Chapter 561 Dian You Technique

"Did the leader really say that?"

While the altar was being set up in Zhu Gate Town and the four hall officers were busy except for one lost in thought, the bugle call echoed in the military camp outside.

Because he wasn't qualified to directly meet the leader, he didn't understand the leader's true intention. However, after receiving the message from Immortal Maiden Miaoshan, Military Advisor Iron Tongue immediately had an idea and protected Yang Gong to the front of the formation.

Troops were gathered, lined up, showing strength and vigor.

Looking across the three *li*, the groups of hungry ghosts had gathered in front of Mingzhou City. In just one night, they had gathered three or four thousand people. Their dark masses were a terrifying sight.

However, compared to Yang Gong's side, they were still somewhat inferior. It seemed a single charge could scatter them.

"Which brothers will go and charge for us?"

Yang Gong knew this group of hungry ghosts was not simple. He couldn't rashly charge, nor could he sit by and watch their numbers increase. He pointed his whip and asked the headmen around him. Many people immediately became excited.

"I'll go!" "Let me do it..." They tried to look back, wanting to know the origins of these beggars, who were so strange.

"The ability to carry spirits makes it impossible to confront them head-on. The ability to execute souls is almost completely countered. Even the usually bravest Shou Sui Ren (Guardian) skill in our ranks is suppressed by half, leaving only the ability to suppress them with pure masculine energy… Like thunder, like toad croaks, pure masculine energy suddenly erupted, suppressing the surrounding chaos."

"Slowly save people!"

Seeing this, some people responded, but their faces were not good.

He scolded, causing the people below to hang their heads in shame, not knowing what to say.

"Move out!" They were dressed in rags, covered in grass and dirt, looking more like beggars than beggars. Even the monkeys on their bodies were covered in lice. They would squat there, catching and eating lice from their monkeys.

Facing the troops on Iron Tongue's side, they jumped and pounced. The first ranks, men and horses, were knocked down directly, the sounds of tearing flesh and blood incessant.

Seeing the situation reversed, and dozens of people were in danger, someone in Yang Gong's formation shouted.

But after all that talk, no one had a quick and effective solution, making him furious. "Do you only know how to swindle and deceive? Now that it's come to this, you can't come up with a useful method?"

Those two didn't know what was happening, but they were greatly alarmed. They hadn't expected the hungry ghosts to be so crazy. Who cared about gold and silver?... Someone recognized him. It was Zheng Yayi, a capable manager under the Red Rice Ridge branch. Iron Tongue practiced Xing Hun (Soul Execution) arts, but this manager practiced Shou Sui (Guardian) arts, having already tempered the Seven Limbs and was highly valued in the branch.

The hungry ghosts had no leaders or plans, just groups. The strong and fierce ones guarded the outside. You could interpret this as protecting the weak inside, or as watching the food supply to prevent it from running away.

Iron Tongue was so frightened his face turned pale. The people in Yang Gong's formation, seeing such a loss right away, couldn't say a word.

Fortunately, the leaders of the Jin Zi (Gold Standard) business weren't here, or this guy might have been the first one kicked out for his personal appearance.

The group of beings that were neither human nor ghost were slightly shaken. Iron Tongue and the others took the opportunity to roll and crawl back.

Looking back, they saw they had already lost a dozen lives and seven or eight horses. The manager who had gone out first had most of his body devoured. Even though he had learned the Shou Sui (Guardian) skills, he couldn't survive.

The Shi Niu (Lost Cattle) scattered across the martial world, acting in secret. While some paid attention to their appearance, maintaining a noble demeanor at all times, others slept in the open, unable to care about appearances, looking dirty. But the person speaking now was the least presentable of all.

"Let's retreat for now."

"They are few in number and do not have any living qi so there is no need to worry about them being many in number and overwhelming us."

The person next to him felt worried and avoided him. He had already noticed that after being stabbed with the needle, the big rooster looked somewhat similar to the hungry ghosts.

The surrounding hungry ghosts, drooled incessantly, looked at the food supply army on Yang Gong's side, with greed in their eyes.

Fortunately, at this critical moment, someone rushed out from among them. It was the bald shopkeeper from Kouzi Mountain. He passed Zhou Datong and Zhou Liang, faced the hungry ghosts, raised his hands to his ribs, and suddenly shouted.

If it had been earlier, their move would have been universally effective.

The manager sneered repeatedly, his spear picking, thrusting, and striking. In a few rounds, he knocked the white bones out of the person's hands. Then, he grinned, bent down, picked up the person, placed them across the horse, and was about to ride back to the formation.

The hungry ghosts initially ignored his provocation, but as he got closer, one came out from the crowd.

"Brothers, has anyone seen the key?"

Quietly, the beggar sighed and clapped his hands, laughing, "Good, good, General Yang, let me give you your first victory against the hungry ghosts..." Zhou Datong and Zhou Liang rode out at the same time, but those two were smart. They didn't dare charge straight into the formation. They reined in their horses from a distance, each holding a golden and silver doll under their arms. They squeezed hard, and two streams of golden and silver qi intertwined and sprayed over.

Someone said that a method of preparing grain could be used. The hungry ghosts were never full, so if enough grain mixed with Guanyin earth (white clay) was used, they should be able to be stuffed to death. "The advantage is… against this group of hungry ghosts, if we include the bridge's secret technique, relying only on the methods of Deng Jie Ru Fu (Ascending Steps Entering the Manor), we will suffer a great loss!"

But now, spraying it on them, they didn't seem to be affected at all. They just kept pouncing and biting. More and more people were coming out of the formation, not only trapping Iron Tongue's group in the formation, but also vaguely making a move to charge towards their military formation. But just then, someone suddenly said, "How about I give it a try?"

Just then, seeing the big rooster completely gone mad, the beggar next to him suddenly strode forward, pressed it down. He didn't bother tying it with grass rope, but just drew a vertical line on its beak with his finger.

After finishing the drawing, he immediately let go, took two steps back. Everyone curiously craned their necks to look. They found that this rooster, which was originally normal, docile, and only fierce, squatting there without moving because there was only a vertical line drawn on its beak.

The man held a white bone in his hand, fought on foot instead of a horse, and showed no skill. He just smashed it down on the manager's head.

He had used two short knives before, but now that he was in battle, he had switched to a long spear for ease of killing. Now, he charged towards the group of hungry ghosts, with great momentum.

Silently, the beggar breathed a sigh of relief and clapped, laughing: "Good, good, General Baoliang (Protect the Grain), let me present you with this first victory against the hungry ghosts..."

Yang Gong's expression changed abruptly as he watched this scene. He glanced at his military advisor, Sun Niangzi, who was slowly waving her hand and whispered, "Let's discuss it in the tent first." "But the disadvantage is… against this group of hungry ghosts, if we include the bridge’s secret technique, relying only on the methods of Deng Jie Ru Fu (Ascending Steps Entering the Manor), we will suffer a great loss!"

But when it came to how to deal with them, everyone had a different opinion. Someone said that a Boy Scout army should be trained, recruited from the blood and food mines, which would be most effective against the hungry ghosts.

But now, as if he had thought of something, he stepped forward and said, "Who can borrow a chicken?" For a moment, many people volunteered to show off their skills.

He was both shocked and flustered, not understanding why his signature move wasn't working. He shouted and wrestled with the opponent, falling off his horse.

The military advisor Zheng Yayi came directly to Yang Gong's tent, surrounded by a dozen Jianghu (martial world) experts.

Now that he had captured the enemy general and shown his face, he was about to return to ask for credit.

"The man in town is watching us. If we eat eighty thousand hungry ghosts in one go, we don't have that ability, so it's not shameful. But if we can't even win a beautiful victory when the opponent's troops are not fully assembled, where will our faces go?"

He grabbed the man and used the Shou Sui Ren (Guardian)'s soul-locking hand. His right palm turned to death, and if he grabbed any part of the opponent's body, Yin Qi (Yin energy) would erode into the opponent's body, forcing them to be honestly bound.

In the opposite formation, the person who had just bitten the manager under Iron Tongue's command walked back to the crowd. Someone suddenly threw a pig's head at him. It looked raw and had not been plucked, but he hugged it and gnawed on it.

The people next to him listened and nodded, recognizing the difficulty of dealing with these hungry ghosts.

The person next to him turned his head and frowned.

Many people saw that the hungry ghosts gathered in front of Mingzhou City were not even as good as the Zhen Li Sect troops when they first came out of the mountains. They didn't see many horses, and the weapons in their hands were not in good shape. They were scattered and disorganized, as if they could be defeated with a single charge. They felt their opportunity had come.

Soon, someone went to Zhu Gate Town and borrowed a majestic rooster from an aunt. The beggar took it, stabbed a silver needle into the chicken's neck. The rooster suddenly ruffled its feathers and scurried around, pecking at people, its eyes turning gray.

The manager on horseback was inwardly relieved when he suddenly lowered his head and saw that the hungry ghost, who should have been captured, had turned over and bit him on the neck, blood spurting out.