Wang Yunting, on the other hand, stood there with glassy eyes. With a blank, lifeless gaze, he mumbled under his breath, “Help me... help me...” Check latest chapters at NoveI[F]ire.net His soul had been frightened out of him! In folk belief, children would occasionally “lose their soul“ due to fright, just . Except this time, Wang Yunting had completely blanked out in a moment of sheer terror, and his spirit was scattered by fear. At that moment, Li Yanchu still carried the Divine Dao pure yang aura granted by the Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, so he gently pressed his hand onto Wang Yunting’s arm. “Ahhh!” Wang Yunting suddenly let out a scream. With his face twisted in pain, he clutched his arm and leapt up, then his eyes widened in terror as he stared at Li Yanchu. His body was saturated with thick death qi, and the moment Li Yanchu’s pure yang aura entered him, it was like pouring boiling oil into ice water. The result was immediate; it was a massive shock to his system. But the effect was exactly what was needed, as it shocked Wang Yunting back to awareness. When the human body experienced intense stimuli, it could often snap the mind back to clarity. “Daoist Master Yanchu! You finally saved me!” Wang Yunting was overwhelmed with joy after surviving certain death, so much so that his voice trembled with emotion and tears welled up in his eyes. At that moment of life and death, when he had been trapped in the pitch-black void, the one person who came to mind was Daoist Master Yanchu of Qingyun Temple. There was something about him that gave people an indescribable sense of safety, and he was steady and reliable. At this time, Li Yanchu gave a slight nod and offered Wang Yunting a reassuring smile. Then, using the same method, he channeled the pure yang Divine Dao aura within him into the bodies of Master Shenshan, Daoist Master Yuanyi, and the others. All three were orthodox cultivators who practiced legitimate methods from both the Buddhist and Daoist traditions, thus the infusion of divine yang qi warmed their souls and soothed their spirits. Before long, they each gradually regained consciousness. One after another, they expressed their gratitude to Li Yanchu. “No need to thank me,” Li Yanchu replied gently. “This is simply what I ought to do.” His tone was warm and courteous, so much so that no one could find fault with it. Master Huizhen, however, was in the worst condition. He looked like the wandering, injured erhu[1]expert from The Storm Riders[2] barely clinging to life, yet still managing to stumble forward. It seemed as if he was constantly getting injured. With everyone back on their feet, they successfully passed through the tomb chamber and entered a spacious burial passage. Under Wang Yunting’s guidance, they navigated the passage swiftly. At last, they caught a glimpse of light. It was the exit! Seeing this, everyone let out a long breath of relief. But that feeling was quickly replaced by a heaviness in their hearts. Of the twenty-six people who had entered the tomb to exorcise evil, only a handful had survived. Though the well-dressed youth in the tomb and the remnants of the Bare Body Sect had all been eradicated, the price they paid for victory was simply too high. Finally, Li Yanchu allowed himself to relax. So it really is the exit. It was the very place they had entered from earlier. But just then, the entire tomb suddenly began to shake. It was the same earth-rumbling sensation they’d felt before, like a dragon churning beneath the ground surged up once more. Only this time, it was even more intense! In the blink of an eye, the burial passage began to collapse, and everyone’s expressions changed drastically. They were just about to escape this tomb, but who could have imagined that such a terrifying cataclysm would occur at the very last moment! Fortunately, the exit was close, and the group immediately rushed forward at lightning speed. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere and blocked their path. It had a towering, muscular frame and was even bulkier than the exorcist, Yan Chixiao. However, it had no head; it was a headless corpse! And with a single strike, it sent Master Shenshan flying backward, blocking the way out entirely. “Where do you think you're going?” A deep, muffled voice rumbled from within the headless body. Just as the tomb chamber looked about to completely collapse, Li Yanchu suddenly dashed forward then sideways like a streak of lightning. “Go!” With a thunderous shout, his body erupted once more with a surge of Divine Dao pure yang qi before he threw a punch straight forward, thereafter crackling lightning and blazing sparks exploded through the air. With a single punch, he drove the headless giant corpse to its knees. He had cut off its advance, buying time for the others to escape. Had he paused to think it over, perhaps he wouldn’t have acted so recklessly. But in that instant, Li Yanchu had acted purely on instinct and thrown himself forward to block the way. “Together, we...!” Bai Hongtu shouted. But before he could finish, Li Yanchu reached out, grabbed him, and hurled him through the exit. With that, his whole body shot out like a stream of light and was sent flying beyond the tomb entrance. Seeing this, everyone was stunned. But thanks to that moment, they all made it out before the tomb completely collapsed. After they escaped the tomb's entrance, the entire mountainside collapsed, sinking downward with a thunderous roar. At the same time, dust billowed, carrying with it flying rocks and earth. Everyone was left with the unmistakable feeling of having barely survived a catastrophe. But Bai Hongtu's eyes turned slightly red as he stared at the tomb entrance, now buried under the collapsed mountainside. His lips moved, but no words came out. Meanwhile, Master Huizhen wore a face of sorrow and guilt. Li Yanchu had saved his life multiple times, but when that terrifying anomaly shook the heavens and earth, he chose to run as he had let fear take over. “I must go back and save him!” Master Huizhen said solemnly before striding with large steps toward the collapsed tomb entrance. Thinking of what had happened, his heart was in turmoil. And he wasn’t alone; everyone who escaped that tomb alive knew one thing: they owed Li Yanchu their lives. Without a word, they began to dig, clawing at the rubble with their hands and whatever tools they could find. However, the mountain had sunk deeply, pressing the entire tomb down under its crushing weight. Even these seasoned cultivators, who were capable of shattering stone and splitting mountains, could only make slow progress. Seeing this, nearby monks and Daoist disciples rushed forward to help, and they joined the rescue without hesitation. Inside the tomb, the sudden collapse hadn’t killed either Li Yanchu or the headless corpse. Their battle had been so intense that, before the mountain sank, they had already broken through the tomb floor and fallen into an immense underground cavern. The space was vast and eerie, and its shape strangely resembled a gourd divided into two distinct levels. Li Yanchu and the headless corpse had fallen to the second level and were trapped there, but they were unharmed by the terrifying weight of the collapsing mountain. In front of Li Yanchu, a solid golden qi barrier shimmered faintly. The falling stones had done him no harm, nor had the brutal assaults of the headless corpse. The triple-enhanced Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, combined with his Deity Summoning Art, had drawn down tremendous divine power from the heavens, specifically from the Spirit Officer of the Heavens, chief of the five hundred Spirit Officers of the Celestial Court, a deity of lightning and retribution, and Daoism’s formidable protector divine general. This had elevated Li Yanchu’s strength to terrifying heights. It was this divine backing that gave him the confidence to stay behind and hold the line. The headless corpse’s voice became hoarse and muddled, and it said with a deep, seething hatred, “Kill... must... kill you...” Hearing this, Li Yanchu furrowed his brow slightly. The voice sounded oddly familiar. As if tuning into a precise frequency, the corpse’s voice slowly became clearer as it said, “You damned Daoist, you're going to die here today!” Then, Li Yanchu’s eyes sharpened with realization. That was the voice of the finely dressed young man who called himself Southern Guardian Marquis of Great Xia. This was the third time he’d appeared! “Could this be the legendary Daoist art, Three Corpses Severing Art?” Li Yanchu’s gaze darkened, and his expression turned cold before he let out a sneer. “You? Kill me? A nobody like you?” 1. The erhu is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle. It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. 2. The Storm Riders is a 1998 Hong Kong wuxia fantasy film based on the manhua series Fung Wan by artist Ma Wing-shing. ☜