Chapter Eleven: Corpse Reborn in Tai Sui

  Three people didn't pay attention to the woman, and Yunshan quickly put the black wooden box on his back on the ground. After opening it, he saw that inside were eight trigrams, talismans, copper coins, stone statues, small flags, and wind chimes, all sorts of magical instruments were available.

  "Good grief! I said bring a cow's nose, and you've brought the whole household!"

  Only to see Chang Yunshan raised his neck and smiled complacently: "Nonsense, I haven't fought against Shan Kui either, what do I know about how to deal with it? It's better to be prepared, isn't it?"

  Before the three of them could divide their things, they heard the sound of horseshoes clattering on the village path outside. The three of them exchanged a glance, and in their hearts, they knew that this was the monster entering the village! Wang Sigou hastily asked the woman: "Sister, does your house have a back door?"

  The woman was stunned at this time, and Wang Sigou asked both sides in a row. Only then did the woman come back to her senses, and she heard her exclaim: "My grandma, where are you passing by? What are you doing here?" The three of them looked at each other, smiled slightly, and replied in unison: "Killing donkeys!"

  And so, the three of them exited through the back door, lined up in a row, and carefully followed the donkey demon from behind, using the corner of the house as cover. The three of them followed for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick before arriving at a wealthy household with vermilion-painted doors. The three hid in the corner, holding their breath and remaining silent. They saw the headless black donkey demon arrive at the household, lift its headless neck, and carefully observe. After observing for some time, it suddenly let out a loud bray and charged towards the vermilion-painted door!

  Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from the ear wheel, and a black shadow flew out. Looking down at the ground, it turned out that the black-haired donkey had been knocked flying. But when looking at the vermilion gate, it didn't move at all, intact and undamaged!

  The two of them were shocked, and just then Fang Qing opened his big mouth and said: "Wow, this gate is actually a treasure! The courtyard must have been sealed with a powerful array by someone with high cultivation!" Chang Yunshan gave him a white eye, and whispered: "Nonsense, even an idiot can see that." Just as the two were about to start arguing again, Wang Sigou hurriedly made a gesture to pause them: "Can we wait until we're back in our nest to fight? Now that Shan Kui has arrived here, it means there's something inside that's attracting him."

  After hearing this, Fang Chang and the others stopped talking. Only then did Chang Yunshan say: "The Wang brothers are right, in my opinion, we should go in and figure out what this monster is after?" With a plan in mind, the three of them didn't waste any more words and quickly climbed over the wall and jumped into the courtyard. But as soon as they landed, they heard an old voice shouting: "What big guts!" ?? Four Small Yin Gates 11

  The three of them were startled, and upon looking around, they saw an old man with white hair and a blue robe sitting in a taishi chair, glaring at them. The three brothers looked at each other, unsure of how to explain themselves. In the midst of their embarrassment, Lao Da Chang Yunshan had no choice but to force himself to calm down, reciting Buddhist scriptures: "Boundless Heavenly Lord, please calm your anger, old sir. We are not evil people, we came here tonight specifically to subdue a demon." After finishing speaking, he quickly straightened his back and put on an air of elegance, displaying a demeanor of a Taoist immortal.

  Wang Sigou and Fang Qinghe couldn't help but laugh in their hearts, thinking to themselves: Can this kid really pretend to be someone else? But unexpectedly, after sizing up Chang Yunshan from head to toe, the old man let out a sigh and smiled, saying: "You're actually Chang Yunshan, I know you." The three of them were taken aback, truly not expecting that they would turn out to be old acquaintances.

  The old man continued, "I'm good friends with your Master Murong Chi. He once told me that one day you'd definitely come to my place, and indeed you have. I know why you're here, so let's not waste words. Follow me!" After finishing speaking, he didn't pay attention to the three of them anymore, turned around casually, and just walked away like that!

  The two of them were really confused this time, Wang Sigou and Fang Qing looked at each other, both staring straight at Lao Dao Chang Yunshan, only to see that the old Taoist was glaring with his eyes wide open, mouth agape, and on his forehead were written two words: Perplexed!

  Seeing the two staring at him, Chang Yunshan hastily waved his hand at them: "Don't ask me, I'm also confused!" The three of them discussed it and decided that since they had come this far, they might as well go take a look. What were they afraid of? That he would eat them or something? Having made up their minds, the three followed the old man.

  The old man led them to a vacant lot in the backyard, where he turned around and took out two iron shovels and one hoe from a shed. He tossed them at the three men. The three men looked at the hoes and shovels in their hands, feeling bewildered. Then they saw the old man chuckle: "I said you three are young and strong, can't let an old man like me do all the hard work, stop nagging, dig according to this!" He drew a large circle on the ground with a wooden stick.

  The three brothers looked at each other, their faces covered in black lines. They thought to themselves: "This is just great, after a whole day of trouble, they're still running around like laborers." No choice, let's dig! The three of them didn't waste any words, took off their outer clothes, and started digging with their iron hoes.

  They dug to a depth of about two or three meters, and all they heard was a loud clang, knowing that the iron shovel had hit something. Fang Qinghe hastily used his hands to sweep away the mud on top, and in an instant, the three of them clearly saw what was underneath - it wasn't anything else, but rather a large black lacquer coffin!

  At this time, the night was pitch black, and four people, including an old man and three young men, stood around the edge of the pit, each holding a small lantern. Under the faint light, they stared at the large, black coffin inside, and no matter how you looked at it, the scene seemed eerie and terrifying. Suddenly, Fang Qinghe put his ear against the coffin lid and listened for a moment, then suddenly stood up with a start: "Damn, the person inside this coffin is actually alive!" The other two were also shocked to hear this, and they quickly looked at the old man. He looked at the coffin with a sad face, let out a long sigh, and finally closed his eyes and waved his hand, telling them to open it.

  Three people were on high alert, Wang Sigou picked up the hoe and pried open the nails on the coffin board. The two brothers pulled hard, and the coffin lid was turned over to one side. When they saw the situation inside the coffin clearly, the three of them couldn't help but take a breath of cool air. Inside the coffin lay a woman in white clothes with a lifelike face, and on her belly grew a red flesh ball the size of a human head!

  At this time, under the illumination of the lamp, that flesh ball seemed like a big heart, thumping and jumping, every time it jumped, its outer skin would become transparent, through the light, you could clearly see that inside its body there was a group of black liquid flowing slowly.

  Yunshan shouted, "Wuliang Tianzun, this is actually the corpse of a woman who has been subjected to the 'Shengtaisui' curse!" Wang Sigou didn't understand, so Fang Qinghe quietly explained to him, "The Shengtaisui is an extremely vicious and poisonous black magic from Miaojiang. Our Central Plains Daoist sect doesn't know much about this technique, only that it's a forbidden evil art. The cruelty of this magic lies in the fact that it must be used on living people at first. Those who are afflicted will suffer greatly until their entire body's meridians and blood vessels turn into root-like structures. Only after the fruit is ripe will they die, eventually transforming into a powerful undead creature known as 'Hei Mantie' by the Miaojiang people."

  Upon hearing this, Wang Sigou was greatly shocked. He looked up at the female corpse in the coffin and couldn't believe that such a beautiful woman would be an evil spirit. The old man let out a long sigh: "You only got half of it right. This red flesh ball is the fruit of the Corpse Birth Taisui. When it's about to ripen, it will emit a fragrance that attracts evil spirits. Once an evil spirit swallows it, it will become extremely powerful, but at the same time, it will lose its own consciousness and become a parasite of the Corpse Birth Taisui. Only then will it be a true Black Mantle. And it will only obey one person - the black sorcerer who cast this evil spell!"

  The three of them were shocked to hear this, and they quickly picked up their own things, pointing at the old man in front of them. Just then, the old man let out a strange laugh: "Heh heh, these little rabbits react quickly enough, but unfortunately, they're still too green!" As soon as he finished speaking, the old man raised his hand and swung it, sending up a cloud of colorful smoke dust. The three of them didn't dare to be careless, and they quickly flew backward in retreat, but unfortunately, they were one step too late. They only felt their bodies become light, and they couldn't exert even half of their strength; their legs went soft, and the three of them fell flat on their backs!

  Looking at the three people on the ground, the old man burst out laughing: "Little rabbit, you're not even that old, and you dare to learn from others how to exorcise demons and protect the Tao? This time you've really gotten yourselves into a mess! Haha, alright, I won't say anything more. Since you helped me with some work, I'll let you open your eyes wide and take a good look. It's also good for you to die with your eyes closed."

  After finishing speaking, he ignored the three people and slowly walked to the edge of the pit. The old man took out a piece of withered tree branch from his pocket, muttered to himself, and rubbed his hands together. Before long, a cloud of black powder floated down. When the old man stopped moving his hands, a woman's mournful cry came from the pit. The woman in the coffin had come back to life!

  An old man whistled, and with a whooshing sound, a figure shot out of the pit. After landing, the three men saw that she was shaking all over, but this was not the woman in the coffin earlier, it was clearly a monster! She had a body like dry wood, her whole body covered in dark green old skin, white hair on her head, and below her blood-red eyes was a big mouth full of fangs.

  The three of them were shocked, and then they heard the old man's cold laugh: "Have you all learned a lesson? Grandpa has been quite good to you." As soon as he finished speaking, the corpse demon let out a strange cry, like an animal, and pounced on the three of them with its four feet on the ground!

  Looking at the corpse demon in front of them, the three people sighed in their hearts. It seems that today is my day to die! Just as the three closed their eyes and waited for death, they suddenly heard a loud shout: "You dare!" Immediately after, an eight-trigram treasure mirror flew over and hit the corpse demon's forehead with a loud "pa" sound. A white light flashed by, and when they looked again, the corpse demon let out a miserable cry and was knocked flying back! The three quickly opened their eyes to see that a fifty-year-old Taoist priest had suddenly appeared in front of them. Before they could get a clear look, they heard the old man in the green robe on the opposite side shout angrily: "It's you!"

  Looking at the angry old man in front of him, the old Taoist smiled slightly: "Ge Kun, Ge Dashi, it's been a long time!" It wasn't until then that Chang Yunshan saw clearly that the old Taoist in front of him was not someone else, but his own uncle and master, Mu Linchi!

  Chang Yunshan was so excited that his eyes were brimming with tears, he opened his mouth wanting to speak, but couldn't utter a single sound, and could only stand there stuttering. The old Taoist turned around to look at the three of them, finally staring at Chang Yunshan, winking and smiling: "Little rabbit, wait for me to get rid of him first, then we can catch up." After speaking, he picked up Chang Yunshan's treasured sword and pointed it at Ge Kun, saying with a smile: "Ge Kun, I'm going to say something good about you, but you're still bullying kids at your age. Haven't you heard the saying 'hit a child, invite an adult'? It seems like today we'll have to settle old and new scores together!"

  Only to see Ge Kun opposite him, staring fiercely at Mu Linchi, his mouth twitching violently: "Mu's surname, I didn't expect you're still alive!"

  Mu Linchi smiled and said: "Thanks for your concern, I'm doing very well."

  "Last time I didn't kill you, you're lucky, today I'll see how many lives you have!" As soon as he finished speaking, Ge Kun suddenly stomped his foot, and in an instant, several black vines burst out from under Mu Dao's feet, like ghostly hands, wildly waving and wrapping around Mu Dao's body.

  Watching Mu Dao, he didn't dodge or flinch. The treasured sword in his hand danced with the wind and rain, making a whooshing sound. With a few swift cuts, he slashed through the black vines around him, and as they fell to the ground, they transformed into several strands of faint black smoke that slowly dispersed.

  Several people turned their heads back, going to find Ge Kun, only to see that there was no one in front of them, the courtyard was empty and desolate. This old thing had actually taken that corpse demon with him and disappeared!