Night of Despair

Chapter 341 - 341 339 outbreak Three

?Chapter 341: 339 outbreak Three Chapter 341: 339 outbreak Three Before the gates of Qingchen Temple.

A crowd numbering in the hundreds gathered here.

Everyone was trying to squeeze into the temple to take refuge.

Most of them brought their families, with the cries of children rising and falling, painting a scenario of extreme hardship.

A few Taoists at the entrance tried to persuade the crowd with all their might, hoping everyone would seek help from the police station.

However, the appearance of a few police officers in the crowd made them lose the intent to keep persuading.

“The police station…has also encountered troubles…the chief has fled to the provincial city, and now there are only a few barely maintaining order in the station. The rest are either missing or already here…”

A middle-aged police officer with deep-set eyes looked utterly exhausted, having not rested in a long time, and spoke with a sense of helplessness.

“We are police officers, that’s true, but we are also human, with families of our own…”

Zheng Xia stood at the entrance of the Taoist temple, blocking the surging crowd along with a few other Taoists.

Watching this scene, her heart was also heavy.

Taizhou was her hometown, the place where she grew up, and she would never wish for such calamities to occur.

Taking advantage of the moment the Taoists negotiated with the crowd, she lifted her head to survey the distant urban area.

The city had become eerily quiet at some unknown time, with hardly any open shops in sight, and a pitiful lack of pedestrians and vehicles on the streets.

“The situation erupted last night, with many people in the city falling ill and developing fevers for no apparent reason, along with inexplicable convulsions and foaming at the mouth. The hospital checks turned up nothing,” a middle-aged female Taoist whispered beside her.

“What about the other senior brothers and junior disciples?” Zheng Xia asked.

“No cell signal, others are unclear too. Senior sister Zheng Ying has only just returned, you can see the situation for yourself,” the female Taoist replied. “Zheng Ming was seriously injured and hasn’t recovered yet. Zheng Rou is in closed-door cultivation, which is very important and cannot be disturbed. But now it seems that he has been notified too. The rest, even if they come out, wouldn’t be able to handle much.”

“…” Zheng Xia was speechless, as those inside the Taoist temple sketching talismans were almost smoked out from the frantically hard work.

But it was still not enough to meet the huge demand from outside.

“Do you know what exactly happened?” she asked.

“Not sure…according to the hospital’s tests, everything appears normal, but…the only thing of some use now is the Spirit Avoidance Charm, which can alleviate the pain of the people outside and calm them down. Other talismans are almost ineffective,” the female Taoist replied.

Zheng Xia wanted to ask more, but suddenly saw Temple Master Yu Hen, along with a few elderly Taoists from the Yu Generation, hurrying out of the main hall and approaching the gate.

She promptly stopped and made way.

Yu Hen and the others looked solemn as they walked quickly to the gate and looked up into the distance.

“The Array has detected very strong Spiritual Fluctuations attempting to interfere with the entire Taoist temple!” Yu Hen spoke in a grave voice, not even glancing at the throngs at the gate.

“Have you found out where it is?” Yu Mo asked quietly from the side.

“Not clear, but we’re certain it’s in that direction, even though we’re unable to observe it,” Yu Hen answered in a low voice.

To the eyes of all the magicians present, a massive grey column of smoke was seen rising into the sky in that direction, reaching up to the heavens and grounding to the earth—

The Yin Qi Sky Pillar.

It was also the sort of thing the Seven Evil Alliance had been trying to open in various places.

It was like a volcanic vent bursting through the crust; unless enough pressure was released inside, the pillar would not dissipate or cease.

This Heavenly Pillar had materialized for several days now, and everyone was suspecting that it was the source of the problems.

“Temple Master!” Suddenly, Yu Zhong seemed to have discovered something; he took a few steps forward, crouched down by the entrance, and gently wiped the ground.

“Something happened here before…”

He sniffed his finger under his nose.

“More than half an hour ago, this place should have held potent spiritual remnants that ordinary people can’t see.”

“Here? Right at the entrance?!” Yu Hen and the others looked incredulously at Yu Fang.

“My Fear Shadow Detection ability is strong, I wouldn’t be mistaken,” Yu Fang nodded. “Here, under our noses, at least two massive spiritual forces, far exceeding any usual bounds, fought a short but fierce battle against each other without our noticing,” Yu Fang said with an ugly look on his face.

“The good news is, nothing’s wrong now, which means they either bore no ill will or didn’t have the inclination to pay attention to us,” Yu Hen said reassuringly.

“No…Temple Master, one of the Spiritual Fluctuations has clearly entered our threshold but was then forcibly pushed out by another force,” Yu Fang replied.

He looked more closely at the spot.

“No…not pushed out, but rather, both forces disappeared right here. Another force came crashing down from above, forcefully offsetting the former with such precise control…it was so strong that it kept us from noticing until everything was over.”

“…Anyway, as long as we’re safe now, it means we’re fortunate, right? With the Yin Qi Sky Pillar opened, any bizarre and troublesome events could happen,” Yu Hen said, taking a deep breath and managing a weak smile.

But his expression turned even uglier upon recalling the recent response from the Taoist Sect.

Right now, the only ones left to fight were these old bones; Zheng Ying and Zheng Ming were both injured and couldn’t carry on. There weren’t many disciples left capable of shouldering the burden.

Under such circumstances, the Taoist Sect actually denied his request for reinforcements, stating that the entire region of Yasong was faced with situations that needed support.

“Look, what’s that in the sky?!”

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted urgently, pointing at the distant horizon.

“Is that a black cloud?!”

“Why is it falling down?!”

Some of the temple’s magicians realized something was amiss.

“Good heavens…!”

“It looks like locusts!! I’ve seen this before when I was a kid!”

“Why are there so many?!”

The crowd began to stir violently, everyone looked up to see the black swarm, thick as mist, descending like clouds of locusts.

Although in the eyes of ordinary people it was just black clouds, the abnormality of its descent was enough to frighten anyone.

The sky above the entire neighborhood around the Taoist temple was quickly obscured.

“Seek cover, careful!!” Yu Hen suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

He spread his arms wide, and a giant bird of flame soared from behind him, transforming into a phoenix-like red glow, charging towards the swarm of locusts.

That was an Array! A large-scale offensive Array belonging to the entire Qingchen Temple—the Red Phoenix Spirit Charge Formation.

A red phoenix soared into the sky, shooting flames that only magicians could see into the locust swarm.

Whoosh.

Great flames collided with the black cloud of locusts.

The locusts turned into black smoke as they burned away, but more swarmed in from all around.

The red phoenix rapidly weakened, shrinking, and was on the verge of failing to hold on.

“Quick, into the Taoist Temple!” Yu Hen took the opportunity to usher everyone into the Taoist Temple.

Ordinary people didn’t know what was happening; they couldn’t see the red phoenix or the locusts, only a black mist suspended in the sky that stood still and did not descend.

At this moment, being called upon, everyone panicked, jostling each other, suddenly pouring into the Taoist Temple.

Over three hundred people, like a stream of water, swiftly entered the Taoist Temple.

Bang!

The heavy doors closed and were locked.

By now, the red phoenix in the sky had completely dissipated, and countless locusts finally dove down again, like arrows, pouncing towards the Taoist Temple.

Strangely enough, this black cloud of locusts attacked only the Taoist Temple, leaving the surrounding houses completely untouched.

*

*

*

On the sea, headquarters of the Seven Evil Alliance, the Floating Island.

A navy blue behemoth of a ship, much larger than ordinary cargo ships, was the core headquarters of the entire Seven Evil Alliance.

At this moment, the Alliance Hierarch Long Qingzi was smiling as he watched the Yin Qi Sky Pillar he had released.

“It doesn’t seem like Black Disaster is coming out…” He turned his head to look at the female masked in black tight clothing, who had a distressed expression.

“Impossible… I clearly provided the Black Disaster Calling Ritual Disc! The sealing point that was activated was also the Black Disaster…” The woman muttered to herself, appearing somewhat mentally disturbed.

She merely wanted to unleash the Black Disaster, deplete the spiritual power of the Taoist Sect, and avenge her family.

But now…

As the stir created by the Yin Qi Sky Pillar grew greater, she suddenly realized that what she might have unleashed was not just the Black Disaster…

“This doesn’t seem like the Yin Qi Sky Pillar of the Black Disaster…” The woman gazed at the sky pillar, increasingly certain of her judgment.

“Ah, you’re not wrong in your feeling. Indeed, it’s not the Black Disaster,” Long Qingzi raised an eyebrow, “I saw the Spirit Disaster ritual disc and thought it might be a bit more interesting, so I switched it.”

He smiled with a hint of amusement, looking at the woman.

“How does it feel? Quite surprising, isn’t it?”

“….” The woman stiffened.

Spirit Disaster…

No wonder she felt something was amiss.

She only intended to take revenge on the Taoist Sect, not to destroy the world!!

“Why would you do this? Have you gone mad? The outbreak of a Spirit Disaster is far more dangerous than a Black Disaster!” The woman couldn’t help but cry out loud.

“Isn’t it interesting?” Long Qingzi laughed, “This world, like a calm deep pool, is often too tranquil. We could use some waves now and then.”

“Interesting… Do you have any idea how many people will die if a Spirit Disaster occurs!?” The woman clenched her teeth, her body turning cold.

Merely for the sake of amusement, a more troublesome Spirit Disaster had been released…

Her previous arrangements had all been tailored against the Black Disaster, and now, with the predominance of the Spirit Disaster, most of her arrangements became ineffective, and over a decade of preparation turned useless overnight.

Now she, like everyone else, had to struggle for survival unprepared in the face of the Spirit Disaster!

“See, isn’t your reaction right now quite interesting?” Long Qingzi spoke again, “Life shouldn’t be too dull. Splendid and grand—that’s when you see the extraordinary in each person… only then is there enough thrill to make everything more exciting.”

“You madman!!” The woman gritted her teeth.

“Thanks for the compliment, normality is about conformity, but as for me, what I enjoy the most is breaking the rules.” Long Qingzi spread his arms, as streaks of invisible sharp currents continuously spun and howled around him.

“What is madness?? It is excitement, brilliance, it is dazzling and colorful…”

*

*

*

Two days later.

Qingchen Temple’s branch.

Yu Hong was sitting cross-legged in the Quiet Room.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

At this moment, his spiritual power was on the brink of a crucial transformation, and in just a bit more than one day, the final change could be completed.

And at this moment, the changes in the environment of the city district also made him feel that something was off.

The readings on the multimeter, Red Value and Spiritual Fluctuation, had both reached double digits.

This indicted that the surrounding environment had entered an extremely dangerous state.

‘The Dragon Lizard sent out has returned, everything normal?’

Yu Hong narrowed his eyes.

Had it not been for the multimeter’s readings, he might have been deceived by the Dragon Lizard’s feedback.

But now, looking at the readings, the Dragon Lizard’s feedback was very problematic.

“What is it…interfering with my judgment…and also cloaking the entire Qingchen Temple?”

Suddenly, he stood up and walked to the door.

Thump thump.

Someone was gently knocking on the door outside.