Chapter Thirty-Five: The Soul-Sealing Decree Gives Rise to a Ghost

  Thirty years ago, Li Dong was still young and inexperienced, with a naive and innocent face. While traveling through Jiangnan, he met a woman holding an oil-paper umbrella on a stone bridge over a gentle stream, and the two accidentally encountered each other, determining their fate for this lifetime.

  But fate played a cruel joke on them. After living together for 20 years, the woman remained youthful and beautiful, while he gradually grew old and wrinkled. The woman was a ghost who had mastered a dark art that allowed her to inhabit a human body as a vessel. However, this ghost was a lovesick one who had bribed the underworld to return to the world of the living and learned a seductive technique to lure men into nurturing her body with their vital energy, thus sustaining her physical form.

  The woman's intentions were not entirely malicious; she had been searching for her husband from a past life but failed to find him after several lifetimes. It wasn't until they met on Stone Arch Bridge that she was certain he was the one, and she vowed not to marry anyone else in this lifetime. They lived together for 20 years, until Li Dong discovered her true nature and was heartbroken.

  Li Dong was a Taoist priest who specialized in exorcising ghosts and demons, yet his wife of 20 years turned out to be a ghost herself. This revelation was too much for him to bear, and he chose to leave, drowning his sorrows in wine every day. He became notorious for his drinking habits, earning the nickname "Wine Immortal."

  Years went by, until one day, the woman sent a message: "Please come to Jiangnan to sweep away the fallen flowers." Upon hearing this phrase, Li Dong suddenly sobered up and rushed to Jiangnan in search of the woman. However, he was told that she had already vanished into thin air.

  Indeed, the woman had severed her connection with the mortal world and disappeared. Ten years have passed since then, and Li Dong remains as heartbroken as ever, lost in his sorrowful memories.

  I was deeply absorbed in it, a love story similar to that of Xian and Bai Niangzi, destined not to be together, yet heaven brought them together on the bridge, also under an umbrella.

  It's always others talking about others, and things will inevitably be biased or colored by personal feelings, but it adds a layer of directness and dialectics.

  Li Dong's tears had already flowed to his cheeks, and his red eyes were trembling slightly, feeling the pain in Li Dong's heart. "Please sweep away the fallen flowers in Jiangnan." This sentence can be said to be the most hidden sorrow I have ever heard. The word "please" expresses the woman's despair, while "sweeping away the fallen flowers" expresses her determination to leave. When the flowers fall, people are already gone, and sweeping away the fallen flowers only leaves the gentleman with sorrow. The woman wants this heartless man to suffer for a lifetime.

  Indeed, Li Dong has been suffering for ten years, and if this continues, his whole life will be over. How many people are trapped by love? The waters of the Yangtze River are countless, but the paths of humans and ghosts are distinct. There is a way to follow, emotions to return to, some have a way without emotions, others have emotions without a way. One must choose between following a path or following one's emotions, yet Li Dong has chosen neither, drifting until now, showing how deeply he has been in love.

  Li Dong poured himself another glass of wine and his face turned red, apparently he was getting quite drunk.

  "You guys aren't here to mock me, are you?" Li Dong said to the suddenly crazy and staggering person who was walking unsteadily and speaking nonsense.

  "Master Brother, we have come to ask for your help. We hope you will forgive us for the sake of our fraternal bond of several decades and save this disciple's life." Mao Shi Jiu stepped forward and bowed.

  At this moment, I was slightly moved. Mao Shi Jiu pleaded for me to the master, and the image of this master in my heart has risen a bit.

  "Spit it out quickly, don't delay my drinking." After finishing speaking, Li Dong poured another mouthful of wine down his throat. He smacked his lips and his eyes became extremely hazy.

  "He was poisoned by a severe toxin, and I'm also at a loss for what to do." said Mao Shi Jiu.

  "I can save you, but you have to promise me one thing: buy me a bottle of good wine." Li Dong seemed to have escaped the pain he had just experienced and sank into the world of wine.

  I nodded heavily, only to find that my limbs were no longer under control, scratching randomly on my body and leaving noticeable scratch marks.

  Li Dong rushed over, picked up my clothes, and saw the bloody wound on my arm. "It's too late, the poison has entered his bones, he'll turn into a zombie soon," he said. "We'd better kill him." After that, Li Dong took out a dagger.

  "Wait a minute, Brother Li, stop!" Mao Shi Jiu directly grabbed Li Dong's wrist, blocking him.

  "Senior brother, please, you must have seen his extraordinary abilities too! This is the opportunity for our Miao Shan Dao Fa to rise! It's a chance that comes once in hundreds of years, can you really bear to see him die?" Mao Shi Jiu said emotionally.

  "This......" Li Dong seemed to hesitate for a moment.

  "Come with me, there's someone who might be able to save him." Li Dong said and then turned around and left.

  Arriving at a street, it was extremely dark and the end of the street couldn't be seen. Li Dong walked towards a very small storefront, unexpectedly this store hadn't closed yet. Was it open all night? Would anyone come to this gloomy place late at night? I was deeply puzzled in my heart.

  As soon as they entered the shop, all they saw were medicinal herbs everywhere, with various Chinese medicines available, and even rare and expensive ones like Snow Lotus and Ginseng. At this moment, a young girl walked out from inside and said, "The master knew you gentlemen were coming, so he asked me to come here specifically to welcome you."

  I and Mao 19 both slightly bowed, but Li Dong was unreasonable, directly shouting loudly, "Old man, come out quickly, or I'll come in!" However, judging from his tone, he should be a good friend.

  "How dare you be so rude!" Suddenly, an old man's voice came from the inner room, and then a white-haired old man with a cane slowly walked out of the house, looking like a Taoist immortal with a handful of white beard.

  Chang Bai Cao, Li Dong's old friend, is already 150 years old this year. He has been a doctor all his life and can cure anything, including ghosts.

  "Old man, quickly help me take a look, my junior apprentice has been poisoned, you quickly help me detoxify him." Li Dong actually called me his junior apprentice, this is very unexpected for me, did he acknowledge me after seeing my physique?

  "Don't be in a hurry, old man, I'll take a look." After finishing speaking, the old man used his cane to lift up my clothes, and the wound on my arm had already started to fester, without any pain sensation, not even feeling anything.

  "Is this a zombie bite? The wound is too deep, and it's not the first bite, which means it wasn't bitten by a zombie directly, but by a human. Human bites can be deadly, this is going to be tough." Chang Baicao said.

  "Can't you old folks think of anything?" asked Mao Nineteen anxiously from the side.

  "There is a way, but it requires violating one of your Daoist taboos. If you're not willing to do it, he's definitely going to die." Chang Baicao said with a sigh.

  "What? Hurry up and say it." Mao Jinjiu was anxious and couldn't wait.

  "We need a soul-summoning charm, and we also need to summon the living ghost (the souls that have not been tainted by the worldly air), so both of you will be used. Only the purity of the living ghost can expel such filthy poison."

  Soul-restraint order, a Taoist can only use it once in his lifetime. If used more than once, the body will be invaded by hundreds of ghosts, suffering unbearable pain, worse than death itself.

  "I'm willing, let's start." And Mao Shi Jiu looked at Li Dong with expectant eyes.

  "I don't care, even if I die, there's nothing worth lingering for." A hint of desolation was seen in Li Dong's eyes.

  Mao Shi Jiu was taken aback for a moment and could see his apology towards Da Shixiong.

  "Now is the time when yin energy is at its heaviest, you can start giving orders." Chang Baicao said.

  When he finished speaking, Li Dong suddenly gave the order, and at that time, he really had no attachment to the world. To repay his master's kindness, saving me was also one of the most meaningful things he did before he died. Everyone knew that when Li Dong was searching for that woman, he had already used the Soul-Controlling Order once, but he couldn't find the woman's soul.

  "Roaming souls, where do you remain? Three Hun have descended, seven Po are coming. By the river, in the wild, in temples and villages, in palaces and prisons, in tombs and mountains, false alarms and strange occurrences, losing one's true soul... Now, I seal the five roads of wandering souls, General. I order you to carefully search, collect the souls and attach them to the body, assist in reviving the spirit. The heavenly gate is open, the earthly gate is open, a thousand miles away, the Tongzi sends the soul back, hurry, as if by imperial decree." Li Dong made a hand seal while reciting the incantation.

  Mao Shi Jiu's expression was somewhat dull at the moment, he had never used the Soul Sealing Spell before, so of course nothing would happen to him. However, his senior brother Li Dong was using it for the second time, and there must be a possibility of death.

  "The second dish is ready." Chang Bai Cao urged.

  "Dang...dang..." Cao Jingyu hesitated for a moment, unable to recite it for a long time.

  "Hurry up, hurry up." Chang Bai Cao said "hurry" four times in a row, and Mao Shi Jing's heart skipped a beat.

  "Roaming souls, where to stay? Three souls descended early, seven spirits arrived. By the river, in the wild, in temples and villages, in palaces and prisons, in tombs and mountains, false alarms and strange occurrences, losing true souls. Now, I appoint you as the General of the Five Routes for Soul Searching, I order you to carefully search, collect souls and attach them to bodies, assist in reviving spirits. The Heavenly Gate is open, the Earthly Gate is open, the Thousand Miles Child sends the soul here, hurry up like a law decree." He said exactly the same thing as Li Dong.

  "Evil spirit, evil spirit, manifest quickly, or I'll scatter your soul." The two chanted in unison.

  The Shenggui is the purest ghost in the ghost world, just like a child who is easiest to deceive and coax. Therefore, the ghost world promulgated a decree that Taoist priests are not allowed to harm Shenggui, and there is a contract with the human world. If anyone harms Shenggui, they will be invaded by hundreds of ghosts and die. Alternatively, two or three ghosts will directly extract their soul and banish them to hell.

  Only saw Chang Bai Cao set up an array, in the center of the array suddenly burst out a wisp of white smoke, a pale little boy stood there.

  "Living ghost, this time I'm detaining you, not to harm you, but to ask for your help. Help me save someone, and if it's successful, the paper money will definitely not be lessened for you." In fact, they knew that even if they didn't give him paper money, the living ghost would still help, because he was a renowned healing ghost in the ghost realm, able to heal the resentment of other ghosts, and was well-liked by the ghosts.

  The living ghost looked at me with a surprised expression in his eyes, his mouth forming an "O" shape. What was he surprised about? I couldn't figure it out.

  The living ghost seems to like me, the first person it finds is me, rubbing back and forth under my feet, just like a small dog or cat rubbing against you, the living ghost enjoys it, sniffing with its nose.

  I feel something unnatural, after all, there is a ghost under my feet.

  "Shenggui, the person you want to save is him." Mao Shijiu spoke, and Shenggui looked at Mao Shijiu for a moment, as if he understood what was being said.

  A ghostly figure stretched out a small palm, indicating that I should stick mine on his, so I placed my huge hand on top of it.

  A strange light flashed out and illuminated the whole room.