Extra 2

One of the irresponsible side stories: The Celestial Master and the Exorcist

What is a Celestial Master?

A mortal wearing a Taoist robe, barefoot, holding a peach wood sword, carrying a string of yellow paper and cinnabar talismans, and chanting incantations.

Yan Dan peered through the fire at the young Taoist master opposite her, feeling that the world was changing too fast, and she was struggling to keep up with the customs of the mortal realm. Taoist Master Tang Zhou was young, but already showed signs of cunning and shrewdness; he was handsome and dashing, but as a mortal, he would soon become a bald, middle-aged man; he had a great talent for Taoist arts, but when he was reincarnated in his next life, he would certainly not have such a pure soul again…

Qin Qi sat beside her, idly poking at the campfire, and said irritably, "Who said there were ghosts here? We haven't seen a single ghost yet, and it'll be dawn soon!"

"The yin energy is strongest at midnight, and it's not time yet," Tang Zhou said calmly, glancing at her.

Qin Qi clenched her fists, her fingers cracking loudly: "If they come one at a time, catch them one; if they come in pairs, catch them in pairs..."

Yan Dan thought to herself, "With such a fierce and domineering presence, even ghosts and monsters wouldn't dare to come out. Isn't it said that if you haven't done anything wrong during the day, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking at your door at night? They only have this much courage; they can only scare those guilty mortals. Someone as righteous and awe-inspiring as Qin Qi, who is also determined to tear ghosts apart, wouldn't dare to come out either."

"Miss Yan, a night breeze is picking up here. Why don't you sit somewhere upwind?"

Besides Tang Zhou and Qin Qi, another disciple of the Taoist priest also came. However, the junior brother kept his head down and didn't say a word. Only then did Yan Dan look at him properly. It seemed that with these two senior brothers and sisters above him, life as a junior brother was not easy.

But now she's sitting downwind? Upwind... Yan Dan looked at the empty space between Qin Qi and Tang Zhou, her heart trembling.

It seems... it's better not to sit there.

Yan Dan waved her hand hastily: "Thank you, but there's really no need for that. What's a little cigarette? — Oh, you're the one who stood by the table earlier, staring at the stewed chicken leg in my bowl, but never got to eat it?"

The junior brother's face immediately darkened.

Tang Zhou moved aside, saying, "Come sit down, so you don't get all dirty later."

Yan Dan had no choice but to slowly move over and sit down.

While Qin Qi was looking to the other side, Tang Zhou suddenly whispered in her ear, "What are you afraid of? This exorcism won't affect you at all."

Yan Dan quickly covered her ears and resolutely moved closer to Qin Qi. Mortals really are the most hypocritical creatures in this world; even though the books say that men and women should not touch each other, he was still standing so close.

After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Qin Qi suddenly turned to stare at her junior brother, who was huddled to one side: "Aren't you going to think of a solution? Are we going to wait until the year is over?"

"What should we do... a solution... Oh right, I heard someone say that telling some eerie and scary ghost stories can lure out ghosts. First, put out the fire, then light the candles, forty-nine in total. After telling each ghost story, blow out one candle. When the forty-ninth candle goes out, the ghosts will swarm out."

Yan Dan sighed: Where did they hear this from? In any case, as one of the demons and monsters, she had never heard of it before.

Qin Qi rubbed her hands together, quite interested: "Okay, okay, let's give it a try."

Tang Zhou sat with his knees bent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, watching his two fellow disciples busily gather sand to extinguish the fire, then light tinder and spread dozens of candles on the ground.

Qin Qi arranged the candles, very excited: "Alright, who wants to tell a story first? Hmm, how about Senior Brother goes first, and we can take turns like this."

Tang Zhou spoke softly to the flickering candlelight: "Once upon a time, there was a couple who lived in the mountains, where there was only one village ten miles away. The couple had a very good relationship. The man chopped firewood, and the woman wove cloth. Whenever there was a market, they would take the firewood and cloth to exchange for other things. Even though they lived a poor life, they didn't care at all."

"Then one day, the man went deep into the mountains to gather firewood. His wife waited from dusk till night, but he didn't come. It rained heavily that night, and she thought perhaps the rain had delayed him. But when the weather cleared up the next day, her husband was still nowhere to be seen. She was extremely anxious and rushed to a village ten miles away to inquire." Tang Zhou paused, glanced at Yan Dan, and continued, "Because the couple were very kind, many people in the village were happy to talk to them. The woman quickly learned that her husband hadn't come to the village at all the day before. The thought of her husband being out in the mountains for a whole day and night made her even more anxious."

The other two fellow disciples listened intently, their eyes fixed on him. Yan Dan, meanwhile, stared at the candle in front of her, wondering what Tang Zhou meant by that glance he had just given her. Was it a veiled insult, or something else entirely? She had no husband, had never gone to the mountains to gather firewood, and certainly didn't know how to weave. If it was a veiled insult, she shouldn't have been completely oblivious (a certain Lian, too prone to overthinking)...

"The woman had no choice but to go into the deep mountains alone to search. In the end, she only found the axe her husband used to chop wood, which still had bloodstains on it. She felt that her husband was probably dead, but it had rained heavily the night before, which washed away the traces on the ground. She had no way to follow the traces, so she could only go home in tears. Ten days passed like this, and just when she was about to despair, the man finally returned."

Overjoyed, she couldn't help but ask her husband where he had been for the past ten days. The man replied that he had gotten lost in the mountains that day and, just as he was at his wits' end, he saw a fire in the woods ahead and went towards it. There were many people sitting around the fire, including a woodcutter named Huang Sheng from a village ten miles away. He went over and sat down with them. But then, one of the burly men, who was peacefully eating a steamed bun, was suddenly tripped by someone's elbow, and his head was severed...

Qin Qi couldn't help but exclaim, while her junior brother immediately shrank his head into his collar. Yan Dan curled her lips, thinking to herself, what's so scary about this? She had told the little wolf demon Dan Shu more than a dozen similar stories ten years ago, and even used her magic to conjure up a group of living people, making the head of one of them look very realistic.

"He and the woodcutter named Huang Sheng were both stunned. After a moment, the two of them ran away desperately, but those headless people actually chased after them. Ten days later, they finally found their way home." Tang Zhou said, turning his head to look at Yan Dan with a smile. "Although her husband said so, the woman still had some doubts in her heart. Two days later, these doubts grew even stronger. Since the man escaped death, the couple was not as close as before. One day, the woman went to the market and saw Huang Sheng's wife. She asked her about it, but Huang was shocked and told the woman that her husband had been dead for some time and was still decapitated when he was carried back."

Yan Dan couldn't help but think, if he's telling a story, why is he staring at her like that? There must be something strange about it.

"The woman returned home uneasily, only to find her husband looking down, searching for something. Unable to face him, she turned to leave. But after only two steps, she felt a pair of arms embrace her, and her husband's familiar voice rang in her ears..."

Tang Zhou suddenly leaned over and hugged Yan Dan's waist from behind, saying softly, "I don't know where my head is, have you seen it?"

Yan Dan was disdainful. He thought he could scare her like that? He was way off. Anything she said would be far more interesting. She turned her head away, but the timing was perfect; his lips brushed against her cheek and stopped abruptly on hers. She jolted, forcefully pushing Tang Zhou away and scrambling to Qin Qi's side, crying, "Where's the water? It's filthy, waaaah..."

A water bag was handed to her from the side, and she took it without even looking at it, starting to wash her lips. How terrifying! She had just kissed a mortal, and Tang Zhou no less! Would washing her lips a hundred times be enough?

Seeing her looking so pitiful and as if she had been humiliated, Tang Zhou frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "What you're holding seems to be my water bag."

This bolt from the blue struck her squarely on the head. Yan Dan turned her head stiffly to look at him: "Huh?"

Tang Zhou turned to Qin Qi: "It seems she's been frightened. You can go first."

Qin Qi patted Yan Dan's back and said cheerfully, "Don't be sad. It's just a kiss. If you feel like you've lost out, just kiss him back. Senior brother, what do you say?"

Tang Zhou was quite pleased: "Junior Sister is right."

Yan Dan crouched on the ground, clutching her head, heartbroken.

"...I said to that ghost, 'So what if you don't have legs? I don't even have breasts...'" Qin Qi exhaled, blew out a candle, and looked at her fellow disciple, "Your turn."

After another round, only a dozen or so candles remained on the ground.

Yan Dan remained crouched on the ground, her head in her hands, utterly silent.

Tang Zhou looked at her, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked in a low voice, "What are you being so sad about? You've already kissed, and you've washed so many times. Do you really care about this?"

Yan Dan shifted slightly, thinking to herself, "That's right. She's not some virtuous woman from the mortal world. A kiss won't hurt her. Even if it's disgusting, she can just bear it." She raised her head and smiled brightly at Tang Zhou, her eyes shining with her white teeth: "I don't take this kind of thing to heart."

"Really? I can tell you're quite bothered by it. Is this your first time being kissed?" Tsk tsk, although she's a bit mischievous, she's still quite pure at heart.

"How could that be? Didn't I tell you I wouldn't care about this kind of thing? It's not like I'll lose a piece of my flesh anyway," Yan Dan said angrily.

Tang Zhou's face darkened slightly, and he said expressionlessly, "Is that so?" He leaned over and kissed her lips again, saying slowly, "Anyway, you won't take this to heart. One kiss is one kiss, two kisses are one kiss, it doesn't make a difference."

Yan Dan froze for a moment, then scrambled to Qin Qi's side, crying out, "Water! Where's the water? Waaaaah..."

Qin Qi looked at her and said crisply, "Stop wiping, just kiss her back. We may be women, but we can't let men bully us!"

Yan Dan was deeply saddened. "What kind of disciples did you teach, Daoist Master?"

And so Yan Dan spent the longest night of her life.

However, the most important task, exorcising the ghost, was unsuccessful.

As dawn broke, groups of dark figures huddled under the shade of trees, whispering amongst themselves.

"Ugh, this is terrifying! What kind of mortal comes to the Ghost Forest to tell ghost stories..."

"Shut up! Those aren't ordinary mortals, they're celestial masters. They're born to bully us. From now on, if you see a celestial master, run away as fast as you can, or you'll end up like that demon. Understand?"

"Waaaah, that demon is so pitiful. It got bitten twice by that male Taoist priest. How pathetic..."

"I thought demons were so powerful, but aren't they just as afraid of the Celestial Masters as we are? Next time we'll march on Yelan Mountain and drag down the mountain lord there, hmph!"

Yan Dan walked at the very back of the group, and the whispers drifted into her ears on the wind.

This is intolerable!

She should have been patient, but how could these ghosts be so despicable?

She turned and strode quickly to the shadowy patch beneath the trees, her voice chillingly cold as she said, "I'm pathetic, aren't I? You want to conquer Yelan Mountain and bring down the mountain lord, is that it?" A sinister voice, like that of the underworld, echoed: "Die, all of you..."

The ghosts fled in terror.

Qin Qi praised her highly: "I used to think that Miss Yan was delicate and weak, and could only hold chopsticks. I never expected her to be so capable. I really underestimated her."

Tang Zhou seemed thoughtful: "Hmm, she seems quite angry..."

Yan Dan stood there with her arms crossed, surrounded by a large group of dark figures kneeling at her feet. The figures, their voices trembling with sobs, cried pitifully, "Mountain King, spare us! Mountain King..."

From then on, Ghost Forest returned to tranquility.