"This fog... is not normal!"
"Nonsense, fog can be divided into morning and night. Have you ever seen fog at dusk?"
"When something goes wrong, there must be something evil...is it really Dahuang Shaye?"
"Sure enough, it sounds like you have experienced it."
"But this way, we won't be able to see Mei's movements clearly!"
Compared to everyone who was talking about it, Luo Qingqing was obviously much calmer. She directly ordered a fellow disciple, "Go, ring the bell, let the people below light the torches, and get in position according to the previously arranged team."
"yes."
As the warning bell sounded, the candidates gathered in the small square slowly began to move. Although there was noisy and no discipline along the way, under the conditions of passing the assessment, everyone was still able to do it. Following the arrangements, they entered their respective defensive positions.
Xia Fan also left the command post and climbed onto the "city wall" to the west.
Called a city wall, it is essentially a combination of two blue brick houses and a section of earth wall. Most of the roofs of the houses were removed, and crossbars were placed in the middle. The inclined plane for drainage was transformed into a fairly flat platform. The entire west wall can accommodate more than thirty people, and the narrowest point can accommodate five people walking side by side. This is a "luxury configuration" that many small towns do not have.
Luo Qingqing once hinted that if he didn't want to face the evil spirit, he could put him in the backup team, but Xia Fan declined the other party's kindness - apart from the idea that he should be responsible for his proposal, he also wanted to observe the evil spirit up close. Night, and how the alchemist fights the evil spirits.
Candidates who climb the Western Wall are mainly led by the Luo family and are basically divided into groups of five. There are five or six groups of people on the wall. Behind them are a substitute group and a logistics team. The former is responsible for replacing candidates who are injured or unable to fight. The latter is responsible for transporting supplies and taking care of the wounded. The overall layout can be considered simple and clear.
The leader of Xia Fan's group is Luo Tang, who they had met once before. She should be a little older than Luo Qingqing, about eighteen or nineteen years old. Her appearance can be said to be decent, with long black hair. It is laid straight on the back, giving it a ladylike temperament. But for some reason, he always felt that the way the other person looked at him contained some caution and vigilance.
Seeing everyone gathered, Luo Tang said, "Although Luo Qingqing has already explained it, in order to avoid omissions, I will repeat it here. In addition to preventing evil spirits from attacking and climbing the city wall, your main tasks must be to protect this place." The torch is always burning -" She pointed to the wooden pole next to her that was burning brightly. There were wooden torches like this almost every three or four meters. Looking at it, it looked like there was a swinging flame fence on the "top of the city". "Once the light of the fire is lost, the danger of the charm will be greatly increased, so no matter what happens, you must ensure that the torch is not lost."
"What if it's lost?" someone asked.
"Then life or death depends on one's own abilities." "Brother Yan", who was leaning against the wall, spat out the grass roots in his mouth and said.
After these two days of getting along, Xia Fan got to know this person better - his real name is Zhang Yan, and the person who called him "Brother Yan" before was his eldest brother Zhang Shi. The two brothers came from an Orion family. Originally a village man, he was noticed by the county magistrate because he had the ability to sense qi, and he funded the two of them to read and take the scholar's examination.
When he was wearing a Confucian scholar's green shirt, his behavior seemed a bit awkward. It was not until he led a hunting team to go hunting in the mountains and changed into a leather short coat and long boots that he looked more natural. Now with a short bow on his back, he looks like a seasoned hunter.
"Of course not!" Luo Tang said angrily, "If the torch goes out, you should immediately retreat to a place with light, and wait until the replacement team comes up with a new torch to regain your position!"
"That's right...that's exactly what I meant." Zhang Yan whistled.
Luo Tang was too lazy to pay attention to him, and continued, "Mei is a "nocturnal creature" and is afraid of light and heat. Lishu, Qianshu, and Shock all have good restraint effects. Most of the medicinal materials allocated are these two types of spells. . It's just that everyone is proficient in different techniques. If you feel that you are not good at Li Shu and Qian Shu, don't waste the medicinal materials and leave them to your classmates who are good at them. Peach wood weapons also have a good effect in repelling enemies. Just hold your sword and guard the surroundings of the torch. "
Xia Fan glanced at the wooden basket where the medicinal materials were placed, and sure enough he saw a lot of powdery substances - they should be sulfur and nitrate powder that are often used in Lishu.
"What if the entire city wall is lost?" Zhang Shi asked angrily. Unlike Brother Yan, his body is half a circle bigger than an ordinary person, his hands and feet are very thick, and he doesn't seem to be able to climb mountains and ridges. Most of the time, he is taciturn, which is somewhat consistent with the stone in his name.
"Retreat to the small square, and the Luo family will activate the final magic to ignite the teahouse and hotel. The materials are the sources of spiritual fire collected previously." Luo Tang replied slowly.
"The source of spiritual fire?" Xia Fan frowned.
"Yes, although spiritual fire is Yin, it cannot drive away evil spirits, but a burning house can. In other words, this 'city wall' is our last torch."
This was not part of his plan.
Obviously this countermeasure was thought up by Luo Qingqing.
It would be troublesome if it really got to that point, Xia Fan thought to himself.
The fox demon was still recovering from her injuries in his room. He could neither leave her alone nor bring her out in public, so he had to avoid the worst case scenario.
Half an hour later, the sun completely set under the mountain, and the purple-red sky completely turned into inky black. The originally hazy vision further deteriorated, and it retreated to the foot of the "fortress". Xia Fan estimated that even if a torch on the wall was not extinguished, they would only be able to see about twenty meters outside the street. Further away, the fire seemed to be blocked by thick mist, unable to move any further.
At the same time, gusts of evening wind blew above people's heads - it was completely different from the normal air flow when day and night alternated. It was warm with a hint of coolness. Cold.
The torch started to flicker.
The crowd that had been noisy before had fallen into silence unknowingly. The candidates could not help but hold their breath and concentrate, staring at the darkness in front of them, not even daring to take a breath.
Everyone realizes that tonight will never be an easy night.
Suddenly, Xia Fan saw a strange change on the swaying edge of the fire—a part of the darkness seemed to break away from the night and fog, sliding down to the dim ground.
It does not overlap with the ground, but remains upright, which means that it is neither a shadow nor an illusion, but something close to reality!
Because it was too far away, Xia Fan couldn't distinguish any more details except that he could barely make out the shape of a human being.
It's just that the black shadow moves very slowly, and even has an unnatural sense of fragmentation, as if one step from one step to the next is not a coherent movement, but a blink of an eye.
"They are coming." Luo Tang whispered.
"Then... it's Mei?" Zhang Yan took off the short bow and held it in his hand, completely losing the previous ease.
"Charm is just a general term for... the evil spirits in the wild night. This is the first time I have seen it." She swallowed, trying to cover up the nervousness in her words.
As more darkness peeled away, the dark wind seemed to become stronger, and the torches on the city wall swayed significantly.
Xia Fan keenly noticed that those places covered by night seemed to never light up again - once the fire shrank, darkness would occupy them. He thought it was an illusion at first, but he could tell by comparing the visible width of the streets that they The visible area is indeed shrinking!
The ink between heaven and earth seemed to merge into one at this moment, and this fortress was the only weak light in the darkness.
As the black shadow gradually approached, Xia Fan could see more and more clearly. Their number is currently not too large, there are about eight or nine that appear in front of the west wall, and the first of them is already within ten meters of the city wall. When its appearance was completely revealed under the firelight, Xia Fan couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
"Hold."
This evil look was far from what he expected!
He originally thought it was a zombie siege, but the thing in front of him completely broke away from the definition of corpse. It only has a human-like outline, with a big head and slender limbs. Most of its body is covered by a shell made of dirt, branches and other debris. In damaged areas, you can see that it is empty inside - it is as if there is a bottomless hole under the shell. , and it seems like a large amount of black mist is surging.
Except for a pair of "dimples" that swing back and forth on the top of her head, Mei has no other features - no nose or mouth can be seen, and the head and torso are integrated. This reminds Xia Fan of the monsters in Silent Hill. . Although the appearance is different, the feeling is very similar: they are all manifestations of pure malice, and just looking at them makes people shudder.
"Ugh..."
There was a sound of vomiting nearby.
Xia Fan also felt his stomach churning. No matter how terrifying the monster was, it would not be able to spit it out just by looking at it. This sickening discomfort has nothing to do with the shape, but something much deeper...
He had never had a similar experience, and it was difficult to describe it at the moment. He just felt that the things in front of him were naturally opposed to the living. As long as they were living creatures, they would subconsciously hate and reject them.
The only good thing is that their moving speed has not changed. It took almost five or six minutes to cover a short distance of ten meters. Even zombies with missing limbs can crawl faster than them.
This at least gives everyone enough time to prepare the alchemy.
"Don't be afraid, everyone, as long as the torches don't go out, Mei can't threaten us!"
Suddenly someone shouted on the west wall.
Xia Fan followed the sound and found that the other party was Fei Nian.
He held up a talisman high, and then threw out the white powder in his hand—
"Leave the art and return to the united kingdom, flying flower flames!"
The moment the talisman turned into ashes, a bright bridge of flames appeared between the wall and the charm.
The flames were like flying snakes, rushing towards the target and swallowing the charm instantly!