The Ghost God, the Song of Years Past

Choke!!

Despite his extreme anger, Nie Longding remained calm. His furious pupils suddenly narrowed, and with a twist of his wrist, the tip of the knife deviated from the blade, the edge of the knife grazing the edge of the sword.

The bent blade suddenly straightened.

In the nick of time, Chu Tianshu dodged the thrusting blade to the side, parried it with his longsword, and raised his left hand to stab straight at Nie Longding's eye.

For him now, in close combat, the speed at which his left hand can pierce out is basically no slower than using silver needles, and it is even more lethal.

But, at the very moment he made his move...

The enemy suddenly split in two.

Another figure appeared to Nie Longding's right, his sword strike as swift as a startled swan in autumn water, seemingly illusory and silent.

The blade stabbed directly at Chu Tianshu's left armpit.

Chu Tianshu's hair stood on end, and his waist and hips suddenly moved backward, making him shorter, but also moving his entire upper body backward a certain distance.

Taiji Fist, Riding the Black Dragon Backwards!

The buttocks are actually a particularly muscular part of the body. This move involves using the buttocks to initiate the movement, driving the lower back backward.

This move, which is only good for short-range backward dodging and is somewhat useless, suddenly explodes with speed as fast as thunder.

Before the feet, stuck between the tiles, could even move, the upper body had already gained some distance.

Chu Tianshu's left arm suddenly swung, using the position of the copper rope on his arm to strike the seemingly real yet illusory knife.

Bite!

The knife was deflected by his whip-like hand.

The sounds they made were like metal clashing, yet they also sounded unusually hollow.

Nie Longding changed his move and slashed at Chu Tianshu's foot.

Chu Tianshu quickly withdrew his foot and retreated.

Two figures, two knives.

The sword in Chu Tianshu's hand moved like a raging fire, flicking left and right, sometimes extended and sometimes retracted.

Although he couldn't stop himself from retreating and had completely broken free of the altar, he managed to block both of their sword techniques.

After surviving the first round of terrifying attacks, he realized it.

Nie Longding was still full of energy, but his swordsmanship was not as exquisite as before.

The figure that separated from him was dressed in the attire of a Japanese samurai, with a somewhat translucent appearance.

It was handsome, but its left arm was missing, clearly a ghost that had lost an arm in life and whose spirit lingered even after death.

This is Iba Hachirō, a swordsman from an island nation more than a hundred years ago.

He was known in his lifetime as the One-Armed Beautiful Swordsman, the Iba's Tengu, for his exceptional swordsmanship.

Now, with his gray hair, white eyes, gray clothes, and white skin, he looks like a ghost.

The only distinguishing feature is a pattern on its neck, which appears to be a miniature version of a playing card.

A deck of playing cards has 54 cards, including 13 cards of each of the four suits and two jokers.

The pattern on Iba Hachirō's neck is a giant demon.

A little ghost was also attached to Nie Longding.

More than 30 years ago, a serial killer in a small town in North America, a local butcher, murdered more than 60 tourists over several years, cutting off their flesh and selling it.

When he was surrounded and captured after the incident, this butcher, who had not learned any advanced martial arts, displayed his naturally savage physique and amazing self-healing ability.

Even when soldiers arrived, he hacked five of them to death with a butcher's axe before finally dying from a hail of machine gun fire.

Many people in the gambling world know how to raise ghosts, Nie Longding, as an internationally renowned gambling king, has unique expertise in this area.

After carefully collecting these two ghosts, he neither fed them with blood nor sent them out alone to carry out missions, thus increasing their ferocity and malevolence.

He used his fame as a gambling king to create a special deck of playing cards, amplifying the symbolic meaning of the cards and using the ancient idol worship concepts represented by the patterns on the cards to restrain the two evil spirits and cleanse them of their "impurities".

Iba Hachirō's swordsmanship is more refined, while the Butcher's Ghost only retains the characteristics of increased stamina and self-healing ability when possessed.

In the Overflow Zone, most ghosts will directly transform into physical forms, and they themselves can no longer freely revert to their Spirit Body.

Under Nie Longding's manipulation, the two ghosts he raised could still choose to remain in their Spirit Body form.

They treat environmental benefits merely as a tonic.

"Receive!"

The combined attack of the two swords proved ineffective, and without hesitation, Nie Longding instantly restored the Soul of the Swordsman to his body.

Separating the two swords is a surprise move, and since it's a surprise move, it can't be maintained indefinitely.

Otherwise, once Chu Tianshu adapts, he will surely launch a fierce attack on Nie Longding swordsmanship is not refined.

This is why Nie Longding hadn't used this move before.

Being possessed by a ghost is already a considerable burden; to be possessed again after being released is even more torturous.

Nie Longding didn't know if his old bones could withstand it.

He seems to have gained the upper hand now, forcing Chu Tianshu to retreat repeatedly, but in reality, he has been forced to use risky moves and is fighting a bitter battle with gritted teeth.

Sure enough, the moment the swordsman returned, Nie Longding's face turned deathly pale for a moment, and the fingers of his left hand twitched, twisting like a chicken claw.

Chu Tianshu raised his left hand and shot out a handful of silver needles.

Nie Longding's right-hand blade seemed unaffected, its Zongheng light severing all the silver needles.

At the same time, Chu Tianshu produced a large number of hidden weapons in one go.

He used up all the silver needles he carried just now.

With a sweep of the Sanqi Divine Sword, the potted plant next to the load-bearing pillar was knocked away.

In the shattered soil, ceramic shards flew as fast as fragments of a hand grenade.

The ground on the left, the ground on the right, and the surface of the nearby load-bearing columns.

The tiles were swept away, shattering and scattering forward.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!! BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

Chu Tianshu wielded his sword with frenzied speed. The longsword in his hand was like a heavy iron whip, unleashing all the fierce and lashing power from his fist techniques.

Faced with an overwhelming barrage of "hidden weapons," Nie Longding had to defend against more than just these fragments.

They also had to be wary of when Chu Tianshu might suddenly pounce from behind the hidden weapon.

He needs to be distracted.

But even the slightest distraction will result in an imperfection in the execution of the knife.

Some shards cut his cheek, tore his trouser leg, and even embedded themselves in his left forearm.

Meanwhile, six men in black had already jumped up from the hole in the floor.

Now, Chu Tianshu's battlefield is almost a straight line, moving from the cave to the altar, and then to an even more distant place.

The two of them had now reached almost the edge of the entire floor.

Apart from some load-bearing columns, all that's left here are large expanses of floor-to-ceiling windows.

The window glass is made of very good material.

Some of the fragments that Chu Tianshu ejected occasionally splashed onto the glass surface, leaving only scratches and cracks, but not shattering it.

As soon as the six men in black arrived, they looked out the large window and saw a thick white fog.

Two figures wielding swords and knives fought in front of a large, open window.

Shards flew everywhere as the swordsman dodged left and right, even attempting to lunge forward.

Even if he gets close in an instant, the swordsman will at most clash with him three or four times.

Given the slightest opportunity, the swordsman shifted his position, sending more than a dozen pieces of broken brick flying out from under his feet.

"Great tactic!"

The young men in black's eyes lit up, and they immediately rushed to help, bending low and running, dragging their long sticks behind them.

As they ran, they saw something moving on the altar ahead.

Those were a large number of black jade fragments, which were originally scattered in various places, but suddenly they all accelerated and collided with the center of the altar.

Clang!!!

All the fragments were arranged in an orderly fashion, without colliding at the same point, but rather forming a pattern of a large tree.

The ink-black color is tinged with green, like fragments of a relief sculpture.

An eerie green light, like a vine suddenly hanging down, shone directly on the large tree.

The ceremony was only halfway through when it was disrupted by various interferences, and even Liu Tianxu, a key figure, was destroyed.

But now, the Ghost God are using the small portion of the sacrifices they just received as a connection to bestow power ahead of time.

Around the altar, those who were half-dead suddenly stood up.

The sutures on their wrists were crudely made and would not have been enough to restore their hands to their original function. Now, however, those sutures resembled the veins of a leaf, flowing with a murky vitality.

Nearly twenty people turned their heads in unison to look at the six men in black who were approaching the altar.

Their eyes rolled upwards, and you could almost hear the sound of their moist nerves being stretched.

Until the pupils completely disappeared, leaving only pure white in the eye sockets.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Laughter, both loud and soft, drifted from the other side of the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Indeed, even Ghost God can act on their own initiative; they too yearn for this era."

"The Tree of Dragon Flower is actively maintaining this ceremony!!"

The first floor of the conference building.

The two cars blocking the corridor have been pushed out by the combined efforts of the people.

Beyond the building, beyond the boundary fog of the Overflow Zone, lies a vast expanse of land.

Because the two environments overlap, this place looks like a chaotic patchwork of concrete and rust-red sand.

More than five hundred people crowded out, their Shangdu still showing signs of being half-asleep and panic.

All things pass like fleeting clouds, leaving only a withered willow branch. What is most suitable now? To be drunk, to wander, to sleep...

Shen Yuntai followed at the back of the crowd, with Fang Jun protecting her beside her.

This branch manager isn't good at direct combat, but her defensive and self-preservation abilities are quite good. What's most amazing is her support capabilities.

She awakened more than 500 people who were nearly unconscious and weak in their limbs with a single poem.

All things pass like fleeting clouds, leaving only a withered willow branch.

"What is most suitable now? To get drunk, to travel, to sleep!"

The poem reached the ears of more than five hundred people, but it was not recited to them.

Instead, it is meant for the boiling, surging resentment.

The cultivation Dharma Lineage practiced by Shen Yuntai is called "The Millennial Song," which was also formerly known as "Chanting Before the Throne."

Some people traveled to mountains, border regions, and towns, presenting their poems to the emperor, showcasing the unique charm and features of each place.

Poetry spanning a thousand years tells the story of the past and present. Ancient poems can depict the features of today, drawing strength from the popular Millennial Song ago.

Shen Yuntai repeatedly recited the poem "Xi Jiang Yue" to prevent the resentment from being drawn away by the high-speed rail from the top floor.

Otherwise, if Liu Tianxu had been serving as a channel for venting pent-up resentment at the time...

Chu Tianshu's sword strike could at most shatter or send the jade statue flying; it would be truly difficult to shatter it in one blow.

"I don't think they're fully conscious."

Fang Jun said, "Minister, is there any other way to help the higher-ups?"

Shen Yuntai smiled and said, "The power to absorb resentment suddenly weakened just now, so the core of the ritual should have been destroyed."

"Everyone here has already left the ceremony area. If you need help, just go up there."

As she spoke, she pointed to Fang Jun's legs, "Silver saddle on White Horse, swift as a shooting star."

Fang Jun's trouser legs crackled once, and ten transparent, flowing characters flashed across his legs.

He felt his legs were full of power; with that jumping ability, he should be able to climb directly to the third floor through those holes inside the building.

But just as he was about to run into the building, Shen Yuntai's expression suddenly changed, and he looked towards the third floor.

The surrounding crowd became agitated and began to look towards the third floor.

"What is that?" "What's wrong? My head is spinning again!"

A pale gray, transparent aura of resentment surged from the crowd and rushed towards the third floor.

Some of this resentment seeped into the French windows, while some remained outside, accumulating into pained faces.

It looked like someone was playing a prank, drawing on the glass with fog.

However, those faces were so lifelike.

Moreover, they were densely packed, almost filling the entire floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor.

His face, contorted with pain, seemed to move as he swallowed large gulps of something.

The resentment below was drawn to them even faster.

"All things pass like fleeting clouds, leaving only a withered willow... No, this won't work!"

Shen Yuntai took out a white jade pendant with the auspicious lion head, placed it against his throat, and suddenly turned to the crowd, saying, "Don't panic!"

The sound was like a deep lion's roar in everyone's ears, silencing the crowd.

More than five hundred people's eyes were all on Shen Yuntai, their fear so clear, their calm demeanor seemingly about to crumble at any moment.

"Sing hymns, sing hymns with me."

Shen Yuntai's mind raced as he assessed the situation before him.

These five hundred-plus people themselves are already vessels of resentment.

All the resentment was painstakingly accumulated by them, bit by bit.

In this process, they naturally gained a certain degree of control over those grievances.

However, they are all just ordinary people, and they are completely unaware of or unable to utilize this ability.

There's no other way now but to try and see if we can guide them to suppress their resentment and cut off the extraction process.

But which poem should be chosen? It needs to be long enough and easy to recite.

Even with someone leading the chanting of classical Chinese poems, can these people truly grasp the meaning, invest their energy, and sing them together in unison?

Some of the elderly could no longer hold on and, like fallen wheat, collapsed to the ground in droves.

But fear made them realize that if they fell asleep here, they might never wake up again. The will to survive kept them going, and they sat up in a half-sitting position.

"Just sing?!"

People grasped at this last straw, "What kind of poetry are we singing?"

Fang Jun, his face also flushed with anxiety, suddenly said, "Can you sing? A modern song!"

Shen Yuntai's eyes darted around quickly. "It needs to be widely sung, and it also needs to have a majestic feel..."

"Good!"

Fang Jun shouted to everyone, "You all know this song, sing it now!"

Even after hearing what he said, everyone was still uneasy, unsure whether they could actually sing.

But when they heard the first line, just five words, their doubts vanished, and they excitedly joined in the singing.

They can all sing.

The Great Wall, stretching ten thousand miles, forever...

The Great Wall will never fall!

They may not believe that singing can ward off such a haunting event, but out of fear, they have no choice but to trust the authorities and do the only thing they can do now.

From the staggered, rushed beat of the first line, to the second line, it sounded like they were all shouting together.

The Yellow River flows mightily for a thousand miles!

"With its beautiful landscapes and vibrant peaks, how can my country resemble a diseased place?!"

Shen Yuntai also started singing.

As soon as she sang, she added a melody and all the necessary music to the song, giving it its finishing touch.

"... Open your eyes, look carefully, who is willing to admit to being a slave?"

"Because of their timidity and forbearance, their arrogance has grown daily!"

This is not a song from a thousand years ago, but it is the song of millions.

This song caused a sensation back in the 1980s, before the handover, and it's still being sung today.

This is a song that everyone here heard when they were young, and they can still hear it often now that they are old.

It started as a theme song for a TV series, but the essence of this song has long since transcended the limitations of just one TV series.

Even if one day the entire TV drama industry were to fall apart, no one would want to watch old, classic dramas with poor picture quality.

This song will still be heard by some, familiar to others, and evoke inexplicable feelings.

They don't need to be poets or lyricists with exceptional literary talent and a deep understanding of ancient music.

Even those who are unlucky, have no assets, are destitute in their old age, and have been deceived, still share a common identity, and therefore can all sing this song.

"Shout! Shout loudly! This is a nation mobilized for war!"

"Throughout history, any bandit who attempts to invade will ultimately meet their demise!"

The singing grew louder and louder, dispelling the men who were staring at them and draining their strength.

It was as if layers of invisible mist had burst open in mid-air.

Shen Yuntai's hands changed into twelve hand seals in an instant, while his singing continued.

"The Great Wall will never fall, the Yellow River flows on and on..."

The resentment being extracted from more than 500 people was completely severed from this ritual.

The vibrations caused by this fracture, guided by Shen Yuntai, reached the very top of the ceremony.

Boom!!!

On the altar, the relief sculpture made of jade fragments suddenly trembled and turned into dust.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor were all shattered, spraying glass powder outwards.

Two figures flew out from the third floor and landed on the ground amidst a loud singing voice.

(End of this chapter)