Zhu Xian

Chapter 160 - Secret

Facing Ghost Li, although Mr Ghost still had not emerged from that coffin but clearly he had became much serious, that faint point of ghost fire in mid-air, gradually became larger, casting the surrounding people’s faces green.

Ghost Li stared at that ball of green, his face expressionless, suddenly stepped forward. Almost at the same time Ghost Li moved, that ball of ghost fire, as if stimulated, suddenly flared but this time it did not divide itself into the five-stars formation, instead it suddenly rose, creating a gust of strong wind with it, the dust in the mortuary fell in showers. Zhou YiXian and the rest were caught unaware, one by one started to rub their eyes.

And at this increasingly tensed situation, the unearthly atmosphere in the air, looked like it was about to activate some mysterious strange spell. Ghost Li facing this mysterious Mr Ghost, dared not let his guard down and was on high alert, suddenly he raised his eyebrows, his body lifted abruptly into the air, almost at the same time, a rumble emitted from below the house, the entire house quaked violently, like the mountain was moving.

A huge and pale skeleton giant arm broke through the flagstones, heavily smashed down on where Ghost Li was standing previously, the black brick stones on the ground smashed into pieces, broken pieces flying. The entire room at the moment was engulfed in ghosts’ howling cries, Ghost Li in mid-air, that skeleton arm seemed to be manipulated by some mysterious power, sprang up and charged towards Ghost Li.

Ghost Li frowned tightly but there was no panic in his eyes, his eyes reflecting the giant arm’s fast approaching figure, when it looked like it was about to hit his body, his body swayed and floated to the right, at that moment of hair’s breadth avoided it, that giant arm crashed down, again another cloud of debris.

The dense unearthly atmosphere in the house, the fierce wind piercingly cold, Zhou YiXian and the rest pressed tightly against the walls, wanted to leave but dared not move, for fear they might get hurt in this chaos. But luckily, it seemed that Mr Ghost’s attention was all on Ghost Li, the three of them hid at the corner of the altar table, the white skeleton did not hunt for them. Only that the three of them in the chaos, saw that the mortuary which was originally not that spacious, with the addition of that huge arm out of a sudden, pursuing Ghost Li, the place looked slightly crowded.

But almost as if this was not enough, while Zhou YiXian was grumbling in his heart, the earth below rumbled with another deep groan, the faint sound sounded agitated and violent, like a fierce spirit imprisoned for a long time, finally had a chance to emerge and vent its frustration.

The mortuary quaked violently, the earth erupted and stones cracked, another identical giant arm emerged from the ground, fiercely hit towards Ghost Li. Ghost Li moved swiftly and swerved to avoid the two arms, both eyes concentrating tightly but so far, he had not fought back.

In the house, right now it seemed extremely crowded.

The ghastly white arms, moved in a flurry, the unfathomable yet horrifying scene played out in this mortuary, despite the intense fight between Mr Ghost and Ghost Li, they seemed to have a tacit understanding, their display of powers were limited to this mansion, Mr Ghost’s Way of Ghost’s skills did not extend out of the house while Ghost Li’s movements were kept to the interior of the house.

Above in the air, that ghost fire coldly burned, under the green faint light, the white bones danced in the air, Ghost Li's figure seemed to gradually take on some strange ghastly energy but no matter what, so far, Mr Ghost still was unable to do anything to Ghost Li. Within the coffin, Mr Ghost’s coldly snorted.

Suddenly, that ghost fire brightened, the two huge and pursuing giant arms abruptly stopped, then with a sound of lament, [kaka, kaka] piercing sounds rang out, numerous cracks appeared on that two giant skeleton arms, the next moment turned into innumerable small pieces, the edges extremely sharp, like a shower of bones and yet like swarms of man-eating bees, blotted out the sky and covered up the earth, charged towards Ghost Li.

Zhou YiXian and the rest turned pale, Xiao Huan cried out, in the small mansion, it was already hard enough avoiding the two giant arms, right now they had turned into showers of bone pieces, densely packed together, how could one avoid it.

Ghost Li’s face was as cold as frost, staring at this sheet of bone pieces, the pieces looked to be reaching him, he suddenly dropped swiftly from the air, heading straight to the ground, his movement extremely fast, like lightning. The bone pieces braked in the air, like it was alive, made a screeching sound, stopped its momentum, made a bend and descended from the air.

Ghost Li looked like he was about to reach the ground but before he could land properly, Ghost Li slapped his hand on the ground, his entire body stuck close to the ground and flew out, and his direction, was towards that coffin where Mr. Ghost was.

That ghost fire in the air startled, struck down lightning-fast and the numerous bone pieces behind, like a wind whistling, pursued tighly, the violent storm howling, the entire house quaked violently, Ghost Li’s clothes flapped wildly in the wind but at this moment, where there was obstacle in front and pursuing soldiers behind, he suddenly threw out the Soul-absorbing black stick from his hand, that force was great, with strange powers activating it, the Sinister Orb at the tip of the black stick swirled with dark red, lines and dots of blood lighted up, it was a scene where evil power was at its peak.

Just that, the direction where the Soul-absorbing stick flew, was where Zhou YiXian and the rest were at, Zhou YiXian, Xiao Huan and Wild Dog Taoist, before they could react, a stream of black light suddenly rushed before them, an extremely cold blanket of air already enveloping them before it arrived, an indistinct mysterious evil power like a ferocious demon descended from the air and influencing the blood inside their bodies, a feeling of penetrating into their bodies and exiting.

The next moment, the Soul-absorbing stick was before them, a sound of [duo], stabbed into the wall beside Zhou YiXian’s head, almost totally sinking in.

Zhou YiXian blanched, even forgotten to curse Ghost Li, immediately felt a cold wave travelling from his head to his feet, that black stick beside his ears, like an invisible arm, wanted to drag him in. He was terrified, forced his body to move and only then managed to breathe deeply.

And this moment, that shower of bone pieces and that ball of faint ghost fire, like a wave of tsunami, suddenly abruptly stopped, froze in the air, a moment later, a faint groan was heard from the wall, a block of human-shaped earth suddenly flew out from the wall, headed towards Ghost Li, and the numerous bone pieces, like losing their spiritual power, fell onto the ground, only that ball of ghost fire, surged in brightness, once again floated above that piece of earth.

Ghost Li whistled lightly, his right hand waved, the Soul-Absorbing stick flew back, stabbed into the block of earth from the back, immediately the earth broke, a human figure in black flashed out, drifting like a ghost, floated above to where that coffin was, it was Mr Ghost.

The Soul-Absorbing Stick slowly landed, went back to Ghost Li, Ghost Li stared at Mr Ghost, did not make any move, Mr. Ghost slowly turned and looked at Ghost Li, suddenly said, “How did you find out my place of concealment?”

Ghost Li was silent, did not answer but only looked at him coldly, Mr Ghost’s black veil moved slightly, nodded his head and said, “Alright, we may not be friends in the future, of course you will refuse to say, just that we are not yet finished today, I'd like to see you who is rumoured to have the three great factions’ true ways in your body, how exactly is your cultivation?”

Ghost Li’s pupils slightly contracted, although he took Mr Ghost by surprise by using Soul-Absorbing stick to attack where he was concealing, considered having the upper hand but his expression did not look relaxed at all. Intentionally or unintentionally, the Soul-Absorbing stick stabbed into the earth block but Mr Ghost was like an apparition, an empty space, he could not tell the effect of the Soul-Absorbing evil power on him, this person was mysterious and unfathomable, it was really something Ghost Li had not encountered before.

Watching the confrontation between the two people, it seemed like there would be another fierce fight again, Zhou YiXian calmed his frightened self, quickly pulled Xiao Huan and Wild Dog Taoist, both of them startled, knew that it would be extremely dangerous with such strange powers battling each other, hurriedly found a hole in the already dilapidated wall and scurried out, before leaving, Xiao Huan seemed to remember something, stretched out her hand and took Zhou XingYun’s tablet with her too.

The three of them left in succession, Ghost Li and Mr Ghost were clearly aware but Ghost Li did not react and as a great foe was before Mr Ghost, he seemed couldn’t be bothered about them. Just that after they left, howling sounds were heard again from the house, sands and stones flew past, Zhou YiXian and the rest outside the broken walls, were pushed several chi back by the violent winds.

Zhou YiXian pulled Xiao Huan back a distance, a full three zhangs away before turning back to gaze at the house, but at such a far distance, he could not feel the intense fight going on between the two martial artist experts, seemed like they were still controlling their powers within the house. Looking from a distance, strange lights flashed from the house, other than the initial faint green, right now gold, red, white, dark-green and other strange lights also began, if not for the dense ghastly and murderous atmosphere, the scene was rather beautiful.

Xiao Huan stared at that house, whispered to Zhou YiXian who was getting ready to run, said, “Grandfather, are we just going to leave like this, I don’t think it’s very nice?”

Zhou YiXian and Wild Dog Taoist who was beside him, were shocked, turned around and looked at Xiao Huan, Zhou YiXian frowned and said, “Silly girl, what are you thinking of! Those two are monsters who kill people like flies, we are lucky to escape with our lives, why do you still want to stay here for?”

Xiao Huan hesitated a moment, said, “But, but after all, to save us, he then…

...”

Wild Dog Taoist looked at her, did not speak, Zhou YiXian impatiently said, “I say, why are you so muddle-headed! Ghost Li is highly-skilled, what is there to worry, besides they are dog-eat-dog, oh, no, one is called Ghost Li, the other Mr Ghost, should be called ghost-fighting-ghost. They ghost-fighting-ghost, what concern it is to us, quickly go, quickly go!”

Speaking, he pulled Xiao Huan’s hand and walked off, Xiao Huan hesitated for a moment but eventually was pulled away by Zhou YiXian, Wild Dog Taoist turned to glance at that mortuary flashing with strange lights, indistinctly whistling of fierce winds could be heard, his eyes complicated, did not speak, paused for a moment then turned and chased Zhou YiXian and Xiao Huan.

In the mortuary, the time to brew a cup of tea had passed, the ramshackle mansion right now was even more ruined, broken stones of the dilapidated walls, even the ruined floor was like being plowed by cows after an earthquake, the earth uneven and lumpy, stone pieces suddenly sticking out, not even a proper place to stand.

And Ghost Li and Mr Ghost were both floating in the air right now, temporarily ceased fighting, staring at each other, both seemed to be slightly panting, only Xiao Hui on Ghost Li’s shoulder, looked impatient, yawned a few times lazily, stretched itself.

Mr Ghost suddenly spoke, “Can’t imagine your skills have actually improved so much, just only ten years of time, and you are able to merge Taoism, Buddhism, Evil the three factions true ways into one, that is really not easy.”

Ghost Li looked at this mysterious figure in black, coldly said, “I also did not expect, you are not from the Evil Sect and instead from the southern border shaman art, the Way of Ghost.”

Dark red light suddenly appeared in his eyes, he stared at Mr Ghost, his voice turned ice-cold, said, “Since you are well versed in the Way of Ghost, then the Soul Return Unusual Art for BiYao, you…”

Before he could finish, Mr Ghost already interrupted, “You are wrong, although I know a little of the Way of Ghost skills but Soul Return Unusual Art is still the southern border Black Shaman tribe secret art, I do not know it, else if not based on my friendship with Ghost King, I would have already saved Miss BiYao.”

Ghost Li looked at him coldly, the red glow glimmering uncertainty in his eyes, he seemed to be deliberating over Mr Ghost’s words. Instead Mr Ghost who was silent for a moment, suddenly spoke, “Since tonight you insisted to protect those three, given that we are all from Ghost King sect, I will let them go this time. There is no meaning to us fighting here, why not we just stop now!”

Ghost Li sneered in his heart, he was no longer that naive youth from the past, the perilous fight just now, if his cultivation was low or if he had been careless, he would have died numerous times, and at that time, definitely no one would say things like we are all from Ghost King sect. Mr Ghost was really an unfathomable character, although Ghost Li was not afraid of him but that battle earlier on, he knew that this person’s skills were abnormal and was really someone not easy to deal with, he did not wish to be overhasty and so nodded and indifferently said, “That is good too.”

Mr Ghost slowly descended and landed, the mortuary was in a ruin, most of the coffins were all torn apart, only that coffin at that Yin place was still intact, Mr Ghost landed on it, was silent for a moment, said, “What is your intention for coming to Qing Yun Hill this time?”

Ghost Li coldly said, “Then what are you here for?”

Mr Ghost faintly said, “The world is in a chaos, it is the troubled times, the evil beasts are on a rampage, the battle between Good Faction and the evil beasts is inevitable, how can I miss it?”

Ghost Li looked at him and said, “As what you said, the Good Faction and the evil beasts, who will win?”

A glint suddenly flashed in Mr Ghost’s eyes, he seemed to recall something, said, “The evil beasts are formidable, contrary to everyone’s expectation, especially for that Beast Deity, until now no one has seen his moves, moreover his cultivation level but to be able to dominate the innumerable powerful demonic beasts, presumably this person must be an unparallelled formidable figure. This big battle, I'm afraid the demonic beasts have a seventy percent odds.”

Ghost Li’s pupils slightly contracted, he was silent for a long time, said, “Then thirty percent from the Good Faction, don’t tell me it’s on Zhu Xian formation?”

Mr Ghost smiled and said, “That is right. Qing Yun Hill Zhu Xian Sword Formation really makes a difference, after a thousand years, it is still the world's top supreme Taoism formation, if the Good Faction wishes to win, then they will have to put their hopes on this sword formation, if not there will not be that many Good Faction righteous people, instead of going other places, all of them came to Qing Yun Hill.”

Ghost Li silent with his head lifted, his expression complex, seemed to have recalled some things, pain indistinct on his face.

Mr Ghost saw his expression, suddenly said, “Although you started out from Qing Yun but some of Qing Yun’s secrets, most likely you are still unaware?”

Ghost Li’s countenance changed, turned to look at Mr Ghost, as if he wanted to stare through this person, after a while, he drawled, “Please advise!”

Mr Ghost looked at Ghost Li, his tone calm but his eyes seemed to convey a deeper meaning, “Qing Yun Hill Zhu Xian Sword Formation’s might exceeds the mortal and enters the sage, it is sufficient to slay the evil and eliminate the demons, for a thousand years it has always been the treasured weapon of guarding Qing Yun Hill. Legend says that the sword formation was born out of that volume of nameless ancient scroll that Qing Yun Hill Qing YunZi founder obtained, until a thousand years ago the emergence of the peerless genius Qing Ye who went into seclusion at ‘Illusory Moon Cave’ for thirteen years, emerged white-haired, personally invented this, he gathered the spiritual energies from Qing Yun Seven Mountains Summits as the formation, transformed the murderous energies of the world’s living things as the sword and becomes invincible in the world.”

His voice paused and then sounding slightly erratic but his pair of eyes firmly glued on Ghost Li, slowly said, “And this astounding unparalleled formation, is inseparable from one celestial weapon.”

Ghost Li exclaimed, “The ancient sword, Zhu Xian?”

Mr Ghost nodded and said, “It is indeed! Where exactly did Zhu Xian came from, it has always been a mystery, I'm afraid even those people at Qing Yun Hill won’t be able to explain. But one thing is for sure, the first appearance of Zhu Xian ancient sword was when Qing Ye Founder emerged from his seclusion in Illusory Moon Cave for thirteen years, holding that sword in his hands. And all along, that celestial weapon is never kept closely with Qing Yun sect head but instead placed in the Illusory Moon Cave at the back of Qing Yun Hill.”

Mr Ghost stopped, in the mortuary, a silence temporarily descended. Ghost Li looked at him intently, slowly said, “How did you know so much?”

Mr Ghost waved his hand and said, “You don’t have to bother about me but what I have said to you is indeed the facts. Therefore the secret of Qing Yun Zhu Xian Sword Formation, most likely is within the Illusory Moon Cave that only Qing Yun sect head can enter.” He smiled and said, “Do you understand?”

Ghost Li did not speak, only stared silently at that person, after a long while, coldly said, “Who exactly are you?”

Mr Ghost clasped his hands behind his back standing, slowly said, “In short, remember that I am not your enemy, that is all.”

Ghost Li looked at that person for a moment, suddenly turned and slowly floated out, when his figure was about to disappear, his voice seemed to be heard but it also sounded like the wind, indistinct.

Mr Ghost stood alone in the dark, motionless, that faint ghost fire slowly darkened and finally completely extinguished, the mansion lapsed into silence again.

.

Just after a while, the dark place where a human figure was, a low, low sneer was heard.