White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 71 Tiger Lord
From within the eerie mist, the faint howling of skeletons could be heard, and withered, fleshless hands reached out, desperately pulling at the Taoist priests and sorcerers within the mist.

They fled in terror, but from anywhere in the fog, icy hands would emerge, grab their bodies, and slowly pull them into the fog.

Seeing this, Xiang Yunnan's expression became extremely solemn. He immediately raised his hand and lowered the Dharma flag. Golden light patterns spread rapidly in all directions from the center of his feet, like a spider web.

The golden magic array suppressed the black mist, but Xiang Yunnan was not smug. Instead, he shouted, "Retreat immediately!"

"Every one who can leave is a chance!"

After saying that, he turned around and jumped up without looking back, disappearing into the alleyway outside.

Zhao Qianhu cursed inwardly, thinking that none of these charlatans could be trusted.

He immediately gave the order, and more than ten soldiers who were still of sound mind followed him and retreated.

Bai Wuxiang did not intervene. He figured that Xiang Yunnan probably had some kind of life-saving item on him, and he didn't bother with Zhao Qianhu, who was carrying the red Vermilion Bird Flag for protection.

He only wanted to devour these dozens of people in front of him, which would greatly enhance the power of the Formless Diagram.

He stood atop the ruins, coldly watching the dozens of people struggling in the mist, and said softly, "I gave you a chance, but you were blinded by desire. I didn't provoke you, but you insisted on coming to me."

As he spoke, he raised his head and roared, and his human head turned into a skull. Various angry roars suddenly rang out: the desperate howls of wild beasts, the angry roars of men, the resentful curses of women, and the harsh words of children, filling the ghostly mist.

The surrounding beggars had already been awakened by the commotion. They were all terrified and turned pale. They disregarded the curfew and desperately scrambled into other streets.

In a dilapidated house, an elderly couple helped each other out of the door. They stared in horror at the figure struggling in the ghostly mist.

The old woman, wearing a headscarf, was so frightened that she closed her eyes and whispered, "Forgive me! Forgive me."

"Is no one going to control these monsters? They're powerless to protect the people, and corruption is rampant everywhere. What use is this imperial court?" the hunchbacked old man sighed indignantly.

"Oh dear, old man, please say less." The old woman quickly pulled his elbow and walked him away.

"What's wrong with saying a few words?" the hunchbacked old man muttered discontentedly. "If I were ten years younger, do you think I would..."

"Alright, alright, stop muttering. Let's go!" The old woman grabbed his arm and ran off into the distance without looking back.

In the dark fog, a young man was held down by countless claws, which even covered his face, making it impossible for him to see his surroundings.

He was about to fall into darkness, and his heart was filled with resentment. He still had the best years of his life ahead of him, so why should he die here?

He stretched out one hand with difficulty and took out a magic talisman. The talisman instantly turned into flames, burning hundreds of skeletal hands to ashes.

He was able to escape and quickly turned around to step out of the gap in the black mist.

But before he could even feel happy, he saw more than a dozen hands reach out from the black mist and grab his feet, causing him to fall to the ground.

He desperately gripped the ground with his hands, but he couldn't resist the force of the skeletal hands behind his feet. He was once again slowly pulled into the fog.

The man looked up in despair and saw two figures not far away. Like a drowning man grasping at a straw, he cried out, "Help! Please save me! Save me! I don't want to die!"

These shouts made the elderly couple not far away stop in their tracks.

The old woman looked at the struggling boy, her eyes twitching slightly, her expression somewhat dazed.

The hunchbacked old man sighed, "Old woman, they're already right in front of us, are we just going to stand by and watch?"

"What else is there to say?" The old woman slowly took out three long incense sticks from her sleeve, pinched them together with her fingers, then held them in front of her and blew on them forcefully.

"Whoo~"

The breath stirred her silver hair by her ear, and caused the three incense sticks to suddenly light up, with wisps of smoke rising from them.

The movement of the two also caught Bai Wuxiang's attention. He turned his head, and a ghostly light flashed in the eyes of the fleshless skeleton. A ghostly fire rushed forward.

The old man took off the bundle from his waist, looked at the white-faced man with the skull, chuckled, tilted his body, and strode forward, stepping on the Seven Stars, holding a wooden stick, and chanting: "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

We respectfully invite the divine presence!

The old woman holding incense beside him bowed three times to each side, then casually stuck the incense stick into the hunchbacked old man's head, whereupon it remained fixed in place.

At that moment, the old man suddenly rolled his eyes, exuding righteousness. His wrinkled face strangely revealed a black and white pattern, and he gently blew on the oncoming will-o'-the-wisp.

The will-o'-the-wisp suddenly changed color, turning from blue to red, and instead rushed towards the dark ghostly mist, igniting the entire mist instantly like a spark falling into a pot of oil.

Bai Wuxiang was startled and quickly waved his hand to retrieve the Wuxiang Diagram, coldly staring at the strange old man.

The old man at this moment was completely different from the hunchbacked old man before. Not only was his face covered with black markings, but his pupils had also turned into vertical pupils. His slanted white eyes were wide open in anger. As soon as they met, Bai Wuxiang felt a murderous intent rushing towards him.

"What kind of technique is this?" Bai Wuxiang frowned, staring at the three incense sticks above the other's head. "Could it be a secret technique for summoning gods to possess one's body?"

This person they invited doesn't seem to be a true deity at all!

The old woman beside him breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her husband's state. "It seems the Tiger God has possessed him! We'll be able to get rid of this demon."

As she spoke, she respectfully knelt down and said, "I humbly request the Black Tiger General to descend in his true form! Slay the demons and bind the evil! Disperse the foul air!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's eyes suddenly flashed with golden light, and the smoke from his head transformed into the image of a giant tiger radiating golden light.

Its eyes shone with golden light, which swept directly over Bai Wuxiang before it departed.

Those martial arts practitioners who had been rescued and were still alive saw this scene and knelt down in joy, begging the gods to appear and slay the demons.

Bai Wuxiang sneered, his eyes flashing with a ghostly blue light as he met the two golden beams head-on.

"Boom~"

Where the gold and blue hues clashed, a transparent wave suddenly erupted, causing dust to rise and smoke to billow in all directions within a radius of more than ten feet.

Bai Wuxiang felt a sudden, sharp pain in his eyes as the golden light pierced them. He was shocked; the summoned deity possessed strength comparable to Yuan Zhen. He was no match for it!

Having realized this, Bai Wuxiang turned around and prepared to transform into a gust of yin wind to escape.

But the "Tiger Lord" clearly couldn't tolerate evil spirits. He immediately put his palms down on the ground, assumed a tiger-leaping posture, and suddenly leaped into the air, transforming into a large spotted tiger over ten feet in size. At the same time, in a flash, he transformed into eight giant tigers, surrounding Bai Wuxiang.

Eight giant tigers, with their sickly gait, slowly approached Bai Wuxiang's side, shrinking the space around him as they drew ever closer.

Bai Wuxiang frowned and said, "You are a righteous god, do you really intend to fight me to the death?"

"Even the most insignificant ants and demons must be exterminated!"

A powerful, oppressive voice emanated from the mouths of the eight tigers, their combined force suppressing Bai Wuxiang's momentum and preventing him from escaping.

At this moment, the martial arts practitioners who had managed to escape were looking at the demon trapped by the giant tiger with excitement. Their faces were full of greed and ferocity, and some were even thinking about how to steal the credit and exchange it for the reward money promised by the prefect.

Bai Wuxiang, trapped by the eight tigers, chuckled and put the Wuxiang Diagram into his sleeve. Then, he connected his mind with the main body of Black Stone Village, "Since Tiger God Lord is so dedicated to the human race, what harm is there in dispersing this physical body of mine?"

Having said that, Bai Wuxiang sneered and turned around, suddenly transforming into a sky full of Yin energy, which turned into countless black crows, flying in all directions in a chaotic manner.

Only black crow feathers remained, slowly drifting down into the air.

Seeing this, the eight tigers sniffed lightly and realized that the demon had truly committed suicide. They raised their heads and roared, the golden light receded, and the demon transformed back into the hunchbacked old man.

The three incense sticks on his head had just finished burning and fell to the ground.

The hunchbacked old man, panting heavily, collapsed to the ground, his face pale. The old woman beside him quickly helped him up and sighed, "This demon is so strange, I've never heard of it before. I'm afraid it will return to the human world one day."

"Sigh, if that day ever comes, we'll have nothing more to say. Let's go."

The two supported each other as they left the dilapidated neighborhood.

The rescued sorcerers rushed to the spot where Bai Wuxiang had died, searching for any evidence he might have left behind to claim the hundred taels of gold the prefect had promised.

The young Taoist priest only had time to glance in the direction the elderly couple had left before rushing forward with his sword, even stabbing a fat sorcerer to death with a single blow, startling everyone present.

He then took the opportunity to be the first to arrive at the platform and picked up a scroll from among the crow feathers.

He shouted, "I, Liu Fangyun, killed this formless demon! I have the demon weapon it possessed in life as proof!"

Having said that, he hurriedly took the Wuxiang Diagram and fled. Taking advantage of the chaos of the night, soldiers from afar heard the commotion and rushed over, creating a scene of chaotic warfare.

Amidst the chaos, Liu Fangyun, who was holding the Wuxiang Diagram, seemed to hear someone laughing not far away. The laughter was very pleasant and sounded like that of a young man.

With his mind filled with thoughts of gold and fantasies of becoming famous in Fuyun City, Liu Fangyun paid no attention to the laughter.

However, if he were to unfold the Formless Diagram at this moment and stare at it carefully, he would discover that on the Skull Mountain in the painting, there is a skull smiling eerily.

Thousands of miles away in Skull Mountain, in the Cave of White Bones, Bai Wuxiang awoke from his meditation.

He was not angry because this formless body was destroyed. Instead, he smiled. The true meaning of formlessness is not when it has form and substance, but when it is formless and without substance.
Each of the three thousand crows that flew away could serve as a medium for his spiritual communication. With a mere thought, Bai Wuxiang could create a new Wuxiang Demon in Fuyun City, Qingzhou!

After all, the two old men had invited a deity who was officially appointed by the underworld. Why shouldn't I give him some face? Once the two successors of this deity have gone far away, the other party will no longer be able to control Fuyun City.

His true form was that of a demon god, not a real demon. He and these righteous gods were not truly mortal enemies. Giving them some face was also a way of making things easier for himself.

Bai Wuxiang silently calculated his own plan. The person holding the Wuxiang Diagram was greedy and had deep obsessions. He was the one who controlled the Wuxiang Diagram.

Entrusting it to this person is far better than Bai Wuxiang personally going through the trouble of scheming.

As for whether the other party would destroy the Wuxiang Diagram, Bai Wuxiang never had that concern.

No one will refuse stronger power, especially after they have tasted the power and fame. They will need and crave stronger power to protect what they have and to seek more wealth!
When prayers to the gods go unanswered and prayers to the ghosts are futile, this formless diagram becomes their only hope!
Bai Wuxiang reached out and took a piece of white bone, memorizing the old couple's method of invoking the gods.

There are countless masters in the world, so one still needs to act cautiously. Although the current situation is exactly what he needed for his plan, if he were not the Formless Demon God with the ability of divine thought to be immortal and indestructible, he would really be destroyed by this righteous god.

……

The next day, stories of gods and demons appearing the previous night spread throughout Fuyun City, with all sorts of chaotic rumors circulating.

Until someone went to the government office and collected the hundred taels of gold that the prefect had promised!
Liu Fangyun's name became famous throughout the city as a result. He was not only treated as an honored guest by the prefect, but also attracted a constant stream of people who wanted to become his apprentices.

As for the demon-catching master who came from Jincheng, he disappeared overnight and never appeared in the city again.

Outside the city, Xiang Yunnan bowed to the group and said, "Thank you for seeing me off, fellow travelers. Through this experience, I have come to know the ferocity of demons in the world."

This formless demon is undoubtedly a peerless monster; it won't be easily destroyed. I'd better return to Jincheng and focus on my cultivation. When I've achieved mastery, I'll join you all in vanquishing this demon!

"You're too kind, Master. We all know that the man surnamed Liu was just lucky. You are the real demon hunter."

"Yes, Liu Fangyun only knows a few minor talisman-drawing skills; how can he compare to you, Master!"

Several people offered words of comfort.

“Since this person has the power to summon gods, he must have extraordinary abilities.” Xiang Yunnan shook his head and said, “The safety of Fuyun City still depends on you all. In a few months, the Fang family of Qishan will send someone to oversee this place. You can focus on your work.”

He smiled and bowed to the group in farewell before boarding the carriage and heading south.

He sat in the carriage, silently recalling the demon he had seen that night. It seemed to sound familiar, so he pondered it carefully for most of the day. Suddenly, he remembered and couldn't help but say, "That's it! It's the Wuxiang Village God who brought such a great humiliation to the Wei family of Guangling!"

The God of Wuxiang Village, the God of Wuxiang, the Demon of Wuxiang... It seems that the God of Wuxiang Village in Yunze Mountain and this Demon of Wuxiang are the same demon!

It seems I must write to the five families upon my return home, informing them of the appearanceless demon. Such a peerless demon has appeared, yet no cultivators from the immortal mountains have appeared to subdue it. This can only mean that a great upheaval is imminent, and all the mountains and paths have closed themselves off from the world!

(End of this chapter)