Chapter Eighteen: The Small Person in the Ear

  Although the master said it lightly, his face was rarely serious, and it was clear that things were not simple at this time. Later, I learned that if something went wrong in such a situation, it would be a disastrous outcome of soul dispersal. Despite my strong willpower and the protection of the heavenly eye, it was actually very dangerous. The master was indeed a person with a cold face but a warm heart, worthy of being a disciple of the Quanzhen School. At that time, I also had some feelings in my heart, so I followed the master's words and sat down cross-legged. The master asked me to silently recite the nine-character mantra, not thinking about anything else, and to keep my mind clear. However, I didn't even know where my spiritual platform was.

  Although I didn't understand anything, I also didn't dare to be careless. After sitting cross-legged, I just silently recited the nine-character mantra, and slowly, really, except for reciting the mantra, I didn't think about other things. I couldn't even hear the movements of Master and Zhang Jianchen. The whole person fell into a state of selflessness, with only the nine-character mantra resonating in my mind.

  The master looked at me with a calm mind, and then heaved a sigh of relief. He lowered his voice to Zhang Jianchen and said, "Later on, no matter what you see, don't make a sound, remember, absolutely cannot make a sound."

  Zhang Jianchen didn't make a sound at this moment, he just nodded heavily to indicate that he wouldn't make any noise. The master felt relieved, fearing that he would disturb me, and specially pasted two talismans on my left and right ears, but I didn't notice them. Seeing that I had no reaction, the master's face relaxed, and he nodded at Zhang Jianchen. His eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he bit his index finger to draw a spell on my forehead. He muttered to himself, made a lotus shape with his hands, and then transformed into the Ming Wang seal. After a moment, one of his hands suddenly reached out and lightly touched my brow, before withdrawing without any movement. The sound in his mouth also stopped, but I still didn't react at all.

  After a while, under the tense gaze of Master and Zhang Jianchen, I finally saw the soundproof symbol on my right ear move, and then a small person lifted the paper from my ear and slipped out. This little man was only three fingers high, but his appearance was very clear. Looking closely, he looked exactly like me, just a miniature version of another me.

  But then the little guy slipped down and onto my thigh, where he stopped moving, looking around in all directions. He saw Master and Zhang Jianchen, but after sizing them up once, he ignored them, not showing any fear. Finally, his gaze fell on Zhang Yanqiu, who was now somewhat vague and indistinct, and suddenly became interested. He slipped down from my body and went to Zhang Yanqiu's side, looking up at her with his head tilted back. Then he circled around Zhang Yanqiu once, his face showing some confusion and puzzlement. He cocked his head to one side, seemingly deep in thought, before finally sitting down, propping up his chin with his hands, lost in thought.

  Zhang Jianchen didn't dare to move, afraid of disturbing me. Fortunately, there was the previous scene of summoning souls, and Zhang Jianchen wasn't surprised at all. He just looked at his master, wondering what he would do next, and even dared not breathe a sigh, but his master also had a similar expression, looking like he didn't dare to breathe either.

  Taking advantage of the moment, the master slowly moved his body and did not disturb the little man. Seeing this, the master secretly took out a talisman paper, which was unremarkable in appearance. With a light flick of his hand, the paper ignited and instantly turned to ashes. The ashes dispersed, but a character remained suspended in mid-air, following the master's gesture as it slowly enveloped the little man. The character shone with golden light and gradually transformed into a "ding" character, likely a restraint talisman.

  As the talisman approached, Xiaoren was startled and felt pressure, suddenly jumping up and looking up at the talisman. Although he didn't know what it was, his instincts told him it was coming for him. At this moment, Master's heart almost reached his throat, fearing that Xiaoren would suddenly run away. If Xiaoren escaped, it would be impossible to lure him out again, and Zhang Yanqiu would truly be beyond salvation. She would have to reincarnate as a lowly creature, or even the lowest of creatures, which was something Master did not want to see.

  However, Master Bai was worried. The little man looked a bit panicked, but he didn't run away. Instead, he clenched his fists and stared at the talisman with both eyes. As the talisman pressed down, it was about to reach the top of the little man's head. Only then did the little man let out a loud roar, which sounded like a mosquito buzzing in Zhang Jianchen's ears. With a fierce punch, he smashed towards the talisman, putting on a desperate stance. Master Bai's face changed slightly, and his expression looked tense.

  The little man's fist collided with the talisman, and it actually blasted the talisman upwards. Luckily, the master hurriedly pressed it down. The little man, seeing that one move was ineffective, was unwilling to give up. He jumped up and punched again, shouting something, but the master heard clearly - it was the Nine-Character True Words Curse.

  Honestly, the master couldn't express his feelings at this moment. He was glad to have found a formidable apprentice, but for now, it wasn't a good thing. When facing a small person, he had to grasp and not hurt him, which was a difficult balance to strike. If he used full force, he would knock the little man's soul out of his body. This little man was his primordial spirit, where his soul resided. If his primordial spirit were extinguished, it would be a complete wipeout for him. However, if his strength wasn't enough, he wouldn't be able to grasp the little man. If one looked closely, the master's forehead was already sweating, and he was quietly gritting his teeth.

  Unfortunately, this little guy was not willing to surrender, belonging to the kind that would not give up until he reached the Yellow River. He kept using the Nine-Character True Words to bombard the talisman, and after several rounds, the talisman began to fade. Not only did Master's face turn solemn, but even Zhang Jianchen knew things were going bad, yet he had no way to stop it.

  Not only did he have no way, but the master also had no way. There were many talismans left, but they could only be used once. In insisting on going on, the master didn't even have confidence in grasping it well. This kind of thing couldn't afford to make any mistakes, what to do? The master's face was filled with anxiety, and the sweat on his forehead began to trickle down his cheeks.

  It was just that no one could have anticipated that at the moment when Master was anxious and even Zhang Jianchen wanted to cry, a yellow light suddenly flashed between my eyebrows. Unfortunately, neither Master nor Zhang Jianchen noticed it. Immediately, a small person crawled out of my left ear, similar in size and appearance to the previous small person, but with a slightly more solemn expression. He hastily flipped down from my body and ran towards Master.

  The master was struggling to suppress the talisman, but who would have thought that another little person would suddenly run out. At that time, the master was also stunned, and this share of heart talisman almost scattered away. Fortunately, the master reacted quickly and hurriedly stabilized the talisman, staring blankly at the two little people in front of him. How could this be? Could it be that this is the legendary unformed external body?

  Ignoring the master's nonsense, the little man later shouted and called out to the master, then desperately gestured, for a moment not knowing what he was saying, after all, his voice was too small, but looking at his gestures it seemed like he wanted the master to calm down temporarily, don't take action yet, he wanted to talk to the little man from before.

  As expected, the master subconsciously stabilized the talisman, and saw that the two small men began to talk, saying something that couldn't be understood. The master didn't understand either, but it could be seen that the two small men were arguing about something, and quite fiercely, constantly pointing at Zhang Yanqiu's residual soul, as if they were talking about Zhang Yanqiu's affairs. After a while of argument, the smaller man reluctantly nodded his head, seemingly agreeing to something.

  The little man didn't seem very willing, took two steps forward, stood in front of the master, then raised his head and puffed out his chest, making a brave and heroic pose. He waved his hand at the master, pointed to himself, and then stood there with his hands on his hips, waiting. The meaning was probably to let the master make a move. The master only made this guess, but didn't dare to act rashly. He made a gesture towards the little man, who indeed still gestured back at himself. Only then did the master breathe a sigh of relief, and pressed down on the talisman. As soon as he did, the talisman fell onto the little man's body. The little man was still muttering something in his mouth, but although the immobilization talisman had turned into a yellow light that enveloped him, he still occasionally moved slightly within it. However, since the little man was cooperating, things were easier to handle.

  The master didn't dare to hesitate, and with a change in his hand gesture, he formed the "Embracing Mountain Seal". Suddenly, a wisp of black smoke emerged from the little person's body. It was clear that the little person was suffering greatly, constantly gnashing its teeth and contorting its face. After all, it was only a primordial spirit, and what the master was extracting was the soul energy. This was shaking the very foundations, but fortunately, I was still young, and the strength of one's soul energy is directly proportional to their physical body. However, my own soul energy was still being invaded by the evil energy from the underworld, which was the root of the problem. Generally speaking, the soul energy of elderly people and children is very weak, which is why they are easily possessed by malevolent spirits. Soul energy is not like physical strength, it's not easy to recover once it's injured. It takes a hundred days to recover from a bone injury, but if one's soul energy is depleted, it will take a long time to recover, and most importantly, the master had also taken away a portion of my two souls and five spirits, which was an irreparable loss.

  A mass of black air slowly took shape in the master's hand, and the little man looked even more distressed, looking duller, but his spirit didn't seem to change at all, still grinning from ear to ear, and without a hint of despair. After another moment, the master finally let out a sigh of relief, changed his hand seal, grasped that mass of soul energy, scattered the talisman, and instantly cut off its connection with the little man.

  The little man also let out a sigh of relief, plopped down on the ground, and didn't know what to say. Another little man beside him spoke in a gentle tone, it seemed that the previous little man was very dissatisfied, and waved his hand at the later-arriving little man as if shooing away a chicken. The later-arriving little man had a helpless expression on his face, shook his head, and then crawled towards the left ear, quickly disappearing into the ear. However, the previous little man still hadn't returned, got tired of sitting and lay down, propping up his legs in a relaxed manner, but didn't seem like someone who had their soul energy and soul imprint extracted.

  At this time, the master didn't have time to bother with it, and carefully grasped the black air until he reached Zhang Yanqiu's side. Then, his right hand lightly drew a symbol in the air, and suddenly pressed the soul energy into Zhang Yanqiu's residual soul. At that moment, the residual soul let out a mournful cry, struggling constantly, clearly not feeling well. However, the master didn't pay attention to it, only continuing to press the soul energy deeper inside. As a result, Zhang Yanqiu's soul energy gradually changed from its original pale color to a milky white color, becoming much thicker and more substantial than before, no longer like a residual flame that might be extinguished at any moment.