Chapter 65.1 Deserted Village 07
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The moon ascended to its zenith, only to be eclipsed by a wisp of ominous cloud that cast the surroundings into an eerie darkness. The old professor raised his hand, checking his watch. “It’s almost midnight. Water burials are usually held between 11:00 PM and 2:00 AM. It is said that Yin energy is at its strongest at this time, when ghosts and spirits are rampant, and everything comes out. It’s the easiest time to encounter evil spirits.”
Zhao Yao approached. “Professor, I also think that the time from 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM is the most evil. Every time I have to stay up late to complete the assignments you give me, I feel very bad the next day, and all my energy is sucked away by the ghosts. Could you please give us less assignments next time?”
“Very well,” the old professor replied amiably, “I expect your return next year.”
Zhao Yao quickly put on a smiling face. “I love staying up late, I love assignments, and I love the professor.” The professor coldly instructed Zhao Yao to stay in the corner and remain silent, and Zhao Yao squatted in the corner.
Chen Yang glanced at the sky outside, then turned to Chief Witch Yi. “Let’s go to the ancestral hall now.” Chief Witch Yi nodded and pulled up the three youths bound together. They resisted, refusing to cooperate. Chief Witch Yi extracted a drop of blood from them, sealing it in a talisman to control their movements.
From them, they learned that two of their four companions were not villagers of the deserted village. Their whereabouts were unknown, but it was highly likely that the other two would be brought to the ancestral hall as sacrifices. Chen Yang asked Du Shuo, “Brother Du, are you coming with me to the ancestral hall?”
Du Shuo nodded in agreement.
Chen Yang: “Then it’s settled. Celestial Masters Liu and Zhong, stay in place to protect the others. We will head to the ancestral hall with Chief Witch Yi.” Liu Quanning and the others raised no objections, and the plan unfolded accordingly.
Chen Yang and his companions led the three youths to the ancestral hall. The hall was pitch black, fingers barely visible in front of one’s face. At this time, the dark clouds had dispersed, allowing moonlight to cascade into the courtyard. The narrow well on the courtyard, which had devoured countless innocent lives, faced an altar adorned with hundreds of memorial tablets, standing silently. The three youths were filled with guilt and fear. If they were not able to control their bodies, they would have run away long ago.
Du Shuo looked up at the moonlight and suddenly whispered to Chen Yang, “I’ll go check on the rooftop.”
Chen Yang nodded, cautioning, “Be careful.” Before he could see Du Shuo’s movements, he vanished before his eyes. Chen Yang looked up to see Du Shuo standing on the roof, looking down at him. Chen Yang smiled and waved at him.
With the moon at his back, Chen Yang couldn’t clearly see Du Shuo’s facial expression, but he could guess that he was probably smiling. Chief Witch Yi squinted slightly and remarked, “You two seem to get along well.”
“Yes, we’ve been married for almost five years.” Chen Yang crossed his arms, leaning against the wall in the shadows. Smiling at Chief Witch Yi, he suddenly remembered something and asked her, “How did you know that Brother Du is Director Du? His current appearance is quite different from Director Du’s, and last time, when Brother Du mentioned that he was married, I didn’t confirm it. You all seem so composed.”
Chief Witch Yi: “Director Du’s presence is unmistakable. Even though I’ve seen Director Du only a few times in the past three years, the impression is vivid. Later, when I officiated your initiation ceremony, I noticed the intimate bond between you two and inquired about it with my elder brother. He informed me that you were indeed a married couple, and during the previous Daoist Association conference, Director Du had publicly announced his marriage. Upon further reflection, considering the similarity between the names Du Bei and Du Shuo, coupled with your obvious connection, we were further enlightened by Temple Master Meng’s revelation regarding the undisclosed relationship between Manager Chen Yang of the subdistrict office and the Director-General of the central office.”
Chief Witch Yi’s elder brother was the temple master of the Changdao Temple in Sichuan Province, while Master Meng was the temple master of the Huoshen Temple. At that time, he was the only one, besides the people in the subdistrict office, who knew that Chen Yang was Director Du’s partner.
Chen Yang: “What do you mean by ‘undisclosed relationship’?”
“Temple Master Meng mentioned it.” Chief Witch Yi swiftly absolved herself, throwing Temple Master Meng Fu under the bus. “Your relationship has long been the talk of the Celestial Master Community. With Meng Fu’s big mouth, any secret entrusted to him becomes common knowledge. Moreover, to retaliate against you two for scaring him, he used many ambiguous words to describe your relationship as an undisclosed one.”
Chen Yang was speechless for a moment. “I couldn’t tell.”
“You’ll get used to it. People in the Celestial Master Community are often not what they seem, especially with someone like Meng Fu and his big mouth. He loves to embellish stories, but when it comes to serious matters, he’s quite serious. For other things, it’s best to believe only a third of what you hear.”
Chen Yang glanced at the voodoo doll, whose temper had mellowed considerably after being dripped with heart’s blood, but who could still flare up at the slightest provocation. He thought, people in the Celestial Master Community truly have dual personalities. Wawa, noticing Chen Yang peeking at it, suddenly blossomed with joy. “Yangyang, kiss and hug~”
Chen Yang scooped up the voodoo doll with a warm smile. The voodoo doll opened its arms for a kiss but suddenly felt danger. Glancing over Chen Yang’s shoulder, it spotted Du Shuo standing backlit by the moonlight, causing its hair to stand on end. Faced with a choice between Yangyang and survival, Wawa swiftly kissed Chen Yang’s cheek and scurried back into Chief Witch Yi’s pocket, playing dead.
Chief Witch Yi sighed. “Wawa really likes you.”
Chen Yang laughed. “I also really like Wawa.”
Wawa, shyly covering its face, mumbled softly, “Wawa also likes Yangyang.”
Du Shuo retracted his gaze, hands behind his back, and turned to look at the distant rooftops. There, a black cat crouched, catching Du Shuo’s eyes. The cat arched its back and assumed a defensive posture. Seeing Du Shuo wasn’t making a move, the black cat cautiously retreated, testing the waters. When it noticed that Du Shuo remained motionless, the cat darted across the rooftop, its movements swift and agile, until it finally disappeared from sight. Shortly after its departure, Chonky lumbered into view, hot on the black cat’s trail.
As the dark clouds dispersed and moonlight once again bathed the area, a horde of emaciated yet pot-bellied starving ghosts emerged from the turrets covered with greenery. Their bodies were grotesquely twisted and terrifying. Some of the starving ghosts were no larger than a hand’s breadth, while others towered over six feet tall. They roamed in packs through the deserted village lanes, searching for human presence. A portion of them headed towards the ancestral hall, but the eerie ghostly aura made them hesitate at the entrance. Eventually, they chose to leave, heading toward the turret where Liu Quanning, Celestial Master Zhong, and others were hiding.
Throughout the day, with overcast skies, neither morning nor afternoon saw sunlight. The Yang energy in the turret weakened, but with the addition of two more individuals, the human aura strengthened, causing this group of starving ghosts to disregard the fearsome Yang energy and march towards the turret.
Du Shuo’s right index finger tapped lightly against the back of his left hand, his gaze indifferent. In the eerily silent alleyways, within a matter of minutes, skeletal figures began to emerge one by one. These dried-up corpses staggered out from the forest, heading towards the ancestral hall. The first dried-up corpse reached the ancestral hall, using its own body to force open the grand doors.
The doors swung wide, and the corpses flooded in. As they reached the courtyard and stepped into the main hall, they abruptly halted, their decayed noses twitching, sniffing the air for any sign of human presence. Chen Yang and Chief Witch Yi each affixed a spiritual talisman on themselves to conceal their auras, then turned to the three trembling youths and handed them talismans. The dried-up corpses, previously seeking human presence, paused before circling around the coffin behind the altar, dragging out two bodies from within.
Chen Yang took a step forward and saw the corpse he had seen during the day, along with another… someone still breathing. Excitement heightened among the dried-up corpses at the sight of a living person. They surrounded the individual, emitting hoarse and excited sounds. The awakened person, upon seeing the corpses around him, screamed in terror. The noise attracted the dried-up corpses outside. Overwhelmed, he fainted upon realizing there were even more corpses.
The dried-up corpses abandoned the mutilated corpse, gripped the living person’s ankles, and dragged him towards the narrow well in the courtyard. Two other dried-up corpses approached, wielding sharply honed wooden knives. Another four dried-up corpses held each limb of the living person, while the remaining corpses retrieved incense sticks from the altar, lighting them to offer worship to the memorial tablets.
The actions were devout, as if they genuinely believed the hundreds of tablets before them to be benevolent bodhisattvas, ready to answer prayers and alleviate suffering. They fervently embraced this faith, completely disregarding the individual’s consent to serve as their savior or the sacrifice of their own life to save a horde of beasts.
The tablets on the altar stood motionless, while below them a horde of dried-up corpses knelt in supplication, creating a scene of utter absurdity.
The captured living person furtively opened his eyes, his gaze landing upon Chen Yang and the others hiding in the shadows. He attempted to call out for help, but Chen Yang raised his index finger to his lips in a silencing gesture. The man opened his mouth but ultimately made no sound.
After the offerings, the dried-up corpses grasped the limbs of the living person, while another raised a sharp wooden knife poised to strike at the joints. Realizing he could no longer feign unconsciousness, the living person struggled and shouted, “Help! Save me!”
Seeing the imminent danger, the wooden knife curved mid-air, avoiding the joints and heading for the man’s throat. Before Chen Yang could act, Chief Witch Yi pushed the three youths outside. They screamed, capturing the attention of all the dried-up corpses in the ancestral hall, freezing them in place.
The three youths turned and fled towards a small door in the ancestral hall, but the surrounding dried-up corpses caught and brought them back, positioning them by the well. They pleaded, claiming to be villagers of the deserted village, begging for mercy. However, the dried-up corpses only knew to offer living people or bodies to the river god in the well, unaware of anything else.
Chief Witch Yi sneered, “They know fear themselves.” In the next moment, Chief Witch Yi emerged from the shadows, exposing herself to the moonlight. The group of dried-up corpses surged again but collapsed within three meters of Chief Witch Yi. Within two minutes, the fallen dried-up corpses slowly melted into white bones.
A dark, pitch-black mass wriggled within the abdominal cavity of the white bones. It spread out and slithered into the other corpses. These were the voodoo worms planted by Chief Witch Yi. Once they entered the corpses, they would devour them, leaving behind nothing but bare bones. However, the voodoo worms avoided the living, preferring to consume carrion.
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