劍問蒼天 - 第203章 神秘人 - 翰墨軒

In midair, it seemed as though ten thousand beasts roared out in fury all at once, but the next instant the sound was cut off utterly, the flames vanished, and in the wavering firelight only two yellow paper talismans, nearly burned through, drifted slowly down from the air.

Within the courtyard of the mortuary, calm returned for the moment. But on the other side of the yard, Zhou Yixuan and his two companions, who had just slipped over to the wall meaning to steal away, turned back in astonishment, plainly having never expected the enemy to break Zhou Yixuan's spell so swiftly.

With no illusion left to block the way, turning tail and running was clearly a laughable, foolish notion. The three of them faltered, then slowly turned around, while that mysterious figure pressed in closer, advancing step by step. The black silhouette carried a dense, murderous air; within the mortuary, a killing stillness reigned.

Zhou Yixuan's brows were locked tight, plainly troubled by something, yet as he watched that black figure draw nearer and nearer, he felt only that life and death hung upon a single breath.

Xiao Wan's expression shifted; all at once she made to step forward and meet the foe, but before she could take a single step, Zhou Yixuan hauled her back, hissing low: "Nonsense! This one is no trifling matter—not something a child like you can handle."

Xiao Wan was taken aback, and turned to Zhou Yixuan in astonishment, as though she had never in her life seen her grandfather so tense and cautious. Then she heard the approaching black shadow pause, and a hoarse voice say coldly: "That illusion you just used—was it..."

He got only half the words out before Zhou Yixuan, as though past all caring, flung both arms sharply upward. In his palms now appeared, astonishingly, no fewer than eight yellow paper talismans.

The night wind swept past, and all eight talismans ignited at once, sparks of fire dancing wildly upon Zhou Yixuan's palms as though in a frenzy, lighting his eyes until they glittered.

"Ho! Five Ding, host of ghosts, return from the Yellow Springs;

Phantom forms and shadow-flight—by my command, I summon you!"

Almost on the heels of Zhou Yixuan's cry, a great wind erupted within the mortuary, sand and stones racing, and from every direction it came howling in. The mysterious man's figure halted, as though caught off guard, and he turned his attention warily to his surroundings. As Zhou Yixuan's incantation left his lips, five muffled booms—boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—sounded in the empty air beside him; the three figures swayed faintly, then fell still once more.

The gale howled, rolling the yellow sand back upon itself, flinging it in gusts against the mysterious man, whipping his garments so they streamed and cracked. Yet amid the tempest the black aura upon his face did not stir in the least, and a cold laugh rang out from him once more.

The man abruptly abandoned the three who were working their spell, and suddenly retreated six steps in succession. With a soft shout, his left hand plunged toward the ground; a ring of blue light stabbed instantly downward, and the hard earth burst open with a crash. Somehow, amid the wavering, glittering blue radiance, the distant figures of Zhou Yixuan and the other two began to tremble violently, and from beneath the ground there burst a cry sharp with pain:

"Aiya!"

The blue gleam flashed and was gone. Within the mortuary the gale fell off sharply, and the sand and stones gradually settled. A moment later, in the place where Zhou Yixuan and his companions had stood, the ground suddenly split with a bursting report, and then—with a tremendous crash—a great pit was blown open outright. The three figures that had stood there vanished in an instant; at some unknowable point they had become mere phantoms.