For a month afterward, Ji Lingzhou and Han Ren Mountain never left the True Monarch's bone shrine, with only a dozen or so Cang Yi Group captains and Upper Envoys guarding outside the shrine.
The Cang Yi Group and the Celestial Heart Sect have worshipped the Yin Eradication Dharma King for years. Besides the Eight Banner Marshals' territories, ordinary Yin ghosts by the Yin River would not easily provoke them.
Now, those left guarding outside the bone shrine by the Cang Yi Group are all Gang Condensation Realm Martial Masters.
These people almost congregated all of Ji Lingzhou's core forces in the Tianjin area, showing how much expectation he held for this Yin River expedition.
"The troop leader has been inside for almost a month, right? How come he hasn't come out yet? Could something have gone wrong..."
"Wait a bit longer, the Celestial Heart Sect Holy Master said to gather the seven sevens, at most another half month, if the troop leader hasn't appeared, then we should seek a way to leave the Yin River."
"Leave the Yin River? Aren't we going below to find the troop leader?"
"Find the troop leader? What skills does the troop leader have, and what skills do you have? Even a master can't come out once they go in, and you still want to go? Silly! That's not the way to seek death!"
"Then...doesn't this mean we should choose a new troop leader?"
"Shh! The day hasn't arrived, the troop leader isn't dead yet, don't talk nonsense. If the troop leader hears you, you'd be in for a treat!"
The two captains were speaking when suddenly a paper funeral procession approached from the direction of the Yin-Yang boundary stele.
"Stop right there! We are the earthly walkers of the Yin Eradication Dharma King; this place is not to be traversed, you may detour elsewhere!"
The Straw Spirit Papermen ignored the call and continued carrying the paper palanquin toward the bone shrine atop the hill.
"Hey! Still daring to advance, take action!"
Just as a dozen captains and Upper Envoys surrounded and prepared to act, they witnessed a sudden rise of yin wind beside the paper palanquin and papermen, followed by a continuous ascent of crimson Evil Qi from the ground.
The Evil mist danced around the paper palanquin, some swirling beside the papermen. Once the Yin Evil Qi fully gathered, dozens of demonic apparitions with deep red skin and towering as pavilion covers appeared before everyone.
In addition, dozens of wraiths climbed out from the ground, their red skeletal claws emerging from underground were much larger than a palm leaf fan.
Everyone stood there as an array of cow-hoofed demon-headed, white-boned creatures, each emitting an aura no less than a Gang Condensing Martial Artist, revealed themselves, instilling terror in them.
Even as first-rate martial arts experts in the secular world, before these over a hundred Fierce Generals, they were utterly devoid of any desire to resist.
If there were just five or six, or even ten Fierce Generals, they wouldn't be frightened, but this formidable Yin Soldiers unit akin to the procession of a hundred ghosts...
What could they do? Fight with their heads?
The person inside the paper palanquin paid no mind to the battle outside; the Straw Spirit Papermen continued carrying the paper palanquin toward the shrine's entrance, their steps uncontaminated by the chaos around.
As the cries and screams behind them grew faint, the papermen and the paper palanquin arrived at the True Monarch's bone shrine.
The wind subsided, and a hundred strands of black-red Evil mist flew from the mountain of corpses to converge before the palanquin.
The white paper curtain lifted slightly, revealing a pale-faced youth in a blue robe stepping out from the paper palanquin.
The young man wielded a Fierce General's banner, and with a shake, all the surrounding Evil Qi was absorbed into the banner, disappearing without a trace.
After that, the young man stepped into the bone shrine, waving his hand as he went, signaling to the papermen to return the way they came, collecting the remains as they departed.
...
True Monarch's bone shrine.
Xu Qing entered the Incense Hall. The True Monarch's statue once standing on the divine platform had vanished, replaced by a deep, bottomless pit beneath where the statue used to stand!
Even from afar, Xu Qing could feel the eerie, chilling Yin Qi emanating from within!
And this energy wasn't blowing upwards, but rather inhaling the Yin Evil Qi within the shrine into the pit.
Xu Qing twirled a walnut in his hand, accompanied by a Golden Chicken, nonchalantly meandering to the edge of the pit.
On the other side of the pit stood another person who had been there early, peering down into the depths with his head lowered.
The man had a blackened face and lush beard, wearing a bright red robe, a black gauze hat on his head, and an antiquated Treasure Sword at his waist.
With one hand behind him and the other stroking his beard, he muttered to himself, "This pit is pretty deep, who would be so troubled as to jump in? Hard to guess, hard to guess."
Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at the youth beside him, who was also peering into the pit, and asked, "What about you, are you thinking about jumping in as well?"
When the red-robed man lifted his head to speak, Xu Qing got a good look at his whole appearance.
What kind of extraordinary face could this be?
Yes, extraordinary.
Although the red-robed man before him had a blackened face and lush beard, a leopard head and ringed eyes, Xu Qing could not term him ugly. Instead, there was a unique sense of violent beauty.
Like a Tiger Monarch with a face wrought with claw scars, suddenly turning to look back in the deep forest, the feeling it elicited struck more forcefully than any perfect face.
Xu Qing smacked his lips, with one hand behind his back and the other rubbing his chin, said, "I don't want to jump down, but I'm a funeral director. These two are my clients. Doing business requires integrity, I can't come here for nothing when I decided to recover their bodies, can I?"
"Recover the bodies?"
The man was momentarily taken aback, then wondered, "The pit is deep, but it won't kill them from the fall. Perhaps there are opportunities and fortunes waiting inside; when they come out, they might be completely transformed."
"..."
Now it was Xu Qing's turn to be puzzled, he asked curiously, "If such good things exist, why did you say the pit was deep and who would be so troubled as to jump in?"
The man mimicked Xu Qing's lip-smacking and said indirectly, "Fortune or misfortune, some people are unattractive and disliked by others, losing some things, but looking back finds more wonderful truths waiting for them."
"Some people appear to gain opportunities and fortunes, shedding old skin and growing new bones, but little do they know, fortune has fled far away, and misfortune now approaches!"
Xu Qing's hand spinning the walnut halted momentarily as he asked, "If I only recover bodies and do nothing else, would I be considered fortunate or unfortunate?"
The man looked at Xu Qing, seeing no fear or panic in his eyes, nor any chaotic emotions, only tranquility.
He really just came to recover bodies!
"Fortunate, very fortunate!"
The man grinned and said:
"A corpse, being a creature of foulness and impurity, if left in the wilderness, easily stirs calamities, breeding grievances manifesting as demonic hauntings, or spreading plagues causing widespread suffering..."
"If you simply recover bodies, clearing demonic havens and averting disasters for the world, how could you not accumulate fortune?"
Xu Qing clicked his tongue and continued to ask, "What about those two, are they fortunate?"
The man shook his head.
Xu Qing pressed on, saying, "Seeing them as unfortunate souls, I have a benevolent nature. If I were to help them reincarnate promptly, wouldn't I be alleviating their pain, thereby accumulating merit for myself?"
"..."
The red-robed man was speechless; how could this person's reasoning be more coherent than his own?
"That's the logic. Will you wait for them to come out to recover the bodies or jump in to do it?"
"I advise you kindly, when they emerge, you alone may not be able to receive them."
Xu Qing blinked, casting his gaze toward the red-robed man, "This is the Demon Exorcism True Monarch shrine, wouldn't you, by any chance, consider emulating the sacred, to join in exorcising demons and upholding righteousness?"
"I only exorcise ghosts and demons, I can't govern the living."
Xu Qing realized, but then promptly posed a soul-searching question, "Which should you really govern, the living who are malevolent and murderous or the demons who accumulate virtue and treat others with kindness?"
"..."
The man fell into silence, this conversation was impossible!
——————————————
The red-robed man was speechless; how could this person's reasoning be more coherent than his own?
"That's the logic. Will you wait for them to come out to recover the bodies or jump in to do it?"
"I advise you kindly, when they emerge, you alone may not be able to receive them."
Xu Qing blinked, casting his gaze toward the red-robed man, "This is the Demon Exorcism True Monarch shrine, wouldn't you, by any chance, consider emulating the sacred, to join in exorcising demons and upholding righteousness?"
"I only exorcise ghosts and demons, I can't govern the living."
Xu Qing realized, but then promptly posed a soul-searching question, "Which should you really govern, the living who are malevolent and murderous or the demons who accumulate virtue and treat others with kindness?"
"..."
The man fell into silence, this conversation was impossible!