There are rules on the ground, and there are regulations underground. There is a clear boundary between the two realms, and they do not interact with each other.
There is an old saying "People don't see ghosts, ghosts don't see the earth, fish don't see water, and dragons don't see all things."
This saying contains a lot of wisdom. In my opinion, the most straightforward message it conveys is that everything in the world, including heaven and earth, has its own rules.
After a person dies, they will eventually reincarnate, and as a spirit, they cannot freely return to the mortal realm. Mortals also cannot freely enter the underworld. When the gates of the netherworld open is determined by the divine, and mortals cannot act recklessly. Those who violate these rules will inevitably pay a price in the end.
In my later years, I rarely encountered people who dared to enter the netherworld. Even many of them were senior practitioners in the industry. Several years later, I met an old man from Zhenjiang who told me that opening the gates of the netherworld comes with a heavy price to placate the underworld officials. Otherwise, it would mean sacrificing one's longevity in the afterlife, enduring suffering after death. The old man had paid the price with his brother's life.
However, in the past, the Lingqian siblings were exceptionally brave in the depths of the Black Mountain. Or perhaps it should be said that Lingqian's courage was astonishing.
The green light within the black cloth grew brighter, and the gloomy wind around us intensified. I could hear hoarse weeping carried by the wind. The green lights floated in the pitch-black night, at first, appearing unclear but gradually taking on human-like shapes as time passed, though only vaguely discernible features.
"My goodness, why are there so many lights in the sky?" The chubby man blinked continuously, while the other, Luoyong, asked in a strange tone, "Are there lights? I don't see anything."
The saying "People don't see ghosts" means that those without the ability to see into the spiritual realm cannot perceive the things below. The chubby man couldn't see them originally, but after practicing a certain method, he gained some abilities in this regard. Luoyong was still an ordinary person at the time, unable to see, but he could hear the wailing carried by the wind.
Among the three of us, I had the clearest vision. The "Wudang Five Elements Technique" was originally a practice of refining the body's energy. Before practicing it, I already had some spiritual sensitivities, which were further improved after the practice.
Lingqian looked somewhat solemn, evidently burdened by the act of opening the gates to the netherworld. On the other side, Lingxuan gestured to the people around him. They gathered in a circle, and then Lingxuan took out a few spirit symbols from his pocket and scattered them around. The parts drawn with cinnabar on the surface of the symbols glowed brightly in the darkness.
"Luoyong!" I tossed the protective amulet that Daba had given me to Luoyong while speaking. Luoyong caught it and looked at me in a daze. I quickly said, "This is an amulet. Wear it around your neck, quickly!"
The green lights floating in the air were all souls of the wronged. The chubby man had practiced a method that conferred divine power to him, and being naturally vigorous, he wasn't afraid of these wandering spirits. Having obtained the teeth of a ghost tiger, common spirits wouldn't dare to approach me. But Luoyong was an ordinary person, and Daba's amulet would be a perfect protection for him.
Soon, the fire along the line in front of Lingqian had reached the red candle, and there were about a hundred or eighty green lights emerging from the black cloth. Initially, these spirits tried to attack Lingxuan and the others but were hindered by the spirit symbols on the ground, promptly retreating upon impact, appearing quite fearful.
"Damn, they are coming towards us!"
The chubby man looked up and cursed suddenly. Several green lights from the sky circled a few times before descending upon the three of us.
I sneered. With a flick of the ghost tiger's teeth, I could vaguely sense its imposing presence. The green lights in the sky were terrified and quickly retreated, screaming as they flew to a higher altitude.
"It's really effective. I should thank Lingxuan for this."
I retracted my hand, and the ghost tiger's teeth were indeed valuable. Its protective effect was truly remarkable.
More and more spirits in the sky began to attack the snakes on the ground. The snakes, being Yin creatures, were now confronted by the escaping spirits, causing a clash of resentment and Yin energy between them.
Right before our eyes, a green light attached to a snake. In just a few seconds, the snake convulsed and spasmed on the ground, its tail thrashing constantly while the upper body almost stood upright, emitting an unusually long purplish-red tongue, until it eventually fell down motionless.
"Is it dead?"
The chubby man was also surprised. I swallowed my saliva and nodded. The spirit killed the snake in just over ten seconds, showing efficiency and skill that made me feel inferior. It also made me understand why Lingxuan wanted Lingqian to open the gates to the netherworld – it was like using a "nuclear bomb"!
The chaotic green lights ravaged on, causing more and more snakes to die. I figured the monster in the ancient temple probably couldn't endure this. At that moment, the temple's gate "clang" opened, and under the moonlight emerged a long shadow, a figure in black clothes with disheveled black hair, a creature that seemed neither human nor a lifeless body, swaying out of the door.
"Damn, it's really here!"
I cursed under my breath, but my heart suddenly leaped to my throat.
The venomous snakes began to retreat, disappearing into the darkness. The vengeful spirits, having lost their target, turned their sights on the solitary figure. Countless orbs of light headed straight for the monster at the door.
I had once witnessed five small demons being effortlessly killed by this monster, and to this day, I still don't know what it really is. This time, I believed that it didn't take much effort for it to kill these vengeful spirits.
Amidst the raging wind, in front of the eerie ancient temple, the green light had already reached the monster. It slowly opened its arms and tilted its head as green gas surged around it.
It was as if it was declaring that the area where the green gas was located belonged to me. The vengeful spirits that ventured into it gradually disappeared. Before I could fully grasp the situation, Lingyan suddenly exclaimed, and I looked over to see that the thread in her hand had been burned through!
The thread should have been burned by the fire, but at this moment, it was the opposite, making the burnt thread an abnormal condition. As the gloomy wind blew, two candles simultaneously extinguished, and the green gas had spread to the surroundings of the talisman that Lingyan had cast.
The cinnabar on the talisman seemed to lose its effect, one by one turning dim. Even I, who was observing from the side, felt that things might be getting worse, not to mention Lingyan and the others who were surrounded by the green gas.
"Ah!"
A man within the green gas suddenly screamed, the same man whose leg Lingyan had previously severed. He held onto his severed limb and continued to wail in agony, as if he were a prisoner being tortured.
"What's happening?"
His companion bent down to look and discovered that the severed part of his limb was rapidly rotting and melting, like skin exposed to strong acid, forming terrifying blisters.
"This is so wicked!"
The fat man's face went pale with fright, and I and Luoyong weren't in any better state. We couldn't afford to stay here and wait to die any longer. I had originally thought to take advantage of the situation, but in an instant, I realized that this was no longer a place where I could stay for long, as it was too dangerous.
"Let's go!"
I took a few steps back, pulling Luoyong and the fat man, but there were several black snakes coiled behind us. They had not been attacked by the vengeful spirits or injured by the hunting rifles, and now they had set their sights on the three of us!
"It seems like these snake elders have targeted us. What do we do?"
The fat man frowned and asked.
If I had a hunting rifle in my hand, I could put up a fight, as any one of these snakes biting one of us would be very dangerous.
"Fatso, can you use your divine power?"
After contemplating for a while, I asked. The fat man was taken aback. From learning skills from Senior Han to the present, he had not experienced real combat. When he came to the Great Black Mountain, he had been very eager, but now, it was really time for him to take action!
"I can, but I need time to prepare. I need some space to invite the divine child."
The fat man's skills were not yet fully developed, it wasn't as simple as just making an invitation. It required a considerable amount of preparation time.
I nodded and grabbed Luoyong, asking, "How much realgar do you have left?"
"Half a bag, not much. We won't be able to escape with just this. The snakes will chase us if they avoid the realgar, and they can crawl through the woods faster than we can run."
"I don't intend to rely on this realgar to break out, but to rely on it to buy us some time and space."
I took the half bag of realgar from his bag and shouted at the fat man, "I'll buy you some time, can you get us out of here?"
"Sure, if we can't get out, I'll be your slave in the next life, let's do it!"
The fat man pounded the ground with his fist, and this time we were ready to fight it out!