nownovels Chapter 240 The Master... Needs a Lamp Lighted
Chapter 240 The Master... Needs a Lamp Lighted
Chapter 240 The Master... Needs to Light the Lamps (4600)
"retreat!"
Lu Yuan shouted sternly.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the mound of earth burst open with a "poof," and a pale blue hand emerged from the soil.
The hand had long, slender fingers, but the nails were shiny black, and there were several red threads wrapped between the fingers.
As soon as it touched the ground, a second hand emerged, followed by a forearm wrapped in a white cloth.
"It's the main body—" Zhou Heng's throat tightened.
Lu Yuan didn't even glance at it, and with a backhand slash, he struck the thin book, saying in a deep voice, "That's not the main body, it's just a portal created by borrowing soil." "The real main body hasn't even left the coffin yet."
As he spoke, he suddenly gritted his teeth and pulled out the last tightly folded yellow talisman from his pocket.
The talisman was older than all the previous ones; the edges of the paper were brittle, clearly a treasured road-suppressing talisman.
Lu Yuan held it between his fingers and whispered, "Song Qinghe, give me a little space with the sealing disc." "Lin Zhaoxuan, press the lightning down on the right, don't go more than three feet away from the coffin." "Zhou Heng, come with me, let's seal this hand gate first."
Song Qinghe immediately shifted half an inch, and the yin-yang fish in the center of the sealing plate slightly turned, making a narrow gap for Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan took a deep breath and slammed the talisman onto the blade.
"The talisman borrows a knife, the knife borrows fire; the fire borrows thunder, the thunder borrows earth; the earth borrows the door, the door borrows the evil spirit; the evil spirit falls on the paper, the paper seals its form!" "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed a short sword that slashed through the air, carrying talismanic fire as it aimed directly at the pale blue hand that had just emerged from the ground.
Zhou Heng simultaneously drew his sword, the blade aimed at the wrist bone of that hand.
A sword and a knife fell simultaneously in mid-air.
"laugh-
—"
The talisman fire arrived first, burning the palm of the hand until it twitched; then, Zhou Heng struck the wrist bone with his sword, producing a crisp sound like metal clashing.
The hand that had been sticking out of the soil suddenly retracted, and a very low groan came from the mound.
It was as if something inside had been abruptly cut off from its breath.
However, at that very moment, the paper-masked man at the end of the stone path suddenly looked up, and a sliver of black light shone through the crack in the white paper mask.
It slowly raised the thin book and whispered, "The seat is vacant."
As soon as the sound faded, the last white lamp behind the tattered red sedan chair suddenly lit up.
The light wasn't white, but rather bluish, making all the paper faces on both sides of the stone path seem alive, as if they all opened their eyes at the same time.
Lu Yuan's face darkened; he knew the worst was yet to come.
Then it's time to start taking attendance at the "table".
When that last white light came on, the entire stone path seemed to be doused with ice water from head to toe.
The dim light shone brightly, yet it made every paper face seem to come alive, their dark, hollow eye sockets all opening wide.
The paper figures, hands, and feet that were originally just hanging on the banners now swelled slightly under the lamplight, as if they were trying to expel all the yin energy that had been pasted on them.
Lu Yuan's eyes turned cold, he held a short sword to his chest, and hissed, "Don't look at the lamp!"
But it was too late.
Xu Erxiao glanced at it and felt a "buzz" behind his head.
It felt like someone had pierced the back of my neck with a fine needle, and my vision blurred instantly. I could faintly hear a very delicate suona sound, like a distant melody or a mournful cry at a funeral.
"I—I heard someone calling me—"
His voice trembled.
Wang Chengan grabbed him and shouted, "Shut up! Don't answer!"
Song Qinghe's face turned pale, and she suddenly pushed the Tai Chi Sealing Disc forward, causing the yin-yang fish in the disc to spin rapidly.
The black and white colors overlapped on the plate, creating a thin layer of cold light.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Fellow Daoist Lu, this lamp is guiding a soul!"
Lu Yuan didn't turn around, but stared at the masked man, coldly uttering two words: "Order the banquet."
The masked man raised the thin book, traced a line on the page with his finger, and spoke in a monotonous voice, yet it sounded more and more like scraping bone with a piece of wood: "One seat is vacant."
"Whoever is missing, will step up."
As it spoke, it actually turned the book forward a page.
There were no words on that page, only a faint red fingerprint, as if someone had pressed a knot on it long ago.
As the fingerprints appeared, the blue and white lights behind the paper masked man suddenly flashed, and the entire red and white procession seemed to receive an order, with all the paper banners simultaneously retracting an inch inward.
The cold wind then returned.
"call"
The wind carried the smell of damp earth, old paper, and a very faint trace of the stench of corpses, like an old grave that had just been unearthed.
Lu Yuan's heart sank, knowing that the other party was really going to use the "supplementary seat" method.
The most ruthless form of folk occult practices is not to directly take a life, but to gain fame through a banquet.
Once the seats are filled, those who are supposed to sit there will have no way to escape.
They were either pushed under the table or dragged to fill in, becoming the "guests" who were supposed to be in the game all along.
This time, what it needs to repair is not cardboard or wooden frame, but living people.
"Zhou Heng, guard your very feet!"
Lu Yuan suddenly shouted.
Zhou Heng immediately understood, holding his longsword horizontally and firmly pressing his toes against the edge of the gray circle: "Understood!"
Lu Yuan then said, "Song Qinghe, hold the sealing disc flat against your chest, and don't look up!"
"Lin Zhaoxuan, Lei Ling, suppress the lamp on the left rear and prevent it from lighting up for a second!"
Lin Zhaoxuan did not answer. He had already raised the Thunder Token high, with blue and white thunder patterns moving around its edge. He put two fingers together and chanted the Thunder Token very quickly: "Heavenly thunder lends its way, earthly fire returns to its root."
"The Eastern Peak opens its gates, the Western Star suppresses the soul."
"As the lightning struck, the lights dimmed."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As soon as he uttered the word "laws and decrees," the Thunder Decree pressed down diagonally to the left and back.
A thin, sharp arc of bluish-white lightning suddenly shot out and struck the tassel of the white lamp.
"Snapped!"
The tassel of the lamp exploded, and the bluish-white flame suddenly contracted.
As the lights dimmed, the faint sound of the suona horn that had been audible to everyone was also cut off.
But at that very moment, the pale blue hand at the end of the stone path suddenly arched forward.
"puff!"
The black soil suddenly cracked open, and a second and a third hand emerged one after another.
It wasn't just one person with two hands; it was like a whole body buried under the earth, slowly growing itself out of the ground.
White cloth, black mud, red thread, and scraps of paper rose layer by layer from the soil, like a headless shell wrapped in mud.
"It's about to be born!"
Song Qinghe lost her voice.
Lu Yuan's eyes turned cold. He suddenly reversed his grip on the short knife, with the tip pointing downwards, and then stepped on the short blade again.
"Azure Dragon on the left, White Tiger on the right, Vermilion Bird in front, Black Tortoise behind!"
"The body is the altar, the steps are the lock!"
"I'll advance an inch, I'll trample you an inch!"
"I'll take three steps, and I'll break three of your bridges!"
He drank as he strode forward, his short knife leaving a very shallow trail of fire on the ground.
The fire mark wasn't long, but it spread rapidly within the ash circle, as if a thin layer of golden light was spreading along the earth's energy, forcibly pushing back the surrounding yin soil by half an inch.
Seeing this, Zhou Heng immediately stepped forward, his sword aimed precisely at the bluish-white wrist joints.
"Clang!"
The sword thrust down felt as if it had truly pierced the gap between the wood and the iron sheet.
The thing inside the mound suddenly shrank, and then a very low, hoarse gasp came from beneath the soil.
Lu Yuan paused, then whispered, "Not a zombie, but a hand-drawn body."
"It takes the first step, then borrows the lamp, then the mat."
"This is the old-school 'three-step method of getting up' from the bottom of one's body."
Song Qinghe felt a chill run down her spine: "The Three Borrowings Method?"
"Yes." Lu Yuan's eyes were icy cold: "Borrowing a lamp to light the way, borrowing a seat to find a place, and using a hand to get up."
"Once the lights are on, the tables are set, and a hand is extended, the entire game is essentially complete, with everyone in the squad now registered."
The moment he finished speaking, the paper-masked man suddenly flipped the thin book over and slapped the spine of it with his right hand.
"Smack."
The sound was extremely soft.
But the door inside the mound seemed to hear a bell and suddenly pushed itself open again.
The white cloth ripped open with a "whoosh," and a wet arm emerged from the mud.
Next came a shoulder, and then, surprisingly, half of a paper face covered in the smell of dirt was revealed.
The paper face had no features, only a mouth sewn together with red thread, the corners of which were wide open, as if it were smiling.
"Oh no!"
Zhou Heng gave a low shout.
Lu Yuan snorted coldly, and suddenly took out a small copper coin with his right hand. He flicked it with his fingertip, and the copper coin shone with a cold light in the air.
"Since it wants to get up, let it first pass through the 'opening fee' (a traditional rite of passage)."
As he spoke, he shoved the copper coin into the end of the dagger's hilt, then pressed two fingers together on the middle of the blade's back, uttering a very short incantation: "Money at the door, road severed at the root."
"If the door doesn't recognize me, I won't stay!"
"urgent!"
The short knife swept out with the shout, and the copper coin on the back of the blade made a very crisp sound.
"bite"
As soon as the sound came out, the tear in the paper face twitched violently, as if something had been forcefully choking it.
The half of the body that had just emerged from the mound paused, its shoulder trembled, and it remained rooted to the spot.
"good!"
Zhao Xuan's eyes lit up, and he raised the Thunder Token again: "I'll suppress it!"
He pressed down with two fingers, chanting like thunder: "Thunder and fire suppress the head, lightning seals the top."
"The head will not leave the soil, the soul will not leave the well!"
"Imperial Edict!"
The bluish-white lightning arc struck the top of the mound.
"boom!"
The black soil was blasted into countless fragments, and the thing that had half its paper-like face exposed let out an extremely shrill scream.
It sounds like a baby crying, or like a piece of paper curling up in the fire.
Half of its shoulder was instantly charred black, and the cardboard curled up and collapsed back down.
Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a series of soft clapping sounds suddenly rang out from the depths of the stone path.
"Slap, slap, slap, slap."
The sound was not loud, but it was very rhythmic, like someone sitting in the dark, slowly tapping the wooden beam.
Lu Yuan's expression changed drastically. He turned around and saw that the paper-masked man had turned to the last page of the book at some point.
The page, which was originally blank, now slowly revealed five very faint red dots.
Each red dot is like a nail, driven into the paper, protruding outwards with each clap.
"It's at 1.5 seats."
Lu Yuan's voice was as cold as ice: "Once the five seats are filled, the host will be seated."
Song Qinghe's grip on the sealing disc tightened slightly: "Mr. Lu, what do we do now?"
Lu Yuan did not answer immediately, but slowly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the paper masked man, the shrunken coffin, the blue and white lamp, the red and white banner, and finally falling back to the end of the stone path.
There, beneath the black soil, something seemed to be pushing upwards at an extremely slow pace.
He said in a deep voice, "Then let's cut off five of its bridges first."
"Zhou Heng, go and cut off the right side of the flag."
"Lin Zhaoxuan, lightning suppresses the white lamp; do not let the lamp flame take shape."
"Song Qinghe, remove the sealing disc from your chest and use the center of the disc to illuminate those five red dots."
"Cheng'an, Erxiao, come with me, spread the salt."
"Sprinkle salt?" Wang Chengan was taken aback.
Lu Yuan had already pulled a handful of salt from the copper box and said coldly, "It's not for sprinkling on the ground, it's for sprinkling on the road."
"For a feast to be held, there must first be a road."
"If I don't let it learn the way, it can only learn the evil spirits."
With that, he flicked his wrist and threw the pale salt hard at the feet of the paper-masked man.
The moment the salt grains hit the ground, the red line at the feet of the paper masked man suddenly hissed and steamed like boiling water.
The paper masked man finally retreated half an inch for the first time.
A cold glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes. He knew that this game wasn't completely over yet, but he had already seized control of Lu Yuan's "backbone".
What's truly deadly is that the thing inside the coffin is finally about to break free of its seal with these last breaths.
Under the pressure of the white steam and salt particles, the shrinking coffin suddenly sank even deeper.
It wasn't falling downwards, but rather like an invisible hand at the bottom of the coffin, holding it down tightly to prevent the contents from rushing out immediately.
The black mist was first suppressed in the raised crack at the edge of the coffin lid, then suddenly surged out, like a venomous snake that had been holding back for too long, turning over in the crack.
"It's panting on the road."
Lu Yuan whispered, "Don't give it a second bite."
Before he could finish speaking, the five red dots on the ground had already brightened, as if someone was pressing drops of blood onto the booklet.
The paper-masked figure stood outside the wall of light, black light flowing through the cracks in the white paper mask, like a smoked face laughing in the shadows.
"One person is missing."
It repeated in a low voice: "Add one more person, and the feast will be complete."
Zhou Heng severed the right leg of the banner with a single sword stroke, and the red cloth fell to the ground with a "whoosh," from which wisps of blue smoke rose.
But that break didn't cause the whole thing to fall apart; instead, it made the paper faces pasted on the back of the banner tremble all at once, as if they had been lifted off a wooden frame.
"Don't stop!"
Lu Yuan shouted, "We're cutting the root, not the bark!"
He stomped his foot suddenly, reversed his grip on the short knife, and dragged the back of the blade on the ground, drawing an extremely short "severed" character in the center of the gray circle.
As the stroke fell, the black and gray ground shone slightly as if it had been scorched by fire, and then a ring of pale white ripples slowly expanded outwards.
"This is the Seal of the Broken Seat."
"6
Lu Yuan said in a deep voice, "Sitting Road has already cracked. Now is the time to cover its five eyes."
Song Qinghe quickly flipped the Tai Chi Sealing Plate over, with the plate facing outwards. The yin-yang fish spun extremely fast, casting a ray of cold light, intertwined black and white, onto the five red dots on the thin booklet.
As soon as the red dot was illuminated, it immediately shrank slightly, like an insect encountering salt.
Seeing the opportunity, Lin Zhaoxuan pressed the Thunder Order down half a foot, and quickly chanted, "Thunder is the eye, lightning is the light."
"According to your name, your post is hereby revoked."
"If the light doesn't work, the door won't open."
"The host will not come until all five seats are filled!"
"Imperial Edict!"
A very thin, bluish-white lace shot out from the tip of the lamp and struck the wick of the last white lamp.
The lamp, which was already glowing a pale blue, was pierced by the laser, and the flame instantly shrank to the size of a pinhead, with a thin layer of frost appearing on its surface.
"good!"
Wang Chengan couldn't help but gasp.
But just then, the coffin suddenly clicked.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a finger bone gently tapping inside a coffin lid.
Immediately afterwards, a wisp of black smoke suddenly shot out from the crack in the coffin lid. The black smoke trembled in mid-air and condensed into a slender paper hand, which slapped against the outer edge of the coffin lid.
"It's going to flip open!"
Xu Erxiao screamed in surprise.
Lu Yuan's eyes turned cold, and his left hand suddenly formed a very rare "coffin-subduing technique".
Press your thumb against the base of your ring finger, bend your middle finger into your palm, and bring your index and little fingers together, like an invisible little nail.
He uttered in a low voice, "The coffin has a lid, and the lid has nails."
"If the nail isn't loosened, the whip won't wake you up."
"I'll use hand seals to press down on your bones, pressing down inch by inch, sinking you inch by inch, until you're so deep you dare not utter a sound at the bottom of your coffin!"
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
Before he finished speaking, he pressed his left hand down in mid-air.
The paper hand that had been slapping the coffin lid seemed to have been hit on the head by something heavy, and collapsed back with a "thud".
The black mist dispersed, turning into a cold, damp fog.
But the thing in the coffin did not retreat; instead, it let out a very low laugh.
The laughter didn't come from his mouth; it sounded more like it was being ground up layer by layer from the bottom of the coffin, from the paper, and from the soil.
"Master, please light the lamps."
The paper-masked man slowly raised his head, holding the thin booklet to his chest, and reached into his sleeve with his other hand, pulling out a red paper tinderbox.
Lu Yuan's expression changed drastically: "It still retained a spark!"
Before he could finish speaking, the paper-masked man had already ignited the tinderbox.
"laugh"
A tiny, scarlet spark lit up and then fell into the wick of the last white lamp.
The bluish-white light suddenly surged, becoming extremely bright in an instant, illuminating the entire stone path in a ghastly white light.
As soon as the lights came on, all the paper faces opened their mouths at the same time, as if they were inhaling at the same moment.
"Sign up--"
This time, it's not just about shouting.
Instead, it's singing.
It sounds like the celebratory songs sung by an old-fashioned wedding procession crossing a bridge, or the drawn-out sobs of a bereaved family during a funeral procession.
One after the other, they intertwined into a dense, yin melody that seeped straight into the bones.
Lu Yuan's face darkened completely.
"It's too late."
"It will bring the 'supplementary seat' to life."
Having said that, he turned sharply around and shouted at the crowd, "Hold your breath!"
"Don't answer anyone!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the coffin lid was flung open by a full finger's width from the inside out with a loud "bang."
A wisp of extremely thin white smoke slowly emerged from the coffin.
The white smoke, after landing, did not dissipate, but slowly condensed on the ground to form a blurry human-shaped outline.
The outline had no face, but it already had shoulders, a waist, and legs.
It's like a "guest" who hasn't really grown up yet, slowly crawling out of the coffin.