“The fog… is not normal!”
“Nonsense. Fog appears either in the morning or at night, have you ever seen the fog at dusk?”
“Things out of the ordinary must be evil… Is this really the Night of Great Desolation?”
“What do you mean by really? You speak as though you have experienced it before.”
“However, if that’s the case, we won’t be able to see the movements of the succubi!”
Compared to the chattering crowd, Luo Qingqing was obviously much calmer. She directly gave commands to a fellow disciple. “Go, ring the bronze bell. Get the people below to light their torches and take positions based on the previously arranged formation.”
“Yes.”
As the warning bell sounded, the candidates gathered in the open space began to move. Although they were noisy and undisciplined during their journey, under the temptation of passing the test, everyone followed the arrangement and entered their respective defensive positions.
Xia Fan also followed the command and climbed up the western “city wall”.
Although it was called a “wall”, it was actually made of a combination of two brick houses and a concrete wall. The roof of the house was mostly demolished and had a horizontal piece of wood in the middle. It was transformed from a sloped surface that was easy for drainage to a fairly flat platform. The entire western wall could accommodate more than 30 people, and the narrowest point could accommodate for five people’s width. This was considered a “luxurious configuration” that many small towns did not have.
Luo Qingqing had once hinted that if he didn’t want to face the evil spirits, he could be placed on the backup team. However, Xia Fan declined the offer. Apart from feeling that he should be responsible and do his own part, he also wanted to observe the Night of Great Desolation up close, as well as how the mystics dealt with the evil spirits.
The candidates who climbed the western wall were mainly led by the Luo family. They were divided into groups of five, amounting to five to six groups in total. Behind them were the backup and logistics teams, the former responsible for replacing the injured or unable to fight candidates, the latter responsible for carrying supplies and taking care of the wounded. The overall arrangement was considered simple and clear.
The leader of Xia Fan’s group was none other than Luo Tang, whom he had met before. She should be slightly older than Xia Fan, perhaps about 18 or 19 years old. She had decent looks, with long black hair behind her back, giving off an aura of a talented female. However, for some reason, he felt that she seemed wary of him.
Seeing the personnel arrive, Luo Tang said, “Although Luo Qingqing already said this, in order to avoid oversight, I will repeat it. Everyone’s main task is to stop the evil spirits from attacking and climbing the walls, as well as make sure that the torches remain lit…” She pointed at the wooden pole which was lit and burning. Such a pole was found every three or four meters apart, and it looked as though there was an additional fence of moving flames. “Once we lose the light from the fire, the danger of the succubi will increase greatly. Therefore, no matter what happens, we must ensure the fire remains lit.”
“What if the fire goes out?” someone asked.
“Then, it will be life and death. Your fate will be left to your own capability,” said “Brother Yan”, who was leaning at the corner of the wall.
After spending two days together, Xia Fan had more understanding of this person. His real name was Zhang Yan, and his brother Zhang Shi was the one who called him “Brother Yan”. Both of them were born in a family of hunters and were originally village men. However, because they were able to sense Qi, the county’s officials sponsored them to learn how to read and write, as well as participate in the mystic examination.
When he was wearing a Confucian green shirt, his demeanor was somewhat awkward. He only began to act naturally when he led a hunting party to the mountains to hunt for the wilderness and changed back to a leather short coat and boots. Now, with a short bow on his back, he looked like a seasoned hunter.
“Of course not!” Luo Tang said angrily. “Once the flames go out, you will have to find a place with light and wait for the backup team to bring up new fire torches before you return to your positions!”
“That’s right… that’s exactly what I mean.” Zhang Yan whistled.
Luo Tang didn’t bother to respond to him and continued, “The succubus is a ‘nocturnal animal’ and fears light and heat. The Fire Technique, Heaven Technique, and Thunder Technique are also good at restraining them. The herbs distributed also focus on these two spells. However, everyone is good at different spells. If you think you’re not confident in those techniques, don’t waste the herbs. Leave them for those who are confident. The peach wood weapons also have a good effect of scaring the opponents. Just hold them and guard around the torch.”
Xia Fan took a look at the wooden basket where the herbs were placed. Indeed, there was a lot of powder. Those should be the sulfur and nitrate powder often used in the Fire Technique.
“What if the whole city wall loses our flames?” asked Zhang Shi. Unlike Brother Yan, he was half a size bigger than normal people and had thick arms and legs. He didn’t look agile. Most of the time, he was silent and somewhat resembled the “stone” in his name[1].
“Retreat to the small plaza and the Luo family will release the final spell, lighting up the inn and teahouses. The source of fire will be the source of the spell that we collected,” replied Luo Tang.
“Source of the spirit fire?” Xia Fan frowned.
“Yes. Although the spirit fire is considered “dark” and is unable to drive evil spirits away, the lit houses will be able to. In other words, this ‘city wall’ will be our last torch.”
His plan didn’t include that.
Clearly, this countermeasure was thought of by Luo Qingqing.
It would be a huge problem if they reached that state, thought Xia Fan.
The fox demon was still resting in his room. He couldn’t leave her alone, but he also couldn’t bring her out into the public. Therefore, he had to prevent the worse from happening.
Half an hour later, the sun completely set into the mountains, and the red sky turned completely black. The blurred vision further deteriorated. Xia Fan estimated. Even if none of the torches went out, they could only see about 20 meters ahead. Any further, the light from the flames seemed to be blocked by the heavy fog.
Meanwhile, the gust of evening wind was felt overhead. Unlike the usual movement of airwaves when the sun set, where it was warm with a hint of coolness, this gust of wind was spine-chilling.
The torches swayed in the wind.
The noisy crowd unknowingly fell silent. The candidates couldn’t help but hold their breaths and stare at the darkness in front of them, not even daring to breathe.
Everyone knew that the night wouldn’t be an easy one.
Suddenly, Xia Fan saw a bizarre change at the edge of the swaying flames. A part of the darkness seemed to have broken away from the night and fog, landing on the dark ground.
It didn’t overlap with the ground but remained upright. That meant that it was neither a shadow nor illusion, but something solid!
Because it was so far away, apart from making out a human figure, Xia Fan couldn’t discern any more details.
However, the shadow moved very slowly and it seemed a little unnatural. The steps it took weren’t smooth and felt as though they were broken up into sections.
“They’re here,” said Luo Tang with a low voice.
“That… that’s a succubus?” Zhang Yan lost his composure as he held the arrows.
“Succubus is a common term… It’s also my first time encountering the evil spirits in the Night of Great Desolation.” She swallowed her saliva and attempted to hide her nerves.
As more darkness separated, the eerie wind seemed to grow stronger. The torches began to sway even more.
Xia Fan noticed that the areas covered by the darkness would never light up again. Once the light contracted, darkness took over. He initially thought it was an illusion, but after comparing the visible width of the streets, the visible area was obviously shrinking!
The inky colors between heaven and earth seemed to melt into one, and the fortress was the only faint light in the darkness.
As the black shadows drew closer, Xia Fan could see more clearly. Their number wasn’t too great at the moment, with only about eight or nine of them at the front of the western wall. The first of which had approached within ten meters of the wall. When its appearance was fully presented under the light, Xia Fan couldn’t help but inhale a gust of cold air.
“F*ck.”
These evil spirits looked so different from what he had imagined!
He originally thought it was a zombie siege, but the thing in front of him was completely out of the definition of a corpse. It only had a human-like outline, a large head, and slender limbs, and most of its body was covered by a shell of mud, branches, and other debris. One could see that its interior was empty where it was broken. Under the surface, it seemed like there was a bottomless hole as well as a lot of black fog flowing around.
Except for a pair of “hollows” on the top of the head, there were no other features on the body — no nose, no mouth, and its head was one with its torso. This reminded Xia Fan of those monsters in Silent Hill. Despite the difference in appearance, the feeling was very similar: both were the embodiment of pure malice, and one got chills simply by looking at it.
“Ugh…”
Sounds of vomit could be heard.
Xia Fan also felt his stomach churning. Even though the monsters were terrifying, it wouldn’t cause him to vomit just by looking at them. The sickening discomfort had nothing to do with their shape, but something more profound…
He had never had a similar experience and couldn’t describe it right away. However, he felt that the things in front of him were naturally opposed to the living, and as long as they were living things, they would subconsciously feel repulsive and hateful.
The only blessing was that their speed of movement never changed. They spent about five to six minutes moving across ten meters. Even limbless zombies crawled faster than them.
This allowed everyone to have sufficient time to prepare the spells.
“Everyone, don’t be afraid. As long as the torches don’t go out, the succubi won’t hurt us!”
Someone on the west wall suddenly shouted.
Xia Fan looked over. The person was none other than Fei Nian.
He raised a talisman high up and threw out white powder from his hand.
“Fire Technique, Rooster Style! Flame Booster!”
When the talisman turned into ashes, a bright beam of flame bloomed between the wall and the succubi.
The flames were like long dancing snakes, swooping down on the target and engulfing the succubi!
[1] Shi means “stone” in Mandarin