Chapter 154: Never Have I Fought Such a Well-Funded Battle, Even a Hanged Ghost Would Agree

Meanwhile, Chen Yushu's spiritual consciousness surged along, sketching out one Daoist spell rune structure after another.

And perfectly harmonized with the heaven and earth.

Hum, hum, hum...

In an instant, the decree was activated, and the surrounding void shuddered faintly.

At this very moment, the entire realm of heaven and earth seemed to form a special spatial field.

Within this field, Chen Yushu was the absolute master.

With a single thought, it felt as though he could command all the power around him.

Then, he grabbed the Exorcism Rice and tossed it forward.

Boom!

Flames instantly surged, rising to their absolute limit.

Seeing this, especially with Granny Jiang and her party rapidly approaching, and under extreme crisis, the Patriarch of the Zuo Family had no choice but to agree.

"Very well, I now invite Zuo Zongheng, to guard the southeast and slay evil and dispel ghosts."

As Chen Yushu spoke, he casually pointed at the Patriarch of the Zuo Family.

And Zuo Zongheng was precisely his original name.

"I obey the Immortal's decree!"

Sensing something in the netherworld, the Patriarch of the Zuo Family immediately responded.

In a split second, the sense of being somewhat out of place with the entire ritual altar instantly vanished. At this moment, he seemed to have transformed into a part of the ritual altar, capable of exerting his full strength within it.

And more importantly,

he even felt a kind of blessing. Under the infusion of this special power, the wounds on his body quickly began to heal, and even that huge, gaping hole was slowly closing and repairing itself.

The power that had been hindering his recovery was being continuously suppressed and expelled.

"Perhaps, serving as a Guardian Spirit isn't such a bad thing after all?"

Zuo Zongheng muttered, gaining a bit more confidence.

At that very moment, Granny Jiang and her followers had already drawn near.

Chen Yushu's courtyard wall could not stop them at all.

Apart from Temple Keeper He Jiang, the rest were all spirits and ghosts who could pass through walls as if they were nothing, let alone this thin courtyard wall.

"Brother Chen, what are you trying to accomplish by setting up this formation?"

As soon as he approached, Temple Keeper He Jiang let out a low shout.

Yet behind him, whether it was the ghost soldiers, other malicious ghosts and evil spirits, or even Granny Jiang, a trace of dread appeared on their faces.

A ritual altar.

To the living, it was a special ritual; to the ignorant, it was merely superstitious dancing with no practical significance.

But in the eyes of ghosts and spirits, it was a stern and solemn hall of law and tribunal.

Much like the Hall of King Yama, it possessed the power to judge them.

It was a place that commanded both dread and reverence.

Therefore, at this moment, only the temple keeper stepped forward, while the other ghosts and spirits stopped in their tracks, retreating outside Chen Yushu's courtyard wall and not daring to approach an inch closer.

"Then I would like to ask, what is Temple Keeper He doing here at this late hour, bringing so many ghost soldiers and generals to my place?"

Chen Yushu stood calmly where he was, looking at the other party and asking.

"To apprehend a criminal spirit!"

He Jiang let out a low shout and said, "Earlier this year, an evil entity went on a killing spree in the town, violating the imperial dynasty's taboos. My Granny Jiang is a guardian deity and emissary stationed in Jianghuan Town, and she has the authority to suppress such chaos that disturbs the peace of Jianghuan Town.

Now, hearing that the culprit fled into this vicinity, we quickly came to pursue and arrest them.

And those evil entities are none other than the wicked ghosts Zuo Zongheng and Zuo Qinghong."

With that, his gaze fell behind Chen Yushu.

Zuo Zongheng stood to the side behind Chen Yushu with a stern expression, while Zuo Qinghong, also known as Xiaohong, had her pretty face puckered, her delicate brows furrowed in apparent anger as she cried out sharply, "You're lying!

They broke into our home by force and tried to drag me away, which is why they angered my grandfather.

My grandfather has always stayed at home and never goes out to harm people."

"Whether that is true or not, your grandfather only needs to come with us, and we will naturally investigate thoroughly.

If there has been any injustice, it will naturally be dealt with impartially.

But if you remain obstinate and refuse to cooperate, don't blame us for being impolite."

He Jiang narrowed his small eyes until they were almost slits, a smile blooming on his face.

Following that, he cast his gaze back onto Chen Yushu, speaking in a deep voice, "Brother Chen, this matter is reasonable and lawful, and it has nothing to do with you. Please do not interfere.

Otherwise, once you are implicated, I'm afraid that with your status as the apprentice of the manager of the Liu Family Pharmacy, you won't be able to shoulder the consequences.

This concerns our Granny Jiang; even if he has a bit of minor strength, so what?"

His tone already carried a hint of threat.

Indeed.

His words were both a soft dissuasion and a hard warning.

First, he declared that the entire affair had nothing to do with Chen Yushu, advising him not to muddy these waters. Then, he deliberately brought up the Liu Family Pharmacy and his master, Su Ming, as a direct warning.

It was a warning not to act rashly, and a clear signal that they were already aware of Chen Yushu's background and identity. If he truly insisted on meddling, he should not blame them for being merciless when settling accounts later.

"Oh?

Nothing to do with me?"

Chen Yushu smiled.

Amidst Zuo Zongheng's slightly nervous gaze, he slowly said, "Zuo Qinghong is my bound spirit; you say it has nothing to do with me?

As a walking nether-walker, if one cannot even protect their own bound spirit, what use is learning these arts?"

"Does Brother Chen truly intend to remain stubbornly misguided?"

Seeing this, the temple keeper's face immediately turned gloomy.

"In this place of mine, you won't be taking anyone away."

Chen Yushu declared in a low voice.

"Ridiculous.

A mere walking nether-walker dares to block this old crone?"

Right at that moment, a voice resembling a toad's croak suddenly echoed. Following that, Granny Jiang, who had been standing at the back the whole time, stepped directly forward.

Previously, she had been observing the ritual altar.

It was only because the flames flickered so high and were surrounded by incense smoke that she had felt a lingering sense of apprehension in her heart.

Until now, as her ghostly eyes widened and the flames gradually subsided, she finally 'saw' the true appearance of the person who had opened the altar.

It turned out to be a mere youth.

Instantly, Granny Jiang's mind was set at ease.

To malevolent entities and evil spirits like her, a ritual altar was like a trial sword held high above her head.

Until that sword descended, she still harbored some dread in her heart.

Especially since she had just suffered heavy injuries after clashing with a human Tao-entering cultivator.

Had it not been for her nearly a century of accumulation and the considerable amount of faith power stored within Granny Jiang Temple, recovery this quickly would have been impossible.

In fact, this misfortune had even turned into a blessing... She could already sense the shackles of her realm loosening and was on the verge of a breakthrough.

In another two or three months at most, she would be able to advance once more, elevating her strength to the mid-stage of the Spirit-Specter level.

By then, with a massive boost in power coupled with a fairly decent 'merit', she truly had a chance to scheme upwards and achieve 'deification and advancement', taking things a step further.

Because of this, she had meticulously plotted and tricked Zuo Zongheng into returning.

Her sole purpose was to pad her record with that respectable 'merit'.

The only thing she regretted was that the target was, after all, a Specter-level entity. During their previous forced intrusion into Granny Jiang Temple, he had still managed to retreat.

One must know that inside Granny Jiang Temple, her strength was at its absolute peak.

She could mobilize almost all the power within the temple to unleash terrifying might—operating at ten percent of her true strength, she could easily burst forth with twelve or fifteen percent.

However, they also knew that luring Zuo Zongheng had only succeeded because of Zuo Qinghong. Once the target realized the truth, forcing his way into Granny Jiang Temple again would be out of the question.

Therefore, prior to this, she had been keeping a distant eye on him, constantly monitoring his every move.

Originally, the plan was virtually foolproof.

Who would have guessed that Chen Yushu would suddenly rush back to Jianghuan Town?

As for Xiaohong, the bound spirit, she was Zuo Zongheng's granddaughter; the two had been close blood relatives in life and had lived together for three years after death, naturally sharing a profound emotional bond that triggered a mutual spiritual induction.

Consequently, just as Granny Jiang had everything prepared and was secretly watching for Zuo Zongheng to barge into the temple so she could capture him in one fell swoop, they suddenly discovered that the target was fleeing rapidly in another direction.

Unable to care about much else, she immediately summoned the temple keeper to give chase together.

Upon discovering that Chen Yushu had returned and brought Xiaohong back with him as well, she could no longer hold back. Fearing that Zuo Zongheng might escape, she personally stepped out of the temple to swiftly apprehend him.

Yet upon drawing near and seeing the imposing ritual altar shrouded in a mysterious aura, she had felt some misgivings, terrified that some formidable expert had set up a formation.

In particular, she knew very well that by Chen Yushu's side existed a being at the Tao-entering realm.

If an ordinary cultivator with three sticks of incense worth of cultivation had set up an altar, she wouldn't have been afraid. After all, she was a deified specter-level entity, and with her impending breakthrough to the mid-specter stage, her self-confidence was unprecedentedly strong.

But an altar set up by a Tao-entering realm existence was naturally a different story.

Tao-entering, Tao-entering, what did entering the Tao mean?

That represented someone who had truly crossed the threshold and possessed a resounding reputation within the arcane arts.

In the outside world, such figures were known as Great Nether-Walkers.

Although their power tier was equivalent to that of an evil spirit, they possessed the solid ability to restrain and counterbalance specter-level entities.

An entity at the Tao-entering realm indeed had the capability to suppress and slay specter-level ghosts.

Therefore, initially, she had ordered the temple keeper to handle the negotiations while she continued to observe, straining her ghostly eyes through the flickering flames... only to finally discover that the one opening the altar was not the rumored Great Nether-Walker of the Tao-entering realm.

The person wasn't even present at all.

Instantly, she relaxed completely. Her aura surged aggressively, her face twisting into a man-eating expression.

"Then let's test it!"

A cold glint flashed across Chen Yushu's eyes as well.

If it had been earlier, he truly wouldn't have had much confidence.

Specter-level existences were indeed peerlessly formidable.

At the very least, they were not something his three sticks of incense worth of cultivation could contend with.

Yet now, he had a Specter-level Guardian Spirit right by his side.

Suddenly, everything was completely different.

Previously, after opening the altar, he had relied on spirit possession to fight evil specters.

Even though those entities were suppressed and unable to unleash their full power, they were still genuine specter-level existences, certainly no weaker than ordinary ones.

And now, he directly commanded a Specter-level Guardian Spirit, while facing an opponent who was likewise a specter-level ghost.

Even though the other party was deified and possessed greater true strength than his Guardian Spirit,

let us not forget: he could utilize the ritual altar's spirit infusion to forcefully elevate his Guardian Spirit's combat prowess.

Early Specter-level?

Under the altar's empowerment, having his Guardian Spirit fight an evil entity of virtually the same rank... Chen Yushu thought to himself that he had never fought such a well-funded battle before.

He felt not an ounce of fear.

His tone remained confident and solemn as he declared, "Take the courtyard wall as the boundary. If anyone dares to step even an inch closer, they die!"

With that, he flicked his sleeve.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

Talisman papers on both sides of the ritual altar lit up and activated simultaneously.

A row of armored soldiers manifested, standing on either side. Under the influence of the altar's power, they looked precisely like divine generals, radiating an atmosphere of stern majesty and awe.

And as if to punctuate Chen Yushu's words, the two rows totaling sixteen armored soldiers—some grasping sabers, others clutching lances—simultaneously took one step forward.

The oppressive weight pressing down on the air was enough to strike awe into anyone's heart.

While this posed no threat to Granny Jiang, who had 'seen through' the illusion and beheld Chen Yushu's true appearance upon the altar,

her subordinate ghosts were entirely different.

Lacking sufficient strength, how could they possibly perceive Chen Yushu's true form?

In their eyes, this was a towering, vast, and infinitely majestic netherworld yamen. Standing here, they felt utterly insignificant, as if a single glance from the master of the altar could scatter their souls into nothingness.

At this moment, as those eighteen divine generals stepped forward in unison, it was as if the King of Hell was flying into a rage to prosecute crimes.

Overwhelmed with terror, the ghosts instantly flinched and retreated in unison.

"What are you afraid of? Get them!"

Seeing this, Granny Jiang's face twisted with furious anger. She barked a command and her gaze locked like lightning onto the Hanged Ghost.

As her capable evil spirit, stepping up now was its unshirkable duty.

Of course, this also revealed that she did harbor some lingering wariness toward Chen Yushu.

At the very least, she had dispatched an evil spirit to test the waters.

What she didn't know, however, was that the Hanged Ghost already harbored a deep psychological trauma and instinctive, soul-deep reverence toward altar-based arts.

When Granny Jiang's gaze landed upon it, it instinctively shrank back. Only under her increasingly stern and terrifying glare did it brace its nerves and shamble toward the courtyard wall.

"Heaven has three luminaries: sun, moon, and stars; communicating through heaven and earth to terrify ghosts and gods! Now I, Chen Yushu, open the altar to perform rites, summoning the spirit of the Hanged Ghost to serve me! Obey this command as swift as law!!"

Just as the Hanged Ghost drew near,

Chen Yushu spoke sharply once more.

He snatched up a handful of rice, scattering it over the fire basin. As the flames surged upward,

two armored soldiers instantly sprang into motion, rushing before the Hanged Ghost, crossing their saber and lance to bar its path.

This familiar sight made the Hanged Ghost tremble violently, shaking its ghostly form to its core.

The very next moment, the Hanged Ghost found itself forced to its knees before the ritual altar.

"Hanged Ghost.

Do you wish to join me in slaying evil and dispelling specters?"

Instantly, Chen Yushu's familiar voice echoed in its ears, jolting it into a daze. Daring not harbor the slightest intention of resistance, it repeatedly answered, "The Hanged Ghost is willing!"

...