The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 441 Using a corpse as bait to lure the demon into the trap
The brief skirmish ended with the water demon being injured and fleeing underwater. The black mist on the river surface was eerie, and the people standing on the riverbank looked as if they were in the Netherworld River of Oblivion, all with solemn expressions.

All paths lead to the same goal, yet the attack failed. Even if everyone was conserving their strength, the water demon's power was still considerable. It used river water as its magical weapon, and when its magical power surged, it could overturn the river and flood the town. At that time, the people living on the riverbank would surely suffer.

Besides, it can also create clones, which shows that the situation has become quite favorable. Lang Jiuchuan guessed that it was only a few people away from completing the Myriad Souls Demon cultivation. Recalling the bloodthirsty yet excited look in its eyes when it fled, could it be that it planned to use these people to fill the gap?
Those who cultivate the Tao have innate wisdom, and their souls possess more or less Taoist charm, and may even have merit. Once they are captured and devoured by it, they may become a great tonic, enabling it to exert its magical power to the heavens.

Lang Jiuchuan dared not be arrogant and told Gong Qi and the others about his conjecture: "We need to finish this quickly. Otherwise, once it gathers all the living souls of the Ten Thousand Souls Fiend, it will be even more difficult to deal with, and there will probably be more innocent people who will sacrifice themselves."

Once the Myriad Souls Demon is formed, the more souls it devours, the stronger it becomes, and the greater its appetite grows.

Zhu Dao felt a little uneasy. The water demon's strength just now was not its full potential. It was still the strength that emerged when it was out of the water. What about its world underwater?
At this moment, Lang Jiuchuan added, "There should be undercurrents at the bottom of this river, so everyone must be careful."

What, an undercurrent? You mean an undercurrent that creates a waterspout-like vortex?

They all thought of the huge vortex that appeared when the black mist first appeared, from which the black gas initially rose. Could it be that the lair of the water demon was hidden beneath that dark current?
The thought of this possibility made everyone's faces turn grim. Water battles are difficult to fight, and there are undercurrents underwater. If they are not careful, they could be sucked in. They were not so arrogant as to think that their magic power was so great that they could move freely in the undercurrents.

“Fellow Daoist Gong, this evil has become a great scourge. It’s not that we are afraid of death, but the disparity in strength is too great. I think we need to invite a more powerful elder to come and eliminate this evil.” Someone suggested to Gong Qi.

A Taoist's life is also a life. If there's no one else, he'll just have to bite the bullet and go on. If there are people, why not call for help?

Since there are still Taoist priests with high magical abilities, we should invite them to come out of seclusion, lest they become food for the water demon in vain, helping it to achieve its great goals and making it even more difficult to deal with.

Gong Qi looked at Lang Jiuchuan, nodded, and said, "I will use the Thousand-Mile Transmission Talisman to send a message to the heads of each family, and the Surveillance Department will also report it. However, it is gathering its strength and has already been injured by Fellow Daoist Lang's attack just now. It should know that its time is running out. This evil has become enlightened and is cunning. Moreover, this place has already been opened by it to create a ghost domain. I am afraid that it will make a comeback before reinforcements arrive. Behind us are tens of thousands of townspeople of Qiongshui Town. Their lives are hanging by a thread. I urge all Daoists to work together to protect the common people."

"What Fellow Daoist Gong said is absolutely right."

"We will do our utmost."

Gong Qi looked at the river surface shrouded in eerie black mist and said, "It is currently lying dormant at the bottom of the river, perhaps healing its wounds or waiting for us to go down. We can't just sit here and wait to die; we have to lure it out."

"What does Fellow Daoist Gong mean?"

"Use the corpse as bait to lure it into the trap." Gong Qi said calmly, and as soon as he finished speaking, Gong Shiliu, who had been following him, brought over the cleaned-up boy's corpse with his men.

Upon seeing this, everyone's expression changed slightly.

Using a corpse as bait is not impossible, but this is a child, and the person is already dead. Wouldn't using his corpse be too insidious?

Someone hesitated and said, "Fellow Daoist Gong, using a child's corpse is against the natural order and may cause criticism from the townspeople."

Gong Qi shook his head and said, "In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. I have already explained this to the child's parents, and they have agreed. Afterwards, we will hold a seven-day ritual for him and send him to the River of Oblivion to ascend to the Western Paradise as soon as possible. If the extermination of evil is successful, he will also be credited with a merit, and in the future, when he is reincarnated, he will be reborn into a good family because of this merit."

In fact, the child's parents had several other children, and since Gong Qi had promised to give them one hundred taels of silver for funeral expenses, they agreed.

Hearing this, the others said no more. Although one's body and hair are given by one's parents, since the parents agreed and one could also gain merit, it wasn't impossible. Lang Jiuchuan stared at the child's corpse. His face was pale, and the black line between his eyebrows appeared darker than the others. Even his lips were bluish-purple. She took out a red rope, tied it to his wrist, and then used cinnabar to draw a complex talisman between his eyebrows. In her heart, she silently recited, "After this matter is over, I will personally guide you to the Yellow Springs so that you can be reborn into a good life."

After drawing the talisman, she took an exquisite copper bell and hung it around his neck before standing up and saying, "The Eight Trigrams Formation is activated again."

Everyone glanced at the child's corpse, pursed their lips, and went back to their posts.

Gong Qi had already used the Thousand-Mile Transmission Talisman to send messages to various places. Just as he was about to return to Langjiuchuan, he felt a little uneasy and looked back.

It was late at night, the dew was heavy, and the night was deep, but he had a chilling feeling, as if something was watching them and was about to strike with all its might.

He looked at the spreading black mist on the river surface. Could it be because the underwater ghost realm had opened and the yin energy was deep, that he was being paranoid?

Without much thought, Gong Qi quickly approached Lang Jiuchuan and saw her place the child's corpse in the Bagua formation. Seven concentric circles were drawn around it with black dog blood, and seven Seven Star Lamps were lit. She took out three silver needles and shot them into the child's Baihui, Tanzhong, Qihai, and other acupoints.

She made a hand seal, pinched the handle of the imperial bell with two fingers, and gently shook it. When the bell rang, the child corpse lying on the ground actually sat up, causing the copper bell around his neck to ring crisply.

Everyone could see clearly: was this the Xiangxi corpse-driving method?

Who exactly did she learn from? Her skills are so diverse. Yi Ce, on the other hand, has sharp eyes and doesn't miss a single move she makes.

Three people, there must be my teacher.

He didn't learn by stealth; he learned openly.

As Lang Jiuchuan chanted the incantation faster and faster, she summoned a Bagua mirror, pointing it directly at the dark, misty heart of the river. Suddenly, the child's corpse opened its eyes abruptly; those eyes had no black pupils, only a deathly white.

Suddenly, a cold wind rose from the river, blowing the thick, dark fog toward everyone, chilling them to the bone.

"It's here!" Lang Jiuchuan shouted, casting a spell at the Bagua Mirror. The mirror shot out a dazzling golden light towards the center of the river, and a huge black shadow roared out once again.

It floated above the river, but instead of rushing up as before, it warily stared at Lang Jiuchuan, who was sitting behind the child's corpse.

She was right. It had developed spiritual awareness and could judge right from wrong. It naturally realized that Lang Jiuchuan was a great threat and not easy to deal with, so it was no longer as reckless as before.

But the child's corpse was like a huge lure, sweet and highly nutritious.

Without further hesitation, the water demon shrieked and pounced on the child's corpse.

"Soul-guiding crossing." Lang Jiuchuan spat a mouthful of blood essence into the Bagua mirror, and the mirror light suddenly shone brightly, sucking her and the water demon into it. Only the child's corpse collapsed to the ground, the copper bells jingling. Meanwhile, the black mist on the river surface surged and rolled, sweeping into the people in this river area.

(End of this chapter)