Chapter 478.2: The Sage Musters His Troops (2)

Cedric was furious when he discovered that Ghostblade Ridge had disappeared. "Li Qi, we agreed on three days to investigate this. It's only been two days, and Ghostblade Ridge has already disappeared. You are clearly trampling all over our friendship!"

Li Banfeng explained, "Ghostblade Ridge left just as mysteriously as it showed up. I really don't know why. You can't blame me for that."

Cedric didn't believe him. "I think you are lying to me!"

Li Banfeng said, "Think about it. Do I have the ability to control Ghostblade Ridge?"

Cedric thought for a moment. "Based on what you are capable of, probably not."

"If I can't do it, then obviously I wasn't the one who did it. Isn't that perfectly clear?"

Well... yes. Not only was it perfectly clear, it somehow seemed impossible to argue with.

Cedric sighed. "Wherever Ghostblade Ridge goes, it's going to cause a disaster. I wanted to see it happen with my own eyes, but now all I can do is wait for news from other people."

Li Banfeng said, "As long as no one goes onto Ghostblade Ridge, they won't run into the Toilblade Ghosts. The situation should still be manageable."

Cedric shook his head. "I spent all night thinking about it yesterday. The situation might have changed."

Li Banfeng frowned. "What changed this time?"

Cedric picked up a stick and began drawing on the ground. "This change has to do with the underlying reasons for their behavior. The Toilblade Ghosts rarely leave Ghostblade Ridge, and there should be two reasons for that.

"Firstly, they like the environment there. In Puluo Province, people would say the yin energy there is dense, though I still haven't figured out exactly what yin energy is. Secondly, the Toilblade Ghosts suffer from serious cognitive difficulties because of their impaired vision. Because of that, they only live within areas they are familiar with. But through our combined efforts..."

Li Banfeng suddenly had a bad feeling. "Stop! That was all your doing. I never planned on taking advantage of your hard work."

Cedric insisted, "You contributed to this too. If I write an autobiography someday, I will make sure to mention you. The drug we developed caused a mutation in the Toilblade Ghosts' vision, so the area they can move around in might have expanded."

Li Banfeng took a deep breath. "By how much?"

Cedric couldn't give him an exact answer. "This would require extensive biological knowledge, along with plenty of observation and experiments, to say for sure. As of now, the Toilblade Ghosts still depend on the yin energy of Ghostblade Ridge, so they shouldn't stray too far from it.

"Previously, they could only move around within one to one and a half kilometers of the foot of the mountain. But now, they might show up ten to fifteen kilometers away. At most, they shouldn't go farther than fifty kilometers."

Li Banfeng pulled the brim of his hat lower.

Something horrible is about to happen at Vilefolk Hillock.

***

Two days later, at nine in the morning, the skies over Vilefolk Hillock were clear.

On Sage's Peak, the Sage bathed, burned incense, and changed into a yellow robe patterned with clouds before boarding his palanquin.

The palanquin was an unusual mode of transportation. It could be thought of as an extremely luxurious sedan chair. From the outside, the Sage's palanquin could easily have been mistaken for a small house. It had a front hall, a bedroom, a roof ridge, doors, and windows.

Twenty-eight disciples carried the Sage down the Sage's Peak. All along both sides of the road, people seeking instruction knelt with their foreheads pressed to the ground, not daring to so much as cast a glance up.

Behind the palanquin, another eighteen disciples carried a large bronze cauldron down the mountain. The rest of the disciples followed in neat, formal attire.

When they reached the foot of Ghostblade Ridge, ten disciples went up first to scout the area.

In fact, they had already searched the mountain several times. Three separate groups of disciples had gone up, but none of them had found a single Toilblade Ghost. If some of them hadn't been to Ghostblade Ridge before, they would have suspected that this was not Ghostblade Ridge at all.

Where had all the Toilblade Ghosts gone?

Chu Shaoqiang's earlier guess had been right. The Toilblade Ghosts were not used to the change in environment. At first, they had been afraid, then restless, and eventually they had all burrowed underground and fallen asleep.

Once the disciples confirmed that there was no danger on the ridge, they carried the bronze cauldron up first and set up the formation at the location they had chosen beforehand.

After everything was ready, the remaining disciples carried the palanquin up the mountain, escorting the Sage along the way.

Halfway up the slope, the Sage stood on the palanquin and looked up at the clear sky before sweeping his gaze across the gathered disciples.

All the disciples knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Sage.

The Sage gave an order. "Rise! All my loyal subjects! It's time to inspect the troops!"

To all of the Sage's disciples, this command carried tremendous significance. Ever since leaving the Inner Provinces, the Sage had been without troops of his own. Now, at last, he had soldiers under his command.

This was the Sage's first step toward regaining control of his empire!

The eighteen disciples each took up their assigned roles. They first filled the cauldron with water, then added the offerings and lit a fire beneath it. As the liquid inside began to boil and steam, dark clouds slowly gathered overhead.

The cauldron was an enchanted artifact, and a powerful one at that. It could change the weather within a certain area and bring a thunderstorm over all of Ghostblade Ridge within twenty minutes.

Thunder rumbled, and rain came pouring down. Ghostblade Ridge, which had been completely silent, suddenly filled with roars rising one after another.

"Screeech!"

Several Toilblade Ghosts appeared nearby, flickering in and out of sight among the bushes and trees.

The Sage and his disciples all swallowed pills.

The pills they had taken allowed them to go without breathing. The poisonous mist sprayed by the Toilblade Ghosts could also poison people, so they had to take every precaution.

Ten Mentalism Cultivator disciples made the first move. Their task was to control the Toilblade Ghosts through their minds. If they succeeded, the plan to tame the creatures would already be more than halfway complete.

After more than five minutes, the Toilblade Ghosts, which had only been watching until then, began attacking everyone. The Mentalism Cultivators had failed to control them and had only managed to provoke them instead.

This was the difference in how the Toilblade Ghosts perceived and understood things that Cedric had been talking about.

Mentalism Cultivators could sense and infiltrate the thoughts of the Toilblade Ghosts. However, the Toilblade Ghosts' cognition and perception had undergone severe abnormal changes. In their minds, the Mentalism Cultivators had already launched a very real attack on them.

When the Mentalism Cultivators failed, the Entomic Cultivators immediately stepped in.

Would Entomic Cultivators really be effective against the Toilblade Ghosts? The Sage wasn't simply fooling around. This plan was based on research from years ago.

Back when the Sage was still in power, he had sent people to investigate Ghostblade Ridge. They gathered quite a few findings, and the Sage had accepted one of them as credible: people infected with some kind of parasite on Ghostblade Ridge would eventually transform into Toilblade Ghosts.

If the Entomic Cultivators could control the parasites, then they might also be able to control the Toilblade Ghosts. This was the plan the Sage had carefully devised.

After another five minutes or so, the Entomic Cultivators failed as well. More and more Toilblade Ghosts appeared, and they grew increasingly excited. Quite a few disciples had already been splashed with the Toilblade Ghosts' poisonous fluid.

They were wearing water-resistant soft armor, and the Sage had also brought an enchanted artifact that repelled water. To some extent, these protected them from the poison. However, they could only do so much against the sheer number of Toilblade Ghosts, and some of the disciples had already suffered fatal injuries.

The Sage was still unconcerned. He ordered the third group of disciples to step in.

The third group consisted of Nightfiend Cultivators. Like the others, they had prepared based on the findings from the earlier investigations.

One of those findings was that the Toilblade Ghosts were, as their name suggested, the ghosts of people who had died from the poison. Since Nightfiend Cultivators could control departed spirits, dealing with ghosts should have been easy for them.

Seven or eight minutes later, the Nightfiend Cultivators failed as well.

Toilblade Ghosts had gathered all over the mountain, surrounding the group several layers deep and leaving no gaps. The Sage wasn't worried at all. This outcome was within his expectations.

Turning the Toilblade Ghosts into an army would sound absurd to most people. It was an extremely difficult task, so failing on the first attempt was only natural.

Although they hadn't succeeded this time, they had at least learned three things: Mentalism Cultivators, Entomic Cultivators, and Nightfiend Cultivators were all ineffective against the Toilblade Ghosts.

The Toilblade Ghosts were still under the Sage's control, at least in terms of when they advanced or retreated. Once the thunderstorm ended, they would follow their usual habits and return to their nests, allowing the Sage to leave at his leisure.

As for the injured disciples, those who could be saved would naturally be treated. Those who couldn't would turn into Toilblade Ghosts and serve in the army in the future. Either way, no one would go to waste.

Twenty minutes soon passed. The rain stopped, and the thunder faded away.

Everyone prepared to withdraw, but the Toilblade Ghosts did not retreat. If anything, they seemed even more excited.

The Sage was somewhat surprised. He ordered his disciples to hold their ground and not panic. If they stalled for a little longer, the Toilblade Ghosts would surely leave.

More than twenty minutes passed again, but the number of Toilblade Ghosts only continued to grow.

More than ten of the Sage's disciples had already been killed. They hadn't died from the poison. The Toilblade Ghosts had mauled and bitten them to death.

Black mist filled the area until they could no longer see their hands in front of their faces. The effects of the pills the disciples had taken were also beginning to wear off.

The Sage ordered a retreat, but his disciples were still trying to carry the palanquin with them.

The Sage abandoned the palanquin himself. He used a Hedonism Cultivation ability to suppress the Toilblade Ghosts' excitement and weaken their will to fight, hoping to create an opportunity to escape.

However, the Toilblade Ghosts didn't perceive things the same way. After taking Cedric's drug, their perception and cognition had undergone even greater changes.

Their will to fight did not weaken. Instead, another urge rapidly grew stronger until it took over their minds.

As the fighting continued, the Toilblade Ghosts began forcing themselves on the disciples one after another. They did not stop when their victims died. Even after their victims' death, the assaults continued.

As for the Sage, who had used a Hedonism Cultivation ability, the Toilblade Ghosts were especially drawn to him.

***

By dusk, the Sage came rushing down Ghostblade Ridge in torn and tattered clothes with only a dozen or so disciples left.

Given his cultivation and the strength of his disciples, things never would have ended this badly if they had retreated as soon as they encountered the Toilblade Ghosts.

However, the Sage had come to control them. Even after they were surrounded, he had refused to retreat. The result was a devastating loss, and he himself had nearly lost his life.

Back at the estate, the Sage was still shaken. Only now had he really experienced just how terrifying Ghostblade Ridge could be.

The recent plague had already cost him more than half his disciples, and the survivors had nearly been wiped out on Ghostblade Ridge. Sage's Peak had suffered another crushing blow. This caused wave after wave of anger and frustration to rise in the Sage's chest.

His disciple Song Deke advised him, "Teacher, when commanding troops, strict discipline must come first. If you want to tame monsters as vicious as these, we should lure them down the mountain, trap them there, and kill more than half of them. Only then will the rest submit out of fear."

The Sage nodded. "I will leave this matter to you."

Song Deke hurriedly explained, "I am not very skilled in warfare..."

The Sage stared at Song Deke, who lowered his head and fell silent.

Du Xiangwen stepped in to smooth things over. "The Toilblade Ghosts rarely leave Ghostblade Ridge. Trying to lure and trap them at the foot of the mountain may not be a good idea. We should think this through more carefully."

"Screeech!"

A shrill roar came from outside the estate.

The Sage was startled. He turned to Du Xiangwen. "Was that a Toilblade Ghost?"

Author's Note:

PS: If the Toilblade Ghosts break into the estate, the Sage might end up losing more than just his clothes.

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