There was inexplicable fog in Hucheng at noon.
It was not an ordinary, hazy fog as light as white gauze, but gray-black and thick, as if a puddle of mud was soaking the streets.
The city slowly dies in silence.
Suddenly.
Ta da~
Those were rapid and messy footsteps.
A woman staggered out with a baby in her left hand and a boy in her right hand. She looked panicked, her hair messy and stuck to her face with sweat, and she turned back frequently in fear, as if something was chasing her behind her.
She was extremely tired, her face turned pale, and her legs were filled with lead. Even so, she did not abandon the two children. She just temporarily let go of the boy's hand, told the child to follow her, and then freed her hand. Slapping the doors along the street, begging to be opened.
"Help!"
"Please, open the door."
"At least let the baby in."
One door after another, no door was opened for her.
Is the whole street deserted?
No.
Whenever she knocked on a door, there would always be a panicked sound, an angry scolding, or a pleading apology.
The despair on her face grew thicker, and at the same time, a vague whimper sounded from the thick fog behind her. The sound sounded like crying, but also like laughter, like a beast roaring - something was following!
Until the woman slapped her palms, leaving bloody fingerprints on the statue of the door god.
Crunch~
The door burst open.
"A dog entered, come in quickly...!"
The scolding stopped abruptly.
The woman turned around in horror.
In a moment of negligence, the child fell behind her, only ten steps away. But within these short ten steps, she stood in front of the rescued door, but the child was wrapped in gray mist.
Wisps of ash-like black smoke emerged from the fog, condensing into a vague human shape in the air. The ragged rags covered the face, only revealing two huge craggy claws reaching towards the child.
The woman didn't say a word, just stuffed the baby in her arms into the door, and tried to run back, but was held back by various hands and feet inside the door.
"You don't want your life!"
The woman couldn't break free and could only watch the giant claw getting closer and closer to the child's head.
Sudden.
The ghost's movement froze, as if it was frightened, and it let out a piercing howl. It swayed and was about to flee into the fog.
But a slender and powerful hand suddenly stretched out from the fog and pinched the ghost's neck, and then dust swept away the thick fog, revealing two Taoists.
One is holding Fuchen, which is Hu City's sacrificial wine Tongchen; the other is holding a long sword on his waist, which is Li Chang'an who came to save people.
The child was probably frightened. When he was rescued, his eyes became red.
Before he could cry.
Li Changan hurriedly rubbed his little head. Hmm~ I don't wash my hair often, so it feels bad.
"A man can't be a crybaby. Go and protect your mother."
The child held back his tears, nodded hard, and ran towards the door that opened again.
…
Li Changan looked at the struggling ghost in his hand.
The outline of the body resembles that of a human, but the features of many beasts can be seen under the rag wrapper. It is difficult to tell whether it was a human or an animal in life. But in fact, this thing is neither a human nor a beast, nor even a ghost.
It is an evil spirit caused by the remnant souls or resentments of mortals wandering into the deep mountains and old forests, combined with the spirits of beasts, the stale air of the old forests, and the filth of the mountains. The folk traditions in southern Xinjiang often capture these things and use them to drive soldiers and horses down the altar.
Although it looks ferocious, it is actually very fragile. However, it is a mixture of evil spirits that can be dispersed by a strong wind, melted by a scorching sun, collapsed by a thunder, and even a man full of energy can break it alive. Folks often joke that a tigress from a certain family is so fierce that it can beat ghosts, and most of them are like this.
So they usually stay away from human settlements and wander through the mountains and forests. How dare they openly invade big cities and cause trouble now?
Li Changan stared at the turbid fog, thought for a moment, then casually squeezed away the ghost in his hand, and then jumped onto the roof of the tall building.
Look around.
Seeing the heavy gray fog covering most of the city, countless ghosts were floating in and out of the fog, either chasing passers-by who had no time to escape, or trying to invade human settlements, only to be repelled by the door gods.
The wind is miserable and the air is dark.
In a trance.
I thought I was in some kind of ghost cave!
It was clear that the world was still clean when we entered the city in the morning, but it took just one meal to change our appearance?
The difference seems to be the fog.
Li Changan took a closer look and noticed that the fog concentration was different. At the edge, there is just gray mist, and in the depths, it is like sludge accumulated in the ditch-like streets and alleys. At the far end, where there should be a certain section of the city wall, the gray mist seems to have condensed into iron stone, glowing strangely under the pale sunshine. of light.
"That's 'disease'."
Tongchen followed the roof, stepped carefully on the tiles, and explained:
"One of the five minions of the Demon."
"According to the notes left by the ancestor, this official was originally a god of plague. He broke away from the shackles of Shinto and turned into a demon to seek refuge with the great demon. He recruited evil spirits for it and led the group of ghosts."
In other words, the demon named "Bi" is the leader of the ghosts in the city and the source of the strange fog. Killing it can clear away the ghosts and gray fog?
Li Chang'an was about to ask in detail when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the end of the street below him. A large group of evil ghosts gathered and tried to invade the houses in turn. Although they were all resisted by the door gods, the door gods were not real gods after all, and the clear light protecting the houses was already shaky.
Li Changan pulled out two talismans and Tongchen stopped him.
"You and I don't have to waste our mana on these brats."
The words trailed off.
Whistles sounded one after another in the city, and one after another groups of sergeants were seen filing out from all over the city, and among each group of sergeants there must be one or two figures wearing apricot yellow Taoist robes.
It seems that the city has already prepared for the evil spirits to invade the city.
In this way, the next choice is simple.
The Taoist priest made a move with his sword.
A sudden strong wind blew away the thick fog, stirring up the sleeves of the Taoist robes.
Li Changan rode the wind.
…………
The place where the fog is heaviest is at the gap in a section of the city wall.
The three-foot-wide and four-foot-thick brick-clad wall collapsed together with an entire watchtower, and a large amount of bricks, stones, and silt piled into the city to form a hill.
A group of troops stood solemnly on the "mountain". They were well-armed and solemn in appearance. They stood still despite the rolling fog and ghosts crying and howling around them.
A general is guarding the center of the soldiers.
Wearing bright light armor and a phoenix-winged pocket on his head, he holds a sword in one hand and a large flag in the other.
Although thick fog was billowing all around, it was indeed quiet and windless, and the flag hung as low as cast iron.
Suddenly.
The "iron" flag is rolled up.
The general holding the flag slowly raised his head, as if he was wondering where the wind was coming from. Soon, he received the answer.
Huh~boom~
The sound is like summer thunder pushing the clouds and mountains, and like the sea cliffs being shaken by the wind.
It was a sudden strong wind, flying sand and rocks, and violently smashing into the gray mist like iron and stone.
Along the way, the dense fog and ghosts were swept away.
The ruined streets and alleys, the huge gaps in the city wall, the mountains and forests outside the walls, and the military formations that had been swept away by the fog to reveal their true appearance were revealed, revealing a rotten face wrapped in armor, and a large flag on the fluttering flag. The word "disease".
It turns out that they are all ghost pawns, and what they are guarding is one of the demon's minions - the ghost handsome "Bing".
The wind gradually calmed down, and along the gap opened by the thick fog, the warm and cold sunshine poured in.
No.
What is cold is not the sun, but the sword light.
"Disease" drew his sword and raised it silently.
The ghost soldier formation immediately moved into action.
The large shields are arranged in front like a wall, and the spears and halberds are pointed in the air like a forest.
There, Li Changan came riding the wind alone with only his sword.
…
Li Changan once talked to Yan Xinglie about battlefield battles and asked how to defeat the enemy. Yan Xinglie's answer is very simple, nothing fancy, just wear heavy armor, hold a sharp blade, sacrifice your life, and move forward indomitably.
Therefore, facing the ghost soldiers who were waiting in full formation, Li Changan only softly uttered two words: "Slay the demon."
Hao didn't hesitate and ran straight in!
Then the golden light of the body protection mixed with the broken spear and halberd flew away.
The Taoist priest has already entered the battle alone, using the three-foot green blade in his hand as a long knife or a heavy axe. No matter whether it is surrounded by spears or stabbed by knives, he just swings his sword, swings his sword, and swings his sword again!
Where the hands rise, the clothes and armor are flat, rotten blood is like a spring, and rotten limbs are like broken grass.
In just a few breaths, the formation collapsed.
The sword light wrapped around the green light and went straight for the "disease"'s head.
However.
In the flash of lightning, a figure suddenly flashed in front of his eyes.
Sparks burst out.
Li Changan's sword shot through Bai Hong stopped there.
The "person" was wearing a long and spacious raincoat, and was covered with gray and black rags. It was impossible to tell the difference between male and female, let alone the appearance. All we could see was that it had only one arm, holding a strange curved weapon. The knife blocked the Taoist priest's sword.
After missing a hit, the Taoist priest immediately retreated.
With the help of his strength, he jumped up high and taught the ghost soldiers to belatedly attack and fall into the air.
However, there was no time to relax, because the one-armed man was already biting hard.
It was incredibly fast. Before he blinked, the Taoist priest saw him about to get up. After blinking, a line of sword light was already close to his neck.
Li Changan swung his sword almost by instinct.
Qiang~ The swords bite briefly, and the two of them pass each other in mid-air.
Before the person hit the ground, the phantom pain from the danger still lingered in his neck, and he felt a chill coming from his back.
Only then did he block with his instinctive sword.
The Taoist priest suddenly felt a huge force hitting the sword, pushing him upward and into the air.
When his eyes fell, there was no one behind him, and a cold light burst out from his side...
For a while, there was a constant sound of swords clashing.
Li Changan was stunned and couldn't find a chance to land with his feet, but he didn't gain anything. He finally discovered that the one-armed man not only came and went as fast as lightning, but also could turn around in the air without any help.
Li Changan couldn't help but think of the time when he fought with Yu Mei. It's just that Yu Mei's agility is like a fish swimming in the water, but the opponent in front of him is like a bird in the wind.
No matter how good martial arts are, they are just martial arts.
If you keep it for a long time, you will lose it.
After increasingly reluctant blocking, Li Changan finally found a flaw and was kicked in the heart by the one-armed man.
The protective golden light was completely shattered, and Li Changan flew out in embarrassment.
He knew the next second, no! The next moment, the one-armed man will appear in front of him as if he has crossed space, and he will cut off his head with a knife.
But Li Changan didn't lift the sword, but made a gesture with his fingers and put it to his lips.
No matter how good the martial arts is, it is just martial arts, but what Li Changan knows is never martial arts.
In mid-air, the one-armed man's pursuit movement paused, and he lowered his head. At some point, several origami cranes made of yellow paper stuck to the lower edge of the coir raincoat.
"disease."
boom! ! !
The blazing flames rose up, reflecting bright red all around.
…
"Hiss~"
Li Changan rubbed his heart and got up from the ground.
Look around.
The flames are still boiling, but the thick fog split by the strong wind is gradually closing, and countless ghosts in the fog are ready to move.
The strong wind just now was actually caused by the joint efforts of Li Changan and Tongchen. Tongchen admitted that it would be difficult to do it again in a short time, so he had to take advantage of the fog to surround the demon named "Sickness"...
"Watch out!"
Li Changan turned around and raised his sword without thinking.
Qiang~
There was the familiar sound of gold and iron clashing again, but the elusive dagger was nowhere to be seen, only a black wing feather fluttering and falling under the sword.
feather?
Unfortunately, there was no time to be surprised. The sound broke through the air urgently, and more iron feathers "swished" from the flames like a shower.
Li Changan then whirled his sword, and an iron flower made of the sword's edge bloomed in front of him.
Retreat and dance.
Behind him, Tongchen came late panting.
"Fellow Taoist, be careful! It is also one of the minions. It is a flying bird that turns into a demon. It comes and goes like the wind, and its wings are as strong as iron stone."
"A pheasant? A winged bird? Is there another one?"
"No more, so its name is 'lone'."
Li Changan cut off the last iron feather and waved his finger, and the strong wind swept away the smoke and dust.
The monster named "Gu" stood in the void, still wrapped in a raincoat and bamboo hat, but the one-armed sharp blade turned into an unfolded black wing.
There was a deep cold light under the last ray of sunlight after the fog closed.
