Chapter 8
Chapter 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Number]
Chapter Title: The Ghostly Wedding Procession
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chen Shi hid behind the broken temple's window, catching the entire scene in his eyes.
In that brief instant, dozens of Divine Embryo Realm cultivators died completely clean, truly shocking him.
Under the moonlight, the little girl met his gaze, staring indifferently without a trace of human emotion. She raised her hand to take a bite of the apple, then turned and left.
Grandpa's voice came from behind Chen Shi. "No need to envy her. With your current body, you could defeat those bailiffs too."
Chen Shi was slightly stunned, then said in surprise and delight, "Am I as powerful as the Godmother in Fangdian Village now?"
Grandpa stoked the fire, patiently brewing the medicine without looking up. "The Godmother could kill you with a single tree branch. Those bailiffs might not seem strong, but a single spell could kill you too."
Chen Shi was puzzled.
"Did you notice? Once those Divine Embryo Realm cultivators were approached by the tree branch, they died without fail, with no chance to resist. Their divine embryos are powerful, but their physical bodies are too weak. As long as you close in before they can cast spells, you can beat them to death."
Grandpa stirred the medicine and said flatly, "Cultivators who practice the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art focus only on the spirit and neglect the body. Your physique is already strong enough—and getting stronger. Of course, if they strike first, even the most basic spell could easily kill you. You have no true qi now to counter spells. Against such enemies, what you must do is seize the initiative and give them no chance to act!"
Chen Shi nodded.
The bailiffs outside were all scholars by origin, practicing the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art, a method for qi refining and foundation building that doesn't emphasize physical tempering much.
But his Three Lights Righteous Qi Art was different. The Three Lights Righteous Qi Art forged the Holy Embryo Dharma Body—what they called the Holy Embryo was the divine embryo, meaning a body like a divine embryo. The Dharma Body referred to mana and true qi, meaning vast mana equal to the body itself.
Chen Shi had no divine embryo, so any mana he refined would dissipate. But if he devoted all his energy to tempering his body, his progress would be twice that of normal cultivation!
On top of that, the medicine Grandpa brewed and the strange "meals" made his progress even faster!
Before long, the medicine was ready. Chen Shi swallowed it down and continued cultivating the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art. Unwittingly, he entered a state of deep meditation, forgetting self and world.
Moonlight spilled in from the door, filtering through the window lattice to fall on the floor, quiet and mysterious.
Grandpa dodged the moonlight, sitting in the corner, his body trembling nonstop.
"Hungry, so hungry... So fragrant, so fragrant, the smell of human flesh..."
Under the bamboo hat, a pair of blood-red eyes fixed on Chen Shi. The bonfire in the broken temple suddenly turned greenish, and the air temperature plunged sharply, as if snow might fall.
Black Pot couldn't help shivering and lay flat, not daring to move.
In the dark corner, Grandpa stood up at some point, staring intently at Chen Shi, who was cultivating.
"I'm so hungry. I really want to eat human!"
Suddenly, a window flew open. Grandpa had already vanished from the broken temple, appearing outside.
He ignored the corpses on the ground. With a few leaps, he disappeared into the night under the moonlight.
Black Pot saw the window open and quickly raised its head, barking twice, woof woof.
The noise woke Chen Shi. He hurried over and closed the window.
"Grandpa went out again?"
Chen Shi was slightly stunned. He didn't see Grandpa anywhere in the temple and quickly looked outside. The moonlight was bright, illuminating dozens of bailiff and white horse corpses.
Suddenly, one corpse twitched a few times.
Chen Shi rubbed his eyes and looked closely. Sure enough, one corpse was slowly crawling up under the moonlight.
Chen Shi's heart jolted. "A corpse coming back to life?"
No sooner had he thought that than he saw corpse after corpse on the ground stirring, slowly crawling up one by one.
Even those eight horse corpses now stood on all fours!
Blood holes riddled their bodies—they should have been deader than dead—but now they were moving, as if alive again!
Chen Shi's heart pounded wildly. At that moment, Black Pot came over too, rearing up on its front legs to peer out the window.
Faint music drifted under the moonlight. The corpses swayed drunkenly to the tune.
One man and one dog watched tensely, straining to find the music's source. Moments later, the sounds of horns and suona grew clearer. From the woods emerged two lines of opera troupe members, dancing wildly!
Chen Shi had seen plenty of wedding processions, always lively affairs where the host family hired an opera troupe to play and celebrate.
The scene outside resembled a bride-welcoming procession, but the troupe consisted entirely of foxes standing upright on hind legs like humans. They puffed their cheeks, blowing reed pipes and horns vigorously.
Other foxes clutched gongs with their paws, banging them clangorously, deafeningly. Several more had drums tied at their waists, pounding them with booming thuds.
They swayed as if dancing under the moonlight.
Following them was a big red sedan chair, floating unmanned in the air, swaying along with the music.
The dozens of corpses in front of the temple even danced to the rhythm under the moonlight, utterly eerie.
"Not Evil—it's a Spirit!"
Chen Shi drew in a sharp breath. He'd heard Grandpa say that Spirits were even more formidable than Evil—even the village Godmother couldn't fend them off!
Whenever a Spirit stirred, several villages would be wiped out, villagers and Godmother alike dying clean in a single night!
"Grandpa's Peach Talismans might not hold off a Spirit!"
Chen Shi looked toward the procession. The red sedan's curtains fluttered, vaguely revealing a woman in red wedding robes inside, her pale, clean hand visible, her head and face veiled in a red canopy.
"Please, the groom—"
The foxes suddenly turned their heads, staring straight toward where Chen Shi was, necks stretched, calling out in human voices. "Please, the groom, board the sedan—"
The corpses dancing to the music turned toward Chen Shi in unison too, their gray-white eyes fixed on the youth in the temple. In one voice, they said, "Please, the groom, board the sedan!"
Chen Shi and Black Pot ducked back hastily, hearts nearly leaping from their chests.
Outside, the procession played and sang, the red sedan drifting toward the broken temple to fetch the groom!
Chen Shi retreated swiftly, eyes locked on the Peach Talismans hanging over the door and windows.
Though inscribed with runes, the talismans outlined door god forms. Peach Talismans drawn by Divine Embryo Realm cultivators could repel ordinary Evil.
Grandpa's strength was extraordinary. Though aged, his cultivation remained. His Peach Talismans had never failed against Evil!
Outside suddenly fell silent, deathly still.
Black Pot positioned itself in front of Chen Shi, body low, staring ahead fiercely with a low growl of warning, lips curled back.
Suddenly, the Peach Talismans on the door and windows burst into flame, burning to ash in an instant!
The temple door swung open.
The red sedan stopped right before the temple entrance.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Black Pot charged to the door, teeth bared, frenzied. Then, a slender jade hand reached from the sedan, gently lifting the curtain to reveal the bride seated within.
Black Pot's black fur bristled fully, barking even more ferociously.
"Black Pot's so loyal!" Seeing this, Chen Shi praised inwardly. "I wronged it before."
The bride's slender hand slowly lowered the curtain. Chen Shi's heart stirred. "Could this Spirit have been scared off by Black Pot and decided to retreat?"
No sooner had he thought that than someone appeared beside him.
Chen Shi turned his head. It was the bride from the sedan.
Chen Shi stared blankly, glancing around. Everywhere was a crimson red.
Black Pot, seeing the curtain fall, also relaxed a bit—only to notice someone else in the sedan, dressed in big red robes like a groom.
In that fleeting glimpse before the curtain dropped, it saw the groom in the sedan looked exactly like Chen Shi!
Black Pot's hackles rose in terror. It whipped around, but Chen Shi was gone from the temple!
The red sedan slowly rose, countless foxes banging gongs and drums, playing and singing joyfully as they escorted it away from the temple.
Black Pot didn't hesitate, charging out of the broken temple toward the red sedan to save Chen Shi.
Just then, a cry rang from the sedan, followed by a gust of阴 wind. Pitch blackness obscured directions. Black Pot halted abruptly. With the wind's passing, the red sedan, fox troupe, and corpses all vanished—leaving only Chen Shi sitting on the ground.
Black Pot rushed forward. Chen Shi looked bewildered, utterly clueless why he'd ended up in the sedan.
He'd only seen the bride, and suddenly he was in the sedan.
As for how he got out, he was equally baffled.
At the time, the bride beside him had torn at his clothes, but suddenly seemed frightened, shrinking into the sedan's corner as if afraid he'd harm her. She let out a piercing shriek, and then he went from sitting in the sedan to sitting on the ground.
One man and one dog returned to the broken temple, still shaken.
Chen Shi glanced at the open temple door and the ashen Peach Talismans, still dazed. He shook his head to steady himself.
He hurried forward, closing the door and shoving a thousand-jin boulder behind it.
Black Pot jumped into the wooden cart, rummaging wildly before leaping down with Grandpa's small knife in its mouth, dropping it before Chen Shi. It gestured with a front paw across its neck, indicating to stab there—black dog blood had the strongest yang energy there.
Chen Shi fetched brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Instead of smearing Black Pot's neck, he carefully collected a bit of black dog blood and imitated the process, drawing Peach Talismans.
Chen Shi had long memorized Grandpa's Peach Talismans. He ground cinnabar and immediately wrote with swift strokes.
Drawing talismans required channeling true qi. Chen Shi circulated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art, pouring his hard-earned true qi into the brush and ink, focusing his intent on the tip. Soon, he completed one Peach Talisman in a single go.
It was deep night now, with Evil liable to come seeking at any time. He had to draw enough Peach Talismans quickly to seal the doors and windows!
Chen Shi wrote as if possessed. Before long, he'd drawn six Peach Talismans: two for the door, four for the windows.
He had no idea if his talismans would work, fretting anxiously and unable to sleep.
Black Pot couldn't sleep either. One man and one dog lay by the window, peeking out quietly lest more Evil come.
"So strange—why did that Spirit let me go?"
Chen Shi puzzled more and more. A Spirit could easily destroy a village and its Godmother. A kid like him would probably be sucked dry in an instant.
Yet that bride Spirit seemed very afraid of him, dropping him and fleeing.
Chen Shi couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking, staying vigilant and watching outside.
After a long while, all outside was peaceful.
Black Pot's front paws rested on the windowsill, peering out too. Just as it was about to relax its paws, Chen Shi's voice came. "Black Pot, Grandpa might not be human anymore."
Black Pot perked its ears, looking at him puzzled.
Under the moonlight, the youth's face bore a few teardrops, but his gaze was somewhat profound, staring distantly as he said softly, "Over half a month ago, Grandpa said his time was up. He needed to hold a funeral for himself to trick the ghost messengers coming to drag him to the underworld. Once they saw him dead, they wouldn't take him."
Black Pot remembered this.
The old man had plotted long to fool the ghosts, preparing his own mourning hall and spirit tablet—not to mention ingots, candles, and paper money.
"Grandpa said he'd set up the mourning hall, lie in the coffin pretending to be dead, and endure that day to fool the ghost messengers, buying himself a few more years. He couldn't bear leaving me alone."
Chen Shi stared blankly into the distance. After a moment, he continued, "But after that day, when Grandpa came out of the coffin, he changed. He stopped eating food and preferred candles. He disliked the taste of meals but liked the smell of incense. He even started craving strange things... like human!"
He shivered, saying gloomily, "Maybe after that day, the Grandpa who came out of the coffin was already dead. Perhaps he didn't fool the ghost messengers."
Chen Shi spoke with maturity beyond his years. "He doesn't want me to know. He wants to stay by my side, protect me, watch me grow. But he's no longer human—he's a corpse, always wanting to eat people."
Black Pot looked solemn, brows furrowed, nodding gravely.
"No matter what, he's still my Grandpa. Even if he refines himself into a jiangshi, even if he tries to eat me time and again, he's still my Grandpa."
Chen Shi's eyes glistened as he whispered, "He's my only family... Black Pot, you rest first. I'll take over later."
Black Pot lowered its paws and lay down to sleep. Meanwhile, the youth by the windowsill muttered to himself, "The dog knows too many of my secrets. Might tell Grandpa—should I kill the dog to silence it?"
Black Pot shot up at once, trotting to Chen Shi's side, gesturing for him to sleep while it kept watch, wagging its tail to show it was only right.