"Ahhhh!!"
Mu Jinyu had already led a group of people to escape to the back hall. As the last person entered, the monk who had fled first immediately closed the door with force and blocked it with his back.
At that moment, three piercing and desperate wails suddenly erupted outside.
"What is that?"
"Are those Chen Sheng and the others' screams?"
"Did something happen to them?!"
The remaining nine Star Lords of Xingxiu turned pale instantly when they heard the extremely tragic howls outside, and their faces couldn't help but change color.
Without guessing, they knew that Chen Sheng and the other two who had stayed outside to subdue the Ghost-Faced Demon most likely met with disaster, losing their lives.
From those wails, they could hear their desperation and unwillingness before their demise.
This sent chills down their spines.
If they hadn't chosen to follow Mu Jinyu into this back hall just now, they probably would have met the same fate as Chen Sheng and the others.
"Dragon Master, this..."
One Star Lord looked at Mu Jinyu with a face full of fear and unease.
He hoped Mu Jinyu could shed some light on the situation of the three people, Chen Sheng, outside.
How would Mu Jinyu know so much? He turned his head to look at the disheveled monk leaning against the door.
"No need to think about it. That ghost face is very special. It must have been enraged by now. Currently, none of our methods can harm it, and it can easily peel off our faces!"
The monk, weakly leaning against the door, spoke.
He had already exhausted much of his energy in the long struggle against the Ghost-Faced Demon and has just been rescued not long ago. After rushing to the back hall in haste, he slumped powerlessly down the door after finishing his words.
From standing blocking the door, he became slouched sitting at the doorway.
Mu Jinyu frowned deeply upon hearing his words.
"We can't suppress it? How long do we have to wait, then? And why can't the ghost face come in to trouble us when we hide here?"
Mu Jinyu asked several questions in a row.
After breathing heavily for a few moments, the monk answered, "I'm not sure how long we will have to wait. I've only encountered it once before. After two hours, it returned to a normal state and could be suppressed, but a moment of carelessness turned into what you just saw, and it almost stripped my face away."
"Or rather, it wasn't trying to take my face, but to completely cover my face and control my body!"
As he spoke, the monk raised his hand and pointed towards the door, continuing to answer the other question, "As for why the ghost face can't come in after we hide here, I'm not too clear on the specific reason either."
"Maybe it's because of the two door god paintings affixed outside on the door?"
The monk concluded with his guess.
"Is that so?!"
Mu Jinyu's brows furrowed even deeper after listening to the monk's words, feeling an increasing sense of urgency.
He speculated, "This Ghost-Faced Demon, does it grow stronger the more faces it peels off?"
"Mhm, that's right," the monk nodded.
Mu Jinyu said, "Then my three subordinates who just met with trouble outside probably had their faces taken as well. I'm afraid its strength will become even more formidable. Are we still safe staying here?"
Hearing Mu Jinyu's reminder, the monk's face changed, and he hesitantly said, "This... I don't know... maybe... we're safe?!"
"Wuu wuu wuu wuu..."
"Hee hee hee..."
"Heh heh heh..."
"Kekekeke..."
No sooner had his voice faded than a series of eerie laughter and crying sounded around them.
And it wasn't just one demon laughing; it was a group of people, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing. But whether it was laughter or crying, it made people's hair stand on end and their skin crawl.
"Hehehe..."
"Wuwu..."
At this moment, Mu Jinyu also heard a series of faint laughter and sobbing sounds in the rear hall.
He turned his head sharply to look.
He saw the nine Star Lords, their expressions incredibly creepy, their mouths unconsciously curling into smiles or their brows furrowing in sobs, seemingly manipulated by the unpredictable Gui Lian as their faces changed with the laughter and crying outside.
Mu Jinyu's chill spiked, his heartbeat quickened. The ability of this ghost-faced demon was not too bizarre, was it? Even the Gold Inlaid Jade Magical Instrument, which could shield against knocking demons, nursery rhyme girl demons, and other great demons, seemed utterly ineffective before it!
"Darn it!!"
Just as Mu Jinyu was at a loss.
The monk bellowed suddenly, like the roar of spring thunder, or the rumble of a great bell, filling one with a sense of enlightenment.
"Om om om..."
As the monk's voice rang out, the Gold Inlaid Jade Magical Instruments worn by everyone recovered instantly from their inert state, bursting forth with a brilliant blue light and enveloping them all.
"What just happened to us?"
"So terrifying, that demon could actually control us from afar?!"
At this point, the Star Lords all came to their senses, and the creepy laughing and crying faces disappeared, replaced by expressions of shock, uneasiness, and fear.
Mu Jinyu, seeing their protective artifacts finally taking effect, breathed a sigh of relief.
He felt somewhat guilty, thinking that his intention today was to train them, but he nearly cost them their lives.
Fortunately, they all came to their senses in the end and no further casualties occurred.
"Benefactor, it seems your concerns have come true. The demon outside has acquired your men's faces and grown stronger, now capable of befuddling people from a distance. I will no longer speak; you all be careful," the monk said to Mu Jinyu and then sat down cross-legged on the ground, fingering a string of Gold Inlaid Jade Buddha Beads while softly chanting a section of Buddhist scriptures.
As the monk chanted, the blue light shimmering on everyone was enhanced with another layer of the resplendent golden light of Buddha's Light...
In an instant, all the ghostly wails and foolish laughter from outside were no longer audible.
Mu Jinyu watched this scene, thinking that the monk had some real skill. The scripture he was reciting, although unintelligible, must be a core text from Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere, right?!
And as he listened to the scripture, Mu Jinyu felt the unsettling, agitated, and panicky emotions in his heart slowly dissipate, replaced by a sense of serenity and clear purity.
"Clap clap clap!"
At that moment, a strange and terrifying scene occurred!
Behind the monk, the door suddenly sprouted countless pale faces with eerie smiles and sobs. Then pale hands began to emerge, slowly reaching out from the door, stretching out their arms to grab the monk!
"Guanyin Bodhisattva..."
The monk seemed oblivious to the uncanny scene and continued his chanting.
However, Mu Jinyu could detect a slight tremble in his voice, indicating that the monk might not be totally unaware of the malevolence occurring.
Just as the hands were about to seize the monk, Mu Jinyu was preparing to use the Heavenly Thunder Method to see if it could drive the hands back.
The monk suddenly stopped chanting and bellowed, "Damn it, I can't stand it anymore!"
After the shout, he leapt to his feet, pulled a handgun from his pocket, and started firing at the ghost hands on the door!