nownovels Chapter 234 The Red and White Duo!
Chapter 234 The Red and White Duo!
Chapter 234 The Red and White Duo! (4000)
No sooner had he finished speaking than there was another soft sound from the other end of the stone path.
This time, there's more than one small coffin.
Behind the white cloth, several pale lanterns slowly emerged. The lanterns were not exquisitely made of paper; on the contrary, they were crudely pasted.
Each lamp has the character "奠" (meaning "offering sacrifice") written on it. The characters are written in black ink, but the edges are blurred as if blood has seeped through, turning into grayish patches.
Red tassels hang below the lanterns.
Logically speaking, in funeral rites, lamps are used to guide the way, and tassels should be plain-colored.
But these few lamps were white with red tassels, like blood-stained rouge on a dead person's face, exuding an indescribable eeriness.
"The Red and White Duo —"
Lin Zhaoxuan's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the Thunder Token tightly: "How come this is in this ditch?"
Lu Yuan didn't turn around, only watching the lights slowly approach, his tone completely flat: "How could there be otherwise?"
"Someone deliberately staged this."
Lu Yuan raised his hand and pointed to the copper bell under the willow tree, then pointed to the soul-binding stone.
"Didn't you just ask why this tree is here?"
"Because it is responsible for guiding souls."
Why is this rock here?
"Because it is responsible for nailing, grinding, and refining the soul."
"The Yin energy that can be refined needs a 'title' to claim it."
"Red brings joy, white brings sorrow; joy brings chaos, sorrow brings grief."
"When these two kinds of evil clash in this kind of terrain, the yin and yang are out of balance, and it is most likely to drag living people on the road into an illusion."
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Song Qinghe couldn't help but ask, "So this is—what people call the 'red and white clashing evil'?"
"Yes." Lu Yuan said, "But this isn't an ordinary clash of energies; it's a red and white road side by side."
""
"White represents mourning, and it also represents welcoming the soul."
"Red brings joy, but it can also be a death sentence."
"One tells you to come along, the other tells you to stay."
"Once a person can't distinguish between what's real and what's fake in this place, they'll be caught between them, going deeper and deeper until they don't even know how they died."
Zhou Heng's face was ashen, and his hand gripping the sword was sweating: "Then what do we do?"
Lu Yuan glanced at him: "Don't look at the lanterns, don't look at the banners, don't listen to the bells."
"This thing is best at using people's eyes and ears."
The more you fear it, the closer it gets.
Just as Lu Yuan finished speaking, the paper coffin in front of him suddenly swayed slightly.
Even though the two people carrying the coffin were still moving forward step by step, the coffin seemed to move on its own, and the edge of the coffin lid was slightly lifted.
There was no face in the crack.
There was only darkness.
It was as black as the mouth of a well.
Zhou Heng's breathing became erratic, and he was almost about to rush forward with his sword, but Lu Yuan grabbed his shoulder.
"Stay calm."
Lu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded like a heavy iron weight pressing down.
"That's not for you to see."
Sure enough, the next instant, the red cloths on both sides of the stone path moved without wind and were all lifted up in a flash.
Dozens of faded and dark red cloths were raised at the same time, like rows of bloody hands being pulled from the ground. They were gently rolled up in mid-air, blocking half of the path of the white coffin being carried.
The white banners will not be withdrawn, nor will the red cloth be given up.
One red and one white, they seemed to be deliberately paired together in this stone path.
"jingle"
The copper bell on the poplar tree suddenly rang out a short, sharp sound.
At that moment, everyone heard it.
It's not just the ringing of the bell.
It was accompanied by a very soft laugh.
She looks like a child, yet also like a woman.
The sound clung to the ground, emerging from the paper coffin in front, seeping through the cracks in the rocks, and reaching everyone's ears, chilling them to the bone.
"There's something inside."
Wang Chengan's face was frighteningly pale.
Lu Yuan stared at the coffin, a deep chill flashing in his eyes.
"Not just one."
He said slowly.
"There are two openings."
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"The white demon leads the way, the red demon brings down the tail."
"The white coffin in front contains 'soul-summoning paper,' meant to attract the wandering souls of those nearby."
"What's really going to come out is covered up in that red cloth at the back."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand, with an extremely thin talisman between his fingers.
The talisman was small, but its color was a dull, yellowish, and old. It had only a single, extremely simple character, "敕" (chì), written on it.
"Lin Zhaoxuan".
Lu Yuan suddenly spoke.
"Would you use lightning magic first to interrupt this cursed path?"
Lin Zhaoxuan was taken aback, then nodded firmly: "I can try!"
Lu Yuan said coldly, "Don't try, just attack."
"Strike the base of the white coffin, but don't touch the body."
"Zhou Heng, take half a step back and protect Song Qinghe. Don't let her be distracted by the ringing."
"Cheng'an and Erxiao, stand close to the wall and don't look directly at those two lamps."
"You can only move when I say so."
No one dared to hesitate any longer and immediately did as instructed.
Lin Zhaoxuan took a deep breath, the Thunder Token vibrated, lightning gathered between his fingers, and the sharpness that had been suppressed between his brows finally rose completely.
Just as his thunderous aura was about to erupt, the paper-mache white coffin slowly came to a stop.
The seam of the coffin lid opened outwards a little further.
This time, everyone finally saw it clearly—
There is no corpse inside.
It was a pair of paper shoes, with the toes pointing upwards, neatly arranged.
It looked as if someone was lying in the coffin, waiting for them to come and lift it.
In that instant, Lu Yuan suddenly raised his eyes and shouted in a deep voice, "Now—"
The moment Lu Yuan shouted "Now!", the Thunder Token in Lin Zhaoxuan's hand had already flipped over.
Without the slightest hesitation, he stomped forward with his left foot, his right hand fingers together, the index and middle fingers tracing across the Thunder Token, as he muttered, "The thunder rumbles faintly in the sky, the thunder roars on the ground."
"Thunder decree from all directions, swiftly summon true wind."
"To exorcise evil spirits and banish demons, to slay ghosts and eliminate evil."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"
As the last four words were uttered, a line of bluish-white lightning suddenly burst forth from the already dim crack on the surface of the Thunder Token with a "crack".
The electric spark was extremely thin, yet dazzlingly bright, like a needle suddenly slicing open, instantly illuminating a section of the stone path ahead in a white light.
Zhou Heng's heart pounded wildly as he watched, and he almost instinctively wanted to rush after Lu Yuan, but he held back and followed Lu Yuan's instructions without daring to step over the bar.
At the same time Lin Zhaoxuan unleashed his thunder, Lu Yuan flipped his wrist and made a very steady hand seal with his right hand.
That technique was neither the ordinary sword finger nor the common thunder technique.
Instead, the thumb presses down on the base of the middle finger, the index finger stands straight up, the remaining three fingers curl inward, and the palm is slightly tucked in, as if an invisible breath is forcibly locked in the palm.
"Imperial edict."
Lu Yuan gave a low shout and flicked the yellowed talisman between his fingers into the air.
The moment the talisman left his finger, it spun around like a living thing, drawing a tiny arc in the air before heading straight for the foot of the paper-made white coffin.
"Snapped!"
A muffled thud.
The talisman was placed precisely on the left front corner of the white coffin.
In that instant, the entire stone path seemed to be suddenly pulled by something.
The white coffin shuddered violently, and the two white figures carrying it froze simultaneously, but did not stop moving.
Instead, it was as if they were being pulled forward by an invisible thread, causing their knees to bend abruptly, and they all knelt down by half an inch.
The moment the bottom of the coffin touched the ground, Lin Zhaoxuan's bolt of lightning struck.
"Bomb One"
It wasn't a thunderous explosion, but a deep, muffled sound, like thunder crashing into the earth.
A bluish-white lightning bolt shot out from the command, not flying through the air, but spreading along the stone surface, instantly reaching the foot of the white coffin.
The paper coffin immediately reacted as if it had been scalded by fire, with a wisp of white smoke rising from the edge of the coffin's legs. The white paper covering the coffin quickly turned black in the lightning.
"rise!"
Lin Zhaoxuan suddenly shouted, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
Lightning shot up from the foot of the coffin, and the paper covering the white coffin immediately burst open, creating a crack.
Suddenly, handfuls of tiny, fragmented paper money tumbled out from inside.
The paper money wasn't newly pasted as usual; it was old and brittle, with yellowed edges, and many corners had even been soaked in dampness and turned black.
As soon as they were blasted apart by the lightning, they immediately flew and crashed around in mid-air like a group of headless gray butterflies.
Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the two white lanterns suddenly sank.
The character "奠" on the lamp surface trembled, and the black ink seemed to come alive, flowing down along the edge of the lamp paper.
Two tiny red lights suddenly appeared in the white light.
"Don't look at the light!"
Lu Yuan said sternly.
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Heng was still momentarily dazzled by the red light.
In that instant, his vision suddenly blurred.
A gust of cold wind seemed to blow in from the soles of my feet, and for some reason, I heard the sound of a suona being played.
Woo-wah, woo-wah—
The tune was high-pitched and long, as if it were blowing in from outside the mountain pass, or as if it were swirling in his mind.
Zhou Heng's expression changed, and he unconsciously took a half step forward.
Song Qinghe, who was closest to him, quickly grabbed his sleeve and shouted urgently, "Senior Brother Zhou, wake up!"
As she spoke, she pulled a yellow talisman from her sleeve with her left hand, and with her right thumb and forefinger, quickly folded the talisman into three sections, chanting, "A spark of inspiration illuminates my mind."
"Evil sounds cannot enter, and delusional thoughts cannot arise."
"May the Ancestral Master protect my true essence!"
"Imperial Edict!"
The yellow talisman slapped Zhou Heng on the forehead with a "smack".
Zhou Heng shuddered violently, and the confusion in his eyes vanished instantly.
He shuddered as if he had been pulled out of ice water, took a half step back, and his face turned ashen.
"Damn it—"
He gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath, "That ringtone is bewitching."
Lu Yuan glanced over and said coldly, "It's not a soul-snatching device; it's testing your minds."
"The Red and White Duo are not afraid of fighting, but of chaos."
"If you are in chaos, it can take advantage of the chaos to invade."
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As they spoke, the paper-made white coffin was forced back by the thunder and fire, and the white figures carrying the coffin also swayed as if they had stepped into thin air, yet they stubbornly did not disperse.
Meanwhile, the red cloths on both sides of the stone path came to life.
Dozens of red cloths seemed to be lifted up by an invisible force, dancing and tangling wildly in mid-air, intertwining to form a huge red net.
It effectively blocked out a thin layer of sunlight above the stone path.
The next moment, many slender human figures suddenly appeared from the red net.
The figures were short, stiff, wearing red flowers in their hair and colorful scarves, their faces covered with large patches of rouge, frighteningly white and glaringly red.
Their feet didn't touch the ground; they swayed in mid-air, like a row of paper brides hanging upside down, yet each one of them had a wide grin, a very eerie smile.
"Extremely joyful!"
Song Qinghe gasped.
Lu Yuan's gaze was sharp as a knife: "This isn't an ordinary auspicious omen, it's a 'ghost marriage auspicious omen.'"
"Someone has put both weddings and funerals here."
Zhou Heng's scalp tingled: "A ghost marriage?"
"How come there's something like this in this place?"
While staring at the row of red figures, Lu Yuan quickly said, "In some places, unmarried men and women who die are arranged into ghost marriages to prevent their souls from wandering away."
"But this Wild Man's Gully doesn't practice proper ghost marriages."
"This is to use red paper, colorful handkerchiefs, a bridal sedan chair, and wedding lanterns to feed the things down there."
"A white coffin welcomes the soul, while a red wedding invites misfortune."
"One will send you on your way, the other will tempt you to spare your life."
"What looks like a joyous occasion is actually a trap that will take your life."
As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, all the red figures turned their faces toward the crowd.
In that instant, everyone saw it clearly.
Their faces are incomplete.
Some only have half a face; the other half looks like it's been burned, blackened and charred.
Some were simply made of paper, with their mouths drawn extremely long in red, and their eyes just two black holes.
Several of the people at the very front had their faces faintly showing bone structure, as if they had been forcibly sewn into human form by something.
Song Qinghe's legs went weak and she almost couldn't stand up.
Lu Yuan had already taken a step forward, his right hand forming a hand seal, and his left hand flicking out a finger, shouting: "A, B, C, D, the four directions are clearly marked."
"Cinnabar as the catalyst, fire bells as the weapons!"
"Lend me your Yang Fire, to shatter your Yin Form!"
"By imperial decree, may it be done swiftly as the law commands!"
As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, Xu Erxiao hurriedly wiped the tinder he had prepared and lit a small wisp of pine torch in his palm with a hiss.
Without even looking, Lu Yuan took a step to the side and used the firelight to draw a short, malevolent line on the ground.
The line wasn't long, only about three feet, but the end of the line was directly facing the densest part of the red shadow.
"Song Qinghe, block the right flank!"
Song Qinghe understood and immediately raised her hand to press the Tai Chi Sealing Plate against her chest.
The black and white jade piece on the plate spun slightly. She then bit her index finger, dabbing her blood onto the center of the plate, and chanted rapidly, "The Tai Chi divides, Yin and Yang return to the center!"
"Evil spirits retreat a thousand miles, ghosts flee threefold!"
"seal up!"
The Tai Chi Sealing Disc emitted a very faint "hum" sound, like a copper bell, but much heavier.
A barely perceptible black and white halo rippled out from the plate, blocking the two red cloth evil lines rushing towards the right side of the stone path.
The moment the two red cloths touched the shimmering light, they immediately shrank back as if snakes had touched realgar, emitting two soft hissing sounds and black smoke rising from their edges.
"good!"
Lu Yuan gave a low shout: "That's it, don't let it get close!"
However, the most insidious of all is the Yin Marriage and Joyful Death, and seeing that it could not be dealt with head-on, it immediately changed its approach.
Suddenly, the white coffin in front of them made a loud "thump" sound on its own.
Then, the edge of the coffin lid slowly lifted up, and a paper hand slowly emerged from the crack.
Her hands were slender and white, but her fingers were excessively long, and her nails were painted with bright red cinnabar, making her look like a bride who had just crawled out of a coffin.
Immediately afterwards, a second hand reached out as well.
Then came a wrist, a white sleeve, and a red flower.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and even their breathing faltered.
At that moment, a cold glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.
"The corpse is about to rise."
Lu Yuan immediately drew a short knife with his other hand. He flipped the blade over, revealing a layer of fine lightning sand inlay inside.
This is no ordinary knife; it is a short blade forged by lightning and fire.
This was naturally taken from the system space!
Now that things have come to this point, we can no longer hold back like before; we need to bring out our best weapons and prepare to fight to the death!