They crept forward stealthily for the last part of their journey, there was still a distance of a few hundred meters to the Miao stockade village.
Wen Leyang and the brothers Bushuo and Buzuo had hunkered down with their bodies almost touching the ground, resembling a gigantic lizard crawling stealthily on the hunt for its prey. Their movements could not be detected yet they were moving continuously, almost merging their bodies and the surrounding terrain into one. The Qing Miao clansmen’s posture was even stranger than theirs, they lay sideways on the ground like a fish which had lain dormant without moving. Every once in a while, they would swing their legs and scurry forward for a great distance with a swooshing sound, then they would lay dormant once again.
A paper talisman bigger than a person’s face was glued to the old monk’s forehead as he followed closely behind Wen Leyang, urging them to crawl faster.
The Miao clansmen in the stockade village cheered all of a sudden. Wen Leyang and the rest of the infiltrating group immediately flattened themselves onto the ground and stopped moving. The shouts of cheering were accompanied by the whistling sound of burning flames, it grew louder and louder, crazier and crazier until a pleasant-looking Miao woman dressed in splendid attire walked onto the fire altar in light footsteps. She smiled as she raised her hand. The Qing Miao clansmen immediately stood in silent tribute, even the pillar of fire too quieted down and the situation went from extremely noisy to an abrupt silence. The sudden onset of noises and its sudden end left everyone with an agonizing emptiness in their hearts.
The Second Mother turned around and gently said two words to Wen Leyang, “Chi Liang.”
Wen Buzuo looked at the soaring bonfire in the middle of the stockade village. He was so astonished that his mouth hung open as he muttered in a low voice, “I thought you said that…the wicked witch’s vital fire had been extinguished? Why is it still burning high over there?!”
Great Elder Chi Shuilie’s vital fire was only as big as a washing basin while the Second Mother Chi Hui’s vital fire was as big as the mouth of a well. The color and shape of their flames were also different. Anyhow, a bigger flame signified stronger powers, the flames of the vital fire of that person in the stockade village was so high that it could almost catch up to China’s Shenzhou 7 spaceflight mission’s tail gas. The flames could even possibly burn up to the height of the heavens.
A Qing Miao lad was right next to him and he commented in an unpleasant tone, “That’s not a vital fire, it’s the holy fire used to welcome Mara the Devil…”
The Second Mother too stopped her movements. Right now, they were quite close to the stockade village but they could still converse in a low voice, “Today is not the supposed day, the wicked witch had brought the date forward to welcome Mara the Devil. This is a rather peculiar matter!”
Wen Buzuo immediately questioned closely, “So is the wicked witch wounded or not?”
“Her vital fire had been extinguished, let’s see how far she can still go with half of her supposed life left!” Second Mother’s tone of speaking was certain as she squinted her eyes to look at Chi Liang who was far away. The intent of vengeance slithered through the bitter grin on the corners of her mouth. She then made a ‘follow me’ hand signal to Wen Leyang as she started creeping stealthily ahead once again.
The wicked witch Chi Liang stood in front of the pillar of fire with a golden glow cast all over her. Dozens of Qing Miao children around the ages of five to six years old walked hand in hand in a circle towards the fire altar. They first walked to the front of Chi Liang and earnestly gave her a kowtow in salutation. Then, they dispersed with their heads bowed and followed the signs which had been drawn into the ground earlier before reaching each of their standing positions.
Suddenly, the thousands of Qing Miao clansmen broke out into cheers once again!
Wen Buzuo, who was lying on the ground next to Wen Leyang, muttered some complaints. The three Wen family disciples who had been creeping stealthily almost couldn’t endure the surprise caused by the Qing Miao clan.
Chi Liang looked towards the children with a smile and gave a slight nod. The dozens of children opened their mouths simultaneously and began to loudly chant an extremely peculiar, yet extremely familiar tune. It was akin to the prelude tune of a nightmare and even more similar to the sound of midnight funeral dirge. This particular melody would play in one’s heart when one was lonely and fearful yet no one could really sing it out loud!
The children sang the ghastly tune loudly and the Qing Miao clansmen in the stockade village once again quieted down. They neatly worshipped on the ground and did not move anymore.
Under the constant chanting of the childish and naïve voices, the wicked witch Chi Liang smiled as her delicate fingertips started trembling slightly and slowly radiated towards the rest of her body. Her charming face suddenly frowned before relaxing with a smile. Her flexible forearms intertwined, her footsteps moved lightly and hurriedly and her dancing poise was constantly changing in front of the bonfire. From time to time she was akin to a joyous spring grass swaying in the breeze, sometimes she was akin to an arrogant peacock pacing around!
The dark night; the ranging flames; the children.
The dance was graceful to its extreme.
The sound of the children’s singing was loud and clear yet it made the night appear even more desolate and terrifying.
The master cultivators that were moving stealthily were subconsciously suppressed by the extreme silence and they held their breath cautiously.
Wen Leyang picked up his speed and crept in front of the Second Mother. He frowned but before he could ask, the Second Mother answered in a light tone, “The children are singing the ‘The Great Devil’s Incantation’. Back then they would only sing the prayer during the centennial great worshipping ceremony of Mara the Devil.”
Gradually the children’s chanting became more insistent, the peculiar tune became faster and faster and turned into a ghastly prayer as the children’s voices too gradually became hoarse and rough. A few minutes later, the initially childish and naïve voices were completely turned into the agonizing screams of a dying old man. The voice intertwined from the ground and surged towards the sky before abruptly dispersing in all directions!
The wicked witch’s dance before the pillar of fire was still feminine and graceful. She was utterly undisturbed by the great incantation. In between her dancing movements, she extracted strands upon strands of visible darkness from the night and spun it around her fingertips for a moment before happily tossing the filaments of darkness into the pillar of fire.
As the scorching pillar of fire was continuously fed with pieces of darkness, its flame too gradually turned dim. The flames were still there, yet it was slowly turning into a grayish color as if it was gradually blending into the night.
The Second Mother had never seen this affair before, she was slightly stunned for a moment. She then urged the Great Elder who was at the head of the queue with the Miao language.
The Great Elder old Chi Shuilie nodded and picked up the speed of his creeping stealthily. At the same time, he disarmed the traps which had been set down by the Qing Miao’s witchcraft spells with ease based on his experience. These ambush traps were exactly the same as before, it seemed that the Third Mother Chi Liang had utterly no concern that they had the ability to escape from the land of evil spirits. As Wen Leyang was pondering upon this, he saw the corners of the Great Elder’s mouth slowly curve into a ruthless sneer.
Wen Leyang was entirely stunned and in the blink of an eye, his telegnosis ability which had been spread out in all directions suddenly vibrated once. It was not from the shaking of the ground, nor was it from the fluctuation of the air pressure, it was only his sensation which had was suddenly vibrated. Ever since he engaged Wen Lazi’s method of cultivation, Wen Leyang could strip his sensation from his surrounding environment and observe his surroundings as if he was watching a movie.
Earlier, it was the movie screen that had vibrated once.
It was utterly unrelated to the Great Devil’s Incantation nor the dancing of the wicked witch, it was only faintly within his sensation, then came a vibration out of nowhere!
The old monk Ji Fei grew impatient waiting behind him as he urged in a low voice, “I think you should just walk…” Before he could finish his sentence, his face erupted with a ‘poof’ sound. The paper talisman as huge as his face dissolved into a puff of green smoke and the ashes turned the old monk’s face black.
Wen Leyang stood up in fear, he no longer cared about hiding his tracks as he yelled loudly at the Second Mother, “Run, quick!” Soon after that, his body leaped up high off the ground and swung around with an unyielding strength as he pounced towards her and little Chi Maojiu.
The Second Mother was both surprised and angered for she did not understand why Wen Leyang would suddenly expose himself. Before she could shout back at him, she felt as her body sinking with a whooshing sound. The ground below her body had suddenly turned into a gigantic vortex and the thick soil made a ‘poof’ sound as it sucked little Chi Maojiu and her into the ground without a sign!
The Miao clansmen who had been following by their side couldn’t make any sense of the sudden situation. A gust of unyielding strong wind blew before their eyes as Wen Leyang sped past like a falcon snatching a rabbit from the sky. His green-colored shadow followed closely behind Second Mother and Chi Maojiu as he dove head in first into the soil vortex!
When the few Qing Miao clansmen finally reacted to the situation, they pounced towards the vortex but the ground shook ferociously and bounced everybody else into the air. Dust scattered around before the ground returned to its prior calm state; the vortex had vanished without a trace.
The old monk Ji Fei’s expression was grim as he shouted loudly, “This is the Mountain Coffin Devilry, everyone please be careful!” his hands pinched into the sword-control gesture and his flying sword spun in a semicircle in midair before releasing a clear and melodious hum. It then flew in a silver arc towards the Miao stockade village!
The master cultivators who had been moving stealthily were in a mess now. They immediately exposed their positions and Chi Liang could see the group from her position on top of the fire altar. Her charming face flashed with a sense of surprise but, rather than fearing them, her face expressed joy upon seeing them. Her tender waist swayed from side to side as her dance continued.
More and more darkness wavered out of the night and plunged into the soaring bonfire…
The Qing Miao clansmen in the stockade village scattered in disarray. The Second Mother and Chi Shuilie were still known as the murderers of the former Big Dragon’s Root. No one had believed that they could escape from the land of the evil spirits alive and they howled furiously and leaped up one after another.
Chi Liang suddenly laughed and her sweet laughter flowed smoothly into each person’s heart, “Don’t be alarmed, these usurpers have walked right into our hands this time…” The wicked witch was unusually strained by her speech, she had only said half a sentence before she needed to stop and gasp for air. She continued after a while, “The Devil is nearly here, kneel down and worship at ease!”
Chi Liang’s prestige status in the Qing Miao clan was at its highest position. At her command, the Miao clansmen wouldn’t even care if the sky were to fall upon them. When she was speaking the wicked witch continued her dancing as more and more darkness was stripped away from the night sky. Layers upon layers it gradually turned the scorching pillar of fire dark…
Just as Second Mother was sucked into the ground, she stretched out one of her arms to hold on to little Chi Maojiu while her other hand slashed between her brows. A few drops of fresh blood splattered out and she opened her mouth. But before she could speak, boundless soil flowed into her mouth suddenly and firmly stuffed into her throat. It was then that the Second Mother’s expression turned panicked. She thought that she had accidentally triggered a witchcraft trap in the beginning, only when she tried to launch her own spell to counter the trap did she realize that there was a vast difference between this form of cultivation method and the Miao Bujiao’s ‘Land-collapsing spell’!
The ‘Land-collapsing spell’ was the Qing Miao’s clan trademark killing method. The leader of The Centipede from the Luo family had died after being swallowed by the suddenly erupting mud from the ground. The mud was actually caused by an evil legendary insect capable of turning soil into mud and had a penchant for feasting on human bones. When the spells were all concurrently triggered, there should be someone lying in ambush underneath the ground in preparation to cast the witchcraft. If it was caused by this form of witchcraft, a few drops of blood from between the brows as provided by Second Mother should be adequate to break the spell.
However, at present, the soil surrounding her had dissolved into nothingness before immediately turning back into the soil. This power was utterly beyond her witchcraft power’s resistance. Even a master cultivator like the Second Mother could lose control of her emotions, she held onto little Chi Maojiu tightly with one hand as she dug madly through the soil with her other hand.
A strong pressure radiated from her lungs and chest as if her lungs could explode at any moment, the vision before her eyes was blood red and her ears hummed with the loud noise of her throbbing heartbeat. Soon, the Second Mother could not bear it anymore as her struggles became weaker and weaker. All of a sudden, she felt a steely clamp-like hand clasp around her ankles firmly!
At the same time, Mumu, who had been sitting on a huge rock on the mountain slope, blinked her huge eyes as she complained to Shui Jing, “Hey monk, this is so boring.” Her red trousers revealed