Before her eyes was a gray, misty expanse, with the howling wind in her ears.
It felt as if she were being swept through the wind, enveloped in a thick fog.
In an instant, the mist parted like rippling water, and her vision cleared.
Shi Pengpeng focused her gaze and found herself standing in a deep, dense forest.
The night was thick, and towering trees blocked out the moon.
The sky was obscured by layers of intertwined canopies and vines, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering through the gaps in the foliage.
The air around her was unusually hot and humid, completely unlike the climate of Xiluo.
Shi Pengpeng furrowed her brows slightly, sensing something amiss but not having the time to dwell on it.
She quickly took out a tracking incense stick and lit it.
The smoke drifted ethereally but dissipated on the spot, unable to trace Yan Jing’s whereabouts.
Her heart sank as she pondered her next move.
Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound came from beside her.
A tall figure emerged from behind a large tree, lunging at her unexpectedly.
Shi Pengpeng was startled but instinctively sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the attack in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, she swung her arm, delivering a powerful punch.
The assailant clearly hadn’t anticipated her swift reaction, his breath hitching momentarily.
However, he adapted quickly, letting out a loud shout and thrusting out a palm to meet her fist.
Their fists and palms collided in the darkness with a dull thud.
Shi Pengpeng felt the opponent’s palm was as hard as iron, the impact sending a sharp pain through her fist.
She couldn’t help but let out a cry, retreating several steps.
At the same time, the man exclaimed, “Damn, this demon’s strength seems to have increased!”
His voice was deep and resonant, clearly belonging to a skilled martial artist.
“No way?” a woman’s voice followed, wailing, “Are these spirits evolving this fast now?!”
The woman’s voice was clear and melodious, sounding oddly familiar.
Shi Pengpeng’s heart stirred, and she immediately flung out a talisman.
The talisman ignited, illuminating the figures of a young man and woman standing opposite her.
The man was dressed in a gray martial arts uniform, his muscles bulging, with a shaved head-clearly a warrior monk.
The woman, on the other hand, was dressed in traditional ethnic attire, her hair tied up at the back, revealing a slender neck adorned with a delicate silver snake necklace.
Both parties were equally shocked upon seeing each other.
“The Gu King!”
“Pengpeng!”
Shi Pengpeng and the woman exclaimed simultaneously.
“How is it you?!”
The woman was none other than Shi Pengpeng’s senior from the Liangyi Academy, Bai Wanmu.
Bai Wanmu hailed from the southern borderlands, her maternal lineage being a long line of “grass ghost women,” commonly known as Gu masters.
Shi Pengpeng and Bai Wanmu had often interacted during their time at the academy, maintaining a decent relationship.
Previously, when Xu Qiannian was afflicted with a heart-confusing Gu by Zheng Bing, it was Bai Wanmu who had remotely guided them in breaking the curse.
Bai Wanmu confirmed Shi Pengpeng’s suspicions this unusually humid and dense forest was indeed in the southern borderlands.
However, even Bai Wanmu, a local, wasn’t entirely sure of the exact location.
Shi Pengpeng asked, puzzled, “Then how did you end up here?”
“It’s a long story…” Bai Wanmu sighed.
“You know I’ve been assisting our local police in handling cases of Gu-related fraud. After investigation, it turned out these cases were linked to a scam operation in Myanmar…”
Shi Pengpeng slowly uttered three words: “Longevity Island.”
“Huh?” Bai Wanmu was surprised.
“You already know?”
“Not just that,” Shi Pengpeng said with a kind tone, “I also know that it was them who caused me to lose my official position. Hehehe…”
Bai Wanmu rubbed her arms, “…Stop laughing, it’s scaring me.”
Bai Wanmu informed Shi Pengpeng that significant progress had been made in the anti-fraud efforts.
The main forces of Longevity Island had been dismantled, and most of its members had been captured.
They were now being tried with the assistance of the Biannan authorities and the Xuanmen practitioners.
However, there was one issue that remained unresolved.
“Master Shanren and I were originally assigned a task to release river lanterns upstream in Mengshui…” Bai Wanmu explained.
Master Shanren was the martial monk who had just confronted Shi Pengpeng.
“Release river lanterns?” Shi Pengpeng was puzzled at first but quickly understood, “To guide the souls?”
“Yes,” Bai Wanmu nodded.
The fraudulent operations led by Longevity Island had wreaked havoc for years, causing countless deaths, with many perishing in foreign lands.
In the realm of the living, there are borders, and in the realm of the dead, there are boundaries as well.
The souls of those who died unjustly, like rootless duckweed, would remain stranded abroad if no one guided them back.
Thus, after the fall of Longevity Island, the Xuanmen began continuous efforts to summon the souls, hoping to bring them back to their homeland.
However, despite several attempts, only a few wandering spirits from earlier years had been summoned.
As for those who had died due to Longevity Island’s atrocities, not a single soul had appeared.
This left everyone deeply puzzled and without any leads.
Unable to find a solution, the Xuanmen practitioners decided to unite and hold a grand ritual to forcefully open the boundary between the living and the dead, offering salvation to all.
For this purpose, they had made a large number of river lanterns and distributed them across the border waterways.
Releasing river lanterns is a common ritual.
It is believed that humans belong to the yang realm, while ghosts belong to the yin realm; land is yang, and water is yin.
By releasing lanterns into rivers, lakes, and seas, they can guide lost souls and show them the way home.
Hearing this, Shi Pengpeng’s heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! No, no, those souls might not be stranded abroad…”
Wu Xiayu had once told them that during his time on Longevity Island, he had accidentally discovered that the island not only harmed the living but that the boss, known as the “National Teacher,” had secretly imprisoned the souls of the dead.
However, this was done so covertly that even other members of Longevity Island were unaware of it.
At the time, they hadn’t thought much of it, assuming that as the anti-fraud efforts deepened and Longevity Island was eradicated, these issues would naturally resolve themselves.
Now, it seemed the situation was far more complicated than they had imagined.
“Such a thing actually exists!” Bai Wanmu and Master Shanren exchanged glances, both shocked.
“Amitabha,” Master Shanren said with deep concern, “If that’s the case, then we’re in serious trouble.”
The National Teacher, with his vast connections, had already received word and fled.
His current whereabouts are unknown.
If those souls are indeed in his hands, who knows what fate awaits them.
But worrying won’t help, as they now faced an even greater problem.
Since Bai Wanmu was a local, the Xuanmen had assigned her to work with Master Shanren to release lanterns upstream in Mengshui, a more remote location.
Mengshui is the river that borders Biannan and Myanmar.
To the north lies the dense forests of Biannan, while to the south is the border of Myanmar.
Bai Wanmu grew up in Biannan and was very familiar with Mengshui.
Everything had been going smoothly, but just after they finished releasing the lanterns, a thick fog suddenly enveloped the area.
The fog was unusual, and both Bai Wanmu and Shan Ren immediately felt a sense of caution, wanting to leave as quickly as possible.
However, in just a moment, they were engulfed by the mist and found themselves in a completely unfamiliar place, with all their communication devices rendered useless.
Not only that, but they also encountered an extremely bizarre stranger.
“What kind of stranger?” Shi Pengpeng asked curiously.
“We’re not sure either…” Bai Wanmu shook her head and was about to explain further when Shan Ren suddenly leaped into the air, kicking towards the night: “Be careful!”
Shi Pengpeng reacted swiftly, grabbing Bai Wanmu and quickly stepping back several paces.
Above the spot where they had just been standing, a long, thin shadow was now hanging upside down from the tree canopy.
The shadow’s feet were hooked onto the tree, its body dangling downward, with two long braids hanging from its head.
It looked both eerie and absurd.
Shi Pengpeng couldn’t help but feel a chill.
She had been on high alert the entire time, paying close attention to their surroundings as they spoke.
Yet, this stranger had somehow approached them without revealing even a trace of its presence, using the branches as cover.
Shan Ren, having just suffered at the hands of this stranger, knew its tricks.
It was only by the faint moonlight filtering through the trees that he noticed the shadow’s movement.
Upon being discovered, the stranger let out a strange, high-pitched laugh, sounding both like a woman and a child.
“Yiyaya, discovered! What a sharp-eyed bald monk you are “
With a nimble swing, it dodged Shan Ren’s kick and lunged forward, landing on the ground and engaging in a fierce struggle with him.
In the dim moonlight, their movements were incredibly fast, the sound of fists meeting flesh echoing continuously.
In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of blows.
However, Shi Pengpeng soon noticed something odd.
The stranger’s movements were extremely agile, even faster than Shan Ren’s, but its limbs seemed oddly stiff.
This slight stiffness caused its attacks to always fall just short.
In contrast, Shan Ren’s martial arts were clearly more solid, each strike landing with precision, giving him the upper hand from the start.
Yet, Bai Wanmu looked worried: “Ah, I’m afraid Master Shan Ren won’t be able to defeat it!”
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Shan Ren took a hit and was forced back several steps, breathing heavily.
Shi Pengpeng also realized something: “This thing doesn’t feel pain?!”
Shan Ren was clearly more skilled, having landed several solid blows.
His punches and kicks were particularly fierce, as Shi Pengpeng had just witnessed.
If it were an ordinary demon or ghost, even if not severely injured, its movements should have been affected.
But this stranger only seemed briefly hindered, quickly recovering as if nothing had happened.
Seeing the situation take a turn for the worse, Shi Pengpeng decided to intervene.
“Essence of Yin and Yang, the fire of Yang resides in the heart!”
A yellow talisman flew out, heading straight for the stranger.
The stranger noticed the talisman and turned its head, letting out another eerie laugh:
“Where did this little mage come from? Is this supposed to test me?”
As he spoke, he opened his mouth and exhaled toward the yellow talisman.
The red cinnabar instantly lit up, and in the next moment, the talisman burst into flames, turning into ash that scattered in all directions.
“Ah!” Bai Wanmu exclaimed in shock.
“What on earth is this thing? It’s not afraid of my gu insects, and now even your talisman magic can’t handle it?”
Earlier, when they first encountered this strange figure, Bai Wanmu had released a “Heart-Bewitching Gu” in an attempt to control it with her Gu techniques.
However, the stranger, for reasons unknown, remained completely unaffected by the Gu insects.
Shan Ren then tried to physically subdue it, but soon discovered that the stranger was also impervious to physical pain.
Both of them were at a loss, and they barely managed to escape and hide.
“This is bad. It seems like this thing has no weaknesses…” Bai Wanmu was pacing anxiously.
“Are we really going to meet our end here?”
“Don’t panic,” Shi Pengpeng said calmly.
“I’ve only used one ‘Tooth-Dispelling Talisman’ so far. I haven’t even brought out the ‘bomb’ yet!”
Bai Wanmu was confused.
“What bomb?”
“Have you never played ‘Fight the Landlord’?” Shi Pengpeng retorted with a hint of disdain.
As she spoke, she swiftly completed a hand seal and shouted, “Command!”
Four yellow talismans suddenly appeared at the four corners surrounding the strange figure.
The cinnabar glowed brightly, forming a “Four Symbols Talisman Array.”