145: Chapter 143: Old Mrs.
Mu?
145: Chapter 143: Old Mrs.
Mu?
The second attempt at drawing the Danghui Talisman, failure.
Third attempt at drawing the Danghui Talisman, still a failure.
The fourth attempt at drawing the Danghui Talisman, yet again a failure.
…
The difficulty of drawing the Danghui Talisman was truly hellish.
Compared to the Corpse Transformation Talisman that Chen Hai had successfully drawn before, the Danghui Talisman was not even in the same league.
With each stroke and every node, the mana he infused into the talisman pen needed to flow smoothly, or the slightest hiccup would lead to failure in drawing the talisman.
Unconsciously, noon had already passed.
Chen Hai’s hand, once more touching the yellow paper with the talisman pen, had lost all its previous magic.
There were no more strange occurrences, no rising blue smoke or self-combusting talisman paper.
“F*ck me…” Noticing this, his face filled with helplessness, he cursed bitterly.
In Taoism, the drawing of every talisman corresponds to a certain two-hour period.
For a talisman like the Danghui, which could only be drawn when the yang energy was the most violent at noon each day, it was considered relatively easy.
Some talismans might only have one suitable two-hour period in the entire year.
Even more extreme, within a sixty-year cycle, the right time to draw a certain talisman might only occur on one day.
Of course, generally speaking, the stricter the conditions for drawing a talisman and the higher the difficulty in creating it, the more powerful the resulting talisman was.
Having missed the noon period today, Chen Hai could only wait until tomorrow to attempt the Danghui Talisman again.
“I wonder how things are going with Sister Qing!”
“For me, failing to draw a talisman might not be a big deal, but she simply can’t wait!”
“It’s not noon now, and while I can’t successfully draw the Danghui Talisman, I should still be able to practice my hand movements without any issues.”
“After I’ve become familiar with every stroke and node of the Danghui Talisman, by tomorrow’s noon, when I really start to draw, things should go much smoother…” He sighed deeply, scanning the various items on his desk that were used for drawing talismans, and thought to himself.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.
When a skill is honed to the utmost, mastery touches upon the essence of Taoism.
Although the time was wrong and the talismans he was drawing were doomed to fail, if Chen Hai really drew the Danghui Talisman a thousand or ten thousand times, when tomorrow’s noon came and he really started to draw, the feeling in his hands would definitely be on a whole new level compared to now.
Of course, doing this would mean a serious drain on his own mana.
After all, in his mind, mana was the power of the Divine Soul.
Drawing a talisman without infusing mana into it was like drawing a soulless shell.
Knowing the time wasn’t right and that his talismans would fail, he still had to utilize mana every time he tried to draw them.
Each attempt at drawing the talisman might not use much mana.
But drawing a thousand times, ten thousand times, the cumulative drain on his mana would be terrifying!
After thinking it through and feeling that his plan was highly feasible and logically sound, he took a deep breath.
“Sister Qing, I’ve really gone above and beyond for you!”
“Just for that meal you treated me to back in the day, I’m putting my life on the line to help you.
I’m definitely getting the short end of the stick…”
Muttering to himself, the talisman pen that Chen Hai had just put down was once again in his hand.
After brooding for a moment, he picked up a piece of yellow paper from the side and began drawing the talisman again!
…
Xiangxi, amidst a vast range of mountains.
“Buzz…
buzz…
buzz…
buzz…” A military helicopter soared through the sky.
Below, in the jungle, several fully armed soldiers were hot on the tail of a nearly twenty-meter-long giant snake.
“Ratatat…
ratatat…” Gunshots erupted at intervals.
Pistol bullets couldn’t penetrate the giant snake’s defenses to inflict substantial damage.
But once those soldiers switched their handguns for rifles, the giant snake in front was already riddled with bloody holes from modern weaponry, leaving a distinct trail of blood wherever it went.
“Old Mrs.
Mu, I advise you to give up your evil techniques and surrender now, or you’re surely on the path to death…”
Ye Cheng, sitting in the helicopter, wielded a megaphone, intermittently shouting at the figure below.
“Want to catch me?
Come get me!”
“I’ve lived for sixty or seventy years, and I’ve had a long enough life.
Right before I die, I wouldn’t mind taking a few down with me…”
Atop the giant snake, an old woman with skin like dried tree bark revealed herself.
Radiating malice, her face utterly twisted, she looked up at the sky and let out a roar of rage.
This old woman, known as Old Mrs.
Mu, lived alone.
Although she had children and grandchildren, they did not live with her, perhaps knowing something and choosing to stay away.
When Ye Cheng and his team first found her, she appeared cooperative and seemed easy to talk to.
But as soon as Ye Cheng began to inquire about his sister, Ye Qingqing, the old crone turned hostile in an instant.
Nearing twenty meters in length and thicker than a water bucket, no one knew how such an enormous snake had hidden itself in Old Mrs.
Mu’s room!
The moment Old Mrs.
Mu turned her back, the enormous snake burst forth from her room.
Ye Cheng and the soldiers he brought were, on the spot, knocked flying, several of them.
Luckily they wore bulletproof vests and helmets, armed to the teeth.
Otherwise, the sudden impact from the large snake’s emergence could have easily resulted in death on the spot for some of them.
Carrying Old Mrs.
Mu, the huge snake moved through the forest at an alarming speed.
Luckily, Ye Cheng had prepared early and summoned a military helicopter to the area, otherwise they would have lost the chase early on!
His sister, Ye Qingqing, still lay on the hospital bed, her fate uncertain.
Having found Old Mrs.
Mu, Ye Cheng naturally wanted to capture her alive.
Unfortunately, despite long attempts to persuade her to surrender, the stubborn Mrs.
Ge atop the large snake remained unyielding and unresponsive, readying herself to resist to the end.
If it were just the old woman alone, Ye Cheng and his soldiers would have subdued her long ago.
But with the large snake present, the soldiers chasing it did not dare get too close.
They could only attempt to snipe the large snake from a distance using their firearms.
After all, some of the soldiers previously knocked flying by the snake, despite the protection of their bulletproof gear, still ended up with broken ribs and serious injuries.
“Kill it!
Take down that huge snake!”
“Be careful, do not harm Old Mrs.
Mu, without that snake I doubt she’ll pose any significant threat before us!”
After trying to persuade her for a long time, Ye Cheng had grown somewhat impatient.
He relayed his orders to the people on the helicopter and then through the walkie-talkie to the soldiers on the ground pursuing the snake.
The military helicopter, naturally, was armed.
The snake’s defense may have been strong, but under the onslaught of 12.7 mm bullets from the helicopter’s mounted machine guns, it was as fragile as paper.
Some ten minutes later, the helicopter landed in a nearby open area.
With a sullen face and extremely low spirits, Ye Cheng disembarked from the helicopter.
“Haven’t I warned you several times that we must capture Old Mrs.
Mu alive?
And now you tell me she’s dead?”
Arriving at the area where Old Mrs.
Mu had died, he glared at his soldiers, sternly questioning them.
“Boss, Old Mrs.
Mu wasn’t hit by gunfire.
It’s really not our fault that she died…” The soldiers exchanged looks with each other, and one hurriedly started to explain.
The great snake, intimidating when alive, left behind, upon death, a corpse that abruptly disappeared, leaving a snake no larger than a little finger, just over an inch long.
And Old Mrs.
Mu, at the moment the large snake died, also collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from all seven orifices, and perished instantly.
This scene unfolded clearly before everyone’s eyes, and if they had not witnessed it with their own, those present would have barely believed its truth!
Hearing his subordinates’ explanations, and observing the bullet-hole-free corpse of Old Mrs.
Mu, along with the insect-like remains of the smaller snake, Ye Cheng fell silent!
Those who raise Gu live in coexistence with it; the enormous snake was not a real snake but Old Mrs.
Mu’s Lifebound Snake Gu.
What is Lifebound Gu?
When the Gu lives, the person lives; when the Gu dies, the person dies.
Ye Cheng wasn’t very familiar with these matters, but right away, he thought that Old Mrs.
Mu’s death must be related to the death of that huge snake!
“She died just like that?
Now, who knows if the yin snake gu inside Qingqing will settle down with Old Mrs.
Mu’s death?”
“If it doesn’t, that’ll be tragic!”
“After returning, I still have no idea how to explain this to my family…”
With a bitter face, Ye Cheng sighed deeply.
Given the situation, he couldn’t continue to blame his subordinates.
With the snake present, it had been impossible for them to catch Old Mrs.
Mu.
Even he had not anticipated that Old Mrs.
Mu would follow the snake in death so swiftly.
“Leave two to cover our retreat; the rest of you, follow me back to the Capital!”
Feeling the weight in his steps, he waved to his men to follow his orders and, with a heavy heart, made his way toward the parked helicopter.
…
Capital City, Xiehe Hospital, Internal Medicine Building, ninth floor.
Ye Rongzhong and his wife Song Ling, constantly guarded their daughter’s hospital room.
Hou Donggui, who they had conscripted, sat helplessly in a chair outside the room.
Unless he dared risk offending the Lingnan Ye Family, he would likely be unable to leave until Ye Qingqing’s issue was resolved.
Of course, it wasn’t just him waiting outside the room.
Secretaries, assistants, drivers, and so on, including Hou Donggui, six or seven people in total, were always on standby outside, ready to be dispatched by the Ye Family at a moment’s notice.
Dean Huang and several other hospital executives would also occasionally drop by to suck up to Ye Rongzhong and make their presence known.
“Old Hou, come take a look at my daughter and tell me what’s going on with her?”
Suddenly, the door to the hospital room swung open and an exhausted Ye Rongzhong appeared at the door with urgency, waving Hou Donggui over.