Volume 2: Ren Ping Sheng Chapter 38: Subduing Evil

  The protagonist is opposed to the rigid eight-part essay, not opposed to reading books, so some readers should not selectively ignore this.

  Hurriedly rushing back to Jingyang Village, Chen Jianchen took three steps at a time, bursting into his home.

  Mo San Niang lay on the bed, her hair a bit disheveled, her face pale, and her eyes deeply sunken, looking very spiritless. Ah Bao had called over a neighbor, an old woman, to take care of her before he left. When that old woman saw Chen Jianjun return, she hastily said: "Master Chen, you've finally come back, quickly go see your mother."

  Chen Jianchen thanked her and sat down beside the bed, grasping his mother's rough hand, saying: "Mother, I'm back. How are you feeling?"

  Upon hearing his voice, Mo San Niang suddenly sat up and hugged Chen Xian: "Liu Xian, Liu Xian are you alright?"

  "Mother, I'm fine, nothing's wrong with me," Chen Jianchen said in a low voice.

  Mo San Niang's hands trembled as she touched his head, as if to see it with her own eyes, without any difference, and tears rolled down.

  "Mother, what exactly happened?" Chen Jianchen asked again.

  "Mei San Niang's voice was choked with sobs as she said: "I don't know what's going on, but two nights ago I had a dream. In the dream, a very fierce little ghost appeared before me, claiming to be the land god of our village. It held a steel spear and told me that you, Liusu, have been disrespectful to the gods and ghosts, offending the underworld authorities. The City God has condemned you to punishment, and your soul will be taken away to suffer... This dream felt so real, just like it was actually happening. I was so frightened, Mother, that I begged the land god to spare you, but it refused..."

  She slowly began to speak, her voice trembling with fear: "The next day I woke up and found that my whole body was weak and limp, feeling very tired. As soon as I fell asleep, I had a dream about the land god, who kept telling me that your soul is being tortured in hell, going through mountains of knives, being boiled in oil... all sorts of terrifying things, just like I was witnessing them with my own eyes..."

  Upon hearing this, Chen Jianchen immediately understood what was going on - a yin spirit had entered his soul.

  In the realm of Taoist magic, the Yin Spirit itself has little actual combat power, but after it is released, it can secretly enter the spirit and soul of a predetermined target. In a gentle manner, this is called "dream transference", where it will request that the opponent do certain things; in a forceful manner, it uses intimidation, threats, or even direct attacks to cause damage to the opponent's spirit and soul, leading to mental exhaustion.

  The latter, if serious, can directly wipe out the target's soul.

  However, there are many taboos about evil spirits entering the soul, and not every object can be entered casually. Some people are strong and powerful, with strong blood and energy; some people are born with a killer aura, surrounded by karma... These people, evil spirits generally do not dare to touch, once touched, it is equivalent to declaring war, and evil spirits often end up being the losing side.

  The consequences of defeat are either a loss of soul or a dispersal of soul.

  Therefore, the yin spirit entering the soul generally chooses people to act on, and the old, weak, women and children are the first choice, because they are the easiest to be "entrusted with dreams" and also the most willing to offer incense and sacrifices.

  The last time, the land god of Jingyang Village was ordered by Jiangzhou City God to capture Chen Jianchen and make him confess his crimes. He thought Chen Jianchen was just a weak scholar who couldn't withstand intimidation, but unexpectedly, he was countered by Chen's demonic brush and almost lost his soul. One foot kicked against an iron plate, suffering a huge loss of face. After returning to Jingyang Village, he turned the tables and scared Mo Sanniang instead.

  Mo San Niang regarded Chen Jianchen as her heart and soul, the one she cared about most; with care came chaos, and it was easy to be possessed by evil spirits, tortured to the point of being on the verge of death, barely holding on. If Chen Jianchen hadn't returned in time, the outcome would have been disastrous.

  At this thought, Chen Jianchen became furious. But he didn't lose his composure and instead called out to Abao to cook congee and serve it to Mo Sanniang.

  Then he returned to his room, grinding ink, laying out paper and picking up his brush.

  Chen Jianchen stood in front of the case, brewing for a long time, and finally felt that all his energy was mobilized to a peak state, and then slowly wrote a big "镇" character on the white paper.

  Its characters are like dragons and snakes flying about, with strokes flowing smoothly, having a certain spiritual energy within.

  It succeeded!

  As soon as he put down his pen, Chen Jian felt a wave of weakness, as if a vital energy had just been drawn out of his body, leaving him dizzy and almost unable to stand.

  Currently, the positive energy accumulated in his body is too little and too weak. Once overused, one's spirit cannot withstand it, and they will feel weak.

  Chen Jianchen hastily sat down on a chair, closed his eyes and rested, only gradually recovering his energy after a while.

  He took the letter and went to Mo San Niang's room.

  At this time, Mo San Niang had already drunk a bowl of porridge. Seeing her son return safely, she felt much more cheerful and her appetite improved greatly. However, despite this, her spirit was still very tired from the prolonged torment. Leaning against a pillow, she soon fell asleep with her eyes closed.

  Chen Jianchen did not disturb her, but quietly stuck that "town" character on Mo Sanniang's bedhead.

  Next to him, Ah Bao saw it and his eyes widened, but soon thought: That's right, the villagers said that Liu Xian Ge is the Wenqu Star coming down from heaven, fierce beasts dare not harm, evil spirits dare not approach. The words he wrote must also be extraordinary, and can make Dangniang's mind calm and her worries disappear without taking medicine...

  "Ah Bao, you stay here and watch, if anything happens call me."

  "En, I know, Liu Xian Ge, you go rest first."

  Chen Jianchen returned to his own room and lay down on the bed, pretending to sleep.

  He didn't feel sleepy at all, just thinking wildly about things, but soon came to his senses and found that his mind had become confused again, committing taboos. He immediately calmed down and concentrated his thoughts, clearing his mind, and simply closed his eyes to practice the "Three Stances True Chapter".

  "Liu Xian Ge, Liu Xian Ge is no good!"

  Abao's voice rang out urgently.

  Chen Jianchen jumped down from the bed and asked: "Don't be in a hurry, what's wrong?"

  Abao was so anxious that he couldn't catch his breath: "Just now... just now Stepmother seemed to have another episode."

  Huh?

  Chen Jianchen rushed over with big strides, but saw that Mo Sanniang was sleeping very peacefully on the bed, without a care in the world, and even had a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.

  "Huh, this is..."

  Ah Bao was somewhat surprised, she had just seen her dry mother sleeping soundly, suddenly grasping the bed sheet tightly with both hands, even her face twisted, making a hissing sound in her mouth, as if struggling with something, now she slept so peacefully and quietly?

  Chen Jianchen raised his head and looked at the "Zhen" character posted on the headboard, only to find that the ink had faded and lost its luster, as if it had gone through many years of vicissitudes, without any hint of spirit.

  The positive energy on the words really worked.

  Chen Jianchen smiled and said: "A Bao, mother's illness is better."

  "Really?" Ah Bao asked excitedly.

  "Hehe, when did I ever cheat you? Alright, it's getting late, you should get some rest too."

  Having said that, Chen Jianchen walked back into his room and lay down on the bed to sleep.

  Buzz!

  After an unknown period of time, a strange scene suddenly appeared before his eyes...