I used folk talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Chapter 26 Green Bamboo bestows the Dharma, the Fish Mother's Deceptive Nest

Upon seeing Lin Zhengyang hand over the three scrolls of cultivation manuals, Jiang Jun hesitated only for a moment before accepting them readily: "Thank you for your generous gift, Daoist Master. When I have perfected the art of suppressing all things, I will surely repay you handsomely!"

Lin Zhengyang was delighted to see that he had accepted the gift: "Then I wish you, True Master, a speedy completion of your cultivation path, so that you may pave a righteous and glorious road for all living beings!"

A kilometer away, the three Zhou brothers, trailing far behind the four, looked at each other in bewilderment as they stared at the [Sound-Stealing Conch] in Zhou Xiao's hand.

"The way to suppress things? The one who opens the way?" Zhou Biao clicked his tongue. "That old geezer really struck it lucky?"

Zhou Hu took a deep breath: "I've also heard about that talisman. According to the information the Guild Master obtained from the Department of Mysteries, it might really involve the Dao Pioneers..."

Zhou Xiao scratched his head: "Should we still follow them? That old Taoist priest's compass is excellent at tracking the Azure Fish Ghost Child; the guild leader has mentioned it several times."

Zhou Hu smacked him: "Follow my ass! Those kinds of experts could just blow a breath and we'd be done for right here."

"Stay for the full seven days. Once that time is up, return to reality and report directly to the guild leader. We're not qualified to negotiate with such a powerful figure, much less afford to offend him!"

The three brothers glanced at the Whispering Snail from the bottom of their hearts, then turned around and walked away from Qixia Lake.

*

After accepting the three volumes of cultivation techniques from Qingzhu Temple, Jiang Jun originally intended to find a quiet place to rest for a while and perhaps comprehend some of them.

But whether it was because they had stirred up a hornet's nest or something else, the frequency of finding the bluefish ghost child on the compass had increased significantly.

No one wanted to miss out on such a treasure as the Azure Fish Strange Stone, so they continued their pursuit.

Two hours later, the elite-level ghost child's kill count increased by four more.

Lin Zhengyang's expression hardened slightly: "Something's not right. There weren't this many blue fish ghost children in Qixia Lake before. The strangest thing is that these ghost children can even cooperate with each other."

Jiang Jun recalled the group of strange children who besieged the cultists that day and fought to the death, as well as the elite strange children who were willing to die to cover their companions, and he was filled with doubts.

"The monsters are ruthless and insane; even when they appear in groups, they only treat their own kind as scapegoats and generally do not develop a true collective consciousness..."

Before he finished speaking, the compass in Lin Zhengyang's hand suddenly trembled violently. The fishy smell was so strong that it was almost pungent, mixed with a sweet and cloying stench that it hit him right in the head.

He frowned: "There's probably a hideout for a blue fish monster nearby."

Guided by their compass, the group of four arrived at a lake island. On the water's edge of the island, nests made of branches and feathers were stacked one on top of another, extending all the way down into the water.

A group of blue fish-like children were reproducing within the scene, a sight that was utterly disgusting.

Jiang Jun's gaze swept across the area and he discovered that there were two elite-level ghost children and about twenty roaming-level ghost children, a number less than the group he had fought against the cultists before.

However, one of the two elite-level monsters had dark red scales and was significantly taller.

Its body was bloated, like a mountain of flesh, making it difficult to move, so the male ghost child had to take the initiative.

"It's actually an elite-level female fish?" Lin Zhengyang's expression turned serious. "Luckily, we stumbled upon it. If this had been allowed to continue, Qixia Lake might have been struck by a strange calamity caused by the bluefish."

"The Blue Fish Calamity?" Jiang Jun wondered. This was something mentioned in the booklet but not explained in detail.

Cai Liang asked first, "Besides strength, what's the difference between this female fish and ordinary female fish?"

Lin Zhengyang knew that he had only been a disciple for a short time, so he was not surprised. He explained, "The Azure Fish Ghost Child is originally a wandering-level monster. Only those with good aptitude and good fortune can be promoted to the elite level."

"Female fish bear the responsibility of reproduction, which causes greater damage to their bodies, making it difficult for them to advance in rank. However, if they have a great opportunity to break through to the elite level, they will develop two completely new abilities."

"One is eugenics, which reduces the number of eggs laid, and directly produces elite-level monster children."

"Secondly, it governs the fish school. They are treacherous and ferocious, showing no love for their own kind, and even fighting each other for crucial resources. But with a female fish, they will be united in their thinking, and everything they do will be for the continuation of the species..."

Jiang Jun raised an eyebrow slightly: "One enhances the combat power of the high-level members, and the other strengthens the cohesion of the clan. This fish mother really cannot be kept alive."

He recalled the scene of the three strange children desperately protecting each other, all to retrieve the Lord-level strange stone. At the time, he only felt it was abnormal, but now he thought that they had probably already been controlled by the Fish Mother.

Just as Lin Zhengyang was about to wipe out the den of the strange child, the young Taoist priest Lin Dingxuan suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Master, Master, the number of this group is not right!" He pointed to the vast lair, "This place can house at least five hundred ghost children, but there are only about twenty here..."

"And there are those particularly tall nests, clearly meant for elite-level ghost children, there are more than a dozen of them! But there are only two elite-level ones in total."

Cai Liang casually remarked, "Could it be the group we encountered on the road?"

Lin Dingxuan shook his head seriously: "Impossible. The route taken by those strange children deliberately avoided this nest; they shouldn't live here."

Cai Liang patted him on the shoulder: "Good job, young man, you've observed very carefully."

Lin Dingxuan scratched his head sheepishly: "I've played too many real-time strategy games, and I'm used to calculating the population-housing ratio. That's why my calculations don't match up..."

A thought flashed through Jiang Jun's mind, and he realized: "The remaining strange children in this nest should be gone. They are probably the group that fought to the death with the cultists."

He pointed to the female fish: "It bears the marks left by the Five Gu Sect's poisonous insects, and its aura is quite obvious. The reason why the nest doesn't show any signs of damage is probably due to the effect of the Ghost Realm reset."

"If I'm not mistaken, those cultists should have fought the Blue Fish Ghost Child here first, before being chased all the way to Xiahewan..."

Seeing the puzzled expressions on the faces of the Lin family master and his disciples, Cai Liang briefly recounted what had happened on the day he arrived in the Ghost Realm.

"Is the Ghostly Cult still plotting something in this lair?" Lin Zhengyang's face darkened. "These beasts have killed so many people in Qingjiang City! And now they still haven't given up their evil intentions, trying to stir up trouble!"

He looked at Jiang Jun and suggested, "Master, it's best to destroy this lair as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows when the hidden dangers planted by the Ghost Soul Sect will explode!"

Jiang Jun nodded: "Slaughter them all first."

He raised his hand and waved it, sending "Ghostly Sorrow" flying into the air. Purple light needles rained down like a storm, and with a few "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds, all the wandering warrior-level ghost children were wiped out.

"Waaaaah!!!" The male elite-level monster child roared in fury, opening its mouth and spitting out a mouthful of black water into the sky.

"The Ghostly Sorrow" neither dodged nor evaded; instead, the light needle transformed into a sword, about a foot long, with a sharp and fierce edge, and slashed heavily down at the black water column.

On the other side, Lin Zhengyang also made a swift and decisive move.

His natal magical artifact is an oiled paper umbrella with two pythons, one blue and one white, intertwined on its surface.

He opened the umbrella, and yin energy poured into it. Two giant pythons broke free from it, opening their foul-smelling, blood-red mouths to bite the mother fish.

"Wow—" The mother fish roared to the sky, opened her mouth and spat out, but instead of a jet of black water, she spewed out two illusory elite-level ghost children.