Chapter 131: One Wave After Another

After receiving Huang Wuchang’s instructions, Master Wei quickly brought Yin Zi before Ye Dong. “Brother Tian, I’ll leave the bloodletting to you!”

Ye Dong froze for a moment. Supporting Yin Zi, whose face was pale and whose body was weak and limp, he felt both pain and anger. “She’s barely ten years old, yet she has to suffer through all this. Poor child.”

Chen Yong and the others were equally curious about the purpose of Yin Zi’s blood. They crowded around to see for themselves, making Ye Dong even more uncomfortable.

“What are all of you crowding around for? Watching a show? If you want entertainment, go home and watch a zombie movie. Those are both funny and exciting!”

Ye Dong could not help growing irritated. His thoughts had become slightly muddled, and he lost his usual sense of proportion. The Hellflame Clock in his hand did not move toward Yin Zi’s wrist.

Seeing that Ye Dong seemed unsure how to begin, Huang Wuchang smiled faintly and instructed him, “Tian, you only need to make a small cut on her wrist and collect some fresh blood. I need it to draw several seal-breaking talismans. Do not cut too deeply, or stopping the bleeding will become troublesome.”

“Like this? Will one bowl be enough?”

Ye Dong flashed a crooked smile, doing his best to appear unconcerned as he joked.

Seeing Ye Dong become irreverent again, everyone present was startled. No one knew what sort of trouble he might cause.

Master Wei frowned and reprimanded him in a low voice. “Brother Tian, do not speak nonsense before my master. Be careful not to anger him.”

Unexpectedly, Huang Wuchang did not care in the slightest about Ye Dong’s behavior. After a dry cough, he said with a smile, “A few talismans do not require an entire bowl of blood. One tablespoon will be enough. Yin Zi’s fresh blood is more precious than gold, so do not waste it.”

“With the Grandmaster’s instructions, this will be easy! Just watch me get you a tablespoon of blood!”

Ye Dong drew Hellflame. Its edge was far sharper than any ordinary blade. He lightly pressed it against the little girl’s wrist, and a stream of vivid red blood immediately flowed from the wound, dripping steadily into a palm-sized white jade inkstone.

“What a remarkably sharp blade!”

Chen Yong and the others praised Hellflame’s keen edge. As the saying went, an expert who used a blade did not judge how impressive the weapon itself was, but rather how much skill its wielder possessed. Ye Dong’s casual display had broadened their horizons.

Of course, Ye Dong’s dagger technique had been personally drilled into him by Huiyan. His method incorporated the essence of many different schools of blade work.

Once the bleeding had been stopped, the little girl was placed back inside the cage and wrapped in black cloth, awaiting the next need for her blood.

“Master, the fresh blood is here!”

Master Wei respectfully presented the white jade inkstone to Huang Wuchang.

Huang Wuchang nodded. “There is not much time. I will draw the talismans now. Do not lower your guard. Be prepared for a sneak attack by the fierce ghosts.”

Everyone nodded repeatedly. Huang Wuchang placed a small piece of gold, which he had been holding in his palm, into the white jade inkstone on the small altar and began murmuring an incantation.

Suddenly, thick black flames appeared out of nowhere above the inkstone, scorching the nugget of gold without pause. Huang Wuchang then placed a seemingly ancient piece of aged wood into the molten gold, burning them together.

“What incredible sorcery!”

Ye Dong was astonished. “Just how high is the temperature of those black flames? They can actually melt gold? Yet Yin Zi’s blood was not vaporized. It mixed with the gold and the charcoal powder instead?”

While he was still puzzling over it, Huang Wuchang dripped the blood essence in his hand into a small cup of water, then gently poured the bloodied water into the white jade inkstone.

“Doesn’t that violate the laws of science?”

Ye Dong stared in bewilderment. “Flames hot enough to melt gold, yet they cannot evaporate water?”

He could think whatever he liked, but Huang Wuchang had no intention of stopping to explain even a word to him.

The flames gradually intensified. Before long, faint black ripples of energy emerged and wrapped Huang Wuchang within them.

Huang Wuchang began chanting another spell. He dipped a brush into the white jade inkstone and rapidly drew several talismans Ye Dong had never seen before across sheets of yellow paper.

“Ah!!!”

At that moment, more than a dozen screams rang out from every direction through the darkness!

“What is destined to come will come!”

Master Wei gave a cold snort. “Just as my master predicted, they have emerged to cause trouble while he is concentrating on drawing the talismans!”

“Leave those ghosts to us! Master Wei, just protect the talismans!”

Le Cheng stepped forward with two of his men. They thrust their yellow-and-black flags into the ground and took up positions at the three points of a triangle. Then they rapidly chanted, “Beneath the Gate of Heaven, Immortal Lord of Demon Subjugation, crush demons and destroy evil, let the hawks and hounds lead the way. By the supreme command, hurry and obey!”

But the vicious spirits, with bared teeth and faces as pale as paper, were terrifyingly ferocious. They rushed toward Le Cheng’s formation at great speed.

“They really aren’t afraid of death?”

Ye Dong drew a deep breath. Just as he tightened his grip on the dagger, a wind began to rise beneath the feet of Le Cheng and the other two. The gale twisted into a whirlwind, sweeping up sand and dust and tightly enclosing Ye Dong and the others within it.

“Ah! Kill them! Kill them!”

The ghosts trapped outside shrieked like madwomen. Their venomous curses caused the assistants’ expressions to change drastically. Each time the spirits slammed into the whirlwind, Le Cheng’s face grew a shade uglier. Clearly, these ghosts were far more vicious than the fierce spirits they usually encountered.

“This cannot continue! I can already hear the ghosts striking the barrier!”

As the whirlwind weakened, the assistants secretly groaned in despair. “Even the formation created by the three of them can hold the fierce ghosts back only briefly. If they break through, we will lose our lives!”

The mixture in the white jade inkstone was completely consumed just as Huang Wuchang finished drawing the talismans.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and gave a cold laugh. “Le Cheng, withdraw the formation. Let this old man have some fun with them.”

“Awwooo!”

Le Cheng nodded repeatedly and withdrew the formation. The evil spirits surged toward the living people like starving wolves pouncing on fresh meat.

“Hmph. Perfect timing! I still have some magical power left from drawing the talismans.”

Huang Wuchang’s great robe stirred as he drew the jade flute from his waist and blew softly into it. As its eerie, lilting notes rang out, the ravenous spirits seemed to have been struck dazed by a tremendous blow. They abruptly stopped in midair, their ghostly forms frozen as they lunged toward the living.

“As expected, ginger becomes spicier with age. The old fox can restrain all these evil spirits with a single move.”

Seeing how powerful Huang Wuchang’s flute was, Ye Dong began calculating secretly. “I have to find a chance to get my hands on that flute. At the very least, I could weaken part of his power.”

“Evil spirits, be captured!”

With a shout, Huang Wuchang extended his left hand and began turning it in circles through the air.

“What is the Grandmaster doing?” Ye Dong asked Master Wei in a low voice.

The corner of Master Wei’s mouth curved upward. “My master is capturing the evil spirits.”

“What?”

Ye Dong was astonished. “Just how many spells has this demonic priest mastered?”

Huang Wuchang’s sleeve seemed to become a whirlpool, sucking all the spirits inside. With a mighty shout, he flung the ghosts in his grasp forcefully toward the Void Realm.

“Daoist arts can actually be used like this?”

Ye Dong was both shocked and delighted as he stared fixedly at Huang Wuchang.

The ignorant evil spirits struck the Void Realm without making a sound. Hissing noises immediately rang out, and then silence fell. That silence meant the spirits had vanished completely.

“No wonder Huang Wuchang is so arrogant. His abilities truly are extraordinary.”

Witnessing Huang Wuchang’s power, Ye Dong could not help worrying about Chen Yao again. “Master, you absolutely must not let him escape!”

Huang Wuchang did not stop after destroying the evil spirits. He tossed the three spirit talismans he had just finished drawing into the Void Realm.

To Ye Dong’s immense shock, the three talismans were not reduced to smoke. Instead, they passed through the invisible barrier as though nothing stood in their way. Growing from small to large and from near to far, they transformed into three enormous yellow-and-black talismans and flew into the depths of the Void Realm.

“Is this how the formation is broken? It’s astonishing.”

Ye Dong silently committed every step to memory, in case he ever needed to use the knowledge in the future.

Once the enormous talismans had risen at the center of the Void Realm in the shape of a triangle, Huang Wuchang shouted again, “Water, come! Wood, come! Gold, come! Wisdom, merit, and wealth—all complete! Void Realm, break!”

The instant he uttered the final word, ripples of energy surged outward, forcing everyone to retreat several steps.

Bang!

Just as Ye Dong was marveling at the sight, the distinctive sound of shattered energy rang out. The mysterious Void Realm finally revealed its true form.

He looked ahead and saw nothing but white bones and skulls, mixed together with all sorts of ancient weapons. At the center of the Void Realm, they had been piled into a gigantic pyramid.

“Gasp!”

Everyone present drew a sharp breath at the shocking scene.

“I never expected to witness such a wonder inside the Tomb of Immortality!”

Ye Dong was overwhelmed. “How many people must have been killed to gather this many skulls?”

“Master Wei, explain where all this came from.”

“Judging from the arrangement, these things were probably moved here from the General’s Tomb farther ahead.”

Master Wei stroked his chin and guessed, “Look at those weapons. They are all distinctive styles from the Yuan Dynasty.”

“That makes sense.” Ye Dong nodded repeatedly. “They were probably prisoners of war buried as sacrifices for that general, weren’t they?”

Huang Wuchang paid no attention to their discussion. Instead, he took out an Eight Trigrams compass and measured the surroundings. Only after seeing the needle finally return to normal did he manage to reveal a long-lost smile.

“It is finally safe inside.”

Huang Wuchang gave a cold smile. “Youngsters, let us go around the edge of the skulls.”

“It was broken that easily?”

Ye Dong was suspicious. “The Void Realm has such an imposing reputation. It cannot possibly have been destroyed so easily, can it?”

Aside from Ye Dong’s doubts about Huang Wuchang, however, no one else showed the slightest distrust.

After gathering their equipment, everyone followed Huang Wuchang cautiously. Ye Dong sighed inwardly. With no control over the situation, he could only hurry after them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just as they were about to leave the mountain of skulls and continue deeper inside, deafening drumbeats suddenly thundered from every direction.

“I knew there had to be something powerful and mysterious still hidden in here!”

A chill ran through Ye Dong’s heart. An intense sense of danger instantly sent his adrenaline surging.