Blade - Unbound

The killing intent of lightning essence was unleashed, allowing the true power of the Thundercloud Divine Drum to manifest.

Lightning embodied the transformation of yin and yang. It was the natural bane of all ghosts, demons, and malevolent entities. Thus, techniques involving lightning and thunder had always been regarded as the most powerful methods within the Daoist traditions.

Luo Mingzi had cultivated the Dao since he was a child, and was one of the elite enforcers of his sect. Even so, he had only just mastered the basics of Palm Lightning, and its power was only enough to scatter qi.

Naturally, it was extremely difficult for Li Yan to employ such a technique. Even with the aid of spiritual artifacts, it was a technique that harmed both enemy and user.

"Hong!"

The drumbeat exploded like thunder as Li Yan felt his head buzzing violently. His vision turned white, and he nearly fainted on the spot. His body swayed, and the taste of blood surged up his throat.

Damn!

Li Yan was secretly alarmed and immediately activated the Great Luo Dharma Body to restore himself. The technique's power was astonishing, but its backlash was even more terrifying than he had imagined. A single strike had already inflicted internal injuries.

Fortunately, that thunderous drumbeat had also scattered most of the yin entities. Everyone inside the ancestral hall was left dizzy and disoriented by the shockwave.

Sha Lifei covered his ears and grimaced. He was just about to speak when he noticed something wrong with Scarry Yue beside him.

It looked as though Scarry Yue had suffered a stroke as the muscles on his face twitched uncontrollably. Combined with his naturally fierce appearance, he looked downright terrifying.

"Old Yue, you..."

Sha Lifei had barely begun to ask when Scarry Yue's eyes suddenly changed.

The previous dazed expression vanished, replaced by malice and madness. Without warning, Scarry Yue pulled the dagger from his waist and lunged at Li Yan's back.

Li Yan had just activated the divine drum. His soul was still trembling from the recoil, and his divine ability had yet to recover. Naturally, he failed to notice the attack behind him.

Sha Lifei reacted instantly. "Watch out!"

He tackled Scarry Yue to the ground and slammed the hand holding the dagger against the floor. The weapon skittered across the ground.

"Old Yue's possessed! Help me hold him down!" Sha Lifei roared as he pinned Scarry Yue to the ground.

He wasn't stupid. Though Scarry Yue looked vicious, he was actually an honest family man. He respected Li Yan greatly. There was no way he would suddenly develop murderous intent.

The only explanation was that he was possessed. Before anyone could react, however, Sha Lifei felt a tremendous force erupt from Scarry Yue's body, nearly throwing himself off. Fortunately, the other porters had already realized something was wrong. They rushed forward and piled onto Scarry Yue.

Even so, their faces turned red with exertion. For some reason, Scarry Yue's strength had increased dramatically. The group felt as though they were restraining a wild beast. He might break free at any moment.

Wang Daoxuan's face changed drastically. "Impossible..."

He looked at the Five Grains scattered on the ground, then at the talismans hanging on the pillars. His eyes gradually filled with disbelief. Though he didn't understand what was happening, he immediately took out an Exorcism Talisman.

Forming hand seals and activating the talisman, he prepared to stick it onto Scarry Yue's forehead. Most talismans were single-use items. Unless it was a precious talisman that formed its own self-sustaining formation, it couldn't be casually removed once attached.

The talismans Luo Mingzi had gifted him were authentic products of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect created by true talisman masters and consecrated before ancestral altars. They were empowered through sacred ink, ritual inscriptions, and offerings of incense.

In total, they had only been given ten of them. Even though Wang Daoxuan felt the loss keenly, he had no choice. However, before he could act, Scarry Yue’s eyes suddenly rolled back as he fainted.

Everyone sighed in relief, only to discover that another porter holding Scarry Yue down had begun trembling. A vicious look appeared in his eyes. He snatched up the fallen dagger and stabbed directly down at the unconscious Scarry Yue's chest.

At that moment, before the blade could strike, Li Yan kicked him away.

The porter rolled twice across the ground before rising to his feet. Instead of attacking again, he simply stood there staring at everyone. A strange smile stretched across his face in the firelight as he stood on tiptoe. Both feet rested atop the grains that had been scattered on the ground. Yet, there was no reaction whatsoever.

Sha Lifei swallowed hard. "Daoist... What kind of monster is this?"

"It's not a yin spirit." Wang Daoxuan stared at the porter grimly. "It's a living soul. A ritualist has projected his soul from his body and possessed someone.

"Fellow Daoist, who exactly are you?"

The possessed porter ignored him completely. Instead, his eyes rolled unnaturally around the room. He spotted the coffin before turning to the temporary memorial tablet for Wu Laosi on the altar.

His facial muscles twitched violently. "Wu Laosi is dead? How dare he die?! How could he die?!"

His words were incoherent, and his eyes grew increasingly crazed. He started to pant heavily, like a beast. "Where's the Summoning Writ? Where's my Summoning Writ? Where did he hide it?!"

Li Yan pulled a token from his robes and held it up. "Looking for this?"

His divine ability had already recovered, and he could clearly smell a strange scent on the porter that resembled a living soul. Yet it also carried the coldness of a rotting corpse.

He was starting to become suspicious. The person who carried out the ritual was likely one of the ritualists who had searched for Wu Laosi all those years ago. Unexpectedly, the man had been patient enough to wait this long. Could the Summoning Writ possess some hidden secret?

Sure enough, the moment the token appeared, the possessed man's breathing grew ragged. His eyes locked onto it and within them were both fear and longing.

Suddenly, he pressed the dagger against his own throat. "Give it to me! Give it to me now! Otherwise everyone here dies!"

A flash of anger crossed Li Yan's eyes. To a certain extent, he had indeed wronged Wu Laosi's final request. The man's dying wish had been for the Summoning Writ to be returned to his sect's ancestral altar and placed before the statue of the Great Emperor of the Northern Fengdu Underworld. Instead, through sheer coincidence, Li Yan had become a living yin emissary.

Originally, he had intended to reveal the Summoning Writ because he suspected the ritualist might be one of Wu Laosi's fellow disciples. Perhaps the attack had simply been a misunderstanding.

But now? The man was threatening innocent lives. Clearly he was no good person.

Though killing intent surged within him, Li Yan had no idea how to counter such bizarre techniques. For the moment, he could only hand over the token.

"Wait!" When Li Yan moved to toss the Summoning Writ, the possessed man panicked. "Don't try anything! Put it on the ground!"

Li Yan's heart stirred and an idea formed. Though he still didn't fully understand the nature of a living yin emissary, there was something Wu Laosi had mentioned. The criminals they hunted came in many forms. Some were people who had returned from death while others were terrifying ghosts. Some were living corpses practicing forbidden arts. Many possessed tremendous power.

Wu Laosi himself had only cultivated to the second level. He wasn't particularly strong compared to such criminals. That was why he had said that when capturing souls, simply presenting the Summoning Writ would force the target directly into the underworld.

Can this man also be one of those criminals?

Unfortunately, the ritualist was watching him carefully. Any suspicious movement could result in the deaths of several people.

Li Yan slowly crouched and placed the Summoning Writ on the ground before kicking it forward. He used hidden force, sending the Summoning Writ tumbling across the floor.

It passed Sha Lifei, stopping a short distance in front of him. At that moment, Sha Lifei's back was facing Li Yan, but Li Yan trusted the old jianghu veteran.

The ritualist’s words had already revealed several flaws. Sha Lifei had also been present when Wu Laosi recounted his past. The question was whether he could understand Li Yan's intentions.

As the Summoning Writ came to rest, the possessed man's gaze followed it downward. His breathing grew heavier as longing and fear filled his eyes. However, there was also madness and confusion flashing through his eyes.

A glint flashed through Li Yan's eyes as he recognized that the man's mental state was clearly unstable. Completely captivated by the Summoning Writ, he forgot his surroundings and crouched to inspect it.

Moments later, however, his expression changed dramatically and he roared, "What happened?! It's gone! Someone got it first...

"Junior Brother Fang? No. I killed him myself!"

At that very moment, Sha Lifei's gaze flashed. "Fuck you, asshole!"

He stepped forward, snatched up the Summoning Writ, and slapped it directly onto the possessed porter's forehead.

The effect was immediate as the porter collapsed backward.

"ARUGH!"

His entire body convulsed as he let out a beastlike howl of despair. However, the Summoning Writ now functioned like an immobilization talisman. He couldn't move.

Sha Lifei and the others immediately rushed forward and pinned him down.

"Sssss!" Sha Lifei sucked in a breath. "What the hell did this guy do? His body's colder than ice!"

Li Yan hurried over, his expression grave. "It's the Summoning Writ."

The moment the Summoning Writ touched the man, he had smelled something change. An invisible force had emerged to bind the sorcerer. Yet the scent only lasted for an instant before vanishing completely. The phenomenon was eerily similar to Wu Laosi's death.

Divine abilities were not omnipotent. When one's cultivation was insufficient, higher-level powers simply couldn't be perceived. Perhaps the power came directly from the underworld itself. Unfortunately, there was no time to ponder that now. The immediate issue was how to break the possession technique.

Li Yan asked, "Daoist, do you have a solution?"

Wang Daoxuan frowned deeply and shook his head.

The strange spirit who possessed the porter overheard them, and his initial surprise quickly turned into delight. "Hahaha... You don't know how to use it, you don't know how to use it!

"What a joke."

His voice had completely changed. It was now hoarse and vicious. "Be smart and release me. The Summoning Writ can only restrain me for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. After that, you'll all die even more miserably."

A killing intent flashed through Li Yan's eyes, but his tone became gentler. "Senior, we only accepted a request to return a coffin to its homeland. We know nothing about your grudge with Wu Laosi."

"Exactly." Sha Lifei chimed in. "Everything can be discussed. That thing's a treasure to you, but it's nothing but trouble for us."

The ritualist seemed to calm slightly. Though unable to move, his eyes shifted toward Li Yan. "You became a living yin emissary?"

When Li Yan nodded, fury filled his eyes once more. "The Underworld is blind! First Wu Laosi, then some idiot like you who understands nothing! We refuse to accept it!"

"So what if you don't accept it?" Sha Lifei mocked. "The big shots in the underworld simply don't like you. Even with the Summoning Writ, you can't do anything."

The words seemingly struck a nerve as the ritualist exploded. "You know nothing! As long as a living yin emissary breaks a taboo, death is inevitable! When that happens, the Summoning Writ chooses a new master!

"Hmph, Wu Laosi, that fool. He probably never knew. We were the ones who taught his friend the method he used to return from death and become a fierce ghost! Even if we failed this time, we would simply go after his son next."

So that's how it was.

Li Yan's killing intent grew stronger as Sha Lifei cursed loudly, "You're despicable, stabbing your own fellow disciples in the back."

"Fellow disciples?" The ritualist laughed until tears formed. "I was better than him at everything, why was that idiot chosen instead of me?"

Li Yan suddenly spoke. "You're lying. If you're truly fellow disciples, why did a Cold Altar Wandering Master guide me? Hmph, the lineage of your sect has already died out."

"What?!" The ritualist’s brow furrowed. "You're talking nonsense. I'm still alive and Junior Sister is still guarding the altar. Where would a Cold Altar Wandering Master come from?"

This time, even Li Yan was stunned. While they were occupied interrogating the sorcerer, Zhao Kui and his men waiting outside the village had grown increasingly impatient. Naturally, they couldn't sense the gathering spirits.

"Strange, why are they still beating drums in the middle of the night?"

"Chief, I've seen spirit mediums do that. They beat drums to ward off evil."

"Spirit medium my ass, that's clearly a Qin-Han war drum!"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Why did the drum stop again?"

"We haven’t received a signal from over there either."

"Chief, do you think something happened?"

The men chattered endlessly as Zhao Kui's expression darkened. Finally, he gritted his teeth and grumbled, "Mister Lu probably failed. Our target's already alerted. If they escape, we're all screwed. Brothers, follow me, we charge into the village!"

At his command, the constables immediately lit their torches.

At the agreed signal, the other groups that had surrounded the Wu Family Gully from the other directions did the same. Torches flared to life from every direction as they rushed toward Wu Family Gully.

At that exact moment, Li Yan had just confirmed that the Cold Altar Wandering Master had nothing to do with the ritualist’s lineage. Though countless questions remained, there was no time to ask them.

Turning to the rest, he quickly called out, "There are people coming, and there’s a lot of them. Everyone, grab your weapons!"

Everyone immediately armed themselves and looked toward the entrance. Outside, a river of torchlight approached, accompanied by dense, chaotic footsteps.

Forty to fifty constables stormed toward the ancestral hall.

"Surround the place!"

"Don't let a single one escape!"

Zhao Kui relaxed when he saw only a handful of people inside. He stepped forward and barked, "Who are you people? Why are you sneaking around in the middle of the night? If you're smart, put down your weapons and come with me to the magistrate's office!"

Not seeing Lu San had already put him in a foul mood. However, Li Yan ignored the fool completely. Instead, he looked toward Sha Lifei.

Sha Lifei cursed quietly. "Damn it. I personally saw Qiao Sanhu leading his people to worship their ancestors. Why are they causing trouble again?"

What he didn't know was that every side had misjudged the situation.

When nobody responded, Zhao Kui's eyes widened. "What? Are you trying to rebel?"

Ordinarily, jianghu folks could only swallow their injustice and allow the officials to do whatever they want at those words. However, Zhao Kui didn't know that Li Yan already had a headache.

Even with two lifetimes of experience, he was still only human. He wasn't omniscient, nor could he predict everything. Behind him was a ritualist who might break free at any moment, and now, a group of idiots had come looking for trouble.

So when Zhao Kui threatened him, a vicious fire ignited within Li Yan's chest as he raised his Guanshan blade.

He snarled, "You pieces of shit, so what if I am rebelling?! What can you do about it?"

With that, he charged. At the same moment, a strange whistle sounded through the night.

"Ahhh! Snakes!" Chaos erupted among the constables at the rear.

Without anyone noticing, venomous snakes had appeared at their feet. Each found a target and struck as more than a dozen men were bitten instantly.

At the same time, Li Yan crashed into their ranks, his blade flashing. Two constables fell before they could react, splattering his face with blood. Under the torchlight, he resembled an asura emerging from hell.