"They could be the souls of ordinary people who were dragged in here, some of whom may have had their physical bodies destroyed long ago. Let's try a few then."
Xiang Mantang did not respond to Mu Jinyu's suggestion and soon found a middle-aged man with a fierce demeanor. She then controlled the ghost shadow behind her to extend towards him.
"Ssst!"
As soon as the ghost shadow touched the man's figure, it instantly shredded it like a piece of paper, which then transformed into specks of light and gradually dimmed down.
"This doesn't seem dangerous," Mu Jinyu commented upon seeing this and let out a sigh of relief. She then gathered the Ghost Candle in her hand and asked, "So now, do we light the Ghost Candle to see if we can summon the looming disaster, or do we explore the vicinity first?"
"Dragon Master, what is a Ghost Candle?"
Jian Ruyan, now less tense and uncomfortable since Mu Jinyu had loosened his grip, looked at him gratefully and asked.
Because they had arrived in haste, both she and Xiang Mantang were unclear about the function of the Ghost Candle that Sheng Rulai and the others had found.
Mu Jinyu introduced them to the efficacy of the Ghost Candle and then hesitated, adding, "Of course, this is what Sheng Rulai told me. He shouldn't deceive me, but the people of Paradise Lost might conceal or lie…"
"Perhaps the effect of the Ghost Candle is not to summon demons but to increase the strength of the nearby demons several-fold under the flame of the Ghost Candle?"
Upon hearing this, Xiang Mantang said nonchalantly, "No problem, let's try it. There don't seem to be any demons nearby anyway, and even if there are, I'll just collect them into the Ghost Domain!"
"Alright then!"
Mu Jinyu nodded at Xiang Mantang's words, preparing to light the Ghost Candle that resembled a dead man's finger.
He then felt the pull on his sleeve by Jian Ruyan and found it a bit cumbersome. He turned to Jian Ruyan and said, "Ah-Xiu, hold onto my sleeve, don't let go. I'll light the Ghost Candle."
"Oh, okay."
Although Jian Ruyan didn't quite understand why Mu Jinyu insisted on holding onto each other, if he had instructed her to do so, and since he wasn't grabbing her hand, simply pulling on his sleeve, she complied without hesitation.
She reached out and took hold of Mu Jinyu's sleeve. Seeing this, Mu Jinyu let go of her sleeve, then began to recite Taoist Law, and a flame burst into existence between his fingertips.
Then, Mu Jinyu slowly brought the flame from his fingertips towards the Ghost Candle.
"Ssst!"
The Ghost Candle was lit.
A pale, eerie flame began to flicker.
"Whoosh…"
In an instant, a chilling and bone-piercing wind started to howl around them.
The wind twisted and thinned the slack-jawed figures stumbling their way towards them, and as the wind grew fiercer, these figures couldn't hold on and were blown into specks of light that dispersed with the wind.
"Whoo-whoo…"
The demonic Qi grew denser, and the clothes of all three were flapping wildly in the wind, their bodies struggling to stay grounded as if the wind was about to whisk them away.
Seeing this, Jian Ruyan finally understood Mu Jinyu's concerns. No longer being coy, she withstood the discomfort and firmly grasped Mu Jinyu's hand to prevent them from being scattered and lost.
The evil wind intensified, and Xiang Mantang, her expression grave, squinted as she observed the changing surroundings. Eventually, she noticed that the little town of Dongying was being sliced open by the raging wind, revealing villages of African tribes.
It was as if some of the stylistically similar Dongying oil paintings had suddenly been replaced with primitive African artwork, creating an awkward and peculiar contrast through these inexplicable changes.
Xiang Mantang felt a shiver of fear. This place was indeed bizarre. If Mu Jinyu hadn't followed them in with the Ghost Candle, she feared that if she had been alone with Jian Ruyan searching for the looming disaster, she might have never found her way back after several shifts in the terrain.
And even now, if the howling wind continued, they might genuinely become lost here.
"Whoosh…"
Just then, the raging wind abruptly stopped, and two figures, one black and one white, reminiscent of Black and White Impermanence, appeared above them.
Emanating a strong demonic presence!
Xiang Mantang, although he had never seen them, recognized them instantly as the only two Level Six demons, the Calamity of Fear and the Tide of Chaos!
"Huff... Huff..."
As they appeared, the ghostly green flame of the Ghost Candle in Mu Jinyu's hand started flickering wildly as if it was about to be extinguished!
"Boom!!"
As soon as the two demons appeared in the void above, before Xiang Mantang could make a move, they directly lunged to attack them!
"Pfft!"
As they pounced, the Ghost Candle couldn't withstand the ferocious demon qi and went out directly!
"Hmm?!"
Xiang Mantang, seeing them charging at him and the others, could clearly feel the immensely strong force of demonic evil, chillingly sinister.
It was far different from what Mu Jinyu had told him before, a force that was silent and insidious, only subtly affecting humans.
Clearly, this Mirror World must be their home turf, which is why they could display such ferocity here that they couldn't in the real world!
However...
A cold smile curled at the corner of Xiang Mantang's mouth, watching as the two demons, like Black and White Impermanence, were about to reach them, when suddenly the ghost shadow behind him stretched out its arms.
"Shsh! Shsh!"
The ghost hands of the ghost shadow, with precise targeting, steadily grasped the two demons!
This instantly made it impossible for them to continue their frenzy!
Just as Xiang Mantang was preparing to drag them into the Ghost Domain, suddenly, with two 'pfft' sounds, the two demons turned into a wisp of grey smoke and disappeared.
"Escaped?"
Xiang Mantang's eyebrows knitted tightly, finding the situation to be somewhat troublesome!
In this Mirror World, these two demons were far more capable than the fifth-level demons he had captured in the real world!
"Did it fail?"
Mu Jinyu watched as Xiang Mantang's ghost shadow caught the two demons and then saw them disappear from view; he initially thought they had been successfully captured.
But seeing Xiang Mantang's furrowed brow and absence of a smile, he felt that it probably was a failure.
"Hmm," Xiang Mantang's eyebrows relaxed, and he said without much disappointment, "This is their home field. It's normal to let them slip away if we are not careful. Let's try again."
"Okay," Mu Jinyu nodded.
He then let Jian Ruyan relax her tight grip on his hand and go to pull at her sleeve as he lit the Ghost Candle once more.
With the Ghost Candle lit, the dismal green Ghost Fire flickered, and once again, a fierce wind arose.
Then, the Calamity of Fear and the Tide of Chaos came as expected, but this time, before Xiang Mantang could act and without even touching them, the Ghost Candle was extinguished under their ghost qi, and they escaped once more.
"What should we do now?"
Jian Ruyan tightly held Mu Jinyu's hand, looking anxiously at the remaining bit of the Ghost Candle in his other hand, she asked with concern.
Xiang Mantang's eyebrows were furrowed as well, uncertain what to do next.
The Ghost Candles were not enough; they couldn't afford to waste them recklessly.
After a moment of thought, Mu Jinyu turned his head toward the way they had come and said, "Let's go back first, and ask Buddha Head and the Pope for advice to see if they have a way to hold these two demons down and prevent them from running away!"