Now, the Yin Fog was as thick as ink, with dark red slime oozing from the pillars of the porch, like dried bloody tears.

When Xu Zhenshan led his group to arrive, the bright red temple doors were unexpectedly wide open, with the gilded plaque "Protect the Nation, Bless the People" hanging upside down, splitting into several foul-smelling cracks.

"Clang~ Clang~"

The copper bell under the eaves rang by itself without wind, the sound resembling a baby's wail.

"Ugh..."

Immediately, a young disciple leaned against a stone lion, retching.

The pair of auspicious beasts at the temple gate, their eye sockets were actually oozing black water, with a half-severed limb pressed under their paws.

Xu Zhenshan frowned, forming a mantra with his left hand, and the peach wood token at his waist immediately buzzed with a warning.

"The deity altar has been defiled."

His voice was icy, filled with anger in his eyes, "Go, take the side hall!"

Crash!

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire bluestone path in front of the temple gate suddenly rolled like a wave.

But suddenly, hundreds of withered hands stretched out from the cracks between the green bricks, and several disciples, caught off guard, were grabbed by those hands, screams mixed with bone-cracking sounds echoed.

The withered hands' pitch-black nails were also laced with venom.

In just a breath, some disciples turned pale and collapsed, unable to stand.

"Living Stakes!"

Xu Zhenshan's eyes widened, immediately commanding the disciples, stepping back with the Heavenly Gang Step, while simultaneously drawing Yellow Talismans with their swords and striking them on the ground: "Five Thunder Fierce Generals, Train General, urgent as the law commands!"

Crackling~

Arcs of lightning jumped along the gaps in the green bricks, foul smoke rising, and the withered hands ceased moving.

"Hmph!"

Xu Zhenshan snorted coldly, Hidden Energy surging, stomping hard onto the ground.

With a muffled rumble, bricks and stones splattered, revealing several small wooden boxes in the dirt, coffin-like, bound with Red String Copper Coins, a hole exposed on top, the withered hands crawling out from inside.

Xu Zhenshan saw this and his face turned even grimmer.

These things were certainly not buried just tonight.

With such a huge mistake, even if he successfully passed the tribulation tonight, he would not escape punishment upon returning to the mountain.

Thinking of this, Xu Zhenshan immediately looked at the pitch-black temple door, gritting his teeth and coldly said:

"This sinister Lu Ban Skill... It's Cui Erwa!"

He had already deduced who was causing trouble in the City God Temple.

Li Yan was a newcomer and unaware, but they had dealings with this Ghost Theater Troupe near Yangzhou City, and had long since investigated them thoroughly.

Inside was called "Cui Erwa," a clown of the troupe.

Born with a deformed face, he was ridiculed and bullied since childhood, treated as a monster and driven out of the village.

While picking offerings in a cemetery, he met an old woodworker with taboo remnants of Lu Ban's Suppression Skill, and since then, followed him to learn the craft, though treated like a mule and whipped, he learned a set of skills.

His temperament was sinister, even when paid sufficiently by an employer, he would still harbor greed, secretly placing some sinister objects, then have a Taoist come to solve it and split the money, even committing several exterminations.

Wanted by the Law Enforcement Hall, he joined the Ghost Theater Troupe with no way out.

Originally, although Xu Zhenshan had a hot temper, he didn't want to fight to the death with these ruthless people, but the events of tonight had pushed him to the brink, his heart already boiling with intent to kill.

"Set the Seven Evil Nails!"

At Xu Zhenshan's command, he immediately led the disciples to surround the main gate of the City God Temple, stepping the Astral Step into a Beidou Formation, while taking jujube seeds from their arms.

Thunderstruck Jujube Wood is an excellent material for crafting Magic Artifacts.

And the jujube seeds grown anew after being struck by lightning can be made into jujube seed nails.

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

At his command, seven jujube seed nails pierced the earth vein in front of the door.

Strangely enough, the ground tremors immediately ceased.

But just then, a dwarf wearing a wooden clown mask Nuo Mask suddenly walked out of the darkness of the main door, holding a pair of mottled clappers, clapping them together.

"Heh heh heh—"

The eerie laughter mixed with the clapper sound spread.

The disciples in the front row, upon hearing this, instantly had blank looks, even discarding their Magic Artifacts to bite each other.

Some laughed hysterically and slit their own throats, blood spraying everywhere.

"Seal the ear acupoints!" Xu Zhenshan immediately roared, forming seals.

He knew that besides the Lu Ban Skill, Cui Erwa had two other skills.

One was wearing various self-made grotesque masks, although his body movements were exaggerated and contorted, the actions laughably amusing, yet he was skilled at enchanting souls, often playing the roles of soul-fetching Impermanence or Little Ghost, harming people everywhere.

The second skill was that clapper Magic Artifact, which also disturbed the mind.

The other disciples followed suit, forming mantras and tapping points near their ears to seal the ear acupoints.

"Hahaha~"

A strange laugh escaped from Cui Erwa's mouth.

He flung a wooden box from behind him, with great force.

Xu Zhenshan faced it head-on, smashing it with a palm strike.

Crack!

The wooden box exploded, revealing a pile of human skin masks inside.

These human skin masks included playful faces of children with drooping hair, shy faces of newlyweds, and many twisted, venomous expressions that flitted through the air like butterflies, clinging to the faces of several disciples.

Those disciples immediately fell to the ground in agony, their movements becoming grotesque.

"It's the Soul Sealing Mask..."

Xu Zhenshan's pupils shrank suddenly, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth.

In ancient Maoshan texts, it was recorded that this Evil Skill required the facial skin of a dying person, coated with graveyard willow wood paste to succeed, allowing a fierce ghost to easily control people.

Adding to his frustration, the City God Temple was occupied, and Mortal Gods were suppressing them.

Full of anger, yet unable to unleash it.

Whoosh~

At that moment, a gust of wind arose out of nowhere.

The dense fog around began to thin, and the darkness shrouding the City God Temple gradually dispersed.

"Young Hero Li succeeded over there!"

Feeling the pressure around him lighten, Xu Zhenshan was immediately overjoyed, leaping forward while chanting a mantra, "Thunder of Yang Essence, Flame Essence..."

With the incantation, the magic sword in his right hand sparkled with electricity.

Meanwhile, Cui Erwa was shaken as the City God Temple lost control.

Clang!

The sword light flashed, shattering the mask on Cui Erwa's face, revealing a face crisscrossed with burn scars.

His damaged lips twitched twice, emitting a raspy sound like sawing wood:

"...Face...all...ugly..."

Xu Zhenshan's sword momentum didn't diminish, directly piercing through his throat in an instant.

After slaying Cui Erwa, he immediately rushed into the City God Temple,

"Send word to each sect...Count the forces that can still move!"

"Notify the Captain Bureau to support me at the pier!"

......

Yangzhou City Pier, the usual bustling scene of ships jostling through miles was completely gone.

A thick black fog, as dense as ink, surged in from the city like a living entity, shrouding several miles of the riverbank.

Seemingly carrying the water vapor from the river, this fog was far worse than in the city, making it impossible to see one's hand.

Only the flames burning far on the river dyed the fog red, mixing with the sound of clashing gold and iron, screams and curses, and the sound of ships' planks splitting.

Several Cao Boats were tilted, capsized, and the official army's warships were ignited one after another by towering flames.

Li Yan guessed correctly, it was indeed a pirate attack on the city.

The only thing he got wrong was the pirates' target.

They didn't plan to enter the city but aimed to destroy the navy's warships.

Using the heavy fog, many pirate ronins emerged like phantoms from the water gaps.

They moved swiftly, using hooks and ropes to leap between masts and ship sides, wrapped in black cloth with only their fierce eyes exposed and wielding chilling wild great swords and short-handled Japanese axes.

Among them are some experts, their movements faintly channeling Astral Bane Qi.

These experts were focused and targeted the key spots of the ships.

Some slashed the main mast, others threw bottles of kerosene at the gunpowder barrels piled on the ship deck, and some maneuvered with bizarre movement techniques to avoid guards, directly infiltrating the water-tight cabin to drill through the ship's bottom.

The Imperial Navy was not an unsorted rabble, but in the complete loss of visibility and sudden internal and external assault, their formation fell into chaos. They fought individually in the thick fog, often being ambushed before drawing their swords.

Floating on the water were broken planks, burning debris, and bodies, dyeing the river red.

"Caw—!"

Accompanied by a sharp eagle cry, Lv San leaped down from the city wall.

Meanwhile, Wang Daoxuan's side and the City God Temple had succeeded, dispersing the fog at a visibly fast speed, viewed from afar, it looked like an eagle tearing through the fog.

With the fog clearing, Lv San also saw the scene at the pier.

Their large ship was under fierce attack.

But the attackers were not just pirates, but also numerous desperate locals with Jiangnan accents, wielding fish spears, water-dividing spears, and even poisoned shuttle darts, fighting with sinister and tricky methods.

They were local water bandits familiar with water routes and water attributes!

Lv San's heart sank.

Internal traitors colluding with external bandits!

This operation might be even more complicated than they had thought...