448: The demons and monsters in the six counties were completely wiped out, and the points skyrocketed.

In the following days, the Talisman Battalion under the Dingnan Army launched attacks everywhere, and numerous military reports and requests for aid converged on the Grand Marshal’s residence.

“Report—!”

Deputy Officer Mo, holding a scroll, reported loudly to Lu Xuan: “Grand Marshal, the mausoleum of a former empress has been discovered in Fengluo Town, Dingnan County. Its Feng Shui configuration is extremely ominous. Three Daoist Priests and a thousand elite soldiers from the Talisman Battalion have been dispatched to handle it.

“In Yelang Valley, Beiyu County, reports indicate the presence of a suspected demonic beast, ferocious and bloodthirsty, which has already claimed more than ten lives.

Five hundred Talisman soldiers have gone to clear it out. They discovered a large number of ancient human remains and funerary jade artifacts in its lair, possibly related to a thousand-year-old Ancient Tomb.”

“The Zhou Family, the richest family in Cen County, all died tragically overnight, their grievances soaring to the heavens. They have transformed into vengeful ghosts, occupying their mansion and beginning to invade neighboring houses.”

“Three hundred Talisman soldiers have already been dispatched, preparing for a forced extermination.”

“Deep within the Jushi Mountain Range in Pan'an County, the Evil Qi from the tomb of the first Prime Minister of the previous dynasty has leaked out, causing strange phenomena in the sky.

According to the Feng Shui Advisor’s analysis, this tomb is arranged in a 'Reverse Dragon Immortal Ascension' formation, where the tomb owner attempted to achieve Immortal Ascension through Corpse Decomposition.

I have reinforced the Talisman Battalion with an additional one thousand five hundred soldiers, carrying the 'Evil-Breaking Talisman' personally bestowed by the Grand Marshal, to suppress it.”

“In the Dahei River Basin of Heishi County, a Water Ghost vengeful spirits has grown powerful. After slaughtering Huang Shi Village, it is now spreading along the river to other towns and villages.

Two thousand Talisman Battalion soldiers have arrived and have requisitioned thirty civilian boats, preparing for a dragnet-style eradication.”

Lu Xuan stood with his hands behind his back in front of a giant map of Qingzhou, his gaze sweeping over the marked locations. He nodded slightly.

“Order all units: confront demons, slay devils.”

“Yes!”

Meanwhile, Fengluo Town, Dingnan County.

On the isolated mountain that local people considered a Forbidden Ground, soldiers from the Dingnan Army’s Talisman Battalion were now stationed.

Leading them were three Daoist Priests hired by the army and a squad leader. All of them looked grim as they overlooked the valley below, which was shrouded in Yin Qi.

“Great Masters, what is the layout of this tomb? Have you found the entrance?” the captain asked in a deep voice, his hand on his pistol.

“The Grand Marshal has given orders that our Talisman Battalion’s duty is to eradicate all evil spirits in the world and never allow any dark entities to harm the common people.”

Among the three Daoist Priests, the leading white-bearded elder held a compass, its needle spinning wildly.

He pointed to an inconspicuous pile of rocks in the valley, where black Qi faintly seeped out.

“Found it. This is the phenomenon of 'Yin Spring Leaking Earth.' The tomb owner drew upon underground Yin veins to nourish himself, attempting to turn from death to life,” the old Daoist said sternly.

“The entrance is beneath those scattered rocks, but the Corpse Evil Qi within is extremely dense, and there might be powerful Corpse Puppets guarding the tomb.”

“No matter.” The captain, hearing this, not only showed no fear but even revealed a cold smile.

He made a gesture, and the soldiers behind him simultaneously loaded their rifles. The Talismans affixed to their firearms glowed with a faint crimson light in the dim sky.

The three Daoist Priests also reached into their robes at the same time, each pulling out a stack of “Evil-Slaying Talismans” as red as fire.

These were the Sharp Weapons for dispelling evil, personally bestowed by Grand Marshal Lu, essential for everyone in the Dingnan Army.

“Go in.” The captain gave the order.

“Slaying evil and breaking malevolence, today is the day!”

The soldiers formed a combat formation, their Talisman-covered muzzles leading the way, and without hesitation, they stepped into that utterly Yin and deadly place that the locals dreaded… Cen County, the prosperous eastern part of the city.

The once bustling streets were now eerily silent, with doors tightly shut. Only the autumn wind rustled fallen leaves across the bluestone slabs.

The source of all this was the most magnificent mansion in the center of the street—the residence of the Zhou Family, the richest in Cen County.

In just one night, all twenty-odd members of the Zhou Family died tragically, one after another.

Afterward, heart-wrenching wails and strange noises were heard every night, terrifying the surrounding wealthy households and powerful figures, who fled in panic with their families from this troubled place.

Just then, a neat and heavy sound of footsteps broke the silence of the street.

A team of about three hundred soldiers arrived, their military bearing disciplined and their equipment excellent.

Most striking were the faintly visible crimson Talismans on their rifles.

Leading them was a stern-faced officer.

Two local gentry-like figures had been waiting at the street corner for a long time. Seeing these troops, they rushed forward as if they had seen saviors.

“Captain Yi! You’ve finally arrived!”

One of the plump gentry wiped cold sweat from his forehead, pointing to the eerie Zhou mansion, and said with lingering fear: “This is it! Now this entire street, no, the entire Cen County, is relying on the Grand Marshal’s army!

Fortunately, we have Grand Marshal Lu in Qingzhou, and we have the Dingnan Army. Only then do we common folk have a backbone, and dare to close our eyes at night!”

Captain Yi, whose surname was Yi, nodded slightly, sweeping his gaze over the gloomy high walls of the Zhou mansion ahead.

“You two are not needed here; you may return.”

He was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a resolute face, a veteran who had truly emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

He showed no trace of fear regarding the ghostly matters that ordinary people dreaded like tigers; only the determination to execute military orders.

The next moment, he waved his hand, and three soldiers behind him immediately stepped forward, kicking hard without hesitation!

With a loud “bang,” the vermilion lacquered gate, cross-sealed with white official strips and symbolizing ill omen and taboo, burst open!

Three hundred soldiers immediately filed in in combat formation, quickly securing all critical positions in the front courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, it was deathly silent, with only the last sliver of twilight in the sky casting its light upon this bloody place.

As far as the eye could see, dried, blackened dark red bloodstains covered the bluestone slabs, rockeries, corridors, and walls, as if a brutal massacre had taken place.

The air was filled with a thick, foul stench and a bone-chilling coldness.

Captain Yi surveyed the area. He had deliberately chosen to come at dusk, precisely to leverage this moment of Yin and Yang transition, as night was about to fall.

He wanted to see if the vengeful ghost entrenched here dared to show itself tonight in front of his Dingnan Army!

The sky rapidly darkened, the last trace of daylight swallowed by the night, and the Zhou mansion was completely enveloped in darkness.

Three hundred soldiers stood silently in place, their breathing steady, seemingly waiting for something.

“Light the fires.”

At Captain Yi’s command, ten soldiers behind him immediately lit their torches.

These torches were identical to those used previously in Kushitou Town, with crimson Talismans wrapped around their handles.

As the Talisman light circulated, the flames “whooshed” up, stable and bright, unaffected by the slight breeze.

“Creak—”

A faint sound of wood rubbing came from behind, exceptionally clear in the dead silence.

Captain Yi’s face was as stern as iron; he didn't even blink.

“Bang—!!”

A loud bang suddenly erupted!

The kicked-open gate, as if pushed forcefully by an invisible giant hand, slammed shut!

The heavy impact echoed inside the mansion.

Almost at the exact moment the gate closed, a faint, intermittent sound of a woman’s sobbing wafted from the Embroidered Building deep within the mansion.

The sound was mournful and plaintive, not seeming to be in one's ear, but rather directly in one's heart, stirring up one's blood and making one's scalp tingle.

Captain Yi’s eyes suddenly sharpened. Far from showing any fear, a cold, almost cruel, arc curved at the corner of his mouth.

“Finally willing to come out?”

He muttered softly, his thumb on his pistol gently pushing off the safety.

A cold wind swept through.

Less than a meter in front of Captain Yi, twenty-odd figures appeared out of thin air without warning.

They were dressed in colorful silk burial clothes.

There were old men with walking sticks and dark green faces, women holding babies with blood streaming from their seven orifices, and young men with twisted necks and sinister smiles.

Men, women, old, and young, they were clearly a complete family, staring silently and nakedly at Captain Yi with an eerie “welcome home” posture.

However, their “welcome” was truly chilling: some had half their faces rotted to the bone, others had limbs bent at abnormal angles, and some even had ruptured bellies with intestines spilling out, yet still wore stiff smiles on their faces.

Even Captain Yi, a seasoned veteran who had fought countless battles and was mentally prepared, along with his three hundred soldiers, instinctively flinched half a step back the moment this extremely terrifying sight suddenly appeared right in front of them!

The next moment, those twenty-odd specters, as if pulled by invisible threads, suddenly floated forward!

Countless ghostly hands with sharp, black nails, carrying bone-chilling Yin coldness, simultaneously clawed at Captain Yi, who was within arm's reach!

Just as those deadly ghostly claws were about to touch his face.

“Buzz!”

With a low hum, a blazing crimson light suddenly erupted from Captain Yi’s chest!

A crimson barrier, formed by countless cinnabar runes, instantly appeared, its righteous Qi as scorching as the midday sun.

The moment those ghostly hands touched the crimson light, they seemed to encounter their nemesis, instantly emitting thick white smoke and making sizzling, burning sounds!

“Ah—!!!”

Ghostly wails, not human-like in their shrillness, simultaneously erupted from the mouths of the twenty-odd specters.

They seemed to have been violently struck by an irresistible force, instantly flying backward and falling awkwardly onto the bluestone slabs six meters away.

Looking again, black Qi churned around these ghostly entities, clearly indicating they were severely injured.

After the crimson light slowly receded, Captain Yi still stood proudly, completely unharmed.

He coldly watched the wailing and writhing ghosts in front of him, slowly raising his right hand.

“Open fire.”

The next moment, machine-gun-like gunfire suddenly erupted!

The scorching barrage, guided by the crimson runes, instantly enveloped the wailing and writhing ghosts in front.

Bullets pierced through their weakened ghostly bodies. The specters couldn't even organize a decent resistance; their forms rapidly dissolved and disintegrated amidst increasingly faint, mournful wails.

Finally, they transformed into wisps of green smoke, and the suffocating resentment also completely dissipated into the night sky.

The gunfire ceased, and the mansion's front courtyard returned to silence, leaving only the smell of gunpowder.

The vengeful ghosts of the Zhou Family, who once haunted this place and struck fear into the entire street, were annihilated in mere moments before the absolute might of the Dingnan Army's Talisman Battalion.

“Ten people per team, search the entire mansion to confirm if these ghostly things have completely disappeared.” Captain Yi holstered his pistol, his voice still steady, as if he had just wiped out a bunch of insignificant enemies.

Just as his order was given.

“Ah!!!”

A scream, far more piercing and filled with venomous hatred and pain than before, suddenly came from above everyone’s heads!

A solid green ghostly figure, having stealthily approached directly above Captain Yi at some unknown time, was now pouncing down with bared fangs and brandished claws!

Its speed and elusive form were far beyond those mere ghostly minnows from before.

However, just as it was about to succeed, a crimson light flashed around Captain Yi again.

“Bang!”

The green shadow and the crimson light collided fiercely, emitting a muffled thud.

This time, the counterattack was even more powerful. The green ghostly figure, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer, let out an even more agonizing shriek.

It shot back at a speed faster than it came, slamming heavily into the darkest main building deep within the mansion.

“Heh! As expected, there was still a big one hiding!”

Captain Yi was not surprised; instead, he showed a look of having anticipated this.

“I’ve been guarding against this move of yours! Now, the outer walls of the mansion are all covered with Divine Talismans personally bestowed by the Grand Marshal. Even if the King of Hell comes today, he’ll have to obediently stay cooped up in here!”

He turned and raised his arm, his voice echoing through the entire mansion: “Brothers! The time to earn merit has come!

Whoever first snags that ghost will have all the wine and meat they can eat tonight; I’ll personally pay for the entire team’s extra meal!”

“Captain is brilliant!”

The three hundred soldiers cheered in unison, their voices shaking the roof tiles, instantly transforming the originally eerie and terrifying haunted house into a blood-boiling hunting ground.

For thousands of years, it was always evil spirits taking lives. When had anyone ever seen living people wanting to chase vengeful ghosts through the streets of a deep mansion with torches?

And that green ghostly figure, hiding in the shadows, now finally understood what it meant to feel the fear of prey.

It fled, he pursued; it had no wings to escape.

“Activate Heavenly Eye!”

At Captain Yi’s command, the three hundred soldiers moved in unison, each taking out a crimson Talisman from their robes and unhesitatingly pressing it against their forehead, between their eyebrows, close to their eyes.

The moment the Talisman touched their skin, a faint crimson light circulated, seeping beneath the skin like a living thing.

The next moment, all the soldiers’ eyes were simultaneously covered with a hazy crimson glow, like scattered sparks in the dim courtyard, incredibly mystical!

From this “Heavenly Eye” perspective, the world suddenly changed.

The Yin Qi and Evil Qi, previously imperceptible to the naked eye, were now clearly visible, and the lingering traces the green ghostly figure left in the air as it fled were as conspicuous as lighthouses in the dark night.

“Southeast corridor, it went towards the inner courtyard well!” a soldier immediately reported with precision.

“It ran again! This mansion is damn big! Quick, go look over there!”

“Huh? Wait… behind the rockery! Hehe, so it’s a young woman. She’s quite pretty, but her Evil Qi is too strong, wearing such a fierce expression.”

“Enough talk, take this shot from me!”

“Hahaha! I shot her in the thigh! Let’s see if she still runs!”

“Damn it! It ran through the wall! Chase!”

The entire Zhou mansion seemed to have become a giant hunting ground. The green-clad female ghost was now in a sorry state; her once awe-inspiring ghostly Divine Abilities seemed so ridiculous under the barrage of Talisman bullets and the omnipresent “Heavenly Eye” tracking.

She had just passed through a wall with her ghostly body, escaping into a seemingly safe courtyard, only to run head-on into a squad of soldiers as fierce as wolves and tigers.

They gave her no chance to breathe, raising their guns and firing. The scorching bullets made her ghostly body tremble violently, wailing incessantly.

Finally, in a desperate shriek, she was forced into a dead end. Dozens of bullets simultaneously hit her, and her solid ghostly body could no longer be maintained.

With a “ puff” sound, it burst into a constantly squirming, foul-smelling, thick green liquid.

Captain Yi walked forward expressionlessly, casually throwing a crimson Talisman onto the liquid.

“Boom!”

Blazing flames, infused with extreme Yang, shot up into the sky, accompanied by the last wisp of a mournful aftersound, completely purifying the vile substance, burning it without a trace.

“Mission accomplished.” Captain Yi turned, his voice calm and steady, “Fall back.”

And all the ghosts eliminated in these six counties had also transformed into Lu Xuan’s System points.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Seventh Incarnation)

Realm: Heavenly Master (Minor Achievement)

Cultivation Technique: True Scripture of Yang Flame Talisman Fire (10/9) — Can be Evolved

Points: 1,480,000

Do you want to consume 1.4 million System points to evolve the True Scripture of Yang Flame Talisman Fire!

“Evolve!”