442: Talismans and rifles! All evil shall be banished! Nothing is forbidden!

Chapter 434: Talismans Plus Rifles! All Evil Retreats! Nothing is Taboo!

Two hours later.

The mountains of gold, silver, jewels, and exquisite porcelain piled around the tomb chamber had been completely cleared, all transported out of the ground entrance via rope ladders.

The entire tomb chamber immediately appeared much more spacious and even more eerie, with only the dark main coffin, nine blood coffins on the central high platform, and the dense array of hundreds of ink-black coffins surrounding them remaining.

Like a silent cluster of tombstones, they still stood in place, emitting an unsettling aura.

At this point, the personnel within the tomb chamber had also been significantly streamlined.

The two hundred soldiers responsible for transporting the treasures back and forth had retreated to the surface for guard duty and oversight, leaving only three hundred of the most elite soldiers in the depths of the tomb chamber, along with the core figures—the Feng Shui Advisor and Deputy Officer Mo.

Everyone's gaze was solemnly fixed on the matrix of coffins.

Man dies for wealth, birds die for food!

Looking at the empty corners of the tomb chamber, this thought involuntarily surfaced in the minds of many soldiers.

If the treasures buried around the tomb chamber were so astonishing, what priceless, peerless treasures must be hidden within the main coffin, buried close to the tomb owner?

Almost all greedy eyes began to uncontrollably turn towards the massive, dark main coffin in the center.

The previous fear of the coffins was now completely insignificant in the face of the immense allure of profit.

Deputy Officer Mo took a deep breath, deciding to probe proactively. His gaze swept over the nearest black coffin, and he casually pointed out six soldiers.

"You, you, and the four of you! Go, pry open that coffin for me!"

The faces of the six selected soldiers instantly turned pale, their lips trembling, their feet rooted to the spot: "Adjutant, Deputy Officer Mo... we... this..."

"Hm?" Deputy Officer Mo's eyes widened, and he deliberately raised his voice, speaking for all the fearful soldiers to hear, "What's there to be afraid of? Spineless wretches! Have you forgotten the arrows just now?

Didn't I give each of you several Evil-Dispelling Talismans personally bestowed by the Marshal?!"

He patted the bulging area on his chest, his voice carrying a nearly superstitious fervor and confidence: "With the Marshal's Evil-Dispelling Talismans here, nothing is taboo! What kind of demons and monsters dare to act presumptuously? Hurry up and go!"

These words were like a shot in the arm for the three hundred soldiers.

Recalling the miracle of the divine Talismans blocking the arrows earlier, the six men exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and finally mustered the courage. Gripping crowbars and entrenching tools, they cautiously moved towards the dark coffin.

"Bang—!"

A heavy thud echoed in the tomb chamber as the lid of the black coffin was pried open by their combined effort, falling heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Almost at the very moment the coffin lid was lifted—

"Hiss!"

A thick, ink-like black smoke, emitting a pungent, foul odor, suddenly gushed out from within the coffin, like a venomous snake, striking directly at the faces of the six closest soldiers!

The change was too sudden and swift; the six men had no time to react. They could only watch as the deadly black smoke surged towards them, their eyes instantly filled with despair.

However!

Just as the black smoke was about to touch their skin, the several Evil-Dispelling Talismans in their arms and pasted on their bodies simultaneously erupted!

A faint yet tenacious crimson light, like an eggshell, enveloped the bodies of the six men!

The corrosive black smoke collided with the red light, actually emitting a "sizzling" burning sound, like ice and snow meeting the sun. It was instantly dispelled and purified, unable to penetrate in the slightest!

The six soldiers stood rooted to the spot, still shaken, all breathing heavily.

Looking at the small patch of charred marks left on the ground in front of them after being purified by the Talisman light, the backs of the six men were quickly soaked with cold sweat.

It was the Marshal's divine Talismans again that saved their lives!

After their initial shock subsided, the six soldiers subconsciously glanced inside the coffin.

That one glance made their recently calmed hearts almost leap out of their throats!

"Ghosts!"

The six men shrieked in unison, as if they had seen the most terrifying thing in the world. They no longer cared about military orders, scrambling and crawling, running back to Deputy Officer Mo without looking back, huddling together and trembling like chaff in the wind.

At this point, the gushing black smoke had completely dispersed.

Deputy Officer Mo and the Feng Shui Advisor, who were closest, clearly saw the scene inside the coffin by the light of the torches.

Lying in the coffin was not the expected body of a military general, but an old man dressed in an old yellow Daoist robe, with white hair and beard!

His eyes were wide open, bright and piercing, and the corners of his mouth were even eerily upturned, bearing a chilling smile, baring his teeth as if he had seen something extremely exciting before his death.

The most bizarre thing was that his body was mummified, his skin tightly adhering to his bones, wrinkled like old tree bark.

After more than two hundred years, this corpse had not only not turned into bones, but was still lifelike, its features as clear as if he had just passed away yesterday!

"Such heavy Evil Qi! This old Daoist died but did not decompose; he has become a Prodigy!"

Seeing this, the Feng Shui Advisor's face turned ashen, and his voice changed pitch.

He no longer cared about his image, practically scrambling backward, while fumbling to pull out five or six crimson Evil-Dispelling Talismans from his chest and sleeves.

Regardless of whether they were useful or not, he slapped them all onto his chest, back, and even his forehead, wishing he could cover himself entirely with Talismans!

Deputy Officer Mo and the surrounding three hundred soldiers were so terrified by his excessive reaction that their Souls Flew Away and Spirits Scattered, and they had no time to think carefully—

"Quick! Quick, stick on the Talismans!"

"Everyone, take out your Talismans!"

"Stick them on! Stick them all on!"

For a moment, an incredibly comical yet extremely tense scene unfolded in the tomb chamber.

More than three hundred people, including Deputy Officer Mo, all frantically searched for the Evil-Dispelling Talismans they had been allotted.

Following the Feng Shui Advisor's example, they all mimicked him, desperately slapping them onto their bodies.

If there wasn't enough space on their chests, they stuck them on their arms and thighs; some even helped each other stick them on their backs.

In a flash, almost every one of the more than three hundred people had several crimson Talismans stuck on them, making them look less like an army here to rob a tomb.

Instead, they resembled an army of Talisman paper dolls, freshly blessed from a Daoist temple, standing in strict formation, facing the open black coffin.

Just as that black coffin was pried open, revealing the mummified yellow-robed old Daoist inside—

"Whoosh—!"

A cold whirlwind suddenly appeared in the tomb chamber!

The flames of the torches in the corners were suddenly pressed down by this evil wind, flickering wildly, dimming and brightening, as if they would completely extinguish in the next moment, plunging the entire tomb chamber back into complete darkness!

Almost simultaneously, the originally bright Heavenly Eye light, projected down from the opening above, also rapidly dimmed and became murky at a visible speed!

Outside the tomb, high in the sky, the originally clear sky, for some unknown reason, saw thick, ink-black clouds surge in, rolling and gathering, quickly obscuring the sun.

The world became dark and gloomy, as if dusk had arrived early!

Internal and external changes, sudden anomalies! This was by no means a coincidence.

Everyone in the tomb chamber, even the most ordinary soldiers, felt an indescribable, heart-pounding immense pressure.

As if some extremely terrifying existence had been disturbed and was slowly awakening from its slumber.

The Feng Shui Advisor looked at the frantically spinning needle on the compass in his hand, his face pale, and he muttered, "Evil Qi soaring to the sky, causing a change in the heavens... It's over, the big guy has really been disturbed!"

Lu Xuan had been observing all the chaos beneath the tomb chamber through his Heavenly Eye Talisman.

When he saw the sky outside change color accordingly, he not only showed no panic, but a playful arc curved at the corner of his mouth.

"Interesting..." He murmured, his gaze seemingly piercing through the earth, "This Prodigy seems to have reached its peak; its Evil Qi is extremely contained. The moment it leaks out, it can trigger celestial phenomena and interfere with the Qi of an entire region."

"Marshal, the sky is getting very dark, it seems... it seems like it's going to rain heavily soon."

A squad leader responsible for vigilance, observing Lu Xuan's expression and seeing that he was not angry about the sudden change in weather, immediately scurried forward, fawning profusely.

Behind him followed five or six quick-witted soldiers. With a swift "whoosh," they skillfully opened a large oiled paper umbrella.

It completely covered Lu Xuan's head, shielding him from the impending wind and rain.

At this moment, inside the tomb chamber, the balance of Yin and Yang was completely broken, and strong winds raged, stirring up sand and stones.

The limited torches flickered wildly in the wind, their light rapidly diminishing, on the verge of being completely extinguished, abandoning everyone in darkness and the unknown!

Just then— "Stick the Talismans on the guns and on the torches."

A clear voice, as if right beside him, directly entered Deputy Officer Mo's mind!

"It's the Marshal's voice!" Deputy Officer Mo was first stunned, then his face surged with ecstasy. He immediately strained his voice, roaring with all his might, overriding the howling wind.

"Quick! Everyone, listen to the order! The Marshal has commanded—stick the Evil-Dispelling Talismans on the guns! And one on each torch! Quick!"

The order was relayed down.

The soldiers near the torches, hearing this, immediately tore off a still-intact crimson Talisman from their bodies and frantically slapped it onto the wooden handle of a torch!

A miraculous scene unfolded!

The moment the Talisman was affixed, the previously flickering flame, as if infused with powerful energy, suddenly burst into a "boom" of combustion.

The flame instantly became stable and fierce, emitting a light with a faint golden-red hue.

No matter how the strong wind howled, it remained unshaken!

As if the light of the flame itself carried a power to suppress evil and stabilize the universe!

Having witnessed firsthand the immediate and miraculous effect of the Talismans on the torches, all the soldiers in the tomb chamber erupted with fervent and worshipful gazes, looking at their remaining Evil-Dispelling Talismans with utmost reverence.

"Quick! Stick them on the guns!"

"Wrap the Talismans around them!"

Amidst the shouts, the soldiers moved, carefully wrapping and pasting the life-saving crimson Talismans solemnly onto the bodies of their rifles.

The cold steel combined with the cinnabar Talisman paper, imbued with mysterious power, seemed to bless and empower these modern weapons, adding an awe-inspiring and inviolable righteous Qi that repelled evil.

Deputy Officer Mo and the Feng Shui Advisor set an example.

Deputy Officer Mo "clicked" a bullet into the chamber of his Mauser pistol, then very solemnly took out a yellow cinnabar Talisman paper of the best quality, skillfully and meticulously wrapping it around the entire gun body.

The Feng Shui Advisor did the same; his self-defense pistol was also tightly wrapped in Talisman paper.

In a blink of an eye, an "Evil-Slaying Army" adorned with hundreds of Talismans took shape in this Ancient Tomb!

The soldiers gripped their "blessed" rifles, their fear replaced by an unprecedented courage.

With the Marshal's divine Talismans protecting them, nothing was taboo!

They huddled together, forming a circular formation, their muzzles uniformly pointed outwards, staring intently at the open black coffin and the main coffin deeper within, standing ready!

Just as the soldiers had completed the Talisman enhancement and their formation was taking shape—

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A series of explosive sounds of coffin lids being blown off by immense force erupted in the tomb chamber!

The lids of the remaining hundreds of black coffins, as well as the nine blood-colored coffins guarding the main coffin, were all violently flung open from the inside at the same time!

Heavy coffin lids flew everywhere, crashing violently against walls or the ground, the sound of shattering incessant.

The next moment, illuminated by the Talisman fires around, countless terrifying large hands with shriveled, blackened skin and sharp, purplish-black nails like hooks suddenly shot up!

Immediately after, mummified corpses dressed in decaying armor or tattered clothing, with stiff movements, sat upright from within.

Then, as if pulled by invisible threads, they uniformly leaped out of the coffins and landed steadily!

Hundreds of mummified corpses from black coffins, nine corpse generals from blood coffins with even heavier Evil Qi!

Their eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty, eerie green light, and low "ho-ho" growls emanated from their throats.

A dense wave of corpse stench and Yin Evil Qi instantly swept through the entire tomb chamber, as if tangible!

Their target was crystal clear—it was the group of living soldiers gathered together, emitting the pure Yang Talisman fire Qi that they abhorred!

This terrifying scene, if witnessed by anyone from the Art World, would likely make their scalps tingle and their Souls Fly Away and Spirits Scattered!

A full hundred bronze-armored corpses, nine silver-armored corpses!

Bronze-armored corpses were already impervious to swords and spears, possessed immense strength, and were capable of slaughtering villages and wiping out towns.

Not to mention the nine silver-armored corpses, whose aura was clearly more ferocious. Their strength far surpassed that of bronze-armored corpses, and ordinary Daoist magic could barely harm them in the slightest!

As a member of the Art World, the Feng Shui Advisor naturally understood the horror contained within this.

Such a lineup, he feared, would require a Heavenly Master to descend, wielding a Legacy Magic Treasure, to completely eradicate them!

The more he thought, the more despair he felt, looking at the dense horde of standing corpses.

He felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, and his legs trembled uncontrollably, almost collapsing to the ground.

However, unlike the pale-faced Feng Shui Advisor,

Deputy Officer Mo and the three hundred soldiers, although also showing fear and their hearts pounding like drums, touched the crimson Talismans stuck on their bodies and wrapped around their guns.

A strange courage and confidence supported them, preventing them from retreating a single step!

"What are you afraid of! We have the Marshal's divine Talismans!" Deputy Officer Mo forced himself to calm down, transforming his fear into a sharp shout.

"Everyone—open fire!"

The command was given, and military orders were like mountains!

The three hundred soldiers, empowered by the Talismans, pulled their triggers without hesitation!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Intense gunfire erupted in the tomb chamber!

Flames spat forth, and hundreds of muzzles adorned with crimson Talismans seemed to be firing not ordinary bullets, but streaks of light imbued with the power of dispelling evil and pure Yang!

Those bronze-armored and silver-armored corpses, originally with bodies of steel and iron, impervious to blades and bullets, were instantly engulfed by this dense rain of bullets!

A miracle occurred!

The bullets, imbued with the power of dispelling evil, easily tore through their bodies, which were tougher than refined steel!

Like a red-hot branding iron sinking into butter, wherever the bullets passed, the corpses were easily pierced, leaving behind charred holes!

"Awooo—!"

Painful roars erupted from the horde of corpses, their voices filled with unbelievable terror and agony.

Their powerful Physical Bodies, which they relied on to rampage, were like paper in the face of these peculiar bullets.

Even more terrifying, at the points of impact, hot white smoke hissed out, rapidly purifying and burning away the Yin Evil Qi within their bodies!

They futilely waved their sharp claws, trying to charge forward, but their bodies quickly disintegrated in the hail of bullets, without any effective resistance.

After only a brief ten-odd seconds of intense shooting, the gunfire gradually ceased.

Amidst the lingering gunpowder smoke, all one hundred and nine previously ferocious zombies lay on the ground.

Their bodies, enveloped in white smoke, rapidly shriveled and carbonized.

Finally, they all collapsed, turning into piles of grayish-white ashes!

The wind blew, and the ashes scattered.

In the tomb chamber, only three hundred soldiers with smoking gun barrels stood dumbfounded, along with the ashes scattered everywhere.

This... this was the power of the Marshal's divine Talismans?