Huang Wei was horrified to death and looked back in panic.
"Tao... Taoist Master!"
The ups and downs in his mind made his legs as soft as noodles, and he almost fell into the smelly water next to him. With a hairy face, half crying and half smiling, he pointed to the deep part of the river.
"I'm not afraid that you will always get angry and break into places you shouldn't!"
Li Changan came out of the darkness, full of blood, and looked at what Huang Tail was pointing at - the river stretched straight inward, the cave was bottomless, and a strange and cold darkness was accumulated in it like putrefactive mud.
Just by staring at them, you have the illusion that they will squirm out at any time and engulf you.
"I'm not stupid."
The cave was filled with a strong evil spirit, and the dangerous aura it exuded stimulated Li Changan's instincts to scream in his head. Although he acted willfully, he was not reckless enough to jump into danger without preparation.
"You can't be said to be stupid, but... this, this?" Huang Wei's eyes suddenly widened and he stammered, pointing at the Taoist priest's waist. When he got closer, he was shocked to realize that there was actually a human head hanging on the Taoist priest's waist.
With unkempt hair and a red eyebrow, he tried his best to open his mouth and bite Huangwei's fingers.
The Taoist priest didn't care at all: "It doesn't matter. He's dead and only a little bit of his strength remains."
The man's head was biting his fingers, and he kept grinding his rotten teeth in his mouth, making the yellow tail's hair pop.
His speech was incoherent.
"But, who is this?!"
"What kind of messenger is he? I don't recognize him either." The Taoist priest waved his hand and said, "Time is urgent, we will talk about the gossip later."
He jumped on the boat, pulled out a body, and called Huang Tail to take a look.
"Another one died! Another one was killed!" Huangwei muttered and came closer. He really couldn't think of anything more urgent than seeing a ghost's head.
But when the Taoist priest opened the deceased's eyelids, he couldn't help but make a sound of surprise.
The deceased's eyeballs were covered with a layer of white clouds, which reflected light slightly under the torch.
"what?"
"Wax." The Taoist replied.
He then slapped the side of the dead man's head hard, and after a slight shake, another ball of wax plug fell out of his ear.
"There are wax seals all over the body's orifices."
The Taoist priest opened the jaws of the deceased and suddenly thrust his hand in. Before Huangwei could make a surprised squeak, he had already pulled out the soul of the deceased and threw it to Huangwei.
"Sure enough, the bodies of the deceased were intact. They had been poisoned to death, and the orifices were sealed with wax to trap the souls of the dead and never leave the bodies."
The newly dead soul was as confused as a newborn baby, dazed and floating all over the ground. Huang Tail grabbed him in a hurry and asked in surprise: "Why is this so?"
"do not know."
Li Changan took a stick of long incense, lit the incense head, and blew the incense into the new ghost's mouth and nose. The new ghost slowly settled down like a child listening to a lullaby.
"But it's not a good thing after all! It's not good for our neighbors to just sit back and watch their souls fall into the hands of evil spirits."
Li Chang'an greeted Huang Wei and was about to join hands when he suddenly raised his head.
Listen carefully.
"coming."
What's going on? Huang Wei was stunned and didn't understand. He was about to ask, but the next moment.
He heard it.
It was originally silent deep in the underground, but at this time, there were barking dogs. No, it was not like a barking dog, more like a person trying to imitate a dog barking by pulling his throat. It looked like a human but not a human, like a dog but not a dog, but there was something strange about it.
The magic power can pass through obstacles and span space. You can clearly feel that it is far away in the horizon, but it is so clear that it seems to be close to your ears, grinding your teeth in your ears, as if it is whispering.
Here we come, we have found you.
Huang Wei's face was miserable and his voice was trembling.
"The Soul Catcher."
Li Changan lowered his head in silence and pulled out a new ghost.
…………
"I came here tonight just because I felt something was fishy and I came here to find out what happened. We are all neighbors, and they might have taken care of our business in the past. It's hard to ignore them. But I didn't expect that I would still be alive during the day.
, people were poisoned to death at night, and piled up like pork. Qiantang is a weird place. It is difficult to distinguish between natural disasters, man-made disasters, evil people, and evil spirits, making people unbearable to kill."
Huang Tail was shaking so much that he could hardly maintain his body. He wanted to make a puff of smoke on the spot, and stirred his hands around the corpse. He didn't know whether he wanted to pull out the dead soul or hide himself in it.
Suddenly, dogs were making loud noises on the ground, barking, growling, and howling. The dogs had already discovered that Jishan Hall had been turned into a slaughterhouse, and they were gathering around. Then, they heard the sound of biting again. They were vicious dogs.
They are fighting for the carcasses; when you hear the whine again, it is the owner urging the hounds not to be gluttonous and to quickly pursue the hidden prey!
"This house is built in a strange way. The walls are high and thick, and they are surrounded by circles. No sound can come out. I don't know how many dirty things were covered up in the past, but now it is easier for me. Killing people is not like killing rabbits.
If you wipe your neck, there will always be a few squeaks. If it weren't for the high walls, I don't know how much noise it would make."
Huang Tail was finally able to stabilize his body, but his hands and feet were still limp, and he couldn't catch the new ghosts that were frightened by the dog's noise.
A hound found the courtyard and could listen to its throat
#Every time verification appears, please do not use incognito mode!
The roaring sound inside is getting closer and closer, and you can hear its snoring sniffing repeatedly at the entrance of the tunnel. Soon, the sniffing sound disappeared, but it was not that it left, but - oohoo~ it made a loud and long sound
Howling, the surrounding dogs responded.
"When I found the messenger, he and Liu Qiaopo were eating people at a banquet - yes, the woman was eating people too. Everyone was drunk from eating, so I pretended to be a servant, pretending to bring wine, and stabbed them at the table.
It pierced the neck of the evil spirit, and with a twist of the knife, it took off its head. No matter how powerful it was, it had no chance to use it. It was ridiculous that it broke a messenger and put up a huge formation, but it didn't increase its vigilance much. Probably
I am so used to seeing docile lambs that I have forgotten that sheep also have horns."
Li Changan pulled out the last new ghost.
Ask Huangwei with a smile:
"Have you come to your senses yet?"
He didn't like to be verbose, but he just wanted to help Huang Wei calm down by talking nonsense.
It's a pity that Huang Wei completely wasted the Taoist priest's hard work, and he screamed instead.
"Taoist, dog, dog!"
At the stone staircase, several lanky and pale figures jumped into the basement, lying down like dogs, with some earth-shattering roars coming from their throats.
Li Changan also pointed out the formula.
"disease."
The talisman of the Suzaku Feathers chirped loudly, and the raging flames sucked away all the oxygen in an instant. The flames flickered and shone through the underground hall. The hounds fell down the stone steps while wailing, and all of them were reduced to coke.
Huang Tail was even more frightened.
When the hound dies, the hunt ends?
No.
This only means that the hunters are coming.
"Coming, coming." Huangwei Liushenwuzhu, a flattering and oily smile appeared on his face unconsciously, "If the Taoist priest has any way to escape, don't delay any longer and use it quickly."
The Taoist priest has always been calm and relaxed. Do you think he will succeed?
"Originally, there was." Unexpectedly, Li Changan pointed at a group of ignorant new ghosts, "Now there is none."
After saying that, he left the dumbfounded Huang Tai behind, picked up the soul-calling incense and walked around.
The new ghosts staggered after the fragrance, their souls swaying and floating, as if they were dancing underground under the light of fire and candles.
"Take it."
Li Changan came back and handed over the soul-calling incense.
Huang Wei took it blankly.
Snapped!
A sudden slap on the face.
The Taoist priest solemnly asked: "Are you awake?"
Huangwei covered his face stupidly, and when he saw the Taoist priest raising his palm again, he quickly nodded vigorously.
The Taoist priest lowered his hand and patted his shoulder.
Put on your raincoat and pick up your sword.
Calm instructions:
"When Pindao goes up to lure away the evil spirits, Brother Huang will wait for an opportunity to lead the neighbors out. No one is more familiar with the streets, alleys and ditches in the city than you..." He paused, "If it really doesn't work."
Li Changan handed over a leather wallet.
"You can use the black horse to escape."
It's time to leave.
Only then did Huang Wei wake up.
"Taoist Master, you can't go!" He stretched out his hand and grabbed the Taoist priest's coir raincoat tightly, and said quickly and urgently, "The soul-catching messenger is the most cunning. If you get entangled with it, you can't get rid of it easily, and the ghosts in the nearby neighborhood will also be
He came upon hearing the news. No matter how powerful you are, how can you stand alone against a group of enemies?"
Li Changan smiled and patted the cold sword body.
"I have my own way."
It's nothing more than fighting a bloody path.
"Taoist Master!" Huang Wei's expression changed for a moment, and he suddenly gritted his teeth and pointed at the river, "There is still a way to survive!"
…………
Suddenly there was a loud barking in the dead silent hall.
The dogs swarmed over the remaining fire.
They rushed to the underground river and barked into the deep cave, but none of them dared to step forward.
A little.
An exceptionally tall and thin man stooped down the stone steps and entered the basement. He was wearing a long black cloak and only one face was exposed, but it was paler than a withered bone.
Er.
There were phosphorus fires lighting up in the darkness. It was clear that there was nothing else in the hall except dogs, pale men and a few miscellaneous things. However, the firelight cast a huge shadow on the walls and ceiling, wearing armor and standing silently.
Later.
The sound of "fluttering" of wing feathers filled the ground, and feather-like gray shadows were seen falling down one after another like snow. A gorgeous woman in full dress walked out of the gray "snow" all over the ground.
The three big ghosts stood silently for a moment, and together they set their "eyes" on the edge of the river.
It was empty there.
The boat that carried the body was nowhere to be seen.
The barking of dogs was full of ghosts and ghosts, and the ghosts seemed to have completed some kind of secret communication.
The soul catcher suddenly stretched out his long and thin arms from under his cloak, holding the whip, and walked towards the stagnant man.
A group of "dogs" smashed their heads down.
The "hounds" were whipped until they were rolling all over the floor, howling and screaming.
The demon did not stop, and the whipping became more severe.
Until the "hunting dogs" endured the severe pain and imitated the dogs' whine of "woo-woo".
Only then did he give up, pointing the whip deep into the river.
The "dog" group did not dare to hesitate, jumped into the rotten water, and pursued it.
…………
"I have been to Jishantang and walked through this underground river."
"At that time, I was still a hunting dog under the soul catcher, and I followed him to kill a group of unruly warlocks. The leader of the warlocks had weird witchcraft. Less than an hour after his death, his body had already transformed into a corpse. Ordinary people cannot control ghosts.
He wanted to live in it, so the Soul Catcher personally escorted him, and I followed him down to this underground river for the first time."
"I particularly remember that during that time, it rained continuously, and there was no sunshine for several months. It was like the tide had changed its way and poured into the world. Maybe the rain soaked the earth's atmosphere, or the absence of the sun for months disrupted the yin and yang.
One day, the monster inside got out of control."
"The Soul Catcher has a puppet-like face, but I know it is a bastard who likes to torture its prey and listen to people's cries. When the monsters came in mixed with the sewage, I saw its panic expression for the first time, like a dog.
I ran away alone with my tail between my legs. Fortunately, the monster ate up the souls of the sorcerers' corpses and was satisfied. I hid in the mud at the bottom of the water and luckily escaped with my life, and was freed from the control of the evil spirits."
Li Changan wondered: "What kind of monster can make a ghost escape?"
Huang Wei was silent for a moment, and with deep fear, he uttered the word:
"魙."
The darkness and silence will give people the illusion that the boat is not in a narrow underground river, but floating on the dark and boundless sea. No matter how hard you try to punt, there will never be an end ahead.
If you work like this in vain for a long time, the darkness will slowly squeeze in, dragging and pulling you, trying to bury you into the deep and silent sea.
Fortunately, there was an oil lamp placed on the bow of the boat. The oil in the lamp was quite magical. It burned and emitted bursts of fragrance. The fire was dim, but it was enough to burn through the darkness and slightly illuminate the road ahead.
Time was tight before, and out of trust, Li Changan took decisive action without asking any questions.
Now Huang Tail will elaborate on the reason.
The answer is both unexpected and reasonable.
Is there anything else in Qiantang City that can make ghosts and gods as fearful as snakes and scorpions?
Ghosts fear ghosts just as humans fear ghosts.
"Is the end of the waterway the scorpion's lair?"
"That's right."
Li Changan tightened his grip on the boat pole and couldn't help but stare at the darkness ahead. Where the light couldn't reach, there seemed to be something hidden and ready to move.
"Will the rhinoceros come out of the nest?"
"The Cave City is also afraid of the ferocious violence, so I don't know how to do it, but..." Huangwei shook his head, "I don't know."
"How far is it from the nest?"
"I don't know either."
In other words, the way Huang Wei pointed out, the more dangerous it becomes as we continue forward.
But the boat couldn't stop.
because……
Li Changan looked back at where he came from.
The sound of barking dogs is approaching.
…………
When the first "hound"'s eyes turned rotten.
soon.
The entire pack of dogs swarmed out of the dark river.
They either jumped onto the cabin or circled the side of the ship, howling and growling, licking each other, sniffing each other, biting each other and fighting for the corpses scattered in the river.
The stagnant water became more and more turbid, and the stench accumulated over the years began to rise and fill the cramped cave.
Until the owner of the dog group - the Soul Catcher, it was surprisingly slender, and the cave for boating was still low for it, so it had to hunched its long body, with its back pressed against the slippery roof of the cave, dragging a boat full of smelly water.
Long cloak, coming slowly.
The whip in its hand cracked the air.
Snapped!
The "hounds" whimpered and jumped into the water, spread out and did not dare to make a sound.
The venue finally became quiet for a while.
The soul catcher stretched out his long arms to support the walls on both sides, his pale face hanging down, almost close to the boat, the water, and the corpse, scanning inch by inch.
This is a corner of the underground river. One end of the boat is arched up against the wall, and the other end is deep in the water. The oil lamp is still there, dimly illuminating the bodies scattered and soaked in the sewage.
The ghost's face did not change at all, but a low "empty" sound sounded from his chest and abdomen.
It's laughing.
It seemed to have seen this scene:
The panicked prey threw itself to death. Induced by the darkness condensed with cold resentment, the ship ran aground in panic. The hounds behind it approached step by step, and they abandoned the ship in panic and fled.
The hounds sensed their master's excitement and hissed in the darkness.
The soul catcher picked up the oil lamp and pointed his whip.
The hounds howl and scramble for the lead.
The hunt continues.
#Every time verification appears, please do not use incognito mode!
…………
The sound of the dogs faded away.
Er.
Somewhere in the dead water surface, bubbles suddenly bubbled up.
The rotten water was so thick that the blisters could not be dispersed.
The more they gather, the bigger they get.
finally.
Snapped.
A gorgeous carriage exploded.
The carriage shook for a while, and Huang Wei and Li Changan, who were huddled together, spit out. The "Xuanju" was originally made by a wizard to capture the souls of children, so it was more reluctant to force two adult ghosts into it.
Li Changan fell into the water, flopped for a while, and finally managed to straighten his hands and feet. He ignored the stench all over his body and carefully took out the soul-calling incense.
It was lit and placed in front of the mouth and nose of a corpse.
A little.
Suddenly, it was like fishing, and the soul came out along the smoke.
In this way, the new ghosts are fished out one by one.
"The evil ghost will come back at any time!" He put away the black horse eagerly, "Move quickly!"
Not much urging.
"Found it!"
Yellow Tail jumped out of the sewage, covered in mud but couldn't stop dancing.
"The exit is right here!"
…………
"At that time, although I was lucky enough to escape with my life, I was stuck in an underground river. There was a devil's nest in front of me and a tiger's den in the back. I really had no way to go to heaven and no door to earth. I was afraid of rotting with the mud. When all my thoughts were lost, I suddenly
Thinking of an ancient book I once read."
"The water springs in the hometown of Qian Tang were salty and bitter. A certain prefect of the previous dynasty felt deeply that it was difficult for the residents to obtain water, so he dug six wells in each square of the city and used underground caves to divert water from the West Lake to the city. However, later, the six wells fell into disrepair and the waterways fell into disrepair.
It was blocked and abandoned, and the underground sewers became part of the many ditches for drainage and waterlogging, and were forgotten by the public."
"I compared the directions carefully and found that this section of the river occupied by evil spirits was part of Liujing. After that, I groped in the mud for an unknown amount of time, and finally found the blocked water supply outlet.
.”
The water supply port Huang Wei mentioned is buried deep in the mud at the bottom of the river, and is only the size of a dog hole. It would be extremely difficult to discover it without prior knowledge and patient investigation.
Li Changan drove the new ghost into the water supply inlet. At first there was pulpy rotten mud, then soft mud, then dry hard soil, and finally arrived at a slightly spacious underground stone chamber.
The stone chamber allowed Li Chang'an to barely bend down and stand. One end was connected to the underground river and the other to the West Lake. Both ends were silted up, so the room was still dry.
There was a pile of canine carcasses in the corner.
look carefully.
The bones are covered with tooth marks.
"It's really weird to be a ghost in Qiantang. Even with a trace of soul energy, you can still be hungry."
Huang Wei smiled and didn't want to talk more, pointing to the surroundings and selling book bags.
"The book also records that the caves were too small for ordinary people to move around, so at that time, dwarfs from the city were often recruited to dredge the waterways. However, the danger was inevitable, and many of the laborers drowned, so that the dwarfs inside and outside the city escaped. Later, they even had to
Drive the children. This stone room was set up for laborers to rest. Look..."
He pointed to a corner of the stone wall, where there was a small stone niche enshrining a statue of a god.
"That is the City God that the soldiers worshiped in the past to pray for safety."
The Taoist priest went up to take a closer look.
The statue has the face of an animal and a human body.
"This is clearly the Dragon King."
"It is said that the Dragon King back then was the City God."
…………
The water on the West Lake is melting with the moon and the mist is misty.
As in the past.
There are always many literati and elegant guests who go boating at night and drink wine under the moonlight.
But now, the Cave City is so powerful that every family closes its doors at night, not daring to raise a voice for fear of attracting ghosts and gods.
For a while, only smoke and waves could be seen across the huge lake.
But this was just convenient for Li Changan and his party, and their whereabouts were not discovered by anyone.
Huangwei was the first to land ashore. He puffed up his cheeks and turned around to make gestures.
Until Li Changan came ashore carrying two new ghosts and nodded to him.
Feeling relieved, he quickly opened his mouth and spit out the soul-calling incense, stretched out his tongue and breathed out, hurriedly took out the gourd and took a big gulp.
He fell to the ground, spread out his limbs, and smiled "hehe" at the sky.
Li Changan took the gourd and gave the new ghosts who were shivering from the cold a sip one by one. Then he carefully poured the remaining sophora wine into his mouth, looked at the vast smoke waves, and let out a long breath of cold air.
Take a short rest.
Pick up the remaining incense and return it to Huangwei along with the gourd.
"Feilai Mountain is full of fierce ghosts. These new ghosts are ignorant and should not go up the mountain. It is better to leave them to Hua Weng. You should be careful and don't be seen by others."
After that, he turned around and left.
Huang Wei was stunned: "Taoist Master! Where are you going again?!"
The Taoist priest disappeared into the night without looking back.