The candles in the inn's main hall flickered wildly a few times, then all went out at once.
The next instant, that grayish-white fog, thick with a stench, swallowed the doors and windows.
The tables and chairs, whose outlines had still been faintly visible, vanished completely into the pallid haze. It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
"Enough of your spooky tricks! Kill them!"
Several Imperial Guards could no longer contain their fear. The oppressive atmosphere had nearly driven them to the brink of collapse.
Roaring, they brandished their fine-steel sabers and charged heedlessly into the depths of the fog.
"Ah—!"
"Help! What is that thing? My leg..."
Shrill screams rang out through the fog, then abruptly stopped, as if something had cut them off mid-cry.
What followed was the sound of chewing and the crisp crack of breaking bones.
The hall fell silent. Only that bloodcurdling chewing echoed through it.
Chen Ping didn't move.
The moment the candles went out, he had already retreated without a sound to the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor.
With a wall at his back and the higher ground beneath him, he could attack or defend as needed.
His eyes narrowed as the Longevity of Pine and Crane circulated through him at full force.
A warm current flowed into his eyes. Gradually, a few shapes emerged in what had been pitch-black darkness.
They were several indistinct gray shadows.
They had no physical bodies, only forms condensed from smoke. They drifted through the dense fog, swift as ghosts.
Chen Ping watched as one gray shadow rose from the corpse of a dead Imperial Guard. The body shriveled before his eyes, as if its vital essence had been sucked dry.
"This definitely isn't some Jianghu trick..."
Chen Ping's heart pounded. His palm, gripping the saber's hilt, was slick with cold sweat.
Just then, a gray shadow sensed Chen Ping's gaze. It wheeled sharply through the air and hurtled toward the stairs in a gust of icy, rancid wind!
It lunged as fast as lightning.
Chen Ping had no time to think. The muscle memory forged by years of hard training made him react instinctively.
He twisted to one side and swung his saber with a howl of wind, hacking viciously at the gray shadow's "head."
He put all his strength into that strike; it could have split a boulder.
"Whoosh!"
The saber passed straight through the shadow's body without resistance, as if he had struck empty air. He felt no impact at all.
"What?!"
Chen Ping was aghast. A helplessness unlike anything he had ever felt surged through him.
Physical attacks were useless?
The shadow's severed body quickly rejoined. It swiped a claw at Chen Ping's chest. Though the claw was also formed of mist, it carried a bone-deep chill.
At the critical moment, Chen Ping's perfected Light Body Movement Technique saved his life. He touched one toe to the stair railing, bending his body backward at an impossible angle.
"Riiip—"
His robe was torn across the chest, and several bloody scratches appeared.
He had escaped being disemboweled, but an icy, sinister aura seeped through the wounds and into his skin. Half of Chen Ping's body stiffened, and even his blood seemed to slow.
"Damn it!"
Chen Ping was horrified. The cold was actually eating away at his inner force!
Having landed its blow, the shadow let out a piercing shriek and lunged at him again.
This time, Chen Ping had nowhere to dodge. The wall behind him blocked his retreat, and the chill inside his body had slowed his movements by half a beat.
At that very moment—
"Buzzz—"
The second-floor door flew open. A gentle yet resilient milky-white barrier spread out, enveloping Chen Ping and the few Imperial Guards still alive at the foot of the stairs.
The gray shadow struck the barrier with a sizzling sound, like snow splashing into boiling oil, and billows of black smoke rose from it.
"Eee—!"
The shadow let out a pained shriek. As if it had encountered its natural enemy, it recoiled in terror and vanished into the dense fog, afraid to approach again.
Chen Ping panted heavily, still shaken, and looked back.
Ye Muqing stood in the doorway, clutching a glowing Jade Pendant.
It floated above her palm, radiating a gentle light. That glow was what had driven the ghostly creature back.
Ye Muqing had none of the poise of a noblewoman left. Her face was as pale as paper, and beads of sweat covered her forehead. Maintaining the barrier was clearly taking a heavy toll on her.
"This is the Exorcism Technique."
Ye Muqing's voice trembled slightly.
"The things outside are vengeful spirits. They're controlled by an Evil Cultivator from the Cultivation World. Mortal weapons can't harm them in the slightest. Only martial artists with exceptionally vigorous qi and blood can stand a chance, wrapping their weapons in their own Essence Blood."
"The Cultivation World... an Evil Cultivator..."
Waves of shock crashed through Chen Ping's heart.
He had suspected as much, but seeing it with his own eyes and hearing it with his own ears still shattered everything he thought he knew. The shock made his scalp prickle.
So even if a mortal's martial arts were trained to the peak, he wouldn't even have the right to fight back against such ghosts?
"Utter nonsense!"
A furious shout broke Chen Ping's train of thought.
The Imperial Guard commander gripped a heavy sword, his eyes bloodshot.
Seeing his subordinates die had filled him with rage. He refused to believe in ghosts and spirits.
"Evil cultivators and ghosts? It must be some charlatan's parlor trick! I'll cut down the scoundrel behind all this!"
"Don't go out!" Chen Ping shouted without thinking.
But it was already too late.
To steady his men and prove his own valor, the commander charged straight out of the barrier's protection and swung his sword at a shadow deep in the fog.
"Whoosh!"
The fog churned. A Bone Nail as black as ink shot out of thin air, ignored the inner force protecting the commander, and pierced straight through his brow.
The commander's charge came to an abrupt halt.
His eyes widened. There was only a red dot between his brows, and no blood had yet spilled.
"Thud."
His body toppled stiffly to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
A martial arts expert with profound inner force had died just like that, without the power to resist?
The remaining Imperial Guards completely broke down. Some dropped their weapons and trembled, while others slumped to the ground in despair.
"It's over... We're all going to die here..."
With their commander dead, panic spread through the group inside the barrier—more deadly than the fog outside.
Chen Ping forced down his fear.
He couldn't let them lose their heads. If they did, they were dead!
He glanced at Ye Muqing, who was swaying on her feet, then at the gray shadows prowling outside. The terrain map he had studied during the day flashed through his mind.
"Everyone, get up!"
Chen Ping whirled around, seized the nearest Imperial Guard by the collar, and shouted,
"If you want to live, follow my orders! This inn is exposed on all sides. We can't hold it!"
He turned to Ye Muqing, speaking rapidly and firmly.
"Miss Ye, how much longer can your barrier hold?"
Ye Muqing looked at Chen Ping in surprise. She hadn't expected this usually meek Tanhua to be so decisive.
"Half an incense stick at most," she said through gritted teeth.
"That's enough!"
Chen Ping's gaze was as sharp as a blade as he swept it over the others.
"There's a Broken Temple three li to the east. It's built against the mountain, with only one path leading up and a cliff at its back. It's easy to defend. We'll use Miss Ye's barrier to break through and make for the temple!"
"But the commander..."
"The commander is dead! I'm in charge now!"
Chen Ping stopped hiding the Killing Intent on him. The cold ruthlessness he had forged amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood made the Imperial Guards shudder. Without thinking, they chose to obey.
"Move!"
Chen Ping led the way, supporting the weakened Ye Muqing as he rushed out of the inn with the survivors under the cover of the barrier.
In the fog, the gray shadows were wary of the barrier. They circled nearby, shrieking, but didn't dare approach.
As they passed the commander's corpse, Chen Ping's steps faltered.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the black Bone Nail embedded in the commander's brow.
Near the nail's tail, several twisted, blood-red runes were faintly visible, glowing with a dim, eerie light.
"So this is... a Magic Artifact?"
Chen Ping's heart tightened. He didn't dare stop, but he committed the shape of those runes to memory.
The mountain road, muddy after the rain, made everyone stumble as they sprinted along.
The fog behind them clung like a parasite, close on their heels. Strange laughter echoed through it, a death knell from the depths of hell.
At last, the Broken Temple's ruined gate came into view.
"Get inside! Hurry!"
Chen Ping roared. He kicked the last Imperial Guard through the temple entrance, then slammed shut the two rickety wooden doors.
The moment they entered the Broken Temple, the Jade Pendant in Ye Muqing's hand let out a crisp crack. A fine fracture appeared across it.
The barrier around them flickered twice, then dimmed.
"Pfft!"
Ye Muqing's legs gave way. She spat out a mouthful of blood that stained the front of her robe red.
The Jade Pendant in her hand had lost all its light. It had clearly reached the end of its strength.
Outside the temple, the fog immediately surrounded the entire Broken Temple.
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