It so happened that Mei Qing and his companions, acting swiftly upon sensing the danger, immediately ascended into midair just as the ground beneath them cracked and collapsed, revealing a dark, yawning hole. Soon after, a massive head slowly emerged from the depths.
The head was covered in mud, obscuring its true features, but it was clearly enormous—nearly half the size of a courtyard. As the earth trembled repeatedly, a terrifying roar echoed through the air. The giant skull tossed its head back with a shriek, shaking off layers of dirt and sand that flew in all directions like rain, gradually revealing its true form—an enormous skeleton.
By now, the commotion had awakened everyone in the village, though no one yet understood what was happening. Chaos erupted, with people shouting, chickens squawking, and dogs barking in confusion.
Master Ku, having sensed the disturbance from the very beginning, quickly appeared beside Mei Qing and the others. He exclaimed in astonishment, “A nightmare spirit?”
The courtyard below had already been shattered by the creature’s emergence. The massive skeletal head pushed upward, its enormous vertebrae and sharp bone spurs piercing through the ground. Zhang Shisan sneered coldly and said, “They say these things are impervious to spells and immune to fire and lightning. Well, let’s put that to the test today!”
With that, he flung two blank talismans into the air. Without any markings, they appeared ordinary—until Zhang Shisan muttered, “Five Elements of the Rising Sun, heavenly thunder and earthly fire—swift as the decree!”
As if guided by invisible hands, characters began to appear on the blank paper, shaped by Zhang Shisan’s hand seals. Then, with a sudden tremor, the talismans burst into flames and were consumed in an instant.
Mei Qing could only watch in admiration. Though he had long known of Zhang Shisan’s formidable power, this was the first time he had seen his master unleash his full strength. Though Mei Qing had not yet learned these talismans, he could tell their nature—one was for lightning, the other for fire, both powerful offensive spells. The technique of forming talismans from blank paper alone was truly awe-inspiring.
Talismans originally required ink and brush to inscribe symbols upon paper. At higher levels, one could manifest talismans in midair. When one reached the ultimate level, even paper was unnecessary—intent alone could summon the spell.
In truth, Zhang Shisan could have cast these lower-level talismans purely through intent. However, the two he had just used were high-level spells, and casting two simultaneously while achieving the blank-paper transformation was already a rare feat.
As soon as the talismans were released, Mei Qing felt the surrounding spiritual energy surge violently. Flickering lines of dark lightning danced around them, converging into two dark orbs forming within the folds of Zhang Shisan’s sleeves. The orbs attracted and repelled each other, spinning faster with each rotation, growing larger with every turn.
Though seemingly unremarkable, Mei Qing and the others had no doubt of their terrifying power. Without waiting for Zhang Shisan’s command, Master Ku gently pulled Mei Qing and Bi Zhen higher into the air, to avoid being caught in the blast when Zhang struck.
Within moments, the two dark spheres had grown to the size of basins. With a flick of his sleeves, Zhang Shisan shouted, “Halt!” Two streaks of black light shot forth, trailing dark afterimages, and struck the massive skull below just as it was emerging from the ground.
The nightmare spirit had just fully surfaced, its movements causing the courtyard to collapse in all directions. As Zhang launched his attack, he quickly retreated. The creature seemed to sense the assault but, being large and slow, could only raise its head feebly before the two dark spheres struck it one after another, dead-on.
The orbs exploded silently, as if a gentle breeze had blown through, sending up a cloud of black dust. Behind the dust, faint white flames flickered. Though small, the fire radiated intense heat, instantly melting nearby bricks and soil into molten liquid.
Before Mei Qing could even react to the fire’s terrifying power, he heard Master Ku shout, “Seal your six senses!” Immediately afterward, a vast, hazy energy enveloped him, cutting him off from the surrounding spiritual energy.
In an instant, it felt as if the very fabric of the world were collapsing. The surrounding spiritual energy roared chaotically. Without Master Ku’s protection, Mei Qing feared he might have been thrown off balance.
A brilliant light flashed from the nightmare spirit’s head. Though Mei Qing had shut his eyes, he could still sense a thunderbolt as thick as a barrel descend from the heavens. Lightning crackled wildly around it, forming a massive beam that struck the creature head-on with a thunderous boom. Light flooded the entire area, illuminating the night like day, shaking the heavens and earth.
As chaos erupted all around, Mei Qing’s mind suddenly grew calm. He realized that although Zhang Shisan’s strike was partly meant to test the nightmare spirit’s strength, its main purpose was to show Mei Qing the true power of a magical attack. Though Mei Qing had studied talismans for some time, he had little practical experience. This moment gave him a true understanding of the terrifying force of a real combat spell.
In actual battle, there would be no time for the careful, deliberate preparation of talismans. Just moments ago, the surrounding elements had been thrown into complete disarray, with fire and lightning flying wildly. If Mei Qing had been the one fighting under such conditions, he doubted he could have used even a fraction of his usual techniques.
Thus, from a purely practical standpoint, most of what he had learned was little more than theoretical. To survive real combat, he would need to revise many of his assumptions and strategies.
Though Mei Qing had made great strides in both talisman crafting and artifact forging, and had even devised numerous defensive and offensive techniques based on his imagination, he now realized that many of these ideas might not hold up under actual combat conditions.
As Mei Qing was still lost in thought, the effects of the talismans below came to an end. He extended his spiritual senses and was shocked to see that the courtyard had been turned into a massive crater. The edges of the crater were glass-like, melted by the intense heat, and the bottom was a pool of molten liquid, emitting thick, toxic fumes.
Even more alarming was the fact that the nightmare spirit had survived Zhang Shisan’s devastating attack. Mei Qing’s spiritual senses confirmed that the creature had been driven dozens of feet underground, yet its skull remained completely unscathed. It was merely stunned by the impact and slowly recovering, its limbs already beginning to move again as it tried to climb back out.
Zhang Shisan, of course, had also sensed this. He cursed bitterly, “Damn it, this thing really is tough. Took a hit like that and it’s still alive. I’ve only heard stories before, but now I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Master Ku, got any ideas?”
Master Ku remained silent, merely shaking his head. Mei Qing realized that while Master Ku’s techniques were effective in duels between cultivators, they were probably not as effective against a nightmare spirit. If even such a powerful attack had failed to destroy it, the creature was indeed a formidable foe.
Zhang Shisan muttered, “So this thing can dig underground too. Guess I’ve learned something new today. We’ll probably need some paper soldiers and horses later. Mei Qing, girl, don’t worry about this one—head to the back courtyard and protect Old Shi and his family. Me and the baldy will see if we can come up with something else.”
Mei Qing and Bi Zhen understood immediately. Zhang’s words were just a polite way of saying he wanted to distract the creature long enough for them to escape with Shi Mengzhu and the others.
Though it felt cowardly, with no known method to defeat such a creature and now on the defensive, their only option was to retreat and preserve their lives.
As Mei Qing and Bi Zhen heard strange noises from the back courtyard, they realized the enemy’s tactics were not limited to just the nightmare spirit. Without further hesitation, they quickly activated their abilities and flew toward the back courtyard.
The guest room where Mei Qing had been staying was not far from the back courtyard where Shi Mengzhu’s family lived. Within moments, they arrived.
Looking down, they were both alarmed. The courtyard was filled with ghostly figures and flashing blades—countless spectral soldiers and generals darting through the air, causing panic and screams among the people below.
Mei Qing inwardly groaned. His spiritual senses confirmed that Shi Mengzhu and her family had been awakened but were still unaware of the danger. Thinking quickly, he turned to Bi Zhen and said, “You go quickly and get Master Shi and his family to safety. I’ll hold these things off for now.”
Bi Zhen hesitated, clearly reluctant to leave Mei Qing alone. Mei Qing smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Even if I can’t win, I can still run. But you have more protective artifacts—you’ll be better at keeping them safe. If I go, I won’t be as effective.”
Bi Zhen nodded reluctantly and said softly, “Then be careful. If things go badly, retreat immediately.”
With that, she activated her jade bracelet’s green light and flew toward the courtyard where Shi Mengzhu’s family was hiding.
Mei Qing extended his spiritual senses, scanning the area. His gaze slowly settled on several figures hovering high in the air.
“It’s the Tianxi Yu Nu?” he murmured, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. The origin of these paper soldiers and horses seemed far more complicated than he had imagined.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage