Chapter 255: Chapter 223: Corpse Nest

Thirty li outside Wangshan City.

The dark night was endless, and a chilling yin wind gusted as white paper money fluttered through the sky. White-faced ghosts carrying coffins converged from all directions, appearing and disappearing along the forest and official roads, all moving towards Wangshan City.

“The primordial chaos fills my form, advancing with measured steps to ascend the yang brightness!”

A clear shout broke the disorderly mournful sound of suona horns. Yao Zhen, wearing a tattered Daoist robe with a crooked topknot, stood alone in front of the ghost coffin procession, teeth clenched, eyes sharp, and despite the uncontrollable trembling of her body, she drew her fingers across her sword.

She stepped with the Heavenly Gang Step, uttering the Evil Extermination Spell.

“The heavens revolve, the earth spins, advancing by the Six Jia, treading upon the Gang Dipper, the Nine Spirits unite as one!”

A fierce wind kicked up dust as Yao Zhen swung her sword against the wind, slashing at the ghosts.

The dark red sword light swept across the field, severing the paper banners and dispersing the ghosts. The coffin fell to the ground, but it was to no avail; in the blink of an eye, the vanished ghosts reappeared, lifting the coffin and continuing forward.

Retreating and slashing, Yao Zhen scattered talisman paper without a second thought, the sound of the Dao Bell continually ringing, only managing to slow the ghosts’ pace.

She was not the target of the ghost coffin procession; they would not attack her, but she could not eliminate them either.

Seeing this situation, Yao Zhen’s hand trembled as it gripped the sword, she gritted her teeth and raised her hand to grab a handful of paper money from the air.

She originally intended to use herself as bait, to lure the ghost coffin procession elsewhere, but those ghosts carrying the coffin completely ignored Yao Zhen, continuing their journey with music and fanfare.

Yao Zhen looked at the Life-saving Money in her hand, her brows furrowed. The fact that none of these ghost coffins paid her any attention meant they still had another target to claim, and only after taking that person’s life would they come for her.

Over in Wangshan City, someone had taken the Life-saving Money, and it wasn’t just one person; otherwise, why would such a sizable ghost coffin procession be attracted?

Under normal circumstances, the ghost coffin procession would be blocked by the walls of Wangshan City. Unable to get inside, they would loiter outside, waiting for the person who had taken the Life-saving Money to come out.

If that person didn’t come out, they would fall severely ill after seven days, and no longer than fourteen days would die. After death, their soul would still be hooked by the ghost coffins, sealed into the casket.

Having just undergone an earthquake, Wangshan City’s walls must be damaged, and the ghost coffin procession is surely going to enter the city seeking lives.

Suddenly thinking of something, Yao Zhen hurriedly chased after the procession that had moved far away.

Bam! Bam bam!

The sound of the coffin lid being struck echoed in the night. Yao Zhen’s heart pounded like a drum as she vigorously shook the Dao Bell, dispersing the chilling yin energy around her, trying her best to get close to the coffin.

The rustling noise reached her ears. Something inside the coffin forcefully struck, creating a small crack in the coffin lid, from which a flying insect swiftly darted out, heading straight for Yao Zhen’s face.

Yao Zhen’s expression grew stern, she swung her sword downward, the sword light brushing past the insect’s wings, causing it to drop to the ground, squirming and struggling.

Upon seeing the insect’s appearance, Yao Zhen felt a deep chill engulf her, the world spinning around her.

Corpse Worm!

Inside the coffin was… a Corpse Nest!

Yao Zhen stood frozen, her will and spirit corroded by an immense sense of fear. The ghost coffin’s entry into the city wasn’t their primary goal; it was to deliver the Corpse Nest into the earthquake-ravaged Wangshan City.

With over thirty thousand citizens in Wangshan City, if the Corpse Nest got inside, those citizens would quickly become nourishment for the Corpse Worms to parasitize and reproduce, becoming Corpse Slaves controlled by the Corpse Nest.

Regardless of whether those thirty thousand Corpse Slaves retaliated within Qinzhou’s borders or charged into Jinzhou, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Mo! Yan! Shu!”

Yao Zhen gritted her teeth, her low growling filled with rage and fear, causing her blood to surge, her birthmark blazing like a flame about to ignite.

No wonder he said chaos was impending; this was his ultimate aim. As the Nine Songs Storyteller, he had colluded with the shady Ghost Opera Troupe.

There was no time to condemn Mo Yan Shu; Yao Zhen suppressed the panic in her heart. Though she wanted to flee, she knew if her master were here, he would stop the Corpse Nest at all costs.

She didn’t care about any Nine Songs mission. She only knew that her master never minded her fearsome appearance, raised her, and taught her skills. Whatever her master aimed to do, that was her mission!

Yao Zhen cursed three times, pulling a wooden box from her backpack.

Inside the box were five human-shaped bamboo slips, inscribed with bright red runes. Yao Zhen gritted her teeth, slicing open her palm to sprinkle fresh blood.

She took out the Compass, placed the five human-shaped bamboo slips in their respective positions, and began chanting a spell.

“The sky is vast and the earth is boundless, disciple Yao Zhen beseeches the Daoist Lord’s seat, Five Ghosts Yin Soldiers, lend your aid!”

Rumble!

Thunder suddenly resounded, the weather changed abruptly, yin wind swirled up from the flat ground, rapidly melting the surrounding snow, decaying the withered yellow grass and trees into water. Lines of blood floated up from Yao Zhen’s body, swiftly coiling around the five bamboo pieces stuck in the ground.

The bamboo pieces vibrated, and five ghostly shadows suddenly appeared around Yao Zhen.

*

At the same moment.

Underground Wangshan City, the Evil Ghost Bureau.

After several tremors and mountain collapses, aside from the blocked main gate, the underground Evil Ghost Bureau remained entirely intact.

A man dressed in black, wearing a theatrical mask, walked in, surveying the prisons holding the evil ghosts around him, while the prison guards outside all stood with their heads lowered, motionless like corpses.

Wan Xiangtou curled his lips into a smile, quickly walking to the center of the Evil Ghost Bureau.

The desk where Cao Huiyuan typically wrote and painted was still there, papers scattered on the ground with landscapes intact, but the terrifying figures on them had all turned into pools of ink.

Wan Xiangtou looked at an open prison cell nearby. Inside was a coffin, and the Soul-locking Rope originally binding it was now black and rotted off, fallen to the ground.

The coffin occasionally trembled, with pitch-black ink seeping from the cracks between the lid and the coffin.

Wan Xiangtou approached, taking out an opera mask of a martial artist from his bosom and gently placing it above the coffin. The seeping ink was instantly incinerated, turning to smoke and dispersing, and the coffin quieted down along with it.

Half a year ago, after the sacrificial event in Tangyuan County, Wan Xiangtou had smoothly advanced to the fifth layer. Although Cao Huiyuan had once been a Yin Walking General of the Sixth Level, he was severely injured in the Fengning City Yin Child incident, his domain falling to the fifth layer.

In terms of pure strength, Cao Huiyuan slightly surpassed Wan Xiangtou, but unfortunately…

“This coffin was specially prepared for you, General Cao.”

Wan Xiangtou patted the coffin lid, seemingly able to hear the furious roars from within.

The Gambling Ghost was merely a smokescreen; what they really wanted was for the Evil Suppression Bureau to imprison the Gambling Ghost through this coffin, then transport both the ghost and the coffin into the Evil Ghost Bureau.

Even the strong tremors tonight couldn’t shake the Evil Ghost Bureau in the slightest—if they attacked head-on, it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

“Give it up, General Cao. Wangshan City has collapsed, the passage between Qinzhou and Jinzhou is cut off; the only way through is the mountain path. Jinzhou’s support won’t arrive soon. Even if it does, facing the corpse army controlled by the Corpse Nest will only provide more Corpse Slaves to the Corpse Nest.”

“In the past, you at the Evil Suppression Bureau always abandoned a few to save many. Now I want to see if Jinzhou over there will abandon your entire Wangshan City for the safety of all Jinzhou!”

Wan Xiangtou burst into laughter. They had plotted this for years, only to be repeatedly thwarted halfway by the Evil Suppression Bureau.

Previously, Qu Tianhe, who researched fast corpse cultivation, was one of their Ghost Opera Troupe members. If not for being captured by the Evil Suppression Bureau, they would’ve already launched their zombie army against Wangshan City.

Originally thinking this wouldn’t come to fruition this year, they were unexpectedly assisted by the Nine Songs Storyteller, who had always opposed the Ghost Opera Troupe, willingly extending a helping hand.

Wan Xiangtou had to admit, the storyteller’s power was indeed magical and truly frightening.

Without the storyteller’s assistance, none of this could have happened so ’naturally.’

Earlier, when he let the Day Traveling Envoy he had encountered outside his mother’s courtyard go, he worried it would expose their plans, but circumstances forced his hand as his mother threatened him with her life.

After all, his mother was crucial. If they didn’t trap the entire city’s populace in a nightmare, many would escape during the tremors.

The Yansheng coins distributed outside the Ruyi Building were made from the Life-saving Money used by the Ghost Coffin; only with Wangshan City’s downfall could those coins attract the Ghost Coffin.

If the people didn’t fall into dreams and ran away, the Ghost Coffin couldn’t smoothly deliver the Corpse Nest.

Pull one thread, and the whole body moves; he couldn’t take risks and had to let people go.

The only problem now was that no one could control the Corpse Nest. To trap it within the coffin, they had already sacrificed many people.

Once the Corpse Nest enters Wangshan City, what happens next, even he cannot foresee.

But as long as the world descends into chaos, the time for their Ghost Opera Troupe to rise will have arrived!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep