Legend of Baima Village

Chapter 7

But what about the innocent civilians? Opposing the White Horse will inevitably harm the innocent.

Bai Fang smiled and said, "I have my own ideas!" Then she took out the reporter's business card from her pocket.

The three of them looked at Bai Fang with confusion.

Bai Fang smiled and said, "Hehe, I have my own plans!"

What arrangements?

You'll find out soon enough. Then he asked Jin Yan, "Do you know how to contact Jin Hong?"

Jin Yan said that he used to have a cell phone, but it was probably broken after the accident, so he doesn't know how to contact anyone.

Jin Hui said, "I know the hospital's phone number."

The three of them excitedly ran out to make a call, but the office building was blocked off, so they had to use a public phone booth nearby. The voices were hoarse and unclear. They finally managed to reach Jin Hong, who said weakly, "In my condition, I can't even go home, how can I help you?"

Bai Fang then asked, "Then, do you know how to contact your master?"

Jin Hong smiled wryly. "I've gotten myself into this mess because I was trying to find my master. If I could contact him, I wouldn't need to leave home. He travels all over the place; even his family doesn't know where to find him."

Bai Fang's happy mood turned heavy again. What should she do? Then she told Jin Hong to get some rest and hung up the phone.

Jin Hui and Jin Yan noticed that Bai Fang's expression had suddenly changed again, and they knew that she had not received any good news, so they hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

Bai Fang smiled and said it was nothing. She had originally wanted to find someone to perform a religious ceremony, but it seemed that would be difficult now.

Jin Yan scratched his head, at a loss for what to do. Jin Hui asked, "Aren't there any other people here who can perform the ritual?"

Bai Fang said, "Jin Hong is the only person I know who knows a little bit about magic."

Jin Yan suddenly remembered something and said, "Why don't we go home? Maybe my parents know where he is."

Just as the group was about to leave, they suddenly saw a procession approaching from the other end of the road. It was noisy and chaotic, with a large cartload of people playing music, followed by another cartload of people, all wearing white headbands and mourning clothes—it seemed to be a funeral procession. They glanced at it but didn't pay much attention and continued walking. As the carts passed them, one of the people in mourning clothes gave them a deep look, which made Bai Fang feel a little uneasy, and she quickly quickened her pace.

The road wasn't far, and after walking for a short while, we saw two more vehicles coming out ahead. The first one was being played by a suona horn, and the second one was filled with people dressed in mourning clothes.

When we reached the three-way intersection, two more identical cars emerged from the right and stopped in the middle, completely blocking the road.

Three convoys, playing funeral music and showering the sky with paper money, surrounded Bai Fang, Jin Hui, and Jin Yan!

Although I don't usually care much about these things, encountering three funeral vehicles at the same time still makes me feel unlucky.

The three tried to find a way out, but three convoys closed in at the same time, blocking the road completely!

Even though the three were careless, they still realized that the convoy was coming for them.

Bai Fang shook her head with a wry smile. What's wrong?

He then whispered to Jin Yan, "You're a local, go up and ask what's going on."

Jin Yan smiled wryly, "We don't seem to have this custom here. You should go up and ask. They'll probably give you some face when they see you're a girl."

Bai Fang looked at Jin Hui. He was from out of town and hadn't been here long. He couldn't understand the local dialect, so she had to go up and ask him herself.

She steeled herself and stepped forward, about to speak, when the person who had been looking at her earlier gave her another cold glare, so Bai Fang had no choice but to back down. She changed cars, but the people in those cars were also cold and silent, and the same was true in the third car.

The suona horns on the vehicle never stopped, and paper money was constantly being scattered from the sky.

The three of them were stuck, unable to move forward or backward. They were all quite frustrated; how could they have let something like this hold them back?

If they were willing to come out and say something, explaining why they were being held captive, they wouldn't be so anxious.

Strangely enough, the intersection, which is usually bustling with traffic, was completely deserted, with not a single car or pedestrian in sight!

Before I knew it, the sun had started to set in the west. After being in the sun for so long, my face was covered in sweat.

Even more frankly, my stomach started growling, but I had no choice but to stay put.

Bai Fang was extremely anxious, her face contorted with rage.

He was both anxious and annoyed, and his temper flared up instantly.

She couldn't hold back any longer and went up to the man, asking him what was going on and why he had blocked them here.

This time, the man didn't even lift his eyelids; he just sat there.

They found another person nearby and asked, "What's going on? Why are you blocking us here?" The other person acted as if they hadn't heard them at all.

Bai Fang was furious, but what was infuriating was that the car was full of men, and she couldn't just grab their clothes and wake them up.

Just as Bai Fang was about to lose her temper, the three convoys stirred at the same time. The crowd parted and a person appeared in each car. When Bai Fang saw these people, she immediately suppressed her anger and asked, "I wonder what business you have with us here?"

The person who seemed to be in charge laughed and said, "Teacher Bai, why are you so angry?"

Bai Fang, suppressing her anger, asked, "What business do you have? Why are you blocking our way here?" The man laughed, "If I'm not mistaken, the person you're looking for is right here!" Bai Fang was taken aback and asked, "Do you know who I'm looking for?" The man replied, "My surname is Mu, and my given name is Ye. Last night, there were unusual celestial phenomena. My master predicted that there must be a demon here, and it was coming with great force. He told us to bring our magical artifacts and offerings to help you." Bai Fang asked, "Who is your master?" Mu Ye smiled and said, "Speaking of which, we have some connection." He then turned to Jin Yan and said, "He is Jin Hong's ancestor, the Daoist Qu Chen, currently cultivating on Qingliang Mountain!" Jin Yan confirmed this to Bai Fang. Bai Fang lowered her guard and asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Mu Ye said, "That demon is extremely powerful. My master instructed me that only by following this procedure can we deceive the heavens and prevent it from taking any precautions."

Bai Fang, finding Mu Ye's words reasonable, asked, "What are your plans for the next step?"

Konoha laughed and said, "We still need to pretend to be in a funeral, and only come out when we reach the place where that demon is hiding, so that we can catch him off guard."

Konoha then said to Bai Fang, "I have a request. I wonder if you can grant it?"

Bai Fang said, "Tell me about it."

Mu Ye said, "Your magic power has recovered. If you make any move, Bai Ma will surely detect it. I'm going to trouble you to hide in this coffin. My master gave me a talisman; sticking it on the coffin will prevent your true energy from escaping and alerting Bai Ma." Bai Fang thought it made sense, so she lay down in the coffin. She heard Mu Ye close the lid and then heard a clanging sound—Mu Ye had actually nailed the coffin shut! Sensing something was wrong, she hurriedly tried to push it open, but it was too late!

Outside, there was also chaos. It seemed that Jin Yan was shouting and arguing with them, and gradually the sounds of fists and feet fighting broke out.

Jin Yan had received training in the army and was quite skilled in martial arts. In no time, he had taken down seven or eight people. However, the enemy outnumbered him, and even a tiger cannot fight against a pack of wolves. He was swarmed forward, pinned down, tied up tightly with ropes, and carried onto the vehicle. Jin Hui was a weak scholar who had never seen such a scene before. He was also subdued in no time. Fortunately, Mu Ye saw that he was weak and thought he couldn't do anything big, so he just ordered his men to keep a close eye on him and didn't even tie him up with a single rope.

Bai Fang was anxious. She was relieved about Jin Yan, knowing he wouldn't suffer much, but she was afraid Jin Hui wouldn't be able to get away, and she didn't want all three of them to be imprisoned.

The car made a noise, as if it had started, and after a bumpy ride, it quickly arrived at a place and stopped. Jin Hui and Jin Yan could see clearly that this was the White Horse Temple. Bai Fang, inside the coffin, couldn't see anything and kicked the coffin lid in frustration.

Konoha smacked the coffin lid and scolded, "What are you kicking for! Neither of your two companions are gone! Don't even think about it!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Fang felt a chill in her heart. Now, she could rely on no one! Phoenix was lucky to even be able to save itself. As for Liu Hong and Hu Chengtian, whose whereabouts were unknown, it seemed that their chances of survival were also slim. The courage she had finally mustered had completely vanished.

There was a commotion outside the coffin. It was being lifted up, and all Bai Fang remembered was that it was a winding, circuitous path. She couldn't see anything clearly outside. When it was finally put down, Bai Fang only felt that the place was very musty, but she didn't notice anything else.

Jin Hui and Jin Yan were pushed and shoved off the car and locked in a small room.

Three people were left outside to keep watch, while the rest of the people were busy making arrangements.

Jin Hui peeked through the crack in the door and saw people outside carrying down the incense table, offerings, and ritual implements. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see Bai Fang. Just as she was getting anxious, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure. Turning around, she was shocked to see Bai Fang, still holding A Tu, directing people. She had personally witnessed Bai Fang being placed in a coffin; how could there be another Bai Fang outside? Was Bai Fang trying to frame them?

She gently moved to Jin Yan's side and told him her doubts. Jin Yan said, "You forgot, Phoenix looks exactly like Bai Fang. You can tell by looking at whether she has a mole between her eyebrows."

Jin Hui squinted hard to see, but still couldn't make out if there was a mole. He knew in his heart that Bai Fang would never do such a thing, but he was still uneasy. As the saying goes, it's easy to draw a dragon or a tiger, but difficult to draw their bones; you can know a person's face, but not their heart.

Before he knew it, it got dark, and things outside became increasingly blurry. Jin Hui was trying his best to look out when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching. He could vaguely see a person walking towards him, so he quickly retreated, sat in a corner, and pretended to doze off.

The guard outside nodded without speaking, and Jin Hui couldn't tell who it was. He only heard the lock click, and the door creaked open as someone walked in.

Jin Hui pretended to be fast asleep. He heard the person come in, walk around twice, and then laugh, "You can still sleep at this hour, what a blessing!"

Jin Yan cursed loudly from the side, "If you have the guts, let us go! What kind of heroes are you?"

Jin Hui noticed something was off about the voice and secretly opened his eyes to see who it was standing in front of him! Upon closer inspection, he saw that there was no mole between her eyebrows, and realized that she was actually a phoenix!

Just as she was about to close her eyes again, Phoenix laughed loudly, "Stop pretending to be asleep, haha, stop plotting anything, you won't escape."

Jin Hui finally opened his eyes and asked, "Who exactly are you, and why are you doing this?" Phoenix laughed loudly, "Who am I? You're only asking now? Don't you think it's too late?" Jin Hui retorted angrily, "We've always trusted you and admired you so much, why did you do such a thing?" Phoenix stopped laughing, "Then you can only blame yourselves for being too foolish! Too naive! Who do you think you are? What do you think you can do? Stay here obediently, and don't even think about escaping! Even if you manage to escape White Horse Village, you won't escape our grasp!" She then glanced at Jin Yan on the ground, head held high, and walked away triumphantly. Even after she had walked a long way, Jin Hui could still hear her maniacal, triumphant laughter.

Jin Yan, who had remained silent, then turned to Jin Hui and said, "If Phoenix doesn't have some hidden agenda, then this must be a huge conspiracy. We're locked up here now, and we wonder how Bai Fang is doing?" Both of them fell silent, their hearts filled with worry for Bai Fang.

Their stomachs started to protest, growling loudly, and the two exchanged a wry smile. It was so dark they couldn't see anything outside, so Phoenix had torches lit outside the temple, and several bonfires were set ablaze, their flames illuminating half the sky.

The people outside were bustling about, their anxieties palpable. Seeing that no one seemed to be paying attention to what was happening inside, Jin Hui bent down to help Jin Yan untie the ropes. The ropes were tightly bound with knots that were difficult to untie, and Jin Hui was sweating profusely. Suddenly, drums and gongs began to beat outside, the rhythm growing increasingly intense and even awe-inspiring! Jin Hui stopped abruptly, about to walk out. Jin Yan quickly stopped him. Jin Hui paused, realizing he was about to leave, and looked at his hands in confusion before returning to help Jin Yan untie the ropes. Just as he untied the ropes binding his feet, he heard someone about to enter and quickly stopped. The person who entered was Mu Ye, who chuckled and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you two, please come with me!" Jin Hui said, "I can't walk like this." Mu Ye bent down, pulled out a knife, and prepared to cut Jin Yan's ropes. Jin Hui, drawing strength from who-knows-where, picked up a stool from the ground and smashed it down on Mu Ye's head with all his might. Mu Ye winced in pain, turned around, and glared at Jin Hui with a sinister grin. "Kid, you dare to ambush me from behind?" Jin Yan rolled over on the ground, leaped, and kicked Mu Ye with his leg straight. Mu Ye was hit on the head, and blood trickled down his eyebrow, making him look ferocious. Jin Hui was filled with fear when Jin Yan's kick landed squarely on Mu Ye's knee. Mu Ye's legs buckled, and he fell backward. Jin Hui seized the opportunity to smash the stool down on Mu Ye's head. Mu Ye didn't utter a sound and lay motionless on the ground.

Jin Hui picked up the knife from Mu Ye's hand and cut the rope binding Jin Yan's arm. Peeking outside, he saw everyone was busy, even the person who had been watching them was gone. He quietly opened the door and tiptoed out. It seemed this small house was a storage place on campus; he just wondered where Bai Fang was now.

The group was so busy surrounding the White Horse Temple that no one noticed Jin Hui and Jin Yan had slipped out.

Bai Fang was nailed inside a coffin and then carried to a place filled with a heavy, musty smell, the location of which was unknown. The coffin itself was made of an unknown material, and Bai Fang's attempts to sense what Jin Hui and Jin Yan were doing were unsuccessful. Her loud shouts from inside seemed to have no effect, only producing muffled echoes.

The coffin was airtight, and no light could be seen from outside. The air felt increasingly insufficient, and she gradually began to feel suffocated. Bai Fang grew increasingly desperate, ignoring everything, and slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

Jin Yan and Jin Hui stumbled along outside, unsure of where they were, until they reached a three-story building. They had actually been here before, but their anxiety had prevented them from noticing. The door was open, and the two of them cautiously made their way inside.

Without any lights, the hallway was pitch black. Even the bravest men would feel a little hesitant in such darkness.

Jin Hui said, "Why don't we go out and see what they're up to? Maybe one of them is looking for Bai Fang. If we follow him, we can find Bai Fang."

Jin Yan thought it made sense and nodded in agreement.

I quietly walked to a shady spot, crouched down, and watched what they were doing.

Upon closer inspection, I was quite surprised. It turned out that what those people were building was actually an altar!

It has already begun to take shape. In front of the altar, there are five large cauldrons, and the fire is burning very brightly.

The two men were stunned, unsure of what the others were up to and having never witnessed such a sight before.

Suddenly, a shout rang out: "Mu Ye went to fetch those two brats, why haven't they arrived yet? You guys, go to the storage room and bring Bai Fang here!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Hui made a gesture, and Jin Yan followed closely behind. The two hurried to find the storage room, determined to rescue Bai Fang before the others.

The group of people meandered through the buildings until they reached a small building. After entering, Jin Hui and Jin Yan followed closely, but the group had already disappeared from sight. The two slowly made their way forward, when suddenly they heard hushed voices coming from one of the rooms. It sounded like they were saying something like, "It's so heavy!" They quickly stepped aside, and then the door opened, and the group carrying the coffin emerged. Seeing that the group outnumbered them, Jin Hui realized they wouldn't have the upper hand in a fight and quickly stopped Jin Yan, saying, "Let's assess the situation first."

These people carried the coffin toward the White Horse Temple. Jin Hui and Jin Yan heard no movement inside and wondered if Bai Fang was inside or what her condition was. They were extremely anxious but helpless and could only watch as the coffin was carried to the altar.

Phoenix looked at the sky and then at the crowd on the stage, and said, "The time is almost up, let's begin!"

The altar was covered with yellow silk, which looked both magnificent and solemn in the firelight. A rectangular altar table held an incense burner, and other ritual implements were scattered around it.

Phoenix changed into a white robe and stood on the stage. With a wave of her hand, the drums and music below began in unison. At first, it seemed chaotic and the melody was hard to discern, but gradually the music became increasingly unsettling, causing listeners to stare blankly. Jin Yan noticed that Jin Hui was acting strangely and was about to walk into the center of the arena, so he quickly grabbed him, tore a piece of cloth from his robe, shredded it, and stuffed it into both of their ears.

The drumming and music in the arena grew louder and louder, even the flames seemed to flicker. Gradually, the two men could no longer bear it. The drumming and music, though separated by a cloth, still reached their ears and shook their minds. Jin Hui and Jin Yan, one after the other, walked into the arena in a daze.

As the drumbeats quickened, the small earthen temple by the river cracked open and was enveloped in a beam of light. Jiang Hong, who had been sleeping inside, also came into the arena with the light. Then, Liu Hong, as if sleepwalking, also stood in the arena from the woods.

With a flick of his phoenix robe sleeve, the coffin stood up on its own. The five people spun around like a gust of wind and stood still, positioned on the five large cauldrons.

The phoenix chanted a spell, and the sky suddenly darkened, revealing only five stars. Their light was dim, flickering like candles in the wind.

Phoenix laughed loudly, raised incense and prayed, "Brother, today, the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth) appear in the sky together. These five people have been imprisoned here by me. Now, I will refine them, firstly to help you see the light of day sooner, and secondly to open the gates of the Demon Realm and destroy the Heavenly Court in one fell swoop! I will make those who persecuted us taste the pain we have suffered!"

Hahaha, phoenix laughed heartily, her hair disheveled, her once beautiful face now contorted into a ferocious expression. However, it seemed no one in the world could witness this.

Phoenix laughed as she waved her sleeves, her body gradually rising like a celestial maiden scattering flowers. Her posture was exquisitely beautiful, but it was so incongruous with her maniacal laughter!

There wasn't a breath of wind on the ground, yet the firelight flickered with a terrifying intensity.

The phoenix robe fluttered, and a beam of white light gathered above the White Horse Temple with a resounding boom.