Techniques and Dao

Chapter 89 The Evil Qiongqi
In a cabin on the cruise ship, Hanamori was deep in thought.

If their guess was correct, they now knew which six talismans Young Master Lan had requested for the formation. He opened the packet of talismans.

1. Opening the Altar Incantation; 2. Lowering the Banner Incantation; 3. Breaking Hell Incantation; 4. Nine Stars Divine Incantation; 5. Mysterious Spirit Incantation; 6. Purifying the Heart Incantation; 7. Golden Light Incantation; 8. Leaving the Cold Court Incantation; 9. Purifying Heaven and Earth Incantation.

Hua Sheng compared the characters "991248" with the talismans and selected two Purifying Heaven and Earth Incantations, one Altar Opening Incantation, one Banner Falling Incantation, one Nine Stars Divine Incantation, and one Departure from the Cold Court Incantation from the talismans.

"What should we do next?" Hua Sheng and Xiao Mei looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xiao Mei said, "Shouldn't we find the jinx that Young Master Lan mentioned first?"

"If we encounter them head-on and don't know how to set up our formation, I'm afraid we're in grave danger," Xiao Qing said. "After all, the Gu Diao might just be the vanguard, and the calamity star that descends upon the world is not something we can easily deal with."

Hua Sheng said, "We need to go out and try our luck. First, we need to try to find other passengers. If there are still Gu Diao on the ship, ordinary passengers are definitely no match for them. Since we have talismans that can fight Gu Diao, we should try to rescue as many people as possible, and then wait for the sea rescue to arrive."

He thought for a moment: "If we encounter a so-called jinx, we'll use talismans to fight it off first, and if that doesn't work, we'll run away. We have no way out now."

"What about my sister?" Xiaomei was worried about Xiaoqing's mobility issues.

"Should I stay here? I can't see anything right now, I'm just a burden, I'll only drag you down if I stay with you," Xiaoqing said.

Hua Sheng looked at Xiao Qing, whose eyes were wrapped in bandages: "Leaving you here alone is too dangerous. If the Gu Diao comes, you'll just be throwing your life away in vain."

Xiaomei said, "I'll help my sister, and we'll walk together."

Hua Sheng nodded.

"Which way should we go first?" Xiaoqing asked.

Hanamori said, "I'm on the third floor now. I want to go to the large restaurant on the fifth floor. That place is more spacious and there might be some passengers gathered there."

"Alright! We'll follow you, but you have to be careful too!" Xiaoqing said. "Now we can only rely on you."

"Don't worry. I don't want to lose my life on this treacherous ship either!"

Hua Sheng put the talisman into his bag and slung it across his shoulder. He casually picked up the iron rod made of a water pipe and carefully pushed open the door. He peeked out and looked around the corridor for a moment, then waved his hand to make sure everything was alright. Xiao Qing and Xiao Mei followed him out of the room. The three of them tiptoed and made their way to the stairs at the end of the corridor.

Due to the storm, the ship's corridors were flooded. The three of them waded through the water, slowly making their way through the wet corridors by the dim emergency lights.

The cabin echoed with the clanging of steel plates being pounded and squeezed by the seawater. Some guest rooms also emitted the sounds of bottles and jars falling and shattering from the shaking. But even with her ears straining, Hanamori couldn't hear any other human voices.

As he passed by the guest rooms with their doors wide open, Hanamoto always tried to be as careful as possible, fearing that some monster might be hiding inside. He observed several guest rooms along the way and found that many of them contained daily necessities, luggage, and even cell phones.

Thousands of passengers, including the ship's crew and staff, vanished in an instant. It was as if everyone on board had suddenly disappeared into thin air.

As they walked, a chilling thought suddenly struck Hua Sheng. During this sudden storm, everyone on the ship vanished in a short time, leaving behind not even their luggage or cell phones, while strange beasts appeared out of thin air. Could it be that some kind of evil magic had been used, turning the people on board into monsters?

This is a chilling thought. If it had turned into a monster, wouldn't Hua Sheng have committed murder by destroying it and turning it into mud?
There are so many questions on this ship that it makes one a little neurotic.

Water droplets fell intermittently in the cabin passageway, the dripping sound annoying and adding to the anxiety.

Hua Sheng told himself he had to stop overthinking immediately, or he would be defeated by his own thoughts before facing the unknown. He absolutely could not collapse at this moment; he had Xu Ge's two younger sisters behind him, and he was their only support on this ship. The will to survive forced him to tell himself to stay calm until possible rescue arrived.

The three of them made their way to the fifth floor, where Hanamori found a rough map of the ship in the middle of the corridor. He located their current position, which was the upper half of the ship, near the bow. Large restaurants like this are often built on the upper decks of cruise ships to accommodate passengers' views.

Looking out the cabin window, the rain had lessened slightly. A few streaks of lightning occasionally flashed across the dark sky, but the giant black shadow that had previously streaked across the air was no longer visible.

While gazing at the sea, Hanamori noticed several flashes of light from the stern of the boat out of the corner of his eye. The flashes were blue, somewhat like the pre-flash of a camera to prevent red-eye. Hanamori leaned against the glass, trying to get a closer look, but his view was obstructed, and he couldn't immediately see where the light was coming from at the stern. He gestured for the two sisters to stop, and waited by the window for a while, but the blue light didn't reappear.

It's probably a short circuit or a bad connection in the wiring of the outdoor decorative lights at the stern. Hanamori thought for a moment and decided it would be better to go to the restaurant first.

After walking for about three or four minutes, they arrived at a place not far from the restaurant. The restaurant doors were tightly closed, and there was no sound in the corridor. The three of them walked to the restaurant door, and Xiao Mei, supporting Xiao Qing, was about to push the door open when Hua Sheng grabbed her arm.

"Wait! It's unusually quiet here. Don't rush in. Let's see what's going on inside first." Hua Sheng said, tiptoeing open the door a crack and bringing his face close.

Taking a quick glance, Hua Sheng felt a chill run down his spine. Inside the large restaurant, spanning several hundred square meters, there were over a dozen Gu Diao lying haphazardly!

Even more deadly was that, in addition to these dozen or so Gu Diao, there was also a huge scarlet monster lying in the center. The monster had a tiger-like face with fangs, its body was covered with barbs, and a pair of blue wings stretched out from its back. Its size was five times that of the Gu Diao.

This place has clearly become the stronghold of the strange beasts!
Could it be that there's no one left on this large ship? Hua Sheng carefully recalled the journey they had just made. They had traversed half the cruise ship without encountering a single passenger. At first, he thought the passengers had been attacked by the strange beasts and were hiding, but he hadn't found any bloodstains from fights or the bodies of attacked passengers in the corridors along the way. It was as if the entire ship, except for Hua Sheng and the other two, had suddenly vanished into thin air.

Hua Sheng, suppressing his racing heart, turned around and whispered, "There's a giant, scarlet winged tiger lying in the restaurant, along with a bunch of Gu Diao. If we rush in, we're probably outnumbered."

"A giant, scarlet, winged tiger?" Xiao Qing said from the side. "Could it be the evil Qiongqi?"

"Qiongqi?"

Xiao Qing said, "Both the Gu Diao and the Qiong Qi are ferocious mythical beasts in ancient legends. If the Gu Diao appears on this cruise ship, it wouldn't be surprising if the Qiong Qi also appears."

"Am I dreaming?" Hanamoto pinched her face hard, then felt a sharp pain. It seemed she was just imagining things.

"We must not disturb them; the Qiongqi is far more ferocious than the Gu Diao."

"I've already figured it out."

"Legend has it that when the Qiongqi preys on humans, it first bites off their heads and then eats the rest of their bodies, which is extremely cruel."

Hua Sheng wiped the cold sweat from his face with his sleeve: "Thank you for sharing so much knowledge. Now I'm increasingly eager to make my escape!"

Xiao Qing said, "Could it be that the jinx is this evil Qiongqi?"

Hua Sheng was about to retreat when he heard this, but hesitated again: "You mean that Young Master Lan told us to deal with this monster?"

Xiao Qing said, "If a beast like Qiongqi were to come ashore, ordinary firearms would be completely ineffective against it. This would inevitably lead to a large number of casualties."

Hua Sheng glanced at Xiao Qing, whose eyes were bandaged, then at Xiao Mei, who was completely helpless. He covered his face with his hands and whispered, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Even if I risked my life, the chances of defeating Qiongqi on my own are extremely slim!"

Xiao Mei said, "Can't we set up an array? If we lure it into the array, and use the talismans we have, we might be able to deal with Qiongqi."

This calamity has descended upon the world, and after all this time, it seems I, a mere child, am left to bear the brunt. God of Fate, aren't you being a little too casual? Hua Sheng inwardly groaned. But he wasn't entirely unarmed. Since the talisman could instantly annihilate the Gu Diao, it probably wouldn't be completely powerless against the Qiongqi, which was five times larger!

There's no monster that a single talisman can't handle; if there is, then two! Let's hope so.

Hua Sheng silently encouraged himself, then said, "There's an outdoor swimming pool outside the restaurant, and a large platform next to it. We'll set up a magic array there, and then lure Qiongqi into it. If the array doesn't work, we'll throw all these talismans at its head and mummy it!"

Hua Sheng glanced furtively at the enormous monster Qiongqi in the restaurant, then turned to Xiao Qing and Xiao Mei and said, "Let's sneak around the restaurant and go to the platform on the other side. Besides the biggest Qiongqi, there are a dozen or so Gu Diao in the restaurant. Try not to disturb them."

Xiaoqing and Xiaomei nodded. After making up their minds, Huasheng carefully carried the iron bar and walked in front, the three of them trying to keep their footsteps as quiet as possible.

As Hanamori walked, she kept her ears perked up, listening to the sounds coming from inside the restaurant. Because the restaurant was surrounded by transparent glass on all four sides, the three of them had to crouch down to pass underneath it. After a few steps, they reached a bend in the road; just around the bend was the outer deck promenade of the cruise ship.

Hanamori made a downward gesture to stop the sisters behind him. He leaned against the bottom edge of the restaurant window, adjusted his breathing, and slowly peered out onto the outer corridor.

Immediately afterwards, he saw a face that was only a fist's distance away from him, and his face came face to face with his own.

That was the face of the Gu Diao, dripping with foul-smelling saliva.

With a whoosh, the incredibly foul stench blew right up to Hua Sheng's nose. Hua Sheng was so overwhelmed by the stench that he felt dizzy and his stomach churned violently. A torrent of stomach acid surged to his throat, almost causing him to vomit it all out!

(End of this chapter)