White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 70 Inviting the Friend into the Painting
After much deliberation and hesitation, Cui Laoqi finally mustered his courage and went to the banner that read "Resolve Grudges Between Humans and Ghosts" during the day.

He looked at the Taoist priest who was resting with his eyes closed, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "This humble one pays respects to the great immortal!"

However, the man ignored him. Seeing that no one was around, Cui Laoqi knelt on the ground and said, "I beg the Great Immortal to have mercy and help me fulfill my wish."

Hearing this, Bai Wuxiang opened his eyes and asked with a smile, "What is your wish?"

Upon hearing the Taoist priest's reply, Old Cui said with delight, "I have a son who is seventeen years old, but he suffers from a leg ailment and is bedridden year-round. I have sought out many famous doctors, but unfortunately, none of them could cure him."

This is the deepest sorrow of my life. I humbly beg the Great Immortal to grant my son a miracle and help him stand up again! I am willing to serve the Great Immortal like a slave for the rest of my life.

"Hehe, my signboard is for two reasons: resentment and affection. If I were to truly suppress your seven emotions and six desires, I'm afraid you wouldn't survive."

Bai Wuxiang shook his head. "Besides, I'm not some famous medical immortal, and I might not be able to cure your son's leg ailment."

"Great Immortal, please have mercy! This is my only son." Old Cui hurriedly kowtowed and knelt, his forehead hitting the ground covered with small pebbles again and again. Even though some sand got embedded in his skin, Old Cui continued to kowtow.

Bai Wuxiang didn't care about his actions. Even if he died right in front of him, he wouldn't do things he couldn't be bothered with.

Until Cui Laoqi kowtowed, his blood mixed with dust flowing into a murky pool, he fainted.

Several beggars arrived, and seeing the scene before them, they glared angrily, but ultimately said nothing, and simply carried Cui Laoqi back.

Seeing this, Bai Wuxiang pondered for a moment, then sighed and stood up, saying, "Then let's see what fate has in store for him."

After saying that, his figure disappeared into the deserted street.

In a dilapidated courtyard, Cui Laoqi was carried back by several of his men and placed on the bed, which startled Cui Yongqi, who was lying in bed.

He called out, "What's going on?"

Cui Laoqi, who was separated from his room by a wall, woke up groggily. He looked at the men who had carried him back and sighed, "Thank you for your hard work. Go back now, I'm fine."

After saying that, he called out again, "Qi'er, Dad is fine. Don't get out of bed again."

"Okay, I understand, Dad." Cui Yongqi, who was next door, finally relaxed after a long period of worry.

"Elder, why bother with that charlatan? Just kick him out."

"Yes, Elder, we don't need to give him a hard time."

The two of them urged each other to speak.

"Sigh, you don't understand. There are always people more capable than you in this world. You should go back now." Old Cui sighed as he saw them off.

Then he turned around, took out a bronze mirror, looked at the wound on his forehead, and picked out the grains of sand mixed with blood and flesh one by one.

Even though the pain made him gasp for breath, he didn't utter a single cry.

Just as he was examining the scars on his forehead in the mirror, a fair-skinned face suddenly appeared on the yellowish mirror.

Old Cui was terrified and turned around to find that the great immortal he had prayed to was actually in his house.

He hurriedly knelt down, "Welcome, Great Immortal! Welcome, Great Immortal!"

"Get up. I am neither an immortal nor a mystic, I only have one name: Wuxiang. Considering I have occupied your territory, I may give it a try."

But let me make this clear first: even if your son's leg ailment can be cured, his fate is flawed, and he might suffer even greater misfortune.

Have you thought it through?

"This... I'm willing! I'm willing, as long as it lets my child stand up!"

Old Cui nodded firmly.

Bai Wuxiang chuckled, then said nothing more. With a flick of his sleeve, Cui Laoqi fell asleep.

He then went to Cui Yongqi's bedside and asked with a smile, "Would you rather risk your life than not stand up?"

Choi Young-ki stared in astonishment at the man before him. "Who are you?"

"I am the doctor your father invited. Did you hear what I asked you just now?" Bai Wuxiang said with a smile.

“I… if I could really stand up, I would be willing to live a long life. I’ve spent seventeen years of my life in this bed, I’ve had enough!” Cui Yongqi replied, his eyes red.

Upon hearing this, Bai Wuxiang pointed a finger, and he too fainted.

The room was quiet. Bai Wuxiang reached out and touched Cui Yongqi's legs. Although the flesh was wet and sticky, these were not the reasons for his leg disability.

The real reason was that his leg bone was abnormally deformed, which prevented his leg from bending, causing him excruciating pain whenever he tried to stand up.

Bai Wuxiang pointed, and two small insects formed from Yin energy burrowed into the flesh of his legs, then began to gnaw on the two pieces of alien bones.

In just a few days, the child will be able to stand up again.

Even if other famous doctors came, they wouldn't be able to cure it. After all, in this era, what kind of medical skill is there to cut open the leg bone and then saw off two pieces of bone?

Bai Wuxiang turned back to the stall, the flag he had erected fluttering gently in the wind.

As evening approached, Cui Laoqi groggily woke up and rushed to his son's room to wake up Cui Yongqi, who was still unconscious.

"Qi'er, can you feel any changes in your legs?"

Hearing his father's words, Cui Yongqi finally came to his senses. He felt an itch in the bones of his legs, which made him scratch them.

"Dad, the bones in my leg are so itchy. It feels like something is gnawing at them!"

"Really? As long as it works, as long as I can feel it!" Old Cui said excitedly, "As long as there's a reaction, it proves it's effective! Child, you must hold on!"

"I understand, Father. Although the itching is unbearable, I can still bear it."

……

On the long street at night, ghosts gathered once again in front of Bai Wuxiang's stall.

Just as he was questioning the third ghost of the night, he suddenly heard a sharp shout from afar.

"What a wicked monster! How dare it collude with vengeful ghosts to harm and kill people!"

But what they saw was a middle-aged man dressed in black robes, holding a magic sword and dressed as a Taoist priest.

Upon seeing so many ghosts gathered, he immediately took out a precious mirror from his robes and shouted, "Golden light, appear quickly! Ghosts and demons will lose their courage, and spirits will forget their fear! So be it!"

Immediately, a blinding light appeared, and the ghosts scattered in terror, turning into clouds of black smoke that spread in all directions. The golden light, having repelled the ghosts, continued its relentless attack on Bai Wuxiang.

Unexpectedly, Bai Wuxiang simply opened his mouth and inhaled forcefully, swallowing the golden light into his stomach.

The middle-aged Taoist priest who witnessed this scene turned slightly pale and exclaimed in shock, "What kind of ghost is so unafraid of golden light magic?"

Bai Wuxiang sneered, "I came to Fuyun City to clear the names of spirits and ghosts and to remove their grievances. I am following the righteous path of heaven and earth. How could your Xuanmen magic harm me?"

"What righteous path of heaven and earth? Stop with your flowery words!" The Taoist priest hurriedly took out several talismans and threw them out. At the same time, he pulled the tinderbox in his hand, and a brilliant firework bloomed in the sky.

"Heh heh, you fiend, let's see how long you can be so arrogant! I, the demon hunter, will be here to help me soon. Since you dare to do evil in the human world, you should be prepared to be suppressed and killed!" the middle-aged Taoist said arrogantly.

Bai Wuxiang raised an eyebrow. "So you want to kill me?"

"Hmph, demons and monsters must be eradicated completely! Leave no one alive to prevent future troubles!" The middle-aged Taoist priest sneered and once again urged his magic sword, leaping forward to engage the demon in battle.

Seeing this, Bai Wuxiang sighed and said, "Since Wuxiang has been killed, then Wuxiang should repay him!"

Come in."

As he spoke, Bai Wuxiang stretched out his hand, and the Wuxiang Diagram slowly unfolded. Hundreds of skulls swarmed out and devoured the middle-aged Taoist's flesh and blood, leaving only a skeleton.

Bai Wuxiang pointed with his hand, "Please enter the painting."

The next moment, the skeleton stumbled and crawled into the painting, becoming one of the countless bones in Skull Mountain.

Just as he finished doing all this, he saw all sorts of figures rushing in from all directions, including demon hunters, government officials and soldiers, and various martial arts masters.

No fewer than a hundred people surrounded the long street.

The general guarding the city, Zhao Qianhu, looked at him and said, "What kind of demon dares to cause trouble in my Fuyun City?"

A man emerged from among the wandering sorcerers on the other side. He had a long white beard and hair, and a thin build, looking like a gaunt old man in his fifties or sixties.

"Why waste words with this monster, Commander Zhao? Fellow Daoist Wen has probably already been swallowed by this monster."

"Tonight we will surely slay this evil demon and avenge our comrades and the innocent people of the city!"

The man took out a banner embroidered with golden clouds and shouted sternly, "Fellow practitioners, I am Xiang Yunnan, an elder of the Xiang family of Jincheng. Tonight, you will join me in capturing this demon and ridding the people of this scourge. This is a great act of merit!"

Commander Zhao, standing nearby, also raised his voice: "That's right! Moreover, the Prefect has said that if this demon can be killed, a reward of one hundred taels of gold will be given!"

"One hundred taels of gold!"

Upon hearing this, both the wandering sorcerers and the dozens of armored soldiers who rushed over all had greed in their eyes.

The allure of a hundred taels of gold was far greater for these people from the lower classes than any promise of fame or fortune.

Immediately, a group of charlatans, blinded by the word "gold," rushed forward, their hands forming hand seals or their magical implements in hand.

Not all of these people were charlatans; at least many of them possessed one or two special skills.

In this line of work, if you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. You can be a swindler, you can be weak in skills, but you can't be completely incompetent, otherwise you're just asking for trouble!

Immediately, talismans blazing with fire shot into the sky, and seven-star swords and peach wood swords pierced towards Bai Wuxiang's body.

Meanwhile, Xiang Yunnan, who claimed to be from the Xiang family of Jincheng, held a law flag and silently watched from the sidelines to keep order.

The Xiang family of Jincheng is one of the eight great demon-catching families, but because it is located in Sichuan and Chongqing, which is far from the Central Plains, its reputation here is not very prominent.

Faced with the magical techniques of the group of Jianghu sorcerers, Bai Wuxiang simply waved his sleeve, and a surge of Yin energy rushed towards him. Skulls emerged from the Yin energy, blocking their petty tricks.

These wandering sorcerers possess no magical powers, no righteous energy, and no artifacts to ward off evil. They can barely handle newborn ghosts, let alone someone like Bai Wuxiang.

Seeing that their methods were ineffective, the group of sorcerers panicked and retreated.

Bai Wuxiang's voice came from the cold night wind, making everyone's necks feel cold.

"If you don't leave, don't blame me for indiscriminately killing innocent people."

"What's there to be afraid of? He's nothing but a sinister monster!" Seeing the crowd's wavering thoughts, Xiang Yunnan spoke up, "Commander Zhao, please make your move!"

"I will do my best!" Zhao Qianhu replied. He had received orders from the prefect, which was why he listened to the sorcerer.

He suddenly drew his long sword from his side and shouted sharply, "All soldiers, follow me and charge!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the more than fifty soldiers behind him shouted in unison. They were all clad in iron armor, and their shouts were filled with killing intent. A fierce military aura swept over them.

Ordinary fierce ghosts and evil spirits would definitely be intimidated by the military aura of these beheading and blood-drinking warriors.

But Bai Wuxiang was not a ghost or spirit. He looked at the crimson flames that formed above the heads of the soldiers, which seemed to transform into a bird spreading its wings and swooping down in mid-air.

The vengeful spirits wandering nearby scattered and fled, not daring to put up the slightest resistance.

The Southern Zhao dynasty inherited from the Great Zhao dynasty, which represented the element of fire and was a symbol of the dynasty, using the Vermilion Bird as its totem. Over hundreds of years of history, some talented individuals have concluded that evil spirits and demons are most afraid of the fierceness of military spirits, hence this method is often used in the army to exorcise ghosts and ward off evil.

Facing the fierce bird of war, Bai Wuxiang turned and opened the Wuxiang Painting. His voice, a blend of the enchanting tones of men, women, young and old, said, "Wuxiang cordially invites you all to view this painting."

As he spoke, countless skeletons in the Skull Mountain on the Formless Diagram stood up as if they were alive, forming a massive army of skeletons that charged down from top to bottom with immense force, roaring in unison, stirring up the wind and clouds, and obscuring the night moon.

Even if Commander Zhao came from an extraordinary background and was highly skilled in martial arts, his troops numbered only fifty or so. How could they compare to the sheer number of bones at Skull Mountain?
The moment the two sides made contact, Zhao Qianhu's charging formation instantly collapsed. The soldiers beside him screamed in terror, and the angry roar of the skeleton pierced the eardrums of everyone present.

The soldiers led by Commander Zhao fled in terror, abandoning their armor and weapons. Their morale was shattered by the sight of the Thousand Bones Skeleton, and they feared they would never dare to go to the battlefield again.

Only Zhao Qianhu stood alone against the skeleton formation, holding the Crimson Sparrow Banner, half-kneeling and half-standing.

Seeing this, Xiang Yunnan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shouted, "Everyone retreat! This demon is probably an unparalleled monster!"

With that, he turned around without looking back, leaped away, and fled by scaling walls and rooftops.

Even legitimate demon hunters like the eight great demon-hunting families were terrified at the mere mention of their name, so the remaining wandering sorcerers dared not linger and all turned tail and ran.

But Bai Wuxiang's figure flashed and he appeared in mid-air, coldly saying, "Since you've all come, why leave?"

"We haven't even finished admiring the painting yet, but Wuxiang cordially invites you to enter it!"

As he spoke, he connected his mind to the Formless Diagram and frantically mobilized the Yin energy, resentment, and even death energy from all directions, gathering them in the sky above the long street and transforming them into a hazy mist that enveloped the nearly one hundred people.

　I've uploaded the group number today. Anyone who's bored can join the group to chat and kill time!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)