Free Web NovelChapter 262: Chapter 261: Enough for Everyone
Although the cave was pitch-black, everyone saw over a dozen figures inside.
"That many people?" Yangshuo said, startled.
Changyi’s eyes narrowed. "They aren’t all human."
Taoist Yan Song nodded. "Changyi has a good eye. These are all Mages and Ghosts bound in Harmony—half Ghosts, half Mages."
The moment they entered the cave, a ghostly figure suddenly stretched its body to a terrifying length and cackled, "I call dibs on a young one. It’s been a while since I had some fun."
Another ghostly figure with an enormous head appeared. "I just want to fill my stomach!"
The stomach of a portly Mage beside him suddenly let out a loud GROWL. The Mage rubbed his belly and complained, "I haven’t had a full meal in so long." ƒrēewebnovel.com
A woman murmured languidly, "I haven’t had a man in ages, either. I’ll take one—young or old, I don’t mind."
Beside her, a curvaceous figure began to writhe sinuously. Though the movements were unnatural, they were strangely bewitching and seductive.
An old man beside her shuffled a little farther away and sighed. "You people have no respect for your elders, do you?"
A middle-aged man next to the elder ground his teeth. "Several of our sect brothers were taken out by the local gangs. We’re only safe because we’re hiding under Master’s protection.
But Master is still recovering, so we’re stuck hiding in this sunless hole. Everyone’s been going stir-crazy. It’s understandable, now that some fresh meat has walked right in."
The Mages and Ghosts chattered amongst themselves, failing to notice the expression of the Mage at the very front had changed.
The lead Mage had seen the attire of Gu Zhao and his party.
’Something’s not right!’
’These robes... look familiar...’
The lead Mage was a burly, goateed man. Beside him stood a massive Corpse Ghost, a full size larger than he was, which now also stared at the newcomers with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
The robes they wore looked suspiciously like those of the Daoists from that Daluo Temple in Changye County.
"You’re from Daluo Palace?" a scrawny Mage hiding in the back shrieked. His body was then enveloped in a ghostly shadow as he retreated further into the corner of the cavern.
The sharp cry cut through the clamor in the cave, and all eyes focused on Gu Zhao and his companions.
Then they saw Gu Zhao nod. "Looks like our luck is good. Plenty of targets to go around. Everyone gets one, so don’t fight over them."
Everyone: ???
Then they saw the group of old Daoists break into vicious grins.
"Dig in," Gu Zhao said with a snap of his fingers.
"You’re the one who said he liked them young, right?" Changyi shot forward, and even in the pitch-dark cavern, a faint aura of starlight surrounded him.
The next moment, the starlight coalesced into a green dragon, enveloping Changyi as it charged toward the tall, thin ghostly figure.
At the same time, with a sharp WHOOSH, the starlight illuminated a fleeting silver glint. Yangshuo’s Flying Sword, though launched second, arrived first, aimed straight for the Mage beside the ghostly figure.
The Mage and Ghost, bound in Harmony, screamed in unison. They instinctively unleashed a dense cloud of Yin Qi and tried to retreat.
But they didn’t get far, because the other Daoists had also attacked.
Jing Chun Taoist was the fastest. With a single thought, the Wind and Thunder Prison enveloped the portly Mage and the large-headed ghost beside him. Eight Divine Prison Ghost Generals materialized at once, surrounding the pair.
Taoist Yuan He was next. With a flick of his Sword Pointing gesture, a Flying Sword shot out. His Pure Yang Sword Intent locked onto the seductive female Mage. Even from dozens of feet away, the biting Sword Qi pierced her protective Yin Qi, tearing a bloody gash across her face.
Taoist Yan Qi’s figure sank into the ground. A moment later, a Mage across the way screamed as he was dragged down into the earth. A few muffled thuds followed from below, and then there was only silence.
Taoist Qingwei was the slowest to act, but with a sweep of his longsword, he ensnared the goateed leader and the massive Corpse Ghost. As he unleashed his Tai Chi Sword Intent, the formidable pair were caught as if in a whirlpool, struggling even to remain standing.
Gu Zhao glanced at the eager Yunyang, then pointed to the remaining Mage-Ghost pair and the scrawny Mage cowering in the corner. "That one in the corner is a specialist in sneak attacks. Don’t let them get their way."
Yunyang chuckled, drawing his sword. "Just watch me!"
Seeing a translucent Dharma Aspect materialize behind Yunyang, the scrawny Mage shrieked in terror, "Master, save me!"
But the words had barely left his lips when Yunyang’s longsword was already at his chest.
The scrawny Mage’s body shrank again as black mist swirled around him. He then retreated into the rock wall behind him, transforming into a flat shadow that clung to the stone, as if he had merged with it.
"Nice technique, but too bad for you, you ran into me." Yunyang scoffed, raising his longsword.
Yunyang’s insight was a world apart from what it once was. He could tell that the scrawny Mage’s technique was indeed impressive, a skill similar to Shadow Evasion. It would be hard to detect even in broad daylight, let alone in the darkness of the cave.
An ordinary person might have fallen for the trick without even realizing it. But... he was facing a Daoist.
Not only was their sensitivity to Yin Qi and Demon Power incredibly sharp, but when it came to this kind of evil technique, Taoist True Qi was its natural counter.
Yunyang swung his sword, and a potent surge of True Qi gushed out, sweeping directly across the rock wall. The scrawny Mage let out an involuntary shriek as he was blasted out of his shadow form.
Then he saw Yunyang raise his longsword again. The phantom of an elderly man in official robes appeared behind him, shook its head with a sigh, and swept its sleeve.
"Your worldly ties are severed."
As Yunyang’s quiet words rang out, the scrawny Mage’s vision went black. The Ghost bound to him in Harmony offered no resistance as the sword strike obliterated its Sea of Divine Soul Consciousness. Its Ghost Body disintegrated, and it was utterly destroyed.
The Cao Guojiu Dharma Aspect dissipated. Yunyang turned his head and saw that the last Mage—the one with the utterly unremarkable face and build—had just been sneaking up behind him, but was now in a full-blown retreat.
A cheerful smile spread across Yunyang’s face. "Don’t go!"
...
The battle didn’t last long.
Sensing pulses of powerful energy from the depths of the cave and knowing there were still experts present, Gu Zhao extended his Divine Sense and threw out more than a dozen Shangqing Great Forbidden Dragon Binding Talismans.
The power of the Shangqing Great Forbidden Dragon Binding Talismans was immense. Even though the remaining opponents were Mages and Fierce Ghosts with over a hundred years of Dao Practice, they were all securely bound by the Dragon-Binding Iron Chains, then easily finished off by the Daoists.
Thus, when a man and a ghost emerged into the stone cavern, they discovered that all of their disciples were dead.
