In the icy cold stone chamber, there was only the sounds of the great shaman’s heavy gasps. Ghost King and Ghost Li stood before that weak elder, watched his haggard face closely, right now, what was left of the great shaman’s life had became their only hope.

The great shaman’s breathing calmed down, he raised his head and smiled to them, Ghost Li and Ghost King then felt slightly relieved. The great shaman after a pause, spoke to Ghost King, “Sect Head please bring some blood here, ‘Spirit Calling Bait’ is an otherworldly skill, using fresh blood is the best.”

Ghost Li frowned slightly but Ghost King was already nodding and said, “This can be done.” and was about to leave when he suddenly paused and spoke to the great shaman, “Great shaman, this blood...do you want animal or human?”

The great shaman was stunned, took a few more glances at Ghost King but still said, “Animal blood is good but if you were to compare the results, human blood is the best.”

Ghost King nodded and strided to the door, opened it and saw Qing Long, YouJi standing outside, Mr Ghost was also standing slightly further away. Once they saw Ghost King coming out, Qing Long and YouJi’s faces both revealed surprise at the same time but Ghost King went straight to Mr Ghost and said, “Bring a basin of human blood here.”

Qing Long and YouJi were shocked, Mr Ghost instead only nodded, turned and left, Ghost King turned back in after speaking, leaving Qing Long and YouJi there with their expressions gradually turning somber.

In the icy cold chamber, the atmosphere turned somehow strange, Ghost Li quietly watched BiYao who was lying there, after a long time, turned and looked at the great shaman who was meditating and then onto Ghost King.

Ghost King seemed oblivious to it, his expression composed, a pair of eyes watching BiYao and occasionally at Ghost Li, giving only a sweeping glance, never once pausing.

Two knocks were heard suddenly from the stone door and then the door slowly opened, Mr Ghost held a copper basin in, placed it in front of the great shaman and then nodded to Ghost King.

Ghost King nodded slightly, Mr Ghost did not speak and quietly left.

Dark red blood, gently swished in the basin, a thick stench of blood filled the stone chamber.

The corner of Ghost Li’s eyes twitched slightly, he looked deeply at Ghost King but Ghost King instead spoke unhurriedly to the great shaman, “Great shaman, the blood you asked for is here.”

The great shaman opened his eyes, looked at the basin of fresh blood and did not speak, after a long time he suddenly sighed softly and said, “Alright, let’s begin.”

X x x

Struggling with his feeble body, the great shaman slowly stood up, before he could stand up straight, his body had already started to waver. Ghost Li quickly went up and supported him beside.

The great shaman looked at him, made a wry smile but did not reject.

The frail old man slowly stretched his hand into his bosom, after feeling inside for a moment and taking his hand out again, his hand was holding an oddly looking red brush, the brush was about the width of a thumb and the length of a human’s palm. The end of the brush was shaped like a dog’s head, the body of the brush, made of unknown substance and engraved with many different strange charms. The front end of the brush was covered evenly by a patch of soft hair, the original colour could not be discern, only the remnant of dark red colour was left on it. Without asking, the liquid that was used to stain the brush with previously, was most probably blood.

Clutching the brush, inhaling deeply!

The great shaman with Ghost Li’s support, lowered his body, soaked the red brush into the blood and held it up.

Blood from the tip of the brush hair, drop by drop silently dripped down into the copper basin, making little ripples on the surface, forming small waves.

Holding the brush, the great shaman slowly, with the support of Ghost Li, walked to where BiYao was sleeping, from where the stone platform and the ground met, made the first stroke.

The bright colour, slowly extended out on the levelled floor, the elder’s slightly trembling hand, drew out charms one after another. The air was still but for some reason, the mood was slowly turning tense.

Ghost King after watching for a while, quietly walked to the basin and picked it up, walked a few steps and placed it where the great shaman was. The great shaman who was drawing, raised his head and glanced at him, silently nodded, bent down and continued.

More and more blood drawings, with the cold stone platform as the centre, slowly appeared around BiYao, a strange formation with blood scent began to emerge.

The great shaman’s red brush, was clearly also an unusual object from the southern border shaman art, the blood which was absorbed by the red brush, wielded by the great shaman on the ground, coagulated and did not dry up, the color of the blood was vivid and glistering and at the corners and turns, not a trace of blood was splashed out, as if the drawing was containing those blood firmly within it.

The great shaman’s gasps of breaths started again and gradually turned heavy, the blood drawings on the ground started to become complicated, those strange drawings, some looked like livestock ferocious beasts, some like big birds and there were even more unrecognizable drawings, one by one emerging and not one was identical to another.

The only similar point was, those drawings, each one was joined to each other, the amount of blood from the copper basin to the ground increased but the colour and l.u.s.ter of the blood on the ground seemed to be even more vibrant than the blood in the basin.

The blood stench in the air intensified, in the stone chamber, other than the deep breathings of the great shaman, there was no other unusual noise.

The formation drawn by blood, started from the left corner where BiYao was lying, the great shaman, one stroke by one stroke, absorbed in his drawings. Ghost Li beside him supported him, saw for himself, how this vivid blood colour emerge from nothing, from a few to many, gradually forming into an ellipse with a radius of five chi, other than a small area on the floor beside BiYao’s head, the surroundings had already turned into a sea of blood colour.

Ghost King once again carried up the basin and placed it on the floor above the stone platform and then slowly walked to a side. This unearthly formation was almost nearing to completion.

The mult.i.tude of big, small strange drawings connected together, glistering with the colour of blood, at a quick glance, it looked like river courses criss-crossing, the vibrant blood, like in the arteries, merrily coursing through.

From one point to another, turning around from the end, like the gentle flow of tides, constantly cycling.

X x x

The vibrant red interweaved, converging on the floor below the feet, the great shaman’s hands were trembling so badly that he could no longer hold the red brush.

Ghost Li supporting the elder, could clearly feel the pain from the old man’s body, even he himself could not comprehend the reason for this old body to hold on until now.

The heavy breathings had by now turned hoa.r.s.e, the great shaman’s forehead was also covered in sweat.

He slowly, slowly stretched out his hand, made the last stroke and completed the last drawing, connecting it back to the first drawing.

[Plop!]

A m.u.f.fled sound, the red brush fell aside, the weight in Ghost Li’s arms suddenly increased, the great shaman’s body slackened down.

Ghost Li’s heart jumped, a sound of [weng] went off in his head, in that instant even his back had the fearful sensation of needles jabbing in. He held his breath, added more strength in his hands to support the great shaman and looked down, the great shaman’s face was extremely pale but his mouth was slightly agape, panting, exhausted from the effort.

Ghost Li then felt relieved, at the same time realized with a start, only that short instant, his forehead and back were also drenched.

Almost at the same time, Ghost King beside him let out a long breath, he was clearly also startled. Right now the two men who had looked at the world with disdain, were having the jitters from just the slight movements of a dying old man.

The great shaman, after being breathless for a long while, recovered slightly, nodded to Ghost Li and indicated to him to a.s.sist him to sit down. Ghost Li felt uneasy, looking at the great shaman’s countenance, he was really terrified that this old man would just pa.s.s away. However, even with his worries, he did not have any options and could only follow the great shaman’s instructions, helped him down, near to where BiYao’s head was.

The great shaman inhaled deeply and looked ahead, before him, was a completely interlinked blood formation, the blood lines covering the ground, locking in large amount of blood. And from those glistening red blood, as if being moved with an unseen force on the levelled ground, almost at the same time started to flow in the same direction, in midst not one ventured out from the arteries-like strokes.

From the top to the bottom and again flowing back from the connected lines, forming a cycle, unceasing and endless.

Standing behind the great shaman, Ghost Li and Ghost King both looked at each other, they were both masters of the true ways cultivators and their eyes both revealed shock.

The great master after pausing for a while, stretched out his withered hand and picked up the red brush which had fallen, erected straight before him, the hair tip of the brush pointing down, on the red brush, the remnant of the blood coagulated into beads, after struggling and lingering on the fine hair, fell down soundlessly, into that blood red river.

The great shaman stared ahead, the heavy deep breathings suddenly turned still, in the stone chamber, a deafening silence!

His brows slowly rose, the lifeless eyes started to glimmer, and the blood flowing in the formation seemed to be also simulated, increased their momentum.

Holding the red brush, slowly bringing it down, soon it reached the ground, three cun away from one of the outermost blood river. The fine red hair touched the ground and did not bend, the ground, as if suddenly turning into gentle waters, this red brush, slowly soundlessly inserted into the floor.

The mood in the chamber, slowly turned eerie, the rapidly flowing blood rivers started to emit indistinct shrills, faint blood energy, following the deep insertion of the red brush into the ground, gradually diffused from the formation and merged into the faint white vapours from the stone platform, shrouding BiYao’s body within it.

Ghost King and Ghost Li’s eyes without blinking, stare intently on.

The great shaman loosened his hand, chanted deep and low, reverberated in this stone chamber. In-between the great shaman’s lips, lightly and quickly spitting out one after another, words after words with strange tones, both of his hands as if following some melody, slowly rose, five fingers forming into claws, waving lightly.

The whistling inside the stone chamber, turned louder and louder, on the ground, the blood rivers in the formation were already churning, waves after waves raced rapidly, waves of unearthly forces, screamed from the rivers of blood.

Suddenly, a sharp shrill from the great shaman’s lips, ten fingers like claws clamped down, [pfff] into the blood rivers.

Almost at the same time, Ghost Li and Ghost King who were standing behind were dumbfounded, in that instant they felt that the stone chamber seemed not to exist, the stone walls, stone floor suddenly turned to s.p.a.ce, [须弥无间] , far beyond the highest heaven, eerie and dark, nothing to depend on.

[Translator’s note: I’m sorry but I really do not know what the Chinese words meant, please let me know if you understand, thanks]

Ghostly wails suddenly erupted, rushing in from all directions, dazzling red light shone out from the red formation, bursting upwards. Within the flickering red light, innumerable indistinct spirits shadows panicked, like being summoned here by an unseen power, not of their own volition, tried to find a way out but no matter where they scurried, they could not leave that red light screen.

And at this moment, the stone chamber restored its original appearance, Ghost Li and Ghost King immediately back to their senses. Both were shocked, they knew that a moment ago, that ‘Spirit Calling Bait’ formation actually transcended the surrounding stone walls, using the southern border mysterious shaman power to connect the nine netherworlds, captured innumerable spirits and trapped them in this formation.

However since this Spirit Calling Bait formation was that phenomenal, naturally it consumed a huge amount of effort, looking past the red light, the great shaman’s face was already beyond ashen, if right now to say that he was indeed a dead man, most probably some would believe it.

The two of them, their hearts palpitating, prayed in their hearts that this shaman master would hold on, at the same time their eyes fixedly stare at that formation.

There, innumerable spirits screamed and leapt in the red light, some were normal spirits, some had the appearance of strange huge beasts, after a while, these ghostly spirits after being rebounded from the red light, knew that they could not escape and all raged and screamed at the great shaman sitting in front of the formation.

The great shaman disregarded the infuriated spirits, a pair of eyes slowly looked up, looked at the stone platform shrouded in red light, at BiYao’s HeHuan Bell. Both of his arms suddenly brandished in the air, left hand still claw-like, right hand fingers instead were different, the ring finger and little finger bent inwards slightly, middle finger and index finger like sword, thumb facing upwards, it was the shaman incantation, pointing up into the air.

The HeHuan Bell shook with a chime!

[Ding!...]

The clear bell sound, like the oriole in the ravine, singing at dawn, that HeHuan Bell left BiYao’s hands, slowly rose into the air. Its faint golden light, once again glowed from its body.

Almost at the same time when the great shaman pointed at the HeHuan Bell, the Spirit Calling Bait blood formation’s innumerable spirits, like being held by the unseen force, although raged and bellowed, unwillingly but as if like following the tide, poured onto the HeHuan Bell in the air.

Immediately, the unearthly aura surged, HeHuan Bell shook violently, the ghostly evil power poured in from all directions, repeatedly, innumerable ghostly things swamped in, tore and bit the bell, attacked ferociously, the scene was crazy. And underneath this scene, that red blood sea in the formation, its red light became more and more vibrant, the blood whistled, almost surging up!

Looking like it could no longer take the ghostly forces, the HeHuan Bell’s faint golden light gradually dimmed, submerged within the innumerable spirits, the next moment, a sharp sound, a faint smoke appeared above the HeHuan Bell, indistinct and inconsistent, drifted above the bell, the lower half still in the bell.

The great shaman’s face, for some reason, suddenly turned slightly red, compared to before, his countenance seemed much better, even his arms seemed stronger while gesturing.

Delight flashed past his face, shouted,

“Tut!

The remnant spirit out of the body,

return to the nine netherworlds.

Yellow Springs nine netherworlds,

Spirit Calling as the bait!”

These four incantation sentences shouted out by the great shaman were full of vigour, impressive and awe-inspiring, following his shout, the red light dispersed with a rumble, in that instant, filled the entire stone chamber, Ghost King and Ghost Li only felt a boom in the surrounding, that empty, eerie, as if they were in the nine netherworlds feeling, again appeared, the only difference was this time, with the ghostly wails, there were also innumerable spirits flying around them.

[Boom!]

Without any pause, like lightning flashing past the horizon, before both of them could collect themselves, the scene changed back to the stone chamber again, in that red sinister screen, innumerable ghostly things within it, that faint smoke above the HeHuan Bell, was cl.u.s.tered around by the spirits, one after another streams of faint smokes emerged.

One, two, three...eight, nine!

Three souls and seven mortal forms, known as soul!

Ghost Li’s body shook, the nails in his hands dug deep into his palms, blood dripped down but he was totally unconscious of that. In that red screen, those streams of faint smokes…

He turned his head and looked at the great shaman.

Only a moment!

Just one more moment would do!

He could not help but shouted out in his heart!

The great shaman’s face was still red, withdrawing suddenly like the tide retreating. Deeply creased skin around his eyes, started to twitch.

The withered hands waving in the air, once again started to tremble. Only his voice, was still as loud,

“Three souls seven mortal forms,

gathered spirits as soul.

Combined soul to search for spirit,

as one!”

Following his voice, the nine streams of smoke in the air flew out from the crowd of spirits, slowly neared HeHuan Bell, gradually, merged with that faint smoke above HeHuan Bell as one.

Indistinctly, a human form emerged.

Right now, not only Ghost Li, even Ghost King’s body also started to tremble, excitement revealed on his face.

The great shaman’s face since when, had again turned pale, the trembling in his hands increased, in the red light, he opened his mouth, bellowed,

“The soul is completed,

all spirits back to your place.

Spiritual soul enter…”

The final word, ‘body’, before he could utter it, the great shaman’s voice suddenly was cut off, what was emitted instead was a faint low [si si] voice.

Ghost Li and Ghost King’s countenances changed immediately at the same time. The red light in the Spirit Calling Bait formation wavered violently, suddenly a loud boom sounded, the red light scattered, innumerable spirits charged out and sank into the stone walls below, in a blink vanished. Ghost King and Ghost Li did not pay any attention to that, looking past the chaotic scene, both of them looked for the great shaman.

That elder, both hands still raised up but his head was drooping down slowly.

Ghost Li and Ghost King, like lightning, dashed to the great shaman, supported his body but the great shaman’s head continued to droop down. However his lips was still struggling to speak.

Both of them tried their best to go as near to the great shaman as possible, in his mumblings, they could only faintly hear some words,

“[wu]...nine netherworlds…[wu wu]...until Yin…[wu]...not this…”

That voice gradually turned low and still, the elder’s head still hanging down and then there was no more sound.

The bone-chilling cold, as if the body was submerged deep into the ice prison of the otherworldly, the two stunned men, could not believe what they were seeing.

The dispersing red light slowly disappeared, the turbulent blood rivers quietened down, the blood lines after losing their power, could no longer contain the blood, vivid human blood spread out on the floor.

The faint smoke above the HeHuan Bell, was sucked back like a whale sucking water, disappeared into the bell. Faint golden light once again lighted up, the HeHuan Bell looked especially dazzling.

A gentle sway, accompanied with clear crisp bell, the HeHuan Bell slowly landed, back again to that cold stone platform, into BiYao’s hands, peaceful as usual.

The dead-like silence, hung in the ice cold stone chamber, lingered for a long time, not a sound at all…