A Night of Desperation

Chapter 337: outbreak 1

December in Yasong.

Silent new cases, different from before, erupted all across Yasong.

Most of these new cases were disappearances, and many of the criminal investigators who went to investigate also went missing.

After losing a considerable number of criminal investigators, the Yasong Government had no choice but to dispatch elite members from the official Magician Research Association for investigation.

After thorough investigation, the Association came to a shocking conclusion.

’The opening of the Yin Qi Sky Pillar does not bring about only the various creatures from the Black Disaster as before.

This time, the creatures from the Black Disaster are only a small part, the majority are not from the Black Disaster, but another type of extremely strange and powerful entities.’

’These entities primarily use their twisted and powerful bodies as their main method of attack, while also possessing terrifying abilities to possess others; those possessed often become incredibly strong and speedy, impervious to conventional spiritual techniques, and possess a strong capability to corrupt and assimilate spiritual power.’

The leadership of the Taoist Sect-Buddhist Pulse United Magician Research Association issued the latest disaster report together.

Three days later.

The gate of a secluded villa thunderously opened on its own.

A blood-soaked figure emerged with great difficulty.

The figure was badly mangled, only half of his face was vaguely recognizable—it was Ning Ruofei, the Sect Hierarch of the Mud Doll Sect.

But now, he was in a state far more miserable than before he entered, appearing almost on the brink of death, each step he took was extremely labored.

His body, which was almost flattened, had somehow healed slightly.

Soon, he left without expression through the gate and disappeared into the forest.

Shortly thereafter.

A young woman dressed in a Qingchen Temple Daoist robe staggered through the iron gate; her right arm was completely severed at the shoulder, the wound charred black, evidently cauterized.

Raising her head, revealing a face cracked and white from dehydration, it was Zheng Ying, who had previously gone missing.

"Finally... I’m out!!" She gazed at the normal scenery outside, a look of relief finally apparent in her eyes, then she staggered to pull out her phone, only to find it shattered into pieces.

"Qing Yun... Qing Ding..." Clenching her teeth, she glanced back, a flash of unwillingness and sorrow crossing her face.

Then she continued walking towards the distant mountain path.

Not far out, she encountered the search team from the Taoist Temple and official police.

"Over here! We’ve found someone, over here!!"

An officer with a dog quickly shouted loudly. They approached and helped Zheng Ying.

Half an hour later.

Inside Qingchen Temple.

"Zheng Ying has been found!"

Yu Fang hustled into the main hall, loudly informing Yu Mo and Yu Hen who were chanting scriptures.

Chanting was not only to stabilize one’s own Daoist Skills but also to strengthen the effectiveness of newly made talismans.

Both were startled by the interruption and turned to look at Yu Fang.

"How is she?"

"Her right hand is gone... She encountered a ferocious monster likely from the Spirit Disaster; Fear Shadow couldn’t defeat it, the disparity too large. She could only slowly figure out the monster’s pattern then used it to buy time, and after several near-death escapes, she finally found a chance to flee," reported Yu Fang quickly.

"Her right hand..." Yu Mo’s expression changed slightly. A lost hand meant significantly fewer techniques could be wielded, and more critically, the already stretched Qingchen Temple had to face the loss of a key member.

"Additionally, she mentioned that while struggling for survival inside, she encountered a group of mysterious monsters that seemingly and inadvertently helped her," Yu Fang added.

"Monsters... perhaps they weren’t helping her, but were just hostile towards the other creatures there," guessed Yu Mo.

How could monsters possibly help a human? Even if it did happen, it would surely be by coincidence.

"It seems we indeed faced the legendary Spirit Disaster! I have read about this being in books before. Now we are in trouble... Lately, more and more people have been coming to the temple to offer incense and prayers. We..."

Yu Hen couldn’t finish his sentence, as suddenly there came a burst of noisy commotion from outside.

A Daoist disciple rushed in hastily.

"Temple Master, masters, people from Jiufang Temple have come from Hui State, only three were left, the rest... all gone!!"

The disciple’s face was pale, his body trembling, as if terrified.

"What!?" The expressions of several people in the hall drastically changed as they stood up.

"Is this true!? Watch your words carefully!" Yu Hen sternly addressed the disciple.

"Disciples dare not, the car is outside, the three people who came down have all suffered heavy injuries, the entire Taoist Sect in Hui State has completely fallen, out of the more than two hundred people from Jiufang Temple, only these three have escaped!" the Taoist boy urgently said, "Master, you all better go and see!"

Several elderly Taoists were shaken and quickly walked out of the great hall, crossed the courtyard, and arrived at the front of the Taoist Temple.

At the gate, Taoists had already carried out the stretchers, placing the three Taoists who came out of the car on them.

Among these three, there is Yuan Hua, a genius disciple who had once sparred with Yu Hong!

All three of them had an ashen complexion, their bodies shaking, constantly foaming at the mouth.

Coming out of the Taoist Temple, upon seeing the three, Yu Hen and Yu Mo felt a piercing cold spiritual pressure rushing towards them like a cold wind.

The two, having the highest Daoist cultivation among those around them, involuntarily stepped back.

Arriving with these three was Zheng Ying, who was being supported by others leaning against a stone pillar. Her dreadful state was even more apparent; one of her arms was broken and was tightly bandaged, conspicuously eye-catching.

She feebly tried to come forward to greet them, but she was so haggard that she could hardly stand.

"This... What should we do!?" Seeing this, Yu Mo couldn’t help but panic.

Jiufang Temple’s strength was even stronger than that of Qingchen Temple. They were not Daoist Sect members who only cared about money; many were austere and devoted Taoists. Even they have been reduced to such a tragic state...

If Qingchen Temple encountered this, they would probably be unable to resist it as well.

The mood among them was heavy, they quickly settled Zheng Ying and the three from Jiufang Temple, using Arrays to suppress the disordered Dao Breath in their bodies, and clumsily employed unfamiliar methods to expel the Spirit Disaster, releasing Techniques, barely managing to dispel the abnormalities in the three.

Since the Techniques were continuously aimed at Black Disaster, they were completely ineffective against the Spirit Disaster this time, wasting most of their spiritual power and time after much struggle.

Having confirmed that a small part of the Techniques were effective, Yu Hen and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

From what the three coherent survivors from Jiufang Temple recounted, they found out that one day, Jiufang Temple received an investigation case about a folk tale regarding "Tree Bark Granny."

The reporter had contacted them through the police, saying his son often saw an old granny knitting outside the window at night, waving at him.

After several occurrences, they began to doubtfully record videos secretly at night.

But they were horrified to discover that every night, the son would get up at a fixed time, seemingly awakened by some noise, then stand at the window, looking outside as if talking to someone. But there was nothing outside.

At first, they thought it was sleepwalking, but later... the son suddenly disappeared.

Thus, the people from Jiufang Temple began to investigate the situation concerning Tree Bark Granny.

However, the first group of Taoists who investigated also suddenly disappeared three days later.

Jiufang Temple then dispatched people to check the situation again, but the second, stronger group also disappeared within two days, vanishing without a trace.

Therefore, out of caution, Jiufang Temple began reporting to the Taoist Sect, and for the third time deployed all their strength to investigate.

Then...

It ended up that the entire third team, just these three, returned alive...

"Tree Bark Granny..." Zheng Ming, who was listening by the side, his face changed slightly; he felt somewhat familiar when he heard the description of Tree Bark Granny from the people of Jiufang Temple.

"...Tree Bark Granny, her face resembling old tree bark covered in wrinkles, holding yarn and knitting needles, always knitting something when she appears... But while knitting, she mostly doesn’t look at her hands, instead, she smiles while watching the nearby people."

Zheng Ming’s expression became increasingly ugly as he listened.

He suddenly remembered an oil painting he had seen while investigating a case previously...

"Lian Kongyan, the Senior Brother, couldn’t resist either?!" Yu Hen asked, his face looking dreadful.

Kong Yan was currently the strongest in Daoist Skills and Techniques at Jiufang Temple, almost reaching the level of a Temple Master, and he also served as the chairman of the Hui State Daoist Skills Association, communicating frequently with him as an old rival.

"The Mystic Copper Mask Technique from Teacher Kong Yan had just been activated when he was torn apart by that monster through the air!" Disciple Yuan Hua sobbed. "I don’t know how it was done; that monster was at least a hundred meters away from teacher, but just..."

"Even the method of attack is unclear?!" Yu Hen’s face became even more dreadful.

He and Kong Yan had been rivals for many decades, almost equally matched, with Kong Yan slightly superior. But now, hearing that Kong Yan didn’t even know how he died, a sense of panic rose in his heart.

This mindset initially being wrong immediately began affecting his Daoist Realm; the special aspect of Guanwu Skill lay here.

The strong could swiftly reach high levels in a short time, but once the mind was lost, the collapse of their Daoist Skills was like a sudden flood, uncontrollable and unstoppable.

At this moment, Yu Hen was experiencing this, his Daoist Realm in the Sixth Layer once again beginning to disorder.

"Temple Master, the most urgent matter now is to apply for support from the Taoist Sect immediately!" Yu Mo, thinking of Zheng Ying’s severed arm, had an even graver look.

"I’ll contact them right away!" Yu Hen nodded.

A few of them went together to the hospital to visit Zheng Ying, trying to learn more details and the truth from her.

"Zheng Ying, are you feeling better now? Could you talk about the specific details of the Spirit Disaster you encountered? Qing Ding and Qing Yun are gone, if we don’t ascertain more information about the Spirit Disaster, more young people might be in danger later on. We must make the most of every moment."

"I... I don’t know." Zheng Ying weakly shook her head, "I’ve talked many times about the incident I encountered with those two from the Mud Doll Sect, after that I couldn’t leave the manor and just kept hiding inside, dodging those half-human and half-spider monsters.

Several times I nearly faced danger, it was always a shadow that suddenly flew from the side, distracting the monsters."

"The monsters chasing you were diverted by the shadow several times?"

Everyone was stunned, not expecting the situation to be like this.