Chapter 209: The Magical Duel

The fragrant scent grew stronger. The candlelight was already dim, and now it grew even fainter, gradually becoming a single, bean-sized flame. Zhang Yingchen felt his body grow heavy, his eyelids drooping, and he only wanted to sleep.

He struggled to his feet, but felt as if he were treading on clouds. The candlelight seemed to grow brighter, but the dark red flame had turned green, and it was stretching and flickering.

The room was dark, like a realm of ghosts. The lightning and thunder seemed to have receded. The room was deathly silent.

Suddenly, a thick fog surged in through the closed windows and doors. An eerie wind rose, and the misty shadows began to flow and surge. Strange sounds filled the room, and the wails of ghosts came from all directions.

The eerie wind grew stronger. Suddenly, the roar of the wind was piercing, and a faint rumble of thunder was mixed with countless dancing green stars that emitted a demonic light, like fireflies in a swamp in autumn.

The eerie wind grew stronger, and the strange sounds grew louder.

All sorts of bizarre phantoms flickered in and out of the gray mist and the shooting flashes of lightning. In an instant, a wave of wailing from ghosts and gods erupted.

Only Zhang Yingchen’s eyes could move. His mind was clear. He wanted to move, but couldn’t. He wanted to shout, but couldn’t make a sound. A feeling of empty, deathly terror swept over his entire body and soul.

He had been tricked! Zhang Yingchen understood in his heart. This was not a nightmare. He had most likely been ambushed—it must be some heretical cult!

The other party had given him a hallucinogen instead of poisoning him directly. Their intention was certainly not as simple as just taking his life. But no matter what their plan was, his current situation was dangerous. Zhang Yingchen knew that traditional medicine contained some powerful hallucinogens that could cause various illusions, ultimately leading the poisoned person to die in an accident during the illusion, or simply from the shock of the illusion itself.

However, he was now not in control of his own body. He only heard a voice outside that seemed to be summoning him. Although he understood in his heart, he couldn’t help but walk forward. He himself could hardly feel whether he was walking or not, only that his feet were as soft as cotton, and every step he took felt as if it were not his own.

The door had opened at some point. It seemed to be no longer raining in the courtyard, but rather filled with a light white mist. Various phantoms danced slowly in the light mist, with green, golden, and red lights drifting about. In the courtyard stood four giant ghosts taller than the houses, clad in armor and holding vajras, their eyes as large as copper bells, staring at him.

In the sky, many male and female demons danced: voluptuous and enchanting women, and fair-skinned, slender, handsome youths, with bursts of eerie laughter. The voice calling him came intermittently from amidst this strange laughter.

Not far away was a majestic palace shrouded in mist. On the roof of the great hall, a black bird circled and danced, shining with golden light. The path to the palace was lined with fragrant herbs and immortal flowers. He suddenly remembered: wasn’t this the main hall of the Yunji Temple that he had designed? Hadn’t construction not even begun? Daoist Priest Daoquan was startled and realized that this was an illusion! He had read many books on Taoist arts and was very clear about the various thresholds. At this moment, he was poisoned, and what he saw and heard were all illusions created and induced by the other party. But his body was completely out of his control. His mind gradually became blurred, and he could only walk forward.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from somewhere, and a smell of hot, burning metal assailed him. His body trembled, and he felt a slight recovery of his senses. Zhang Yingchen knew something was wrong and immediately bit his tongue. A sharp pain jolt him, and his body regained control.

As soon as his body regained control, his legs refused to obey him, and he immediately fell to the ground, splashing mud and water everywhere. Only then did he feel that it was still pouring rain outside, with thunder rumbling.

Although his body had fallen into the mud and water, he did not get up immediately. He still didn’t know what the situation in the courtyard was like. He just lay motionless in the mud and water, secretly observing with the corner of his eye. Fortunately, it was lightning and thundering outside, and the flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the courtyard.

A glance startled him greatly. The great hall of the Yunji Temple that he had just seen was actually the iron cage he had prepared to perform the “bathing in heavenly thunder” ritual—his self-modified Faraday cage. And the giant golden black bird was a huge kite, soaring in the dark, rainy night.

The iron cage was constantly making clanging sounds of metal hitting metal. By the light of the lightning, he saw clearly that this huge kite was tied to the cage with an iron chain.

A flash of lightning passed, and a blue flash shot down the iron chain. The entire cage immediately erupted in a dazzling shower of sparks.

In less than ten seconds, Zhang Yingchen had understood. The other party intended to lure him into the cage with a hallucinogen and then strike him dead with the lightning drawn down by the kite. He himself had placed this cage in the courtyard, and he had voluntarily walked into it. To be struck by heavenly thunder, wouldn’t that be a punishment from heaven?

At this thought, he couldn’t help but want to laugh out loud. Heaven was on his side!

No matter who the other party was, they were quite remarkable. They had known to use a kite to draw lightning earlier than Franklin, and they had even thought of using the lightning to strike him dead. Zhang Yingchen was fully aware of how effective this trick would be on the ignorant masses. After all, in the old world, charlatans who roamed the jianghu could make many people obediently hand over their life savings with just a few simple chemical tricks, let alone in the 17th century when the common people were even more ignorant!

He had thought of using a lightning rod to draw the lightning and then using a Faraday cage to protect himself to perform his “magical power.” He never expected the other party to use the same idea to try to kill him!

At this moment, Zhang Yingchen felt a strange sense of happiness. True, his head was still a bit dizzy, his whole body was lying in the mud and water, he was drenched by the heavy rain, and he didn’t know how many enemies were surrounding him, waiting to take his life. But he felt that he had never been so happy. This was a happiness filled with a sense of superiority—coming from the bottom of his heart and spreading throughout his body. He suddenly realized that there were indeed people in this world called “protagonists.”

And he, Zhang Yingchen, was one of them.

“Reciting the Dao De Jing in front of me!” He spat inwardly with a sense of intellectual superiority, then secretly put the summer medicine he had with him into his nose to avoid being further affected by the drug. Then he stood up unsteadily and continued to walk towards the cage.

Min Zhanlian stood on the eaves, watching everything in the courtyard. His men had already secured the perimeter to prepare for any unexpected situations.

The moment a lightning bolt struck the iron cage, Zhang Yingchen, who had already walked halfway, made him nervous for a moment. If Daoist Priest Zhang suddenly regained consciousness, the plan would not be perfect. Of course, he could use force to coerce Zhang Yingchen into the iron cage, but then it would not be a seamless operation.

Especially this woman. He glanced at the Dharma protector emissary—the red-clad girl was standing beside him. And a group of believers from the Zhuang residence were gathered under the courtyard wall, all kneeling piously. From their vacant eyes and wooden expressions, it was clear that they had also been given hallucinogens.

“I asked for your help to have Daoist Priest Zhang’s disciples witness it, not for you to perform a miracle!” he complained in his heart, but since things had come to this, there was nothing more to say.

“Your hallucinogen is not bad,” Min Zhanlian said in a low voice as he watched Zhang Yingchen stand up and then stagger towards the iron cage.

“This is the incantation of our sect’s master. Do you think our esteemed sect would play such a petty trick?” the girl said dismissively.

“Yes, yes,” Min Zhanlian cursed inwardly. It was clearly a drug, but she still had to make up this nonsense. If it wasn’t a drug, what was the use of the props set up in the courtyard?

“He moved the cage in himself, which saved us a lot of trouble, haha.”

The red-clad girl added, “The Daoist priest placed the iron cage in the courtyard because our sect’s master used a soul-capturing technique to compel him to do so. Otherwise, how could you have been so successful?”

Min Zhanlian was completely speechless. It seemed everything was under their control. His disgust grew, and he only wished to finish the job quickly, take the money, and leave.

New rain clouds drifted across the sky, and another round of thunder and lightning began. The kite, custom-made in Weifang of the later era, was very sturdy and soared in the wind and rain, continuously drawing lightning towards the iron cage on the ground.

In an instant, it was as if all the lightning in the sky was striking down at the Daoist priest. Golden snakes shot down the iron chain towards the ground. The entire iron cage was a shower of sparks, dazzling and brilliant. The smell of hot metal and burnt earth filled the air.

However, Daoist Priest Zhang did not twist his body in the thunder and fire, scream in agony, and finally turn into a charred mess as expected. He stood in the cage with his hands behind his back, his Daoist robe blowing in the wind and rain, looking like an immortal. He seemed completely unaffected by the massive lightning strikes.

“Damn it!” Min Zhanlian felt a slight sense of unease. He saw a look of surprise on the red-clad girl’s face as she turned to look at him.

Min Zhanlian gritted his teeth, jumped off the eaves, and risked running over to see what was happening. He saw Daoist Priest Zhang in the cage had already opened his eyes and was staring at him. Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky, and sparks flew from the cage, making his face look incredibly eerie.

“Your lightning-drawing technique is not bad,” Daoist Priest Zhang said calmly in the cage. “Unfortunately, you are showing off your meager skills before an expert.”

Min Zhanlian’s heart was shattered. He had been in the jianghu for many years and had seen many secret societies that were good at “performing magic.” He knew that most of their so-called magical arts were just deceptive tricks, relying on drugs, props, light and shadow, and various sleight of hand to achieve illusions. Even his so-called lightning-drawing technique was just learned from the “secret method” of craftsmen who protected temples from lightning.

Moreover, he had set up the entire scene today himself. He had made all the props personally, and he had even inspected the iron cage repeatedly. His men had also been watching day and night. There was no way Daoist Priest Zhang could have played any tricks.

Min Zhanlian’s legs went weak, and he almost fell to his knees. Fortunately, his mind was clear. He immediately jumped back several steps and was about to leap onto the wall. But in his haste and panic, and with the rain making the wall slippery, he misjudged his strength. His foot slipped, and his head hit the wall. He immediately fell flat on his back, a sorry sight. Luckily, the bamboo hat he was wearing cushioned much of the impact.