Chapter 11: Yin Python Part 3

Suddenly, a towering ferocious aura surged upward from underground like a tsunami. In an instant, the earth shook and mountains trembled. Wang Ya’s surroundings plunged into pitch blackness where she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. Her eyes saw only inky black, her ears filled with whistling Yin winds that whipped her hair. The chilling wind swirled around, scraping her cheeks raw. She pulled a yellow talisman paper from her pocket, pinched it between her index and middle fingers, flicked it upward. The paper flew before her, hovered in mid-air, and ignited. As it burned, a Vermilion Bird spread its wings amid the flames, casting a soft, candle-like red glow that illuminated the three-meter radius around her clearly. The light wasn’t harsh, but it utterly dispersed the swirling Yin Qi.

The darkness was blocked, but the ground still shook violently like an earthquake, with surging Yin winds and Black Qi swirling denser around her! Fortunately, Wang Ya had practiced her horse stance diligently since childhood, her balance excellent, so she wasn’t dizzy or unsteady. She stood firm and pinched another talisman paper between her fingers.

The Ancient Old Ghost had long vanished into the darkness. A faint roar pierced from underground, low and resonant like a great bell, deafening and heart-shaking, carrying a thick oppressiveness that made Wang Ya extremely uncomfortable.

The roar grew nearer and louder, the ground tremors more intense, as if a ferocious beast was leaping from underground toward the surface.

From the sound, Wang Ya knew a big one was coming up. She had no desire to clash head-on with this unknown behemoth; she wanted to find the Old Ghost and end it quickly. She ignited the talisman in her hand and shouted, “Bright talisman lights the way, Ghost-Seeking!” The Talismans and Blessings on the talisman paper activated, transforming into a golden light that shot into the ground. She hurriedly pulled out a Ghost-Exorcising Talisman, ready to unleash it, when she sensed a massive entity bursting from ahead. In the darkness before her, a heart-palpitating power emanated from the ground. Focusing, she saw her Ghost-Seeking Talisman shining conspicuously three meters above the ground ahead, its golden Talisman Pattern like a guiding light in the dark! Wang Ya clearly saw a black snake head the size of a car tire appear ten meters away. The Giant Snake’s forehead blazed with the Ghost-Seeking Talisman’s golden runes. Wang Ya broke out in cold sweat. She wiped her forehead and thought, Are there snakes this big in the world? More importantly, her Ghost-Seeking Talisman was meant for ghosts—how had it stuck to this thing! Before she could think further, the snake head with the glowing talisman sped toward her, so fast it was upon her in a blink, jaws wide to bite!

Wang Ya swiftly palmed the Vermilion Bird Talisman—like a headlamp—into the Giant Snake’s black maw, retreated rapidly, and fired two more talisman papers at it! As the Giant Snake closed in, she immediately sensed its difference. Raised in the countryside, she had seen plenty of snakes and insects, which carried a strong fishy stench—this one had none. Instead, it exuded Yin Qi so thick it nearly froze solid. As it neared, Wang Ya felt her Souls nearly freezing. This snake was formed from Yin Qi, not a real giant python—this eased her mind slightly. Facing a Yin Spirit, as a specialist in this field, she felt she had a fighting chance, even if this snake seemed fiercer and stronger than the Old Ghost!

The two talismans she fired were pre-drawn on paper, inked with cinnabar mixed with ghost-repelling materials, crafted through elaborate steps: purification, incense, invoking gods, with footwork and incantations. One was the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Talisman, the other the White Tiger Evil-Exorcising Talisman. The Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Talisman morphed into a Bagua shape and struck the snake’s head, stunning it for about a second. Then the White Tiger Evil-Exorcising Talisman became a fierce White Tiger that pounced on the snake’s lower jaw and neck. In that second, Wang Ya had retreated seven or eight meters. She fired a Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman at it, but saw the snake fling its head, sending the White Tiger flying, then bite and disperse it! The Giant Snake lunged at Wang Ya again, crashing into her oncoming Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman. The Vermilion Bird spread wings and burned, but the flames lasted less than two seconds before the snake’s Black Qi extinguished them, dissipating the Talisman Pattern power. The Giant Snake bit at Wang Ya once more. Seven or eight meters was nothing to this massive snake—it was upon her instantly. The bone-chilling aura that could freeze blood bore down, forcing Wang Ya to burn over a dozen talismans in succession to hold it at bay two feet away. She seized the chance to flee toward the tall Mulberry Tree, scrambling up hand and foot. With a Light Body Talisman on her feet, she climbed the freshly piled earth mound swiftly. This was worse than fire on her ass—a Giant Yin Python was chasing her!

To deal with this Ancient Old Ghost, Wang Ya had prepared thoroughly: over thirty talismans, thinking it enough. Yet she hadn’t expected the Ancient Old Ghost to summon this monstrosity. In less than a minute of first clash, she had used half! Still, her dozen-plus talismans only bought a dozen seconds. She had barely reached halfway up, not even touching the Mulberry Tree, when the Giant Snake pounced again. Gritting her teeth, Wang Ya unleashed all her remaining talismans at it and scrambled upward in panic.