Chapter 67 : Chapter 67
Chapter 67: You’re Fierce?! So What If You’re Fierce!!! Could You Possibly Be Fiercer Than Lord Lu?!!!
The turmoil of the Demon Nest in Peach Blossom Alley had only just settled.
And now the Blood Moon had risen again.
“This world really does have every kind of monster and mad spirit under the heavens,” Lu Zhan said, gradually growing excited. “Come on, all of you, come. It just so happens I’ve never killed a specter before.”
Just then, his phone rang.
“Hello, Lu Zhan!”
He answered the call crisply and without hesitation.
“Lord Lu... bzzzt... causing trouble... bzzz... specter... bzzz... Li family in the Northern District... bzzz... my lord... beep, beep, beep...”
The voice on the other end was broken and intermittent, extremely blurred.
Lu Zhan only managed to catch those few fragmented words because of his maxed-out Chinese listening ability.
A specter?!
Before the other side could finish speaking, the call cut off.
It was obvious that the person was in a hurry.
“So these things are already too impatient to wait?”
Lu Zhan let out a cold laugh.
The Blood Moon thirty years ago had led to the appearance of Demon Beasts. It seemed that the Blood Moon thirty years later was going to bring specters into the world.
That suited him perfectly, because he had been growing impatient as well. After all, he wanted to improve too badly.
Opening apertures in a day, reaching the Divine Sea in a month?
Slow!!!
Far too slow!!!
If it were some evil cultivator instead, he would probably already be a god by now, and his Human Emperor Banner would practically be overflowing.
But Lu Zhan could not bring himself to slaughter the innocent.
Monsters, though, were different.
What good monsters were there? They all deserved to die.
Lu Zhan rose straight into the air and hovered there.
“The Li family in the Northern District... found it!”
After orienting himself, he flew directly in that direction.
As for what had happened at the Li family, that had to be told from half an hour earlier.
At that time, the Li family had been holding a funeral.
Outside the mourning hall, white funeral cloth hung low, and the paper soul banners rustled in the wind.
The relatives clustered together, their hushed discussions mixed with quiet sobbing.
“Sigh, Sister-in-law Li was only in her early fifties, right? She looked pretty healthy to me. I even saw her doing square dancing a few days ago.”
“What good is being healthy? The important thing is how she looked before she died... it was terrifying. How can a person smile like that...?”
“Could she have been possessed by something evil...?”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone shivered involuntarily, feeling as though the temperature in the mourning hall had dropped a few degrees.
Strange things might be common in this world.
But so far, there had been no incidents of actual hauntings, so no one had really thought in that direction.
“Shh—don’t talk nonsense. It’ll only make the family feel worse if they hear.”
...
Her son, Li Erniu, looked honest and dull by nature.
He knelt before the coffin, burning spirit money into the brazier. The smoke stung his eyes until they were red.
“Mom... please go in peace... if you need anything down there... send me a dream, and your son will burn it for you...”
The moment Li Erniu’s voice fell, a grating sound suddenly rang out inside the mourning hall.
But it was drowned out by the blaring speakers in the living room, and only a few people heard it.
“Wh-what... what was that sound...?”
One relative’s voice trembled.
Scratch... scratch...
That strange sound rang out again, clearer this time, carrying a teeth-aching scrape that seemed to rasp right beside their ears.
“Ahhh!!!”
“A ghost!!! The Li family is haunted!!!”
Someone’s shrill scream ripped through the grief-stricken atmosphere of the Li family.
Li Erniu was the closest to the coffin. It felt as though nails had been driven through his feet into the floor, while a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
“M-Mom...” His voice shook beyond control, filled with unbelievable terror. “Is that you?”
But the only answer he received was that skin-crawling sound.
Then an even more horrifying noise followed.
Scraaape... scraaape...
Thump... thump...
It sounded like fingernails scraping at the inner wall of the coffin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A heavy pounding rang through the mourning hall, as if the “thing” inside the coffin had already grown impatient.
“Yin energy surging into baleful force, dead water stirring into waves—the old books were telling the truth!!!”
Liao Ming, who was presiding over the funeral, felt his scalp go numb.
He had worked in feng shui for a full ten years, and never once had he encountered anything like what was happening tonight.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Whatever was inside seemed to be growing stronger and stronger. Two of the coffin nails had already been forced out. If this continued, whatever was inside would break free in less than a minute.
His face changed drastically.
“This won’t do! We absolutely cannot let that thing break out of the coffin!”
He had once read a line in an ancient book—Coffin restrains baleful force and gathers it in; once the casket breaks, a fierce revenant is born.
The meaning was that as long as the thing remained inside the coffin, it would not be as dangerous. But once it got out, it would become truly terrifying.
He grabbed a brick and rushed forward, preparing to hammer the coffin nails back in.
At the same time, he abandoned all pretenses of a feng shui master’s composure and roared at the few men who could still barely remain standing, “Stop fucking running! If you don’t want to die, do exactly as I say.”
“A few of you, tear down the white soul banners hanging by the door. And someone else, pour the glutinous rice wine from the table all around the coffin.”
He was not speaking at random.
An old book had recorded it clearly—white soul banners draw spirits, and glutinous rice breaks baleful force.
As he shouted, he hammered the coffin nails back into place.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
But the moment Li Erniu saw that, he rushed forward to stop him.
“Master Liao, stop! My mother might not be dead yet. She’s still alive... yes, she must still be alive... stop...”
“You’re killing someone... if you don’t stop, I’ll sue you in court...”
“Damn it, idiot. I was the one who prepared your mother’s body. Would I not know whether she was dead or not?”
“Get lost!”
Liao Ming kicked him away with one foot.
Could an ordinary living person possess that much strength? He was one hundred percent certain that whatever was inside was no longer human.
As he said that, he drove the loosened coffin nails back in.
The thing inside was hammering from within, and the people outside were hammering from without.
Both sides were in a hurry.
But clearly, Liao Ming was faster by half a beat.
Even after driving every coffin nail back in, he still did not feel reassured, so he hammered in several more for good measure. Only then did the thing inside gradually quiet down.
“Damn it, this thing is way too vicious.”
Liao Ming cursed under his breath.
“No, this thing has to be handed over to the Demon Extermination Bureau.”
As he spoke, he took out his phone and prepared to call Lu Zhan.
But the moment the call connected, before anyone could answer—
Crack! Boom!
A sharp sound that made one’s heart and soul split with terror rang out!
The entire coffin—at the end near the head—was suddenly punched through from the inside by a bluish-gray hand.
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
Then the bluish-gray hand withdrew, and a tremendous, irresistible force erupted from inside the coffin!
Boom!
A massive blast of air sent the coffin lid flying, smashing it into the corner of the mourning hall.
In an instant, the incense burner, candle stands, and offerings were all sent scattering.
And because Liao Ming stood closest to the coffin, he too was unable to escape. He was hurled directly out of the mourning hall.
He looked thoroughly miserable.
His phone flew from his hand and smashed heavily against the floor.
The screen shattered completely.
Still, he was a martial artist, so that kind of injury was only minor to him.
But the phone screen was utterly ruined.
From it came a broken, intermittent voice: “Hello... bzzz... bzzz... Lu... bzzz... Zhan.”
A flash of joy appeared on Liao Ming’s face.
“Lord Lu? I’m reporting a specter causing trouble in your territory. It’s at the Li family in the Northern District, my lord... beep, beep, beep!”
Liao Ming still wanted to say more, but the call had already disconnected.
Then he raised his head to look at the thing emerging from the coffin. Whether it could understand him or not, he bared his teeth in a savage grin and said,
“You’re dead!”
“You dared cause trouble in Lord Lu’s territory. Let me tell you, you’re finished!”
“You’re fierce?! So what if you’re fierce!!! Could you possibly be fiercer than Lord Lu?!!!”