103: Chapter 95 One After Another

The voice from the jade pendant stopped.

Pei Duo stared at the black jade pendant in her palm. Most of its dark light had been extinguished, leaving only a final thread, like a candle wick about to burn out, ready to vanish completely at any moment.

The terrace beneath her feet suddenly shook violently, then stopped.

There was no roar, no inertia; it just stopped.

Deprived of its power core, the Deer Terrace ran aground in the blood-colored sea mist of the Yomi Hirasaka, resembling a colossal beast whose blood had been drained. Its massive steel skeleton emitted a low, weary groan, one after another, before falling silent.

"Go."

The Old Ghost in Zhongshan Suit squeezed out from the entrance of the corridor, followed by a string of ghostly blue soul flames.

They emerged from the crawlspaces, from the pipes, from the gaps between piles of scrap metal.

Soldiers in Yin-Shang armor, those in Feiyu robes, battle robes from every dynasty, and those nameless individuals whose clothes had long since rotted away, leaving only a mass of ghostly blue soul flames.

The soul bodies swayed amidst the Deer Terrace's tremors but tightly guarded the three of them, sandwiching Pei Duo and the others, refusing to retreat a single step.

The Old Ghost wasted no words. With his hoarse voice, he pointed toward the southeast: "The instance boundary is over there. Run."

The three of them ran.

Along the way, more and more heroic spirits surged out from all parts of the Deer Terrace, flowing in the same direction.

The ghostly blue soul flames flickered silently within the blood-colored sea mist.

Xu Mo ran at the rear, his glasses fogged over with moisture. He didn't wipe them.

The barrier wall was just ahead.

It towered a hundred meters high, stretching boundlessly wide, completely inky black, and densely carved all over with sealing runes belonging to the Japanese God System.

The aura emanating from it was decayed and heavy, like some extremely ancient thing slowly rotting away, suffocating anyone who breathed it in.

Xu Mo took out the underworld emissary token and pressed it against the wall.

The moment the faint green light touched the barrier wall, it was repelled.

Sparks flew. Xu Mo's tiger's mouth split open, and he stumbled back two steps, a thin line of blood seeping from the back of his hand.

He took off his glasses and stared at the logical arrangement of the runes. His expression slowly darkened.

"Yomi Seal," he murmured, his voice extremely low. "Cast from the inside, specifically targeting the Eastern Underworld."

He paused. "It cannot be broken from within."

As soon as the words fell, a heaven-shaking demon roar echoed from the blood-colored sea mist behind them.

Tamamo-no-Mae unfurled her nine fox tails. Each one was as thick as an ancient tree, carving nine crimson arcs through the sea mist.

Behind her was the endless demon army.

Red Onis, Blue Onis, High-Rank Shikigami, and subjugated undead surged forward in a black, dense mass, forcing the three of them and the heroic spirits toward the barrier wall, their retreat shrinking inch by inch.

Tamamo-no-Mae stopped a hundred meters away. The massive mouth splitting to her ears curved into an elegant arc.

"Where is the Eldest Princess in such a hurry to go?"

She raised a hand, and all nine fox tails pointed simultaneously at Pei Duo. Her voice was sweet like rotting honey: "Don't go anywhere. This is where you will be buried."

Under the oppression of that demonic might, the soul bodies of the heroic spirits trembled violently. A few already damaged souls had their edges immediately scattered, their ghostly blue soul flames drifting away in the wind.

Pei Duo grabbed the jade pendant again, calling out for Pei Fei.

What came from the jade pendant was only a piercing static sound, distorted by the demon army's formation.

Lin Sa gripped the blood kiss dagger, glanced at the mountain-like demon army behind her, and then at the sealed barrier wall.

For the first time, this assassin who had cut her way through countless instances in the horror world did not utter the words, "We can fight."

The Old Ghost in Zhongshan Suit walked up to Pei Duo, blocking her view of the demon army.

He didn't utter any grand pronouncements. He simply lowered his head and gently pressed down on the hand holding the jade pendant with his withered hand, signaling her not to move yet.

Then he turned around. His hoarse voice was extremely low, yet it carried far amidst the ghostly blue soul flames.

"Let's send the children home."

No one responded.

But all the heroic spirits moved.

They all turned around, facing the demon army with their backs to Pei Duo and the other two, forming a human wall before the barrier wall.

Xu Mo watched this scene, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he remained silent.

The demon army surged like a tide, and the first wave of the charge swept toward them.

The Yin-Shang armored soldiers in the front rank ignited first. Their soul bodies burst under the impact of the demon army, their residual soul origins transforming into a pillar of ghostly blue flame that blasted away more than ten charging Red Onis.

Immediately following was a figure wearing a Feiyu robe. The embroidered spring knife at his waist was already rusted through, but the manner in which he charged forward was identical to when he was alive.

Then came a nameless one whose clothes had completely rotted, leaving only a mass of ghostly blue soul flame. He had nothing, yet he charged straight into them.

One by one, each incineration was a silent explosion, detonating in the blood-colored sea mist, flashing brightly, and then dissipating.