Bang! Bang! Bang!
Early in the morning, before the sky had even brightened, Zhang Kui was already practicing his punches in the courtyard.
With each breath he exhaled, Zhang Kui guided his qi with intention, using qi to accelerate power, every move and stance carrying the force to shake mountains and ground.
It was truly "ground-shaking."
Driven by True Qi, each step he took made the earth tremble; over the recent days, the yellow earth grounds were compacted and cracked into slabs and then shattered again.
A group of strong men watched in amazement on the side, and as Zhang Kui finished his routine, they clapped and cheered loudly.
Despite having True Qi and the system, in Zhang Kui's eyes, the art of boxing seemed to have no end; the more he practiced, the more he felt as if an abyss lay ahead of him.
After washing his hands, he had just picked up a bowl of pig offal soup with flatbread when Niu Er walked in through the door, speaking in a rough voice:
"Big Brother, I just went to ask Teacher Li. He said he has already informed the government office, and the people from the Astronomical Bureau should arrive soon."
Zhang Kui took a sip of the pig offal soup and nodded,
"That's good. Everyone hurry and fill up, we'll head out after breakfast."
The group of men cupped their fists, "Yes, Big Brother!"
The reason for heading out early was due to inconvenient transportation.
Though horses were not scarce in the Qian Dynasty, Zhang Kui and his crew mainly operated within the county town, keeping only two ponies for pulling carts.
Besides, with Zhang Kui's build, riding anything would surely exhaust the creature.
By the time they set off, the sky was slightly brightening.
A thin mist shrouded the streets, reducing visibility to just seven or eight meters ahead.
Zhang Kui paid little attention, familiar with the road to the countryside; besides, this area was humid and foggy, and usually, the mist dissipated by midday.
The carriage creaked and groaned over the cobblestone road, and as they passed through the city gate, the soldiers nodded agreeably, "Official Zhang, where are you heading so early?"
Zhang Kui laughed heartily, "Going to the countryside to collect pigs."
The road to the countryside was flanked by dense ancient trees, appearing even more obscure under the mist, with only a dirt road leading into the foggy depths.
A bit bored, Zhang Kui chuckled, "Niu Er, come, sing a tune for the brothers."
"Alright..."
Niu Er, this playful brute, instantly brightened up, yelling in a hoarse voice.
"The moon rises at the willow tip, the sky darkens, hey!"
"The nun and the Daoist meet, hey!"
"Discussing Buddha and Dao unlit, hey!"
"Joyfully Buddha Master opens his eyes to see, hey!"
Everyone burst into laughter, and amidst the playful and teasing banter, the group's atmosphere gradually became lively.
However, as they walked, the person leading the way noticed something amiss.
"Big Brother, we've circled back again!"
In front of them, under the jagged ancient trees, lay a collapsed shrine, marking the point where the road began to fork.
Although this world had demons and ghosts, the deities and Buddhas did not manifest their spirits, so people's faith was not very devout either.
This collapsed stone shrine was also left unmaintained, its base cracked and overgrown with vines; the people of Yutang County usually used it as a landmark, leading to two different towns.
They had just passed this place...
Zhang Kui squinted his eyes, a hint of Evil Qi emanating between his brows, "Don't panic, we'll take another path!"
However, even if they changed their path, after circling for a dozen or so minutes, they still returned to the same place.
Zhang Kui took out the ancestral Slaughtering Knife, glanced at the forest path shrouded in thick mist, and snorted coldly, "We're heading back to the county town!"
He knew what this was.
The Five Elements Skill in the Earth Demon 72 Techniques included:
Fog Formation Skill!
At level one, it could create dense fog within a hundred-meter radius, consuming 5 Mana Value every ten minutes.
It didn't seem particularly impressive, having no offensive power, merely gathering Yin Qi to cause heavy fog; even some demons and ghosts with a bit of Tao Cultivation could use it.
But the formidable part was yet to come.
As long as the Array Formation Skill was used within the fog, larger ranges could even trap entire armies.
Ancient books often described: A certain general's army was marching, suddenly fog arose, directions east and west lost...
The smaller range had a resounding name:
Ghost Wall!
However, an hour later, instead of seeing the walls of Yutang County, they had arrived at a small river.
The river was shrouded in mist like the Forgotten River, with a lonely unmanned boat floating by the shore.
This was the other end of the county town...
"Big...Big Brother, this is..."
All the strong men felt a chill, and Niu Er by the side was stammering, unable to speak.
Zhang Kui's face was also grim.
No wonder Hu Meiniang said the entire Yutang County would suffer calamity; it turned out the opponent had already sealed this place.
"Don't run around, it's all in vain."
Zhang Kui looked at everyone, "Let's find a place to recuperate."
"But Big Brother, this..."
"Don't panic!"
Zhang Kui looked at the whitewashed sky.
"This kind of skill is countered by sunlight. Yesterday, the sunset was a thousand miles; today, the sun will be scorching. We'll talk at noon."
Zhang Kui remained calm amidst the crisis, providing a backbone for the group of strong men, who found an open space and kept vigilant.
However, things did not go as he expected.
Approaching noon, the dense fog did not disperse, but instead turned into a black mist, with gusts of yin wind, hands couldn't see fingers extended.
The world dimmed, as if plunged into the Netherworld...
"Quick, light the torches!"
Zhang Kui's headache was immense at this moment.
He could be certain that the intruding evil spirits were definitely not the eunuchs without eggs Teacher Li had mentioned.
Although Yutang County was small, such a spectacle, especially this late in summer, could not have been caused by ordinary zombies.
There were indeed ways to break this in the Five Elements Skill of the Earth Demon 72 Techniques, but Zhang Kui had nothing at his disposal, and opening his mana value was not enough.
The surroundings were pitch black, with eerie sounds vaguely emerging in the howling yin wind.
Zhang Kui's subordinates were rough, but none had much worldly experience, and seeing this situation left them trembling with fear.
"Big...brother...I hear someone speaking..."
"I...I heard it too..."
Zhang Kui remained silent, his hand gripping the slaughtering knife so tightly his knuckles turned white.
His spiritual sense was far stronger than theirs, how could he not hear it?
Those were the sounds of armor clashing, intermittent footsteps, and a chillingly desolate song:
"Marching with spears, clad in armor, with banners eclipsing the sun..."
"Massacring the four directions, leaving remains behind..."
Zhang Kui's scalp tingled, his hair stood on end, and his throat went dry, "Shadow soldiers crossing!"
What should he do?
At this moment, let alone protecting his brothers behind him, he could not even ensure his own safety.
Where should he flee to?
Black mist surrounded him, obscuring his vision, while a chilling evil power enveloped all directions, drawing closer...
As the surge of power approached, the men behind finally sensed it, turning pale with fright, swinging torches frantically.
"Give me the torch!"
Zhang Kui grabbed a torch from someone nearby and threw it toward the nearest direction.
The torch drew an arc through the darkness...
They finally saw the enemy.
There were squads of soldiers, appearing and disappearing, with shattered armor and rotting bodies, wielding ancient spears, steadily approaching.
"Ah!"
Several men, driven insane with fear, pushed others aside and ran back.
"Don't move!"
Zhang Kui shouted angrily, but it was too late.
Cries of agony rang out as they, along with the torches, were completely devoured by the darkness, fading from sight.
Suddenly, a sharp pain throbbed between Zhang Kui's brows, as a piercing chill aimed directly at his head.
"Courting death!"
Zhang Kui's eyes widened; with a roaring shout, he spun low, the slaughtering knife in hand slashing upward.
The blade sliced through the air with a subtle resistance, a ghost soldier with a rotting, death-white face emerged, staggering back a few steps, yet not dead.
But hitting it was enough!
Zhang Kui wasted no time, charging forward, the slaughtering knife whistling, carving a dozen hits in the blink of an eye.
A sharp whistle sounded in his ears, the ghost soldier dissipated into a puff of yin qi with a pop.
No time for joy, trusting his martial intuition, Zhang Kui rolled and looked up to see several spear tips pierce the ground then vanish.
Screams continued from the sides.
With a thud, Niu Er crashed to the ground, face turning blue, eyes losing brightness...
"Ah!"
Zhang Kui's eyes filled with blood, veins bulged on his forehead, he roared at several ghost soldiers that had suddenly appeared.
Awakening, he found these subordinates simple-minded, sometimes amusingly so.
But now, he was furious at his own indecisiveness, realizing yesterday he should have acted at once.
Zhang Kui understood the ghost soldiers' traits; they moved swiftly, silently, only appearing when gathering yin power to attack.
The slaughtering knife, enveloped in evil qi, proved less lethal to ghost soldiers, often taking multiple strikes to kill one.
This body's prowess was now evident; Zhang Kui maneuvered through the shadows of ghosts, deftly dodging materializing spears, eliminating ghost soldiers one by one.
However, the ghost soldiers clearly grasped battle formation techniques; wounds appeared on Zhang Kui's body, skin cracked, dead flesh spread around.
Suddenly, the cold dispersed, Zhang Kui halted, panting heavily.
Bloodshot eyes stared ahead; though nothing was visible, he sensed a more immense chilling power slowly approaching.
Come on...
Zhang Kui slowly closed his eyes, and unbeknownst to him, the Earth Demon 72 Techniques interface displayed two skill points.
Without hesitation, Zhang Kui clicked twice.
Tongyou Skill (Level 1): Passive Skills
Skill Description: Open the yin yang eye, able to see invisible spirits.
Next level will penetrate basic illusion skills.
Demon-slaying Skill (Level 1): Active skill
Skill Description: Condense evil qi into Gang Evil, can empower weapons and body, causing damage to visible and invisible, deities, demons, ghosts, humans, consuming 2 points of mana per second.
Next level doubles Gang Evil refinement, enhancing weapons and body, dealing greater damage to visible and invisible, deities, demons, ghosts, humans, consuming 5 points of mana per second.
Upon reopening his eyes, the world had completely transformed.
All ghost soldiers became visible, roughly 80 in number, their faces decayed and ashen, eyes hollow.
In the distance, a ghost general fully armored, wielding a spear, approached on horseback, green ghost fire burning in its eyes.
Zhang Kui glanced at the slaughtering knife in his hand.
The entwining malignant qi rapidly absorbed into his hands, combined with the surrounding cold, condensing, emanating a dark red glow.
As the evil qi dissipated, the once cold and murderous slaughtering knife swiftly corroded and rusted.
With a sharp throw, Zhang Kui cast the slaughtering knife backward, fixing his gaze on the towering figure closing in, his eyes suddenly fierce, his arms ablaze in pale red Gang Evil like flames.
"Name yourself!"