Mo Ting and I watched, stunned.
The female ghost in red was simply too powerful.
One claw could shatter a large bluestone half a person's height, such immense strength.
Yet, even so, Daoist Master Tang could handle her with ease.
This showed that Daoist Master Tang's cultivation was also unfathomably profound.
The two sides clashed back and forth, locked in a fierce battle.
Daoist Master Tang unleashed three talismans in quick succession, causing the female ghost in red to let out miserable screams.
However, he still couldn't subdue her.
He was almost injured by the female ghost in red.
Mo Ting looked worried and said to my master, "Daoist Master Gu, why don't you step in and help my master?"
I nodded in agreement.
Daoist Master Tang was Mo Ting's master, a Bai Pai Taoist with genuine skills.
If he were injured by a fierce ghost, it would be a loss to our profession.
I didn't believe my master would truly stand by and watch someone die.
But my master just smiled faintly, "Don't worry, your master isn't that weak. I've known this old rascal for decades, he's very capable!"
Hearing this, I glanced at my master a few more times. He had known Daoist Master Tang for decades? Had they known each other since they were young? Or were they old rivals?
But as expected.
Not long after my master finished speaking, Daoist Master Tang swept his sword, pushing away the female ghost in red, and seemed to chant another spell. He then shouted, "Lin Bing Dou Zhe Jie Zhen Lie Qian Xing, Kai!"
As the incantation was uttered, a surge of qi erupted from Daoist Master Tang's body. His body also underwent strange changes. The yellow Taoist robe he wore rapidly puffed up, as if inflated like a balloon, making his entire upper body a size larger.
Mo Ting and I looked at Daoist Master Tang with confusion and surprise.
My master, however, laughed heartily, "Here it comes! This is the 'Invoking Deities' technique that old rascal excels at."
Mo Ting and I had both entered the profession not long ago, and Mo Ting hadn't encountered this Taoist art, so he understood only partially. He had only a vague concept of "Invoking Deities."
However, Daoist Master Tang, with his puffed-up upper body, seemed like a different person, his face flushed fiercely. Wielding a giant sword, he furiously hacked at the female ghost in red.
The female ghost in red, who could previously parry his attacks, was now completely unable to defend herself, retreating in terror. Her previously ferocious expression was now filled with fear. A sword strike on her shoulder nearly sliced her in half. Finally, Daoist Master Tang grabbed her by the neck and, like discarding trash, slammed her against the old wall.
With a "bang," the wall collapsed, and dust filled the air. The female ghost in red lay in the rubble, half-dead and seemingly incapacitated.
"So... so strong!" Mo Ting exclaimed, his eyes wide.
I also took a sharp breath. This was a Red-level fierce ghost, far stronger than the headless malevolent spirit from last night. Yet, now she was being severely beaten by Daoist Master Tang, unable to retaliate.
At the same time, Daoist Master Tang formed another mudra and shouted, "Jie!" His upper body, which had been inflated, instantly deflated and returned to normal. He then turned his head to look at my master and directly gave him a middle finger, "Old trash, see this?"
My master rolled his eyes and simply said to Mo Ting and me, "Let's go, we'll clean up the mess!"
However, just as Daoist Master Tang turned to give my master the middle finger, and my master was speaking to us, the female ghost in red, lying in the rubble and appearing half-dead, suddenly seized an opportunity. She flipped over, leaped up, and lunged fiercely at Daoist Master Tang.
My master, standing beside me, noticed the situation immediately. With a look of concern, he shouted, "Old rascal, be careful!"
As he spoke, my master's body trembled. I felt a powerful wave of energy erupt from him. My master shot out like a rocket with a "whoosh."
Daoist Master Tang also seemed to sense the danger from behind and turned around abruptly. Seeing the ghost attacking and a claw swiping towards his face, his expression changed drastically. He could only hastily raise his peach wood sword to block.
With a "clang," the ghost's claw struck the peach wood sword. Because it was a hasty block, Daoist Master Tang was unprepared, and he was shaken, staggering backward and nearly losing his footing.
The female ghost in red intended to continue her attack. But seeing my master charging forward with a copper coin sword, exuding an aura no weaker than, or even stronger than, Daoist Master Tang's, she knew she was no match. With my master, and us two following behind, she realized she couldn't afford to linger. Unwilling to accept defeat, she opened her mouth and exhaled a puff of white smoke. The smoke was unusually dense, gathering without dispersing. This exhale instantly enveloped a radius of five meters. She turned and fled into the forest.
My master, holding the copper coin sword, charged into the white mist and slashed at the dense, unmoving fog. "Disperse!" The white mist was instantly dispersed. But by then, the ghost was nowhere to be seen; she had already escaped into the mountain.
My master scanned his surroundings and finally set his gaze on Daoist Master Tang. Daoist Master Tang was unharmed, his expression visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. But in the next moment, his face turned into one of contempt, "Old rascal, you are truly incompetent. You don't even know if the female ghost was crippled? And you got ambushed!"
Daoist Master Tang's face turned red, and this time he clearly had no good retort, as it was indeed his misjudgment. He had thought the final blow had severely wounded the female ghost in red, eliminating the threat. But who knew that after turning to show off, he would be ambushed by the ghost. Fortunately, my master had arrived in time, threatening the female ghost in red and assisting Daoist Master Tang. Otherwise, even if Daoist Master Tang could have turned the tide, he might have been injured.
But Daoist Master Tang was prideful, especially in front of his old rival, my master, and didn't want to back down. "I, I, I did it on purpose, what about it?" As he spoke, his confidence was clearly lacking, and his face turned red.
My master rolled his eyes, not pushing the issue further or dwelling on his mistake. "Alright, alright. Now let's think about how to find that female ghost. This thing is heavily injured, it can't have escaped far. If we search diligently, we should be able to find it..."