Chapter Twelve: The Soul's Crossroads

  The copper bell shook into a piece, and I suddenly remembered the words of Qing Shan Dao when he was leaving in a hurry. Good heavens! Could it be that this calamity has fallen on Old Qian's body?

  "Who's the fierce ghost, bullying my friend? Show yourself! Hiding in the dark, you're just a cowardly evil spirit!" I learned from Dao Zhang's style, woooaaaahhh blind shouting.

  The old money on the ground heard me shouting, and surprisingly raised its bright green eyes to look at me for a moment, then suddenly burst into a strange laugh, ignoring me and continuing to grab food from the ground.

  I rushed forward, regardless of everything, and stepped on the food on the ground with one foot.

  With a snap, Old Qian's pale hand landed on my wrist, and with a light pull, I felt a surge of yin energy rush to the top, and I fell forward, but without any deviation, my entire body landed squarely on Old Qian's body that was prostrate on the ground.

  It was slow to speak, but quick to act. Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, I sprang up again with a loud crash, and Old Qian let out a series of miserable cries on the ground, not because he was being pressed down in pain, but rather like he had been scalded by something.

  Suddenly I remembered that I had a copper bell in my bosom, and also a yellow apricot flag symbol given by Daochang when he left.

  I completely understand now, Old Qian must be possessed by a ghost, this house is very strange.

  I sprang up and took a few steps back. But what I saw next was even more bizarre - Old Qian had slithered to the fridge like a snake, which was placed in a corner of his living room. With a loud creak, he opened the fridge door, and a chaotic mess ensued as the frozen fish, meat, chicken, and other things scattered all over the floor. What's even more terrifying is that Old Qian directly grabbed these frozen creatures and started devouring them with big mouthfuls, the crunching sounds still echoing in my ears, along with the sight of the torn flesh and the red gash left behind. I felt a wave rising up to my chest, as if I was about to vomit.

  Can't wait anymore. I shouted again: "Let go of Lao Qian, come at me."

  Old Qian, who was gnawing away with gusto, suddenly turned around, looked at me, and with a mouthful of bright red blood, smiled strangely and said to me: "Don't think you're invincible just because you have a shield, or I'll take care of you along with this."

  This reminds me that I was originally a layman and couldn't remember any rituals or instruments.

  I quickly pulled out the copper bell and said to Lao Qian: "The Taoist priest always says that he wants to cultivate the path of emotions, last night was your doing, the Taoist priest has spared you, I don't want to make things difficult for you, go away."

  "Hahahaha", Old Qian suddenly threw his head back and laughed, wiping his hand across his face, which was covered in food residue and the bloody water from the thawed frozen food. His entire person looked ominous and terrifying, with only two bright red eyes blinking non-stop. "Nan Cun trapped me in the Eight Trigrams Formation, luckily you guys came, otherwise I would have stolen another mouthful of spiritual blood. But being trapped for 49 days almost starved me to death. That day was supposed to be my escape, but you insisted on holding hands and not letting me out, it's your own fault."

  Alas, I suddenly remembered an incident in the widow's courtyard of Nan Village Zhang Er. Wasn't Old Qian trapped in the Bagua-shaped tree array? It was me who shouted loudly and awakened him to rescue him. After coming out, I indeed had one hand on the bronze bell and the other holding onto Old Qian, saying some ambiguous words, but unexpectedly trapping him inside Old Qian's body instead.

  "Last night, I was in distress and sought help. Luckily, I met a Taoist priest who wasn't a useless killer. But first, you were like an icy river vortex that didn't save me. Then, you only cared about your little concubine and wouldn't ferry me across. And when I followed you thinking you'd rescue me, you still told me to release the person first. What would happen to my soul after I released them? Would it just dissipate like white bones? All because I secretly drank an extra mouthful of that stinky Taoist's dog-beating spirit at the entrance of our house. It's fine if I was punished by the master, but you guys still won't save me. You're all going to die!" Old Qian said.

  Good heavens, I finally understand. Everything is interconnected. No wonder Qing Shan Dao Chang said those words about the unripe timing when he left. It seems that this yin ghost also wanted to transform into a fierce ghost and was impatient, stealing several mouthfuls of spiritual blood. Unexpectedly, it was trapped by Wuying Gate Master in front of Zhang Er Guafu's Eight Trigrams Tree Array and punished with the starvation of a hungry ghost. Old Qian mistakenly entered the tree array and was possessed by it.

  The copper bell must not be used indiscriminately, this is what Daozhang Jiao warned about.

  I slapped the apricot-yellow flag symbol out of my arms, and it flew down, inserting itself into Old Qian's collar. Suddenly, a dark fog rose, and Old Qian twisted in agony, shouting "ah" nonstop. I trembled with fear, thinking to myself, "This is bad! I don't know how to recite an incantation like Daozhang or perform some sort of lotus dance to save him... this time, I'm afraid I might end up killing Old Qian!"

  Just as he was shocked, Old Qian suddenly let out a loud and mournful cry, which didn't sound like his voice. A dark shadow suddenly separated from Old Qian's body, and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes tightly closed, his breathing weak.

  I was worried about Lao Qian, just thinking of going forward, but the black shadow had vaguely taken on a human form, blocking me and Lao Qian, with a foul smell that made one want to vomit.

  "It's not your mother's good stuff, I'm going all out today." As he spoke, the black shadow suddenly reached out with a pale hand to grab the copper bell in my hand. I was scared stupid, face to face for the first time. Just as I wanted to shrink back, I saw that Bai Sen's hand had just approached my copper bell and suddenly shrunk back like it had been scalded by hot water, letting out a strange yelp. The black shadow suddenly transformed into a bat-like shape, flying wildly around the room, its scarlet eyes fixed intently on me.

  It seems effective. I raised the copper bell and swung it wildly, step by step approaching Old Qian.

  The eerie cries continued, and the vampire bats flew more and more fiercely, several times almost hitting my head, desperately using the copper bell to cover myself.

  One step at a time, after much difficulty, I finally got close to Old Qian. I kicked him hard with my foot and shouted loudly: "Old Qian, you deadbeat, wake up quickly and help me fight the ghost! Old Qian, Old Qian!"

  Lao Qian was like a dead pig, only letting out a dull grunt, his eyes still tightly closed, without any movement.

  Tears gushed out, I was convinced that Old Qian had been possessed by a malevolent spirit and killed. Heaven! In an instant, tears flooded the sky, my good friend Old Qian, could it be that he's really gone just like that?

  A scream kept ringing out.

  "I'm going to kill you, you damn grandma! You've ruined my friend's life! I can feel my eyes turning red with rage, and my eyeballs are about to burst. How could this happen right in front of me?! My friend is gone, just like that... Screw your grandfather, I won't live either!"

  I grasped the copper bell, disregarding everything, and with tears streaming down my face, I actively chased after the blood bat.

  "Damn your ancestors for eighteen generations, I'm not going to live either. If you have the guts, take me with you too and I'll find you in hell, dig up your ancestral grave, scatter your ancestor's ashes, come on, you bastard, if you have the guts, come on!" I cried out loud, reciting all the curses I could think of, tears mixed with blood from my mouth corner flowing down my chin, the room was filled with a bloody atmosphere.

  The vampire bat probably didn't expect me to mess around like a madman, previously it was chasing me with cold air, now it's flying fast and staring at me dead.

  I was almost driven mad. I glanced at the old money on the ground, still motionless, and felt a chill from head to toe.

  I feel like I'm going crazy, I'm about to lose it, I don't care anymore.

  I flung out the copper bell with a clang.

  A crisp sound, a flash of light, and I felt the whole house shaking, everything inside was rolling over, and Old Qian even rolled to another corner. The moment the copper bell came out, my whole body still had an electric shock, damn it, I lost control, Dao Zhang said, this is not just random tossing.

  With a loud crash, the white light shone brightly, but it was precisely and squarely hitting the vampire bat.

  A loud, mournful cry, suddenly the sky was a bloody red, then a black fog rose up, with tiny fragments falling to the ground, filling the room with a foul odor. The mournful cry still echoed in my ears when the blood bat had vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a messy room, the old money on the floor, and the pungent smell that reminded me of the brutal scene that had just occurred here.

  No, I feel like there's someone behind me. Turning around, it's actually Qing Shan Dao Zhang. Only now do I remember that Qing Shan Dao Zhang had told me earlier that throwing the copper bell was a last resort and would summon him to provide assistance. It seems this is all true. Just now, I was anxious and angry, and accidentally did something like this.

  My tears are still flowing and I don't have time to explain anything to the Taoist priest.

  Qingshan Daochang walked up to Old Qian, bent down and pulled out the apricot-yellow flag that was still stuck in his neck, and looked at me with a serious expression.

  I stuttered and couldn't speak, tears still flowing, I just pointed at the motionless Old Qian with my hand.

  What a strange thing! As the yellow flag was pulled out, Old Qian suddenly let out a long sigh and woke up.

  Old Qian woke up and looked at us strangely, quickly got up, brushed off the food residue on his body, and asked me: "What's going on? I clearly had a cold and was resting in bed at home." He also pointed to the messy room and said to me: "You took advantage of my sleep and fought in my house!" Suddenly, he stretched his waist and moved his neck, saying: "Ah, damn it, how come it hurts so much? Isn't a cold what people get?"

  It seems that Old Qian is a bit clueless. I was just about to say something, but Qing Shan Da Chang used his eyes to stop me and said: "I came with your friend to visit you. Just now, I hadn't eaten yet, so I asked your friend to make something for me. He pulled the refrigerator and knocked it over, so there wasn't time to clean up."

  It seems that Qing Shan Dao Chang never wanted Lao Qian to get involved in the first place.

  I chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, you've got everything here, too much, it's all messy, let me help you clean up."

  Lao Qian suddenly realized Qing Shan was there and said: "Old man, this friend of mine is unreliable, sit down."

  Qingshan Daochang said: "Not yet, there's something else, I'll go first."

  As I turned to send him off, Qing Shan whispered seriously in my ear: "Be careful with your actions, remember every word I said. The road ahead is still long, and we were lucky earlier that it was just a half-ling blood bat that wasn't even up to par. Who knows what will happen next? Your friend also deserved this calamity because he had evil thoughts in the south village and was possessed by an evil spirit. Now that he's escaped from his true form, you'll have another helper in the future. I'm leaving now, be careful in the south village."

  I nodded, not daring to let the Taoist priest stay any longer, lest Old Qian becomes suspicious. The Taoist priest's previous words were reasonable, and worldly affairs still need to be handled in a worldly manner. I and Old Qian are still formal financial director and deputy director, no room for joking around.

  Re-entering the house, Old Qian still couldn't make sense of the chaotic scene before him.

  I took the broom proactively and busied myself cleaning, saying: "Want to see a bird? Go look in your nest."

  Lao Qian saw me like this and also came to help, saying: "Damn it, the house is messy, my cold has gotten better, let's go to Nan Village tomorrow, if we don't go, that kid will tear us apart."

  I nodded, but in my heart was a vast whiteness, because I heard a clear and lovely voice whispering in my ear again.