You have mastered the art of thunder and you tell me that it is in a strange world?

Chapter 76: The Devil Army

The evil ghost army?
Hearing this name, Zuo Chen knew that it was probably the evil creature raised in Xuzhou.

"Old man, what is this evil ghost army you are talking about?"

"There is a mountain in the center of Xuzhou called Niujin Mountain. When the famine was approaching, a group of bandits gathered there and repeatedly harassed the surrounding villages and towns." The old man sighed.
"They were vicious people. All the bad people from the surrounding area gathered there, saying that a great king would emerge in troubled times and they wanted to establish their own faction. But how could such a bunch of scoundrels be called a king? After the disaster, they trapped themselves to death in the mountains."

Hearing this, Zuo Chen already had a guess in his mind, so he asked:
"But after they starved to death, they didn't dissipate, but instead turned into a bunch of ghost bandits?"

"Yes." The old man sighed, "When we first became ghosts, we wanted to go outside the city to explore and see how many living people were left in this world. But we didn't expect that when we sent out a few strong men, we ran into the gang of bandits a few steps outside. Our good guys were beaten into limbs, and then the ghost army dragged them back and ate them alive.

"They originally wanted to enter the city to burn and kill people, but it seemed that they were blocked outside by something. They tried very hard to get in, but failed, so they left."

The old man was worried: "If you go there, you might run into those thieves. I know you are capable, but they are so cunning. And they seem to have a backer who is quite capable!

"I heard it's called something like... Lord Dahuang? I've never been there, nor have I seen it. I just think it's a big monster, and it should be very dangerous."

There was panic on his face. After he spoke, he turned to look at Zuo Chen and found that the Taoist's face was full of calm. Rather than being frightened, it seemed more like he had heard a strange story.

The old man began to feel a little hopeful:

"Master? Do you have the ability to slay demons?"

"It can't be considered as killing a demon. But it does provide some means of survival."

Zuo Chen felt that thunder magic should be more like clearing away turbidity.

"So are you planning to go and take a look at the evil ghost army?" the old man asked again.

Zuo Chen nodded.

These sneaky things surrounding Dahuang are probably some of the tricks that the master used before.

Then I must deal with it myself.

The old man looked up at Zuo Chen carefully, and his heart became active again:
Although Zuo Chen spoke very modestly just now, the old man could clearly hear that Zuo Chen was not afraid of these evil spirits.

"Master, if you want to slay the demon, do you need us from Luoshan to provide anything? Although we don't have any useful treasures, we can still provide some strong men..."

"That's not necessary. If you go over there, I will have to divide my attention to protect you." Zuo Chen smiled.

At this point, he also had some joking thoughts: "My skills of survival are quite powerful. When the time comes, I will stand far away and throw them towards that ghost nest. I guarantee that they will be blown to pieces."

Who would have thought that after hearing this, the color of the old man's soul suddenly turned pale out of fright.

"Master! No! No! Please don't do this!"

"Ok?"

Seeing Zuo Chen's puzzled look, the old man's soul flickered several times in succession, and it took a while before it finally stabilized.

Looking at his expression again, he was already full of confusion:

"Master, my...my son is inside."

"Your son? Is he in the evil ghost army?" Zuo Chen frowned slightly.

The old man opened his mouth, but finally he sighed deeply and said:
"That guy was the county magistrate in the city. When he was alive, he didn't listen to King Kang's orders to evacuate and planned to open the warehouse to release grain. As a result, he was killed by King Kang's cavalry. After his death, he went out of the city to explore and encountered the evil ghost army. The evil ghost army didn't eat him, but captured him instead. Now I don't know whether he is alive or dead."

When he said this, the old man's expression was not sad, but a bit helpless and amusing:
"That kid had such bad luck. He spent a lot of effort to take the exam, but was rejected by King Kang's relatives for several times. When King Kang had no relatives to assign, he finally became a county magistrate. However, he encountered a famine just a few days after he became a county magistrate. He was beaten to death for disobeying orders. He thought he would be fine after becoming a ghost and that the people in the city would respect him. But who knew that he would be caught by an evil ghost as soon as he went out..." Zuo Chen took a breath when he heard this.

This sounds like... it really has something to do with the unlucky star.

"Although I know that he will not end well if he is caught by those bastards, I still hope that if you have the chance, you can go in and take a look, and don't blow it up directly. Otherwise, I won't be able to keep any thoughts of him."

The old man seemed to feel that his request was somewhat unreasonable, so he sighed gloomily:

"If you find it troublesome, just blow it up."

"I'll try my best to find it when the time comes." Zuo Chen didn't make any promises, but just comforted him.

The time was almost up, and Zuo Chen did not stay in the city any longer. He and the old man quickly walked towards the main gate of Luoshan. Zuo Chen also gave the old man a few words of advice:

"If you want to go out for a walk, you can go south. There is a master there, whose Dharma name is Shanxin. I opened a village with him, where we can grow food and live. But their place is a Buddhist land after all, so if you want to go there to see him, you probably have to let him know in advance.

"Their village that can grow crops will only grow bigger and bigger over time, and there will be more and more people. After further development, I think they will send people to search for them. When the time comes, I will go back and inform them first, so that there will be no floods that will wash away the Dragon King Temple and cause you two groups to fight."

The old man listened to Zuo Chen's speech, but he could not imagine what the place in Xuzhou where he could get enough food looked like. He thought the place managed by Master Shanxin was a fairyland. He thought the place Zuo Chen just mentioned should be a place with infinite warm light, lingering clouds and mist, where immortals passed by and fairies swam. He nodded calmly:
"Okay, okay. We just hope you can help us put in a few good words to Master Shanxin and tell him that we have no ill intentions and we are just peaceful people."

Zuo Chen guessed that the old man might have misunderstood something.

When he reached the door, the ghosts in the city saw Zuo Chen was leaving and came over. Gradually, more and more ghosts gathered behind Zuo Chen. If there were outsiders who couldn't see ghosts watching nearby, they would have noticed a thick dark cloud following him.

Finally they arrived at the gate of the ghost town. Many little ghosts wanted to give Zuo Chen something, but they couldn't produce anything good, not even a leaf.

After seeing this, Zuo Chen squatted beside these little kids with a smile. The little kids were a little scared, but they reached out and handed over the clay balls in their hands.

After receiving it, Zuo Chen reached out and rubbed the little boy's head, took the dumpling, and turned to leave.

The ghosts looked at his back and waved goodbye. After they walked a distance away, their figures disappeared again, leaving only a deserted city with a peach tree standing next to it.

Zuo Chen took out the mud ball in his hand as he walked forward, held it in his hand and stared at it for several seconds. He didn't know whether to throw it away or keep it, and he didn't know where to put it.

After thinking it over, he finally opened his bamboo basket and threw the mud balls into it.

After putting away the mud ball, Zuo Chen looked up and ahead.

Just as the old man said, there is a mountain standing on this red wasteland, and the ghostly aura on that mountain is even stronger.

The only thing that puzzled Zuo Chen was that even if he used the technique of Wangqi, he could not see anything abnormal on the mountain except the ghost qi.

There is neither the Great Wilderness nor the merits that the master talked about.

Nothing unusual at all.

Is the meat ball that the master mentioned here?

……

In Xuzhou City, a man with a sharp mouth knelt on one knee in front of Old Sun, with his hands raised forward:
"Master Sun, this is the meat tiger talisman."

In his hand, a piece of blood-red flesh moved slightly.

Looking closely at the piece of meat, it really does look like a tiger crouching in the hand.

(End of this chapter)