face was sallow, and he was holding a greasy, shiny iron abacus, which knocked two steel cones away.

A layer of corpse oil had congealed on the abacus, which was quite disgusting.

Just as Lü San was about to continue his attack, a sense of unease arose in his mind once again.

Under the right-hand porch, a short, red figure, as small as a raccoon, took advantage of the mist and eerie crying to pounce on Wang Daoxuan's ankle with ghostly speed, skimming the ground.

Lu San could see clearly that it was a freakish child.

Wearing a red bib and white satin trousers, with a thick layer of pale foundation and two glaring red blushes on her face, she resembled a paper effigy used for wailing at a funeral. Her running and jumping were both inhumanly swift and stiff, like a terrifying puppet being pulled on strings, its joints making soft "clunking" sounds.

This guy's eyes were vacant; his target was clearly Wang Daoxuan.

"roll!"

With a low growl, Lü San swiftly swung his mace downwards, smashing it towards the freak.

The wind howled around him, but the freakish child neither dodged nor avoided it. Instead, he suddenly tilted his head back and let out a series of increasingly sharp, rapid, and wave-like eerie laughs:
"Giggle-giggle-hee-hee-haha!"

The sound was so real that it caused Lu San excruciating pain in his eardrums and made him see stars.

He has a keen sense of hearing, and encountering this kind of sonic sorcery causes him a great deal of trouble.

Even more strangely, the laughter seemed to have attracted something. In the shadows of a corner of the Jiyu Garden wall, several blurry black figures suddenly "came to life," emitting soft sobs, and crawled towards Lü San from different directions, trying to grab his legs.

What Lü San didn't know was that this freak was anything but simple.

It had no name. It was one of the twins that was cut out of the abdomen of a woman who had a difficult childbirth. The other twin died on the spot and was picked up by Zhu Suanpan on the opposite side. He was fed with yin energy and corpse oil and named Yingling.

Neither human nor ghost, it's more like a "living puppet".

It is born with a "ghostly voice" that can imitate any human voice it has ever heard. It is especially good at imitating the frightened voices of women and children or the laughter and crying of children, in order to disturb people's minds and attract their targets.

With advanced cultivation, one can even awaken malevolent spirits to attack.

As for the one on the other side, that's Zhu Suanpan, who picked up Yingling.

His real name is Zhu Quanfu. He has worked as a pawnshop clerk and a gambling den accountant. He was also a lackey of a local rich man from a young age. He was meticulous and shrewd, and he did a lot of things that cost people their lives for money.

Later, he practiced evil magic, used the Yin Yin curse to harm people, and with the help of the infant spirit, he became infamous.

Seeing Lü San being attacked by the infant spirit's incantation, Zhu Suanpan laughed and stared intently at Wang Daoxuan, his abacus clicking loudly as he chanted incantations under his breath.

His strategy was simple.

With the speed of an infant spirit, ordinary people simply cannot reach it.

As long as Wang Daoxuan is injured and the precious pearl is stolen, then killing and robbing the treasure can be done simultaneously.

However, he still miscalculated.

Lu San's mace came crashing down, but Ying Ling easily dodged it. However, he endured a severe headache, pressed the metal switch on the copper rod, and gently pushed it.

boom!
A loud bang followed, and smoke billowed everywhere.

As it approached Wang Daoxuan, "Yingling" flew out like a rag doll.

Instantly, slick, sticky, and greasy rotting flesh splattered everywhere, and an indescribable, nauseating stench, a mixture of aged corpse oil and fancy cosmetics, hit him, almost making Lü San vomit.

The mace in his hand didn't have a long range, so Shalifei helped to modify it, filling it with loose pellets to make it more suitable for close combat, and the magazine below could be quickly changed with a twist.

The shotgun, designed for close-range engagements, left Yingling riddled with holes, her flesh mangled and bloody.

To Lü San's surprise, the freak was still alive. Without even a cry of pain, it lunged at him again, its black, sharp fingernails digging straight for Lü San's vital area.

Fortunately, he had a hole in his neck, which prevented him from using sonic magic.

Without interference, Lü San's combat strength increased dramatically.

He snorted coldly, turned to the side, and rubbed the ground with his foot.

Bang!
Yingling was kicked away and crashed into the wall.

"Woo~"

The little white fox, Chuqi, bared its fangs and was about to pounce.

"Don't bite, it's dirty!"

Lu San looked at the stinking, rotten flesh at the tip of the shoe with disgust.

On the other side, seeing that Yingling's sneak attack had failed, Zhu Suanpan's face immediately turned ashen.

He no longer cared about attacking Wang Daoxuan. He reached out and pulled out an iron abacus bead, which was covered with all sorts of strange blood-red runes. He made a hand seal with his right hand and flicked his finger.

call out!
The abacus beads flew in with a sharp whistling sound.

Seeing Lü San raise his mace to defend himself, Zhu Suanpan's lips curled into a cold smile.

His abacus beads are not as simple as they seem.

It appears to be engraved with talismans, but these are all illusions. The bead is hollow inside and filled with poison powder. Once it is broken, the poison powder will explode.

Using this method, countless masters have been ambushed.

However, just as Lü San raised the mace, his ears twitched slightly, and he immediately turned to the side, pulled a piece of cloth from his waist, covered his hand, and skillfully turned it to catch the abacus beads steadily in his hand.

Zhu Suanpan underestimated Lü San.

The beads are filled with poison powder, which will cause a slight difference in sound.

Ordinary people cannot hear it, but Lü San can keenly perceive it.

"court death!"

At the same time, Wang Daoxuan's voice also rang out.

The Taoist priest finally used the talisman to completely absorb the magical energy from his body. After carefully hiding the wish-fulfilling pearl, he took out a straw figure from his robes, affixed a yellow talisman to it, and held a bone spur while chanting incantations:
"Darkness reigns, the sun and moon are irrelevant, an invisible black shroud illuminates all thieves' paths, heaven and earth cover, gods and ghosts alike, thieves are shrouded in a state of utter confusion..."

"Seven Arrows Secret Spell!"

Zhu Suanpan was immediately shocked upon hearing this.

This spell is notoriously vicious, and Wang Daoxuan rarely uses it, so much so that others think he only knows how to ward off disasters and pray for blessings, but they don't know that he has the highest talent for spellcasting.

puff!

After reciting the incantation once, Wang Daoxuan suddenly inserted the bone spur into the straw figure, then flipped his wrist and another one appeared, while he began reciting the incantation a second time.

The higher you go in the Seven Arrows Secret Spell, the more difficult it becomes to cultivate.

Ordinary people can only unleash three arrows, but Wang Daoxuan has already broken through to the fourth arrow.

The Four Arrows Secret Incantation is enough to kill most cultivators.

If five arrows are used, even some ordinary gods will be cursed to the point of their souls being scattered.

puff!
Zhu Suanpan felt a tightness in his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The five members of the ghost troupe who appeared earlier are not all here.

Because Zhu Suanpan and Yingling were practically one, Huangquan Sanren left them behind to guard the Netherworld Stage.

But at this moment, Zhu Suanpan cared nothing for anything else. His hands moved swiftly across the abacus, and in a weary, sinister voice, he chanted: "The abacus beads move the yin and yang accounts, wandering souls heed my command, three coins for the vengeful spirits to pay the way, five taels for the karmic debt to begin the saga~"
"Eek—The Yellow Springs are shrouded in mist at midnight, the ghostly figure ascends the steps, his robes stained with blood..."

As he sang, a chilling wind suddenly arose around them.

The black mist that enveloped the entire Wang family mansion surged upwards, almost forming a vortex.

At the center of the vortex, directly in front of the Wang family mansion, a bronze artifact slowly appeared.

The base is the Netherworld Nine Springs Platform, a three-tiered hexagonal Sumeru pedestal, with each tier decorated with different hellish transformation scenes in relief, and six "soul-capturing bells" hanging from the hexagonal eaves.

It was the ghost opera troupe's treasure for suppressing bad luck:

The Netherworld Stage!

(End of this chapter)