Chapter 21: The House Rises, the Soul Settles

  Lin Zhong's body trembled with rage, pointing at Feng Chen Jiu: "You persuaded me so sincerely, but it was all a trap! You deceived Ling Xue and Cheng Yang Jian, what kind of person are you!"

  "What are you! A broken woman, when I was holding the lantern to light the tower and asked you to accompany me for a while, you were afraid of the master's strict orders and didn't dare to accompany me, making me become this half-human half-ghost. Do you think I really want to beg for spiritual blood for you? Go to your aunt's! I'm not that kind of person, this foolish kid is willing to give up his spiritual blood!" Feng Chenyu laughed with great satisfaction.

  Old Qian suddenly pounced towards Feng Chen's residence, "I've always hated underhanded tricks that harm people. I don't usually get involved in shady dealings, but this is my friend's blood you're after! Come on, I've got plenty of blood to spare, come and cut me!"

  I let out a cry of surprise, and Lin Zhuo suddenly sprang up from the ground, his sleeves fluttering as he dragged Old Qian to one side.

  Dozens of girls gathered around Lin Zhuo, but they were all trembling with fear. Suddenly, he remembered that the Ghost Sun Knife had taken lives (it is said that the Spirit Knife has three kinds: the Ghost Sun Knife takes the lives of small ghosts, the Ghost Yin Knife transforms the yin bodies of big and small fierce ghosts, and the Ghost Ling Knife exterminates all yin realm souls. Now it belongs to the Ghost Sun Knife, the other two knives will be explained in detail later).

  "I said sternly: 'Feng Chen resides in me, Ling Xue's blood is on my body. If I give it to her again, you're being too despicable.'"

  Lin Zhu beside me was disheartened, his eyes shining with tears, "It's no use, the time has passed, only when the moon is at its peak and the true energy is rising can it be useful, I have no chance."

  Lao Qian still wanted to pounce on him, and in his mouth, he was just like me at the beginning, shouting loudly, what grass your eighteen ancestors, I'm going to fight with you. But I said to Feng Chenju: "The spiritual blood belongs to me, the knife can't hurt me, so return the knife."

  "This is beyond your control now; whoever holds the knife is in charge."

  White shadows fluttered, and a sudden gust of wind blew from all directions, causing the trees to sway wildly. The entire city's mountains shook violently, as if they were about to collapse.

  "No good, sisters! Quickly set up the Moonlight Formation, the evil path is going to harm us!" Lin Zhuji urgently called out.

  Suddenly a white shadow stirred, and dozens of women instantly formed a full moon shape, each with a powdered face and anger, all facing outward.

  With a sudden movement, the knife's shadow rolled over, and all I could hear was the sound of "chi chi" repeatedly. Oh my god, I saw something that would be etched in my memory for life. This also made me realize for the first time how formidable this Ghost Sun Knife was, and why everyone had been so eager to get their hands on it.

  All I saw was a flash of white light, and amidst the hissing sounds, I was shocked to see piles of white bones.

  In the end, only Lin Zhu was left struggling. But with just one flip of her body, Lin Zhu had already disappeared, leaving behind a mouthful of white foam and staring at me with round eyes for the last time, shouting out a sentence: In the future, you must protect my white bones from returning to their nest! Just an instant later, it was also a pile of white bones.

  I'm going crazy. It's strange, the sound of sharpening knives in my mind is gone.

  Suddenly, I realized that the series of events over the past few days were all forcing me to move, making me anxious, and preparing for the emergence of the Ling Knife. Just now, when we entered the Moonlight Forest together, this old guy was urging me repeatedly, whatever I said was what he wanted to hear, just wanting to hasten the appearance of my Spiritual Blood. It turns out that he had other plans. Now that the Ghost Sun Knife is complete, the sound of sharpening knives has temporarily disappeared. Damn it, this Yin Ghost's scheme is really no different from a human's.

  I took out the copper bell and shouted loudly, "Feng Chen, you're not afraid? I'll ring this copper bell, summon the Taoist priest, and destroy you together!"

  "Ka ka ka, you hit him, that stinky Taoist has arrived, I'll take them all together." Whether it was true or false, the Taoist master had indeed told me before that unless absolutely necessary, I couldn't ring the copper bell, or both of us would fall into the most dangerous situation. I was a bit afraid, and pretended to wave my hand, but actually hid the copper bell in my bosom.

  "With a sudden movement of both hands, he said: 'I am but a humble mortal, dwelling in the dusty world. You can only kill the evil spirits, what can you do to me?'"

  Lao Qian also burst out laughing and said, "Let's tear you apart together!"

  Fengchen residence HaHa laughed loudly, "I won't fall for your trick, I'll go, leaving you all behind, it will be useful in the future." In a flash, he disappeared instantly.

  As the dust settled, Old Qian and I suddenly felt an even chillier atmosphere, our clothes rustling in the silence.

  My goodness, Old Qian and I were in the midst of a chaotic thicket on the mountain top. The surrounding trees had large branches that were all tangled up, and the grass was as tall as our waists. All around us was an eerie silence, no white bones in sight, only the howling cold wind.

  "Good heavens!" Old Qian exclaimed, trembling. This was actually true.

  But at the foot of the mountain, there was a row of torches suddenly lit up, and people were shouting loudly.

  It's also evil to go out at midnight!

  I and Old Qian hurried down the mountain, rushing towards the place with torches. As we pulled out weeds to find our way, Old Qian said in a sobbing tone: "Damn it, everything is gone, everything has disappeared." I coldly said: "It's that white-clothed woman who's gone, right?" Old Qian said: "That madman damn it, he's dead and turned into white bones. I'll turn him to ashes." I said: "We've just entered the sunlight, don't talk nonsense. One thing at a time, Old Qian, we can't escape this."

  The grass is dense and there's no path; Mother Earth, how did we climb the mountain? Suddenly, I feel a chill down my spine, wave after wave of gloomy air assails me.

  It's okay, the fire is nearby. However, the villagers from Nan Village, instigated by those old men, held torches in the evening and burned all the dead chickens and livestock on the empty land of the construction site, only to create a stench and chaos.

  As we approached, oh no, flames shot up to the sky, adults and children, all in a chaotic uproar. Isn't this adding chaos? In my heart, a sense of foreboding suddenly rose. Fire is the ultimate yang, this place is the ultimate yin, yin and yang are intertwined, it would be strange if nothing happened.

  Lao Qian also furrowed his brow, this guy hadn't recovered from the emotions of just now, only saying that if things go on like this, we're afraid we'll both become ghosts in this fiery oven. I pulled Lao Qian and told him not to move rashly, let's wait and see how things develop, it won't be peaceful.

  Surrounding the fire pit were a group of elderly men, who thought they were clever, holding willow branches with white flags attached, circling around the fire pit, chanting: All have returned, all have gone back, safe and sound, no illness, no disaster.

  Go to hell, this way there will be no illness or disaster, I'm afraid all hospitals will have to close down.

  Zhao stood alone with a dark face on the periphery, seeing us two, said: "It's useless, this rumor is like a plague, it can't be stopped. I'm so fed up, who is colluding inside? If things really go wrong, how can I explain to the town? If this continues endlessly, being accused of inciting a riot is just a matter of time."

  A raging fire, scorching hot in front of my chest, but suddenly I feel a chill on my back. Startled, I turn around and see that there are clusters of dark shadows surrounding us, a sea of blackness pressing in on all sides, encircling the crowd.

  Just as everyone was shouting that it wasn't good, a voice suddenly rang out from the center of the fire pit, "Village Head Zhao, have you arrived? We've all come. Are you going to fulfill your promise?"

  Zhao loudly replied: I'm here, what's up?

  Zhao Caibai pushed through the crowd and walked closer to the bonfire, with Old Qian and I hastily following behind.

  An old man saw Zhao Zai and said, "Why are you outside? Didn't you knock on the door one by one to let us call the whole village to come and burn the wild ghosts? You also said that as long as everyone comes to burn it, you will agree to stop the construction and change the route back to Nan Village's peace."

  Good heavens, I was worried sick, and sure enough, something has happened.

  Zhao Zai looked bewildered and said: "Old man, when did I ask you guys to come? How could I not know myself?"

  "You little brat, you're still not honest in front of your elders. Are we seeing ghosts? It was clearly one of you who knocked on the door and called us." The elderly people all chimed in unison. Zhao was so anxious that he started sweating. I believe it wasn't Zhao who did it, then who was it?

  The crowd began to riot, and the situation was about to escalate, while the dark shadows around me grew denser, suffocating me.

  I nudged Zhao Zai and whispered, "Just agree for now, we'll think of a way out after the crowd disperses."

  Zhao said, "Let's all go home after burning (the offerings), for now, and wait for further notice."

  I pulled Old Qian and headed south first.

  A dark figure approaches in front of me, I step on a lotus flower and whisper softly, "Make way, it's not difficult."

  A path suddenly appeared, but the surroundings were still shrouded in heavy darkness. I shouted: "Everyone follow me from here!"

  Some who had walked quickly from elsewhere retreated hastily, the crowd murmuring that there was seepage of underground water and it was impassable. They all walked out in my direction, and soon the crowd dispersed.

  Suddenly, a faint sound of wind was heard, and the door slammed shut. I sneered repeatedly, damn it, just thinking of settling this account, saving me from going to ask one by one.

  Zhang Zai and Old Qian accompanied me, standing beside the already extinguished bonfire. Suddenly I realized something was off, there were no red dots flashing among these dark shadows. Alas, earlier in my excitement, I mistook the underground yin ghost for a blood bat. It seemed to be the lonely spirits of the mountain valley, which were buried after the struggle between Zhenglingmen and Wuyingmen, now living together in danger, so they all came out together. With a turn of mind, I had an idea.

  Just then Zhao anxiously asked: "What to do?"

  "I said: 'Not busy, let's have dinner first.'"

  I pretended to take out my phone and said to Zhao: "I have a friend who is also in the Tao, this phone call will summon him, you can't be surprised, he has a way."

  I stood up, looked around and said loudly: "I know who you all are, please leave. Who doesn't hope for their future generations to be virtuous? Who doesn't want their future generations to prosper? Your methods of coercion can only make your descendants uneasy. I promise, I will build a new house, with a big roof, and ensure the well-being of all of you, is that okay?"

  After finishing speaking, I pretended to pick up the phone and put it to my ear, loudly saying: "Where is Hong Yizi? Hurry up and bring Ling Mao here."

  A gust of dark wind flashed by, and the old man in red stood before everyone, his entire body clad in bright red clothing, riding on a majestic spirit cat. Zhao Cai let out a startled "ah", eyes wide with shock, while Old Qian merely flipped up an eyelid, not moving at all.

  I said to the old man in red, "Wuying Gate is just a figment of your imagination. Ride the spirit cat for me and spread the word in all directions: those who live peacefully will be safe forever, while those who stir up trouble will turn into white bones. Once this matter is settled, I'll remember you and the spirit cat as having done a good deed."

  Hong Yizi nodded in agreement, and the spirit cat bowed its head and leapt out, disappearing into the black shadows all around. In an instant, the shadows were gone. A red light, accompanied by the black shadows, flew south with a whooshing sound. I heard a voice in my ear: "The messenger's task is accomplished, your merit will be recorded." I responded with a soft "oh".

  Zhao Cai asked me, "What about that friend of yours? What's going on?" I said don't worry about it, just wait till tomorrow and everything will be clear. But can you help me with something? Zhao Cai nodded.

  I said find a paper mache artisan, build high-rise buildings, burn on the south side of the open space, and provide a place for some ancestors to settle in.

  Zhao Zai smiled and said: "Director Li also believes in this, no problem, I've been thinking of doing it like this for a long time, I was afraid you'd say it's too feudal."

  I sank my face and said to Zhao: "Now some things are hard to say, using both Chinese and foreign expressions, don't be offended. Earlier someone impersonated you to cause trouble, let's just forget about it, don't take it to heart. I have a plan in mind, everything will be clear tomorrow."

  On the second day at noon, Zhao came running in a hurry with a happy face, followed by Liu Pang who was panting, and repeatedly said that there was good news. It turned out that the adults and children who were sent to the city had miraculously recovered and returned, all saying strange things, which made the doctors in the city confused. One moment they seemed to be critically ill, but the next moment they were checked to be completely healthy, so they all came back.

  I told Zhao Zai, "Go and invite that old Taoist priest again. Tell him to go from door to door and persuade them, saying that the yin energy here is too heavy and only by breaking the earth can we ensure the safety of Nan Village. Also tell him that it was precisely because of breaking the earth that the people of Nan Village, big and small, were all spared from the disaster and returned safely."

  Zhao Cai nodded in agreement. Liu Pang smiled like a flower because the project could be started smoothly again and the money would come back pouring in.

  Zhaō cái yī yī zhào bàn. Zàn ān yóu hún.

  Translation:

  Zhao carried it out accordingly. Temporarily calming the restless soul.

  But it was the old way, and all along the journey there were no strange occurrences.

  It's strange that behind him was a dirty thing following him.