The eyes of those ghosts weren't scary or malicious. They just calmly looked at us, empty and numb.
Tang Mingyang, Fan Zhichao, and the others were scared out of their wits. They just stood there, not daring to move.
Bai Ling paled. She couldn't help but pull the fat man's arm. Her voice trembled as she asked, "What … What are those?"
The fat man didn't look good either. After a long moment, he said in a gloomy voice, "They're ghosts. They're what we usually call … ghosts."
Bai Ling's face paled even more. She shrank into the fat man's body.
Not only were Bai Ling and the other ordinary people scared, but Zhao Yongkun and I didn't look any better than them.
We had seen ghosts before, and we knew that there would be ghosts nearby. However, we had never thought that there would be a whole canyon filled with ghosts.
I lifted my head to look into the distance, and my scalp went numb. How many ghosts are there?
Twenty thousand?
Fifty thousand?
There were so many people in the canyon that we couldn't even count them all.
At first, those ghosts just calmly looked at us. However, gradually, they started to move. They didn't line up in front of us anymore. Instead, they slowly moved toward us.
Their speed was slow, but soon, the straight line disappeared. What replaced it was a huge group of ghosts that we couldn't see the end of. They slowly moved toward us.
We shouldn't stay here for long. Zhao Yongkun reacted quickly. He waved his hand and said, "Everybody, get out of this canyon!"
As soon as he said that, a stuttering voice came from behind us. "S-S-There are some behind us too!"
We turned around and saw that it was true. We didn't know when, but a group of ghosts had gathered behind us. They looked at us with numb eyes and slowly walked toward us. The ones in the front were only a dozen meters away from us.
Being attacked from both the front and the back, the frightened crowd panicked. Tang Mingyang's men took out their weapons from their backpacks and pointed at the ghosts in front of them to boost their courage.
I hadn't seen them carry weapons before. Now, I saw that Tang Mingyang, Fan Zhichao, and the other leaders were holding guns.
However, after taking out their weapons, their expressions did not change much. The bodies of these ghosts were blurry to begin with. Without even trying, they knew that guns would not be very effective against them.
As the ghost approached, the gap between us became more and more hilarious. One of Tang Mingyang's subordinates couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled the trigger and shot a magazine of bullets.
The result was the same as we had imagined. The bullets directly went through the ghosts' bodies, and they didn't do anything to us. The ghosts continued to walk toward us.
Zhao Yongkun finally spoke. He first stopped Tang Mingyang's men from shooting, then turned to the fatty and me, "I'll guard the front, you two guard the back … Guard as long as you can!"
Even though I held a grudge against him, it was obvious that this wasn't the time to argue with him. I nodded in silence, called the fatty, and walked to the back.
At this moment, Bai Ling was still holding the fatty's hand and didn't want to let go. The fatty hesitated for a while, then got rid of her hand and told her to be careful. Then, he quietly followed me.
When we were ready, the ghosts in the front and the back had forced us to a small, empty space that was around forty to fifty square meters.
Zhao Yongkun shouted, "Attack!" Then, he read the Mao Summoning Incantation. He swung his steel sword and cut the first row of ghosts.
The ghosts were as fragile as a piece of white paper in front of Zhao Yongkun's steel sword, which contained his Dao energy.
The moment Zhao Yongkun's opponent appeared, I threw the yellow talisman I had prepared in my hand.
I slowly accumulated these yellow talismans while practicing talisman making during my years in university. There are 'Evil Breaking Talismans', 'Pure Yang Talismans', and so on. All of these talismans contain strong Yang energy, and they have a miraculous effect on ghosts.
Each talisman I threw out was like a grenade. They exploded the moment they touched the bodies of the ghosts, killing all the ghosts in the vicinity.
When I took action, the fat man also took action. He threw the three shiny copper coins in his hand. They didn't look fast, but as soon as they touched the souls, they scattered them. After circling around the souls, the coins would automatically spin and fly back to him. It was a marvelous trick.
I had to admit that these souls were really weak. After we took action, a large number of them were killed. However, as long as we killed one group, another group would come. When the yellow talismans in my hand were about to be used up, I lifted my head to look into the distance. The army of ghosts didn't seem to have an end in sight.
The number of ghosts seemed to be more than I had expected.
If we continue to consume our Qi of the Way endlessly, we will not be able to solve the problem. The Qi of the Way in our bodies is limited, while the number of Dark Souls is almost infinite. When we run out of Qi of the Way, we will not be able to save others.
Should he call Tong Tong out?
I started to think about this.
Facing such a large number of ghosts, even if I called Tong Tong, I wasn't sure if he could swallow or drive them away. However, with Tong Tong here, I could guarantee that these ghosts wouldn't dare to attack us.
While I was hesitating, Zhao Yongkun's voice came to me again. He asked everyone to retreat to the corner of the valley. There was a narrow col that was around ten square meters wide. It was just big enough for all of us to hide in.
After Chief Liu brought the ordinary people to hide, Zhao Yongkun, the fatty, and I also eliminated the ghosts in front of us while retreating.
After we squeezed into the col, Zhao Yongkun swung his sword in a circle, dispersing all the ghosts in front of us. Then, he quickly took out a small yellow paper figure and threw it on the ground. He chanted a mysterious spell, and the small figure, which was only as tall as a finger, quickly grew bigger. In the end, it became a giant that looked like a city wall, blocking the entrance of the col.
This was a very advanced dao technique. Although the yellow paper doll was just an illusion, it contained a supreme dao qi. If a ghost touched it, it would be destroyed. It would not be able to break through the yellow paper doll in a short amount of time.
Finally, we were out of danger. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief. The fatty and I slumped to the ground and didn't want to move anymore.
To be honest, when we were dealing with those ghosts, I didn't consume a lot of energy. I had to rely on the power of the talismans.
Although I didn't consume a lot of energy physically, I was mentally exhausted.
Besides the thick Yin energy on their bodies, those ghosts didn't have much attack power. However, their empty, numb eyes kept gazing at me, which gave me a lot of pressure.
Although the ghosts were blocked outside, I still felt scared when I recalled those eyes.
Although we had temporarily dodged a calamity, we all grimaced. The yellow paper giant could stop those ghosts for a while, but what would happen after that?
No one spoke, but almost everyone's heart was filled with despair.
There was no other way. If we wanted to escape, we could only rely on Tong Tong.
I took out the jade bracelet. When I was about to call Tong Tong, the fatty, who wasn't far from me, angrily asked, "What are you doing?"
I was stunned. Before I could turn around, I felt a cold sensation on my neck. An ice-cold sword was placed on my neck.
Zhao Yongkun was the only one holding a long sword.
I took a deep breath and suppressed my anger. I asked, "Daoist Priest Zhao, what do you mean?"
Zhao Yongkun coldly replied, "Nothing. I just want Mister Zhou to lead the ghosts away. Then, I'll take the others and run away from here."
His voice was cold, without a trace of emotion.
Before I could say anything, the fatty quickly walked to my side and said to Zhao Yongkun, "Martial Uncle Zhao, we can think of another way to escape. What you're doing is too much."
Zhao Yongkun didn't move. He shook his head and said, "There's no other way."
The fatty was silent. Zhao Yongkun and his master were friends. That was why he called him Martial Uncle Zhao. However, it was also because of this that he knew how strong Zhao Yongkun was.