Chapter 65.2 Deserted Village 07
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Chief Witch Yi turned to Chen Yang behind him. “I’ll handle these dried-up corpses to prevent further trouble. But how do you plan to deal with the ghost resentments in the well?”
The ghost resentments in the well were originally the vengeful spirits of unjustly deceased souls whose memorial tablets on the altar bore no names. Driven by hatred, they cursed enemies, preventing them from reincarnating. Once consumed, their souls would be scattered to the winds. Now transformed into ghost resentments, performing salvation rites proved to be a daunting task.
Chen Yang asked, “Do you have a solution?” Although he had a method, he felt it might not be entirely secure. Chief Witch Yi frequently dealt with spirits and ghosts. Perhaps she had a solution.
Chief Witch Yi: “Ever heard of the Nuo Altar?”
“Summoning the divine soldiers and officials from the four corners of the earth, the eight wastelands, the nine provinces and ten districts to exorcise the evil spirits and perform the Nuo ritual?”
“Yes.”
The Nuo Altar was a Doist ritual. It involved beseeching the divine soldiers, officials, and deities from the Heavenly Court and the underworld to descend upon the altar to suppress myriads of ghosts. The grievances were then presented to the Eight Directional Gods, seeking their judgment. Appeals were made to the Heavenly Court, while the underworld forces subdued evil spirits. The Nuo Altar varied in procedures in different regions. Chief Witch Yi referred to the rituals of the Witch Tribe.
However, Chen Yang was unfamiliar with the Witch Tribe’s Nuo Altar ceremony. Chief Witch Yi instructed, “I’ll guide you now. I’ll dictate, and you follow. Take out the Nuo Altar scriptures, the Three Pure Ones’ portrait, Marshal Ma’s portrait, Lord Wang’s portrait, the Master Altar diagram, as well as the map of the Seven Provinces and Five Temples from my backpack and arrange them for the Nuo Altar.”
Chief Witch Yi’s backpack was lying on the ground, a pale gray cloth bag that appeared flat but surprisingly contained numerous Daoist deity portraits. Chen Yang retrieved the items, placing the scriptures aside for now, still unwritten. Then, following the instructions, he hung up the portraits, forming a makeshift Nuo altar.
After examining the portraits, Chen Yang turned to Chief Witch Yi and asked, “No portrait of the Great Emperor of Fengdu?”
“None. The Great Emperor of Fengdu…” Chief Witch Yi glanced around discreetly before whispering to Chen Yang, “We don’t invite him. Let me tell you, nobody should invite the Great Emperor of Fengdu. I even bribed a ghost official to inquire, and they say he doesn’t like to come to the mortal realm.”
Chen Yang raised an eyebrow. “Is he like a hermit then?”
Chief Witch Yi watched him silently. “You’re truly exceptional,” she remarked, always summing things up so succinctly.
The Great Emperor of Fengdu, Du Shuo, observed silently from the rooftop. Chen Yang flashed a placating smile at him, then hastily hung the portraits. The Nuo Altar comprised of three layers: the uppermost held the Three Pure One’s portraits, followed by deities like Lord Wang and Marshal Ma, and finally, the map of the Seven Provinces and Five Temples.
Next were the minor deities responsible for chasing souls and capturing ghosts.
Once the Nuo Altar was arranged, the next step involved inviting the deities on the altar. First summoned were the minor deities responsible for capturing evil spirits and conveying the written petitions to the divine beings of Heavenly Court.
Chief Witch Yi released all the carrion-eating voodoo worms from her body, creating a vacuum zone with a radius of three meters. Simultaneously, she dragged the three terrified youths and the living person into the safety zone. The living person, who had been playing dead, immediately sprang up and promptly gave the three youths a thrashing. Afterward, he introduced himself, “I’m Xie Ranran, rising gradually like the sunrise in the east.”
Wawa: “Why not name yourself ‘Shengqi/Rise’?”
“Good question,” Xie Ranran replied seriously, “I also want to know why I’m not named ‘Richu/Sunrise,’ ‘Dongfang/Eastern,’ or ‘Shengqi,’ but ‘Ranran/Gradual.’… Wait, who’s talking?!”
The voodoo doll remained silent in Chief Witch Yi’s pocket, causing Xie Ranran to stare at Chief Witch Yi in terror. Chief Witch Yi asked him, “How did you end up here?”
Xie Ranran: “I’m their classmate. They tricked me into believing that the deserted village was a pristine ecological park. Then, in the dead of night, they put me in a coffin while I was asleep. Later, I ran into you all and the living dead.”
Chief Witch Yi: “Did you encounter starving ghosts?”
“What’s going on? Starving ghosts too?” Xie Ranran couldn’t hold back and gave his three classmates another beating. “Ecological park, my foot. It’s all wild grass! Not even insects around! At least make some of it real if you’re going to trick me!”
Chief Witch Yi hinted at him to be more careful not to kill anyone. Then, she shared the invocation for the Five Wild Gods with Chen Yang, “Nuo Altars exist in both the north and south, with distinctions between those of ethnic minorities and traditional Daoist altars. At least, the summoned deities will vary, and the invocation for the Five Wild Gods will differ. After that is worshipping the astral deities.”
Chen Yang followed the chant, “Paying homage to the master, worshipping the gods, worshipping the Five Wild Gods on the Five Roads… the Five Wild Gods of the East, the Five Wild Gods of the South… Holding spears and spitting swords, the Five Wild Gods. Heed!” As the words fell, gusts of Yin wind enveloped them from all directions, obscuring the moon with thick clouds. Chief Witch Yi and the others could only vaguely see the shadows of dried-up corpses in the shrine, along with the continuous appearance of tall and imposing Yin soldiers.
Faintly, they heard the clinking and dragging of chains, along with the Yin wind’s howl, bringing with it shrill cries and pleading voices. After a chaotic episode in the darkness, peace returned. All the dried-up corpses lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to act recklessly before the Five Roads of the Underworld.
The Five Wild Gods, commanding the Five Roads and Five Armies, each stood at one of the four corners, their towering figures standing tall, eyes cast downward upon the altar below. Meanwhile, the central Five Wild Gods stood atop the roof, observing a figure in front of him. Where did this audacious starving ghost come from to dare to challenge the ghost officials?
The central deity approached the figure, ready to wield his mourning staff. The figure slightly tilted, revealing a black robe with golden trim, exuding an unmatched nobility. The central deity was taken aback, then hastily bowed. “Greetings, Great Emperor.”
Although the Five Wild Gods were minor deities, they often dealt with disturbances caused by numerous spirits. Hence, they had the fortune of catching a glimpse of the Great Emperor of Fengdu before. Even if only from the side, the central deity recognized him. Shocked and intrigued, the central deity couldn’t help but think of the person conducting the Nuo Altar ritual below. Could it be the legendary ‘Great Sister-in-law’?
The central deity wouldn’t believe that the celestial master below had summoned the Great Emperor of Fengdu. After all, the Great Emperor hadn’t left Fengdu for centuries. Except for the one still living in the mortal realm, who else could persuade the Great Emperor to leave Fengdu?
Du Shuo withdrew his gaze, gesturing with a wave for the central deity not to speak. Subsequently, the central deity silently stood behind the Great Emperor, maintaining a solemn silence.
Beneath the altar, Chief Witch Yi taught Chen Yang the art of worshipping the astral deities. Originally named Yu Steps, it was believed to be a footwork created by Yu the Great. It later evolved into a Daoist ceremonial step, also known as Steppin on the Nine Provinces or Stepping on the Bagua.
This footwork consisted of 72 variations. Chief Witch Yi taught Chen Yang the “Five Steps to Worship the Ghosts”. Borrowing from Daoist’s bagua and nine geographical divisions representing the Nine Provinces, it symbolized controlling ghosts, spirits, and all beings.
Chief Witch Yi: “Now, wield the brush and write the petition to be submitted to the Heavenly Court.”
Chen Yang dipped the brush in cinnabar and wrote on the memorial document, “Praying for the bestowal of a written memorial, I humbly worship… A devout believer respectfully offers incense, flowers, and fruits as five offerings on the table, inviting the gods to descend. With the fragrance of incense rising, we earnestly implore the divine presence, displaying the might of the gods… Presently, unnamed souls, wronged and deceased, remain trapped as ghost resentments, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation. We beseech the Nine Provinces and Ten Daoist Deities to convene for deliberation…”
After completing the document, he burned it to submit to the Heavenly Court and the underworld, awaiting a response. On the rooftop, Du Shuo, with a single thought, summoned the freshly burned memorial document that Chen Yang had just completed. Reading the familiar handwriting at a glance, he penned the word ‘approved’ and stamped it.
In front of the Nuo Altar, the first ‘approved’ glowed with golden light on a piece of paper, followed by dozens more, indicating unanimous agreement from the Nine Provinces and Ten Daoist Deities to allow the ghost resentments to reenter the cycle of reincarnation. Chen Yang, noticing this, couldn’t help but smile and looked up at Du Shuo standing on the rooftop.
The Nine Provinces and Ten Daoist Deities agreed to allow the ghost resentments to reenter the cycle of reincarnation. The remaining task was the salvation ritual. Chief Witch Yi took charge of the salvation, while Chen Yang assisted the Five Wild Gods in dealing with the dried-up corpses, burning them to ashes. Then, they extracted the three souls and seven spirits still cowering within the bodies of the dried-up corpses. The Five Wild Gods locked the souls back in the underworld, awaiting their judgment. During the process, Chen Yang discovered that these dried-up corpses could retain souls and prevent rebirth because they had consumed diluted zombie blood.
It seemed Wu Lingjiu had poured zombie blood into the well water, using secret technique to create the dried-up corpses. Chief Witch Yi and the others had also consumed fish from the well water but should be unaffected without the secret technique. Wait, Chen Yang suddenly remembered Celestial Master Zhong, who was injured by starving ghosts.
Celestial Master Zhong had been poisoned by the corpse poison and drank fish soup mixed with zombie blood. No wonder his symptoms resembled those of zombie poison. With the moonlight shining brightly tonight, a corpse transformation was likely to occur.
After quickly dealing with the dried-up corpses, Chen Yang saw that Chief Witch Yi was still salvaging the spirits of the ghost resentments. He leaped onto the rooftop and said to Du Shuo, “I’ll rush back to help Celestial Master Liu and the others. Can you stay here?”
Du Shuo pinched Chen Yang’s neck. “Go. The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back.”
“Okay.” Chen Yang turned, leaped off the roof, and darted through the alleyways back to the turret. After running for a while, he thought he might encounter starving ghosts blocking his path, so he decided to go straight across the rooftops. As he jumped onto the roof, he saw the majestic figure of Chonky in the distance. Out of curiosity, he went to take a look and found a frail black cat seemingly trapped under Chonky’s massive buttocks.
Chen Yang: “Chonky?”
Chonky turned his head, licking the blood droplets on his claws. “What?”
“What’s that?” Chen Yang pointed to the black cat beneath his buttocks, sensing that the cat was struggling to breathe under the weight.
Chonky: “Cat ghost.”
“There’s more?”
“Xu A’ni’s soul is possessing this cat ghost. She’s very strange, not like your typical furry zombie.” Chonky shook his head in bewilderment, then his indifferent chubby face showed a subtle smugness. “She mocked me for being fat and not agile, unable to climb walls, so I just crushed her.”
Chen Yang: “Oh.”
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