"Stop everything. Go back tonight and come clean up tomorrow morning!"
Lu Yuan spun around abruptly, his voice not loud, but carrying an unquestionable decisiveness.
The Xu family members were filling in Old Master Xu's grave pit with earth. Hearing this, they all froze but when they followed Lu Yuan's line of sight and saw that eerie blood-colored lantern in the distant night sky, everyone's faces turned white.
That was not an auspicious omen.
Panic spread instantly. The Xu family members dropped the hoes and shovels in their hands, fleeing this place of trouble while stumbling and crawling.
"You two leave as well."
Lu Yuan turned back, his gaze falling on Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an who had followed him.
"Huh?"
At these words, the two were immediately unhappy on the spot.
Brother Lu was planning to go alone!
"Brother Lu, what kind of talk is that? That's too disloyal!"
"Let's go together!"
Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an both stiffened their necks and immediately shouted.
Lu Yuan directly frowned, "Don't talk nonsense. The evil spirits over there have cultivation that's too high. We can't handle it!"
Lu Yuan was going. However, Lu Yuan didn't plan to go help Wuqing Temple or anything like that.
To be honest, Lu Yuan wasn't a person without a temper.
Just with those earlier incidents, Lu Yuan disliked Wuqing Temple from the bottom of his heart.
Lu Yuan would never go up to help Wuqing Temple.
Moreover... eight-star Human-Faced Two-Legged Sheep, six-star hanged ghost, these things had long exceeded the scope of Lu Yuan's abilities.
Lu Yuan really couldn't handle these things.
Lu Yuan was going mainly because he was worried about that beautifully sexy Zhao Qiao'er.
After all, he'd eaten her food, worn her clothes, and especially with that layer of relationship with Auntie Qin.
Lu Yuan couldn't just watch Zhao Qiao'er meet with disaster.
So, the moment he saw the blood-colored kongming lantern, Lu Yuan's goal became extremely clear.
Rescue Zhao Qiao'er and get out, that's it!
As for Wuqing Temple, they could live or die as they pleased.
With that being the case, he naturally couldn't bring Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an.
Their skill level wasn't high. Going in, they couldn't help much, and Lu Yuan would have to split his attention to look after the two of them.
Fortunately, neither of them were indecisive types. Seeing that Lu Yuan had said this much, they stopped talking nonsense.
"Brother Lu, be careful. We'll go wait for you at the Xu family first!"
The two solemnly urged him, shouldered the heavy chest of magical tools, and rushed down the mountain without looking back.
In the night wind, only Lu Yuan remained alone.
Lu Yuan glanced at those two figures disappearing into the darkness, then gripped the wooden sword in his hand tightly.
His form like lightning, he rushed toward the other mountain peak.
...
At the same time, the camp where Zhao Qiao'er was located had already descended into a living hell!
The pitch-black night seemed to have come alive, thick and viscous like undissolvable ink.
Countless pale, twisted figures loomed in the darkness, bringing sharp shrieks as they suddenly pounced toward the crowd by the bonfire.
The sound of claws tearing through skin and flesh, shrill screams, rose and fell in succession.
From the start of the ritual until now, in just a few short minutes, several Wuqing Temple Daoist priests and Zhao family martial masters had already fallen in pools of blood.
Their bodies torn beyond recognition.
In the chaos, the Wuqing Temple people finally realized the severity of the problem.
"This hanged ghost... has at least over a hundred years of cultivation!!"
"Huang Guanmin!! What exactly is going on here!!"
Master Uncle Hengmin cleaved apart a small ghost that pounced at him with one sword strike, the orange-red light on his blade flashing explosively. Yet he had no time to pay attention to it, turning his head to roar thunderously at Huang Guanmin.
At this moment, Huang Guanmin was completely stupefied.
He stood rooted in place, his face deathly pale as paper, his lips trembling.
Wrong!
This was completely wrong!
When he'd investigated before, there were indeed evil spirits in this forest, but they were all small ghosts without spiritual wisdom!
But now... how had even hanged ghosts with a hundred years of cultivation appeared!
And more than one!
Gu... meh... lu...
A strange cry that made one's scalp tingle and teeth ache drifted eerily from the depths of the darkness.
That sound seemed to ring directly in people's brain marrow, carrying a wickedness that went to the bone.
Hearing this sound, all the Wuqing Temple Daoist priests, including Hengmin, felt every hair on their bodies instantly stand on end!
This... this commotion...
Was it that two-legged sheep?!
The great fiend that Wuqing Temple had been pursuing for three whole years, the Human-Faced Two-Legged Sheep?!
How could it be here?!
That was a terrifying evil spirit with over two hundred years of cultivation!
In an instant, bone-chilling cold rushed from everyone's soles straight to the crown of their heads.
They were done for.
With the current formation, they would need at least five Celestial Masters joining hands in an array to have a thread of hope for survival!
But now, only Hengmin here had barely touched the threshold of Celestial Master. He couldn't even be counted as a true Celestial Master!
"We've been set up!!! We must have been set up!!"
Huang Guanmin finally reacted from his shock, roaring through clenched teeth. However, what use was saying this now?
Whether they'd truly been set up or not, that was something to investigate later if they could survive.
Right now, everyone was surrounded and couldn't get out.
Although the blood-colored kongming lantern had already been lit, it was useless.
In this godforsaken place, it wasn't some big city. There wouldn't be any powerful Celestial Masters here to come to the rescue.
"Everyone break out individually!!"
"This job can't be done!"
Hengmin's eyes flashed with a trace of ruthlessness as he made the decision immediately.
Just as his words fell, Huang Guanmin's expression changed drastically, shouting in panic, "Master Uncle!!"
"If we leave, what about the employer?!"
"These things are clearly coming for the employer!"
Hengmin whipped his head around, his eyes as vicious as if about to devour someone, cursing explosively, "Still care about what damn employer!!"
"If we can roll out of here alive ourselves, that'll be thanking heaven and earth!!"
Huang Guanmin looked back at Zhao Qiao'er not far away, that stunningly beautiful face full of panic. For a moment, his heart couldn't bear it as he pleaded, "Master Uncle!! At the very least, take the employer out!!"
"Otherwise, when this matter spreads, our Wuqing Temple's reputation will be ruined..."
Slap!!
A crisp, resounding slap viciously struck Huang Guanmin's face.
At this moment, Hengmin could no longer hold back. He turned and gave Huang Guanmin a big slap.
From when they arrived earlier, Hengmin had seen that Huang Guanmin was infatuated with Zhao Qiao'er.
That eager-to-perform appearance was simply like a dog in heat.
No wonder. After all, with such a sexy and beautiful supreme mature woman, who could remain unmoved?
But that was fine before.
Now their very lives were at stake, yet he was still stuck in this sticky mess. He was simply sex-obsessed!!
With that crisp slap!
Huang Guanmin was stunned by the blow.
And at this time, the little junior sister beside him also pulled at Huang Guanmin's arm, frightened by everything around them, crying and shouting, "Senior Brother!! Let's go quickly!! Stop caring about that slutty fox!!"
The argument and slapping sounds here reached Zhao Qiao'er's ears word for word.
She wasn't far from the Wuqing Temple people to begin with.
Wuqing Temple... was going to abandon her and flee for their own lives?
This thought made her entire body ice cold.
If they left, then she... would truly be doomed!
Beside her, Steward Wang Fu was directing the martial masters, protecting Zhao Qiao'er tightly in the middle but how could mortal martial masters resist hundred-year-old evil ghosts? This was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
"Young Daoist Master... Young Daoist Master, save me..."
Zhao Qiao'er used all the charm she possessed as a woman, her voice trembling, carrying a sobbing tone, looking pitifully toward Huang Guanmin.
If this were normal times, with her calling like this, Huang Guanmin would have rushed over like a little lapdog long ago.
But now... having been slapped, Huang Guanmin only silently swung his wooden sword, mechanically hacking at the small ghosts around him.
From start to finish, he didn't look back at her even once.
He heard.
He definitely heard and this not looking back...
That meant... Huang Guanmin had listened to Hengmin's words and didn't plan to care about Zhao Qiao'er anymore.
Zhao Qiao'er had been abandoned!
Zhao Qiao'er's heart sank inch by inch.
Zhao Qiao'er frantically called Huang Guanmin's name over and over, her voice changing from pleading to hoarse, then becoming completely voiceless. However, that figure who had once fawned over her never looked back.
Despair, like a tidal wave, completely submerged her.
Was she truly going to die here today?
Just as Zhao Qiao'er was filled with despair, closing her eyes to wait for death.
A familiar young voice, as if tearing through this night of ghostly wails and howls, rang clearly in her ear.
"Auntie Qiao'er, quickly!"
Zhao Qiao'er's beautiful eyes flew open. A swift white shadow had already broken through layers of ghost shadows, stopping steadily before her.
The newcomer half-crouched down, revealing a face that appeared especially handsome and resolute in the firelight.
"Get on my back!"
"I'll take you out!"