Black Water City, as an important trade city of Qingzhou, actually doesn't have many surrounding towns.
Tumu Village is the largest among them.
The villagers toil year after year, facing the dirt with their backs to the sky, hoping for favorable weather, so the incense at the Dragon King Temple is still quite prosperous.
Everyone actually knows it's not very useful, they simply seek peace of mind.
This situation changed several months ago.
A new temple priest arrived at the Dragon King Temple, an energetic old man claiming his surname was Chang.
The previous old temple priest disappeared mysteriously, and everyone was skeptical at first but soon changed their attitude.
Because this Temple Priest Chang could always predict when it would rain and even performed two rain-making rituals, after which it poured heavily within a couple of days.
The incense at the Dragon King Temple became even more prosperous, and this Temple Priest Chang also started blessing newborns.
"No illness, no disaster, evils retreat."
The temple priest Chang, wearing a layman's robe, flashed a hint of disappointment in his eyes, and with his dry hand, he ignited a talisman out of thin air, circling it around the child's head a few times.
"Okay, go back..."
"Thank you, Temple Priest Chang."
The couple holding the child thanked him profusely, leaving a basket of eggs before they left the Dragon King Temple.
Temple Priest Chang stood under the old jujube tree in the courtyard, hands behind his back, looking at the sky with a sigh.
"In the vast sea of people, searching like a needle in a haystack, who knows how long I'll be stuck here..."
After speaking, he sniffed, and his one-meter-long thin tongue suddenly shot out and retracted, then he turned to look at the rooftop.
A crow perched there, cawing a few times.
"Understood, go back and continue keeping watch."
Temple Priest Chang snorted coldly, his eyes devoid of the earlier human emotions, now replaced by a pair of golden vertical pupils, cold and bloody.
He turned and went back into the small temple, taking out a bloodstained stone basin from beneath the chipped Dragon King statue.
Sharp nails slit his wrist, and drops of thick black-red blood immediately dripped into the basin, where the blood seemed to be wriggling with countless maggots.
"Just a small human cultivator, not worth worrying about. The key is how the Faceless Ghost King died, whether it's a trap or not, let's test it first..."
He muttered to himself for a while, then blew a puff of black smoke from his mouth, which gently settled into the basin like flowing cloud.
Inside the basin, the tainted blood immediately sizzled and dried at a visible speed, accompanied by rustling sounds.
As if countless invisible entities were climbing out, twisted traces spread towards the temple gate...
...
The night was overhead.
On the woodland path leading to Black Water City, a layer of white mist emanated from the ground, appearing dreamlike and forlorn under the watery moonlight...
In the distance, an enormous object silently floated closer.
Upon closer inspection, it was a paper-crafted eight-carrier sedan chair, with exquisite tassels fluttering, carried by eight paper men in blue hats, floating in the air, accompanied by a faint sound of gongs and drums.
Yet, fresh blood continuously seeped through the seams of the paper...
As it neared the city gate, the sedan abruptly stopped.
In front, the air was thick with blood, and pieces of flesh littered the ground. A tall Daoist slowly withdrew a treasure sword from a massive wolf's head, turned silently, eyes glowing fiercely.
"At midnight, the paper sedan returns to solitude..."
The old yellow weasel appeared nearby at some unknown time, puffing on a big tobacco pipe.
"Among the wandering ghosts near Black Water City, this one is the fiercest, only slightly inferior to the 'Ghost Opera Troupe.'
Zhang Kui's eyes lit up,
"Does it also have an ancient artifact?"
The old yellow weasel chuckled,
"You think ancient artifacts are everywhere? The 'Ghost Opera Troupe' happened upon their luck, and somehow you benefited from it."
"Then let's exorcise them sooner!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhang Kui disappeared from his spot with a bang, descending from the air with a greatsword wrapped in Yin Evil.
Clang!
The paper sedan spun violently, sparks flying, and a rail of the sedan fell to the ground, immediately tilting.
Zhang Kui's eyes narrowed slightly; it seemed like paper, but unexpectedly tougher than steel, needing the Demon-slaying Skill to cut through.
No wonder it had such a reputation.
Rustling sounds arose, as the paper fragments on the bodies of the eight paper sedan bearers continued to fall off, their forms swelling, instantly turning into eight tall, blue-faced, fanged ghostly entities, roaring as they charged over.
Meanwhile, the sedan flashed with a ghostly light, and Zhang Kui suddenly felt as if his whole body was bound by steel wire, unable to move.
Zhang Kui snorted coldly, Yin Evil surged from his arm, and with a casual sweep, Yin Qi scattered in all directions.
Seeing the ghostly entities already charging to his face, he drew a large black umbrella with a backhand, the black fog expanding sharply, enclosing the sedan and the eight ghostly sedan bearers together.
Within the Black Fog Space, the eight ghosts seemed to lose their way, stumbling blindly in all directions.
But Zhang Kui saw everything clearly, eight sword lights flashed and cut these evil ghosts to pieces, dissolving into Yin Qi and dispersing.
The paper sedan sensed trouble, whistled chaotically, and tried to escape, yet it just spun within a hundred-meter radius.
Zhang Kui chuckled and charged forward.
With a series of sword lights cutting through, the paper sedan quickly fell apart, with no more movement.
"Still not showing yourself!"
Zhang Kui slashed open the paper curtain but was taken aback.
Inside was a skeleton wearing a rotting red wedding dress, holding a small skeleton in its arms, surrounded by dense cobwebs, with not a trace of ghostly aura...
The black fog dispersed, and the yin qi of the paper sedan scattered. It soon decayed and blackened. Zhang Kui carried out two skeletons, one large and one small, and dug a large pit with his sword to bury them.
"So the paper sedan was the ghost's true form..."
The old weasel sighed while looking at the mother and child skeletons, "I wonder what happened back then to cause such a transformation."
Zhang Kui shook his head,
"It's just another tragedy; sometimes, for ordinary people, living isn't even as good as being a ghost."
At that moment, a sudden change occurred.
A black shadow suddenly darted out of the air beside him, fiercely stabbing Zhang Kui's arm.
"Ah!"
Zhang Kui felt a sharp pain in his heart, like being cut by a knife, and couldn't help but cry out in agony.
Looking down, he saw a black snake shadow writhing, drilling into his body through the skin.
"Courting death!"
Zhang Kui shouted angrily, his arm's yin evil suddenly wrapped around, and the snake shadow instantly dissipated into black smoke.
Before understanding what was happening, his heart suddenly blared alarm bells, and another snake shadow appeared from the void beside him.
Zhang Kui coldly snorted and crushed it with a grip.
The yin evil could only protect the arm, but the snake shadows appeared from all directions out of the void, making them hard to guard against; Zhang Kui soon became flustered.
Though he wasn't bitten, it was only temporary.
"What is this thing!" Zhang Kui exclaimed.
The old weasel was startled,
"Netherworld Snake Heart Devouring Curse!"
After speaking, he nervously looked around,
"This is the unique secret skill of the Snake Demon Chang San. He roamed outside after losing the territory of Black Water City to the Faceless Ghost King. When did you provoke him?"
"Who the hell knows!"
Zhang Kui shouted angrily, "Why does this thing never end?"
The old weasel's eyebrows quivered,
"Relentless and without a solution!"
Damn!
Zhang Kui cursed inwardly, quickly opened a skill on the interface in his mind, and suddenly a golden light flashed over his body.
Every time a snake shadow attacked, it would always trigger the golden light and dissipate. Though temporarily safe, the snake shadows flickered with the light, making Zhang Kui look like a flickering humanoid light bulb from a distance.
Life Light Skill (Level 1): Active skill.
Skill Description: Emits protective divine light to resist normal attacks, lasting 10 minutes per use. Can be advanced to the level of Immune to All Techniques, All Evil Cannot Approach.
The old weasel breathed a sigh of relief, then looked on with curiosity, "Your protective magic technique is quite formidable."
Zhang Kui wasn't in a good mood,
"But it doesn't solve the core problem!"
Each use of the Life Light Skill consumes a large portion of mana. Although ten minutes are enough for recovery, using other magic during this period becomes difficult.
And using it every ten minutes means he can't just keep glowing without sleep?
Thinking of this, a fierce light shone in Zhang Kui's eyes, and with a swoosh, he disappeared, fully activating the Tongyou Skill.
The only way to put his mind at ease was to take down the person casting the spell.
Unfortunately, even after searching the surrounding wilderness, he found no abnormality.
"It's useless..."
The old weasel sighed, "Chang San's curse skill is famously powerful, rumored to be able to harm people from tens of miles away."
"Moreover, though he lost to the Faceless Ghost King, he's still a Great Demon of the Grain Avoidance Realm. Even if you find him, can you beat him?"
"Better to bide your time and wait for the National Guardian True Man from the Capital City to help lift the curse."
Zhang Kui's face showed a mix of emotions, his eyes flaring with anger. How frustrating to be forced into such a situation before even seeing the enemy.
Grain Avoidance Realm, so what!
Zhang Kui gritted his teeth and turned his head,
"Old Huang, take the trouble to lead the way. I'm going to sweep through all the demon nests and ghost acupoints nearby!"