Chapter 533 Shadow-Bound City

More frightening than the wails of ghosts is their laughter. Mingzhou city was caught completely off guard this night, thrown into a state of panic.

The remaining members of the Truth Sect in the city hurriedly sent people out, but at the sight of the green banners, the little ghosts vanished without a trace. Only the trembling citizens remained, along with an eerie red lantern hanging high above the decorated archway.

They stared at the countless closed doors and windows, and the occasional cries from the distance, trembling with rage. "How dare they! How dare they! The city god is causing trouble? This is outrageous!"

Having arrived from Guanzhou, they were ambitious, recruiting soldiers and gathering supplies, ready to make a name for themselves. But who would have thought that they'd first encounter a group of bandits in the mountains who not only refused to hand over grain but also brazenly robbed them under the banner of "Grain Protection General"? This already infuriated them.

But in the end, they didn't take the mountain bandits too seriously. After all, they were just a rabble. Gathering a group of highly skilled experts would make cleaning up such a group easy.

But to recruit such people, a little money, grain, and the reputation of the Truth Sect weren't enough. In the end, they still needed something concrete:

Blood sacrifices.

But the Truth Sect, which had long planned for this batch of blood sacrifices prepared specifically for them in Mingzhou, was already enraged when they heard that the Red Lantern Society was so unyielding, refusing to give even a single bit and even openly provoking them.

What was there to say?

They had originally agreed to pay a visit the next day at noon, but now they couldn't wait to find Zhumen Town that very night. However, they held back because they feared ambushes if they left the city at night.

However, having held their anger in for half the night, they planned to flatten Zhumen Town the next day. But unexpectedly, on that very day:

A plague broke out…

The plague came suddenly. At least half of the people in the city had only been frightened the night before, but woke up in the morning feeling dizzy and sick.

The illness wasn't severe enough to be fatal, but it caused dizziness, restlessness, and even breathing felt heavy and labored. The entire city, even those selling goods on the streets and those hawking wine, didn't open their doors.

For a moment, it looked like a ghost town.

"This plague came so suddenly. Could someone have poisoned the water? Or perhaps, someone set up an altar in the city and invited a plague god?"

The Truth Sect was both shocked and angry and temporarily forgot about other matters. They immediately sent people to investigate and dispatched a team to forcibly bring the Five Ghost Shopkeeper from the Caoxin Apothecary.

With the Miracle Hand Little Boss of Caoxin Apothecary gone, the Five Ghost Shopkeeper had no intention of resisting the Truth Sect and had no choice but to come. After looking around, he sneered and waved his hand. "It's not a plague, nor is it poisoning."

"Our Caoxin Apothecary can't handle this. You should invite someone more skilled..."

"..."

The people of the Truth Sect were angered by the Caoxin Apothecary's arrogant shopkeeper, whose words were incomprehensible. However, all the noble lords who had pledged their allegiance to them inquired about it, so they had to offer a reward and invite various experts in Mingzhou to come and take a look.

With a large reward, there were naturally capable people. Soon, a fortune teller who was passing through Mingzhou city responded to the call and entered the city government. He simply said, "There is no plague here, but it's much worse than a plague..."

"Someone has used something to shadow the entire city..."

"..."

"Shadowed?"

A certain altar master of the Truth Sect, who was in charge of handling the matter, was immediately shocked.

In the world of esoteric arts, there is shadowing, suppressing, haunting, and towning, each with different meanings. The Curse Head Sect understood this the best, but others had mostly heard of it, but were still quite surprised.

"This is an entire city of people. What has the ability to shadow an entire city?"

"..."

"Hehe, the thing that can shadow an entire city can, of course, only be refined from something that could once benefit an entire city..."

The fortune teller gave a bitter smile and sighed. "I've traveled north and south for so many years, but I've never seen anyone with such guts..."

"Being able to use this powerful technique is one thing, but daring to use it is another. Even if the person who cast the spell isn't afraid of being burdened with sin, offending the heavens, and dying at the hands of vengeful ghosts and gods, the founding ancestor of the Curse Head Sect would probably send someone to capture him..."

"..."

Amidst the bitter laughter, he didn't say much. He didn't accept the Truth Sect's recruitment or reward, but simply pointed out the key and waited to see how the Truth Sect would handle it.

And at this time, a message suddenly arrived from the direction of Old Yin Mountain. The altar masters and various leaders who were leading the troops to pacify the bandits sent little ghost messengers to say that the morale of their troops had suddenly collapsed and they were utterly defeated.

The troops under their command were all provided by the noble lords in the city. In terms of physical strength, they were stronger than the mountain bandits who couldn't even eat their fill. Therefore, although the mountain bandits had been gaining momentum recently, they could barely hold them off.

But now, it was as if everyone under their command had withered. They couldn't get up in the morning. Even if they were whipped to get up, they were listless. Not to mention going to battle, they looked like they wouldn't even bother dodging if the enemy charged at them...

"Shadowing the people in the city is one thing, but how did even the dispatched troops get shadowed?"

The Heavenly Destiny General of the Truth Sect was so anxious that his eyes were burning with fire, and he grew increasingly angry. "What a Red Lantern Goddess! A mere city god, how dare she be so overbearing?"

...

...

"They're too bullying..."

Even earlier, when the news reached Zhumen Town, the consequences were clearly even more serious. When Sweet Potato Bun brought the news back in the early hours of the day before, the entire Red Lantern Society was in chaos.

The Red Lantern Goddess had no idea what was happening. She was only upset and anxious when she heard that the Truth Sect was sending people to attack. With the Right Protector not by her side, she was on the verge of tears.

The Truth Sect was too domineering. They had already said that there were no more blood sacrifices. They gave you the remaining one or two hundred altars, but you didn't want them. What else do you want?

The Left Protector, Shen Hongzhi, was extremely angry. "We said that the remaining blood sacrifices could all be given to them, but the Truth Sect didn't want them and insisted on attacking?"

"You...did you convey the message clearly?"

"..."

"Of course."

Sweet Potato Bun wiped away her tears and said, "Sister, I went and told them nicely that it's not that we don't want to give them the blood sacrifices, it's just that they were stolen. The Truth Sect hasn't even cleared their suspicion yet, it's too much to pretend they don't know about it, right?"

"But as a result, not only did they not understand, but they also looked down on the blood sacrifices, saying that they were going to attack us and even tear down our Red Lantern Goddess's temple and take her back to be their foot-washing maid!"

"..."

The Left Protector was furious. "They have a lot of nerve!"

"Even if she's not up to par, she's still our Red Lantern Goddess. How can she be their foot-washing maid?"

Sweet Potato Bun said, "That's right, sister, we can't stand it anymore. Doesn't the society have three or five hundred men? Let's call them all over and fight them..."

If the Left Protector, Shen Hongzhi, had enough time, she could probably guess that something was wrong, but how could she care about that now? She just said with a bitter face, "What can you expect from that group of people? When they hear that the Truth Sect is going to attack, those who can run will run early."

"What the heck?"

Sweet Potato Bun was stunned for a moment. She looked at the Zhumen Town, which was obviously a little empty, and realized what was happening. She quickly grabbed the Left Protector's hand and said, "Sister, don't worry, I won't run. I'll stay here and advance and retreat with you..."

The Left Protector was immediately touched and sighed. "You're really a good sister..."

"However, when it comes to the worst, we should leave if we have to, but it's a pity for our Red Lantern Goddess..."

"...She really can't leave."

"..."

"..."

"What?"

At this time, in the manor in Qing Stone Town, Hu Ma had instructed Sweet Potato Bun to do things and believed in her abilities. He was leisurely drinking tea, waiting for the opportunity.

But unexpectedly, before Sweet Potato Bun's results came back, he unexpectedly welcomed a guest. Xu Xiangzhu from the Red Lantern Society came to the manor in the middle of the day, bringing his old servant and a rather attractive and charming woman, looking travel-worn.

As soon as he entered the manor, he first went to the water tank and scooped up a ladle of water to drink. "Something big happened."

"The Truth Sect is going to use the name of blood sacrifices to attack our Red Lantern Society. Today at noon, they will attack. Those who can run in the society have all run away. Those who had news moved before dawn yesterday..."

"..."

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment and got up to greet him. "Then Uncle Xu, you..."

"I moved before dawn yesterday..."

Xu Xiangzhu drank half a ladle of water and handed it to the old servant next to him. Then he said to Hu Ma, "Do you have a fast horse in your manor? I have to go back to the mountains to take shelter first."

'Wait, you're such a big incense master and you've run away, so what about our Red Lantern Goddess?'

Hu Ma was stunned. He had asked Sweet Potato Bun to put some pressure on the Red Lantern Society to take on the responsibilities it should bear. How did this woman directly break up the Red Lantern Society?

Just as he was feeling strange, he caught a glimpse of Little Red Hibiscus, who had gone to the city to inquire about news, returning. He quickly called out to Li Waizi, "First make something to eat for Uncle Xu. Uncle Xu, do you still remember him? He helped us when we first joined the society..."

Then, he comforted Xu Xiangzhu not to worry, to eat something before going into the mountains. Then, he found an excuse to arrange livestock and came to the stable to listen to Little Red Hibiscus describe what happened in Mingzhou city. He felt a little scalp tingling:

"Releasing a plague?"

He had asked Sweet Potato Bun to mess up Mingzhou, not to exterminate Mingzhou...

But after asking in detail, he realized that it wasn't releasing a plague. It seemed that Sweet Potato Bun was from the Punishment Soul Sect and didn't have the ability to release a plague on an entire city. But after asking about the specific situation, he understood: "This woman used that Blessed Fiend spiritual treasure?"

ps Recommendation: I, Zhang Mu, courtesy name Muzi, known as Zhang Mazi, today sit in the Golden Luan Hall as a bandit, and make three rules with the immortals—those who fish for luck, die; those who move the secrets of heaven, die; those who harm my peaceful human world, behead, destroy their souls, and die without a good end!

《A Fine World of Luck》

(End of this chapter)