The instant inspiration struck, Ye Yun's mind conjured the set of throwing knives he had taken from Sun Yu's Storage Bag. He brushed his left hand across his waist, and three blades as thin as cicada wings were already nestled between his fingers. Under the moonlight, the finely carved blood grooves on their edges gleamed faintly gold—that was the strange phenomenon caused by compressing his 8th Rank peak Essence Qi to its utmost.
The True Martial Secret Manual: Qi Piercing the Rainbow!
Ye Yun silently recited the mysterious mantra. The vortex of Essence Qi in his dantian suddenly spun faster. A thread of pure golden energy surged through his meridians like a river bursting its banks, flooding into the three knives. Their blades instantly blazed with dazzling golden light, illuminating the entire courtyard as bright as day. The air around them warped and twisted, and they let out sharp, explosive cracks.
The female ghost seemed to sense the mortal threat and abruptly retreated thirty feet. The chains around her ankles clattered, and her blue skirt stirred without a breeze. But it was too late!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three throwing knives shot out in a triangular formation, carving three brilliant golden trails through the air. The first pierced the female ghost's right shoulder, drawing a pool of foul-smelling black blood. The drops corroded little pits in the ground as they fell. The second sank precisely into the center of her brow. Where the blade met the sinister energy, it hissed and sent up coils of black smoke. The third was the most vicious: carrying the force of thunder, it severed the last black thread, thick as a bowl, connecting her to the ancient well!
Aaaah—!!!
Her shriek was so piercing that dust shook loose from the courtyard walls and tiles clattered to the ground. The female ghost's form twisted violently, like dough kneaded by an invisible hand, stretching long and then squashing flat. The black miasma around her dissipated at a visible rate. The seemingly ordinary chain around her ankles snapped into several pieces and fell to the ground, leaving deep dents in the bluestone slabs.
The skeleton in the well faltered too. Its bone-white fingers, which had already reached over the rim, slowly sank back beneath the water. The boiling water briefly settled, but the two ghostly green flames beneath the surface remained clearly visible, glaring at Ye Yun with venomous hatred.
It worked! Ye Yun's heart leapt. He was about to press the attack when his expression suddenly changed—there was almost no Essence Qi left in his body! The emptiness in his meridians made his vision darken. Forcing himself to stay calm, he quietly reached to his waist with his right hand and took out his last six specially made throwing knives.
Take this! Ye Yun bellowed, striking a pose as if preparing to throw with all his might. The bluff worked. The female ghost hurriedly raised her thin arms and crossed them over her face, retreating swiftly toward the well. The broken remnants of the chain around her ankles jingled against the rim, forming an eerie rhythm.
Now!
Ye Yun sprang backward. The explosive strength of an 8th Rank martial artist sent him flying toward the ten-foot wall like an arrow loosed from a bow. Each step left footprints an inch deep in the bluestone, proof of the incredible force behind his leap. Just as he was about to clear the wall, a deafening crash erupted behind him—the well water shot skyward like a fountain!
You... will all die...!
The hoarse female voice stabbed into his mind like thousands of steel needles. Ye Yun grunted, a thread of blood escaping the corner of his mouth. Enduring the pain, he glanced back and saw that the skeletal figure had crawled halfway out of the well. Ghostly green flames flickered in its empty eye sockets. Worse still, flesh was visibly growing over the bones, covering half its body in the blink of an eye!
The female ghost lunged after him, but stopped abruptly ten feet from the wall, as if she had struck an invisible barrier. With a muffled thud, dense, ancient runes suddenly appeared on her ashen-gray skin. The dark golden runes were identical to the mottled carvings on the base of the courtyard wall. Now they gave off a faint golden glow, forming a vast net that covered the entire west courtyard.
So that was it! Ye Yun understood. Some powerful expert had clearly placed a ward around this courtyard. No wonder no one had dared enter in thirty years, and Wang Fu had been so terrified when he mentioned the west courtyard. The discovery eased Ye Yun's mind a little. At least for now, the evil thing couldn't break through the seal.
Aaaah—! The female ghost let out a furious, unwilling shriek, mingled with laughter and sobbing that raised the hairs on the back of the neck. She clawed frantically at the invisible barrier, oblivious as her nails broke and fell away. The fallen nails turned into little black snakes the moment they touched the ground, wriggling into the cracks and vanishing.
Ye Yun didn't dare linger. He flipped over the wall with a nimble twist. When he landed, his legs gave way, and he nearly fell to his knees. His overtaxed Essence Qi made his vision go black in waves, while his ears rang.
Brother Ye! Yan Xiao Liu hurried over to support him. The others looked at Ye Yun as if he were a revenant, at once awed and afraid.
The constables who had come with him were all baffled by the sudden surge in Ye Yun's strength and by his escape from that monster. But not one of them dared ask. As they watched him emerge, several of the younger constables even took an unconscious half-step back, as if afraid some ill omen clung to him.
Ye Yun waved a hand to show he was fine. He took one last look at the shut courtyard gate. Horrifying scratching sounds came from behind it, as if countless claws were tearing at the panels all at once. Worse still, dozens of sharp bulges had already risen across the heavy wooden door, as though something inside were trying to burst through...
Go! Let's get out of Wang Mansion first! Ye Yun said in a low voice, his rasp hardly sounding like his own. He noticed that Wang Fu had foamed at the mouth and passed out. The servant's human skin was writhing strangely, its surface dotted with countless bulges, as if something were crawling beneath it, ready to burst through at any moment.
The others were relieved beyond measure. They hurriedly hoisted their unconscious colleague and rushed out of the mansion. As they passed through three covered corridors, every blood-red lotus in the pond suddenly closed, making sounds like a baby's wail. Black blood seeped from the eyes of the stone beast heads on the artificial mountain. Even the hanging lanterns stirred in the still air, their candle flames turning a ghastly green.
Just as they were about to charge through the mansion gate, Ye Yun suddenly stopped. He clearly heard the sharp snap of a chain breaking behind them, followed by a woman's voice, venomous to the core:
Wait... I'll soon... awaken completely...
The voice wasn't loud, but it rang directly in their minds, making everyone stumble. Worse still, every door and window in Wang Mansion slammed shut at once, sealing them all inside. On the largest vermilion-lacquered gate, a character slowly appeared, painted in blood...
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