Chapter 306: 306: Jiang Nuo Missing
This ghost head is much tougher to deal with than Old Nine, Old Seven, and the others. A small mistake, and you might get shot by his flying hair.
Once hit, it’s either poisoning you or the hairs burrow into your flesh, wrapping you up entirely.
Even if you cut the hair, the ones that burrowed into your flesh remain there. Unless you take special measures, trying to find each fine hair is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Moreover, even after being cut, these hairs can still absorb the essence from the human body, wandering around like living things.
However, during their intense battle, Xiao Ning suddenly screamed, "The idol is gone?!"
Everyone turned around abruptly. Sure enough, Jiang Nuo was gone.
"Minister, what do we do?" Old Nine became anxious immediately. Jiang Nuo had just started cultivation. If something happened to him alone, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. But the issue is that he has a Golden Core ancestor behind him — his wife.
Moreover, she is also the minister’s martial aunt. If anything happens to Jiang Nuo under the minister’s watch, would his martial aunt let the minister off?
Gong Leitian felt a pang in his heart, but appeared very calm on the surface: "The Grandmaster has an amulet given by his martial aunt. He’ll be fine. Alright, everyone, step it up. Break this array, find the Evil Path, and then we’ll find my Grandmaster."
"Yes, Minister!" Hearing the minister’s words, everyone was motivated, pulling out their best skills, vowing not to break the evil "Sucking Yin Ghost Car," they wouldn’t be fit to be called human.
"Bang—"
With a slight sound, something invisible shattered, and the overcast skies instantly cleared up. Countless ghost banners fluttered above the dilapidated factory. Hungry ghosts drawn by the "Absorbing Yin Ghost Formation" gathered here, unable to leave.
This was the first floor of the factory, cluttered with unsorted junk, heaps of rubble, and broken bricks. It seemed someone once wanted to clean up here but, for some unknown reason, left it unfinished.
The dilapidated walls were smeared with various black inks, depicting hideous ghosts, extremely terrifying. Upon closer inspection, one could also find spells hidden among these ghosts, creating psychological suggestions for uninitiated intruders, nine times out of ten entering an illusion realm.
They might see themselves being chased by ghosts or falling into ghost pits, eventually killed by ghosts, becoming one themselves.
"It seems this Evil Path has big ambitions, not only wanting to refine a Ghost King but also directly creating ghost soldiers," Qing Daojun said squinting his eyes after surveying the scene.
"Such people are too wicked! If he succeeds, who knows how many ordinary people will suffer. Minister, we must deal with him!"
"Should we deal with downstairs first, or the upstairs?" Old Nine asked.
"You and Old Seven stay downstairs, the rest follow me upstairs," said Gong Leitian.
"Yes!"
Despite seeming unreliable usually, Old Nine obeyed the order without a word, staying downstairs with Old Seven. Qing Daojun and Xiao Ning followed Gong Leitian upstairs.
The stairway floor was covered with a sticky black liquid, unknown what it was, making each step disgustingly mushy.
"What is this stuff?!" Xiao Ning didn’t even want to move upward.
"Seems like corpse oil!" Qing Daojun said.
Xiao Ning, with a resigned face, exclaimed: "You might as well not have said it!"
"You’re the one who asked," Qing Daojun definitely wouldn’t admit this was "revenge," as the little girl earlier only cared about pleasing her idol, despite how well he usually treated her.
Reaching the second-floor entrance, a basin of blood splashed ahead.
Gong Leitian reacted quickly, conjuring a light screen to block the blood outside.
Xiao Ning was so frightened by the blood that her heart almost stopped: "What kind of blood is this?"
Gong Leitian extended a finger, dabbed a bit, and put it near his nose, saying, "Dog blood, seems like black dog blood."
He turned around and handed each of them an amulet.
"This was personally crafted by my martial aunt. It’s safer to wear it on you."
"Minister, why didn’t you take out this good stuff earlier?" Qing Daojun noticed the amulet, recognizing it as high-grade, something someone at their level couldn’t possibly produce.
"Exactly!" Xiao Ning echoed.
"If you don’t want it, you can give it back," Gong Leitian definitely wouldn’t say, he had more good stuff hoarded than just this.
The three of them continued forward.
Pushing aside the Black Curtain Ghost Banner revealed a pitch-black hall. The surroundings were covered with something, allowing no light to penetrate. Yet, kneeling in the center was a shadowy figure, with incense altars and other items before him, white candles of varying heights burning, wisps of incense smoke rising. On the wall hung a portrait seemingly of an ethereal, Taoist sage.
Regrettably, the room was too dark to see clearly.
Gong Leitian only managed a rough glance before feeling something grab his foot. Firing off a Light Formula, a female ghost wailed and swiftly sank into the ground.
Simultaneously, the three finally saw the floor, no longer the original cement but covered with various summoning ghost arrays.
They stood at the very center of a Summoning Ghost Array.
What chilled him to the bone was the forty-nine skeletons hanging on the walls, each still with flesh and a Ghost Pot beneath, each harboring a formed malevolent ghost within.
Additionally, corpse oil constantly dripped from the skeletons into the Ghost Pots.
The figure kneeling in the center wasn’t anyone else but the "Array Eye Living Person" meant to be offered to the Ghost King.
At this moment, with eyes wide open, he looked at them in terror, seemingly having abandoned all hope, without even a desire to survive.
The Light Formula glimmered for a moment before dimming, prompting Gong Leitian to launch another, searching for the Evil Path figure.
"Hahaha... You’ve actually come in! But too bad you’re too late, you’ll serve as food for the Ghost King now..."
The laugh echoed from all around, making their ears tingle.
"This voice is awful!" Xiao Ning complained in pain.
Qing Daojun chanted a mantra, tapping a few times by her ear, instantly relieving her discomfort.
"You’re the best to me!" Xiao Ning said.
"Just reciprocate that in the future, and that’s fine," Qing Daojun replied.
Xiao Ning was puzzled: "Uncle Jun, I’m usually quite good to you; whenever there’s good food or fun, I think of you."
"Haha!"
"Uncle Jun, what do you mean?"
"Better than your idol?"
"But...that’s an idol!" Xiao Ning looked bewildered.
"Haha, is an idol that great?"
Xiao Ning finally realized; was Qing Daojun jealous?
"Uncle Jun, you’re overthinking it. An idol is just an idol, and it’s rare to see him. Of course, I’d want to impress him. But it’s different with you, Uncle Jun; we meet so often, almost every day. There’s no need to impress you specially, just being sincere to you is enough."
Qing Daojun felt slightly more at ease: "That’s more like it!"