Chapter Ten: A Perilous Battle

  Having stayed in the inner room for almost a day, Nan San still refused to come out. Xi Zi was anxious outside, jumping up and down impatiently, wishing he could burst in. He couldn't understand why Nan San had to wait so long, his first guess being that she was sleeping.

  Actually, everything was wrong. The reason why Nan San closed the door and didn't go out was very simple, it was to draw the six Ding Jia symbols. This symbol is different from before, every stroke must conform to the six gods. According to legend, the six days of Jiazi, Jiayin, Jiachen, Jiawu, Jiashen, and Jiachou are the days when heaven created all things, and also the days when women are most likely to become pregnant. Therefore, it is called "a woman being pregnant with six Ding". That's why Nan San asked Xizhi to take the risk of being scolded to get the menstrual blood of a woman, in order to invite the six gods to come down.

  The most exhausting part was that Nan San had already sweated profusely, and the excessive concentration of his spirit energy led to a loss of vitality, causing all the muscles in his body to be in a state of soreness. One talisman took up an entire day's time, showing just how formidable the Six Ding Six Jia Talismans truly were.

  He didn't even notice Xia Zi's shouting outside, Nan San fell asleep as soon as he lay down and only woke up after a few hours. He opened the door to let Xia Zi in, and this little guy shouted as soon as he came in: "You really were sleeping, making me anxious outside!"

  Nan San's eyes smiled slightly, and he yawned: "It's getting late, tonight we'll go to Liushen Temple and subdue the water monkey." Xi Zi heard that they were going to deal with the water monkey, and his anxiety from earlier was swept away. He excitedly said: "Then let's hurry up, I want to see what this water monkey is like, daring to kill a Water Brother."

  Seeing the look of righteous indignation on Xizhi's face, Nan San shook his head. This water monkey was a yin entity. If someone without spiritual power were to encounter it, they would undoubtedly die. Whether or not they could subdue the water monkey tonight was also an unknown quantity. After hastily packing up their gear, the two of them arrived at the edge of the pond, where they saw that the air was heavy with a damp, cold energy, and the misty fog swirled around in the darkness, taking on a strange, eerie movement. Xizhi had originally been quite bold, but looking out at this desolate scene, she suddenly didn't dare speak.

  Nan San glanced at the pond, pinched his fingers to calculate, and said to Chao Xi Zi: "You go around the pond 100 meters in a circle, see if there are six fire jars. If so, light them up. Remember, just stand outside the circle and watch, don't enter the pond."

  After the instructions, Nan San ran to the earth temple in the countryside and waited for Xi Zai to light the fire pot. As expected, after a few minutes, flames rose from the six directions about 100 meters away from the pond. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nan San tore off the old Six Spirit Symbol, pasted on a new one, and shouted loudly: "Ding Chou prolongs my life, Ding Hai captures my soul. Ding You controls my spirit, Ding Wei wards off my disaster. Ding Si saves me from danger, Ding Mao saves me from evil. Jia Zi protects my body, Jia Xu guards my shape. Jia Shen solidifies my fate, Jia Wu guards my soul. Jia Chen calms my spirit, Jia Yin nurtures my truth."

  As the incantation ended, Nan San's forehead was covered in fine sweat, his temples bulging with veins, and his body trembling slightly as he endured the pain of summoning the spirit. As a mortal, he couldn't withstand the power of the summoned spirit without suffering backlash. But Nan San had no other choice; the Water Monkey was a yin entity, and this method was the only way to subdue it. Perhaps the commotion had alerted the Water Monkey in the pond, for the yellow bubbles on the surface began to churn and foam, and a green glow gradually intensified as it emerged from the water.

  Nan San saw this and knew that the water monkey was bound to be suppressed by the Liuding Liujia formation and would rebel. He shouted to Chao Xizi: "The water monkey is coming out, don't come in."

  As soon as the words fell, a loud explosion was heard on the water's surface, and a black shadow rushed towards Nan San. Its body was extremely fast, and even though Nan San had mentally prepared himself, his clothes were still torn apart. He was shocked in his heart, this water monkey was so powerful that it could even cause damage out of the water, which was truly rare.

  When the water monkey stood still, Nan San discovered that this ghostly creature had black fur all over its body, and a pair of eerie eyes on its bright red face revealed a fierce aura. This thing that was neither human nor ghost was actually a water monkey transformed from a drowned person. It glared at Nan San with intense hatred, but dared not approach due to the six Ding Jia symbols in the Liujin Temple. Seeing the dense evil energy emanating from the creature, Nan San coldly said: "You may have died unjustly, but you harm human lives, which is truly a heinous crime."

  Then the wooden sword in his hand came out, chopping towards the water monkey, but this ghost thing had obviously become a spirit, its skin and fur were as hard as iron, and chopping on it made Nan San's tiger mouth ache. The water monkey was enraged, its sharp claws attacked Nan San's chest, and a rotten stench spewed from the water monkey's mouth, if Xi Zai smelled this smell, he would probably faint immediately.

  Nan San saw that one move was not enough, so he took out the Town Ghost Symbol and stuck it fiercely on the Water Monkey's chest. A wisp of green smoke drifted out from the symbol. However, the price he paid for this was that his own shoulder was scratched by the Water Monkey. The joyful child outside saw this thing for the first time and was shocked, having never seen such a demonic evil before. Although he wanted to help, he didn't dare to enter the Liujia formation rashly.

  Luckily, Nan San had the Six Gods possessing him at this moment, so he could still endure this small pain. Ignoring his physical pain, he flipped out the Ghost-Sealing Talisman again. Since this ghostly thing wasn't afraid of sharp objects, it would be best to use the talisman to solve the problem.

  Then he shouted: "Xi Zi, quickly sprinkle glutinous rice on the surface of the pond."

  Xi Zi quickly realized that the water monkey was not to be trifled with after hearing Nan San's words. She hastily pulled out a bag of glutinous rice and entered the formation, pouring it all into the pond in one go before rushing back out. The glutinous rice emitted yellow bubbles as it hit the water, releasing a wave of heat that washed over everything. The water monkey, originally a creature of the water, couldn't withstand such intense heat and hastily retreated to a safe distance, letting out an ear-piercing screech.

  Nan San saw this, but didn't rush to take action. With his wooden sword pointing at the Water Monkey, he said: "Life and death are determined by heaven, you may not be able to enter the underworld, harming others' lives, but in the end, you will still meet a fate of your soul flying away and your spirit scattering."

  Alas, the water monkey was unable to speak, and after letting out two strange cries, it charged at San again. It seemed that a ghostly creature would always be a ghostly creature. San shook his head in dismay, sheathed his wooden sword, clasped his hands together, and assumed a solemn expression. He took seven steps forward, chanting: "Li, Zhi, Huo, Tian, Zun, Sheng, Ming."

  This is Yu Ze's curse, which is a spell that matches the six Ding and six Jia. With seven characters falling, the six Ding and six Jia symbols float out of the Liushen Temple and stick to the water monkey's body with a loud and mournful cry echoing around. Tonight, if anyone in the village hears this strange cry, they will probably be unable to rest for the whole night. A large amount of smoke emerges from the water monkey's body, and its black long hair, although wet and dripping, still makes a sizzling sound as it is burned.

  Xizi was watching from the outside, shouting loudly and cursing the Water Monkey while refueling for Nan San. But he didn't know that at this moment, Nan San had endured a huge backlash, with a mouthful of blood stuck in his throat and a thread of fresh blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth. This Water Monkey was indeed formidable, even under the burning of the Six Ding Six Jia symbol, it still hadn't fallen down, but instead countered with a fierce blow to Nan San, disrupting the Yu Gang curse and causing the Six Ding Six Jia symbol to fall off.

  Nan San was also barely holding on, stumbling backward a few steps before regaining his footing. His eyes flashed with anger as he swallowed the blood in his mouth. Being forced into this state by a ghostly entity infuriated him. He pulled out a red talisman paper, adorned with intricate symbols, and flung it into the pond. Instantly, a massive amount of flames erupted, covering the pond, and the bright red glow illuminated the dark surroundings.

  The water ghost saw this and finally revealed a panicked gaze, abandoning its attack and turning to run away in the distance. However, it was unable to move forward from the fire pot, as if an invisible force was holding it back. Next, Nan San bit his finger, wiped the sword body, and stabbed the water monkey fiercely. This time, he finally hit the water monkey. The ghost object was originally already dead, its body had just mutated, so this move did not produce blood, but a large amount of black **, emitting a strong stench.

  Nan San's expression turned cold and emotionless, his face devoid of any emotions, not even the physical pain could make him frown. As soon as the wooden sword was pulled out, the Water Monkey seemed to have lost its energy, losing its intimidating aura from earlier, and fell to the ground. Xi Zi outside saw the Water Monkey fall and thought it was over, excitedly jumping over the cauldron, shouting: "Haha, you ghost thing is finally dead, see how arrogant you are now."

  Nan San was extremely exhausted at this moment. Seeing Xi Zǐ enter, he sternly scolded: "Don't come in, hurry up and get out, you water monkey..."

  The words had not been spoken yet, when the water monkey suddenly sprang up from the ground and slapped Xizi's chest with a loud slap, sending him flying several meters away. Before Xizi could even let out a cry of pain, he fainted to the ground. Nan San's eyes turned red, this water monkey was beyond redemption, it was a pity that he still naively thought he could subdue it. Since that was the case, Nan San did not hold back either, gripping his wooden sword tightly and slashing at the water monkey five or six more times, the thing writhed and screeched on the ground.

  Every time he let out a mournful cry, the fur on his body decreased even more, until finally only a skeleton was left, and then he stopped crying. Nan San was also exhausted and couldn't get up, but he still couldn't rest, he had to carry Xi Zi back. This kid was really too reckless, with great difficulty he got up, put the six Ding six Jia symbols in the Six Gods Temple, and then carried Xi Zi towards Wang Lao Tou's house.

  That night, everyone in the village heard a miserable cry from the pond and was so frightened that they didn't dare to sleep until the next day. Someone finally gathered the courage to go to the edge of the pond and found a black skeleton lying on the ground, emitting a strong stench everywhere.

  Nan San carried Xi Zi into the room, briefly told Lao Wang about what happened last night, then put Xi Zi on the bed, tore open her clothes, and saw five clear fingerprints on her chest. Nan San's eyebrows furrowed instantly.