Chapter 44

Qin Ming saw Kong Feng's face turn grim, fearing that something might go wrong. Just as he was at a loss about what to do, he suddenly saw Kong Feng bite his lip, grab the rope ladder, and start climbing down—his face was a mix of tears and laughter, his eyes filled with a wild and frenzied look, as if a hungry ghost facing a beautiful woman, trying to suppress his desires!

Could it be that subduing demons and evil spirits is also something people enjoy?

The group began to climb down the rope ladder. Some threw torches, which took only a short time to fall to the bottom of the pit. When they landed, they crackled and burned brightly, allowing everyone to see their surroundings clearly.

It was just a dry and flat cave, but there were countless withered branches and weeds piled below, which were ignited by the torches. This scene initially made everyone feel a bit relieved, but as they got closer, they suddenly noticed something strange about the withered branches and leaves... Someone immediately shouted:

"Those, those are dead people!"

"Silence!" Kong Feng suddenly raised his head and shouted to stop everyone, but it was too late. The cave suddenly filled with a faint, ghostly sound, as if countless people and beasts were slowly breathing and gradually waking up...

Kong Feng held the rope ladder with one hand and drew out the old peach wood stake from his waist with the other. He shouted, "Hurry up, something might be wrong down there! I'll go down first and guard!" Without waiting for a response, he let go and dropped straight down!

"Master..." Qin Ming exclaimed in shock, but before he could finish, he saw Kong Feng, while still in mid-air, grab the rope ladder and slow his descent, then continue down—after several such movements, he had landed steadily at the bottom of the cave!

With a dull thud, a large cloud of dust rose from the ground!

The rustling sound was now much clearer, mixed with a strange, crackling wind. Kong Feng stood up from the ground, looked around, and suddenly took the wooden box from his back, placing it on the ground with his hand. He shouted:

"Hurry up! I can't hold them off for long!"

The group was terrified, scrambling down as fast as they could, stepping on each other's shoulders and smearing mud on each other's faces, creating a chaotic scene.

Kong Feng held the wooden box with one hand and extended his fingers like a sword, biting his finger and drawing on the top of the box. He then chanted:

"Lin! San Shi San Mei Ye Hui! Jiu Yan Zhi Lin!" Without forming the不动明王 (Fudō Myō-ō) seal, he slapped the top of the wooden box, and it immediately split into four pieces and fell to the ground!

Inside, nine small swords appeared, hovering in the air, spinning rapidly!

He drew back his hand, ready to strike, waiting for the creatures from the depths of the cave to attack!

In a moment, a black mass appeared on the cave ceiling, flying rapidly with a rustling sound, echoing in the vast cave, creating a thunderous effect, like prehistoric beasts swooping down or a thousand animals attacking the grassland!

It was as if a mountain was pressing down!

As the black cloud of thunder approached, Kong Feng suddenly thrust his hand forward and shouted angrily, "Nine Ghost Spirit Swords! Duh!"

The nine small swords shot out like meteors, colliding fiercely with the black mass!

The nine swords spun and darted, cutting through the black mass, causing countless fragments to fall from the air! The fragments hit the ground and turned into a pile of dust.

A thick layer quickly accumulated!

The black mass continued to surge from the depths of the cave, the sword light forming a bright net that grew faster, but the cave also became more crowded, and it seemed impossible to stop them—sweat was already beading on Kong Feng's forehead, and he was clearly struggling!

He suddenly turned and shouted:

"How much longer?"

The last few people were now close to the ground, so they gritted their teeth and jumped down, shouting, "We're all down!"

"Good—!" Kong Feng felt a sense of relief and shouted, "Da Huo, quickly start a fire, the bigger the better! As long as the flames are fierce, these bats won't dare come down!"

The group worked together to pile up the broken bodies, and the bolder ones even brought over some dry corpses. With over ten torches, they quickly started a massive fire, the flames reaching high into the air, and the smoke rising to the cave ceiling!

"Retreat!" Kong Feng couldn't hold back any longer and suddenly withdrew, pointing at the wooden box and the sheath, causing the spinning swords to fly back. He closed the wooden box and crouched beside the fire!

The black mass of bats instantly descended!

The others followed his example, hiding behind the fire, holding torches and randomly swatting at the bats. Some managed to hit a few, but most just twisted their bodies and flew back into the air!

Kong Feng took a few deep breaths to steady himself and turned to shout, "Glutinous rice! Glutinous rice! Who has the glutinous rice?"

Two men carrying the glutinous rice quickly handed over the bags, "Here!"

Kong Feng snatched the bags, opened them, and placed them on the ground. He took out some talismans, waved them in the air, and set them on fire. He let the ashes fall into the bags, mixed them, and threw a handful into the air!

The air was filled with the sound of popping, as the glutinous rice hit the bats, creating holes. He handed the bag to Qin Ming, "Everyone! Use this to bring them down!"

It seemed that the glutinous rice mixed with talisman ashes was effective against the bats, but not as sharp as the flying swords. It only injured and disabled them, not killed them.

But the bats were afraid—after a while, the group noticed that fewer bats were circling in the air. Kong Feng squinted and saw that the bats were clinging to the edges of the cave, away from the fire, and climbing out!

For some reason, the people above showed no signs of action?

Kong Feng stood up, ready to send someone up to check, but just as he stood—

"Screech!"

The sound echoed in the vast cave, like the cries of ghosts and the wails of the wronged, piercing everyone's hearts!

Everyone stood up, using the firelight to look ahead, and saw a platform made of earth and stone in the depths of the cave, about a foot above the ground, about ten feet square, with a brand new coffin on it!

Brand new! The black paint was still wet!

But the most terrifying thing was that the coffin lid was slowly lifting, as if someone was pushing from below!

For a moment, everyone felt their mouths dry, their lips tremble, and their throats constrict. Some, out of fear, almost fell to the ground, muttering, "What, what is this thing?"

"Hmph! This is the main culprit!" Seeing the evil presence in the cave, Kong Feng didn't hesitate to rush forward. As he passed Qin Ming, he whispered:

"Light the fire!"

He didn't turn his head or neck, just slightly parted his lips, and the others didn't notice. Qin Ming, hearing this, didn't dare to delay and immediately went to the cave entrance to pull the rope, causing the copper bells to ring loudly, but... there was no sign of a fire!

Kong Feng rushed forward, not knowing what was happening with Qin Ming. He reached the coffin before the lid was half open, stomped his foot, and leaped, landing heavily on the coffin lid—there was a loud crack, and the lid slammed shut!

He then quickly drew talismans and stuck them all over the coffin lid!

He leaped down and continued to stick talismans on the sides, head, and bottom of the coffin, covering it densely with dozens of talismans. He then took out two Eight Trigram Yin-Yang mirrors from his chest, placing one at the head and one at the foot of the coffin, and drew talismans on the coffin with a brush dipped in chicken blood ink...

As soon as the mirrors were placed, the coffin emitted several muffled sounds and began to shake, but each time it moved an inch, it was restrained by the ink lines and violently bounced back!

The talismans were quickly drawn on the coffin, and it shook even more violently, as if a fierce beast was struggling inside. Kong Feng ignored it, turned, and threw handfuls of glutinous rice all over the platform...

"Peach wood stake!" Kong Feng shouted, "While this thing is still in the coffin, hurry up!" He pointed to the side, "You, put the peach wood stakes... put the peach wood stakes... Why hasn't the fire started yet?"

At that moment, they realized that the fire had not come from above!

Qin Ming and the others rushed over, explaining, "I don't know, I've already shaken the bell..."

"You!" Kong Feng was furious, "You're ruining my plan!" He glared, looking ready to punch, clearly very agitated!

Qin Ming, seeing his expression, knew it was serious and explained, "I don't know what happened, why there's no fire..." His voice was filled with helplessness and urgency, "I clearly..."

"Fire!" Suddenly, someone pointed behind them, excitedly shouting, "Fire! The fire is burning!"

Following his finger, they saw a fire snake slowly flowing down the well wall!

"Good!" Kong Feng shouted, but then noticed that the initial fire was still burning, and his face changed, "Not good! We need to move the fire, or everything will be ruined!"

He rushed to the fire, ignoring the heat and smoke, and kicked the fire apart, leaving a clear space in the middle!

Sparks flew! The entire cave was illuminated, as bright as day!

Just as they were relieved that the fire had started in time, they heard several cracking sounds...

The coffin was cracking!

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[Book ID: 3041623, Book Name: "The Little Daoist Comes to Catch Ghosts"]