He raised his right hand and swung forward abruptly: "Everyone—fire!"
The order exploded like thunder.
In the next instant, eight hundred rifles with red talismans spewed fire together!
The dense gunfire sounded like popping beans, continuously echoing, as the scorching barrage illuminated the dark world like daylight.
Countless bullets sliced through the sky, trailing a faint glow like meteors flying backward, piercing the zombies’ bodies and the evil ghosts’ specters.
"Aooow—!"
"Uwaa—!"
The hordes of zombies and ghosts let out the most sorrowful wails.
The Copper Armor Fur Corpses hit by bullets had their hair falling off, emitting thick white smoke, as if scorched by an invisible fire.
And the ghosts in the air quickly dissolved like snow meeting the sun under the rain of bullets, turning into wisps of blue smoke.
What was once a ghastly chorus of wailing and sobbing was now turned into the desperate cries of these ghostly creatures.
Seeing the power of the rifles so striking, monks and practitioners, who were originally hesitant, couldn’t resist but tried holding up rifles for the first time in their lives.
"Master, Master! Look quickly!" A young monk struggled to hold a rifle taller than himself.
He excitedly pointed into the distance—where the Copper Armor Zombie that had been flaunting moments ago, was now forced back several steps by a single shot, its chest armor shattered, emitting rolling white smoke.
"Master, I also hit two!" Another young monk, refusing to be outdone, awkwardly pulled the bolt and fired several shots towards the surge of corpses, and lo and behold, two corpses fell to the ground in response.
The old monk watched his two disciples, who usually couldn’t even bang the wooden fish properly, now yelling with rifles in hand.
What was more speechless was that their efficiency in eliminating zombies was higher than his after years of diligent cultivation.
To this, the old monk’s mouth twitched slightly.
While his heart was shaken, his hands moved smoothly.
The old monk looked at the horde of zombies in front of him. He took a deep breath, steadying the gun with his withered left hand.
"Amitabha." The old monk intoned the Buddhist chant softly while pulling the trigger with his right hand, "The sea of bitterness is boundless, this old monk shall use this new method to help all donors attain bliss swiftly."
The gunfire rang, striking with precision.
Several Copper Armor Zombies retreated in response, their chests exploding, splattering black blood.
Beside him, several Taoist masters watched with twitching eyelids, nearly dropping their Peach Wood Swords.
Several Jianghu stranger practitioners looked at each other aghast—the old monk had just been using Buddha Beads to subdue demons, and now he learned to shoot, truly catching them off guard.
Yet the urgency of the battle allowed no time for contemplation.
"No matter if it’s gun or sword, if it can slay evil spirits, it is a merit!"
Someone shouted aloud, and everyone raised their guns to shoot.
An hour later, gunfire subsided.
On the smoke-filled streets, there was no longer a single evil spirit able to stand, only scattered charred ashes drifting with the wind.
Yet, deep in the Lin Family Stronghold, that pillar of blood-red light still soared to the sky, staining half the sky black.
The surging malevolent energy not only hadn’t weakened but was getting stronger.
"Ooooh—!!"
The piercing sound split the air suddenly, a dark golden figure tearing through the fog, speeding towards the troops at an eye-blinking pace!
"Golden Armor Flying Corpse... Though not completely transformed, it’s nearly there!" The old monk exclaimed, almost dropping his rifle.
The voices of several Taoist masters trembled: "Half-step Golden Armor, impervious to blade and bullet, hard for Tao Skill to invade... What can we do!"
The dark golden corpse fiend hovered in mid-air, its crimson eyes like two ghostly flames, locked fiercely onto Deputy Mo’s direction.
Deputy Mo’s face remained unchanged, first whispering a few words to a soldier by his side.
The soldier immediately took orders and rushed towards the town’s exit.
Then he waved his hand boldly, commanding sternly: "All units, focus fire! Shoot!"
The deluge of bullets poured down once again, the scorching barrage enveloping the half-step Golden Armor Flying Corpse.
However, this time the effect was far less effective—the majority of bullets struck the dark golden corpse, sparking bright fire and emitting sounds of metal clashing, evidently difficult to penetrate.
Nevertheless, a few bullets hit precisely at the joints, eye sockets, and other weak points, causing the corpse fiend to roar and howl continuously, black blood splattering.
Although it did not cause a fatal injury, it successfully halted its assault momentum.
Just as the bullet offensive began to show signs of fatigue, the sound of heavy wheels came from the rear.
More than a dozen soldiers were seen strenuously pushing a heavy mountain cannon through the town gate.
Deputy Mo’s lips curled into a cold arc, while the old monk and Qing Yunzi and others were already dumbfounded.
They had never imagined that the Southern Army would use such a tool of war for demon exorcism!
Amid countless shocked gazes, Deputy Mo leisurely lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.
He stylishly blew out a smoke ring and casually slapped a red talisman onto the cold cannon mount.
"Damn ghost thing, try this."
The next second, Deputy Mo crouched down and used the cigarette butt to light the fuse, the spark hissing along the tube, tracing a decisive streak against the blood-red sky.
The cannonball ripped through the air at a speed difficult to discern with the naked eye, accurately hitting the chest of the half-step Golden Armor Flying Corpse.
Upon contact, the gunpowder and some mystical power of the talisman erupt forcefully, transforming into a golden blazing sun that devours everything.
The dark gold corpse that drove the old monk and others to despair couldn’t even emit a single howl before it disintegrated inch by inch in the magnificent heavenly explosion.
The overwhelming evil aura melted away like ice and snow, finally transforming into scattered flying ashes across the sky.
At the same time, the black canopy over the Lin Family hill shattered in response.
The long-lost sunlight poured down, dispersing the gloom that had lingered for days.
Warmth returned to the land, and the suffocating stench was replaced by the refreshing aroma of grass and trees.
Dead silence.
The old monk and others were dumbfounded; the almost invincible half-step Golden Armor Flying Corpse, in their understanding, was reduced to ashes by a single shell?
This completely overturns the traditional understanding of "exorcising evil" in the magic skill realm for thousands of years.
A Taoist priest couldn’t help but speak: "Officer Mo... what gods descended here?"
Deputy Mo stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the bewildered monks, Taoists, and bizarre warriors.
"Us? Just an ordinary team under the Commander’s command, meant to sweep away monsters and demons."
Then, he shifted his tone sharply, his eyes suddenly flashing with burning light: "Since all of you masters are concerned for the common folk, why not join our Southern Army’s talisman camp?
This chaotic world—where demons run rampant, and people eat their children in desperation—are we to continue chanting rebirth mantras to redeem the wrongly dead?"
"Our Commander is destined by heaven to end this earthly hell, wouldn’t you all want to wield your meticulously cultivated divine techniques in a more satisfying way for the dawn of common folk?"
The cultivators looked at the extraordinary army combining iron and talismans before them, and their past worldview was utterly shattered, hearts full of complex emotions.
In the silence, a Taoist priest first stepped forward, flicking his duster, his voice resonating through the wilderness: "Blessings, Heavenly Venerable! My lineage of Yu Huo Temple is willing to pledge the entire sect under the Commander’s command, joining this talisman camp!"
His gaze was like a torch, each word resounding: "The common people in this chaotic world have suffered too long, and I, as a poor Taoist, am willing to devote this body and life to follow Commander Lu to sweep across the universe, eradicate all evil!"
"Count me in!"
"I am willing to go as well!"
With emotions suddenly stirring, everyone responded: "I will write letters now, persuading my old friends to come and contribute!"
"Subduing demons and exorcising evil is our destiny, and now that we’ve found a worthy lord, the time is right!"
Only the old monk remained bowed, silent. After a long time, he gently rubbed the Buddha beads, chanting softly: "Amitabha... Well done, well done."
Although he didn’t speak explicitly, his figure standing still was already telling everything—the old monk decided to join the talisman camp in the rolling red dust.
Far away in the secluded room of the Commander’s mansion in Southern County, Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes, red flames seemed to flicker in his gaze.
With a slight mental move, an arcane screen visible only to him unfolded before his eyes.
Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Seventh Generation)
Realm: Heavenly Master (Minor Success)
Cultivation Technique: Sunfire Talisman Sutra (10/9)
Points: 897802
Looking at the point field with a surge of 500,000 system points, Lu Xuan’s lips revealed a slight smile.
This was the system points gained by Deputy Mo leading a thousand talisman camp members to sweep away the corpse tide chaos at Lin Family hill and Heishui town.