Chapter 96

More and more followers gathered, and the large gates of the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple finally opened. Several Taoist priests in robes holding ritual instruments stepped out, looking very official.

When Huang Mao saw the leading priest, he couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Master!"

The crowd followed his gaze and saw a frail man with a limp standing in a corner of the crowd. The deathly aura on his face was even thicker than the corpse he had seen in the hospital earlier—it was clearly another living dead.

However, there were more than one such living dead behind the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple's evil Taoists. The Taoist priests didn't possess the ability to see souls through bodies, so if Huang Mao hadn't pointed it out, they probably wouldn't have recognized this man as the same living dead from Jiangcheng Hospital.

The Taoist priests' expressions slightly changed: "So quickly, the body has been replaced?"

"This is a backup body provided by the headquarters for a disciple of my master's level. Looking at the wear and tear, it must be a stock from a long time ago."

After Huang Mao explained, he cried out with a sob.

Before today, if he had any hope, he would have thought that his master had only fled the hospital out of necessity, and that after escaping, he would find a way to return and save him. But now, seeing his master appear at the headquarters, he finally gave up hope.

His master never intended to save him!!

Huang Mao cried bitterly, and the evil Taoists from the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple also noticed the commotion over here.

When the frail man saw Huang Mao, his eyes twitched with irritation, especially when he saw the group of Taoists following Huang Mao. He hated how this fool had really brought the enemy to their own ceremony.

But after a second thought, he realized that if Huang Mao had been a tool for him for over twenty years, obediently calling him "Master," then his intelligence was never going to be high.

Moreover, they were on Nine-Headed Dragon's territory, with so many of their own disciples and followers present. These Taoists from Jiangcheng were now nothing more than sitting ducks!

He glanced at the Taoists with disdain, then approached the Taoist standing in the front row and whispered a few words. The latter also looked over in their direction.

The Taoist raised his arm and shouted: "The ceremony is about to begin. Fellow Taoists still present, please leave as soon as possible."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Ke Xingzhou and his group. Many of the followers in the crowd immediately focused their attention there, and the crowd slowly parted.

The Taoists on the steps of the hall couldn't help but show smug smiles. They thought to themselves, these Taoists must have been too used to peaceful times and were still so naive. Did they really think that Nine-Headed Dragon only had those ghost soldiers at their disposal?

They had struggled for many years at the border, spending ten years in hiding, and the followers they had accumulated were not to be underestimated!

Feeling smug and ready to watch the so-called righteous Taoists being blamed and attacked by the innocent crowd, they were surprised when, after a brief stir in the crowd, a path was cleared.

Nine-Headed Dragon Evil Taoist: "?"

Some enthusiastic followers below began to maintain order: "Make way, make way! The Taoist priest specially came to support the ceremony and wants to exchange Taoist techniques with the immortals of Nine-Headed Dragon Temple. Don't block him, or you'll delay the schedule!"

Nine-Headed Dragon Evil Taoist: "…………"The Taoists from Jiangcheng looked at the road gradually appearing in front of them, all confused.

Since learning about the existence of the Nine-Headed Dragon, many Taoists from the Southwest had complained to them about the difficulty of working with the thoughts of these followers. They had suffered similar cold shoulders before, but now, unexpectedly, the followers of the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple had voluntarily cleared the path, bringing the evil Taoists from the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple directly to them.

This was a bit too surreal. The Taoists all turned to give approving looks to Zhu Chu, the eldest disciple of the Xianyao Sect.

As expected of Master Ke Xingzhou's disciple. It turns out that all those silly things he said earlier were just to lay the groundwork for this moment!

Zhu Chu: "?"

He scratched his head and leaned over to Ke Xingzhou, whispering, "Master, why are they looking at me? Is there incense ash on my face?"

Ke Xingzhou: "…"

Nie Chen silently pushed him aside. "It’s not your concern, go play."

The group smoothly entered the main hall of the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple.

Zhu Chu, following behind, casually closed the large doors. When there was only a gap left, he turned around and said to the confused followers outside, "The upcoming events may involve feudal superstition, so we won’t show it to you."

The followers immediately stopped in their tracks.

Feudal superstition? No one knew it better than them. When the Taoists of Nine-Headed Dragon Temple had performed rituals for them in the past, it had always been so mysterious. They were used to it!

Someone even sighed, "I thought it was a performance for us to watch, but turns out it's a show for the immortals!"

"Come to think of it, every year during festivals, the kids at home perform shows. The Taoists probably need to report their progress to the immortals too, so they don’t get scolded by the ancestors for being useless!"

The Nine-Headed Dragon followers: "…"

The Taoists from Jiangcheng, however, looked a bit tense and cautiously surveyed their surroundings.

This hall seemed no different from any ordinary Taoist temple, but the central statue was not one of the familiar Taoist deities. Instead, it was entirely black, and the face was indistinct, only visible were many arms holding sharp weapons, and a sinister smile at the corner of its mouth.

The statues around the hall had the same eerie expression. Once inside, it felt as though countless eyes were fixed on them, sending a chill down their spines and filling them with fear.

The evil Taoists of the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple seemed to have found some confidence and slowly broke into strange smiles, which bore a certain resemblance to the statue on the high platform.

The Taoists from Jiangcheng became more alert and quickly drew out their most trusted ritual instruments.

Even Xiang Ting's expression darkened, and his remaining eye was fixed intensely on the central statue.

Zhu Chu, unaware of the situation, also looked in that direction. With his spiritual vision, he could only sense a terrifying aura rising from the statues, but it was unlike anything he had encountered before, making it impossible to identify its nature.

The old Taoist with the goat beard saw that Ke Xingzhou was staring at the statue and thought he wasn’t familiar with the history of the Nine-Headed Dragon Temple. He quickly whispered, "Ke Daoist, be careful! The methods of Nine-Headed Dragon Temple are extremely sinister. It’s said that the leader of Nine-Headed Dragon possesses a secret technique that can confuse a person's mind! Several Taoists who came to exterminate Nine-Headed Dragon were deceived, and they turned and joined the temple, becoming part of the evil path. But only Taoists who have entered Nine-Headed Dragon Temple would be affected. It must be the statues that are the problem!"

Another Taoist, with red eyes, added, "My master was one of them. Before he left, he promised my mistress that he would bring her some egg yolk pastries when he returned. But after entering Nine-Headed Dragon Temple, he never came back. We all thought he was dead, but during one extermination attempt, we saw him..."

To find that their respected master had become part of the evil path was clearly a huge blow to this Taoist. His voice cracked as he finished speaking.

But he quickly straightened his face, saying, "Master had previously instructed us that if one day he became part of the evil path, we must slay him to prevent future calamities. It seems today is the time for us to fulfill our promise."

If given the choice, who would wish to face off against a former master, once a mentor, now an enemy?The Taoist priests from Jiangcheng couldn't help but show sorrow on their faces. At that moment, an out-of-place voice rang out: "Cheer up. The Nine-Headed Bug is so sly, maybe it just borrowed your master's body and placed its own followers' souls in it?"

The Taoists: "......"

The Nine-Headed Dragon cultists: "......"

This one sentence drew stares from both sides, and Zhu Chu was still a bit confused.

Just as he was about to ask what he had said wrong, the Nine-Headed Dragon's side could no longer hold it in, all of them glaring angrily: "You dare insult the Great Teachings!"

"Take your life!"

With that, they all raised their magical instruments, but they didn't attack Ke Xingzhou and the others.

The Taoists had already opened their eyes early. At this moment, they saw strange purple-black light flashing. The evil spells of the Nine-Headed Dragon cult, instead of floating towards the hall, also seemed to float directly into the statues inside the hall.

The next second, the eerie statues started to move!

The Taoists were astonished as they watched the figures emerging from the statues. To their shock, they realized these figures looked exactly the same as the statues. Especially the central six-armed statue, when it stood up, its number of arms was identical, each holding a weapon like a knife, spear, axe, and halberd.

The black aura rising from these figures didn't resemble the typical vengeful spirits, but one could tell it was definitely not anything good.

A Taoist immediately shouted angrily: "You dare to openly worship evil spirits!"

The earlier evil Taoist who had been standing at the front of the hall was pushed aside, and the yellow-haired master's disciple walked out from behind, laughing wildly at them: "What evil spirit? Do they even have any ghostly aura? Besides, don't the righteous Taoists also worship the dead? Why can you create gods, but we can't?"

His face darkened as he turned to those figures, cupping his hands and respectfully saying: "I ask the Nine-Headed God to descend and punish these ignorant fools!"

The evil Taoists behind him all knelt, shouting at the central statue: "Please, Nine-Headed God, descend and punish!"

"Please, Nine-Headed God, descend and punish!"

Everyone then realized that there were exactly 9 statues in the hall, including the central six-armed one, and they seemed to correspond to the Nine-Headed God mentioned by the evil Taoist.

Even evil gods without divine status would become much stronger after receiving worship. The Taoists at the scene immediately grew tense.

At that moment, the yellow-haired disciple, still stunned, spoke up: "This is the Nine-Headed God? Damn, I thought that was our leader's nickname, and I was thinking how a kid came up with such a name... But this is actually the god we worship every day?"

Why did it suddenly feel even less reliable?

The thin man was so furious he almost spat blood. With a glare, he yelled at the yellow-haired disciple: "Shut up! In front of the Nine-Headed God, there is no room for your insolence!"

He then turned to urge the Nine-Headed God: "Great one, these ignorant Taoists are hindering the development of our Nine-Headed Dragon. Some lowly individuals dare to act recklessly in front of you. Please, descend and punish them!"

The yellow-haired disciple sarcastically muttered: "Well, wasn't it you, master, who always gave red envelopes and bought lottery tickets for those white-collar workers in Jiangcheng? Our money was enough to open a Taoist temple in Jiangcheng. And you never even fought with them before running away. How can you say they are weaklings...?"

The thin man: "......"

The Jiangcheng Taoists: "......"

Indeed, it seemed that the one who ran away without a fight was actually him.

And he even left his disciple with them.