Chapter 136 — Soul Summoning
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 6
Suddenly, a shrill cry burst from the shaman's mouth, and both hands, fingers hooked like claws, plunged downward. With a "splat," they gripped into the river of blood.
Almost at that very instant, Hades and Mingli, standing behind, were seized by a sense of bewilderment. For one moment it seemed to them that the stone chamber no longer existed—the four stone walls, the stone floor above and below, all at once became void, as though they stood in a boundless, spaceless realm beyond the heavens, grim and lightless, with not a single thing to cling to.
Then came the sudden chorus of ghostly wailing, swarming in from every direction, and brilliant red light burst forth from the blood array, soaring skyward. Within that wavering red radiance, countless shades of spirits and ghosts darted about in panic, as though seized by some invisible giant force and dragged here against their will, rushing wildly to and fro, yet utterly unable to escape the crimson curtain of light.
And in that same moment, the stone chamber returned to itself, and Mingli and Hades regained their senses at once. Both were shaken to the core, understanding that in that instant the Soul Summoning array had treated the surrounding stone walls and mountain belly as if they did not exist, using the uncanny shamanic power of the Southern Wastes to force open a passage into the Ninefold Ghost Realm and seize countless spirits and specters, imprisoning them within the array.
But such was the wonder of the Soul Summoning array that it naturally consumed enormous vitality. Seen through the red light, the shaman's face had gone as bad as a face could go—were one to say he was already a dead man, there would surely be those who believed it.
The hearts of Hades and Mingli beat faster despite themselves. They prayed silently that the shaman would hold on, their eyes fixed all the more intently upon the array.
In the midst of it all, countless spirits and ghosts shrieked and leaped and flew within the red light. There were ordinary specters, and there were mountain sprites and monstrous beasts of bizarre form. After a moment, these ghostly creatures, repelled one by one by the red light, seemed to realize they could not escape. One after another they turned to howl and shriek at the shaman seated at the head of the array.
The shaman paid the furious ghosts little mind. His eyes slowly lifted to the stone platform shrouded in red light—to the Hehuan Bell in Bili's hand. His arms suddenly swept upward: his left hand still clawed, but the fingers of his right shifted—the ring finger and little finger curved inward a fraction, the middle and index fingers extended like a sword, the thumb thrust toward the sky. It was the very seal of the shamanic way, pointing into the void.
The Hehuan Bell rang out, clear and sharp.
"Ding!…"
The crisp note of the bell was like an oriole singing in a deep valley at dawn. The Hehuan Bell rose from Bili's hand and slowly floated into the air. A pale golden light shone forth once more from its body.
Almost at the same instant the shaman pointed at the Hehuan Bell, the countless spirits and ghosts within the Soul Summoning blood array, as though driven by some invisible force, surged like a tide toward the golden bell rising in midair—furious, shrieking, unwilling, and yet helpless.
In an instant, ghostly energy ran rampant. The Hehuan Bell shuddered violently as spectral power poured in from every side, battering it again and again. Countless ghostly creatures swarmed upon it, gnawing at its body, striking it savagely—a scene of utter frenzy. And beneath it all, the crimson sea within the blood array grew ever more vivid, the blood howling as though about to boil.