High noon. Blistering sunlight speared deep into the exposed corpse-nest. Where the light touched, the dark miasma swirling at the pit's mouth recoiled violently, as if scalded! The revolting, decaying moss coating the pit walls emitted faint, sizzling hisses under the intense glare!
He Zhang-shi's heart-rending wails detonated the fury buried deep below.
"Urrrr-rrrgh..."
"Hsssss... ugh... gkkk...!"
A sound that scraped raw nerves erupted from the pit's unfathomable depths! It was a guttural roar choked with phlegm, twisted with the venomous mutterings of an old crone! Instantly, a wave of freezing, violent malice surged upward, reeking of decay and rot!
Crack... crumble...
The ground beneath their feet began to tremble!
Rocks and dirt showered down into the pit. Everyone felt it – a colossal force heaving violently upwards from below. Something monstrous was tearing through the earth, fighting to break free!
"It's... it's coming out!"
"Mother of God! Save us!"
"Ghost! The ghost is coming!"
The courage the men had mustered moments ago evaporated. Terror seized them. Shrill screams tore through the air. Tools clattered to the ground. Men collapsed. Others scrambled backwards in blind panic, crashing into each other. Utter chaos erupted!
Even the two women holding He Zhang-shi shrieked and let go in terror. The madwoman crumpled to the ground, convulsing, clutching her head and shrieking.
Only one man stood firm.
Wang Yan, steadfast as bedrock on the shaking earth, eyes locked on the pit spewing foulness. A vein throbbed at his temple; cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
"Madness... it's berserk!" he hissed. "It's trying to claw its way out into the noon sun!"
This was beyond his worst fears. The combined torment of its tormentor's presence and the searing sun had driven the cat demon into a frenzy, nearly shattering the sun's natural suppression!
If it breached the surface now, even weakened, it would tear everyone apart, devouring them as fuel for its final transformation.
"OLD HUANG!" Wang Yan roared, cutting through the pandemonium. "The dog blood! NOW!"
Old Huang, paralyzed with fear, jolted back to awareness. He scrambled, grabbing a heavy wooden bucket beside him – filled with dark, pungent, still-warm black dog blood.
Wang Yan snatched the bucket. No hesitation. He lunged forward, muscles straining, and hurled the entire contents of viscous blood down into the pit spewing yin filth.
HISSSSSSSS—!!!
The sound was horrific – like red-hot iron plunged into water! Thick white smoke, reeking of charred flesh and rot, billowed violently from the pit!
"MEEEEEE-YOWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
An explosion of pure, enraged agony tore from the depths! The sound was distorted, piercing, like ten thousand cats dragging claws down sheet metal!
The violent shaking ceased!
The surging wave of icy malice was slammed back down! The white smoke churned furiously at the pit mouth, as if a violent struggle raged just below the surface.
One bucket of blood. A temporary reprieve.
Wang Yan gasped, dropping the empty bucket. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand – it came away slick with icy sweat.
"Vicious... utterly vicious!" he breathed, staring at the pit, a tremor of dread in his voice. "To defy the noon sun... to endure soul-scorching agony... If it had fed again, fully formed..."
He sucked in a sharp breath. "This entire region... would know no peace! It could become... a city-destroying demon!"
"NOW! Listen to my command! FORM THE SEAL! FORM IT!!" The immediate danger past, Wang Yan knew the suppression was fleeting. He whirled, forcing the near-shattered men back into focus.
"The seven peachwood nails! Stand on the marked spots! Hold your hammers! READY!!"
His voice was a lash, binding their terrified chaos.
Driven by primal survival, the men grabbed the thick peachwood nails and hammers. Prodded and yelled at by Old Huang, seven men trembling violently took their positions on the seven points marking the Dipper constellation.
"Celestial Pivot! DRIVE IT!" Wang Yan stood at the ritual's center, eyes blazing. He pointed to the spot nearest the pit – the beginning of the Dipper's handle.
The man holding the nail gritted his teeth, raised his hammer, and slammed it down!
THUD!
First blow. Dirt flew.
"ROARRR—!" A muffled cry of pain echoed from below.
"AGAIN! DRIVE IT DEEP!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!!
The thick peachwood nail resisted, sinking grudgingly into the cold earth. As it neared two feet deep—WHAM!—a violent shockwave tore up the hammer handle, nearly shattering the man's grip!
"Jade Spinner! DRIVE IT!"
"YYYAAAAAGGGHHH—!!!"
Wang Yan's commands came rapid-fire.
Celestial Shining: Nail driven. Foul black water oozed up around it.
Celestial Balance: The man driving stumbled, nearly pitching into the pit! Wang Yan lunged, yanking him back.
Jade Scale: The nail jammed halfway. Immovable resistance. Like striking bone.
Opening Yang: The nail barely penetrated inches. The man cried out, dropping the hammer. His arm turned black, swollen, stinking of rot!
"Corpse Poison Backlash!" Wang Yan's eyes narrowed. He grabbed a handful of glutinous rice, slapping it onto the blackened flesh. Hiss! White smoke rose. The man screamed, but the blackness stopped spreading.
Flickering Light! The final star point!
"DRIVE—!!!" Wang Yan's voice cracked with the command.
THOOOM!!
The last nail plunged deep. The sigil on its head ignited with eerie green fire!
Seven nails. An invisible cage of stellar power, locking the surging malice below.
Wang Yan didn't pause.
He snatched the brush – dipped in the cinnabar-dog blood ink. His feet moved in ritual steps, swift as a whirlwind!
A complex pattern of crimson sigils bloomed across the scorched earth under his brush. Blood-red lines, blindingly bright, encircled the entire nest, sealing it shut. As the final stroke connected, the entire pattern flared with a blinding red light!
"THE SALT AND RICE!"
The remaining villagers, jolted awake, frantically dumped the searing-hot coarse salt and the lime-mixed glutinous rice into the pit, using baskets and sieves. A cacophony of sizzling filled the air, accompanied by anguished thrashing from below.
"THE ROPE!"
Final step. Rough rope, saturated with realgar powder, was pulled taut. A sharp, pungent smell filled the air wherever it touched.
Wang Yan didn't hesitate. He upended the remaining half-bucket of black dog blood over the main knot.
HUMMMMM...
An invisible wave pulsed outwards. The layer of salt and rice steamed faintly white.
The sealing array – COMPLETE!
In the split second the seal snapped into place—
"MEEEE-OWRRRROOOAAAAGGGHHHHH—!!!!"
A shriek ripped from the pit's heart – loud enough to burst eardrums! Neither human nor beast! The sonic blast made the salt and rice jump on the ground; earth crumbled from the pit's edge.
Thud! Thud!
Several villagers, nerves already shattered, collapsed. Eyes rolled back, foam flecking their lips. Unconscious.
The survivors were grey-faced, legs like water, clinging to hoes to stay upright. Li Ke felt an icy dagger shoot up his spine; his heart seemed to stop beating.
Had the seal not been complete, had the noon sun not still held sway, that single shriek would have stopped their hearts where they stood.
Wang Yan grunted, staggering back several steps, face drained of color. Forcing the ritual had taken a brutal toll. He stayed upright, but a thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Fall back! Everyone! GET AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!" Wang Yan's voice was hoarse, thick with exhaustion and a hidden tremor. "GO!"
No urging was needed. The villagers scrambled like men reprieved, dragging their unconscious comrades, stumbling and crashing back towards the village. Old Huang stumbled in his haste, desperate for more legs.
Wang Yan cast one last, deep look at the pit. The roars hadn't lessened; if anything, the seal had made them more savage, like a beast hurling itself against iron bars.
He fought down the nausea rising in his throat and pulled the ashen-faced Li Ke back with him.
"Master... c-can we..." Li Ke's voice trembled.
Wang Yan raised his voice, shouting after the fleeing figures:
"The seal is cast!"
"It will hold for four days! Four days of safety!"
"After that... every eight hours... someone brave, someone steady! Bring half a basin of fresh black dog blood! Pour it into the pit! To suppress its evil!"
He spoke each word with terrible weight.
"This seal... it can only hold for seven days! Seven days! If we haven't destroyed it by then..."
Wang Yan's gaze swept over their terrified faces. Each syllable fell like a hammer blow:
"That demon will erupt with world-ending fury! And then... every living soul in this hollow... every single one... will be devoured! Down to the last splinter of bone!"
His final words rang like a death knell in their terrified minds.
The sun beat down. Yet every heart plunged into a bone-deep cold.
Seven days.
They had seven days.
After that...
...it would be the end of Laoya village