"Wh-why?" Guiying didn't understand.
Was she truly Liu Jiangfusheng's wife?
Or was she not the real Gu Yi, but merely disguised herself as "Gu Yi" to infiltrate the group?
This made sense.
Where was the real Gu Yi now?
The other party did not answer his doubts and directly broke contact.
Guiying's dim gray eyes flickered with struggle, but he knew he could only obey her wishes.
She told him to cooperate with Danya, did she anticipate that Danya would make a move against Liu Jiangfusheng midway?
Ahead, Liu Jiangfusheng carried his wife on his back, his robes overlapping, looking like a deeply devoted couple. He walked step by step, and Guiying, after composing himself, followed with a blank expression.
His feet landed on the smooth, thin iron chains. With a sway, he was steady on his feet the next moment.
Without arms, it was indeed more difficult for him to maintain balance than for ordinary people, but as a ghost cultivator, he could secretly use some tricks to get the ghosts to help him.
They walked to the middle section of the bridge without incident, and at this moment, Guiying's lingering unease intensified, his entire body tensing like stone, unable to relax.
Elder Jiuli, walking at the forefront, had already crossed two-thirds of the bridge. He nudged the ghosts that brushed past him, barely turning his head to check that each disciple had ascended the suspension bridge and was cautiously shuffling forward.
As expected, without some agitation, these disciples were too complacent to know the hardships and dangers of the outside world.
Just then, a deafening sound of heavy objects being destroyed and collapsing, along with the clash of sharp weapons and the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps, suddenly came from ahead.
Elder Jiuli was astonished.
Were there others in Dusheng Taoist Temple?
A group of panicked individuals rushed over from the mountain crevice. Elder Jiuli recognized them as the disciples from the Void Gate who had delivered the invitation, led by Chen Daoshan.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, what has happened?" Elder Jiuli's voice rang out clearly on the wind.
Chen Daoshan was out of breath. He looked up in surprise, clearly recognizing the gray-robed elder on the iron chain by his voice.
"Elder Jiuli, retreat quickly. Dusheng Temple is home to a powerful ghost that specifically absorbs human souls. Due to the gathering of Yin energy at midnight, its strength has increased, making it very difficult to deal with."
Chen Daoshan and his group were stained with blood, indicating they had been through a fierce battle. He only offered a warning before rushing towards the light hole at the edge of the cliff for teleportation. However, a strange gust of wind blew, and the light hole began to disappear.
They stood stiffly and palely in place, knowing for certain that it was the work of that ghost.
Due to the suspension bridge, they could not fly with their artifacts on this section of the cliff. With no other way, even though they saw the procession of ghosts on the iron chain bridge, they still bit the bullet and squeezed onto the bridge.
Compared to the immense threat chasing them, they would rather fight with the evil spirits.
Unsurprisingly, the two groups were blocked on the single suspension bridge.
"What exactly happened?" Elder Jiuli, followed by a group of young disciples, had to remain vigilant.
Chen Daoshan, a cultivator in the mid-Nascent Soul stage, possessed considerable strength. The fact that even he was forced to flee in disarray was enough to prove that the "ghost" was by no means ordinary.
Perhaps, it was not a soul ghost after all.
At this moment, the ghost on the bridge seemed to have been contaminated by something. Its blank, pale face underwent a painful and ferocious change, its gray-white eyeballs turned red as if weeping blood, and its clothes also turned red.
Elder Jiuli exclaimed, "Did you kill someone?!"
Chen Daoshan's stern face tightened like stone, and he pursed his lips in silence.
However, a disciple behind him hurriedly denied, "N-no, it wasn't us who killed him!"
"Yes, Gu Chuhao wasn't killed by us. He was possessed by a monster, which is why Senior Brother Tianyi killed him. Now even Senior Brother Tianyi..." someone retorted tearfully with indignation.
Indeed, two disciples were missing from this group, one of whom was the male disciple in green who had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.
However, Elder Jiuli calmly said, "Chen Daoshan, if the disciple you speak of who was possessed by a monster truly deserved to die, you would not be stained with such resentful energy, and how would these ghosts be transformed into malevolent souls by this resentment!"
The disciples of the Void Gate were all stunned by this.
They looked at Chen Daoshan with hesitation and disbelief.
Gu Chuhao, who had pleaded bitterly and denied being bewitched by evil spirits before his death, was convicted and killed by Uncle-Master Chen and Senior Brother Tianyi. What they thought was eliminating evil for the people, perhaps... perhaps it was aiding and abetting a crime?
Therefore, Senior Brother Tianyi, who took action, had now turned into a true evil ghost, losing his humanity?
The matter was complicated and could not be explained in a short time. Chen Daoshan saw that the malevolent souls were increasing, and if they attacked en masse, it would be troublesome.
He said sternly, "Elder Jiuli, I will explain the matter slowly later. Now that the enemy is coming, we must hurry. If you insist on blocking our way, do not blame me for being impolite."
He clasped his knotted arms together, and a giant battle axe suddenly appeared in his rough, broad palm, emanating a faint green light. But in the next second, the spiritual energy dissipated, and the battle axe vanished.
He gritted his teeth in resentment, unable to summon his life-bound weapon.
"You—"
At this moment, Danya, who had heard the commotion from behind, saw the other side of the cliff before anyone else. A tall, disheveled figure in green stood there.
"Want to leave?"
The eerie, ancient tone was like the dangerous roar of a beast at night.
His toes pointed downwards, his feet not touching anything. Half of his green robe was soaked in black and red bloodstains. He raised a palm and fiercely struck the iron chain of the suspension bridge.
Clang clang clang—
Everyone's lower bodies swayed violently, and their upper bodies became unstable.
Damn it.
A disciple of the Great Yan Sect roared, "What kind of monster have you actually provoked? With so many of us, we still can't defeat him?"
A disciple of the Empty Void Gate retorted, "It's extremely evil and impossible to kill. Even our sect master, who is in the Nascent Soul stage, couldn't defeat it. What can you lot combined do?"
"Hurry up and go! On this suspension bridge, you can't even use spiritual power. How can you fight that evil demon!" Chen Daoshan urged anxiously.
Elder Jiuli was also infected by their urgency. He wiped the tears from his forehead and shouted to those behind him, "Stop howling! Quickly retreat! If that evil monster truly gets onto the suspension bridge, there will be no escape!"
He also understood that this was not the time to pursue the cause and effect, and he immediately turned his head.
But at this moment, the ghosts were incited into fierce malevolent souls and began to attack indiscriminately. They transformed into green skull ghost heads, circled in the air a few times, and lunged at people with their mouths open.
This was truly a case of misfortune compounding misfortune. The people of the Great Yan Sect were implicated and almost leaped with anger.
Liu Jiangfusheng had heard their conversation from behind and understood the current situation. He opened his eyes, his clear obsidian pupils reflecting the malevolent ghosts. His pupils contracted slightly, but he pulled Gu Junshi from his back into his embrace and opened his arms to protect her tightly.
However, these malevolent ghosts, as if soulless, all avoided them and lunged towards Danya and the others at a distance.
At this moment, Dan Ya seized an excellent opportunity. A calculating glint flashed in his eyes. He reached into his sleeve and popped out an object with a plan.
Liu Jiangfusheng felt a pain as if his kneecap had cracked. He bent forward, and one leg slipped off the iron chain, causing him to tilt and fall.
But at the critical moment, he let go of Gu Junshi, preventing her from falling with him. With his body half-off the suspension bridge, he managed to pull and tightly grasp an iron chain, swaying precariously in mid-air.
At this moment, Guiying, who had been waiting, knew the time had come. He lowered his eyes, pushed aside all distracting thoughts, and from behind, manipulated several ghosts to rush forward, grabbing his legs and pulling him downwards.