Chapter 548 A Most Evil Thing

"What on earth is that thing?"

Those who came from Mingzhou Prefecture, representing the city's noble lords to observe the situation, were frightened by the sight of the large cauldron.

The children's wailing cries around them already made them feel an evil aura pressing in, unsettling their minds. Their limbs felt frozen, unable to move, and the cauldron seemed to suck away their very souls.

Anyone with even a slight understanding of the occult knew that just one look at the cauldron would lead to a serious illness upon returning home.

This thing was simply too evil.

"I... I feel like something's wrong." Not only were they terrified, but the sight of the cauldron filled them with panic. "Could it be that the noble in our Mingzhou truly favors this True Meaning Religion? But... if he truly does, why would the True Meaning Religion do such things?"

"It shouldn't be like this." He wasn't the only one who saw the problem. In just three to five days, the True Meaning Religion had exposed too many issues, one after another.

If they were favored by a noble, how could they lack the ability to subdue a few mountain bandits? If they were truly favored by that noble, why would the Red Lantern Society show them so little respect? As he spoke, his voice was filled with suspicion and worry. "No matter what, this True Meaning Religion, if we're being honest, it really belongs to the ghost-walking path, right?"

"And, and the one in the sedan chair also appeared in the city before, and it really was... surnamed Hu?"

"...But now that suspicion has arisen, no matter how much we say, it only sounds like we're comforting ourselves."

In their panic, they also saw the small ghosts being spat out and entering the cauldron. The people wearing mourning clothes knelt before the cauldron, taking out knives and cutting their faces and bodies.

With each cut, they cried out loudly.

And within the cauldron, the rolling evil aura and baleful energy seemed to boil even more intensely. Inside, countless ghostly figures mingled together, appearing as both distinct figures and a monster fused together with countless arms and legs.

The crying from the cauldron sounded like one person's cry, yet also like hundreds or thousands of cries layered together, heavy and terrifying.

"This is the Dharma of my True Meaning Religion!"

Looking at the cauldron that seemed to have suppressed everything in all directions, including the observers, the Heaven's Mandate General on the Red-haired Fire Bull sneered grimly. "Reason has no righteousness or evil, Dharma has no good or bad. It only depends on which is more superior and effective."

"Your Hu family is known as the originators of ghost-walking, summoning Yin lightning and subduing all ghosts. Now, let's see if this Dharma can be subdued by your ghost-walking path!"

Hearing his arrogant words, the breathing of the person in the sedan chair became heavier, but they did not retort. Their heart sank slightly: it truly could not be suppressed.

This kind of supremely evil and poisonous thing was a wisp of evil energy stolen from the disaster-stricken land of Guanzhou. The True Meaning Religion did not submit to the originators of ghost-walking and did not adhere to one single art in its cultivation. This cauldron, once refined, possessed both the skill of stealing disasters and the evil of Jiangtou sorcery.

The Hu family's Dharma relied on rules. Just now, they had used the rules to resolve the ghost-binding situation in Mingzhou. Those who summoned ghosts could not summon them, and those who drove ghosts could not drive them away. But the True Meaning Religion immediately sacrificed this thing, completely不受 the Hu family's Dharma.

On the surface, it seemed as if they had truly broken the Hu family's Dharma.

And the only ghost-walking method she could think of at this moment was to set up an altar. But how could she set up an altar? This kind of thing, wherever it was, was supremely Yin and evil. The person setting up the altar would immediately suffer a backlash, even being devoured by a hundred ghosts.

Perhaps the only way was to forcibly suppress it with the greatest Dharma power. But if that were the case, on the level of Dharma, it would be equivalent to losing a step...

"Poor children." Seeing that the person in the sedan chair did not speak, the Heaven's Mandate General on the Red-haired Fire Bull revealed a cold smile. He leaned forward slightly, half his body resting on the bull's back, and said slowly, "Now that they're out, let them move around!"

"Bring that small altar god here and cook him in the cauldron. Then, take advantage of the situation and go to the southern mountains and bring me the head of the Grain-Protecting General!"

As he spoke, he straightened up, his voice cold and domineering. "I'm set on having Mingzhou's grain."

"I'm also set on occupying Mingzhou's fortune."

As the Heaven's Mandate General raised his hand slightly, the dozens of riders following him rode forward, each throwing out a rope with hooks, layer upon layer, wrapping it around the large cauldron. Then, they walked shoulder to shoulder, slowly dragging the large cauldron forward.

The cauldron was filled with rolling baleful energy and a pressing evil aura. The cries of children and the gurgling of boiling water were mixed together. Dozens of riders worked together to lift it, but the horses' hooves seemed to sink into the ground, showing how heavy it was.

As they began to move forward, the surrounding air suddenly became extremely heavy. A chilling, bone-scraping wind suddenly blew, making it impossible to open one's eyes.

They were still far away, just starting to move forward, but within the vermillion-gated town, the light of the red lanterns seemed to be suppressed, beginning to dim, as if the Dharma power was being swallowed by the thing in the cauldron.

Centered on the cauldron, layers of gloomy air steamed, even the night sky was covered, and the surroundings were pitch black.

"The Red Lantern Goddess is finished." Without needing to look further, those who were secretly watching were even prepared to return and report. The thing that the True Meaning Religion had sacrificed was supremely evil, supremely wicked, and supremely sinful. Dharma arts would lose their effect if they touched it, and Dharma treasures would be defiled in an instant if used against it.

Normal people could not fight this thing.

Not to mention that the Red Lantern Goddess was just a small altar god, even the city god, if their Dharma power was weak, could not suppress this evil object.

"Clang!" But just as the world lost its color and everyone's heart was unable to rest, they suddenly heard a cold shout echoing in the night sky ahead. "Who says that the originators of ghost-walking cannot suppress this kind of evil thing?"

As the voice fell, facing the gloomy, heavy, and foul-smelling monstrous wind from the cauldron, a gust of wind suddenly blew over. An object pierced through the layers of night, carrying endless fierce wind, and plunged straight into the ground.

It was a thick-backed, thin-edged ghost-head broadsword, filled with rolling baleful energy.

It landed straight on the ground, with a ghost head at the hilt, a black bone in its mouth, still shaking incessantly.

The sword carried the momentum of its arrival, with the aura of a fierce god or evil spirit steaming, stirring up a gust of wind that suddenly blew the riders who were lifting the cauldron forward, one by one, until their eyes were blurred and their minds were dizzy. The horses under them were startled, and instantly fell into chaos.

And the fierce and evil aura emanating from the cauldron was actually blown back into the cauldron by this wind. The things inside were startled and made an ear-piercing cry. Behind them, those wearing mourning clothes were also suddenly horrified by this change. The cuts they made on their bodies with knives became heavier, and blood flowed all over their bodies. The things in the cauldron became even more ferocious.

In an instant, a thick, rotten smell steamed up. Within it, one could vaguely see slender, eerie little hands reaching for the sword.

"Heaven, earth, humanity, all have laws. You dare to reveal such evil things in Mingzhou, you all deserve to die!"

At this moment, in the deep night beyond where the eyes could see, a faint wind swirled past. It was then that they saw a thin figure, appearing from nowhere before the sword, slowly walking out.

He wore blue cloth shoes, but on his face was a smiling mask with upturned corners. Although it was a smiling face, in this deep night, it made countless people tremble in their hearts.

When the evil aura from the cauldron surged out and reached for the sword, he had already walked to the sword. Suddenly, he leaned forward slightly and blew directly on the sword with a breath.

"Crackling." The black bone on the hilt of the sword was blown by his breath and shook不停, and rolling baleful energy instantly grew from the sword.

If the evil aura within the Baier Cauldron had already exceeded the imagination of these Mingzhou people of the Way, then the baleful energy that now grew from the sword was even more fierce and tyrannical, beyond their understanding, like an evil god deceiving their faces.

The hazy and gloomy wind instantly wrapped the dozens of riders and the black cauldron they were carrying. Those who were wearing mourning clothes and cutting their faces were also blown until their faces turned pale.

"Not good." Before the black sedan chair, the two maids saw the surge of baleful energy and reacted quickly, hurriedly stepping to the side to block in front of the sedan chair. But in the next moment, they and the sedan chair were blown backwards, until the person in the sedan chair reached out and stopped them.

The six green flags of the True Meaning Religion had already been torn to shreds by the strange wind and had flown away to who knows where.

The Heaven's Mandate General on the Red-haired Fire Bull, his eyes blazing, wanted to forcibly hold on, but he did not expect the Fire Bull under him to be frightened first. It stumbled backward, retreating four or five zhang before its front knees softened and it knelt down, almost throwing him off.

At this moment, the person who walked out of the night, taking advantage of the fierce wind, stepped forward and drew the ghost-head broadsword from the ground. In that instant, the sound of the sword激荡.

The sounds of countless flesh and limbs being cut and torn rang out. Amidst the haze, the狂笑 of evil ghosts even suppressed the cries of infants.

When this阴煞恶风 of indescribable ferocity dissipated, the people before the altar lowered the sleeves that had been blocking their faces and looked forward. They could not help but stiffen and feel their bodies grow cold.

They only saw the thin figure wearing the smiling mask, now standing before the altar, holding the ghost-head broadsword in one hand. Beside him were the dozens of riders who had been riding horses and carrying the cauldron, but they had all turned into pieces, men and horses alike.

Heads were heads, shoulders were shoulders, thighs were thighs, the cuts were neat, but they were碎 so much that they could hardly be pieced together, falling haphazardly in a messy heap.

And amidst the bloody pile of corpses, the smiling person stretched out the ghost-head broadsword, holding a cauldron on the sword. It was the Baier Cauldron. "Why are you wearing a mask?"

As he spoke, he shook the sword in his hand, flipped the large cauldron up, and then, with a smooth movement of the knife, split it in two.