Incoming! White-robed Vengeful Ghost, Giant Paper Figure!

When the County Yamen fell into darkness, with only the incense candles on the ritual altar still casting light, Yang Yizi's expression abruptly changed.

He cut himself off mid-sentence.

And bellowed, "It's here!!"

The steady knocking of the wooden fish from the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple's side also came to an abrupt halt at that moment.

Suddenly.

A fluttering sound rang out from nowhere.

Yang Yizi and the others instinctively looked up. The night sky was thick with clouds, and only a feeble trace of moonlight pierced through them, revealing the scene above.

Birds!

A vast flock of birds circled above the County Yamen, their raucous cries unceasing.

Anyone who was not deaf to birds could tell that those cries belonged to crows.

A Daoist acolyte, his face tense with unease and confusion, asked, "Master, what is going on?"

The instant his voice fell.

One of the crows circling overhead suddenly let out a miserable shriek and exploded without warning!

Black feathers and blood...

Rained down together!

The crow's strange death seemed to have set off the rest. One crow after another shrieked chillingly as they circled, then exploded in the next instant!

Black crow feathers and blood filled the sky, pouring down like drifting snow and falling rain.

The blood dripped onto the ground of the County Yamen, tracing out one bizarre talismanic inscription after another!

That was right!

Every drop of blood that fell to the ground was independently drawing out characters!

And every one of them was an utterly twisted talismanic inscription!

The winding, distorted blood-red inscriptions pulsed open and shut like blood vessels.

They brimmed with sinister evil.

The temperature inside the County Yamen grew even colder, as though they had been cast into an ice cellar.

Even the flowers and grass within the County Yamen began to wither at an inconceivable speed!

Gusts of yin wind blew the falling blood into the buildings of the County Yamen.

Even the courtroom of the County Yamen had scattered drops of blood blown inside by the yin wind.

Such a bizarre sight...

Made one's hair stand on end!

"Someone is using a ritual to suppress the Imperial Qi of the Dynasty within the County Yamen!" Yang Yizi had lived long enough to quickly realize what was happening. He immediately warned anxiously, "Yue Qing! Yue Feng! Stop standing there like fools! Help your master break this evil art!!"

Yang Yizi pressed his peachwood sword against the ritual altar. Several talismans that had been spread out on it beforehand seemed to be drawn by invisible adhesive force, clinging firmly to the peachwood sword.

He stepped through an enigmatic pattern, his words rushing out like a torrent. "Mystic Sect of Heaven and Earth, root of all qi! Cultivated through countless kalpas, I prove my divine powers!"

The peachwood sword swept past the incense candles on the ritual altar.

The peachwood sword instantly burst into blazing flames.

His two disciples also stepped through the Gang Steps, placing their hands on Yang Yizi's body at the same time.

In an instant!

The flames on the peachwood sword surged even more fiercely.

"Five Qi Fire Talisman, burn demons and scorch evil!"

"Urgent as the law decrees!!!"

Yang Yizi's old face flushed red. Gritting his teeth, he slashed out with all his strength. The flames on the peachwood sword were flung forth like a great net, rushing toward the blood-soaked feathers falling from the sky.

The falling crow feathers burst into clusters of fire the instant they touched the flames, turning directly to ash.

As for the droplets of blood, the moment they came into contact with the talisman-born flames, they were immediately vaporized.

"Amitabha!" At the same time, three Buddhist invocations tinged with anger rang out together, and invisible soundwaves swept across the surroundings.

They scattered all the blood and feathers falling nearby!

"Phew!" The Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple withdrew his wrathful Vajra-like expression and let out a heavy breath.

Watching the scattered blood droplets still fall, his expression turned graver than ever. "Damn his grandmother, this Buddha underestimated that evil Daoist. That bastard actually has an evil art capable of suppressing the County Yamen's Imperial Qi. His cultivation is probably not low!"

"But such an evil art must consume a great deal, or demand an enormous price. Otherwise, that mad evil Daoist would not have risked refusing to use it last night."

The instant the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple finished speaking, a strip of white cloth, a zhang long, suddenly shot toward them like an arrow.

Within the dim County Yamen, it was truly difficult to see clearly.

"Abbot, be careful!" A muscular Warrior Monk whose entire body had been smeared with dark golden powder roared. He strode behind the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple, immediately planted his feet in a horse stance, and tensed every muscle.

The zhang-long strip of white cloth slammed viciously into his chest, icy yin qi invading his body.

The Warrior Monk looked as though he had been struck by a giant hammer.

He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam!

His entire body flew backward.

Fortunately, the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple reacted swiftly. He immediately raised both hands and caught him firmly, preventing him from being flung away.

"Cough, cough!" The Warrior Monk coughed. The agonizing pain and icy chill in his chest filled him with alarm. "Abbot, there is a fierce ghost launching a sneak attack from the shadows!"

In truth, even without his pained warning, the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple already knew a fierce ghost had appeared.

Because he saw a white figure standing on a distant roof ridge.

Even from so far away... he could clearly feel the dense yin resentment radiating from it!

"Amitabha, such concentrated resentment... it will not be easy to deal with! That mad evil Daoist not only raises a water ghost, but also a Vengeful Ghost! Damn it... where did this bastard come from? I have never heard of such a troublesome evil Daoist."

The gravity on the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple's face deepened further.

At this moment, it was not that Yang Yizi and his two disciples did not wish to go over and assist the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple. They had encountered trouble as well.

"Master! What an enormous paper figure!!" one Daoist acolyte cried out in shock.

"Your master is not blind..." Yang Yizi drew a deep breath, his wary gaze fixed ahead.

A giant paper figure over a zhang tall had somehow already entered the County Yamen.

A zhang in Great Zhou measured a full three meters. This paper figure had to be over four meters tall, nearly five!

That exaggerated size was enough to make anyone gape at a single glance!

At first glance, the paper figure resembled a twisted giant infant.

The reason it was called twisted was because, whether due to crude workmanship or some other reason...

It did not possess a normal human shape.

Rather than an infant...

It looked more like an underdeveloped fetus!

The paper figure was covered in densely packed, bizarre talismanic inscriptions. Dense yin qi radiated from its entire body, and a thin layer of frost formed wherever its thick feet stepped.

A pair of enormous, hollow black eyes turned toward Yang Yizi and his two disciples.

At this moment...

Yang Yizi's hair stood on end!!

"Yue Qing, Yue Feng! Protect your master while I perform the ritual! This paper figure is a Great Omen of Disaster, more vicious than any baleful ghost we have encountered before!!"

"Yes, Master!!"

Both the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple and Yang Yizi wore expressions as though they felt the situation had exceeded all expectations.

They seemed to have realized that the enemies they faced tonight...

Were even more formidable than they had imagined.

Fan Wu sat in the large chair with an imposing posture, watching everything unfold with little change in his expression.

He no longer knew how to describe what he had experienced these past two days.

The strange incidents that he normally could not run into at night even while carrying a lantern.

Had all surfaced over the past two days.

And every last one of them had crossed his path!

[Vengeful Ghost formed from the Courtesan after Death—Life: 173—Strength: 4.8—Skills: Dancing Sleeves, Illusionary Technique]

[Paper Figure stuffed with twenty Ghost Infants—Life: 211—Strength: 4—Skills: Soul-Shaking Demonic Sound, Split]

Whether it was the White-robed Vengeful Ghost facing the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple.

Or the Giant Paper Figure facing Yang Yizi.

Fan Wu could see all of their attributes.