The ghostsonthis mountain weren’t strong, but there werea lotof them. We couldn’t movequicklyenough.

I guessed all the resentfulandwandering ghosts in Kyoto had gathered here. Therewasalso a large number of samurai. Although Japan isn’t as big as China, therewerecontinuous wars in its history. Moreover, samurais were proud. When they lost the battle, they wouldcommitseppuku to save their reputation. The resultwas this great numberof wandering ghosts.

Li Mazi said, “Brother, whyhavethese ghosts suddenly come here?”

I remembered there was a section inthe legendthat mentioned the Slaughtering Stone.That thingcould absorb the energy from the ghosts. “They may have come here because of the Slaughtering Stone, but the stone is still weak now. I guess the stone wants toabsorb thewaves of souls to rebuild Tamamo no Mae’s body.”

Chiba said, “We should find it quickly. Hurry, or it’ll be too late.”

Chuyi frowned.It seemed he wasabout to use his sword toprickhis hand. I guessed hewanted tousea bigtechniqueto open a path. However, I was worriedabouthim.

I stopped him. “I’ve gota solution. However, we will have to suffer a bit.”

“A bit of suffering isn’t much, as long as it’s not dangerous,” said Li Mazi.

“Don’t worry.It's not dangerous.I’m sure the soulswillact like they don’t see us.” I turned to Jade Tail. “Please suck our Yang energy, but not too much. Take it to the point where the soulswill no longer be able tosense us.”

“Great!That’sa great idea!” Li Mazi appraised me. “LittleBrother Zhang, yourmindis gettingsharperandshaper. You could even come up withsuch an idea!”

Jade Tail was sitting idly on a tree stump. When I called her, she pulled herself togetherand lickedher lips. “Oh well, Iwon’tbe polite then!”

She jumped offand startedto suck our Yang energy. A wisp of warm air floated from us,which connectedto Jade Tail’s mouth. When I started to feel light-headed, Iquickly said,“All right, enough. If you suck more, we will faint.”

Jade Tail patted her tummy. “Thank you forthetreat!”

We were a bit dizzy, but the soulsignored us now.It seemed they didnot see us.

Isaid to the others,“Let’s go!”

It felt so strange moving among the horde of ghosts. Many ghosts had kept their original appearance. But somewere headless,had theirgutsspilledoutasthough they had died ina car crash, orwere cutinto halvesat the waist. Anyway,most of them had empty eyesand movedasthoughthey weresoulless corpses.

Li Mazi grabbed my arm. Chiba hugged herself. We didn’t dare to say anything as we were afraid that we would startle them.

When we reached the place where the seal was placed, we recognized that someone had cut through the ditch we had dugearlier. The souls were streaming into the formation through that hole.

Things weredifficult now. We didn’t have the materials to mend the seal. We could only move forward.

When we entered the eye of the formation, I heardachopping noise. A man was hacking hisaxat the pine tree. He had blood all over his body. I guessed he had poured crow blood or snake blood on his body to disguise himself. The souls couldn’t smell himdue tothe thick scent of blood.

Itwas Urashima!Chiba called him. He turned, and when he saw us, he jerkedback in surprise.

Fortunately, he hadn’t chopped off the pine tree yet. The soulsstoodin wavesas they waitedfor their turn to be absorbed by the Slaughtering Stone.Thewhite mass of souls in front of uslooked so eerie.

I wielded the Sirius Whip, andChuyi drew his eight-facedHan sword.

Isaidto Urashima. “Give it up. Otherwise, don’t blame us fornot showingmercy!”

Urashima gritted his teeth. He dropped theax and pickedup a bag on the ground. Then, he started to runaway. We hurried behind him.

I wanted to use the Sirius Whip to deal with him, but Chuyi grabbed my hand. There were so many souls around. If we alerted them, they would swarm and swallow us whole.

Chuyi threw out a few paper cranesthatchased after Urashima. We just needed to follow the cranes to find him.Right whenUrashima was about to cross the line of wandering souls, I lashed the Sirius Whip at his ankle. Urashima screamed and dropped the bag in his hand.

I advancedand coiledthe whip around his neck. “What is your purpose?Tell me!”

He spoke Japanese,soI didn’t understand. Luckily for us, Chiba came. I asked her to interpret it for us.

She hesitated for a whilethen said,“He said you shouldn’t put your nose in his business.”

Chiba talked to him. At first, Urashima looked stirred up. Gradually, hebecamedispiritedand punchedthe ground.

Chuyi picked up the bag.The Silver Fox Guardian was inside.

“Jade Tail, didn’t you say this thing has nothing to do with the seal?” I asked.

“I don’t know!” Jade Tail came from behind me. “I didn’t cast this thing.”

Thissilver fox was the key to releasingTamamo no Mae.The momentChuyi was about to put it backinthe bag, he suddenly thrust his sword into the air. A young man wearing white clothes appeared. He clutched his wounded armand steppedbackward.

He said through his gritted teeth, “You ruined everything!”

“Jade Fang, you’ve finally come!” Jade Tail clapped her hands cheerily.

“Whydoyou help these mortals? It’s our mission to resurrect Tamamo no Mae-sama, isn’t it?” Jade Fang scolded his twin.

“We don’t have such a mission. If Tamamo no Mae-sama is revived, the entire area ofKyoto, no, theentirety ofJapan will suffer…”

“I don’t care if those mortals die ornot! You’re a traitor!”

Then, Jade Fang showed his fangsand glaredat Jade Tail. The two bared their fangs andraisedtheir sharp claws and fluffy tails. Theybeganto entangle in a battle in the middle of the empty place. Their moves were beautiful, but they also made peoplenervous.

Chuyi pulled me backsince he saw thatI wanted to go and help her. “We should send those souls away. It’s dangerous to let them congregate here.”“Howcanwe send them away?” I asked.

Chuyi grabbed the fox statue. He bit his finger anddrippedhis blood onit. The statue sucked his blood through the fox snout.

I wasshocked. This thinghad tobe a famous relic that I hadn’t known about yet.

“I guess Tamamo no Mae’s bonesaresealed in this silver statue. That’s why she can summon so many souls,” said Chuyi.

“Makes sense.” I nodded.

This thing acted like a super magnet. In other words,wehad to sealit.

Jade Tail gradually got the upper hand. Originally, they were equally powerful. However, since Jade Tail had just sucked our Yang energy, she was stronger. She scratched his face, which then bled. Jade Fang retreatedand clenchedhis jaw angrily.

Jade Fang roaredand dashedtoward the eye of the formation. Along the way, he grabbed andswallowedthe souls.

“Not good! That fox’s eating the souls!” I screamed.

Jade Fang swallowed dozens of souls in just a blink of an eye. His body reeked of thick Yinenergy. Hiseyesturnedmalicious.

Jade Tail screamed in fright. “Jade Fang, please don’t do that!”magic

“You should all die!” Jade Fang roaredand lungedtoward us. Jade Tail wanted to stop him, but she was sent away with his paw. Her petite body flew past meand hit a tree.

Right after that, Jade FangtargetedChiba, whowasn’t able toprotect herself. Chiba paled in fright. I lashed my whip, but he caughtitwith his hand. Although his palm sizzled and smoked, he didn’t letgo of it and pulledthe whip.

Chuyi cameand raisedhis sharp sword, butJade Fang flew to dodge his attack.He abruptly transformedinto a big fox, clawing atChuyi. Dust rose high from the ground, andChuyi disappeared.

I was frightened.Was he smashed to death?

“Filthy animal, die!” Chuyi screamed.

In the next moment, the giant fox disappeared. It was just an illusion.

Jade Fang was so scaredthathe swiftlymovedaround to avoid the eight-facedHan sword.

Then, the surroundings suddenly burned with high flames.

Of course, it wasanother illusion. Chuyi continued his attack.

Jade Fang’s power only included magic illusions.Sincehe was busted,he could onlydodge Chuyi’s attacks.

At thismoment, Li Mazi came out from behind a tree. I didn’t knowwhyhe had been hiding there, buthe had chosenthis moment to show up.

Jade Fang smelled the scent of aliving human. He grabbed Li Mazi from behindand triedto bite his throat. Li Mazistruggled and fell tothe ground. Jade Fang was so strongthatLi Mazi simply couldn’tfightagainsthim.

“You’re courting death!” Chuyi darted his Han sword. The sword swooshedand thrustinto Jade Fang’s chest.

“Noooooo!” Jade Tail screamed her heart out. Her voice lingered through the woods.