The eye in the sky was not fixed at Lu Yingjiu.
It slowly turned.
As the icy gaze swept across the earth, the yin energy became more intense.
Then, the eye slowly closed.
This time there were no servants, only clouds of yin energy filled the city.
As Jing Xian said, the yin energy that caused the hundred ghosts to stir started from the abyss of the eighteen layers of the ghost world, surging layer by layer upwards. In this process, the priests would intervene to stop it, and in the end, only two or three percent of the ghosts would come to the human world.
The flow of time in the ghost world was slower than in the human world.
Based on past experience, the first wave of ghost armies would take seven or eight days to reach the human world, which meat that the exorcists in the human world have about 6 hours of buffer time.
In other words, Lu Yingjiu and the aristocratic families had 6 hours to reach their destination, but Jing Xian was leaving now.
Standing on the balcony, the two looked at the gloomy sky.
There was wind, but no rain.
Looking out, there were fine rain threads and thunder and lightning at the other end of the city. The rain was spreading rapidly, and in no time, it would bring even darker clouds over their heads.
This feeling was very strange, like watching a tsunami approach with eyes wide open, but powerless to stop it.
Lu Yingjiu turned his head to look at Jing Xian and said, “You should hurry back.”
Jing Xian: “I will deal with the first wave of ghosts and then come back to find you. Wait for me.”
“Hmm. Go quickly.”
Jing Xian looked at him deeply, stepped forward half a step, and gave him a hug.
This hug was very strong.
Lu Yingjiu also hugged him back strongly.
When they separated, there was no need for more words.
Jing Xian was surrounded by gusts of yin wind, the gate of the ghost world opened with a bang, and he stepped in and was swallowed by darkness. Meanwhile, Lu Yingjiu turned around and went downstairs to the basement, where a brand new sports car was waiting in the corner.
He got in the car and stepped on the accelerator.
The car sped along the deserted streets, and what came head-on was a downpour.
The phone screen lit up with a simple message: [Landing location: 130 kilometers north of Lujiang City, near Luming Expressway.]
At the same time, the people of the aristocratic families were rushing to various locations, preparing to do inviting the gods.
Lu Yingjiu’s face was expressionless.
The car sped up, breaking through the wind and rain, turning into a flash of lightning heading towards the edge of the city.
****
Although they had a buffer time of 6 hours, in reality, small ghosts had already started to appear everywhere.
Small ghosts have weak killing power and would only wander the streets. Any exorcist could disperse them.
But if ordinary people encountered them, there was still danger.
Extreme weather warnings have been issued, and perhaps because the rain was not too heavy yet, Lu Yingjiu could still see people on the street. He stopped the car several times along the way, drove away two or three small ghosts, and told passers-by to hurry home.
Soon, a city-wide travel ban was issued.
He didn’t see any pedestrians anymore.
Crack!
The old tree on the side of the road had its branches broken and fell on the road. Someone’s flower pot was blown down, and the fragments were scattered all over the ground.
All doors and windows were tightly closed, and the surroundings were dark, like the end of the world. If it weren’t for the light coming through the curtains, Lu Yingjiu would think that there was no one else in this world besides him.
Once on the expressway, the rain hit the glass, making a tumultuous noise.
Even the brightest headlights couldn’t illuminate the darkness, so he threw out dozens of talisman papers, which burned fiercely in front of the car, guiding the way.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Yingjiu faintly saw a huge silhouette.
The silhouette in mid-air was only a vague shadow, outlining the shape of a door – this was the landing point of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, only exorcists could detect it.
Right below the landing point was a factory, the workers had already left.
Lu Yingjiu took the nearest ramp down and entered the factory, from a distance he saw dozens of cars gathered together, their headlights shining brightly.
Other exorcists had arrived earlier than him, and were nervously setting up formations, preparing to meet the onslaught.
They were shouting at the top of their lungs in the heavy rain.
“Thirteen more talismans are needed on the east side! East side!”
“Is the formation ready yet?! Has the crowd within a radius of fifty kilometers been evacuated?!”
“Old Zhao, Old Zhao, come over here!”
It was a noisy scene.
Lu Yingjiu got out of the car, not bothering to hold an umbrella, and was immediately soaked through.
He braved the rain and walked over. Someone hurried past him, grabbed his arm and said, “Where are you from? If you’re not involved, don’t… ah.”
The person quickly recognized Lu Yingjiu, let go of his hand, and looked surprised and delighted.
Lu Yingjiu asked, “Who is in temporary command here?”
“It’s… it’s Shao Hong,” the man replied.
“I see, you go ahead with your work,” Lu Yingjiu nodded.
Shao Hong was the exorcist of Lujiang City, who used to work under Lu Yingjiu.
Lu Yingjiu went to where most people were, and sure enough, he saw a familiar figure directing everyone.
He stood by and waited for a while.
After Shao Hong finished giving instructions, he turned around and was startled when he saw Lu Yingjiu, “Ah, why are you here?” He was so excited that he rubbed his hands together, “That’s great, you’re a big help.”
Lu Yingjiu said, “I will help set up the formation, but I will only stay until the outbreak of the ghosts.”
Shao Hong was taken aback, “Where will you go after that?”
“I’m not sure,” Lu Yingjiu said.
He would only know the location of the Heavenly Way after the formation was set up, and then he could set off.
Shao Hong clearly didn’t understand, but Lu Yingjiu patted him on the shoulder, “Hurry up and get to work.”
In the following time, Lu Yingjiu helped set up the talismans.
Three or four hours passed, and countless formations were densely wrapped around the landing point, with surging power boiling within them. More and more exorcists rushed over, methodically starting their work according to the plan.
It seemed that there was nothing more for him to do.
So Lu Yingjiu went into a warehouse, where there were groups of exorcists resting.
He drank the hot tea handed to him by someone else, changed into a dry set of clothes, and sat in the corner.
The sound of the wind, the rain, and people shouting were still incessant.
He knew that at this moment, others were also fighting at the “Kan” formation eye – probably also suffering from the attack of the servants.
At such a critical juncture, Lu Yingjiu dared not disturb them casually, even if he was anxious and worried, he could only wait for them to report the situation.
Half an hour ago, Ye Feng sent him a text message saying that the Ye family was in position. Zhang Shuwan would also step out of the mirror at the last moment and go to Kangli Bridge.
And the other two families, there had been no news until now.
Lu Yingjiu wiped the rainwater off his face with the back of his hand and looked at the text messages.
Chen Zheng’s text message stopped four hours ago: [We are preparing to head to the port.]
And Chu Banyang’s text message was three hours ago: [Just got off the plane.]
He silently looked at it for a while, put away his phone, and leaned against the wall to rest with his eyes closed.
40 minutes later, the phone vibrated slightly.
He immediately opened his eyes alertly, regaining his clarity in a second.
In the text message, Chen Zheng: [We have arrived at the location, just finished fighting with the servants, and are resting.]
It seemed that they were fine. Lu Yingjiu breathed a sigh of relief.
Now only the Chu family was left.
However, Chu Banyang had no news at all.
Water flowed and fell like a waterfall from the top of the warehouse.
Lu Yingjiu slowly closed his eyes and continued to rest.
Another half hour passed.
Boom——!!!
A thunderous roar shook the earth, and the ground trembled with it.
In the sky, the vague black silhouette was surging, as if something was about to break free.
Everyone looked up.
From within the dark clouds, in the void, countless ghost hands slowly emerged!
At first, they didn’t move, just hanging in the air like dead branches.
But after a few short seconds, they began to move.
First, the finger joints slowly curled and relaxed, then the wrists rotated. At some point, a ghastly white lightning struck, and they suddenly began to flail wildly!
Densely packed, layer upon layer.
The entire sky was filled with ghost hands, with blood-red pupils, screams and shrieks intertwined, forming a nightmarish wave. Some exorcists who had never seen this spectacle felt their scalps tingle and instinctively retreated.
Time was running out, and it was too late to act.
There was still no news from Chu Banyang.
Lu Yingjiu clenched his phone, took one last look, and got up to leave the warehouse.
In his hand, he held a piece of talisman paper, complicated to the extreme, stained with a few streaks of fresh blood. The bright red was particularly noticeable under the iron-blue sky – it had taken Lu Yingjiu two months to clearly depict these talismans that activated “Kan”.
As soon as he stepped into the wind and rain, the talisman paper began to flutter, struggling forcefully in his hand, resonating with the epicenter.
“Hey! Where are you going?!” Shao Hong shouted.
“Don’t worry about me.” Lu Yingjiu waved his hand and walked straight into the most torrential part of the storm.
He stood under the sky full of ghosts, took a deep breath, and made a gesture –
The talisman paper burst into bright light!
Centered on the epicenter, golden-white patterns silently spread out.
Countless complex, beautiful curves intertwined, countless straight lines shot straight into the distance. There was no visible boundary, within dozens of kilometers of the suburbs, and only the dazzling light illuminating the darkness could be seen.
Several people backed away, fearing that they might step on the runes on the ground, all of them uncertain.
Shao Hong was stunned, and subconsciously stepped forward a few steps. “What are you…”
But Lu Yingjiu had no mind to answer him anymore.
The light surged.
From a great distance, three more rays of light rushed in the opposite direction, converging at the center of the formation.
It was the ghost gods invited by the Ye, Chen, and Zhang families.
The wind blew Lu Yingjiu’s clothes, and the talisman paper in his fingers burned fiercely. Maintaining this formation was very strenuous, and after just a few seconds, he was already drenched in sweat.
There was no time left.
In another half a minute, or even ten seconds, those ghosts would come out.
Lu Yingjiu was almost frantic.
He wasn’t anxious about the formation, but worried about the Chu family… something had happened.
Were Chu Banyang and the others…..still alive?
He took deep breaths over and over again, forcibly regaining his calm, but couldn’t dispel the clouds in his heart.
The ghosts in the sky surged, struggling constantly.
The exorcists were on high alert, Shao Hong looked at Lu Yingjiu uneasily, he didn’t understand what the formation was, and hesitated whether he should approach.
The necks of the ghosts appeared, followed by their shoulders, chests, and waists. They leaned forward, scratching and screaming constantly. A few drops of black blood fell from the sky, landing on Lu Yingjiu’s clothes.
There was no time left!
The ghosts burst out!!
For a moment, the sky and the earth were full of fierce ghosts, with green faces and sharp fangs, showing their ferocity, and they surrounded Lu Yingjiu in an instant, like a dark mass. Lu Yingjiu’s face was as calm as water, and he was just about to throw a talisman paper, when the ghost in front of him suddenly split in half.
A dazzling light came from afar, breaking through the obstacles with irresistible force.
The fierce ghosts couldn’t resist its edge and turned into ashes.
The last ray of light rushed straight to the center of the formation.
It illuminated Lu Yingjiu’s eyes, and also the joy in his eyes.
Chu Banyang and his team had succeeded!
When it finally converged, the four rays of light completely filled the formation. The talisman paper in Lu Yingjiu’s hand burned more fiercely, and the flame shot up –
A heat wave rushed towards the face. The light illuminated the sky.
What followed was a sense of distortion.
All the thunder, lightning, and solid ground disappeared, the beams receded, the hands of the clock stopped turning, and the expressions of the people around him, including the shock and unease on their faces, gradually dimmed.
The raindrops no longer fell, as if they had been wiped out by an invisible hand. The wind stopped blowing, as if someone had locked it in a silent prison. The whole world was silent, still, lifeless.
Lu Yingjiu looked around in a daze.
It was pitch black in front of him, and he couldn’t see his hand in front of him.
Thump, thump, thump –
Thump, thump, thump –
It was the sound of a heartbeat echoing in his eardrums, resonating with his chest, each beat making his soul tremble.
His thoughts seemed to have stagnated.
It took Lu Yingjiu a while to react slowly, and then he realized:
This heavy, gasping sound was his own heartbeat.
