Chapter 130 Watching the Ceremony

Looking closely, one could see that these people who had fled back were all merchants and the like, mixed with some of the Three Teachings and Nine Streams, local ruffians and petty thieves who had fled here to settle down.

Last night, a demonic corpse had caused trouble in the town, killing dozens of people, so naturally everyone was panicking, and countless people were eager to escape.

Although the Yiqian Sect disciples had all rushed over and tried their best to appease the people, it was of course impossible to persuade everyone. Those who had come with important figures were fine, such as the people from the Sun Family Trading Company. Although they were afraid, they had to wait for Old Master Sun to speak before they dared to leave.

But these people, who had originally gathered together as a disorganized mob, didn't care at all. They still felt that saving their lives was the most important thing. As soon as dawn broke, they had packed their luggage and ran out of the town.

But it was these people who suffered another disaster all at once. At this moment, they were all kneeling on the street, crying and complaining: "We had just left the town and followed the mountain road. After going less than twenty *li*, we saw layers of white fog in front of us. Inside the fog, in broad daylight, we heard ghosts crying."

"The sound was terrifying. We wanted to go back, but some of us were brave and thought we had Tang Hui's protection, so we wanted to break through. But unexpectedly, as soon as we broke through, we were in trouble. Arms and legs were falling off..."

"We were scared, so we hurried back..."

""

""

Listening to their stories, everyone present looked at each other, not understanding the reason, but vaguely guessing in their hearts: "Is it just that they were unlucky and encountered something evil in the mountains, or..."

Shima Town was in the mountains, and the area was guarded by the Yiqian Sect's altars, so it was fine. But twenty *li* away from the town, it was hard to say whether there would be any demons or monsters harming people. After all, the yin and yang were mixed in the mountains, and not every place was safe during the day.

But just as they were preparing to ask in detail, they heard a clamor and dispute coming from the other end of the town.

Everyone hurried to meet them and saw another group of people, their whole bodies covered in blood like gourds, rushing back in a hurry, crying and shouting, saying that they had also encountered strange things blocking the road when they went that way, and two of their companions had been eaten.

"The people who left the town from both sides encountered evil things, then wouldn't that mean..."

Listening to these words, everyone couldn't help but be shocked. Even the Yiqian Sect Leader suddenly reacted and gave Bai Shanzi a deep look.

Bai Shanzi immediately understood and quickly slipped a copper whistle out of his sleeve, put it in his mouth, and blew it hard.

The people around him didn't hear any sound at all.

But this was a small trick from the tricks-of-the-trade world. The people present couldn't hear it, but the Symbol Armor Army (fu jia jun) that had been sent out could hear it and would immediately send back news of the current situation outside.

If so many strange things had happened outside the town, the Symbol Armor Army had a lot of people, so it was impossible that they wouldn't notice anything.

However, after blowing the whistle for a long time, Bai Shanzi also climbed to the roof, gently fanning the wind into his ears with his fan, but after waiting for a long time, his face gradually turned pale, as if he hadn't heard any movement from the Symbol Armor Army.

He jumped down from the roof and slowly shook his head at the Yiqian Sect Leader, but the words that came to his lips were swallowed back, after all, so many people were watching.

The Yiqian Sect Leader naturally understood his meaning, and a layer of frost suddenly rose on his face, and even his heart was a little incredulous...

Those Symbol Armor Army were all selected from the most loyal disciples in the Yiqian Sect. Usually they were just disciples, but when something happened, they would put on the Symbol Armor and take up their weapons and become soldiers. Moreover, everyone had received the protection of the gods in the hall and had items on their bodies to deal with evil things.

Even their skills had been carefully trained by the Shou Sui Ren, and they were extremely skilled in both fighting styles and archery, riding horses, and they could always deliver news in time no matter what happened.

But now, without anyone noticing, they had all disappeared all of a sudden?

This was already an unimaginable strangeness.

Seeing the reaction of Bai Shanzi and the Yiqian Sect Leader, the people who were far away were still unaware, but the people nearby suddenly understood and looked at each other, and they could see the shock and worry on each other's faces.

"Oh no, the Yiqian Sect has encountered a major event."

"The demonic corpse caused trouble last night, which revealed a bit of evilness. Now, suddenly encountering this kind of strangeness, could it be that someone was instructing it from behind, and it was also because someone was interfering that the demonic corpse was so evil and difficult to deal with?"

""

""

Seeing that the scene had fallen into a long silence, and the longer the atmosphere dragged on, the more unbearable it became, the Yiqian Sect Leader suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Very good, this is easy to handle."

She wasn't unaware of the evilness of this matter, but she deliberately pretended to be indifferent and calm on the surface, and sneered, "Our Yiqian Sect's Lantern Festival was originally worried that it wouldn't be lively enough. Now it seems that we have good friends coming to watch the ceremony."

"But they came to watch the ceremony without even saying hello, which is already impolite. They even dared to seal off our town."

"Hehe, don't they know that this is our Yiqian Sect's headquarters, and the Dharma-protecting gods are enshrined on the altar?"

""

"Hmm?"

Bai Shanzi on the side was stunned when he heard this. He was anxiously thinking about who to send to investigate, but none of the candidates he thought of were suitable.

The several Dharma Kings were certainly not suitable, nor were the personal soldiers under their command, and of course, he himself was even more unsuitable. After thinking about it, it was most suitable to persuade several Shou Sui Ren to go and run an errand, but he didn't expect the Sect Leader to suddenly mention the Dharma-protecting gods on the altar, and he immediately understood her meaning.

But this...

Is it appropriate?

Before the thought could turn over, he saw the Yiqian Sect Leader snort coldly and suddenly ordered: "Come, quickly invite the Dharma Kings. We will open the altar in front of everyone and invite the Dharma-protecting gods to help us take a look outside."

"I also want to know what kind of demon it is that is so bold as to dare to cause trouble at my Yiqian Sect's headquarters!"

""

With a loud shout, a close disciple immediately went to deliver the order.

Not long after, the Dharma Kings, who were scattered in various locations in the town, comforting the disciples and the people of the town, also received the news and immediately felt that the situation was not small and prepared in a hurry.

The people who had gathered in the inn to discuss matters were originally about to disperse, but now they panicked and stayed here to wait.

Not long after, they heard a burst of gongs and drums suddenly ringing from the depths of the town, and the sound of the suona soared high, circling over the entire town. The people in the town also heard the movement and ran over to watch, making it unusually lively for a while.

From afar, they saw a colorful scene. When the crowd separated, they saw strong men with bare upper bodies carrying several sedan chairs over. The Dharma Kings had all changed into strange costumes for burning incense, holding incense in their hands, and following beside the sedan chairs.

On these sedan chairs were the Nine Heavens Lotus Holy Saint, the Great Virtue and Wealth Blessing God, the Marriage and Childbearing God, and the Gambling Luck Enjoying Great Slaughtering God.

The people in the town and countless merchants, seeing the statues of the gods coming from afar, were immediately excited and knelt down and kowtowed to the statues of the gods on the sedan chairs. Some even threw handfuls of copper coins onto the sedan chairs.

The people in the doorways also leaned back slightly. In fact, they couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when they heard the names of the Dharma-protecting gods of the Yiqian Sect, but the people deeply believed in them.

Moreover, these names were not set by the Yiqian Sect.

It was said that these names were passed down from Bu Shi Niu. It seemed that someone in Bu Shi Niu specialized in taking such names, and they were very effective. As soon as the name was announced, it could attract countless incense and blessings.

The four sedan chairs were all carried to the middle, and the statues of the gods sitting on them were all dressed in red and colorful decorations, with compassionate eyebrows and eyes, sitting back to back around the altar in the middle of the town, as if smiling and watching the people around them who were kowtowing.

In the Yiqian Sect, a group of eight Dharma Kings led the disciples under their command, dressed up, and kowtowed to the gods they served. Then they raised their arms and bent their legs and began to dance the Nuo dance.

They chanted in their mouths, dancing and dancing, and the movements became faster and faster. The surrounding gongs and drums and suonas became louder and louder. All kinds of sounds mixed together, as if an invisible pressure, even the people around them who were kowtowing did not dare to raise their heads.

But at a high place, the eight Dharma Kings leading the way suddenly stretched their arms into the air at the same time. All the gongs and drums suddenly stopped making any sound, and no one dared to say a word, and there was a silence.

The disciples next to them held trays and sent the things to the Dharma Kings.

The Dharma Kings each took down the things on the trays. Some had a handful of paper money and threw it forward with force. Some had a rooster and directly held it in their hands and wiped the chicken's neck with a knife. Some had a short knife and stuck out their tongues and cut a knife on their tongues.

All kinds of actions took place together, and they cast spells in all directions of the town. Instantly, the wind rose around them, and the incense formation burning on the altar suddenly filled with smoke, going straight to the forests in all directions of the town.

"Whoosh!"

But after only a few breaths, suddenly, heavy yin winds rolled back from the forests in all directions.

"Ka Ka"

The next moment, someone saw in horror that the statues of the gods guarding the altar and on the sedan chairs, whether they were made of wood, paper, or clay, were all cracking in large pieces, and black blood was flowing from their eye sockets, and then the whole thing was torn apart.

Something suddenly窜cuan out of the statues of the gods, shrinking into a ball. Looking closely, there were foxes, hedgehogs, snakes, and deer, but they were all dead.

"This, this..."

Seeing this scene, everyone was already frightened, and then they only felt that dark clouds were gathering above their heads, even blocking the sun, and the yin wind blew into the town from afar.

Vaguely, one could see in the yin wind that there were little ghosts wearing white robes, floating and swaying, holding an imperial edict in their hands, and a sharp voice shouted leisurely: "Imperial edict of Tie Jun, the Great Hall Official of Xiling Trapping Blades:"

"Now, the Yiqian Sect is bewitching the people and gathering people to rebel. Foolish husbands and reckless men do not distinguish between good and evil. According to the law, they will be beheaded with a knife. Within three days, they will enter the town to serve the sentence. Men, women, old and young, none will be left!"

End of chapter