Eternal madness

Chapter 53 Demon Realm
Li Yunsheng led Zhang Laifu out of the city and onto the official road leading to the Bamboo Knife Forest.

"Brother Laifu, this is all I can do for you. Take care." Li Yunsheng clasped his hands in farewell.

Zhang Laifu followed Li Yunsheng's example and clasped his hands in greeting: "Brother Yunsheng, take care!"

Li Yunsheng helped Zhang Laifu pack his luggage: "After this parting, I don't know when we will meet again. Wansheng Prefecture is very large, so please take good care of yourself, Brother Laifu."

The two parted ways, and Zhang Laifu, carrying his box, walked south along the official road. As he walked, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Why did Li Yunsheng need to tidy up his luggage just now, since it was packed so tightly?
When Zhang Laifu opened his bag, he saw that Wang Tiaodeng's excellent cooking skills had been stuffed into it by Li Yunsheng.

He's really something.

……

Li Yunsheng returned to the city by the same route. When he came to a willow grove, he was not paying attention to his footing and tripped over a horizontal willow root.

A few loose copper coins fell to the ground. Li Yunsheng bent down to pick them up, but then realized something was wrong.

He lost a total of eleven copper coins, ten of which were face down, which is not a good omen.

Li Yunsheng became wary, when he suddenly heard a whooshing sound beside his ear. He quickly ducked to avoid it, and a talisman grazed past his ear.

This talisman wasn't from the Celestial Masters Sect, but from the Zhuyou Sect. The writing on the talisman was a bit blurry. Li Yunsheng wanted to take a closer look, but then he realized he shouldn't have looked at it.

Knowing the contents of the talisman, if one then hears the other person's incantation, it's easy to fall under the influence of the Zhu You Ke (a form of folk healing).

But if you don't know the contents of the talisman, how can you guard against the other party's methods?

The moment the opponent made a move, Li Yunsheng was distracted; this person was very skilled at dealing with his peers.

While he hesitated, several more talismans flew over, which Li Yunsheng barely managed to dodge.

This forest was too dangerous. Li Yunsheng clutched a talisman and chanted an incantation as he prepared to run out of the forest: "Wind, obey my command, wind as my steed, clouds swirl before me like flowers, buzz buzz buzz..."

I had only recited two sentences when a burst of noise disrupted the rhythm of the incantation.

The doctor of the Zhuyou sect was not good at chanting incantations for himself to begin with, and after being disturbed by this noise, Li Yunsheng's incantations were almost ineffective against him.

The noise itself was strange, and it seemed to contain some incantations: "Fate is hard to defy, don't be stubborn, going against your will will not last long, two talismans will take your life, your soul will weaken first and your blood will cool first..."

The incantation was intermittent; some parts could be heard, but it was still unclear.

You must not listen to his incantations; the more you listen, the more suggestions you will receive.

Li Yunsheng focused his mind, wanting only to leave the woods as soon as possible. The chanting of the incantation fluctuated in volume, causing him to lose his sense of direction for a moment.

After circling the woods three times, Li Yunsheng still didn't leave; this time, he was genuinely scared.

The other side was prepared; there were countless traps in this forest. Li Yunsheng felt that if he stayed here for even a minute longer, he might lose his life.

He took two wads of talisman paper, rolled them into balls, and stuffed them into his ears—the simplest yet most desperate method.

Simply plugging your ears won't completely block out the sound; the chanting will still come through intermittently, while some sounds that should be heard will become inaudible.

A talisman flew towards the back of Li Yunsheng's head. He didn't hear a sound, but felt a chill on the back of his head. He immediately lowered his head and dodged the talisman.

A talisman was thrown towards his temple. Li Yunsheng took a brush, punctured the talisman, and threw it aside.

Thankfully, the two talismans escaped, and the attacker failed.

The incantation clearly stated, "Two talismans will take your life." Now that the two talismans missed and Li Yunsheng is unharmed, it proves that he has survived this ordeal.

Li Yunsheng remained calm and ran towards the edge of the forest. A talisman fell from a tree and flew towards his back without him noticing.

Who said that if you miss with two talismans, this ordeal is over?
Lan Chunming squatted on the tree, a smile on his face: "Li Yunsheng, that incantation was recited for you, but who says it's necessarily true?"

Li Yunsheng was struck by the extraordinary skill of the Zhuyou School, an unusual and unique skill called "Rejuvenation and Death" or "Cure and Kill".

Lan Chunming cured Li Yunsheng's mental block. Li Yunsheng let down his guard completely, so much so that he was completely unprepared for the sneak attack from behind.

Just as the talisman was about to hit his back, Zhang Laifu suddenly appeared, pinched the talisman between his thumb and forefinger, and caught it.

Li Yunsheng was startled, not expecting Zhang Laifu to actually return. Lan Chunming, hiding in the tree, was also taken aback. The talisman was struck accurately and quickly; who was this person to be able to catch it?
This was not difficult for Zhang Laifu at all. His specialty was making lanterns, and his fingers had a natural affinity for paper.

Having caught the talisman, Zhang Laifu followed its trajectory and flicked a small paper lantern back, its light sweeping across the treetops and revealing Lan Chunming's location.

Lan Chunming, who was squatting in the tree, was furious. He took out a brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and was about to take Zhang Laifu's life.

Lan Chunming is a third-level Zhuyou doctor. In a one-on-one fight, even ten Zhang Laifus wouldn't be a match for Lan Chunming. But Li Yunsheng is standing by.

Previously, Li Yunsheng could only flee for his life because he didn't know where Lan Chunming was. Now that Lan Chunming has appeared, Li Yunsheng is not going to suffer any losses from him.

Before Lan Chunming could even lift his brush, Li Yunsheng's incense burner flew over. Lan Chunming used his brush to block the incense burner, but the ash remained and landed directly on Lan Chunming's face.

Lan Chunming could no longer see, so he scattered four talismans, which flew towards Li Yunsheng in the four directions of east, west, south, and north, hoping to use the talismans to cover his retreat.

Li Yunsheng could see the trajectory of the talisman paper clearly.

He opened the talisman box, flicked his five fingers, and flames of five colors—red, yellow, blue, green, and purple—came out.

The talisman fire box was originally used to burn talisman paper. The box was divided into different small compartments, containing things like pine incense, pine resin, white phosphorus, red sand, and yellow rattan. When these things were used to light the fire, the fireballs were particularly large and came in different colors, making the burning talisman paper look very impressive.

Li Yunsheng's talisman fire box was not only imposing, but its five flames each possessed their own spirituality. The red, blue, green, and purple flames burned the four talisman papers facing east, west, south, and north, leaving only a yellow flame that directly attacked Lan Chunming.

It was just a ball of fire; Lan Chunming had plenty of fire-avoidance techniques, so he accepted the hit.

Unexpectedly, when the flames touched his body, the incense ash all over his body exploded.

Why did the incense ash explode?

Li Yunsheng caught up and explained to Lan Chunming, "The incense burner may not contain incense ash!"

"You can't use an incense burner to hold explosives, can you?" Lan Chunming wanted to curse, but his words were mumbled and unclear. Half of his upper lip had been blown off, and his lower lip had been blown away.

Seven or eight teeth remained in his mouth; the rest had all been blown away.

It definitely smelled like incense ash, and it definitely had the texture of incense ash, but the explosive power was much greater than that of ordinary explosives.

With only a breath left, Lan Chunming ran to a willow tree, leaped into the air, and disappeared from sight.

Li Yunsheng wanted to give chase, and after searching for a long time, he discovered Lan Chunming's whereabouts.

There was a hidden door under the willow tree, which could be opened with a talisman, but Li Yunsheng dared not open it.

Zhang Laifu approached Li Yunsheng and asked, "Aren't you going to pursue him?"

Li Yunsheng squatted down, picked up the soil next to the tree roots, and smelled it carefully. A chilling smell wafted into his nostrils.

"Brother Laifu, can you smell this eerie aura? He must have entered a demonic realm."

Zhang Laifu smelled the earth; it smelled like a block of old ice from a freezer, very cold, but also mixed with the sweetness of ice cream and cold drinks. Even in winter, the taste of cold drinks is still quite pleasant.

"Shall we go to the Demon Realm and get him?" Zhang Laifu was eager to see what the Demon Realm looked like.

“That place is dangerous; it will be corrupted by the demonic realm and is fraught with peril.” Li Yunsheng thought carefully about the current situation of the guild, and he seemed to understand something. “No wonder Lan Chunming was willing to take the shipwright as his apprentice; he must have changed professions.”

Zhang Laifu thought for a moment: "Because he changed careers, he fell into the evil path?"

Li Yunsheng nodded: "Because I have fallen into the demonic path, I dared to enter the demonic realm."

Zhang Laifu handed over Wang Tiaodeng's handmade craftsmanship: "Brother Yunsheng, this is what you were promised."

Li Yunsheng looked at Zhang Laifu, feeling that he owed Zhang Laifu another life and didn't know how to express his gratitude.

Zhang Laifu placed the handicraft in Li Yunsheng's hand: "After this parting, the mountains are high and the roads are long, and I don't know when we will meet again. Please take care!"

Li Yunsheng looked into the distance and said, "It seems I can't go back to Heishakou."

PS: How can Lan Chunming go back to do business in Heishakou after being seriously injured?
Thank you, Alliance Leader Weiguang, old friend, for your trust and support along the way.

(End of this chapter)