White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 67 Playing the Pipa

He searched through his many memories one by one, and after recalling for a long time, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind.

In the dead of night, a light mist drifted by. Xuan Ya stood quietly on a tree, watching three martial arts heroes stand in front of a locust grove, while a group of men were digging the soil with all their might.

"Yes, he was one of the three martial arts heroes who opened the coffin and dug up the corpse back then!"

Bai Wuxiang was extremely surprised. He had personally killed those three heroes back then, and there was absolutely no chance of them surviving.

He realized that the three men were spies from Dayuan, who had infiltrated Nanzhao and were acting as knights-errant.

One of them called himself "The Golden Sword," but his remains are nowhere to be found. How can this person still be listed on the martial arts rankings?

The middle-aged man outside the picture frowned and said, "Since Li Qichen of the Mingjin Sword joined the King of Qu Xiang four years ago, he hasn't been very active in the martial arts world. I never expected that he would become a top expert in the past few years. It's no wonder you made a mistake."

Now that you're back, take a good rest and send the rest of you to the dungeon.

"Yes, Master!" the scarred man replied respectfully, then turned and left.

Bai Wuxiang looked at the middle-aged man who was the only one left in the secret room. His blood and energy were extremely vigorous, and he did not look like a man in his forties at all.

With just his vital energy, he could keep evil spirits and monsters at bay.

Bai Wuxiang pondered for a moment but still did not make a move against this person. After all, he was currently only a divine thought, and if he made a rash move and failed to kill the other party, it would only cause trouble.

He hid among the countless skeletons of Skull Mountain in the painting, waiting for the night.

The middle-aged man lit a stick of purple silver incense, and wisps of fragrance drifted into the dark room.

Judging from the interior furnishings alone, one can tell that this person is of extremely high status; otherwise, they could not afford to use so many luxurious items.

After lighting incense, he took a light sniff of the smoke, closed his eyes and lingered for a moment, then turned and sat down in front of the Wuxiang Tu.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, meditating and circulating his energy. There was a faint aura flowing around his body, indicating that he was practicing some kind of martial art.

However, as he circulated his energy, his face gradually turned blue, then purplish-black, and his features became extremely ferocious, making him look extremely eerie.

Just as the incense stick burned to the end, he suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils filled with blood vessels, his scarlet eyes looking terrifying.

He hurriedly looked at the Medicine Buddha enshrined in front of him and silently began to chant Buddhist scriptures. However, the scriptures caused his meridians to expand and blood vessels to emerge from under his skin. At this moment, he looked like a monster.

He sensed the situation after the Buddhist scriptures were activated and hurriedly looked at the formless diagram behind the Medicine Buddha.

A mountain of skulls stretches before my eyes, a thousand bones and a hundred corpses inhabit its spirit. In the Temple of No Form, statues stand, silently suppressing demons and banishing ghosts.

The man's mind was completely drawn to the white bone diagram. His eyes were fixed on the diagram on the wall, and the various strange signs on his body gradually dissipated, and he slowly returned to normal.

Moreover, his aura had noticeably increased.

The White-Hidden One, hidden in Skull Mountain, coldly observes this person. His outward appearance of internal strength is righteous and peaceful, but his internal power is evil.

This person also used Buddhist scriptures to suppress evil arts, and used the aura of the Wuxiang Diagram to suppress the backlash of evil arts.

It seems that Yao Zhengze was targeted by this person, who stole the Wuxiang Diagram, and now his fate is unknown.

With this painting placed here, let alone three to five years, even if it takes more than ten years, his name of Wuxiang will never spread.

Bai Wuxiang coldly watched the middle-aged man leave, satisfied. No matter what kind of martial arts person this man was, since he had provoked him, he couldn't expect to get away with it.

He hid among the bones and patiently waited until nightfall, even though the secret chamber was dark and it was impossible to distinguish between day and night.

But he could sense the changes in the earth's yin energy.

In the dimly lit, deserted chamber, behind the benevolent face of the Medicine Buddha, hangs a painting of formlessness.

In the picture, a skeleton suddenly moves. It moves its body a few times in the picture, and then it opens a crack, with withered bone fingers protruding from the picture.

This skeleton has practically crawled out of the painting!
Bai Wuxiang twisted his neck, which he wasn't used to, and a thud was heard. He landed on both feet, made hand seals, and attracted the Yin energy from the ground to gather wildly.

A dark mist enveloped his body, and in just a few breaths, the skeleton transformed into a pale-faced man, draped in a dark cloak, with deep-set eyebrows, standing eight feet tall, with a slender waist, and an extraordinary bearing.

Bai Wuxiang turned around, examined his own body, and looked at himself in the bronze mirror. He was quite satisfied.

He descended with the thoughts of a demon god, and was born from the skeleton in the painting. This body was weak, afraid of water and fire, and could not withstand swords.

However, because it is formless and boneless, it is unrestricted and can absorb and utilize vast amounts of Yin energy from the earth.

He stepped through the wall as if light and shadow were passing through a crack, seemingly invisible.

Once outside, they discovered it was a rather elegant garden, with dozens of servants and attendants.

He transformed into a gust of cold wind that swept past the clothes of passing servants, and appeared behind a secluded screen wall.

Bai Wuxiang stood behind the screen wall, looking at the crowd in the garden through the cracks in the wall.

Three or five people sat around drinking, while an actor sang a melodious tune on a high stage. The middle-aged man was being flattered by the group.

"Brother Zhou, we will need your help in finalizing the martial arts rankings next month. This is a small token of our appreciation from the Huayun Sect." An old man smiled and took out a book containing several silver notes.

“No problem, this has always been the rule.” Zhou Zhenlei smiled and took the book, saying, “As long as I, Zhou, am still sitting in this position of martial arts alliance leader, I will protect the Huayun Sect!”

"Alliance Leader Zhou, this is the heartfelt gift from our Red Yi Manor. We hope that Alliance Leader Zhou can also grant us this favor."

……

Bai Wuxiang had no interest in listening to the shady dealings of ordinary martial artists. He only wanted to capture Zhou Zhenlei, then crack open his head, find out how the Wuxiang Diagram ended up in his hands, and as to know whether Yao Zhengze was alive or dead.

He glanced at the moon in the sky, calculated the time, and after waiting for a quarter of an hour, seeing that the people on the stage were in high spirits, he gently blew a breath.

"Whoo~"

A night breeze caused the candles around the pavilion on the platform to flicker, casting dappled light and shadow.

On the stage, the actors are singing a poem: "Upstairs, a woman skillfully threads a needle, her face powdered, her hair adorned with inlaid gold hairpins. In the quiet of their private conversation..."

His arm, which had been waving its water sleeves, suddenly dropped, and his neck fell to the ground like a falling stone, rolling to the feet of the people who were drinking.

The powdered head on the ground was still singing: "The clever woman upstairs threading the needle..."

The sight startled the group, sobering them up considerably.

Zhou Zhenlei stood up and asked in a cold voice, "What kind of demon dares to play tricks on me, the leader of the alliance?" He looked around and suddenly leaped into the air, splitting the screen wall open with a palm.

But then a gust of cold wind swept by and landed on the stage.

The headless actor's body began to writhe again, and a strange male operatic voice sang: "Where the jeweled hairpins and ornaments whispered, who is it, under the shadow of the corridor?"

May joy and happiness be found in heaven and on earth, every year on this night.

As the melody ended, a shadow appeared beneath the actor's feet, transforming into the figure of Bai Wuxiang. He picked up the pipa from the actor's arms and said with a smile, "Alliance Leader Zhou, you have borrowed one of my paintings for two or three years. I have come to return it."

"A painting? What painting?" Zhou Zhenlei's eyes twitched wildly. This person was too strange; he couldn't be sure if he was a human or a ghost.

"It is the 'Formless Crossing the Spirits of Ten Thousand Bones Diagram' that hangs on the wall in your secret room, used to comprehend the mental techniques and cultivate true skills!"
"You lent me the treasure map and gained unparalleled internal strength; now it's time to return it." Bai Wuxiang, holding a pipa, sat on the wooden bench on the stage, plucked the strings with his slender fingers, producing a melodious sound, and then looked up at him with a smile.

"Nonsense! What 'Formless Diagram'? I, Zhou, am the leader of the martial arts alliance, a man of noble status. Why would I get entangled with a pretentious charlatan like you?" Zhou Zhenlei replied coldly. "If you don't leave now, you can forget about living!"

Upon hearing this, the people beside him realized that they had encountered an enemy who had come to seek revenge on the leader of the martial arts alliance.

However, this enemy looks almost entirely unlike a living person!
Upon hearing this, Bai Wuxiang sighed and said, "Owe people a sin, and wrong ghosts have their reasons. Alliance Leader Zhou, I've come to take your head."

As he spoke, he grabbed the long strings of the pipa with his five fingers and threw them into the air. The four silver strings flew away like needles.

Zhou Zhenlei quickly circulated his internal energy, and with a sudden thrust of his palms, he knocked away the two gold rings he was wearing on his wrists. The gold rings, carrying his powerful internal force, crashed into the four pipa strings.

But the pipa string, as if it were alive, jumped away, circled around from the side, and instantly pierced Zhou Zhenlei's face.

The martial arts practitioners who witnessed this scene were terrified. Even Zhou Zhenlei, the renowned leader of the martial arts alliance, was no match for this thing. They, who could barely be considered first-rate masters, were even less of a match for it.

Without hesitation, the group leaped over the wall and escaped.

Bai Wuxiang did not stop them, but instead raised the pipa string in his hand again and pierced the man's head, ending his life.

Only after the man was completely dead did Bai Wuxiang approach. He didn't want to get close to a living person with such abundant life force. Simply using demonic magic was less effective than using external objects to take a life.

He reached out and gently touched the other's brow with his finger. A jumble of memories surfaced in Bai Wuxiang's primordial spirit, finally settling on a scene in a dungeon.

Yao Zhengze was still alive and was being held in a dungeon by this person.

Having figured this out, Bai Wuxiang turned and left, preparing to head to the dungeon.

But then a furious voice rang out.

"Where did this fiend come from, daring to ruin my good deed!"

A chilling voice rang out, and a black, round bowl appeared in the sky, covering the entire courtyard.

Bai Wuxiang frowned, watching the corpse beside him turn into a pool of black blood that flowed into the hands of the person who had arrived.

He was a middle-aged Taoist priest wearing a black robe, with shoulder-length hair, and holding a long sword.

Bai Wuxiang's eye twitched slightly. "An evil cultivator?"

The Taoist priest glanced at him, then without saying a word, he took his long sword and used his magic to slash at him.

The sword light was surrounded by black mist, and even before it arrived, a nauseating stench of blood could be smelled.

Bai Wuxiang did not flinch at all; instead, he stretched out one hand and directly grasped the black magic sword.

The sword light suddenly paused, and a gust of wind made Bai Wuxiang's long hair on his forehead flutter. He chuckled and said, "How can a magical sword, forged with the blood and qi of a hundred people, be used to kill me?"

As he spoke, he took the sword in front of him, gently inhaled, and the blood energy on the sword surged out, which he actually swallowed.

The middle-aged Taoist priest was shocked by what he saw and muttered, "You... what are you?"

After absorbing the blood energy, Bai Wuxiang casually tossed the sword aside, and it fell to the ground, becoming an ordinary sword. His eyes surged with bloodlust, and his aura actually grew much stronger.

He smiled at the Taoist priest and said, "Considering that we are both evil beings, let's pretend we never met today. You may leave."

"No, it's you monster who destroyed my blood puppet for no reason, and now you've even damaged my magic sword! If I don't capture you, I'll be at a huge loss!"

Enraged, the man pointed his hands in a mudra at the shrine bowl suspended in mid-air and shouted, "Nine Directions of Yin Spirits, heed my command! By order!"

The next moment, ghostly figures fell from the alms bowl. They were all ferocious demons with hideous faces, howling and wailing, or crying mournfully. They pounced on Bai Wuxiang, trying to tear him to pieces.

Upon seeing this scene, Bai Wuxiang couldn't help but smile; it was the first time he had ever been surrounded and attacked by evil spirits.

He sat down with a smile and began to play the pipa. The strings began to play, and the incessant, melodious sounds of a theatrical opera filled the air.

But then he saw costumes moving in the corner of the stage, and four ghostly figures in red, orange, black, and green suddenly stood behind him, some with wide-open eyes, some laughing loudly, some covering their faces and weeping softly, and some with cold, sinister smiles.

Bai Wuxiang waved his hand, his wide sleeves billowing up, and four puppets behind him immediately stepped forward. The rhythm of the pipa playing its clappers sounded on its own, and the four puppets shouted and roared as they pounced on the hundreds of evil spirits, like tigers among sheep, with no chance of defeating them.

As soon as he finished playing a stirring pipa piece, the four puppets had already slain a hundred ghosts and surrounded the middle-aged Taoist priest.

They tread square steps, their faces adorned with patterns, some with pink and red faces, others with black and white faces, and still others with green and blue faces. They all slowly circled around him, blocking his position and forming a formation that made it difficult for him to escape.

On the stage, Bai Wuxiang slowly raised his face and sang in a theatrical voice: "Enemies on all sides~"
Let's see how you get away.

"I'm going to make sure you die here!"

The evil cultivator was suppressed by the strange formation, his magical power stagnant and heavy, making it difficult to circulate. Only now did he panic, seeing that the four puppets were about to kill him. He hurriedly shouted:

"Great master, spare my life! I am a true disciple of the Blood Demon Cave! Please, for the sake of the Blood Demon Cave, spare my life!"

Upon hearing the words "Blood Mo Cave," Bai Wuxiang paused in his movements as he played the pipa, and the four puppets also stopped moving.

The Taoist priest hurriedly knelt down and continued, "This humble man, Bi Qing, pays his respects to the esteemed master! It was my ignorance that led me to offend you."

"So you were a disciple of the Blood Demon Cave," Bai Wuxiang asked with a smile. "Then why did you hide in the mortal world?"

"In response to your question, Master, it was because I sought to break through the demonic arts that I secretly left the cave and came to Nanzhao to refine the Blood Technique," Bi Qing hurriedly replied.

"Oh, so you came alone."

Bai Wuxiang chuckled, and the pipa strings plucked. The four puppets simultaneously brandished their spears, knives, swords, and flags, piercing Bi Qing's heart.

(End of this chapter)