OBS Chapter 280: The Deep Ridge
Chapter 280: The Deep Ridge
Chapter 280: The Deep Ridge
The sad ghost poems floated in the air, and the sound reached Hong Wendi's ears, accompanied by the rhythmic beating of the night patrol board. It seemed as if every beat hit his heart, turning into a continuous and strange vibration, which made all his internal organs vibrate violently.
His obviously accelerated heartbeat seemed to have made the monster with a face as black as ink sense something. It then stopped stiffly and abruptly, and turned around abruptly to look behind it. The speed of its turn was as fast as a ghost. Even with Hong Wendi's eyesight, he couldn't tell when it moved, and how it staggered and walked in the opposite direction.
Eyes look at nose, nose look at mouth, mouth look at heart, expel turbid air and inhale fresh air, gather the breath to make it soft, and breathe in and out smoothly. Hong Wen Ding naturally memorized these methods of calming the mind and focusing the spirit, and was able to follow their profound principles at all times.
But at this moment, he suddenly discovered that the mysterious Heavenly Silkworm Divine Art he used against the enemy was uncontrollably emitting true energy and exploring the surroundings. Even though he had no intention of spying on the lacquered monster, the opponent's hideous appearance was still clearly reflected back to him, even more meticulous and detailed than what he observed with his own eyes.
On the inky black face was a strange, shrunken and wrinkled skin, like a piece of rice paper that had been knocked over and crumpled on an inkstone, and was tightly stuck to the face of a living person, sealing his seven orifices and five senses, leaving only the difficult ups and downs brought by his heavy breathing.
But even so, its hidden facial features were not necessarily normal. The curve of its face suddenly collapsed due to the disappearance of its nose, leaving only a tumor-like bulge. Its overly prominent cheekbones pressed against its face, replacing the place where its eyes should be. It looked around cunningly and sinisterly, just like the Night Monk who attacked people at night in local rumors.
Hong Wendi suddenly understood why this strange and changeable kung fu was called "Heavenly Silkworm Magic", because at this moment he only felt that the internal energy of his limbs and bones had gathered together, interconnected and connected to each other, and the whole body could be moved by a single hair. At the same time, it was out of his control, just like a huge silkworm wriggling strangely in his body.
At this time, the internal force flowing in Hong Wending's sea of qi was nothing more than the limbs of the same origin as this silkworm. It gnawed on all the food it liked with a rustling sound and swallowed it into its huge, fat, white body. For example, the secret dragon-shaped fist that was once unruly and treacherous could only be swallowed into the silkworm's stomach in a helpless manner and slowly digested and dissolved.
Investigating its origin, this fat white silkworm of unknown origin has now become inseparable from Hong Wending. The various miraculous effects it has used to defend against enemies are nothing more than a means of it spinning silk to make cocoons and the transmutation of the silkworm.
But just at this moment, the Divine Art of the Heavenly Silkworm suddenly had its own ideas, and began to feel curious and greedy about the lacquered-skinned monster wandering in this abandoned government office. It couldn't help but flex and stretch its silk in an attempt to get closer to the monster!
“…Oh no, we’ve been discovered!”
Monk Ye looked at the top of the corridor with his blind eyes. Hong Wending felt that something was wrong. Even though he had tried his best to restrain his Qi, he still couldn't stop the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Art from showing off. The strange Qi had been showing a tendency to transform and rise recently, and now it was dissipating into the dark and terrifying ghost realm, suddenly revealing his figure.
Before he opened his eyes, he suddenly realized that the figure of Monk Ye who was standing in the corridor had disappeared, followed by a gust of evil wind approaching behind him!
Hong Wending sensed something and reacted quickly. He slapped the corridor pillar with his palm and immediately came out from the corridor where he was hiding. In a split second, he dodged the Monk Ye's sudden attack that intended to sting him. In fact, he could not see Monk Ye's movements at all. After all, all the actions of the attack happened only when he was distracted for a moment.
As the night patrol board brushed past his cheek, Hong Wendi noticed that there were many tiny handwriting engraved on it. It seemed that it was not the "Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" but a passage from the "Sutra of Purity Spoken by Laozi". It was ridiculous that this sutra, which was supposed to wipe away dust and eliminate past karma, was actually held tightly in the hands of such a filthy ghost.
Monk Ye's face was flaring with terror, and at this moment he was only a foot away from Hong Wendi. He attacked suddenly, but his robe flew to pieces, and he was like a night owl or a jackdaw flapping its wings as if ready to swoop down.
His mind raced for a moment, and Hong Wendi's leaning forward did not result in a fall. Instead, he clamped his legs around the wooden beam, one in front and one behind, and tied himself firmly to it like riding a horse upside down. With a slight "ah" sound between his chest and abdomen, he instantly turned his backs of his hands outward, his fists as hard as steel, and with the "Double Lifting the Sun and the Moon" of the Tiger and Crane Double Form, he exerted a tremendous force and slammed down on his head!
A muffled sound was heard, and Hong Wendi's fists first hit the steel-like night patrol board, and then the subsequent force suddenly penetrated the iron plate and pierced the enemy's body, falling on the tattered leather bag without reservation, making a series of muffled sounds, just like beating a broken drum.
Monk Ye's strange mouth opened and closed more clearly, and he reached out to Hong Wendi with a clattering sound of his joints, but he was seized by the other man and his fists turned into flying sand without a word. He then quickly followed up with the "Seven Star Chain Hammer" after using the Tong Tian Fist, and completely subdued him!
After a round of fighting, Hong Wendi was now sitting upside down on the beam, using his chest and abdomen to exert his strength. Even if his body had been tempered a thousand times, he would still show fatigue between his breaths. He had to relax for a moment, but at this moment, the dangerously flying Monk Ye broke free from the attack again and fell suddenly onto the bluestone slabs of the corridor. His footsteps staggered and thumped, and he disappeared behind the wooden pillar without any warning!
Hong Wendi was horrified, and thought to himself that there was no such skill in the martial world that could allow one to hide underground. And there was nothing to hide here except the overgrown weeds. Could it be that there really were ghosts in the world that could block the eyes and ears of the living?
There was no time to hesitate. Monk Ye suddenly appeared out of thin air from the wooden pillar behind him, staggering over in tattered robes. He looked unhurried from head to toe, but he was able to attack Hong Wendi as fast as lightning. Even a moment of distraction would turn into a flaw.
In a flash, Hong Wendi jumped down from the wooden beam to the ground. After landing, he seemed unaware of the attack, but his body miraculously moved half a step and cleverly avoided the blows from Monk Ye's arms.
He suddenly turned around and assumed a horse stance, clapping his arms and stretching them out until they were level with his shoulders. "Double Dragons Out of the Sea" was immediately followed by the Bridge-piercing Hand Technique that could break all the rules, and slapped heavily on the back of Monk Ye who had made a mistake.
In that instant, Hong Wendi tore the tattered robe that wrapped Monk Ye to pieces, and discovered underneath were a series of rugged and rough back ribs that had long since shriveled up and no longer looked human. Even the arm that was connected to it was only a few pieces of shriveled and almost dried-up muscles and human skin left hanging on the protruding arm bones.
There were incomplete patterns on the claws of the beast, and the traces were blurred and uneven, forming a "杰" character. There were also scattered white spots of mold on its back, as if it was an ancient corpse that had died but not decayed, and had been exposed to the sun and wind and had become moldy!
Hong Wendi recalled the description of "Drought Demon" in Ruiyan Zen Temple. The monk Ye he saw at this moment was just like a beast demon that would not transform even after death and would choose its prey. The opponent's bones and muscles were stiff and withered, but he was immortal even after death. No wonder the two of them had fought for such a long time without showing any signs of fatigue or exhaustion.
Hong Wendi narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing that if he continued to fight with the monk Ye, no matter how much advantage he had in terms of moves, he would never be able to break free from the opponent's entanglement, and he would unknowingly consume a lot of physical strength.
He felt that there must be something strange in the Chong'an County Government Office, but his purpose tonight was not to exorcise demons, but to bring back the criminal file in his chest, so he should not stay any longer.
The nearest exit to him now is of course the high wall of the government office behind the corridor. However, the wall is too high and slippery to climb up, and Monk Ye often appears and disappears between the pillars of the corridor. If he rashly breaks into the narrow passage, he will inevitably lose his room for maneuver and fall into the trap. Now the only way to escape is the messy thatched and reed marsh in the abandoned government office.
After thinking it through, he deliberately exposed a flaw, and when Monk Ye suddenly attacked, he used his "left hand to break the row" to fall outside the corridor and crouched among the wild grass and rocks.
At the end of the road, there is naturally a high wall of the government office blocking the way, but there is also a dark tall building overlooking the place. Hong Wendi's idea now is to take the opportunity to climb the building after getting rid of the entanglement, and then fly out of the high wall from the eaves. By then, he will naturally have a bright future.
The thatched and reeded bushes of the abandoned government office had grown taller than an adult, and the rocks underfoot were equally dangerous. Hong Wendi used the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Art, which he had just begun to master, to its fullest extent. With every step he took, he gained momentum and his body became lighter and lighter, as if he would step into the air at any moment. However, the sound of Monk Ye shaking the night patrol board was still hot in pursuit of him, and he was always able to catch up with him in a moment.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Hong Wendi felt the sand under his feet turning into wet soil, and then gradually into silt. It seemed that the dark and dangerous building was built on the mud, standing tall beside the waves. Another step would see it step into the icy river water.
But Hong Wendi did not hesitate at all, because the Tiancan Qi was fed back, and the headless corpse stopped its strange behavior of circling the tree, and ran towards him proudly. At the same time, two black shadows flew out from the cracks in the wall and the edge of the house. Sometimes they looked like a woman looking at her makeup in the mirror, and sometimes like a man's flirting and ambiguous whispers, and they were advancing together on the dark wind.
A black shadow suddenly emerged from among the reeds. Hong Wendi blocked it with his fist as if he were facing a formidable enemy, but was shocked to find that it was a stone plaque leaning against the rockery lake. On the huge plaque was engraved the words "Zuoyi Peng Family Sanzhang Temple" in large letters that were so powerful that they could be seen through gold and stone, and they did not fade despite wind and rain.
Hong Wendi took advantage of the situation and penetrated diagonally into the stone plaque. When he was about to get out, he grabbed the stone plaque with both arms to gain leverage. He circled his body using inertia and forcibly changed direction, then counterattacked!
He was seen crossing his legs and crashing towards Monk Ye with a heavy fall from his horse. He used one hand like a crane's beak and the other like a tiger's claw to hit the enemy's chest. With each slap and press, a muffled thunder sounded out of nowhere. Monk Ye, who was chasing closely, had no time to dodge. His edge was immediately blunted and his remaining momentum was gone. He was beaten hard into the weeds!
Hong Wendi, who had temporarily escaped from the pursuers, did not even have time to catch his breath and resolutely rushed towards the dark and dangerous building.
There is only one main gate in front of the dangerous building, with an old plaque with the three characters "Qingxian Tower" hanging on it. The traces of the inscription have been eaten away by insects, and only the slightly tilted plaque is still looking down majestically. A closer look reveals that the two-story hip-and-gable roof is full of eaves and flying corners, and vines are climbing on it as if it is wearing a pale green robe. In terms of shape, it looks more like a stone and wood structure, which is exactly the same as the government office connected to this fortress and surrounded by high walls.
Hong Wendi flew through a wooden window, and the rotten support naturally turned into powder in an instant. The pursuit outside the building also seemed to disappear suddenly. Only the chirping of insects and the creaking sound of footsteps hitting the ground accompanied Hong Wendi as he climbed to the dim second floor.
Suddenly, the dust on the second floor was blown all over the ground. Suddenly, there was a "click" sound, and a shabby window suddenly opened, quietly revealing the strange night scene outside the window without stars or moon. The deep sky sank slightly in the sky, and it seemed as if there was an invisible strange face looking down at people.
Hong Wendi only felt a chilling wind blowing through his bones, causing his floating Heavenly Silkworm Qi to freeze. He suddenly sensed the malicious thoughts outside, and then embarrassedly turned into a fat white silkworm wriggling in his body. The scene in front of him then became blurry.
In the empty hall on the second floor, there was an empty narrow, bright red coffin. The candles that had been burning brightly had long since gone out, turning into spots of wax tears on the coffin. The scattered paper money had also faded to colorless, and was dispersing into gray misty rain and snow with the cold wind from the high building.
"Hey……"
A sigh that was extremely sad and mournful suddenly exploded in Hong Wendi's ears. Even though it was only as weak as a thread, it sounded no different from thunder at this moment.
Hong Wendi's body seemed to be held down by something, and he suddenly couldn't breathe. The Heavenly Silkworm Divine Art was still shrinking rapidly, and it was not until it retreated into the Qi sea in his Dantian that it became slightly stable. The floating Qi threads suddenly disappeared, as if Hong Wendi's eyes were covered by a pair of pale and thin hands. He could only rely on his eyes to barely see things in a dim trance. What he saw and heard became more and more ethereal and unreal.
Hong Wendi looked up dazedly and saw a wisp of pale gauze floating on the beams of the house, part of which was quietly dangling in front of his eyes. It seemed as if there were cold ghost hands on his shoulders, blowing cool air into his ears.
"Flowers are blooming, walking in the garden, I would rather die than hear of my resurrection. Oil-painted carriage, cold green candles, pines and cypresses of Xiling are tied together with one heart..."
The sad ghost poem once again rang in Hong Wendi's ears. He tried his best to rely on his memory and wanted to step towards the open window, but then the clouds and objects were far away from the Xiaoshui River. The dream bubble was in front of him. Waves of dizziness always followed him, and the eyes became more and more empty and pale, as if separated by clouds and fog, until he could not move...
(End of this chapter)