Chapter 123 - Ghost General
"The ghost general has set up a lair in the hills near Luoxi, and he protects the ghost mother," Ma Xuefeng explained the current situation to him.
The ghost mother transformed the yin energy in the air into ghosts.
Alex listened attentively to the unfamiliar terminology.
'It's like a totally different universe...' Fascination filled his heart.
"Should we go on foot? Do you use flying swords or something?" Alex inquired of the two.
Ma Xuefeng shook her head and grimaced, "Sir, only our Nascent Soul seniors can use flying swords."
'Well, going on our feet would be rather slow, so here goes nothing," Alex decided to incarnate into Hermes.
Feathery wings appeared on his back, and the two siblings only looked on with their jaws wide open.
"What are you waiting for? Get a hold on," Alex held out his hands to the two.
He clutched them tightly, and slowly levitated into the air.
"I'll be moving now, hold on very tightly!"
Alex instantly increased his speed to the maximum and flew towards the hills outside of Luoxi.
It only took a minute, and he slowly landed back on the uneven ground.
Ma Xuefeng and Ma Guanting were still dazed, and their clothes and hair were completely disheveled from the flight.
"Where is the ghost general?" Alex turned to the two.
Ma Xuefeng's body jerked, and she immediately started searching for something in the pockets of her robe.
Then, she took out a rectangular piece of paper. The paper had strange and complex scribes that were written with red ink.
And the ink glowed in the dim night.
"Sir, this talisman can detect the concentration of yin qi in the air, we should find them if we continue," Ma Xuefeng passed Alex the talisman.
Alex examined it and a system interface popped up to appraise it.
_____________________
(Yin Qi Detection Talisman)
Quality: Good
State: Normal
______________________
'There's no additional information?' Alex found that strange, but he knew of the object's purpose nonetheless.
"Let's go...this direction," Alex pointed to another slope in the hill.
After that, they climbed further up, and the red ink glowed even brighter, therefore indicating that they were on the right track.
Soon, they halted in front of the entrance to a deep crevice in the ground.
"This is where the talisman grows the brightest!" Alex inserted the talisman into the crevice.
Ma Xuefeng was reluctant to enter the dark and narrow crevice.
"Will, you two come?" Alex softly asked them.
Ma Xuefeng was indecisive, but Ma Guanting jumped in front of him and excitedly nodded.
"I'll guarantee his safety," Alex reassured the older sibling.
However, Ma Xuefeng changed her decision and proclaimed, "Sir, I'll be going too, you might need information."
"Alright."
After that, Alex went in first and slowly climbed down.
The entrance was very narrow and small, so he struggled to fit in.
'I can't even destroy these rocks to make the entrance bigger because that would close off the crevice...' Alex frowned as he awkwardly navigated the cramped depths.
Fortunately, they didn't need to climb down too deep, and the tight space gradually widened up until Alex felt his feet land on solid ground.
He waited for the two siblings, and they reached this place soon after.
The cave was dim, but the talisman shined with such a strong light that the two were able to clearly see their path.
However, the light did not help with the atmosphere of the cave.
Alex felt goosebumps instinctively rise on his body the further he walked into the cave.
Nonetheless, they carefully and slowly advanced deeper and deeper.
Suddenly, the tunnel-like cave made way for a large and wide opening.
The talisman now completely illuminated the place.
*Drip*
From the sharp stalactites slithering down the ceiling of the cave, water droplets fell down into a small pond.
On the other side of the cave, a strange whirring sound echoed.
Upon further inspection, Alex perceived a strange slime-like ball that gathered black vapor around it.
"That's the ghost mother! The ghost general should be nearby! Guanting, set up talismans over the walls so it can't escape!" Ma Xuefeng exclaimed.
Her brother obliged and took out a stash of inscribed paper from his pockets.
Then, he stuck a talisman on the wall and performed an incantation on it.
The talisman began glowing, but it then abruptly tore up.
A green mist congregated around the boy and solidified around his arm.
"It's a part of the ghost general's body! Guanting!" Ma Xuefeng screamed.
*BAM*
The cave suddenly shook aggressively.
Alex had launched Prometheus into the mass of slime, and when his ruby came into contact with it, it swiftly vaporized.
"Let's defeat the ghost general first, it can't escape as long as it is bound to a living ghost mother!" Ma Xuefeng once again gave him information.
Suddenly, the slime-like substance targeted Ma Xuefeng, but Alex swiftly recovered his weapon and obliterated it.
The cave fell into silence, except for the whirring sound of the ghost mother.
"Did Sir...defeat the ghost general?" Ma Guanting worriedly asked his sister.
"It's unlikely, the ghost general can separate his body into many pieces...."
She continued, "Guanting, let's set up all of the talismans so we can trap him inside of the cave and Sir can end him once and for all,"
Alex also wished to help them set up the talismans.
"Sir, I don't know if you have any Reverence Qi..."
'Reverence Qi? That should be Faith Energy, right?' Alex insisted and grabbed a talisman for himself.
He solidly plastered it on the wall and channeled his Faith Energy into it.
A blinding light spread from the talisman.
"I've never seen such a strong talisman, Sir, we can trap the ghost general here with only your talisman!" Ma Xuefeng praised him.
As she said, a green mist suddenly gathered and solidified into the shape of a man.
Alex charged at the ghost general and pierced his spear into it.
"AAAAAAAAAAA" The creature groaned dryly in pain.
Soon enough, there was nothing left of it.
However, Alex slanted his eyes and threw his spear into thin air.
It didn't escape his sight that an extremely small amount of the mist hadn't vaporized.
After that, their attention moved on to the ghost mother.
Unfortunately, his spear did not work on the slime ball.
Ma Xuefeng lamented, "If I'd known that we'd fight the ghost general, I'd have brought a talisman to seal the ghost mother..."
She coughed and continued, "We need to take it with us to Martial Uncle, he's very good at sealing."
After their successful battle, they left the crevice.
The two bowed to him in thanks and said, "Sir, the Kunlun Mountain Sect opens its doors to you.."
"We have an envoy from the heavenly domain who comes by every month to check that we are doing an immortal's work properly, if you wish, the envoy would be able to guide you to the abode of Lord Jade Emperor,"
Alex thanked them for the proposal, and they parted ways soon after.