Chapter 66.1 Deserted Village 08
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The turret was eerily silent, even the usually fussy baby had fallen asleep. The woman cradled the sleeping infant close and retreated to a corner. The others dared not make a sound, their faces etched with anxiety. They were uncertain whether the celestial masters could save them, but they knew this was going to be a terrifying night. The sun only made a brief appearance at midday, leaving insufficient Yang energy. Moreover, the turret was already packed, and now two more people had arrived…
Zhao Yao turned her lips up in disdain and murmured to the old professor, “Professor, they’ve been glaring at us for a while now.” They thought their stares were subtle, but it was clear to everyone. They were simply resentful that their presence had drawn more attention.
Old Professor: “Paying attention to them is not as important as organizing the data properly and pondering why we haven’t noticed that Zhao Gang was replaced.”
Zhao Yao: “Professor, you haven’t noticed either, have you?”
“Am I like you? Even if you were replaced now, I wouldn’t recognize you!” The old professor confidently stated, leaving Zhao Yao speechless.
Liu Quanning chuckled. “Normal people wouldn’t think along those lines. Besides, Xu A’ni dares to impersonate Zhao Gang, so she must have made thorough preparations.”
“That’s true.” Zhao Yao nodded, then looked at Celestial Master Zhong resting with closed eyes under the moonlight. “Is Celestial Master Zhong okay? I feel like Celestial Master Zhong might turn into a corpse at the next moment.”
Liu Quanning turned to look at Celestial Master Zhong, his expression grave. “I hope everything’s fine.” He too sensed something amiss. Despite being merely afflicted with starving ghost’s corpse poison, the sight of the celestial master under the moonlight filled him with an ominous foreboding. Liu Quanning lowered his gaze, his eyes falling upon the celestial master’s ten fingernails, his pupils suddenly widening.
Celestial Masters generally had a penchant for keeping their nails long, but typically only kept them on their pinky fingers. Long nails could easily break, making it difficult for celestial masters in forming hand seals or drawing talismans due to the risk of breakage. Now, Celestial Master Zhong had all ten fingers spread out and interlaced over his abdomen, with nails approximately three centimeters long. This appearance unmistakably hinted at the onset of corpse transformation.
Stepping forward, Liu Quanning was met with the abrupt opening of Celestial Master Zhong’s eyes, catching him off guard as their eyes locked. Celestial Master Zhong inquired, “What’s wrong?” Unfazed, Liu Quanning replied, “The moonlight is too intense. It might agitate the corpse poison. How about we move to a darker place?”
Celestial Master Zhong, looking fatigued, responded, “No need. I find it quite comfortable here.”
Zombies absorbed the essence of the sun and moon for cultivation, hence they considered such comfort normal. Liu Quanning, without warning, grabbed the Celestial Master’s hands and dragged him away from the moonlight. Celestial Master Zhong angrily shook off Liu Quanning, displaying immense strength. He ran to the window, basking in the moonlight, fervently absorbing its essence.
Old Professor: “Corpse transformation.”
Zhao Yao, with a frightened look, examined her own wounds, worried if she, too, would transform into a zombie. The old professor pulled Zhao Yao away to a spot away from the moonlight. “Even though I don’t know if you’re affected by the zombie poison, staying away from the moonlight is always a safe bet.”
Zhao Yao: “Professor, if you weren’t studying folk culture, I would’ve thought you were a celestial master.”
The old professor rolled his eyes at her. As they turned around, they discovered a crowd behind them. It turned out the six ordinary individuals, witnessing Celestial Master Zhong’s transformation, had fled to the farthest corner from him. Liu Quanning and another celestial master with the surname Qian joined forces to subdue Celestial Master Zhong and drag him to an area without moonlight.
Regaining consciousness, the Celestial Master recalled his transformed state and instructed the two, “Bind me. If I fully transform into a corpse, pierce my heart with a peachwood sword and burn me immediately.”
Liu Quanning bound Celestial Master Zhong. “I won’t let you die.”
Suddenly, someone pointed outside the window and exclaimed, “So many starving ghosts downstairs!” His exclamation drew the attention of the starving ghosts outside the turret, simultaneously startling the baby. Sensing the ghostly presence, the baby burst into loud cries. The malnourished, deformed child-eating starving ghosts, drawn by the baby’s wails, scurried towards the front of turret, clambered up, and swarmed towards the window.
Several individuals hastily sought refuge elsewhere, but the woman holding the baby was frozen in terror. Pale-faced, she stared at the approaching starving ghosts. Seeing this, Liu Quanning tossed the peachwood sword to Celestial Master Qian. “Watch him.” Then, he rushed forward, grabbed the woman’s shoulders, and pulled her behind him. With a swift motion, he pasted a Five Thunders Talisman on the approaching starving ghosts.
The starving ghosts immediately incinerated into ashes, but it couldn’t stem the tide of starving ghosts pouring in. Liu Quanning kicked up a wooden board from the floor to block the window, and the successive collisions of the starving ghosts against it produced a ‘bang, bang’ sound.
“Ah, they’re coming from this side too!” Someone pointed to the other window where starving ghosts were climbing up. A starving ghost pounced, biting his arm. He screamed in terror, and others recoiled in fear. Zhao Yao seized the tail of the child-eating starving ghost, forcefully yanked it down, and slammed it on the floor. With a vigorous stomp on its distended belly, she crushed the life out of the creature.
The old professor, huffing and puffing, held up a wooden board to block the window, With a grunt of exertion, he braced his aging back against the board. “You young and vigorous ones, why aren’t you lending a hand? Are you waiting for all the starving ghosts to swarm in and devour you?”
Those people, suppressing their fear, leaned against the wooden board to block the outside starving ghosts. Each collision with the board nearly knocked the wind out of them. The old professor let out a sigh of relief and slowly walked away, supporting his lower back. “Young people, keep it up.” As he spoke, a sharp claw pierced through the board, reaching just two centimeters from the professor’s eyeball.
The ghost claw made a probing motion in front of the professor, who slowly retreated two steps, clutching his chest as if about to have a heart attack. The ghost claw, unable to grasp anything, halted. The individuals holding the board dared not breathe, cautiously watching the immobile ghost claw. Suddenly, the ghost claw turned sharply and stabbed towards the left. The person on the left reacted swiftly, crouching down and looking up at the ghost claw above.
If it weren’t for quick his reactions, the ghost claw would have penetrated not the wooden board but his skull. Subsequently, they heard ‘creak, creak’ sounds behind them, and all turned to stare at the wooden board by their ears. The next second, they ran forward in unison. The board was all pierced by ghost claws, crashing to the ground. A towering two-meter tall starving ghost hunched over and climbed through the window. Seeing this, Celestial Master Qian handed his peachwood sword to Zhao Yao. “Help me watch over Celestial Master Zhong.” Then, he approached to deal with the looming starving ghost.
While holding up the wooden board with one hand, Liu Quanning mixed cinnabar with the other and drew a protective talisman on the door. He then threw the cinnabar along the edge of the windowsill. After kicking the murderous starving ghost out, Celestial Master Qian leaned down, picked up the wooden board, and propped it against the window. He bit his finger, drawing a warding-off evil spirit symbol on the wooden board. The force of the starving ghosts colliding with the board diminished, but the protective symbol couldn’t hold for long, and the starving ghosts kept coming.
Celestial Master Qian shouted to Liu Quanning, “Lend me the cinnabar!”
Liu Quanning, unable to run while holding the cinnabar, was relieved when someone volunteered to deliver it to Celestial Master Qian. Celestial Master Qian simultaneously drew evil-repelling talismans and sprinkled cinnabar along the windowsill. Cinnabar, with its Yang energy, was effective in warding off evil spirits.
Zhao Yao gripped the peachwood sword, her heart pounding like a drum. Suddenly, she heard rustling sounds from above. Looking up, she saw a small window two meters above the ground in the wall. A child-eating starving ghost crawled in through the small window, its limbs against the wall, staring fixedly at the baby in the woman’s arms.
Zhao Yao: “What the hell!” She swung the peachwood sword chaotically, but the child-eating starving ghosts moved with the speed of a wraith, effortlessly dodging her attacks and leaving a deep gash on her cheek. Moreover, four or five child-eating starving ghosts entered through the small window, but Liu Quanning and Celestial Master Qian each occupied a window to block the path of the ghosts outside, unable to assist her.
Seeing this, Celestial Master Zhong said, “Untie the rope for me. I’ll deal with the starving ghosts.”
Zhao Yao shook her head. “You can’t expose yourself to moonlight.” More importantly, she didn’t know if Celestial Master Zhong would transform into a corpse, harming more people in the turret. She wasn’t willing to make a decision that could jeopardize so many lives. “Teach me instead.”
Celestial Master Zhong glared angrily. “Nonsense!”
“Aren’t I supposed to be the reincarnation of that Xu A’ni? I have some talent, don’t I? Hurry up and teach me, quickly!” Zhao Yao shouted in urgency. She was struggling to protect the baby behind her. Seven or eight child-eating starving ghosts had already rushed in. If they weren’t dealt with soon, lives would be lost.
Celestial Master Zhong took a deep breath, deciding to try a desperate measure. “Daoist swordsmanship, a conduit for divine power, exorcising demons and vanquishing evil. Have you ever received any swordsmanship training?”
“My grandmother taught me Tai Chi swordsmanship, does that count?”
“…Fine, it’ll have to do. Listen carefully, Celestial Master Du’s Killing Sword Incantation goes: ‘In the highest realm, a decree is made, announcing to all spirits…'”
Zhao Yao synchronized her steps with the incantation. “…wind and fire unite in battle, vanquishing evil and crushing malevolence!” She swung the peachwood sword, and astonishingly, like a steel blade, it turned the menacing child-eating starving ghosts into ashes. Pleased with herself, she turned to Celestial Master Zhong. “See, I told you I could do it.”
Celestial Master Zhong was surprised but somewhat relieved. However, he let his guard down too soon. Zhao Yao wasn’t an initiated celestial master. She had just started delving into Daoist magical arts. Despite her decent talent, her sword strikes were limited to two or three hits against the agile and cunning starving ghosts. Quickly, Zhao Yao found herself covered in numerous wounds.
Four child-eating starving ghosts entangled Zhao Yao, while the other four focused on the baby in the woman’s arms. Despite others joining in the fight, they couldn’t contend with these terrifying monsters. One of the child-eating starving ghosts crawled onto the woman’s face, its mouth apparatus covered in barbs, aimed at the infant’s head. The woman screamed, fiercely biting the tail of the child-eating starving ghost. While this stopped one, another took the opportunity to climb up, opening its mouth wide.
Before others could intervene, the rest gasped and shut their eyes. The baby’s mother stared in despair at the child-eating starving ghost, her eyes full of burning hatred. In the next moment, a red string looped around the thin neck of the child-eating starving ghost, flinging it against the wall. Chen Yang, with swift and graceful movements, whipped seven or eight child-eating starving ghosts into ashes. “Anyone injured?”
Excitedly, Zhao Yao replied, “No!” Celestial Master Zhong and the others, upon seeing Chen Yang, also showed relieved and happy expressions. Liu Quanning called out to Chen Yang, “Chen Xiaoyang, come over and help me for a while.”
Chen Yang went over and pushed open the wooden door, kicking the tall starving ghost out swiftly. He quickly set up a formation at the window, intertwining red strings, with an ancient copper coin humming in the center. The Yang energy overflowed, keeping the starving ghosts at bay.
Seeing this, Celestial Master Qian had Zhao Yao toss him the Seven-Star Sword from his backpack. The Seven-Star Sword, one of the Ten Celestial Swords in Daoism, was also Celestial Master Qian’s magical tool. Chen Yang temporarily suppressed the approaching starving ghosts with the Seven-Star Sword on the windowsill and turned to ask Liu Quanning, “How do you plan to deal with the starving ghosts outside?”
Liu Quanning: “Send them to earth, back to where they came from.”
Sending ghosts to earth involved using a specific formation and nailing a dagger into the ground, achieving unity between the human and spirit realms. In Maoshan School, it was stated, “All methods utilize extreme yang to vanquish extreme yin, and all possess the ability to ‘send to earth.’ When extreme yin reigns supreme, yang dwindles; but when extreme yang prevails, it relegates evil spirits to the underworld, forever denying them rebirth.” In other words, extreme yang was used to counter extreme yin. If yin overcame yang, the practitioner would die. Conversely, the malevolent ghosts were banished to the underworld, unable to be reborn.
The mass of starving ghosts outside represented the ultimate yin, so Liu Quanning aimed to transform himself into the ultimate yang. He would merge with the formation, sending all the starving ghosts back to hell. He pulled out a money pouch from his pocket, and poured out seventeen copper coins. “Have you heard of the Seven-Star Soul-Nailing Formation?”
Chen Yang and Celestial Master Qian nodded. The Maoshan School was renowned for its formations, and among their most formidable creations was the Seven Star Soul-Nailing Formation, a powerful tool designed to sever the seven vital energy gates and seal away countless malevolent spirits. Once the gates were severed, the circulation of vital energy would cease, plunging the entire area into a state of stagnation and death. However, this formation violated the delicate balance of yin and yang, inflicting harm upon both the practitioner and the surrounding environment.
The formation required using a live chicken bone to seal the vital energy points, or “pulse eyes,” at each of the seven gates. The chicken’s throat bone was particularly effective due to its potent Yang energy. By severing these energy points, the flow of vital energy would be disrupted, hindering the malevolent spirits’ ability to navigate and perceive their surroundings. Trapped in a state of confusion, they would wander aimlessly, unable to advance.
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