themonasnovels Chapter 255 "Lock!" "Seal!" "Sever!"
Chapter 255 "Lock!" "Seal!" "Sever!"
Chapter 255 "Lock!" "Seal!" "Sever!" (4000)
The moment the Seven Star Sword fell, everyone heard a very faint cracking sound.
That wasn't the crisp sound of wood breaking, nor the dull thud of metal striking stone.
It's like a wisp of cold air leaking out from deep within the cracks of a coffin that has been buried underground for many years, when the lid is forcibly lifted.
It is so fine that one might almost mistake it for an illusion.
However, the altar spirit's reaction proved that the thing had indeed been struck.
First, a layer of spiderweb-like white lines appeared on the surface of the black wooden wedge. Then, the white lines spread rapidly, and the vague outlines of human faces deep in the cracks began to twist, shrink, and break.
It felt like countless thin layers of skin were being squeezed together, emitting a continuous stream of soft moans.
The paper fire in the lantern suddenly dimmed, and the flame, which had been a bright white dot in the center, abruptly shrank into a bluish-gray speck, as if it would be completely extinguished at any moment.
The spirit of the altar let out an unprecedented scream.
The sound was neither human nor beast, but rather like the distorted, cracking, and almost heart-wrenching shriek of dozens of old papers being soaked in ice water and then suddenly wrung dry.
The entire stone path trembled, and the black soil between the stones seemed to come alive, bulging, collapsing, and bulging again.
It was as if a huge thing was about to burst out of the ground.
"There's something underneath it!"
Lin Zhaoxuan's face turned deathly pale, and he shouted almost instinctively.
Lu Yuan did not look up; his entire weight was pressed down on the Seven Star Sword that guarded the pass, its blade firmly embedded in the crack of the black wooden wedge.
In that instant, the veins on his arms bulged, and the knuckles of his wrists turned white from excessive force, but he didn't relax at all.
Because he knew that this sword strike was not a severing, but a "prying".
Only by prying open the altar bones can one truly grasp the lifeblood of the spirit worshipped at the altar.
Sure enough, under the pressure of the sword's force, the black wooden wedge suddenly cracked open, revealing a small piece of blackened old cloth.
The edges of the cloth were sewn with extremely fine red thread, the stitches neat and tidy, like the sewers used to seal the mouths of old funeral feasts.
As soon as the corner of the cloth was revealed, half of the human figure that was still attached to the altar spirit instantly dissipated.
His whole body seemed to have its skeleton removed, and he collapsed downwards suddenly.
"Old jar cover!"
Song Qinghe's voice trembled.
"It hid its bottom layer of jar skin inside the wooden wedge!"
In traditional folk customs, some evil altars are not supported by a single evil thought or a burst of malevolent energy.
Instead, they would take remnants from old funeral sites, old prayer ceremonies, and old warding-off evil spirits, wrap them layer by layer into an "altar garment," and then use the yin energy to keep it alive.
Once the jar is covered, the altar master inside will find it difficult to escape.
Although Lu Yuan's sword strike has not completely shattered the altar's covering, it has forced the altar's spirit to reveal its most vulnerable layer.
The spirit of the altar finally went completely mad.
Suddenly, all the black energy on its body surged back into its chest, and the crack on its forehead widened like an eye.
The next moment, it raised its hands, grabbed the dark shadows on both sides of its face, and yanked them off sharply.
With a tug, the shadow, like a face's skin, was torn away by half an inch, revealing another face underneath, paler and stiffer.
It looks more like the face of a dead puppet.
"Change phase!"
Zhou Heng gasped.
"It wants to replace the outer altar with the inner altar!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan's gaze grew even colder.
Such tricks might have been able to stall for time elsewhere, but in his position of power, they were tantamount to self-imposed imprisonment.
Because once it peels away the outermost layer of the yin image, it means it will expose the true body of the altar.
This was the moment Lu Yuan had been waiting for.
He suddenly slid his right hand off the hilt of the sword, pressed down on the guard with his backhand, and used the force of the back pressure to spin half a step away from his original position.
At the same time, the left hand forms an extremely deep and steady hand seal.
The hand gesture is simple: the thumb presses firmly against the base of the middle finger, the index finger is slightly bent forward, the other three fingers are tucked in, the palm faces inward, and the wrist bones drop downward.
It's like pressing an invisible, heavy stone into the palm of your hand.
The moment this momentum was unleashed, even the wind seemed to slow down.
Lu Yuan murmured, "The four gates are in their proper places, and the Yin Altar is closed."
"I won't argue with you over the flower stand, I'll only argue with you over the jar."
"You exchange your appearance, I'll exchange my life."
"Imperial Edict!"
As the last word fell, the Seven Star Sword, which guarded the pass, swept horizontally.
The sword light was not exaggerated, but it was like a horizontal glacier falling down, directly pressing down on the moment the altar spirit changed its form.
It had already torn open half of the outer shadow, about to reveal the deeper vital point inside, but was cut off by this sword.
The half-torn shadow froze instantly, like a garment half-worn with its cuff nailed to a table, unable to move forward or backward.
The spirit of the altar trembled violently and let out a near-hysterical roar.
It opened its mouth and spewed out a large cloud of pitch-black mist, which contained tiny scraps of paper, embers, and a pungent, rotten-sweet smell.
The smell assaulted everyone's nostrils, causing them to feel dizzy and even briefly see double images of the stone path in front of them.
Zhou Heng stumbled, nearly being swept away by the black mist.
Song Qinghe bit her tongue hard to prevent herself from spitting it out on the spot.
Lu Yuan spoke up at this moment.
He didn't shout or chant any incantations; instead, he spoke slowly in an extremely low, deep, and cold tone: "You want to use the stench of decay to blind you."
"Trying to use scraps of paper to disturb the spirits."
"You want to take advantage of my breaking the altar to send your village chief away."
"But you've forgotten that what the area outside the Great Wall has no shortage of is the dead smell of people buried in the permafrost for decades."
"I've seen this kind of trick many times."
His right shoulder was actually trembling slightly as he said this.
The Seven Star Sword that guards the pass is too heavy; it can suppress the evil altar, but it can also suppress himself.
After the series of powerful attacks, his blood was surging, and the wound on his chest felt like it was on fire. However, Lu Yuan swallowed the blood back down and didn't show it on his face at all.
The altar spirit could not help but hear the sarcasm in his words, and he was instantly enraged. He suddenly split his hands apart, tearing the outer layer of his dark shadow in two.
As the shadows parted, the white-faced paper banners on both sides of the stone path began to flutter wildly, and the paper faces on the banners started to open their mouths as if they were about to make sounds from the paper.
"It is calling forth the lingering souls of those remaining on the outer altar!"
Lin Zhaoxuan practically roared it out.
"We mustn't let it open its mouth, for if it does, it will attract evil spirits!"
A cold glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.
He stopped delaying.
"Zhou Heng, retreat three steps to the left and sever the base of the banner!"
"Song Qinghe, suppress the shadows of the lamps in the north, don't let them flow back!"
"Cheng'an, add half a circle of salt around my feet, quick!"
"Lin Zhaoxuan, change the position of the lightning nail, place it three feet to the right of the center of the altar!"
The crowd was completely intimidated by Lu Yuan's imposing presence, and they immediately took action upon hearing the order.
Zhou Heng cleaved the left side of the banner with a single stroke, and the banner immediately lost its support, causing half of the white paper banner to fall down with a clatter.
Song Qinghe pressed his palm on the sealing plate, and the faint light on the plate barely kept the northern position from dissipating.
Wang Cheng'an bit his teeth until they bled, and with trembling hands, he added the last handful of salt to Lu Yuan's feet.
Lin Zhaoxuan, enduring the backlash, thrust the Thunder Token diagonally into the ground, sending the remaining lightning within it rushing along the crack in the ground towards the right side of the altar.
These seemingly chaotic movements were actually Lu Yuan's second layer of encirclement and killing.
The altar spirit was forced into a corner with nowhere to retreat, and the black energy scattered and crashed around.
Finally, disregarding all decorum, she suddenly opened her arms and pulled out an extremely thin, long, almost transparent gray-white thread from the crack in her chest.
As soon as the thread appeared, the chill in the air increased several times over, as if something that had been dormant for a long time had been pulled by it.
"Soul Guide!"
Lu Yuan's gaze suddenly turned cold.
This is the most ruthless move.
The spirit of the altar actually wanted to use its remaining soul to pull the even deeper old corpse altar below.
In other words, the altar before us is not the final form; it is merely a "living image" pieced together by people, corpses, bones, and lamplight.
What truly weighs down on it and nourishes it is something older, more sinister, and harder to sever.
Lu Yuan felt a chill run down his spine, finally understanding why this evil altar was so troublesome.
It is not a single ghost, but an entire corrupted old sacrificial site outside the pass.
"You all watch."
He suddenly spoke in a low voice, so soft it was as if he were talking to himself, but every word was heavy.
"It's not trying to run away."
"It's trying to wake up that thing down there."
As soon as he finished speaking, the gray-white soul guide, like a living snake, suddenly burrowed into the ground.
A crack suddenly appeared in the black soil in the center of the stone path, and an aura that was even more sinister, deathly, and heavy than before rushed out.
The moment that aura was released, almost everyone shivered simultaneously.
It's like the coffin has been opened.
It's like the bottom of a well has been overturned.
It was as if a dead person, who should have been buried deep in the frozen ground long ago, was slowly sitting up.
The altar spirit burst into wild laughter, its voice sharp and fragmented, as if it had finally seen a glimmer of hope for turning the tide.
"So what if you try to suppress me?"
"So what if you suppress me?"
"That life down there isn't one you can take!"
Lu Yuan raised his head amidst the laughter.
His face was almost transparently pale, and the blood at the corner of his mouth had not yet been wiped away, but his eyes were as sharp as knives.
"Who says I can't break up?"
He suddenly held the Seven Star Sword, which guarded the pass, upright in front of him, with the tip pointing directly at the crack in the ground that had just opened. Then, he pressed his left hand down heavily on the spine of the sword with all five fingers together.
That press was extremely forceful, as if he had poured his last breath into the sword.
Immediately afterwards, in an almost growling voice, he recited a very short but extremely heavy incantation, word by word: "The Big Dipper shines upon the body, the Southern Dipper settles the soul."
"The old fire at the mountain gate illuminates your corpse."
"The cold wind from beyond the pass blows, drawing your soul away."
"The Yin altar will not be abandoned, nor will the righteous path be returned."
"I will use my blood as fire to suppress you three feet below the altar."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands—press down!"
As soon as the word "press" was uttered, the Seven Star Sword that guarded the pass suddenly emitted a deep, long hum.
It wasn't the sound of metal, nor the sound of wind; it was more like an ancient bell buried deep underground being suddenly struck from beneath the ice.
The starlight on the sword's spine completely aligned at that moment.
The seventh star serves as the guide, the sixth star as the bridge, and the fifth star as the bone; scattered cold light pours down along the sword's blade.
It actually pressed an even deeper circular imprint into Lu Yuan's feet.
As soon as the circular seal landed, the churning crack in the ground suddenly stopped.
The ecstasy on the altar spirit's face hadn't even fully formed before it suddenly turned into terror.
Because it discovered that the soul guide had not burrowed into the ground, but had been pinned in mid-air by Lu Yuan's word "press".
It was just a hair's breadth away from waking up the old urn containing the corpse underground.
But that "little bit" has now been forcibly suppressed.
Lu Yuan extinguished its most fatal glimmer of hope.
The altar's spirit finally collapsed.
It began to retreat frantically, black mist swirling wildly, paper faces scattering everywhere, and the flipping lamp almost exploded in mid-air with a string of gray-blue sparks.
Like an old, dim lamp twitching in its final moments before death.
It tried to mend itself, but each attempt was met with a powerful suppression seal beneath Lu Yuan's feet.
"Who—who are you—?"
For the first time, its voice carried genuine fear.
Lu Yuan did not answer.
After Lu Yuan uttered the word "press down," the entire stone path seemed to be pressed down hard from the sky by an invisible giant hand.
The folding lamp no longer flickers erratically.
The paper banners no longer fluttered wildly.
Even the chilling cold that rose from the cracks in the ground seemed to be sealed tightly by a thick layer of ice, not even an inch could see through.
The spirit of the altar remained frozen in place, black energy still seeping from the crack in its chest.
But as soon as the black mist appeared, it was forced back by the starlight emanating from the Seven Star Sword that guarded the pass.
The shadows on its body collapsed layer by layer, like charred paper ash being blown out by the wind.
The face that it had barely managed to hold up began to deform, its eye sockets sunken and its mouth twitching.
The human form that was barely maintained before has now become nothing more than a chaotic mass of malevolent energy.
For the first time, it showed genuine fear.
It wasn't the ferocity typical of ghosts and monsters, but rather a kind of panic that comes from seeing one's lifeline pinned down, with no chance of ever turning the tables.
Lu Yuan, however, gave it no further respite.
He took a step forward, and the salt ring beneath his feet lit up with a sound.
Using the force of that attack, he moved like a cold blade pulled from the snow, pressing straight towards the altar spirit.
The Seven Star Sword, which guards the pass, is held horizontally in front of his chest. The seven stars on the sword's spine are already aligned in a line. Even before the sword's edge arrives, the oppressive chill has already descended.
"You borrow the evil spirit of the banquet, the paper face, the flipping lamp, and the altar of the dead."
"You've been borrowing it for too long."
"It's time to pay it back."
The spirit of the altar suddenly opened its mouth, as if it wanted to spit out some more dark magic.
But Lu Yuan didn't give it a chance to speak at all.
He suddenly made a hand seal with his left hand, his thumb hooked in, his index finger upright, and the rest of his fingers retracted, pressing his palm inward, causing his wrist to drop heavily.
The posture was not flamboyant, but it was like a closed iron gate, firmly locked in the void.
He then whispered a short, heavy incantation: "Heaven is clear and earth is at peace, the vital energy returns to the city."
"With the Seven Stars above, all evil spirits are nameless."
"I now wield my sword, and I will not inquire into the sinister voices."
"I will crush your bones and destroy your broken form."
'
As the last word was uttered, the Seven Star Sword that guarded the pass suddenly emitted a clear and long cry.
The seventh star lit up completely.
In that instant, the sword light did not spread, but rather converged, like a beam of cold lightning hanging down from the northern sky, directly nailing to the crack on the forehead of the altar spirit.
The altar spirit shuddered violently, letting out a piercing scream that almost tore off eardrums, as the sword light pressed him backward.
Lu Yuan flipped his wrist and slashed horizontally with the sword.
All of this happened so fast that bystanders only saw a flash before their eyes, and the thickest black aura on the altar spirit's chest was ripped open.
Where the black mist was cut by the sword, no blood flowed; instead, strands of extremely fine black threads emerged, like burnt hemp thread or torn paper spirits.
The altar was used to worship the spirits.
Lu Yuan was faster.
He shifted his feet, his body spinning half a circle to the side, following the sword's momentum. The Seven Star Sword of the Gate Guardian then slashed back, directly opening the black aura on his chest even wider.
At the same time, his left hand swiftly tapped three times in the air, each tap seemingly landing on an invisible lock.
"Lock!"
"seal up!"
"Absolutely amazing!"
'