NABC Chapter 7: Yang Six Roots and Divine Skills
Chapter 7: Yang Six Roots and Divine Skills
Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Yang Six Roots and Divine Skills
The light was dim, and the drumbeats were urgent.
The candles on either side of the incense burner seemed to have gained a life of their own, flickering in time with the drums.
Widow Wang's eyes narrowed slightly. She shook her head and swayed her body, and her expression gradually changed.
At first, it was solemn, then frenzied, with beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Her head shook ceaselessly as the rhythm of her chant accelerated.
"Immortal Lock, Binding Immortal Rope, Soul Bottle carried behind the horse. Three treasures thrown onto your disciple, if they don't hold, kick with your foot, if they don't bind, stomp with force, a bright lamp in mind and eye..."
Meanwhile, the little girl on the ground, her limbs trembled more violently.
Accompanying the chant and drumbeat, her body twisted, yawning and stretching lazily, and then, in an unnatural posture, she stood up straight.
After she rose, her eyes remained closed, her head bobbing rhythmically.
Li Yan's pupils constricted slightly, and he subconsciously pressed down on his knife handle.
In the past, he would have thought this mother and daughter were just pretending to be supernatural.
But times had changed.
Now, he could distinctly smell the scent of incense-laden musk contracting from all directions, gathering within the little girl's body.
As the two combined, her temperament underwent a transformation.
Boom!
Finally, the drumbeats ceased.
And that little girl suddenly opened her eyes.
She shook her head, picked up a horsetail whisk placed beside her, and swayed it from side to side as if driving something away.
Then her right leg crossed over her left, her toes supporting her weight as she leaned back, almost as if she were sitting on an invisible chair.
Li Yan's expression was calm, but inside he felt a sense of wonder.
He had trained in martial arts from a young age, gaining strong bodily control with the help of the Substitute Divine Statue, and could perform such moves himself.
But a four-year-old girl could never accomplish these feats.
Moreover, her expression, with her eyes slightly squinting, had a hint of a smile.
It was a blend of laziness with a touch of chill, none of the innocence typical of her age.
She inexplicably gave off the feeling of being fox-like.
Faced with Li Yan's vigilance, the little girl seemed unfazed as she flicked the horsetail whisk.
Swish!
A wine jar on the offering table was directly swept into her hand.
Li Yan's eyelids twitched at the sight.
Using a horsetail whisk as a weapon was not uncommon.
Its handle could serve as a short stick or dagger, suitable for blocking, intercepting, pointing, kicking, and inserting, while the horsehair could function as a soft whip, suitable for wrapping, sweeping, and winding, combining softness and hardness, much like the fusion of Yin and Yang.
Those skilled with it were all experts.
The wine jar, at least weighing five pounds once unsealed, was lifted and held without a drop spilling, demonstrating perfect control of force.
For a moment, he was at a loss.
To invite an Immortal to possess her, allowing a four-year-old girl to achieve such feats, what had they trained so hard in martial arts for...
The little girl, naturally unaware of his thoughts, used her right hand to wind the wine jar with the horsetail whisk, lifted it slightly with her left elbow, and raised her head, gulping it down.
Hiccup~
After downing the entire jar of wine, the girl let out a loud burp, finally satisfying herself by tossing the wine jar aside and wiping her mouth before squinting at Li Yan.
Her eyes glinted with a mysterious light as if scrutinizing him.
She then spoke, rapidly uttering a string of unintelligible sounds.
The sound was sharp, carrying a hint of antiquity.
Even more bizarrely, not a word could be understood, resembling a beast's roar or a person's muttering to themselves, very brisk and urgent.
Hearing this sound, Li Yan actually felt a bit relieved.
"The thing will cause trouble at midnight. You use a red rope to tie the roosters outside the door, then dig a three-foot pit in the ground and bury yourself inside."
"The Rampant Soldier, unable to find you, will mistake the rooster for you. At daybreak, open the dead rooster's belly to see if the innards have black water."
"If black water flows, burn the rooster at noon on a willow altar."
"If it doesn't work?"
"If it doesn't work, continue the practice the next night."
"Remember, this method has taboos. No matter what you hear or see, hide carefully and mustn't break the surface!"
After speaking, the little girl yawned, tears and snot streaming, like a deflated balloon, she collapsed onto the ground and fell sound asleep.
It was evident that speaking those few words had utterly exhausted her.
Naturally, Li Yan needed to take his leave and prepare.
Stepping outside, that stench hit him once more.
Holding his nose, Li Yan glanced at the foul-smelling earthen jars and couldn't help asking, "Do these things block phantoms and evil beings?"
With a bitter expression, Widow Wang shook her head,
"They cannot block phantoms, but can fend off something far scarier."
"And also, they keep away the idle..."
...
In the village, finding large roosters wasn't difficult.
Li Yan's family had a few, but to prevent his grandfather from becoming suspicious and inquiring too much, he purchased two from other households.
Both were red-combed and splendidly feathered.
Roosters, hailed as heralds of dawn, were believed to ward off evil and avoid calamity according to folklore.
However, seeing these two roosters, Li Yan could detect no unusual scent, and the method given by Widow Wang required no magic artifact whatsoever.
What was the true principle behind it?
Though puzzled, Li Yan meticulously followed the instructions.
He crushed peach wood branches, cut his hair and burned it into ashes, mixed it with millet and fresh blood, starved the roosters for a day, and fed them as the sun was setting.
As for the pit, he dug it in the daytime while his grandfather basked in the sun, securing it with oilcloth and covering it with loose dirt.
It wasn't long before night fell.
Midnight not yet arrived, Li Family Castle already shrouded in darkness and silence.
Approaching the fifteenth, the bright moonlight bathed the ground like white frost.
Dressed in simple clothing, Li Yan secured his leg wraps and used blood-stained red ropes to tie the roosters to a small tree outside.
Then, he tightly shut the door and returned to his room.
The loose soil he had dug was piled on both sides of the pit. Pulling the oilcloth below, the soil cascaded down, burying him.
Li Yan held the Guan Mountain Blade, breathing through a single bamboo tube.
The sensation of being buried alive was unpleasant, though the layer of soil was thin, it felt like drowning, engulfed by darkness, powerlessness, and fear.
Moreover, he had to face the unknown Cold Altar Rampant Soldier.
Fortunately, years of martial arts training had made Li Yan mentally resilient, allowing him to remain calm and waiting.
Being buried also impaired his hearing, eliminating the possibility of detecting last night's faint knocking noise.
Li Yan's task was solely to wait.
Unknowingly, a night passed.
After the latter half of the night, hearing the faint crowing of the rooster, he immediately exerted force with his arms, pushing aside the oilcloth and emerging from the soil, rushing out with his blade.
The sky remained dark, yet the scene outside was fully visible.
As Widow Wang said, the rooster tied outside was dead beyond recovery, feces strewn about, its neck twisted grotesquely.
Without hesitation, Li Yan cut open the rooster's belly, his expression darkening immediately.
Inside the rooster's belly, the internal organs were twisted into a mess.
Blood and flesh were muddled, but no black water flowed...