Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 432 Finale
Jingle Bell--

A crisp bell rang out abruptly in the darkness.

Upon hearing the clear bell sound, the young female apprentice shuddered as if she had been electrocuted and hurriedly stood up, holding onto the cement flower bed beside her.

She regained some strength.

But an even stronger sense of fear and unease lingered in his mind.

The spirit medium just now said, "Sending you all on your way?"
Is he going to kill everyone tonight?

This spirit medium looks kind and harmless, but his methods are so cruel?

What should we do? Should we run?
But what about Master? What will happen to Master?
I didn't hear anything from Master just now...

I clearly gave a warning in advance...

If I run now, can I escape?

The woman's mind was in a chaotic mess, filled with fear and panic, leaving her momentarily at a loss.

Suddenly, a thin, old figure darted out from the shadows.

It was none other than her master, Mr. Hyakume.

Mr. Hyakume, who had somehow managed to hide outside the mansion and escaped the chaotic battle on the third floor, was now stealthily making his way along the edge of the mansion's outer wall.

After circling around to the front and seeing his female apprentice standing frozen in place with a terrified expression, Mr. Hyakume rushed over, slapped her on the forehead, and muttered, "...What are you standing there for? Run!"

Mr. Bai Mu, with his thin, monkey-like old body, nimbly and lightly ran towards the gate, not at all like an elderly person.

But just as he reached the open gate, several pale and strange figures suddenly emerged from the darkness in the middle of the dark, dusty dirt road.

Their faces were painted with bright colors, and they wore strange raincoats. They stood in front of Mr. Hundred Eyes with their hands and feet moving in unison, their posture extremely distorted and bizarre.

A cold, damp wind blew from the dirt road.

Mr. Hyakume, who was standing frozen at the gate, was instantly too afraid to move.

He saw on the dirt road outside the door that living people, some standing and some lying down, were frozen in the hands of those paper figures, becoming motionless sculptures.

Mr. Hyakume's expression turned somewhat bitter.

"...They were all caught in one fell swoop."

Behind him, the sound of bells grew closer.

The crisp sound of the corpse-driving bell rang in the darkness, and one after another, eerie paper figures in straw raincoats floated out of the mansion, moving in unison. The masters who had just been attending the Dharma assembly on the third floor were all stiff and motionless as they were dragged along by the paper figures, looking extremely disheveled.

The spirit medium, shaking his corpse-driving bell, strolled leisurely at the front.

He saw the master and apprentice standing stiffly at the gate, but he was not surprised, nor did he go forward to speak. He simply stood quietly at the gate of the mansion, as if waiting for something.

Seeing that the boy remained silent, the master and apprentice dared not make any rash moves.

Several minutes later, the roar of a motorcycle engine broke the darkness, and a bright headlight illuminated the darkness as it approached from afar, finally entering the compound and stopping in front of the house.

The cyclist was a young girl dressed in traditional Miao clothing from Zangke, and she looked youthful and beautiful.

On her back was a baby carrier, common in Zangke, carrying a little girl of about two years old. The old-fashioned, worn-out red cloth carrier, tightly crossed and bound across the girl's chest, is the most common image of a woman in Zangke countryside.

Although she looks very young, her rustic appearance blends perfectly with the mountains and forests of Zangke.

After jumping off the motorcycle, the girl started talking to the spirit medium at the door in a string of unintelligible words.

No one present had any idea what she was talking about.

But judging from her gestures as she spoke, pointing to other people, it seemed she was discussing the masters present that evening.

After talking in gibberish, the girl took a black clay pot out of the cloth bag slung across her shoulder and handed it to the spirit medium.

Under the watchful, fearful gaze of everyone, the eerie, mysterious spirit medium opened the sealed clay jar. Instantly, a stench wafted from the jar, quickly spreading throughout the entire courtyard.

The bell for transporting corpses rang again.

Two paper figures in straw raincoats floated out of the shadows and took the clay pot from the spirit medium's hands.

They carried clay pots and floated towards the living people present.

Stopping in front of the first person, the paper figure in the straw raincoat took out a shriveled mud ball that emitted a strange smell from the mud jar and coldly stuffed the mud ball into the person's mouth.

Then, it was the next one...

As the two paper figures in straw raincoats forced everyone present to eat those shriveled pills, the voice of the spirit medium calmly rang out in the darkness.

"...This is our Zangke insect pill, you seniors should have heard of it."

"There is a Gu worm inside. After you consume it, the Gu worm will enter your body along the esophagus."

"The food I'm giving you is called the 'Marrow-Eating Gu,' made from plants from the Wujiang Ghost Realm and local poisonous insects. It has a lifespan of five years."

"Within five years, as long as you enter the territory of Zangke and inhale the aura of the Wujiang Ghost Realm, this Gu worm will awaken and burrow into your bone marrow to begin gnawing."

"But if you leave Zangke and do not inhale the aura of the Wujiang Ghost Realm within five years, then this Gu worm will die naturally and will not cause any harm to you."

"The Gu worms will take two days to revive, so you all have two days to leave Zangke. Please leave as soon as possible and do not linger."

The man who walked the spirit path spoke Mandarin with a Zangke accent, which echoed through the courtyard.

Although still young, his tone could even be described as kind.

But at this moment, no one dared to look him in the eye.

On the contrary, the masters who heard the spirit medium's calm words were all terrified and felt a chill run down their spines.

In the realm of Yin and Yang, few masters who deal with evil spirits and inanimate objects are unafraid of death.

On the contrary, the more they come into contact with life and death, the more they fear death.

The Zangke people, who follow the path of Yin, are inherently mysterious and have many evil and terrifying legends.

This young sorcerer has even brought in a local witch doctor from Zangke to cast spells on them...

The motorcycle roared away from the courtyard, and as the young witch doctor left with the little girl on her back, the voice of the spirit medium continued.

"...I'll say it again: I don't mind if you all come to Zangke for tourism and vacation, but not now."

"For the next period of time, Zangke will refuse entry to all fellow practitioners of the Yin-Yang Dao."

"As for when they will arrive, Bureau 769 will issue a notice on the streets when the time comes."

The sound of the motorcycle gradually faded into the distance, and the man who walked the path calmly but domineeringly declared, leaving everyone present looking at each other in bewilderment.

Those paper figures in straw raincoats had somehow released the masters present.

The martial arts masters who had been so rude upstairs just moments before now dared not look directly at the strange spirit walking in front of them, let alone put up a fight.

I watched as the young spirit medium strolled away leisurely, taking with him his straw raincoat paper figures.

The masters who remained in the courtyard dared not utter a single word.

Only after the young man's figure had completely disappeared did someone frown and whisper.

"...You're just letting us go like that?"

"I only fed it a Gu worm..."

The masters who had just looked down on the spirit mediums upstairs were now filled with relief, as if they had survived a calamity.

They didn't even care about the terrifying thing that the spirit medium fed them a worm pill.

Compared to the cruel and vicious evil spells of the legendary spirit mediums, being merely cursed is like winning the lottery!

"...This generation of ghost walkers really does have connections with those people from Bureau 769."

"Let's wait for the notification from Bureau 769..."

"I heard that about two weeks ago in Yue Zhao, it was Liu Fang, the corpse-driver, who went to ask a spirit medium for help, and that's how the spirit medium intervened." "It seems like the 769 Bureau is behind this tonight's events too..."

"It's best not to come into Zangke anymore. The spirit mediums in this area are too nosy..."

"At least he's better than his master... His master isn't one to meddle in other people's business, but he's incredibly ruthless. People used to say that falling into his master's hands was worse than death."

"Shh...don't talk nonsense, he might not be far..."

The group discussed the horrors of the spirit mediums and decided to abandon all plans to travel to Zangke, preparing to set off early the next morning.

Some are even already calling on their apprentices outside to get ready to drive away overnight.

The once lively Dharma assembly vanished in an instant.

The nine masters from Southeast Asia are all well-known experts in the Yin-Yang Dao.

But at this moment, they showed no temper whatsoever.

People are always afraid of death and admire strength.

If that spirit medium's skills were only slightly better than theirs, tonight's events would not have ended so easily. Even if the masters were no match for the spirit medium, they would have buried this grudge in their hearts and sought revenge later.

But the spirit medium who appeared in the darkness was far too sinister and eerie.

The terrifying methods used were completely unexpected by everyone.

—And what's most terrifying is that the spirit medium who easily subdued the scene didn't even have to summon his evil master!

This spirit medium looks very young, but the pressure he brings to everyone is no less than that of the legendary big shots.

Therefore, when the difference in strength between the two sides became so great that it was despairing, the masters present immediately lost the idea of ​​revenge, and did not even have such an idea at all.

When they left the place and reunited with the disciples outside the gate, they heard the disciples asking anxiously about the situation inside.

These masters from Southeast Asia, without any prior communication or agreement, all tacitly chose the same rhetoric.

"...You've really seen the world tonight, you've even seen the legendary Zangke Yin-walking people."

"Well, we'll leave tonight. That spirit medium didn't make things difficult for me, so I should naturally give him some face."

"There's no need to look for the Ghost King's Coffin anymore. That ancient Luo Ghost Kingdom has most likely been suppressed by this Yin-Yang traveler... Haven't you noticed that there are no more open red gates within the territory of Zangke?"

"The lineage of those who walk the underworld is truly terrifying..."

"I fought him and held out for so long... Alas... Although I lost with honor, a defeat is a defeat. I must go back and cultivate diligently in seclusion."

"In this land of Zangke, even a Celestial Master would have to give him some leeway..."

"The scariest thing is that he's so young!"

……

The terrifying legends about the Yin-Yang people of Zangke have once again stirred up waves in the Yin-Yang world.

And the very origin of these ripples is everyone who is attending the Dharma assembly tonight.

The ripples of this terrifying rumor will continue to spread over time, and may eventually expand to a degree that no one can imagine.

But at least tonight, everyone found peace.

Ran Qing, who had already left the Dharma assembly site, arrived at the meeting place agreed upon with Mo Li.

The girl, who had changed into her everyday clothes, once again transformed into that trendy, youthful, fashionable, and beautiful girl.

Xiaoya changed back into her original pretty dress and was happily licking an ice cream cone.

The little cotton candy, which looks like a big yellow dog, was lying on the ground, hugging and munching on a huge cotton candy, its attention completely drawn to the cotton candy.

Seeing Ran Qing return, Mo Li raised an eyebrow at him with a grin: "How was it? My acting was pretty good, right? This method of pretending to use Gu to intimidate is not only foolproof, but it can also resolve the current situation. It's enough to scare away those cowardly masters who are afraid of death."

Mo Li smugly sought praise, after all, it was her idea.

Ran Qing smiled and gave a thumbs up, praising her without reservation: "As expected of you, you're much smarter than me. But how did you make those mud balls? The strange smell unique to poisonous insects is so realistic... Is that thing really fake?"

Ran Qing was very curious.

Under the lights of the small square, a slender girl in a short-sleeved shirt jumped down with a grin and said, "Of course it's fake. Although there really are such Gu worms, it's very difficult to refine them."

"I am the Ghost King, not the Gu King. How could I possibly know how to refine Gu?"

Mo Li chuckled and changed the subject: "By the way, now that tonight's business is settled, once the news spreads, the people from the Yin-Yang Path should no longer dare to come to Zangke."

"Since you can go to university without studying, how about we travel around Zangke and do some sightseeing during this time?"

"You can go on vacation while waiting for the Ghost Kingdom to completely disappear. Once the Ghost Kingdom is gone, we can finally rest easy."

"I've heard that there are many fun attractions in Zangke! These weren't there when I was here before."

"I used to be too scared to come back when my wife was around, but now shall we go for a walk together?"

Mo Li extended an invitation to Ran Qing with a grin.

Ran Qing thought for a moment and said, "Let's talk about it later. I do want to rest for a while, but..."

“Oh dear…don’t keep saying ‘buts’ and ‘howevers’,” the girl said, jumping over directly. “By the time you think it through, you’ll be too old to do anything but.

"Life is short, only a hundred years. If you don't have fun and enjoy yourself while you're young, what will you do when you're old, married, and have kids?"

"You don't have to work, you have money, and you're young. If you don't go out and have fun now, when will you?"

"Hurry back and pack your things, let Xiaoya get some sleep, and we'll leave tomorrow morning."

Mo Li urged Ran Qing to agree with great interest.

The little girl who was licking ice cream nearby heard her older brother and sister's conversation and immediately stood up and raised her hand.

"Me too! Me! Sister Mo Li, I want to go too, and Xiao Ya wants to go too!"

"Hehe... Okay, I know. Xiaoya will go too, and Sister Mianhua will go too. We'll all go."

Amid the little girl's joyful cheers, the big yellow dog at the three of them's feet also wagged its tail happily.

The city lights gradually dimmed in the darkness. People sat around the stalls in the small square, eating tofu, fried potatoes, playing ring toss, or selling light-up toys.

Families accompany children, elderly people gather together chatting and laughing, and teenagers on roller skates whiz across the square like the wind...

The city remained peaceful and tranquil as always, and the happy, harmonious young men and women, who seemed like a family, were not particularly noticeable in this city.

Yet their figures standing here are like invisible, enormous boundary markers in the darkness, stretching across the path between Yin and Yang.

The idea that Zangke cannot be entered will soon become a consensus among practitioners of unorthodox esoteric practices.

The terrifying rumors about the young Zangke ghost walker would gradually evolve into an increasingly outrageous and horrifying image through word of mouth.

This land, and the boy who grew up on it, will become an indescribable, terrifying figure in the eyes of outsiders…

But all of this is temporarily irrelevant to him.

Ran Qing, who is content to stay in her hometown, has no plans to go out for the time being.

He wanted to witness the destruction of the ancient Luo Ghost Kingdom and the disappearance of the Ghost King's Coffin.

Only when everything in the ancient Luo Kingdom disappears and he has no more worries will he leave this mountain and truly step into the outside world.

That would have been an even more exciting, interesting, and epic story.

Ran Qing's heart was filled with anticipation.

……

…………

END
(End of the book)

(End of this chapter)