Chapter Eleven: The Haunted Village Inn

  The wound on his back has started to fester and stink, worsening in just a short moment, it can be seen that the last blow from Shui Hou has left Xi Zi severely injured. This guy didn't listen to Nan San's words and came in anyway. Wang Lao Tou saw Xi Zi get hurt and was anxious like an ant on a hot pot: "Dao Zhang, you have to think of a way to save Xi Zi quickly, this kid is a bit reckless but his heart is still very kind."

  Nan San saw the situation, more anxious than Wang Lao Tou. If they didn't treat him quickly, Xi Zi would likely turn into a puddle of pus within three hours. This wasn't an exaggeration. Shui Hou was yin-bodied when he was alive and belonged to the yin element in the five elements. After death, his body carried evil energy. If ordinary people entered his body, it would inevitably lead to rotting of the internal organs. Therefore, they had to think of a solution within this time frame.

  Xizi lay on the bed with purple lips, her whole body trembling violently. Judging from her appearance, she probably wouldn't last much longer. Fortunately, this little guy had a strong yang energy, which could slightly block the invasion of yin energy. Nan San browsed through all the materials in his mind, and according to Taoist principles, he could resolve this yin energy by relying on the five elements of destiny. The five elements are divided into yin and yang, namely: yin wood, yang wood, yin metal, yang metal, yin water, yang water, yin fire, yang fire, yin earth, and yang earth.

  BaZi fortune-telling, according to Xi Zhi's birth BaZi, Nan San came up with a plan and asked Old Man Wang to fetch black dog blood, rooster comb, pot ash, and a basin of boiling water. Before long, Old Man Wang had prepared these items, and Nan San told him to hold down Xi Zhi later, as the spell-casting process might be somewhat painful.

  Wang Lao Tou didn't understand what these things were for, they were all ordinary objects, could it be that they could save Xi Zi? He was very curious in his heart, but saw Nan San not immediately taking action, instead mixing the black dog blood and pot ash together, then removing Xi Zi's clothes and pants. Don't think crookedly about this outsider, the reason for removing the clothes was because Nan San wanted to apply this mixture to Xi Zi's body.

  When he finished applying the medicine all over his body, Nan San looked at Xi Zi on the bed and couldn't help but smile, pulling on the wound, his face tightened. Wang Lao Tou asked: "What's wrong, is there any trouble?"

  Nan San shook his head, then chopped the chicken crest into small pieces and stuffed them into Xi Zi's mouth. He took out a talisman and said in a serious tone: "Left hand, ziwen; right hand, shawen; hanyuan tai xu, taiyin taiyang, water and fire intersect."

  Only to see that the symbol suddenly ignited, emitting a scorching flame. Nan San put the symbol into boiling water, which was already bubbling fiercely, and it became even more turbulent, making one's heart skip a beat. Wang Lao Tou couldn't help but mutter to himself, guessing that this water wouldn't be poured on Xi Zi's body, and indeed that was what happened. Nan San placed Xi Zi's hand in the boiling water, startling Wang Lao Tou into shouting a halt.

  Nan San blocked the way, saying: "Don't worry, this water has been cast with a spell and won't scald you. Just hold still." Old Man Wang could only watch as Xi Zi's hand was placed in the water. Strangely enough, although the hot water was bubbling over, Xi Zi's hand seemed perfectly normal. In fact, Nan San's move was called the Burning Spell Curse, which literally means a spell-casting technique.

  After all this, Nan San stood aside, staring straight at Xi Zai on the bed. After about a few minutes, he saw Xi Zai suddenly shudder and convulse violently. Old Man Wang was frightened and hurriedly tried to hold him down, but Xi Zai's strength was too great for an old man like him to handle. Helpless, Nan San also joined in, using red ropes to bind his limbs, and the two of them barely managed to subdue him.

  The red rope bound the four limbs of Xi Zi, and this little guy kept struggling, rubbing his skin to the point of bleeding. But what surprised Wang Lao Tou was that the black dog blood and pot ash originally applied to his body suddenly emitted a scorching heat. The black dog blood gradually solidified. The right hand placed in hot water surprisingly emitted a chilling cold air, which was opposite, leaving Wang Lao Tou looking at it with great surprise.

  Perhaps Nan San's method was effective, and Xi Zi's limbs, which had been struggling violently, slowly calmed down. The black dog blood on her body turned into a layer of dead skin, and the hot water became a pool of cold water. Seeing this, Nan San pressed his right hand onto Xi Zi's chest, specifically on the Que Pen acupuncture point, which is where the Ren Mai, Zhen Mai, Tai Yin, Shao Yin, Yang Mai, and Shao Yang meridians meet. With one press, Xi Zi suddenly spat out a clump of black fragments from her mouth, mixed with feathers that emitted a foul odor.

  Nan San wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Old Man Wang, "Alright, this person has been rescued. He probably won't be able to get out of bed for three days. Have him clean himself up and rest well!"

  That old Wang was overjoyed at this moment, and he looked at Nan San with new eyes. He hurriedly invited him to stay, in order to show his respect as the host. Nan San did not decline, after all, this fight had left him weak and frail, and he needed to rest and recover his energy. So he returned to his room to rest.

  The next morning, Nan San got up early and went to the pond. After all, he had promised the female ghost that he would hold a Buddhist ritual for her. He didn't know if Old Man Wang had told the villagers about what happened, but when Nan San arrived at the pond, he found many people standing there, all looking at him with admiration. Nan San shook his head, thinking that holding a Buddhist ritual wasn't anything to be proud of, but he steeled himself and went through with it anyway. Afterward, he dispelled the evil energy from the pond, allowing the female ghost to enter the underworld.

  Then he went to see Xi Zai again, this kid was rough, but Nan San didn't blame him. After saying goodbye to Wang Lao Tou, he returned to Ling Jiao Village. After this incident, the villagers knew that this Taoist priest was really capable. Er Shu knew that Nan San had gone to deal with the water monkey and regretted not seeing it with his own eyes. Nan San's days were no longer idle, calculating the auspicious day for weddings in the west, and doing a Buddhist ritual for someone who came from the east, he was busy for a while.

  During this time, Xi Zi, who had recovered from his injuries, also came to the door and insisted on staying with Nan San for a few days. What's more, he wanted to become an apprentice, which made Nan San very headache. This Taoist sect emphasizes the importance of fate, without the fate of Tao, even if one cultivates for decades, it may not work out. This is also the reason why there are so few people in Nan San's sect. So, he found a reason to send Xi Zi back.

  Originally, the days passed by leisurely, but this peace was disrupted by the visit of Old Blade. As soon as he saw Nan San, he grasped his hand like he had seen a savior and wouldn't let go: "Nan San, you must save me!" Nan San felt suspicious and hurriedly asked what was going on.

  After Lao Da Bao witnessed Nan San's skills last time, he was so scared that he didn't dare to continue mentioning the matter of leveling the graves. As a result, he couldn't complete his task and was eventually thrown into a rural government office as a doorman. Lao Da Bao endured the humiliation, thinking it was just bad luck, and could only hold on to this small rice bowl, fearing that one day he would be fired and wouldn't even have a place to eat a full meal.

  Why was Lao Dao in such a hurry to find San Nan, only to see his face pale with fear and his voice trembling. After listening to his story seriously, San Nan also understood the reason behind it.

  It turned out that the so-called countryside mansion was actually an old building with a long history. During the ten years of turmoil, many things were destroyed, and in order to preserve the remaining heritage, people were sent to manage it specially. Lao Ba Dao was assigned to a more than 200-year-old ancient building tens of miles away from Lingjiao Village. Lao Ba Dao originally just wanted to take care of this old antique building with peace of mind, and after his term was over, he could leave with a clear conscience.

  Something strange happened in the past few days. Three days ago, a staff member from the cultural relics department brought an old coffin and asked Lao Da to keep it safe. When Lao Da saw the coffin, he was a bit scared, after all, he had experienced something eerie at the Snake King Temple and still had some lingering fear. However, when they opened it, they found that the coffin was empty, which made them feel slightly relieved. But who would have thought that on the same night, there seemed to be a woman's singing voice coming from inside the village inn, mournful and melodious, making everyone's hair stand on end in fright.

  Lao Ba Dao was so scared that he hid under the quilt and didn't dare to come out. He clearly heard the voice coming from the room where the coffin was placed, and for a while, he was even more frightened. When dawn broke, he plucked up his courage and went there, only to find everything normal inside. After being tormented like this for three days, Lao Ba Dao couldn't take it anymore, so he thought of Nan San and hurried over, wanting him to help figure out if some evil spirit was haunting the place.

  Nan San listened to Lao Ba Dao's story and couldn't guess whether it was true or not, but he knew that such strange things must have a hidden reason. Seeing Lao Ba Dao's pale face and heavy eye bags, he smiled and said: "I can tell by your appearance that you haven't rested for several days, don't worry, I'll help you this time, after all, it's my fault that you lost your job!"

  Lao Da was overjoyed and had been worried that Nan San would refuse, now he could finally relax, so he led Nan San to the county government office.