He Zhiping pointed at the strange runes on the door and exclaimed in surprise, "What's this?"
Yu Nian explained, "Someone has set up a spell of confinement in the temple. We won't be able to get out for a while."
Yu Nian looked around. The temple was empty, not even a statue in sight.
On the shabby offering table, instead of fruits, there was a row of white porcelain bowls filled with dark red, already solidified blood clots.
Ming Ming felt a bit scared and murmured, "It can't be human blood, right?"
Yu Nian dipped his finger in the bloodstain on the rim of the bowl and said calmly, "It's cow blood. It should be used to feed the drought demon."
Suddenly, a few soft "jingle" sounds came from above. Everyone looked up and saw that there were a hundred or so black bells hanging on the beams high up in the temple. Under each bell, a white ribbon was tied, fluttering in the wind with an indescribable sense of eeriness.
Right below the bells was a large open space. In the very center of the space, there was a lone gray jar covered densely with talisman papers. The red cloth on the top of the jar's mouth was covered with a thick layer of dust.
Several red ropes with copper coins wrapped tightly around the jar, and their ends extended straight to the pillars at the four corners of the room.
Feng Chengyuan glanced at the jar and felt a strange sense of heaviness in his chest.
Yu Nian stared intently at it, his expression gloomy and hard to read. "This is a soul - sealing formation. It's extremely vicious and ever - changing. While suppressing souls, it can also provide good fortune for the one who set up the formation."
Shitou had been floating above the temple. Suddenly, he felt a heat in his chest, and like a ghost losing weight, he fell down.
He immediately fell to the ground and rolled a few times. His forehead hit the offering table beside him, and his head caved in.
Shitou grimaced in pain, covering his forehead and shouting. He was shocked and said, "How come I have a physical form?"
Yu Nian looked around. The resentment in the temple was even denser than that in the mass grave. Yin energy nourishes ghosts. Having absorbed enough yin energy, Shitou naturally took on a form.
Shitou shivered. As a ghost, he felt an extremely cold aura on such a hot day.
Feng Chengyuan walked to the wall and saw an old, pale - yellow mural.
The little people kneeling on the ground should be the villagers of Wuxiang Village. Above the sacrificial altar stood a tall monster with a green face and sharp fangs, like a man - eating demon.
Feng Chengyuan turned to Yu Nian and asked, "Is this the drought demon?"
Yu Nian nodded. "Generally, zombies can be divided into six categories. After a corpse is nourished by resentment in a corpse - nurturing place for a month, fine white fluff will grow all over its body. These zombies are called white zombies. They move slowly and are timid, extremely afraid of sunlight, livestock, and humans. After a white zombie gorges on the fresh blood of livestock, its body hair will turn black, and it's called a black zombie. After a black zombie absorbs yin energy and blood for several decades and sheds its black hair, it becomes a hopping corpse. They can jump fast and far and are no longer afraid of humans or livestock. The fourth type is a zombie that is over a hundred years old. They are agile and can leap like flying, called flying corpses. The fifth type is the ba, which is the Wuxiang God worshiped by Wuxiang Village. They can change their shapes and appearances and create illusions to deceive humans."
He Zhiping asked curiously, "What about the sixth type?"
"The sixth type is the zombie that has cultivated for millions of years. They are called the hou. However, only one has ever appeared since ancient times, and it was subdued by the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha as his mount a thousand years ago."
He Zhiping's face turned pale. "So, does that mean the Wuxiang God is now the most powerful among the zombies?"
Yu Nian nodded. "You can understand it that way."
Just as he finished speaking, everyone felt a cold wind blowing from behind, making the bells above their heads ring continuously.
Cuicui's eyes instantly became dazed. She walked numbly towards the jar. The moment her finger touched the jar, she felt a sharp pain in her heart.
Her hand trembled, and she fell forward.
With a crisp "pop" sound, the jar shattered, and a wisp of mist drifted into the air.
The sound of the bells suddenly changed, becoming extremely harsh, merging with the strange roars that suddenly came from outside the window.
Everyone present felt as if they had been hit on the back of the head with a dull club. Instantly, their ears rang, their vision went black, and they lost consciousness.
The sky was gray. Yu Nian slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing on a small path paved with bluestones. It was extremely quiet all around. All he could hear was the rustling sound of the leaves being blown by the wind, and the people around him had all disappeared.
Suddenly, there came a commotion in the distance. A group of people were bustling towards Yu Nian's direction.
Yu Nian quickly slipped into the forest and stared intently in that direction.
What came into view was a dazzling red.
It was a wedding procession. Every face wore a smile like a carbon copy. They were chattering noisily, and the sound of firecrackers around them was getting louder and louder.
Although it was the liveliest scene, it somehow gave people a sense of depressing stillness.
Yu Nian looked at the sedan chair in the middle of the crowd and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The bride wasn't sitting in a traditional sedan chair but in a cart pulled by an ox and a horse, moving forward clumsily.
The cart had no roof, and on both sides, there were large, gorgeous yellow - and - white flowers.
The bride was sitting upright in the cart, wearing a fiery red wedding dress. Her hands folded on her knees were very white, the kind of white without a trace of blood.
Yu Nian wanted to see the bride's appearance, but the red veil covered her face tightly.
Yu Nian quietly made a hand gesture, and a gentle breeze blew straight towards the procession, lifting the bride's red veil.
Yu Nian was stunned when he saw the bride's face.
It was an extremely terrifying face.
The facial features were blurred. There were only two inky black holes on the face, dead - looking.
Liu Mo, having turned into a small snake and lying on Yu Nian's shoulder, was startled.
"Is this a bride? It's clearly an old monster!"
Yu Nian silently glanced at Liu Mo, and the meaning was self - evident.
Liu Mo also realized the ambiguity in his words and quickly added, "Of course I'm different. I'm a cute little monster."
Yu Nian's eyebrow twitched. He whispered, "We broke the soul - sealing formation and were drawn into the illusion created by the drought demon. If we want to break this illusion, we still have to follow the art of the Eight Gates of Dunjia. The most urgent thing is to find Chengyuan and the others first."
Yu Nian slowly took a step back, but unexpectedly stepped on a twig on the ground, making a very soft "creak" sound.
The cheerful sound of the suona immediately stopped, and the entire wedding procession came to a halt.
Everyone's necks twitched, and then their heads turned towards Yu Nian in unison, just like sunflowers.
Yu Nian:......
The angle between their heads and bodies was extremely exaggerated. If they were normal people, their necks would have already broken.
Yu Nian made a hand gesture and concealed his aura.
The great wizard at the front of the procession stared coldly in Yu Nian's direction for a moment. His black pupils rolled strangely, and then he slowly turned his head.
The great wizard waved his hand, and the others, like marionettes, returned to normal.
The entire wedding procession continued bustling forward.