Chapter Twelve: Memories of Western Hunan

  The old man with the sword in his hand scolded in a low voice: "This old monkey, so many years have passed, and he still hasn't changed this shameless style." He turned around, took out a small white jade porcelain bottle from his arms, and smelled it under the noses of the three people. The three people only felt their noses getting stuffy, and they couldn't help but sneeze.

  After a few sneezes, the three of them felt their feet warm up and the numbness in their bodies disappeared. As soon as they could move, they quickly scrambled to their feet. Chang Yunshan grabbed Mu Linchi's hand and cried out: "Ah, my Master Uncle! Where have you been all these years? They said you were dead, but I didn't believe it, and indeed you're still alive!" Mu Daoye slapped Chang Yunshan on the forehead and scolded him: "You little bastard, how can you call a deceased elder 'dead'? You're a complete idiot!"

  So, the two of them held hands and started talking about their experiences over the years. It turned out that more than 20 years ago, Mu Linchi was invited by a good friend to attend the Xiangxi Witch King Conference, and on the way, he met a man and a woman being chased and killed. At that time, Mu Dao was also young and vigorous, and when he saw someone committing murder, how could he not intervene? At that time, there were seven villains in total, and after the fight, Mu Dao was shocked to discover that these seven people were actually all Shennu from Miao Village!

  Three people were outnumbered and forced to retreat into the mountains. When they saw danger, the woman sacrificed her life and turned her body into insects to curse the seven witches, saving the lives of Mu Dao and the man. Not long after the two escaped, Mu Dao discovered that he had been poisoned with a Gu worm! The poison took effect, his life was in danger, but the man saved him by removing the Gu worm, taking care of him for half a month. From then on, the two became sworn brothers, and the man was Ge Kun.

  The three of them heard this and felt infinite emotions in their hearts. They never thought that the two of them had such a deep bond, but why did it end up like this today? Sworn brothers who were willing to die for each other, now they are facing each other with swords drawn, what is the reason for this?

  "Alas, it's all because of my ignorance when I was young. These two are siblings from the Black Witch clan of Duolong Mountain! They caused chaos and committed evil deeds in Miaojiang, which led to the pursuit by the gods of various Miao villages. And I, without knowing the truth, mistakenly saved them, thus brewing a great disaster! At first, I didn't know, but as I interacted with Ge Kun for a long time, I discovered that he was extremely cunning and ruthless. When I discovered his true nature, I immediately broke ties with him. But unexpectedly, he wanted to kill me to silence me, leading to our bloody battle. Later, I was poisoned by the Gu insect and trapped in a place where corpses were collected, while he was also beheaded by me, and then disappeared. It took me three years to recover from my injuries, and after recovering, the first news I heard was that the thirteen old villages of Miaojiang had been bloodbathed, and the murderer was Ge Kun! Since then, I have been searching for his whereabouts everywhere, until yesterday when I passed by Erma Ridge and found these two little ones sneaking into the Guo Wang Temple at night, rescuing a girl. That's when I felt something was strange. After you left, I went back to that dry well to investigate and saw the skull wall, which made me suspect it was Ge Kun's doing!"

  The three of them felt a chill in their hearts after hearing this, and they didn't expect things to be more complicated than they had imagined. Fang Qing let out a surprised cry: "I say, senior, could it be that the Black Donkey Mountain Ghost was also created by that old thing?"

  The old man nodded slightly: "Not bad, that skull wall is Ge Kun's usual method. The purpose is to condense the yin energy of the dead souls, help the mountain demon grow, and when it grows up, use the corpse birth Tai Sui to merge with it, refining a true black mantis!"

  Wang Siguang was taken aback, and asked in confusion: "Senior, according to what you said, Ge Kun is already a very formidable figure, so why would he go to such great lengths to refine that Black Mantle?"

  "Because his Benming Jin Chan was killed by me, his abilities will gradually weaken, and he must find a powerful evil object to assist him. If he really refines it, under the heavens, there are hardly a few people who can control him!" After finishing speaking, Mu Dao Ye let out another sigh.

  "Damn it! What are we still sitting here for? Let's get the hell out of here!"

  "Shut up! That corpse is still young and the Black Donkey Mountain spirit isn't easy to tame. More importantly, tomorrow is July 15th, and only at midnight on this day do we have a chance of successfully refining it! So we still have some time, we need to prepare well. And more importantly, tonight, you three little rabbits can have fun!" After finishing speaking, he ignored the three people and walked into the house alone, starting a fire.

  After the flames had died down, the four of them finally left. When they returned to Old Man Zhao's home, Master Mu ordered him to prepare several large buckets of hot water. Looking at the washing tubs in front of them and the old Daoist holding a silver needle with herbal medicine, the three of them only then realized that they had been poisoned by gu insects.

  This night was a real ordeal, with vomiting and diarrhea from the bug bites. In the end, the three of them were so exhausted that they felt like their bodies had become completely hollow. They would breathe in through their mouths and exhale through their bottoms, struggling until dawn broke. The three of them lay on the kang like dead dogs, drifting off into a daze of sleep.

  When they woke up, it was already noon the next day. The three of them were shocked and quickly got up. As soon as they stood up, they saw that Murong Daoye was arranging a lot of things in the house. There were flags of various colors, wooden carvings and stone sculptures of small people, several mirrors with golden sand hanging on them, a pile of red thread copper coins, seven or eight gilded bronze bells, a large net soaked in blood, and most strikingly, five swords painted with Taoist symbols.

  Looking at the things all over the ground, Chang Yunshan chuckled and said: "I say, Master Shu, are you going to fight someone's mountain gate?" Murong Daoye scolded without lifting his head: "Shut up, tonight is a tough battle, we can't let that old monkey escape!"

  Several people hurriedly dressed and went downstairs. Mu Dao asked Chang Yunshan and Fang Qing to go to the border to draw talismans, while Wang Sigou squatted on the ground alone, watching him fiddle with these things. Suddenly, Mu Dao opened his mouth and asked: "Sigou, how much do you know about that knife in your family?" Wang Sigou was slightly stunned, thinking to himself that he only knew that the knife was sharp and killed people like cutting vegetables, and didn't understand anything else. He honestly shook his head and said that he didn't know much.

  "Ah, you little scamp, you're truly a prodigal son! You hold in your hand such an excellent treasure, yet all you know is that it's good for killing. Let me tell you, this knife of yours is the rare Dragon's Humming Slasher, its blade as fierce as a dragon or tiger, its edge stirring up the universe, a born treasure. Moreover, this knife has been baptized by the Three Holy Mirrors, and on its body is branded the true talisman of Lao Jun's command. What's even more precious is that our Ancestor Master Crane Cry of the Cypress Fragrance Temple once used his mighty brush to awaken its spirit and forge its soul, so this knife no longer falls within the realm of mere weapons - it has a knife spirit! Unfortunately, you're just an ordinary person, completely unable to communicate with it, so in your eyes, it's just a knife."

  Wang Sigou was stunned, truly unaware of the many secrets his long-time companion had kept hidden. Just as he was wondering, Murong Daoye clapped his hands and called over the other two, saying: "Tonight, I plan to set up the Taiji Qiankun Great Array. We four will be the Four Symbols; I'll be Qinglong, Wang Sigou will be Baihu, Qinghe will be Zhuque, and Yuanshan, you'll be Xuanwu. Time is pressing, and we can't find anything better to use as the array's eye, so we'll have to use this Xianfeng Bell and Luosheng Mirror as the two instruments of the array's eye. We'll use the five Qianxian Swords for the Five Elements, and the 72-faced Fahui Flags and 64 Shi Jiang will be the Eight Gates! Tonight, it's do or die - either they die or we perish. Later, I'll use the Xuanzhen Guandeng method to awaken Wang Sigou's spirit, allowing him to communicate with Wuwen's knife spirit and increase our combat strength for tonight. However, this effect will only last for 12 hours; after that, you'll fall gravely ill, likely bedridden for two or three months."

  Wang Sigou smiled slightly: "Senior, don't mention a few months, if you can really destroy this old Wang Ba Dan, I'll lie down for a year!"

  Several people who heard this also smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and in this way, the four old and young men hurriedly pulled out their food and quickly set to work. Without saying much nonsense, the four of them came to a distant empty space in front of the Zao Wang Temple, each assigned tasks, and began to lay out the big formation. In order to prevent Ge Kun from noticing, the formation had not been activated yet. After everything was ready, the four old and young men again slipped into the mountain, waiting for nightfall.

  Meng Dao took out three medicinal pellets and told them to take them with mountain dew, these pellets were given to him by his good friend Miao Jiang's great witch doctor Long Ti Luo for self-protection, after taking this medicine, they would not be affected by the Gu poison within a few hours. Then he took out red thread and tied soul-locking knots on each of their bodies, telling them that Shan Gui had the ability to absorb human souls, so they must be careful.

  Look up at the moon and calculate the time, it's still early in the hour of Zi. Mu Dao held a silver needle and several talismans in his hand, brushing and pointing them on Wang Sigou's body as he drew talismans, finally reciting an incantation and using the silver needle to open his spiritual aperture. Wang Sigou only felt something inside him violently shake once, after which he surprisingly felt his ears clear up and his eyes brighten, all of his senses becoming sharper. Mu Dao smiled at him and said: "You try holding that knife now, no matter what changes occur, don't be afraid, just focus on communicating with it."

  Wang Sigou took a look at the treasured sword beside him, hesitated for a moment, and then grasped it in his hand. As soon as he did, Wang Sigou felt a sudden shock run through his body, followed by a dizzying sensation that made his head spin and the ground beneath his feet seem to roll over. Just when he was about to fall to the ground, he found himself surrounded by a thick white mist! Wang Sigou looked around frantically, but saw no one in sight - not even Mu Linchi, Fang Qinghe, or Chang Yunshan, all of whom had vanished into thin air!

  Wang Sigou was shocked in his heart, thinking that he had been affected by some kind of evil technique. He hurriedly shouted loudly: "Seniors, Qinghe, where are you? Hey..." He shouted for half a day, but there was no response. Wang Sigou looked around at the eerie white fog, and cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead. As he gazed into the distance, all he saw was a pale expanse, with an oppressive silence all around, not even a hint of movement. Wang Sigou's whole body tensed up, and he wiped away the cold sweat covering his face. He stretched out his hand, carefully reaching for the precious sword beside him. But then something strange happened - this sword was clearly right in front of him, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't grasp it! It was as if the sword was a phantom bubble, and his five fingers passed straight through its body without touching it at all.

  It wasn't until then that Wang Sigou realized in his heart that he had entered a profound state! After understanding, Wang Sigou was no longer panicked and shouted loudly towards the surroundings: "Where is it? Where is it?" No one replied after shouting several times. Just as he was at a loss for what to do, a thunderous voice came from above: "Sigou, use your heart, communicate with it with your heart, and you will see!"

  Wang Sigou slightly stunned, then closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and relied solely on his own consciousness to feel the surroundings. Before long, he felt that there was an object swaying in front of him. Wang Sigou suddenly opened his eyes and saw a person standing not far away from him inside the white fog!

  Looking at the figure in the fog, Wang Sigou felt inexplicably tense. The two of them stared at each other for a long time, and then Wang Sigou said sincerely: "No need to ask, I need your help!" He repeated this several times, but the figure still stood upright in the white fog, without speaking or moving, quietly watching Wang Sigou.

  Nor did he know how long it took, until Wang Sigou felt that he could no longer bear the silent pressure, when suddenly a shrill sword cry was heard from his side, and this precious sword, without asking, was actually grasped in his hand!

  Mulin Chi, Fang Qinghe and Chang Yunshan looked at Wang Sigou in front of them, who was as still as a wooden or stone statue. They were so anxious that they stomped their feet. It was almost time, but he didn't react at all! Chang Yunshan anxiously slapped his thigh: "Ah, the infinite heavenly lord, why hasn't this Wang brother moved yet? It's really infuriating!" Fang Qinghe on the side couldn't stop rubbing his hands.

  Mantou Master looked at the two of them and also felt a sense of urgency in his heart, so he comforted them saying: "Don't worry, calm down, I just used the Hui Gu transmission method to remind him, it should be fine soon." These words were said with a bit of insufficiency, probably even he himself was comforting himself.

  At this moment, a deafening donkey bray was heard, followed by a series of thunderous roars that shook the sky. The three were shocked and hastily turned to look around, only to see that at this time, the Huo Wang Temple on the mountain top had burst into flames, with smoke billowing everywhere.

  "Bad, Ge Kun that old turtle has made his move ahead of time!" Mu Dao Ye shouted. Fang Qing He and Chang Yun Shan hastily grasped their treasured swords in hand, the three exchanged a glance, finally all looking towards Wang Si Gu who stood as still as a clay statue. Mu Dao Ye let out a sigh: "Alas, for now we have no choice but for us three to go first and lure him into the formation, hopefully Si Gu can catch up with us..."

  The words had barely fallen when a loud sword hum like a dragon's roar came from behind, and looking back at Wang Sigou, he was actually awake!