The carriage had been traveling for about three hours, and the time had shifted from evening to the morning. The desperate cries of the Mao Shan disciples continued to echo in his ears, which greatly puzzled Shi Jian.
Logically, the more than ten patriarchs of Mao Shan should not have stood idly by.
"Bá, we finally found you."
Just as he was about to possess a Mao Shan disciple, Shi Jian heard the voices of Black and White Impermanence.
Looking outside the carriage, he saw three familiar figures not far away, wielding three magical artifacts and battling a bá.
These three artifacts were the Tai Qing whisk, the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams Mirror, and the thunder-struck wood, all of which he was most familiar with.
"Mao Xiaofang, Awei, Li Xuyan!"
Shi Jian quickly recognized the identities of the three. They had undergone significant changes in appearance over a long period.
However, their overall appearances had not changed much. Awei was still as fat as ever, his physique almost rivaling Zhuge Kongming's.
It was evident that he had not cultivated his body and lived a very comfortable life.
"Lord Soul-Fetching Emissary, do you know those three Taoist priests?"
"Are you stating the obvious? Those three Taoist priests are my disciples before my ascension. Hurry up and go rescue them."
Upon hearing that the three were Shi Jian's disciples, Black and White Impermanence quickly controlled the carriage and rushed towards the bá.
At this moment, Mao Xiaofang and the other two were already exhausted, unable to deal with the bá. Many Taoist priests from various sects lay on the ground, mostly lifeless.
"Senior Disciple Brother, you quickly go back and get Zhong Bang to deal with the bá. We two will hold off this demon to buy you some time."
Beside him, Li Xuyan, seeing that they were no match for the bá, intended to sacrifice themselves to preserve Mao Xiaofang's life.
If the un-rotting corpse could exist under the sun for a few hours, then the bá was completely unafraid of sunlight and could come out to consume human blood during the day.
Under normal circumstances, bá and un-rotting corpses were reluctant to appear during the day.
Ordinary zombies feared sunlight. Zombies with a sliver of sentience knew that they could not win against overwhelming odds, so un-rotting corpses and bá mostly appeared at night, with large numbers of lesser zombies by their side.
"Brother, the coffin nails in the nail gun are almost gone. You should do as Junior Disciple Li said and go back for reinforcements."
"Damn it, the divine summoning technique is not working at this critical moment!"
Awei, panting, looked at the remaining five coffin nails in the nail gun and showed a look of despair.
Coffin nails soaked in rooster blood for less than a year had little lethality against a bá. It required five, or even ten years or more, to have any effect.
"You guys go first. I promised Master that I would ensure your safety. At worst, I will use the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Technique to perish with this demon."
Mao Xiaofang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a powerful purple lightning surged all over him. The Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Technique had reached the seventh level.
Instantly, the heavens and earth changed color. Purple lightning flickered continuously in the sky, and even the bá showed a hint of apprehension towards the seventh-level Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Technique.
"A fleeting bloom, Li Xuyan, Awei, quickly leave this place!"
As Mao Xiaofang was about to fight the bá to the death, the sound of horse hooves suddenly arrived.
The purple lightning that had been flickering in the sky immediately calmed down, the surroundings became dim, and not a trace of sunlight could be seen.
"What's going on?"
The three looked around with confusion, and even the bá in front of them seemed to sense danger and looked around.
A carriage slowly approached, and the driver was none other than the renowned Black and White Impermanence ghosts.
"Demon, you dare to harm people in front of this marshal!"
Fan Wujiu drove the carriage and rapidly charged towards the bá!
Then, the two horses with green glowing eyes directly sent the Kui flying a hundred meters away.
When Black Impermanence saw the bá trying to get up, he used his soul-fetching rope to hook at the bá in front of him.
However, the bá had no soul or spirit, so the soul-fetching rope was useless against zombies. Soon, the bá broke free from Black Impermanence's restraint and, with bared teeth and claws, lunged at Black Impermanence.
Inside the carriage, Shi Jian did not intend to make a move. Great masters always appeared last, and he was no exception.
"Demon, don't you know to surrender when you see us two!"
Xie Bi'an saw the bá charging over and coordinated with Fan Wujiu to restrain the bá.
As one of the Ten Yin Marshals of the Underworld, ghosts and zombies alike would turn and flee upon seeing them. Yet, the bá not only did not flee but even charged forward to attack Black and White Impermanence. Its courage was a level higher than that of the Kui.
With the cooperation of Black and White Impermanence, the bá was soon temporarily controlled by the soul-fetching rope.
However, the bá was different from the Kui. It had no three souls and seven spirits, was not within the three realms, and had transcended the five elements. The mourning stick could not be inserted at all.
"Old Xie, it seems we can't contain this thing. Let's just kill it."
"Don't, bá is a rare species. Wouldn't it be good to tie it at the Gate of Hell to guard it?"
Black Impermanence pulled the soul-fetching rope, dragging the chosen bá towards the carriage, intending to keep it bound to the carriage with the rope all the way.
Upon returning to the Gate of Hell, it would be restrained with special chains and netherflame.
However, as soon as the bá approached the carriage, it suddenly broke free from the restraint of Black and White Impermanence, and the soul-fetching rope snapped into two pieces, becoming useless.
"This demon is cunning. It truly is a bá. Its intelligence is far beyond that of ordinary zombies."
Seeing the bá's high intelligence, Fan Wujiu decided not to bring it back to the Underworld and chose to execute it on the spot.
Black Impermanence wielded the mourning stick and wrestled with the bá!
White Impermanence rushed forward to help upon seeing this. Thus, the two ghosts and one zombie were engaged in a chaotic battle.
"Senior Disciple Brother, it's the two Yin Marshals, Black and White Impermanence. Should we go up and help?"
Li Xuyan, who had recovered, saw that the arrivals were the two Yin Marshals, Black and White Impermanence, and immediately suggested going to help the two ghosts.
Anyone with discerning eyes could see that the magical artifacts of Black and White Impermanence had little effect on zombies. They were soon to be at a disadvantage. If they didn't help soon, the two ghosts and the three of them might fall into the hands of the bá.
"Isn't that obvious? If we don't go help, are we waiting for the bá to drive away Black and White Impermanence, and then we'll engage in a war of attrition?"
After speaking, Mao Xiaofang first enchanted the Tai Qing whisk with the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder and rushed forward to engage the bá in combat.
"Senior Disciple Brother, wait for me!"
"Demon, behold the power of my Yin Yang Eight Trigrams Mirror!"
Li Xuyan and Awei took out their respective weapons and fought the bá.
With the addition of the three, the situation soon improved, and the bá gradually fell into a disadvantage.
It would take some time to destroy the bá, but Mao Xiaofang and the other two were rapidly depleting their energy and could not hold on for long.
As time passed, after more than ten minutes, the obese Awei was the first to collapse. His face was pale, his lips were cracked, his limbs gradually lost strength, and he fell to the ground.
"Junior Disciple!"
"Second Senior Disciple Brother!"
Mao Xiaofang and Li Xuyan saw the bá about to attack the prostrate Awei and quickly intervened to block it.
Unfortunately, they were too far away, and their spiritual power was also depleted, rendering them unable to use the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Technique or other spells.