Hundred Ghosts Night Parade

After removing the corpse poison from Yan Jujian with talismans, Shi Xuan walked to the other side and patted Ding Mingde awake. Ding Mingde groggily reacted, "Brother Zi'ang, what was that sound just now? Why was it so piercing?"

"It should be the innate Spiritual Power of that ghostly creature, similar to a soul-shocking technique. But it seems she doesn't know other spells, otherwise she wouldn't have been so easy to deal with," Shi Xuan judged. In fact, the ghostly howl just now was more like the roar of a female demon he had read about in novels, just less powerful.

After the toxins were removed, Yan Jujian slowly woke up. Seeing Shi Xuan and Ding Mingde standing beside him, he quickly got up, looked back and forth between the two, and asked doubtfully, "Did the two of you save me just now?" As he spoke, his eyes swept over the female corpse beside them, and he was startled by its rotten appearance, "Is this the woman from before? How could..." He suddenly remembered the strange incident where crushing the woman's pulse had no effect, and he didn't continue speaking.

Ding Mingde excitedly spoke before Shi Xuan, "Great Hero Yan, Brother Zi'ang is an immortal in the world with great Magical Power. You don't know that the female ghost was easily destroyed by Brother Zi'ang's immortal methods!"

Yan Jujian looked at Shi Xuan, then at the female corpse, and solemnly bowed to Shi Xuan, "Thank you, Celestial Master, for saving my life. I apologize for the previous misunderstandings."

"Alright, Great Hero Yan, you worry too much. But now is not the time for idle talk. The three ghostly creatures sent here have been eliminated by us. A larger-scale invasion is bound to come, and we must be prepared," Shi Xuan reminded the two.

Ding Mingde then remembered they were still in the lair of the ghostly creatures, and his face turned pale again. Yan Jujian was a little flustered but quickly calmed down and said to Shi Xuan, "Regarding this ghost-exterminating matter, I will do whatever Celestial Master wishes. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do."

"Actually, with your robust Qi and Blood, ordinary ghostly creatures would not dare to approach you. They would be burned by your Yang energy if they got close. To harm you, a ghostly creature of a higher realm would be needed. At least the strength of the three ghostly creatures just now was not enough to do that. However, they were very strange, not like any I know. There must be a special reason for them to be able to do that," Shi Xuan seized the time to explain to Yan Jujian, as he might need his help later. "I'm telling you this so you don't lose confidence. When the ghostly creatures attack later, you can still handle ordinary ones, just be a little careful."

After listening to Shi Xuan's explanation, Yan Jujian visibly let out a long sigh of relief, then signaled Shi Xuan to quickly give instructions on how to prepare.

Seeing that Yan Jujian had regained some confidence, Shi Xuan said with satisfaction, "Go and close the windows and doors, then barricade them with tables and chairs. I'll handle the rest."

Ding Mingde was somewhat confused, "Zi... Celestial Master, will blocking the doors be useful? Those are ghosts!"

Shi Xuan waved his hand, "Hurry up and do it. Blocking the doors is to guard against any humans mixed in with the ghosts."

Although Ding Mingde and Yan Jujian still had questions, such as why there would be humans with ghostly creatures, time did not allow them to ask more. The temperature of the entire courtyard seemed to have dropped several degrees, and strong winds blew in gusts.

Seeing the two start working, Shi Xuan was not idle either. He took out the more than twenty talismans he was about to use and placed them on the table. This significantly reduced the number of talismans Shi Xuan had on him. Besides the ten or so left by Old Daoist Xu, he had less than twenty of his own drawings left.

After Yan Jujian and the others finished, Shi Xuan activated and pasted the Ghost Dispelling Talismans, Soul Suppressing Talismans, Evil Breaking Talismans, and other talismans onto the windows, doors, and walls in their respective positions. After pasting nearly twenty talismans, Shi Xuan was sweating profusely from exhaustion. It was a pity he didn't know any defensive formation spells, otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to paste so many. At the same time, Shi Xuan placed the remaining seven or eight talismans in the most accessible positions in his sleeves and belt.

One moment blue light, the next white light, then red light. The bursts of spiritual light from the spells made Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde stare at Shi Xuan in amazement as he chanted and activated the talismans. At this point, Yan Jujian truly believed that Shi Xuan was a master with Magical Power, while Ding Mingde was so excited he couldn't sit still.

Seeing Shi Xuan finally stop, Ding Mingde solicitously poured him a cup of water. Shi Xuan checked the water and, finding it safe, drank it with relief before slumping onto a stool. "Now that we are all prepared, we just have to wait for them to make their move."

"Celestial Master, I wonder... I wonder... if I could... become your disciple?" Ding Mingde hesitated for a long time, unsure what to ask.

"Alright, you can still call me Brother Zi'ang. Brother Mingde, what do you want to ask?" Shi Xuan saw Ding Mingde's hesitant and struggling expression and guessed he wanted to ask if he could become a disciple and learn magic. Although Shi Xuan aspired to the Dao and had no time to take disciples, he had some fate with Ding Mingde. Moreover, from their interactions over the past few days, he could see that Ding Mingde had a decent character. If he truly wished to learn, since the Returning to Truth Scripture still lacked a successor, Shi Xuan could teach him the first three layers for now. If he could achieve something in the future and they met again by fate, he could give him the later parts then.

"Let's... let's finish this matter first." Ding Mingde was somewhat reluctant to let go of his secular life. In the legends he knew and the stories he had heard, seeking immortality required entering deep mountains to cultivate.

Shi Xuan did not force the issue, as he could already feel many ghosts and corpses approaching from all directions. He stood up and said to the other two, "Alright, the ghostly creatures are here."

Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde stood up abruptly, tilting their ears to listen. They could faintly hear countless ethereal cries, shouts, and calls approaching, growing louder and closer.

Yan Jujian took a deep breath, picked up his oversized sword, and stood at Shi Xuan's front-left, directly facing the door. Ding Mingde continuously chanted in a low voice, "The Master said, 'One does not talk of strange powers and disorders'..." Then, with self-encouragement, he stood beside Shi Xuan.

The closest ghostly creatures quickly arrived in the courtyard. In Shi Xuan's perception, these were the most orthodox ghosts, not the strange ghostly creatures with heavy deathly aura from before. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Orthodox ones were good. At least the talismans they had pasted could block this wave, though this was only the first wave.

As the ghosts got closer, their ghostly cries became more piercing. Individually, it was manageable, but so many ghosts gathered together and shrieked simultaneously, their power was enough to surpass the ghostly creature's shriek just now. However, as soon as the power of the shriek approached the room where Shi Xuan and the others were, it triggered the effect of the talismans on it. Bursts of golden light flowed like water over the windows, doors, and walls, blocking the sound waves generated by the shriek one by one.

Therefore, what the people inside the room heard was already filtered by the talismans. The three did not experience dizziness or disorientation, although Ding Mingde seemed somewhat restless.

More and more ghosts poured in from outside the door. With the shrieking attack ineffective, the ghosts at the front frantically slammed into various parts of the room. The ghosts that hit the golden light were annihilated amidst the shrieking, but they came one after another, without hesitation. Under this suicidal assault, the golden light slowly began to dim.

The surroundings turned pitch black. The moon, which had been visible earlier, was now obscured by dark clouds that appeared over the courtyard. The entire courtyard was so dark that one could not see their hand in front of their face. Outside the door, outside the windows, outside the walls, on the roof, in all directions except under their feet, there were piercing ghostly screams and the sound of them frantically slamming into the golden light. Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde in the room were infected by the atmosphere and became extremely tense. One, with his many experiences, could maintain composure, while the other's legs were trembling and his whole body was shaking.

Shi Xuan, behind the door, was relatively calm. After all, he still had many talismans on him. These pasted ones, if they could eliminate these weak ghost grunts, would be considered a success. At the same time, he was secretly surprised. He had originally thought that people with strong Qi and Blood would not be attacked by ordinary ghosts, but judging by the current situation, Yan Jujian could probably only withstand the suicidal attacks of forty to fifty ghosts before his Qi and Blood weakened and he was devoured by the ghosts behind him.

In less than half an hour, nearly a thousand ghosts from all directions had died under the golden light. Only a few stragglers were still slamming into the golden light, and the golden light was close to being completely dim. It probably couldn't withstand a few more attacks.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps, slow but firm, could be heard approaching the courtyard from not far away. Shi Xuan sensed about a hundred of them. Their aura was very similar to the three ghostly creatures from before, but with a heavier deathly aura and more sluggishness. They were also moving very slowly. It seemed that it was because of this speed that they did not launch their attack together with the previous ghosts.

Shi Xuan, having recovered his state during this time, was back to his condition before using talismans. Yan Jujian and Ding Mingde, having gotten used to the situation, were no longer as nervous.

The ghostly creatures slowly walked into the courtyard, their footsteps heavy, indicating considerable strength. The one in front shouted in a hoarse voice, "Our master kindly invited you, but you showed no gratitude. While our master is cultivating, you ruined his beloved maidservants. This old servant has come to capture you to await judgment." It was clearly the Head Steward who had led them in earlier.

Before, Shi Xuan had not opened his heavenly eye. Now, seeing the Head Steward again, he could perceive that his aura was basically the same as the three maidservant ghosts from before: a strong deathly aura combined with considerable spirituality. Yes, and beside him were two others with similar spirituality.

Thinking of the characteristics of the previous maidservants, Shi Xuan said to Yan Jujian, "The ghostly creatures outside now should be similar to those we killed before. Their physical bodies are more like clothing. Therefore, unless the core is destroyed, they will not be significantly harmed. Great Hero Yan, you need to be careful. It's best to cut off their necks or break their skulls."

Yan Jujian nodded in agreement, "After Celestial Master's two interventions, I have some confidence in killing ghostly creatures. However, that shrieking attack is hard to guard against. Do we have to cover our ears? How can we listen to the wind, discern sounds, and dodge attacks then?"

Shi Xuan nodded, took out talismans, and applied the Disaster Aversion and Blessing Incantation, the Righteousness and Evil Resistance Incantation, and the Earth Armor Talisman to the three of them respectively. Among these, the Righteousness and Evil Resistance Incantation was mainly used to resist mental and soul attacks from ghostly creatures. Shi Xuan sighed slightly. The talismans on him had suddenly decreased by nine again. He had only eighteen left of his own drawings: five Qi Induction Thunder Talismans, five Golden Light Soul Breaking Talismans, two Earth Armor Talismans, one Soul Sealing Ghost Summoning Curse Talisman, one Righteousness and Evil Resistance Incantation Talisman, one Poison Removal Talisman, two Universal Salvation Sweet Rain Incantations, and one Fire Burning Talisman.