Then, the other three white-haired zombies also pounced towards Shi Mu.
However, Shi Mu exuded a huge mass of red light. And, it took the shape of a thick layer of red Real Qi protective shield outside his body.
Simultaneously, he opened his mouth and spouted something. A golden light darted out of his mouth and circled around his body at a very fast speed. The three white-haired zombies hadn't even reacted to this when the golden light swept past their necks.
Those three zombies' statures froze to the spot. And, three ugly heads rolled down to the ground a moment later.
However, the momentum of the golden light hadn't faded yet. So, it flashed again and appeared in front of the grey-haired zombie.
But, the grey-haired zombie's big hand was shrouded in a mass of grey light, and it started to shoot innumerable claw shadows. It wanted to grasp and absorb the golden light.
"Puff!" a dull thumping sound was heard.
The grey claw-shadows collapsed when they came in contact with the golden light. After that, the golden light flashed again, and cleft the grey-haired zombie into two halves from the head to the foot.
The grey fist-shadow that had been shot by the grey-haired zombie struck the surface of Shi Mu's body, and exploded.
"Bang!" a loud exploding sound was heard.
The red Real Qi protective shield experienced some shaking. But, it remained intact.
These events had taken place within a fraction of a second. The golden sword had hardly appeared, and Wang Ying's offense was completely shattered.
"A Xian Tian warrior! Spirit tool!"
Wang Ying's complexion turned ashen as his eyes fell on the red Real Qi around Shi Mu's body. In addition, the dazzling golden radiance of the golden sword indicated that it was a spirit tool. And, this had blown his mind away...
Wang Ying realized something, and waved his bone stick. It seemed as if he wanted to make a move.
However, the golden light flashed on the surface of the bone stick. And, the bone stick got slashed into two pieces. Then, the golden light appeared one foot away from Wang Ying's body, and started to hover around him at a very high speed.
Wang Ying's legs became powerless and he crumpled to his knees.
"Chi! Chi!" a few muffled sounds were heard.
The red luminescence on Shi Mu's body gleamed magnificently. Simultaneously, the grey halo on his limbs began to inflate under the red Real Qi. The halo burst and dispersed in the air. It then turned into a little crystal light, and dissipated in the void.
After that, Shi Mu walked toward Wang Ying in a slow manner. Simultaneously, he opened his mouth and said, "What do you want to say now?"
Wang Ying looked at Shi Mu with a petrified look on his face. He nodded repeatedly, and unfolded everything in full detail.
His story was just what Shi Mu had anticipated. Wang Ying was the name of the deceased Chief of this town, while his real name was Hou Sai Lei. He was one of the followers of the Dark Moon Cult. And, he was a soul magician by training.
The Dead Spirit creatures that would be seen wandering in the vicinity of this small town had been subdued by him. However, this evil spirit along with those zombies Shi Mu had encountered outside the town were being raised by him to support his goal.
A follower of the Dark Moon Cult could enhance his strength by offering sacrifices of living creatures, dead bodies, or skeletons. Also, the stronger the sacrificial creature had been before its death… the greater the strength one could obtain from it. In addition, a recently deceased creature would render a better result.
The followers of the Dark Moon Cult would travel across the Eastern continent to explore some ancient vestiges in those days… so much so that the graves of some formidable people were also in their exploration list. They wanted to look for everything that could be used as a sacrificial object. And, they had gone so far that they had even started to slaughter the common people to attain their goal.
This was also one of the reasons why the Dark Moon Cult was regarded as 'heretical' by the influential people of the Eastern continent.
Hou Sai Lei had similarly set out to travel across the world. He happened to pass-by this town during his travels. And, he noticed that this town was under the attack of zombies. So, he undertook the task to lift the siege.
Then, a strange idea had sprouted in his mind, and he started pretending to be the Town head with the help of his own excellent disguise technique. He had begun to foster the town as a reservoir of people for his ulterior motives. He would kill some of the townsfolk from time to time to offer sacrifices. Meanwhile, he had also set up the traps for those followers of the Dark Moon Cult who would attempt to enter the town with the intention to exterminate people.
However, the cultivation of these disciples wasn't that high. The most formidable ones were either Hou Tian martial warriors or Spirit-ranked magicians.
This was the reason why he was pleased and startled when he noticed that Shi Mu was a Star-ranked magician.
Hou Sai Lei was merely a step away from the Star-ranked magician realm. So, he thought that he would jump to the Star-rank if he used Shi Mu as a living sacrifice. This is why this strange idea had crawled across his mind.
According to Hou Sai Lei's explanation… he had feigned being the Town Chief and had killed many townspeople. But, he had been guarding the entire town as well. Several zombies would loiter in the vicinity of this town. But, none of them had dared to invade the town because of him. In addition, this small town had never fallen into the hands of the even more vicious and ruthless disciples of the Dark Moon Cult.
"I have confessed everything, but I would still look forward to Senior Mu's mercy and generosity. I hope you will release me so that I can find a way to survive!" Hou Sai Lei spoke.
"I won't kill you until tomorrow morning. Then, I'll disclose your crimes to the public. In fact, I'll let the common people of this town give you a fair judgment," Shi Mu stated.
"Senior... Senior, you must not do this! These townspeople may not consider the things that I have done for them in the past. They are unlikely to let me off lightly. Oh, by the way… I'm good at disguising. Also, I'm pretty familiar with the Xixia ancient country. So, you might as well let this man follow Senior Mu hereafter. I think it could save a lot of time and unnecessary trouble for Senior Mu if he would take me along to lead the way. This is the map of the Xixia Country. It's somewhat brief, but it should be very helpful to you, Senior." Hou Sai Lei's complexion changed as he heard his reply. He then took out an animal skin map from his bosom, and spoke-up while handing it over to Shi Mu.
Shi Mu took the map and threw a glance at it. Then, he put it in his storage ring. After that, he remained silent for a moment… It seemed as if he was considering something.
"Senior, this is a Spirit Imprisoning Bead of our Dark Moon Cult. It's a magic tool. It has the ability to imprison others' life essence inside it. Also, you can annihilate the life essence sealed inside it if you crush it into pieces. I want to surrender one-third of my life essence to the Senior. But, I would request the Senior to release me and let me begin a new life in-exchange for this." Hou Sai Lei clenched his teeth and pulled out a white jade bead from his bosom when he saw that Shi Mu had zipped his mouth. Then, he continued to plead while passing this bead to him.
"Then, you follow me from now on. I'll let you go as soon as I complete my work." Shi Mu took the white jade bead. Then, he slightly fiddled with it as he said.
Hou Sai Lei's face loosened a bit. He then pinched his fingers to cast a magic spell. He mumbled something, and his face contorted with pain.
Then, a small mass of green light spurted out of his nostrils and plunged into the white jade bead at a lightning speed.
Shi Mu used his spirit sense to explore the bead, and realized that Hou Sai Lei hadn't lied to him. He then held out his hand. The golden sword transformed into a small golden sword, and fell into his right hand.
Then, the small sword vanished into thin air with a flash of light.
Hou Sai Lei felt relieved as he saw the situation. He was so exhausted that he sat down on the floor. However, it seemed as if he had collapsed to the floor.
Shi Mu didn't return to the inn. He had taken shelter in Hou Sai Lei's residence.
The night sky was covered with layers of dark clouds. So, Shi Mu couldn't practice the Moon-Swallowing Art. Therefore, he found a side room and sat down in meditation.
It was almost midnight. Gusts of cold wind were sweeping across the town while issuing a whistling sound.
There was no light in the town... it seemed as if the townspeople had fallen asleep.
Suddenly, a little flare appeared in the eastern side of this town. Then, it started to approach the town at a very fast speed. Also, the number of flares began to grow as they neared the town. In fact, there were at least dozens of little flares by now.
A gigantic withered tree stood somewhere in the middle of the town. A mass of shadow moved on top of this tree… it seemed as if it had sensed something. It was Cai!
He looked toward the east, and was left startled by what he saw. He then spread his wings and flew away.
Shi Mu sat cross-legged on his bed in Hou Sai Lei's residence. He opened his eyes, stood up, and went outside the door. He also gazed towards the eastern side of the town.
His eyes flashed, and he took out the white bead which was used to imprison spirit. Then, a ray of light twinkled on the surface of the jade bead.
Hou Sai Lei was also meditating on the floor in a small room downstairs. His body quivered and he sprang to his feet.
He walked outside the room and arrived at the main hall. He saw that Shi Mu was already standing there.
"Senior, what's your order?" Hou Sai Lei asked in a respectful manner.
"A group of people is approaching in the eastern side of this town. They are large in number. And, it seems that they shouldn't be the friendly-kind of people." Shi Mu said.
Hou Sai Lei was shocked to hear these words. He went outside the room. Then, he jumped onto the roof and looked towards the east.
Those flares were approaching the town very quickly. Hou Sai Lei's vision wasn't ordinary either. He saw that the silhouettes under the flares were all husky. Everyone was dressed in black clothes. And, they had a fiendish appearance of their faces. Moreover, they held weapons in their hands…
"That's not good. They are the Black Wind Mountain's bandits!" Hou Sai Lei's complexion changed very drastically. He jumped down the roof, and looked at Shi Mu.
"Oh, are these bandits so famous?" Shi Mu asked.
"Yes, the Black Wind Bandits are the famous thieves around here. They are huge in number, and they are very powerful. I've also heard that their leader is a Xian Tian martial warrior. However, they had never invaded this territory before since I was here. Moreover, their nest is also quite far from here," Hou Sai Lei answered.
"You go and deal with them first. I'll join you if the enemy is tough," Shi Mu said after a momentary consideration.
Hou Sai Lei beamed with exhilaration as he heard his words. These black-dressed bandits were formidable people. But, it wouldn't be a big problem to deal with them if Shi Mu was there to support him. Perhaps, this would even prove to be a fortuitous chance to offer sacrifices of many people.
Hou Sai Lei's hand moved, and he took out a blood red jade token. Then, he mumbled something.
Shi Mu's eyes flashed as he saw the jade token in Hou Sai Lei's hand. But, he didn't speak anything.
There was a highland at the town's entrance. A hundred or more rogue men stood on this highland. Their eyes were brimming with a look of avarice. And, they were looking towards the town that stood in front.
"Big Brother, this White Feng Town seems to have an abundance of riches. It looks like we haven't wasted our time by coming here," one of the men spoke-up in an excited manner. There was a scar on his face, and it seemed that it had been left by a knife's slash.
A few people who stood beside him also burst into laughter. These men had one thing in common – they were impatient and gearing up to get into action.
The man whom these people were calling 'big brother' was a very tall man with a huge body. His face was as black as the bottom of the pot. The upper part of his body was bare, and his bulging muscles looked very bright and glossy… as if a black diamond.
This person's name was Wu Gang. But, others had given him a nickname — Black Diamond.
"The town appears quite rich in resources. However, we shouldn't let our guards down. It is said that there is someone who guards this town. Also, that person is a spirit-ranked magician," Black Diamond said.
"Big Brother, we needed to follow a cautious approach in the past. But, it will be very easy to deal with him now since Mr Tang has joined us. After all, he is also a spirit-ranked magician." The scarred-face man looked at the black-robed silhouette who stood beside Black Diamond and said.
That black-robed silhouette was only half as tall as Black Diamond. In fact, his disposition made him look incomparably feeble. However, the surrounding bandits would look at him with deep veneration and fear.
The black-robed man's face couldn't be seen since he was clad in a black cloak. Therefore, his facial expression couldn't be seen either.
Black Diamond looked at the black-robed silhouette, and the latter gave a nod to him. After that, Black Diamond waved his hand without any scruples.
"Brothers, leave everything to me!" he roared.
His voice had barely faded when dozens of bandits issued a shout in unison. Then, they rushed towards the town.
These shouting and yelling sounds gave a powerful jolt to many townspeople. A few of them even rushed out of their houses to see the situation.
"That's not good! Bandits!"
The townspeople were thunderstruck, and they started to shout as they saw the bandits in front. They also began to flee from their houses in a crazy manner.
The flurried townspeople stirred up these formidable and vicious bandits even further. So, the bandits laughed as they burst into the town while brandishing their weapons.
However, the ground in the vicinity of the town's entrance suddenly burst-open with a loud rumble! Then, two white-haired zombies sprang out of the ground, and pounced towards those bandits who were in the front.
Ping Ping!
Two formidable bandits were caught off-guard by the white-haired zombies. They were struck and sent flying several feet away. They threw-up a mouthful of blood while they were flying in the air. Then, they crashed to the ground.
A few deep wounds had split-open in these two men's chest… so much so that their bones could be seen clearly. Blood gushed out of their wounds. Also, the skin around the wounds had turned bluish-black. Apparently, the zombies' claws were smeared with some extremely poisonous substance. It seemed that this town was prepared to some extent.