"Effective!"
Zhang Yangbo exclaimed, the leader of the Sandao Association’s eyes instantly glinted with brilliance.
Although the order had come from him, he had been worried, not wanting any more of his neighbors to be corrupted and become mindless murderers.
Seeing that Huixin’s method was effective, cleansing the fear in everyone's hearts with Buddhist scriptures and stabilizing their near-collapsing minds, he couldn't help but breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
However, while this method was effective, it could only cover a single courtyard. Outside this, the residents of an entire mansion were still on the verge of mental collapse.
Not to mention that as time went on, more and more surviving residents would continuously gather.
If they relied solely on Huixin, she would be unable to control the collapsing minds of the people. In the pervasive fear, some would still fall into demonic ways.
Once someone’s mind collapsed and transformed into a demon in such a densely populated area, it would undoubtedly trigger widespread demonic corruption, turning this place into a living hell.
“Brother Xu, please arrange for some people to select the children among the residents.”
Shen Lang suddenly spoke up, “Children are often fearless. If they recite the words of the sages together, the resounding sound of their reading can alleviate the fear in everyone’s hearts.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Liuqing immediately summoned several trusted subordinates and instructed them to gather all the children from the households.
In the current situation, if children were to read aloud with clear voices, it could indeed significantly reduce the anxiety and fear in the hearts of the residents, preventing some from collapsing mentally and becoming demons.
Meanwhile, after careful consideration, Ji Yuan also requested a batch of yellow paper for making talismans, as well as cinnabar and other materials.
Although he had these items on him, they were almost depleted after several days of use, and could not meet the current immense demand.
Xu Liuqing naturally did his best to satisfy Ji Yuan’s request. Although the Sandao Association did not have these items in stock, fortunately, the Zhenshan Sect and the Yuanshan Escort Agency did.
Before coming here, these two sects had already emptied their treasuries. In addition, they often carried such items with them when traveling in the martial world.
Unlike the Sandao Association, which, although outwardly a martial sect, was essentially a local gang and did not use items for making talismans or alchemy.
In a short time, a large chest was carried to Ji Yuan by two Sandao Association members, most of it filled with high-quality talisman paper and a smaller portion with expensive cinnabar and other items.
He subconsciously glanced to the side and saw that the sect leader of the Zhenshan Sect and the head of the Yuanshan Escort Agency, despite their efforts to maintain a calm expression, could not hide the look of heartache in their eyes.
The value of the items in this chest was at least several thousand taels of silver, representing some of their most valuable possessions.
Ji Yuan naturally did not feel pity for these two wealthy families. He nodded, and with two Sandao Association members and the chest, he turned and entered the reception hall behind.
Shortly after, stacks of yellow paper were laid out on the table, alongside a large box of expensive cinnabar paste and five or six smaller wooden boxes.
He scooped out a large piece of cinnabar paste with a jade chip and placed it on a wooden board. Then, from the small boxes, he poured out some incense ash, gold powder, and even some yellow mud.
After thoroughly mixing everything, Ji Yuan took out the brush he specially used for making talismans from his sleeve.
He dipped it in the mixed cinnabar paste, then concentrated his mind and breathed steadily. With a flick of his wrist, he drew a talisman in just two or three breaths.
If one looked closely at the dark red runes, they could see spiritual energy flowing within, with faint traces of gold hidden within.
This was a type of talisman that could be used as soon as it was pasted, without the need to expend energy to draw the talisman core, thus saving a lot of time.
Otherwise, drawing the core of a single talisman would take about fifteen minutes, and Ji Yuan would need to use his own vital energy to form it, making the process arduous. He could only produce a few in an hour.
With this type of talisman, at Ji Yuan's speed, he had drawn thirty to forty pieces in just half an incense stick’s time.
The two Sandao Association members immediately took the freshly drawn talismans and ran to various parts of the mansion, following his instructions to paste one every ten feet or so.
Ji Yuan watched them leave and, thinking that he had nothing else to do for the moment, continued to hold his brush and drew over a hundred more talismans of this type in one go, to be kept in reserve by the Sandao Association.
After all, soon, the surviving residents of the entire neighborhood would be gathered around the Sandao Association's mansion, and the need for talismans would only increase.
After finishing these talismans, he took a piece of new wooden board and then prepared another type of cinnabar paste.
This cinnabar paste, as soon as it was prepared, contained extremely abundant spiritual energy. Its overall color was bright red with golden light flashing, indicating that a considerable amount of gold powder had been mixed in.
Using this cinnabar paste to make talismans, each one took more than fifteen minutes and consumed a lot of vital energy, finally completing only five.
In terms of quality alone, these were infinitely close to the level of inscribed talismans.
After finishing these, Ji Yuan saw the five people around him and released the white jade flying sword from his purple mansion, then put away the chest containing the talisman paper and other items.
After the white jade flying sword disappeared into his forehead, he leisurely left the hall.
In the mansion at this time, besides Huixin chanting Buddhist scriptures, Shen Lang had also left. He was leading a group of children in reading aloud everywhere, and the resounding sound of their reading echoed inside and outside the mansion, indeed dispelling a lot of the residents' fear.
“This won’t work in the long run, they can’t keep this up forever.”
Zhao Yuansong saw him emerge from the hall and quickly approached him, then whispered.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan nodded. Neither Huixin nor the children led by Shen Lang could persist like this indefinitely. People always needed rest, especially children.
However, to completely resolve this disaster, one would either have to deal with the rampaging demons or construct a grand formation to block the demonic energy descending from the sky’s barrier.
“Can you set up a formation?”
With this thought in mind, Ji Yuan looked at Zhao Yuansong beside him.
Since he came from a cultivation background and was the senior disciple of the outer sect of a major immortal sect like the Jiuxuan Gate, he should know a thing or two about setting up formations, right?
Moreover, earlier, when Zhao Yuansong fought the river monster, he had taken out a set of formation flags and set up a water-locking formation, preventing the monster from escaping by burrowing into the water.
However, after hearing the question, he shook his head helplessly, stating that he knew nothing about formations.
Thinking about it, Zhao Yuansong’s own talent was not particularly outstanding. Otherwise, he would not have spent more than ten years cultivating in the outer sect and, through his own abilities and good fortune, managed to become the senior disciple.
In recent years, all his energy had been focused on improving his cultivation and traveling the world in search of opportunities, leaving him no time to delve into other paths or lesser arts.
Ji Yuan could empathize with this. He also did not have enough time to study other things. After all, from the beginning of his cultivation until now, it had been less than two years.
“Your talismans are very effective. Even without the chanting of scriptures and the sound of reading, the fear among the residents has been greatly reduced. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be no more risk of demonic corruption.”
Xu Liuqing approached with his men and praised him sincerely.
Ji Yuan did not think much of it. However, he did remind them that there was a batch of similar talismans on the table in the hall, and if they were not enough, they could go and get them.
Hearing this, Xu Liuqing nodded slightly, then pointed to the Sandao Association members behind him and said, “A person outside claims to be your fifth senior brother. He has brought a couple and another man.”
Ji Yuan was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with joy. Zhao Yuansong, who was standing beside him, also perked up.
After exchanging a glance, the two of them immediately turned and ran towards the outside of the mansion, even forgetting to inform Xu Liuqing.
He did not mind this, and turned to lead his men into the reception hall. However, when he saw the more than a hundred talismans laid out on the table, his expression became incredibly varied.
On the other side, Ji Yuan and Zhao Yuansong ran through several courtyards and, as soon as they reached the mansion gate, they saw the group of people standing outside.
At the forefront was Guo Tao, who had become so thin from cultivating the Dragon-Elephant Technique that he was reduced to a towering skeleton. Behind him were Zhao Yuansong’s junior brother Li Junxian, and a young couple.
“Fifth Senior Brother!”
Ji Yuan first shouted to Guo Tao, then quickly walked towards the young couple.
“We meet again.”
He thought for a moment, unable to find the right words, and could only softly greet them.
Seeing the people before him again, his heart was filled with mixed emotions. Memories of the past flooded his mind, especially what had happened at Luohun Slope.
He had thought that after that incident, he wouldn’t know when he would see them again. But unexpectedly, they met again in this place after only a few days.
“You sent me a letter, how could I not come immediately?”
Song He smiled, unchanged from the person he remembered.
Beside him, the young woman also smiled, “You have been kind to us, and now that you are in trouble, we naturally must lend our full support.”
“Greetings, sister-in-law!”
Ji Yuan called out, a warmth spreading through his heart.
Although he didn’t know how they entered the city, he assumed it wasn’t easy. The formation set up on the city walls clearly indicated the myriad dangers within the city, yet they had still managed to enter.
Such friends are hard to find in this world!
A surge of boldness suddenly rose in his heart. Even if the entire city was filled with demons, what did it matter? It was merely that heaven and earth were sealed!
With these friends by his side, minor difficulties were insignificant.
“With the help of a fellow cultivator, our chances of success for this mission will be even greater.”
Zhao Yuansong said with a timely smile.
He had heard about Song He’s background earlier. He was also a cultivator of the second realm and possessed a supreme-grade magical artifact, just a sliver away from legendary divine weapons.
Furthermore, his magical arts were extraordinary. His combat power was by no means comparable to an ordinary second-realm cultivator.
With such a person assisting them, their mission to slay the demons at the county yamen would at least increase their chances of success by several fold.
However, upon hearing this, Song He's expression suddenly became somewhat strange. After glancing at his wife beside him, he smiled and said, “My wife is also a cultivator of the second realm. I believe she can also add some certainty to our success.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Ji Yuan and the others’ eyes lit up. They had already considered Song He’s arrival a great surprise, but they never expected an even greater one.
If this were the case, with Zhao Yuansong and Su Hongzhu on their side, plus Song He and his wife, they would have a total of four cultivators of the second realm, facing a county yamen with only two second-realm demons.
Even if it couldn't be said to be a walk in the park, as long as no unforeseen circumstances arose, they would have at least an eight to nine-tenths chance of victory.
Not to mention the assistance of dozens of Sandao Association members, the renowned expert Xu Liuqing, and a trump card of the Sandao Association.
Furthermore, at a critical moment, if Ji Yuan disregarded the consumption of vital energy within his body, he could fully utilize the white jade flying sword in his purple mansion or the ancestral master’s sword 'Yuanbao' on his back to unleash an attack capable of killing a second-realm cultivator.
The only concern now was the person secretly orchestrating this. Since they had chosen to act with such impunity, sealing the entire county with a grand formation, it was unlikely they would stand by and watch them kill the demons in the county yamen without any reaction.
“I see that demonic energy is permeating the city. You should need a formation to isolate it here, right?”
Song He glanced at the mansion in front of him and smiled, “By chance, I have some experience in formations. I can set up a Three Yin Yuan Water Formation, which can effectively isolate the pervasive demonic aura.”
Upon hearing this, joy immediately appeared in the eyes of the group. This was precisely what they needed most at the moment.
As long as they could isolate the demonic energy, they could prevent the residents here from being troubled by demonic corruption, directly saving at least thousands of lives!
“But let’s make it clear first, the materials for setting up the formation must be provided by the owner of this place. I came in a hurry and didn’t bring much of my wealth.”
Song He smiled. At this moment, his expression was somewhat similar to Ji Yuan’s at certain times.