Chapter 658: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

All the resentful spirits of those who died unjustly in Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital were gathered underground in the Third Ward. Acting as a proxy for a tiger, they had become tools in Mr. Paper's hands, helping him lure the living to raise corpses.

That only changed when Gu Tongtong's ghost escaped the Suspended Coffin. Outwardly, they cooperated with Mr. Paper, but in secret, they followed Gu Tongtong's commands.

During the last live broadcast, the resentful spirits in the hospital hadn't targeted me simply because Gu Tongtong wanted to use me to open the coffin. Later, she was tied up fighting Chen Jiuge and had no time to deal with me, which was how I managed to escape.

'There are more than a few patients who died in Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital. Mr. Paper is driving these unjustly dead souls to test the waters. For one, he can gauge the depths of the sect cultivators. Second, he can borrow the Celestial Masters' hands to clear out these ghosts who betrayed him.' I hid at the very back, watching the show. Ghosts wailed and howled all around me, but I watched with keen interest. 'Is this how the livestream viewers feel when they watch my broadcasts?'

Focusing my attention, I restrained my aura and watched the sect cultivators who were about to plunge into a perilous situation. 'Let me see what you're made of.'

For terminally ill patients who died in the hospital, their final days were usually accompanied by pain and torment. The disease ate away at their bodies, draining their vitality and spirit, leaving behind only despair, a desire for death, and bitter unwillingness.

Souls like these were the most likely to become stranded in the mortal realm. This was also one of the reasons hospitals were so frequently plagued by ghost stories.

The crying at the end of the corridor slowly spread in all directions. Even though I had broken through to the Breath Listening Realm, I couldn't discern their exact locations. To avoid exposing myself, I stayed put and hid in the shadows.

"A bunch of wandering ghosts and wild spirits. They might be numerous, but they amount to nothing." Xu Yan didn't even pause his steps. Walking alone down the pitch-black corridor, he held a Compass in one hand and raised a Jade Seal with the other.

"A Broken Face Wenqu is a natural corpse-raising ground. If not for the influence of the feng shui, this place might have transformed into a hazard node." Lu Jingxiu caught up to Xu Yan and reached out to stop him. "Don't be hasty. These ghostly creatures haven't developed sentience. They have no choice but to be driven by someone else. Let's leave them a way out and let me send them back into reincarnation."

Hearing this, Xu Yan lowered the Jade Seal and softly replied, "You are truly righteous, Daoist Brother."

After saying that, he stepped back, seemingly entirely unconcerned that these resentful spirits would cause Lu Jingxiu any trouble.

'Many people have died beneath the hospital. The clothes of the deceased are piled into small mountains. With all these wronged souls and fierce ghosts released, they can't be underestimated.' I stared closely at Lu Jingxiu, feeling he was being a bit too overconfident.

The crying coming from all directions grew clearer. Gusts of yin wind battered the wooden boards on the windows, and the building seemed to plunge into deeper darkness.

The miserable weeping steadily approached. Vague, swaying shadows of varying heights appeared in the dark, like white mourning banners at a gravesite.

Upon receiving some command, they suddenly accelerated, howling forward like a tidal wave.

The yin wind surged. Lu Jingxiu remained unhurried, a trace of sympathy showing on his face. Like a divine physician treating the world, he casually scattered a handful of Talisman Paper.

"The living forge countless grievances, and deep wrongs are hard to untie."

As the incantation finished, the Talisman Paper fluttered down through the air, sealing the corridor in front of him and forming a small array.

Any resentful spirit that entered the array couldn't break free, seemingly bound by an invisible force.

Lu Jingxiu continued to chant incantations. His voice contained a special kind of magic that made one involuntarily open their heart.

"A grievance formed in a single life brings three lifetimes of endless strife." He waved his hand casually, and the grand array took form upon the ground. One after another, the talismans shimmered with a faint light, like scattering sparks, illuminating the pitch-black corridor.

He stood amid the horde of ghosts, yet he wasn't tainted by the ghostly aura or yin wind in the slightest. Like a lotus blooming unsullied from the mud, his Daoist heart was bright, clear, and flawless. His expression was calm, his soft gaze revealing a trace of compassion. "I now impart the wondrous dharma, to sever all karma of wrongs. Listen with earnest devotion, and foes will scatter on their own!"

When he chanted the final line of the incantation, the great array opened in the opposite direction. The resentful spirits trapped within seemed to suddenly gain sentience. With peaceful faces and smiles of liberation, they dissolved into flying ash.

Hiding in the dark, I witnessed all of this and was greatly shocked. I had originally thought Xu Yan was the hardest to deal with among the sect cultivators, but now I realized that this mountain guardian of the Lingbao Sect was equally not to be underestimated.

'The hidden Daoist sects are full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. No wonder formidable entities like the Underworld Live Show and the Two-Faced Buddha are forced to hide in the dark.' I felt deeply moved. My gaze fell on Lu Jingxiu, watching him lay down a grand array with a wave of his hand, granting salvation to countless wronged souls. His every movement exuded the demeanor of an immortal. I sighed to myself, 'Perhaps this is what true cultivation is.'

With the grand array set, the wronged souls were allowed to crash against it. Lu Jingxiu maintained the array alone. At first, he didn't feel any pressure, but as the number of souls continued to multiply, sweat appeared at his temples.

"Brother Daoist, let me take over." Xu Yan stepped into the array, every footstep landing perfectly on its blind spots. He held the Jade Seal high without chanting any dharma incantations. He merely stamped it lightly against the ground, and the approaching resentful spirits and vicious ghosts were shattered into dissipating souls.

'It's that powerful?' I observed carefully and realized that a stream of flowing light was hidden within the Jade Seal. With each use, that light grew dimmer. 'Is it a consumable item? Xu Yan can't possibly have too many treasures like that on him.'

Under the combined efforts of the Jade Seal and the array, the vast swarm of wronged souls and Earth-Bound Spirits were largely dealt with in just half a shichen.

The remaining ghost shadows fled in all directions, and the originally eerie, yin-heavy corridor quickly returned to normal.

Xu Yan stowed the Jade Seal and formed a hand seal. "A Ghost Mother is the mother of Infant Spirits, yet this place is flooded with resentful souls. Truly strange."

"These resentful spirits were trapped in the building, unable to enter reincarnation. Granting them salvation counts as a deed of merit." Lu Jingxiu's gaze was profound. "Just now, resentful spirits were crying out. Some of them have been imprisoned here for over twenty years. I just can't figure it out. That Gao Jian is only in his early twenties. How could he have laid a trap here two decades ago?"

"No matter. Once we find him, we can naturally ask him and clear things up." Xu Yan strode forward, and the several sect cultivators followed behind him. Although this old Daoist hadn't displayed any heaven-shaking methods, he was extremely confident, as if no disaster or evil could harm him in the slightest.

Perhaps influenced by Xu Yan, the other sect cultivators were also brimming with confidence. Only Lu Chen followed at the very end of the group, occasionally glancing back. He kept hesitating, looking as though he wanted to warn the others.

'Did he discover me?' I had crossed paths with Lu Chen before. Strictly speaking, there was no deep enmity between us. With Lu Jin's death, the karmic entanglement between me and the Profound Truth Dao had already been severed. I didn't want to provoke them, but a profound, unseen force was interfering, forcing me to stand against them. 'Is this my retribution for secretly learning their cultivation methods from the Underworld Live Show?'

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind: those cultivation methods were all closely guarded secrets of the sects. Where did the Live Show get them?

'Is the Underworld Live Show actually connected to the Underworld? Does the Underworld truly exist in our world?'

Shaking my head, I dispelled the thought and circulated my ghost art to sense the wisp of yin energy I had injected into Wang Shi's body. 'The sect cultivators are about to head down. Why is Wang Shi still dawdling?'

I had no idea what danger Wang Shi had encountered underground. At this moment, he was wandering around in one spot, stopping and starting as if he had lost his way. It was quite baffling.

'If Wang Shi is discovered, I'll have to act personally and lure them to the deepest part of the underground.' Having made up my mind, I stopped overthinking it. I stepped out of the shadows and silently followed the sect cultivators into the emergency stairwell.

The underground structure of the Third Ward was extremely complex, but I still retained my memories from last night. I had firmly memorized most of the routes.

The sect cultivators were extremely cautious. They moved very slowly, inspecting every room they passed.

After about ten minutes passed, the sound of combat suddenly echoed from downstairs. I quickened my pace, activating my Judging Eye as I crouched on the stairs to watch.

'A white fiend?' Last night, I had destroyed Mr. Paper's grand array, causing him to lose control of the white fiends and Earth Corpses. However, dawn had been approaching at the time. Even if those white fiends and Earth Corpses broke free from his control, they wouldn't dare escape the underground. Unlike an Uncorrupted Bone, they couldn't be exposed to sunlight.

It was precisely because I was afraid these monsters would run out from the underground and wreak havoc on Jiangcheng that I initiated my plan the moment night fell, luring the sect cultivators here.

Mr. Paper was busy suppressing the Uncorrupted Bone and had no time to deal with these white fiends. Although I had the time, my abilities were unfortunately limited; I was no match for a white fiend. Thinking about it, the only suitable candidates were the sect cultivators.

They wanted merit. Killing white fiends and Earth Corpses to protect Jiangcheng was exactly how one performed good deeds to accumulate merit.

The strange noises stopped in just a few short seconds. By the time I reached the place where the sounds came from, the several sect cultivators had already proceeded to the second basement level.

Gently pushing open the door, I found a white fiend collapsed on the floor in the inner room. I reached out and prodded it. The monster's nape had been snapped, and a Five Emperors Copper Coin was wedged perfectly into its spine.

'Clean and efficient, a fatal blow in one strike.' My estimation of the sect cultivators rose once more. These people had come prepared. If I hadn't been secretly causing trouble, the Ghost Mother would certainly be doomed.

With a full floor separating me from the sect members, I didn't dare to be careless. If they discovered me now, all my previous efforts would be wasted.

The further down they went, the louder the commotions from their fights became. From time to time, the sound of them chanting incantations could be heard.

I crept forward on the stairs, bent low, as a restless thrill gradually stirred in my heart, carrying a hint of excitement. Mr. Paper certainly didn't know that Xu Yan and the others were coming, and the sect cultivators had no idea they were about to face an Uncorrupted Bone.

Once these two factions clashed, an unprecedentedly fierce battle was bound to erupt. Caught between them, I would have ample time to complete my own plan.

I held my breath and focused. But just as I prepared to head deeper underground, the Ghost Ring on my wrist suddenly let out a soft click.

I looked down. At some unknown point, a crack had appeared on the jade bead where Wang Shi had once stayed.