In the very center where the golden light converged, a semi - transparent shadow floated in mid - air.
One could only vaguely recognize from the figure that it was a woman.
Her long hair hung almost down to her heels, and there were scars on her face left by the slashes of a sharp blade.
On her arms, legs, and even her neck, incantation texts had been carved.
These were marks engraved on the soul.
Each mark must have been excruciatingly painful when it was carved.
All over her body and soul, such symbols had been left.
One could only imagine how much pain she had endured.
The golden light emitted from the arhat statues seemed to have a suppressing effect.
When the golden light shone on the ethereal ghost, Nian Nian could even clearly hear the hissing sound of the soul being burned.
Although the female ghost was beyond recognition, Daoist Qingyun immediately recognized her as his wife.
He no longer cared about anything else and rushed forward, using his body to block the directly refracted golden light.
Nian Nian also quickly rushed over. Although she was short and her ability to help was negligible, she still opened her arms and tried her best to shield her mistress from the light.
Facing outwards, Nian Nian vaguely seemed to see, in the distance at the door, one ghost after another floating over.
Huh?
They looked a bit familiar.
Some of those faces were exactly the ghosts that her master had summoned today!
Nian Nian's smart little brain started to think quickly.
The complex runes on her mistress's body could be vaguely recognized as runes that enhanced the ghost's own abilities.
But these runes were very ancient. Although they could greatly enhance the power of the ghost, they would also make the ghost lose its sanity and suffer a backlash.
Every step of improvement was extremely painful.
The function of the small building built in the center was obvious.
It was built to imprison and detain her mistress's soul.
The feng shui that attracted ghosts at the door was to draw the surrounding ghosts over, lead them to her mistress, and let her mistress devour the other ghosts to gradually strengthen her own power.
The four rows of Buddhist halls built around and the octagonal windows of this small building were designed to suppress her mistress's ghost so that it would not get out of control.
At least, before her mistress truly became a ghost king, it was impossible for her to rush out of the small building.
There must be someone observing their every move in the dark.
After Nian Nian calmed down, her mind became extremely clear.
Raising a ghost and then suppressing it.
The person who had captured her mistress's soul would surely come to collect her soul after she became a ghost king.
Moreover, that person must have a backup plan to control the ghost king.
To be precise, that person could control her mistress.
Otherwise, it would be a complete waste of effort if that person went to so much trouble to create a ghost king just to release it to cause harm to the world without any personal gain.
After all, a person with such abilities could simply catch a few more evil ghosts and release them in various corners of the world, which, to some extent, could also achieve the same effect.
Judging from her mistress's current state, she should be close to becoming a king.
If the few floating ghosts outside came to her mistress's side and she unconsciously devoured them, it would surely accelerate her mistress's growth.
Now that her mistress had not fully become a ghost king, the person hiding in the dark might not show up.
At least the situation was still under control.
So those ghosts must not be allowed to get close.
Xiao Tuan Zi quickly ran to the window.
She closed all the windows at the fastest speed to block the light.
The golden light finally dimmed a lot. Nian Nian grabbed her master and said, "Master, let's quickly go downstairs to get rid of the evil ghosts outside and then close the doors of the Buddhist halls!"
Reminded by Xiao Tuan Zi, Daoist Qingyun finally regained a bit of his senses.
He knew that the most urgent thing now was to prevent the situation from getting worse.
He reluctantly glanced at his wife's soul and then followed Xiao Tuan Zi downstairs.
The first thing they did after going downstairs was to close all the disassembled windows on the first floor. Then they ran outside the small building and closed the large doors of those Buddhist halls.
The ghosts floating from outside the temple were almost approaching.
Nian Nian took her short legs and hurriedly rushed behind the main hall closest to the front door. Then she took out a talisman and rushed forward.
Using talismans to exterminate ghosts was relatively energy - consuming.
It also took a great toll on one's energy and spirit.
Moreover, one talisman could only exterminate one ghost. Such disposable items would eventually run out.
These ghosts would float and dodge. If one accidentally missed throwing the talisman on a ghost, that yellow talisman would be wasted and a new one had to be used.
If only the small peach - wood sword had not been destroyed!
She could have taken the sword and chopped these ghosts. No matter how many there were, she could have killed them all!
Alas...
Xiao Tuan Zi sighed silently in her heart.
Facing so many evil ghosts, even Nian Nian, as tough as she was, was starting to struggle.
Most importantly, these ghosts were not coming from just one direction.
They were floating here from all directions. Nian Nian's two short legs were moving fast, but she could only fight while retreating.
The yellow talismans in her small satchel were being consumed at a visible speed and were almost used up. Seeing that she was about to retreat to the small building, Nian Nian had to start thinking about setting up a talisman formation.
Undoubtedly, the most effective formation for killing ghosts was the Heavenly Thunder Formation.
Heavenly thunder could suppress all evil in the world, but it also attacked without discrimination.
If she set up the Heavenly Thunder Formation, her mistress might also be affected.
Nian Nian glanced back at her master who was still struggling with the ghosts.
She bit her lower lip and silently took out a few purple Heavenly Thunder Talismans.
She didn't care about so many things for now.
After all, her mistress was about to become a ghost king.
She was not that weak.
She could withstand a few strikes of the Heavenly Thunder.
The floating ghosts were all low - level ghosts.
They couldn't even withstand one strike of the Heavenly Thunder.
Now that things had come to this, she had to use it.
There were ways to heal her mistress's soul injury. It was better than her completely turning into a killing machine.
Thinking of this, Nian Nian no longer hesitated.
She took out all the purple Heavenly Thunder Talismans in her small satchel.
She started to look for positions around the small building.
She pasted each talisman in the right place.
The process was surprisingly smooth.
There were only the last three talismans left. Once they were pasted, the formation would be complete.
Nian Nian had never set up such a large formation before.
When she practiced before, it was only in a small courtyard of less than a few square meters.
The area to be covered now was at least four or five hundred square meters.
Although she was a bit unsure, she had to bite the bullet and continue.
After pasting two talismans, there was only one left.
Nian Nian ran around in circles, checking each talisman to see if there were any problems or if the positions were deviated.
After the inspection, when she was sure that there were no mistakes, Nian Nian came to the front of the small building and let out a long breath.
Yes!
Once this talisman was pasted, the formation would be fully completed.
By then, these ghosts would be instantly blasted into pieces by the Heavenly Thunder.
She could then tear off the talismans to try her best to avoid hurting her mistress.
Xiao Tuan Zi had a good plan, but when she raised her hand, a heart - rending cry suddenly came from behind.
"Nian Nian!"