Chapter 36: The Strife of the Tiger Soul

  As soon as Zhang Shan Lao Dao finished speaking, Bo Dawa's wife Chen Chunlan brought over a hoe. The house of the Bo Dawa family was like most villagers' houses in Shi Ma Village - an earth-walled house. The ground inside the house had not been cemented and was just mud.

  So, it's not difficult to dig a hole in the middle of the floor of the main room. Just use a hoe to dig it, no need for an axe or hammer. Therefore, digging holes is something Chen Chunlan, Bai Dawa's wife, can completely handle.

  The women in Shima Village, as long as they were old enough, almost all knew how to use a hoe. So Chen Chunlan picked up the hoe and dug out the hole with ease.

  After Chen Chunlan finished digging the hole, Zhangshan Old Dao handed her a red cloth with an eight trigrams diagram on it. Zhangshan Old Dao asked Chen Chunlan to put the golden tiger pendant and the sandalwood box together into the hole, then filled the soil back in.

  From digging a hole to filling it with earth, throughout the whole process, Bamboo Mountain's Old Dao didn't even touch that Golden Tiger once.

  Actually, just now, although Zhangshan Lao Dao said he wouldn't take the money, Bai Dawa still had some reservations in his heart. Now, after burying the golden tiger, he found that Zhangshan Lao Dao really didn't take the money, and he finally felt at ease. At least, he already believed Zhangshan Lao Dao's words, that Zhangshan Lao Dao was indeed helping his family to drive out ghosts, not plotting against the master of the golden tiger.

  After dispelling their suspicions, neither Ba Da Wa nor his wife Chen Chunlan were as guarded against Zhang Shan Lao Dao as they had been before.

  "Justice is in people's hearts!" said Zhang Shan Lao Dao after seeing the change in Bo Daiwa and his wife Chen Chunlan's attitude.

  After hearing what Zhangshan Lao said, Bo Dawa and his wife Chen Chunlan exchanged a rather embarrassed smile.

  Zhu Shan Lao Dao is not a petty person, he has seen many clients like Bo Dawa and Chen Chunlan. As the saying goes, "the clear will be clear, the turbid will be turbid", Zhu Shan Lao Dao had no intention of stealing the Golden Tiger, now Bo Dawa and Chen Chunlan should be very clear about it.

  Of course, for Zhushan Lao Dao, he was indeed also after the Golden Tiger. However, what Zhushan Lao Dao wanted was not the Golden Tiger's physical body, that lump of gold, but rather its soul.

  Of course, for Bo Da Wa, Jin Hu's soul is useless to him, because Bo Da Wa can't summon Jin Hu's soul at all. So, in the eyes of Zhu Shan Lao Dao, taking Jin Hu's soul cannot be considered as theft.

  In these ten miles, there are only two people who can summon the soul of Golden Tiger. One is him, Bamboo Mountain Old Dao, and the other is that Exterminating Witch. The soul of Golden Tiger can drive away ghosts and also control them. If it falls into the hands of good people, it can be used to ward off evil and avoid harm; but if it falls into the hands of bad people, it can be used to harm and kill others.

  According to Zhu Shan Lao Dao's inference, the reason why the exterminated mother wanted to take action against Bo Da Wa's son Bo Qiang was that she was aiming at Jin Hu.

  Mie Men Po knew that if Bai Qiang got into trouble, Bai Dawa, as his father, would definitely go to find Zhu Shan Lao Dao to avoid disaster. Zhu Shan Lao Dao was also very clear that in order to thoroughly settle those wild ghosts, there was only one way, which was to summon the soul of Jin Hu, so that Jin Hu could drive away the ghosts.

  However, after being summoned, Jin Hu's soul was a wild soul that did not belong to anyone and would not listen to anyone's command until it was tamed.

  So, as long as Zhū Shān Lǎo Dào calls out the soul of Jīn Hǔ, not only can he tame it himself, but Miè Mén Pó can also tame it. At that time, whoever's skills are greater will be able to capture this Jīn Hǔ's soul.

  The character of the village-destroying witch is well-known to everyone. If she were to tame Jintu's soul, not only would Shimayuan Village suffer, but even the surrounding villages within a radius of ten miles might not have good days ahead.

  Thus, whether in public or private, Zhushan Laodao will never let Jintu's tiger soul fall into the hands of Mie Menpo.

  Because he had never really fought against Mie Men Po head-on, Zhu Shan Lao Dao only knew roughly about her abilities and hadn't truly figured them out.

  In addition, the thing that Mie Men Po is best at is training ghosts, which means training souls. Therefore, even if Zhu Shan Lao Dao's overall abilities are stronger than Mie Men Po's, he may not necessarily be able to surpass her in this particular skill of training souls.

  That is to say, if the old Taoist of Zhushan really summons the soul of Jintu, he may not be able to seize it before Mie Men Po. The old Taoist of Zhushan was very clear that as long as the soul of Jintu came out, those little ghosts sent by Mie Men Po would scatter in all directions. Once the little ghosts ran away, Mie Men Po could sense the aura of Jintu's soul.

  The best time to capture the Golden Tiger's soul is in the third watch after it leaves its body, which is between the fourth and sixth hour after the soul leaves its body. The four-hour period is enough for Mie Men Po to arrive. Moreover, at that time, Mie Men Po can be said to be waiting with ease.

  The reason for this is that summoning the Golden Tiger's soul would consume Bamboo Mountain Old Dao's power, and at least within a day, his power could not be fully restored. In other words, during the time when he was competing with Mie Men Po for the Golden Tiger's soul, Bamboo Mountain Old Dao must have been unable to exert his full strength, while Mie Men Po could exert her full strength.

  Actually, on the night of July 15th, Zhangshan Old Dao saw that Mie Men Po had taken Zhang Xiaolan's soul and concluded from experience that Mie Men Po would not recover her powers within half a year and would not cause any more trouble. But now it seems that Mie Men Po has come out again, apparently her powers have fully recovered.

  From this point on, the depth of Mie Men Po's power was no longer visible to Zhu Shan Lao Dao. In other words, Zhu Shan Lao Dao had already lost the initiative in competing with Mie Men Po for the Tiger Soul.

  The matter of the tiger's soul is a serious one, and without a foolproof plan, Zhangshan Laodao did not dare to lightly summon the tiger's soul.

  It is said that the golden tiger in Bo Da Wa's house came from the imperial court, with an air of royalty, and has a history of nearly three hundred years. Therefore, the tiger soul on this golden tiger is extremely spirited.

  Even if you go to find a golden tiger ten times bigger and of the same quality, the tiger soul summoned from there is not as good as the tiger soul on the golden tiger in Bo Dawai's house.

  It can be said that the tiger soul on this golden tiger in Bo Da Wa's house is something that can be encountered but not sought. If missed, Zhu Shan Lao Dao may not find a second one in his lifetime. Therefore, Zhu Shan Lao Dao must be extremely cautious when dealing with this tiger soul.

  However, Zhushan Laodao also knew that the Exterminating Grandma was not without weaknesses. Every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, she had to go to Songlin Mountain to herd ghosts, which greatly consumed her energy. Moreover, those ghosts required the Exterminating Grandma to tend to them every first and fifteenth day of the month; otherwise, all her wild ghosts would become useless.

  That is to say, on the nights of the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, Mie Men Po cannot extricate herself from competing with Zhu Shan Lao Dao for wild ghosts, unless she gives up those wild ghosts she has already raised.

  The time for the Mengmen Po to herd ghosts is from Xu Shi to Hai Shi. Xu Shi is dog, with the five elements of earth, metal and fire; Hai Shi is pig, with the five elements of water and wood. These two hours not only have a dark night, but also heavy yin energy, and they contain all five elements, making them the best time for herding ghosts.

  Therefore, Zhangshan Lao Dao only needs to calculate the time well and set the training of Hu's soul at the hour of Xu and Hai on the first and fifteenth days, then Mie Men Po will not be able to compete with him for this tiger soul.

  Of course, today is not the first or the fifteenth. Therefore, although Zhangshan Lao Dao has already let Chen Chunlan bury Jintu underground, he still won't summon Jintu's soul on this day.

  No matter what, Bo Da Wa's son Bo Qiang must be saved today. In fact, this Golden Tiger has not only the Tiger Soul but also the Tiger Might. This Tiger Might is just like the Tiger Soul and can also drive away ghosts. However, once it is summoned, it cannot be controlled and can only last for half a month before returning to the Golden Tiger's body. Therefore, no one can tame the Tiger Might, but using it to temporarily get rid of the little ghost that has been disturbing Bo Qiang should not be a problem.

  This time, Zhu Shan Lao Dao won't summon the tiger's soul, but he will summon its might. As soon as the tiger's might is revealed, there won't be any more ghostly disturbances in the Bai Dawa household within half a month.

  Zhu Shan Lao Dao drew out his peach wood sword and began to sing and dance wildly.

  "Roar!" Just as Zhangshan Lao was jumping up and down, a tiger's roar suddenly came from under the ground. As soon as the roar fell, Bo Qiang's fire began to slowly retreat again.