Chapter Thirty-Four: The Horse Face Reappears

  Xu Qi wanted to move the nanmu coffin, I immediately retreated, this guy was too forgetful, a female ghost ran out of the coffin and got on his body, did he still want to go to the female ghost's old nest?

  Xu Qi explained that he was too careless, the female ghost didn't jump out of the coffin at all, but just pretended to be a ghost and followed the villagers to the ancestral temple. Coincidentally, there were plaques bestowed by officials in the temple, which was a place for worshiping ghosts and gods. Xu Qi failed to notice this at first, plus the movement of the coffin made him lose his composure, giving the female ghost an opportunity.

  If that female ghost was really the master of the golden silk nanmu coffin, then it wouldn't be Xu Qi being possessed by a ghost, but rather there would already be no living people left in Guan Cun Village.

  I hastily said to him, "Don't you know that the master in the coffin is formidable? Is it suitable for us to open the coffin?"

  Xu Qi smiled slightly and didn't care about Jiu Ge behind the house, dragging me towards the tomb, saying a few words that made my eyes widen in shock.

  "Disciple, if you were given immense wealth and high status, what would you do?"

  "Find a few pretty wives?"

  Xu Qi's face suddenly turned ugly, took a deep breath, and asked again: "You must have aspirations, remember, you must have aspirations, answer me once more."

  I suddenly realized and confidently told him: "Find your own true love!"

  Xu Qi's foot stumbled, and if I hadn't supported him in time, he would have fallen. He smiled bitterly and said: "In that case, you have a wealthy family, a high position, and many wives and concubines. What would you do now?"

  "Enjoy life, what do you want to say?"

  Xu Qi couldn't bear it anymore and knocked on my head with a gourd, pretending to be angry: "Don't you want to be the emperor?"

  I was taken aback for a moment, and then asked him: "Are you drunk? You want to restore capitalism, I thought you were ambitious, but do you want to betray the people and rebuild the feudal dynasty? Let alone that you are not welcome in Mount Dragon Tiger, even if you are the greatest Taoist master, can you stop machine guns?"

  Xu Qi asked me back, how did I know he was not welcome? I said the village chief told me. Xu Qi cursed a few times in hatred and stopped beating around the bush, speaking directly.

  He said, "In the Ming history, Yuán Jí Tiān Shī offended the national law and was exiled for six years. However, in the Taoist history, it is written that Yuán Jí Tiān Shī spent six years traveling outside. Everyone thinks that the Taoist history is biased towards Yuán Jí Tiān Shī, but for thousands of years, there have been many wicked Taoists like Qiú Jiāngzhī. Who do you think those who wrote the Taoist history were biased towards? I don't know how you knew about Yuán Jí Tiān Shī's story, but it is probably true that although he was exiled, he soon returned to Lóng Hǔ Shān and then pretended to travel around the world while actually searching for the dragon pulse, wanting to become emperor himself."

  Open a history book and you'll find that people who don't know their own weight are everywhere. It's not necessary to say it, but Zhang Yuangui ultimately failed.

  Xu Qi continued: "Unfortunately, man's calculations are not as good as heaven's, and Yuan Ji Tian Shi still failed. But he didn't gain nothing, what exactly did he gain? The master doesn't know, but accidentally heard the rumors in the mountains that Yuan Ji Tian Shi had realized the true meaning of the sentence left by Lao Zu Tian Shi: 'Tian Shi sits in his coffin, ranked among the immortals.' So, the imperial court secretly sent someone to assassinate Yuan Ji Tian Shi in Guan Cun Village and transported his corpse back to Longhu Mountain for burial."

  Xu Qi heard that the two old Taoists were discussing why the mountain would not tolerate their descendants, and Zhang Yuangui had already thought of rebelling. The new Heavenly Master naturally wanted to draw a clear line.

  This time, when he came to Guanshi Village, Xu Qi inadvertently discovered a golden silk nanmu coffin with the pattern of Tian Shi sitting on it. He instantly thought of Zhang Yuangui, although he didn't know what was inside the coffin, but it should be a treasure, and Xu Da Daochang naturally wouldn't let it go.

  I stopped in my tracks and refused to go any further, dramatically asking him: "Shouldn't it be a treasure? What if it's a thousand-year-old zombie instead? Didn't you suspect that Zhang Yuangui was lying inside too?"

  Xu Qi once again revealed a profound and mysterious smile, saying word by word: "Master has two pieces of evidence. First, someone has been targeting Master all along. He wants to force me out, perhaps there's something beneficial in the coffin, he wants to monopolize it. The second piece of evidence concerns you. Whether it's being an official or sitting in a coffin is still unknown, but since the coffin appeared, didn't this little monkey also become an official? Take this official to dig up that coffin, and it will definitely be correct!"

  Xu Qi's words left me stunned, I couldn't have imagined that the official uniform that suddenly appeared on me could be explained in such a way. It seems that this is the reason why Xu Qi has been making eyes at me all along. But I'm not the Heavenly Master, and no one recognizes my official status!

  I hastily pulled Xǔ Qí and briefly told him about what I saw with Lǎo Zú Gōng, solemnly warning: "Master Xǔ, I think the reason why Lǎo Zú Gōng warned me twice is that he's worried you might mistakenly think I'm useful and rashly open the coffin."

  Xu Qi didn't believe it at all, saying: "Bullshit, you were already in the coffin before I came. If he put you in there, wouldn't he have also changed your official uniform for you? However, he only has half a body, which is indeed a problem. No wonder there was only one bullet hole on the three corpses, it makes sense now!"

  Finally, Xu Qi disregarded my objections and resolutely rushed to the tomb. I didn't want to go, but he clutched a ghost talisman tied with red thread in his hand, saying that if the talisman was destroyed, Jiuge at the village entrance would lose control, and if I didn't follow him, I would be bitten to death by zombies.

  Helpless, I had to follow him up the mountain. Xu Qi's pace was extremely fast, and he also remembered the Heavenly Master's coffin, so he simply carried me on his shoulder and ran wildly all the way until we reached the old tribal chief's grave, where he finally put me down. He walked under a crooked-necked tree, dug out a set of Qing dynasty official clothes with a few strokes.

  It was what I brought out from the coffin, Xu Qi said he wanted to take a look and took it away, didn't expect it to be buried here.

  Under coercion and temptation, I reluctantly took off my clothes. Xu Ji stared at my seductive body, occasionally making admiring noises, saying that I was so badly hurt at such a young age, and that if I had the chance to go to Longhu Mountain, she would make sure to nourish me well.

  Xu Qi didn't even know how to make use of me, this low-ranking official. He just had me stand five meters away after changing into a good uniform and told me something that warmed my heart. He said he really wanted to know the secrets left behind by Yuan Ji Tian Shi and could only do such a thing reluctantly. If anything unexpected happened later on, I didn't need to worry about him, I could just run as far as I could.

  I was quite resistant at first, but with this sentence, I went all out to accompany him in a gamble. While Xu Qi jumped into the pit less than two meters away, waving the iron shovel left by the villagers, humming and digging.

  If someone saw this scene, a person digging a grave, not far away standing upright wearing a Qing dynasty official robe, like a zombie monster, I estimate that he would be sweating for Xu Qi, and this zombie, actually also worried about the appearance of real zombies, I only saw the old clan lord jumping out of the village, but didn't know where he went, what if he came, should I run or kneel down to pay respects?

  This digging has been going on for over half an hour, and I'm getting eye strain from watching. Xǔ Qí still hasn't dug up a dinosaur egg either.

  Finally, he threw down the iron shovel and sat on the mound muttering why he couldn't dig it out. I said that coffin would burrow underground, last time you dug out the coffin board, didn't it take several hours to cover a layer of soil?

  Xu Qi shook his head and said, "Covering the soil is easy, you can blow a layer of soil by blowing air on the ground, but if it can burrow into the ground, then it's not a coffin but a giant earthworm."

  I advised him to come again tomorrow and gather people to dig together.

  Besides, there's sunlight during the day, and this gloomy thing can't be done. However, Xu Ji said that tonight is the best opportunity, everyone thinks he's possessed by a ghost, if they drag it until tomorrow, who knows what kind of trouble will arise.

  Seeing him being obstinate, I also got tired of advising him and even hoped that he couldn't dig it out in one night.

  Xu Qi sank into thought for a moment, then suddenly threw away the iron shovel and pulled out a treasured sword. The sword's body reflected the moonlight, looking bright and dazzling. A phrase that often appeared in my mind involuntarily popped up: What a heavy killing aura! I wonder how many people this sword has killed!

  Xu Qi took out his bag and rummaged through it, pulling out a bunch of miscellaneous items that I couldn't understand. There were chicken claw bones, yellow talismans, and various bottles and jars. He then pulled out four small, goofy-looking clay figurines, each about the size of a palm, and placed them at the four corners of the grave.

  He then, without showing any disgust, took off his pants in front of me and started urinating. Under my stunned gaze, he mixed most of a bowl of what seemed to be cinnabar red powder with his urine, cut a few strands of hair and inserted them into the tip of a brush, dipped it in the urine-cinnabar mixture and began drawing talismans.

  Although I am not a Taoist, I have also learned some basic theoretical knowledge online. Xu Qi's actions made me directly suspect that he was a Tongzi chicken, but I didn't dare to ask him.

  A few minutes later, Xu Qi sprinkled the newly baked talismans into the sky, speaking fluently with his mouth, holding a treasure sword and walking around the tomb. The appearance was so scary that I felt that I should bring You Wu with me, let him record me and Xu Qi with his mobile phone, and show it to others. It's absolutely true that Daoist catches zombies.

  After walking for a while, Xu Qi stopped and I took the opportunity to ask him if he was going to cast a spell or something, and what the outcome would be, so that I could mentally prepare myself.

  Xu Qi said, "It's just a simple sacrifice. Later, he held his sword and pointed to the sky, closed his eyes and said to me: 'Disciple, I will recite the Xuanxuan Nei Jiao Jing, the precepts set by Laozu Tian Shi. You follow my silent recitation in your heart. From now on, you must never break the precepts, otherwise, you will provoke the wrath of Laozu Tian Shi.'"

  I agreed with him on the surface, but in my heart I scolded him. As soon as I rescued Wenjing, I would leave. Was I really going to follow him and become a Taoist?

  "Firstly, one's body must not be greedy, cruel, or indulgent. Secondly, one's mind must not harbor evil thoughts or intentions..."

  Although I am an unbeliever, I still think that Zhang Daoling's precepts are the true code of conduct for disciples, while the Ten Commandments in the Bible, the first commandment is to have no other gods before me...

  When Xu Qiniang finished reciting the fourth oath, she suddenly shouted loudly: "Dragon and Tiger disciples who hear the Xuanxuan internal teaching scripture must wash their ears and listen respectfully, kneel down and reflect on themselves. If there are those who do not obey, they will be expelled from the teachings, never to...

  I don't know if it's an illusion, but in a daze, I saw that behind Xu Qi, the grave mound suddenly and inexplicably started swirling with dust, as if something was about to burst out of the ground.

  At this time, a dark cloud drifted from somewhere and covered the moon.

  All around suddenly turned pitch black, unable to see even five fingers when stretching out a hand.

  My heart was racing, and I hadn't even had time to shout "Master, be careful!"

  A withered but cool hand gently rested on my shoulder, and a voice that sent shivers down my spine came from a position one meter above my head.

  A voice full of subtle implications, yet impossible to resist.

  "He said: 'Let your master stop reciting.'"

  I let out a scream: "Save me!"

  Xu Qi's recitation came to an abrupt halt, the dark clouds in the sky retreated quietly as if they had received a signal, and the moonlight poured down once again.

  The force that came from the shoulders seemed to want to press me into the ground, my legs trembled, not to mention running away. With the moonlight, I saw clearly the person who suddenly appeared beside me.

  Even if he didn't lower his head to look at me, and I had to look up at him, I still felt that his face was very long, like a horse's face.