"I'll be right there."
Zhou Chuan responded in his heart, then lowered his hood and walked through the extremely lush locust tree forest outside Lanruo Temple.
There are some zombies and monsters wandering in the forest, and there are mazes similar to ghost walls.
But as the master of this area, when he wanted to go out, the trees on both sides automatically moved away to make way for him.
When passing through the forest belt, he looked back and saw only the evil dragon swimming in the air, constantly breathing dragon breath, and the tree demon with flamboyant crowns and hideous branches.
They are all "giant spirits" whose main combat power is based on their size. When they fight, they don't have so many gorgeous "special effects", but they are full of oppression. The surging air waves they constantly stir up raise the dust on the surrounding ground.
This made the already turbid environment even dirtier and visibility even worse.
The Black Mountain Ghost King, whose logic was already confused and who lived in a remote area, had his vision obstructed at this time, so he could not realize that his "mortal enemy" had set out to raid his hometown.
They walked peacefully for a long distance until they looked back and could no longer see the shadow of Lanruo Temple. Then Zhou Chuan summoned Erhamo and rode it to the City of the Dead.
A few days ago, he had broken into the City of the Dead while in the third watch state of Master Ma Si.
Although it only took two or three minutes from beginning to end, it was enough time for him, with his excellent memory, to memorize the surrounding road conditions and the structure of the inner city.
Now with the support of Mr. Ba, it is extremely safe.
"Run a few steps quickly, I think we're going to get fat this time."
Zhou Chuan said this while tapping the horse's belly lightly. The Erham horse seemed to understand what he meant and ran happily towards the big city.
The book says that the City of the Dead is adjacent to the Naihe Bridge and the Bloody Realm of Suffering, but the ruins seem to only cover the city and a small area around it.
When Zhou Chuan looked into the distance, he could only see a hazy blood mist. It seemed that there were only the City of the Dead, Lanruo Temple and the path below.
But when he looked for a long time, he could see some dreamlike scenes through the bloody fog.
It was a river of blood, only a few feet wide, flowing to the southwest. It was infested with insects and snakes, with rolling waves and a fishy wind blowing in the face.
Thousands of feet above, amidst the clouds and mist, a bluestone bridge with no end in sight can be vaguely seen.
There is an earthen platform beside the bridge, on which stands a slightly hunched figure, holding a basket in his left arm and a bowl in his right hand. From a distance, he looks like an octogenarian old woman.
The shadow of the old woman seemed to have noticed Zhou Chuan's gaze. She slowly turned her head and looked back, which made him shudder subconsciously.
"Is that...Meng Po?"
Zhou Chuan instinctively tightened his coat.
As early as when he created the Black and White Impermanence, he had transformed his sea of heart into the appearance of Huangquan Naihe in order to achieve the effect of "the same power of heaven and earth", so he was naturally not unfamiliar with the scene.
But the key point is that the river and bridge in the sea of mind were all created by him based on records and imagination. To put it bluntly, it was just his own idea. How could it be exactly the same as the phantom of Naihe in the City of Wrongful Death? !
"For now, let's just think of it as an illusion caused by staying in the 'Netherworld' for too long, and don't think about it for now..."
Zhou Chuan comforted himself in this way, but the shock that "Meng Po"'s eyes brought to him always lingered in his heart and could not be shaken off.
It was just a shadow, but it had such a will. If this immortal were still alive, how could he allow the Black Mountain Ghost King, the sixth old man, to occupy the City of the Dead
“It’s difficult.”
Zhou Chuanqing said this, his mind a little confused.
However, he also knew that the most urgent task was to capture the City of the Dead first, so he continued to urge Erha to speed up.
As a card maker who has accumulated experience bit by bit, his foundation is not as deep as that of the Black Mountain Ghost King, and he does not have any Buff-type skill cards.
Therefore, Erha's speed always remained at a not very high value, and it took nearly an hour to reach the City of the Dead that was in sight from the beginning.
"It seems I have to replenish my deck when I go back this time."
Zhou Chuan patted the horse's head lightly and put it away. At this time, the tall city gate had been violently broken open, and two bull monsters were lying beside it.
Obviously, the assassination of Ma Siye cast a shadow on the Black Mountain Ghost King's image related to "Ma".
Look, the gatekeepers have been replaced by bull monsters.
“It looks… the quality is pretty good.”
With the idea that it would be a waste if he didn't take it, Zhou Chuan took out two blank cards from his heart and casually sealed up the two bull monsters. They were of blue quality, which could only be said to be better than nothing.
So he continued walking towards the city.
The last time he came, he was trying to assassinate the Black Mountain Ghost King, so he broke into the city directly and entered the hall. He didn't have time to take a close look at the scenery in the city.
Looking around at this moment, he felt that this City of the Dead was no different from the ancient mortal city he had imagined.
In addition to the various torture instruments set up throughout the city, and the black pot as big as a university teaching building...
"I don't know whether it was built by the Black Mountain Ghost Queen or if it already existed in this city."
Zhou Chuan thought to himself and walked towards the main hall.
The road was covered with black blood, and everywhere were mountain goblins and wild ghosts pierced by chains.
Really fight your way out.
After regaining his spiritual power, the Eighth Master became extremely cruel.
“You are here at last.”
At the entrance of the hall, Master Ba folded his hands and bowed slightly. A brand new soul-catching chain swayed and swam on the dark hall floor like a poisonous snake, and soon got into his wide cuffs.
"A little gain." Hei Wuchang explained.
Zhou Chuan smacked his lips helplessly.
It's really unfair to become a spiritual card for a poor guy like me...
"I thought it would take some effort, but I didn't expect it would be so easy to find the head of the old Lu statue. Look."
Mr. Ba noticed that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, so he took the initiative to change the subject, turned back to the hall, and brought out a stone statue.
Zhou Chuan took a closer look and saw that the portrait was lifelike. It was obviously not rendered with any paint, but just a gray tone.
But those eyes seemed to be flashing with bright lightning, revealing an awe-inspiring and inviolable look; but upon closer inspection, they also revealed the broad-minded and righteous humanity of a chivalrous man.
It has to be said that Lu Pan, who could ignore the "offenses" of mortals and even make friends with them in the Chinese mythology with clear class divisions, was indeed very charming.
"Eighth Master feels that this statue is somewhat similar to Lu Pan." Zhou Chuan asked.
"It's pretty similar. The spirit and appearance are similar." Hei Wuchang said very seriously.
Zhou Chuan nodded slightly when he heard this and took out the material card of the headless judge from his mind.
As a purple and orange light flashed, the stone statue sat firmly in the center of the hall. Seeing this, Zhou Chuan personally lifted up the head of the statue and placed it on the neck of the headless statue, fitting it perfectly.
Then he saw that where the head and body were separated, there were extremely fine "stitches" appearing out of thin air, as if the best doctor and tailor in the world were trying to sew the head and body of the statue together again.
In less than a few seconds, the broken neck was seamlessly healed.
"As expected of Old Lu, a small statue has such skills."
Mr. Ba made a brief comment, then pulled a bag from the corner of the hall.
The pocket was bulging with all the equipment of a civil servant, including official robes, official hats, seals, ivory tablets, Kuixing pens, books of good and evil, and other items.
In addition, Zhou Chuan also found a sharp knife, a short axe and some needles and threads inside.
"If I remember correctly, Lu Pan's move of grafting shouldn't be used on the battle line, right?" Zhou Chuan asked.
"I'm not very familiar with Lao Lu. I just heard him mention this skill when we were drinking together, and I don't remember the details." Hei Wuchang explained.
"so."
Zhou Chuan nodded slightly, then waved his hand and summoned the other five masters.
Just as the F6 of the underworld had gathered, they were asked to guard all directions of the Lord's Hall of the City of Wrongful Death to prevent the Black Mountain Ghost King from returning or his remaining subordinates from arriving.
He sat cross-legged in the main hall, sorting out the materials collected by Mr. Ba and the materials he had in his hands, preparing to make cards.
"Is it really an orange quality material?"
After taking a last look at the stone statue material card with its head and body combined, Zhou Chuan quickly adjusted his state, took out a blank card and several material cards, stacked them on the palm of his hand, and turned them into a stream of extremely strong light, attached to the card drawing pen that had been dipped in spiritual liquid.
He immediately picked up his brush and wrote the three big words "Lu Zhidao" in the void. Then came the most important step of adding rationality, which was also the most troublesome step for Zhou Chuan.
Although this great god is widely worshipped by the people and often appears in the Hall of Ten Kings, his deeds during his lifetime have not been passed down.
Although Mr. Ba had drunk with him many times, due to some rules of the underworld, no one mentioned reincarnation or past lives, and they were not very clear about his life experience.
However, Zhou Chuan thought again. The purpose of rationality is to prove that this character "once" existed. Now that the statue and the plaque have appeared, it would be troublesome and pretentious to write too much.
So I recalled the introduction in my mind and wrote it simply:
"Lu Pan, whose real name is Lu Zhidao, lived during the Song Dynasty."
"Because of his upright and righteous character, he was deeply respected and loved by the Yin God, so he was appointed as the Chachasi by the Emperor of Fengdu, one of the four great judges. His duty was to make sure that good people were rewarded and good deeds were promoted; that evil people were punished and wronged people were redressed."
"And such a majestic underworld god also has a human side."
"Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, there was a poor scholar named Zhu Erdan who had failed in the imperial examinations many times. He was famous for his boldness and daring. So one day when he was drinking, someone asked him: 'If you dare to go to the Ten Kings Hall late at night and carry back a judge, we will treat you to a drink.'"
"Zhu readily agreed. In a short while, he put the wooden statue of Lu Pan back on the table, toasted him three times, and said, 'I hope you won't mind my rudeness! My home is not far from here. If you are interested, you can go and have a drink. Don't be shy!'"
"As soon as he said this, the next day Lu Pan really came as invited. Zhu Erdan was not afraid and talked to him fluently. After several meetings, they became good friends and he often showed his articles to him."
"President Lu was born into a family of civil officials and was very knowledgeable. He could see that the essay was rotten, so one night he cut open Zhu's stomach and replaced his heart with a new one. As expected, Zhu passed the imperial examination."
"Afterwards, Zhu invited Lu Pan to drink. When he was drunk, he jokingly asked Lu Pan if he could give his wife a beauty head. When he woke up the next day, his wife really looked different."
"This legend has been handed down, and some scholars have commented: 'Lu Gong is a man of beautiful bones covered by ugly skin. It has not been long since the Ming Dynasty. Is Lu Gong of Lingyang still alive? Is he still alive? I admire him very much.'"
Having written this, the real name of the card was completely solidified, and Zhou Chuan began to describe Lu Pan's image. With just a thought, he outlined his figure in his mind.
To put it simply, it is carved according to the appearance of the stone statue, but with some color added.
According to the records in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", Lu Pan had a green face, red beard, and a particularly ferocious appearance.
After filling in the color like this and adding a red robe for him, it's done.
At this point, the creation of the spirit card has come to the final step. Looking at the tall figure in front of him, Zhou Chuan raised his arm, picked up the pen, and added the finishing touch with thick ink!
The next moment, a huge storm surged in the heart and even affected reality.
In Lanruo Temple, the Black Mountain Ghost King, who was fighting fiercely with Yan Chixia, staggered and his shoulder was cut by Yun Cong's sword.
He stared blankly in the direction of the City of the Dead and couldn't help but curse.
Zhou Chuan was not having an easy time either. It was still okay before, but the last finishing move almost drained all his energy.
But the result is always good.
His first orange card... it's done!