A life of idleness in the world of demons

Chapter 20. The Second Refining of the Talisman

Several days later, at Wangyue Prefecture, Manfeng Mountain.

Armored units are stationed here, arranged in small squads: shield bearers in the front, spearmen in the middle, and crossbowmen in the back, with each squad having at least a hundred men.

The soldiers were surrounded by strange ink, which spread out lightly, like even and delicate "black bricks" on the ground. Anyone who walked on the ground would inevitably leave a mark on this ink.

Each team operates on a two-shift system, with half the team resting and the other half taking over.

They cannot retreat because their mission has only just begun.

They have been here for four days and four nights.

They don't know how much longer they have to wait.

But unless the general above them gives the order, they have to keep waiting.

Soon, night falls.

The bright moon casts a dense carpet of fallen leaves onto the ground.

Numerous torches and braziers lit up from the ground, their blazing light turning the sky red.

Suddenly, a group of martial arts practitioners dressed in tight-fitting clothes came from afar. After their arrival, they skillfully joined the various armored units, guarding some dimly lit areas on the perimeter, forming a complementary joint defense.

The general of this army, clad in armor, marched out from afar.

Among the people of the martial arts world, a Taoist priest in a yellow robe led two young disciples to greet them.

"General Zhang."

"Master Han".

After exchanging brief greetings, the two stood together in silence, the atmosphere somewhat oppressive.

Soon, more people arrived from afar. These were all renowned masters from Wangyue County and the surrounding counties, each carrying their own special weapons.

A moment later, two more Taoist priests in yellow robes appeared, making a total of three, including the first one.

The three of them, along with General Zhang, got together and started talking more.

"Is the Celestial Master really coming?"

"The army here was dispatched by the Celestial Master. Of course the Celestial Master has to come. Not only does he have to come, but he also intends to launch a formal attack on Manfeng Mountain."

“We have lost too many people here, and there are at least three kinds of demons here.”

"Fortunately, the bear demon in Laoshan, Xinghe County, was destroyed by you, Master Han."

Before he could finish speaking, the yellow-robed Taoist who had previously used the Golden Snake Entangling Bear technique at Laoshan waved his hands repeatedly, then shook his head solemnly.

He did not reveal the true situation of "Laoshan" to the outside world because the Celestial Master did not want to create further panic.

If General Zhang was the leader of the soldiers in Wangyue Prefecture, then the Heavenly Master was their leader.

Seeing his expression, the remaining two Taoist priests both looked thoughtful.

One of the Taoist priests asked, "In short, it was destroyed, right?"

This time, the yellow-robed Taoist did not deny it, and said, "Yes."

The Taoist priest nodded slightly: "Fortunately, they were destroyed, otherwise there would have been at least four kinds of demons here."

Another Taoist priest sighed and said, "The Celestial Master had previously left Manfeng Mountain untouched, merely sealing off the surrounding area and designating it as a forbidden zone. Today, he has mobilized troops, and we have come here to encircle and annihilate them. This must be a further step forward. But I wonder how many people here will survive this siege."

Everyone fell silent.

Instantly, a tragic and heroic atmosphere rose up here.

Everyone was prepared to die.

In this city, they were the first to encounter the truth, and also the first to encounter despair.

Just then, a large expanse of golden light suddenly surged from the fiery red earth of the night, and two figures emerged from it. The red light from the brazier rushed over, pressing the slender shadows darkly to the ground.

Both are bronze demon masks, but one is dressed in a purple Taoist robe and looks otherworldly, while the other is wrapped in a Taoist boy's robe and carries an exaggeratedly long beast-slaying knife.

The Taoist priests looked at the young Taoist boy in surprise. In their memory, the Celestial Master usually borrowed young Taoist boys because he dealt with powerful demons. They wondered which state he had borrowed today.

Judging from the mask he was wearing, the young Taoist priest did not want to reveal his identity, which added a touch of mystery to his appearance.

Ugly Slave glanced around, then looked at Ning Xuan and said, "Qingfeng, on the way here I have already told you about the situation here. Let's rest for the night, and tomorrow morning we will climb the mountain."

Ning Xuan nodded.

The ugly slave was immediately ushered into a makeshift tent.

The Celestial Master is in poor health; if he is to take action the next day, he must rest well the day before.

Ning Xuan, as the Daoist disciple, sat upright by the campfire outside the tent, closing his eyes to rest and keeping watch over the tent behind him.

The Celestial Master sleeps, while the young Taoist priests keep watch at night.

This is the fate of a Daoist apprentice. If it were someone else, Ning Xuan would definitely not be happy.

But thinking of how miserable his elder brother was, disfigured, anonymous, and afraid to acknowledge his relatives, while he himself enjoyed everything in his brother's place.

So he felt it was nothing.

Moreover, given his current physical condition, staying on duty for one night is nothing at all.

Ning Xuan sat cross-legged by the brazier in front of the tent. Some people tried to get close to him, but he ignored them and didn't answer. Gradually, no one approached him anymore.

He took a breath of the night wind, which was mixed with the smell of grass juice and fish, and looked at the dark, looming mountains in the distance.

My elder brother said there are three kinds of demons on this mountain.

One monkey,
One cow,
One sheep.

Currently, there are these three types.

But they are still trying to invite more demons to come here.

doing what?
Most people speculate that these demons want to form an alliance.

But his older brother told him, "Not necessarily."

The number of people who went missing in the entire Wangyue Prefecture, including its nine counties and twenty-eight townships, as well as those who passed through, was actually quite large, and the places where these people disappeared were not fixed.

In the eyes of Taoist priests, disappearance means death.

These people have already entered the monster's belly and become its food.

But his older brother told him, "No."

My elder brother once heard shouts of people deep in Manfeng Mountain. The voices drifted on the wind from all directions, and the most frequent one was "Help!"

The elder brother thus came to a simple conclusion: those who went missing were most likely not eaten, but imprisoned.

Why do demons imprison people?

And why invite other demons?
The eldest brother came to a terrible conclusion: the banquet.

The demons wanted to hold a banquet, so they captured people, but restrained their appetites and did not eat them directly. Instead, they kept them locked up and waited for the banquet to begin.

But a banquet always needs to invite certain people.

What kind of person could make a demon refrain from eating them?

My brother can't imagine it.

These days, more and more people are going missing, and the eldest brother finally couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to take action. In addition, his cultivation level has advanced another step, and he has gained a remarkable disciple named Ning Xuan.

The date was set for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, my older brother will take him to explore it.

Once the investigation is as thorough as possible, a full-scale attack will be launched.

His mission was to protect his elder brother and buy him some time to "cast" his spell.

The campfire crackled and popped.

The firelight danced in his eyes.

He casually tossed aside a few twigs and then closed his eyes to rest.

He didn't want to marry into the Hanzhou ranch, so this task had to be completed.

The night is getting darker.

As time passed, Ning Xuan vaguely sensed that dawn was approaching.

He has a keen sense of perception and his own judgment about the flow of time.

Then he felt that dawn must have arrived.

He then opened his eyes.

Looking around, it was still dark.

sky.
It was still dark.

why?
There wasn't a glimmer of light in the sky.

Except for the black moon hanging high above his head.

The moonlight formed a strange halo, illuminating the area around the bright moon in a pale white light, while the black moon looked like a black pupil looking down at him.

Ning Xuan was absolutely certain that he had not used the essence blood of the "Ghost Monkey" to refine the talisman, so there was only one possibility left.
A celestial demon is about to arrive.

(End of this chapter)