The moment Si Tong regained consciousness, the two little ghosts on the beam above my head lunged at my shoulders from either side.
One of them opened its big mouth and tried to bite my face, but the other rammed into it.
"This is the sister who will give us candy, just as I said," the little ghost that I had caught before whispered so softly. "Let's spare her."
"Squeak..."
The other little ghost glared at me with its crimson eyes. Its teeth barely touched my skin, then both of them let out shrill screams as if struck by lightning and scurried away, hiding behind the Taoist priest Li Chengxian.
These two little things... A surge of emotion welled up in my heart. To repay a bit of sweetness they received, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of terrifying punishment they would face when they got back!
I bit my lower lip hard and secretly made up my mind that I must rescue them together!
"Master, please don't speak ill of Miss Du like that!"
At this moment, Uncle Yang finally spoke up. The instant he opened his mouth, my eyes welled up with touched tears. He said to Li Chengxian, "You may be a master with great skills, but Miss Du is also a kind - hearted person! She got rid of the harmful Feng family and that old willow tree for our village! If you're a good person, don't slander another good person who has done good deeds!"
"Old man... You!"
Aunt Yang's eyes were red. She looked at Li Chengxian and then at me, hesitating for a moment.
I knew that in terms of appearance and aura, I was definitely at a disadvantage.
Li Chengxian in his Taoist robe looked like an otherworldly immortal, and he had taken the lead. He had made Aunt Yang trust him whole - heartedly by using Xiaoshanzi's life as a bargaining chip.
I was just a twenty - year - old girl.
No matter how capable I was, people would still look down on me.
"Auntie, I just want to send Xiaoshanzi away peacefully!" I took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in my heart. "I'm also determined to save your lives!"
If necessary, I'd find those two soul - reaping messengers and use coercion and inducement. I didn't believe that I couldn't offer a better deal than Li Chengxian!
"You little witch, don't try to harm anyone again!"
Li Chengxian didn't expect that his most proud ghost - refining technique would have little effect on me. So he simply stopped using those heretical techniques and reached out directly to grab my arm, intending to attack me physically.
As a girl, there was no way I could compete with an adult man in strength.
Once he grabbed my wrist, it felt like an iron hoop was around it, and my body was involuntarily pulled towards him.
Uncle Yang was very angry and shouted as he rushed towards the Taoist priest. "How can you lay hands on a girl?!"
"Humph! You're courting death!"
The Taoist priest Li Chengxian snorted from his nostrils and took a step back.
With a sharp "clang", the iron - toothed rake that had been leaning against the wall of the main room suddenly fell down. At the same time, Uncle Yang stumbled on a raised brick corner and lost his balance, falling straight towards the sharp teeth of the rake.
The teeth of the rake were at least three inches long. If Uncle Yang fell on it, he would be skewered immediately.
Just as I screamed and desperately tried to break free from Li Chengxian's grip to save Uncle Yang, Uncle Yang's body suddenly stopped and was yanked to one side.
"Let her go!"
A voice came from the darkness. The flickering candle flames became even more erratic. After struggling for a few times, they finally went out with two "puffs"!
Behind Uncle Yang, a tall figure emerged against the crimson blood - moon shining in through the window, exuding an overwhelming aura.
Li Chengxian, who had been proudly grabbing my shoulder and trying to drag me out of the house, was startled. Immediately, two faint, shadowy figures appeared beside him.
"Who dares to interfere with the work of the soul - reapers?!"
The two shadowy figures were full of malevolence. One of them, holding a sign with the words "Seize Souls", waved his hand and asked, "Bold ghost! You've invaded a living body with your remnant soul and still dare to show off in front of the soul - reapers. You're just asking for death!"
"Seize him and send him to hell to suffer!" the other shadow shouted.
"..."
I was so shocked that I couldn't say a word.
Si Jiangchen had woken up at some point. The bloodstain on his lips hadn't been wiped away, and the thunder qi in his body still surged under his skin from time to time. But his eyes had turned completely crimson in the darkness. He stared coldly at Li Chengxian over the two soul - reaping messengers.
"You're courting death!!"
Ordinary ghost - catchers used to turn a blind eye to Si Jiangchen, as if he wasn't a zombie that had been dead for many years. But these two soul - reaping messengers, who were different from the regular ghost - catchers, dared to openly provoke Si Jiangchen.
Looking at their fearless appearance, I felt scared!
Si Jiangchen might have been very powerful before, so powerful that the ghost - catchers didn't even dare to look at him. But now, his body had been backlashed by the thunder qi. Ghost - catchers were good at currying favor. Seeing him so weak, they might immediately seize the soul sealed in his body!
Sure enough, the soul - reaping messenger holding the "Seize Souls" sign let out a sinister laugh, sized Si Jiangchen up and down, and then said, "I didn't expect that in this era of the decline of magic, there would still be such an otherworldly thing... Oh! And he's even suffered a minor thunder calamity!"
"Come with us brothers obediently and save yourself the disgrace!"
The other soul - reaping messenger had shaken out the white silk in his hand. The biggest difference between them and the regular ghost - catchers was that they used a three - zhang - three - chi long pale silk instead of chains to seize people.
"Exorcise ghosts and ward off evil. Break!"
Li Chengxian was holding one of my wrists, but I grabbed two green talismans with my other hand and slapped them on the two messengers who were very close to me.
I even forgot my original intention of trying to escape from him. Now I just wanted to prevent him from being taken away by the two soul - reaping messengers!
The green talismans were spells one level higher than the yellow talismans I usually used. My powerful Maoshan master had spent a lot of effort drawing these two "Evil - warding Talismans".
As I sacrificed the talismans, I silently prayed. Since my master had given them to me, it meant that I was capable of controlling them, even though they were just one rank higher.
Even if it meant harming my own body, I had to buy some time for Si Jiangchen to escape from here!
Ghost - catchers were also a kind of ghosts. They were just "civil servants" who had received the mandate from the underworld to handle affairs. If they were hit by the talismans, although they wouldn't be as seriously injured as ordinary ghosts, they should be immobilized for a while!
As soon as the words were spoken, the green talismans were instantly activated. Countless dim lights passed through the bodies of the two soul - reaping messengers and controlled their movements. They were like insect specimens nailed in a glass case, completely unable to move.
"Si Jiangchen, run!!"
Seeing that the talismans had taken effect, I immediately looked up and shouted at Si Jiangchen.
But halfway through my shout, it felt like a huge stone had been slammed down on my chest from above. My heart was instantly squeezed into a thin sheet!