Chapter 44: Retirement Day 44: Another year of patching up.
It was obvious that Taiwei Sanren was not the only one who was shocked by Sang Qiqi's punch.
The huge evil ghost was lying on the ground, and for the first time, its scarlet eyes filled with madness and anger showed a look of confusion.
It looked down at its limp waist, then turned to look at the young girl who was rubbing her knuckles with her left palm wrapped around her right fist, and finally came to its senses.
roar!
An angry cry erupted from his throat. The strong ghost energy and resentment emanating from the evil ghost did not immediately rush towards Sang Qiqi and the evil tiger in revenge. Instead, it formed a protective circle, wrapping its body in it.
Sang Qiqi saw at a glance that it wanted to take the opportunity to repair its broken waist and rushed forward without hesitation.
Sensing her intentions, the evil spirit's protective circle erupted with several icy spikes condensed from ghostly energy, piercing Sang Qiqi's eyes, chest, abdomen, and knees. The icy spikes moved with incredible speed, missing Sang Qiqi's eyes by mere millimeters in the blink of an eye. But time seemed to slow down even more at this moment. Sang Qiqi blinked gently, and the icy spikes piercing her eyelids melted instantly, blowing away in the surrounding night wind.
Another punch.
As soon as Sang Qiqi approached the protective circle formed by the evil ghost with ghost energy, she knocked it down hard.
The rumbling sound brought a strong vibration that made the evil ghost's waist, which had just straightened up, fall down again. It also shook Taiwei Sanren, who was far away, and made him stagger, and he almost lost his balance.
Evil ghost: “…”
What did this woman eat to grow up?! How can she be so strong?
Disgust and hatred flowed from his scarlet eyes. He glanced at the many little ghosts who could no longer provide him with resentment. Then, the evil ghost gritted his teeth, tore open the protective circle, turned around and rushed towards Sang Qiqi.
Bang.
The fist faced the evil ghost's huge head.
The crackling sound of the barrier shattering echoed in Taiwei Sanren's ears again. He held the thick tree trunk with his fingers, and looked at the evil ghost with a slightly complicated expression. The evil ghost, who was originally extremely ferocious and wanted to swallow Sang Qiqi in one bite, was beaten so hard that the center of his head was sunken, his eyeballs popped out, and he bared his teeth and let out a cry of pain.
Then, Sang Qiqi retracted her hand, stretched it out again, and threw a neat uppercut.
The evil ghost was knocked away more than ten meters.
Taiwei Sanren: "..."
He began practicing Taoism at the age of three and the art of talismans at the age of twelve, a journey that spanned fifty or sixty years. Over these years, he had encountered all manner of ferocious demons. Whether he or his forefathers, the weapons they used to combat them were essentially peach wood swords, command flags, whisks, and talisman paper. The talisman paper was crucial, but practicing talisman art wasn't easy. True talisman paper capable of attracting lightning and storing fire was vastly different from the ordinary Taoist talisman paper, requiring a different level of time and effort to create.
Those with better talent can produce three in one night.
Those with less talent may not be able to draw a single picture even after spending the whole night trying.
Someone like him, who has been drawing talisman paper for decades, usually has a larger stock than others; otherwise, he wouldn't have wasted so many silent notes. If Mingxin had appeared here today, the villagers of Wuyan Village would probably have already called the police.
I'm used to seeing Taoist priests frugal with talismans to deal with evil spirits, and sometimes being chased all over the world by evil spirits. So today, I was a little shocked to see Sang Qiqi's brutal method of relying solely on force to suppress and using clenched fists.
It feels a bit good.
The ghosts in the underworld are indeed different.
I don’t know where Mingxin met this girl.
While Taiwei Sanren was still sighing to himself, the evil tiger, which had eaten an arm of the evil ghost but still felt empty in its stomach, couldn't wait to jump over Sang Qiqi and come to the evil ghost who was lying on the ground with his head covered. It touched the evil ghost's body with its forelimbs, and seeing that there was no movement, it dug it twice, but still no movement.
Just die like that?
Doubts welled up in its mind, and it lowered its head to get closer to the demon's head. Just as it was about to sniff out its scent, the demon suddenly leaped up from its body! The demonic energy condensed within it exploded like a rain of pear blossom needles, frightening the tiger so much that it leaped back with a low roar.
But even though the evil tiger's reaction speed was very fast, the bursting ghost energy still pierced its body one by one. The fine and sharp pain made it roar continuously, and it angrily slapped the evil ghost with its front paws.
The force like a mountain came crashing down, knocking the evil ghost to the ground again.
The evil tiger used its two front legs to angrily hit the opponent's back twice. The evil ghost puffed out the little air he had left, his one arm and two legs kept twitching, his eyeballs rolled up, and he exhaled more than inhaled, as if he was about to die on the spot.
Seeing this, the evil tiger finally relaxed a little after being tricked.
But it still felt unhappy.
So, he jumped up, landed, and slammed his butt on the evil ghost, then turned around and roared at Sang Qiqi.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
She rolled her eyes. "It's not like I asked you to run so fast."
The white long fingers hooked out a dark but patterned soul-binding chain. The chain seemed to have self-awareness and quickly came to the side of the evil ghost. However, it did not bind the evil ghost immediately. Instead, it swayed left and right and touched the evil tiger's butt with its head.
Signal it to open.
The evil tiger glanced at it lightly with its scarlet eyes, and then leisurely raised its front paw and licked it.
Soul Binding Chains: “…”
After two seconds of silence, the soul-binding chain was raised high and with a snap, it hit the tiger's hind legs connected to its buttocks.
"roar!"
The evil tiger howled, and its huge body flew up and flew a hundred meters away.
The soul-binding chain took this opportunity to get under the evil ghost that was almost flattened, tightly wrapped around it, and then the other end returned to Sang Qiqi's hand.
Sang Qiqi didn't look at the evil tiger that was howling but obviously deserved it. She dragged the evil ghost that looked like a dead person towards the shore.
At the same time, the ghost officials who were capturing many little ghosts also finished their work.
The huge commotion caused by the Wuyanzhuang Reservoir disappeared completely at this moment, and the island in the middle of the lake also sank completely to the bottom of the water, and would no longer cause the public to call the police. Taiwei Sanren frugally took off the silent notes that were barely still usable, and then carefully put them back into the bag outside his Taoist robe.
Another year of mending.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
How stingy you are.
What about the temperament of the Half-Immortal Master of Dadao Temple?
After muttering a few words to herself, Sang Qiqi turned to look at the arrested children. They were all about three or four years old. They should have been adorable human cubs, but at this moment, their appearance had nothing to do with humans.
The imps' clothes were tattered and torn, their exposed skin pale and pale with obvious signs of gnaws. Their facial features were hard to discern, but their mouths were particularly large, their teeth arranged in a staggered pattern like those of a wild animal. They looked sharp enough to easily pierce a human's delicate blood vessels.
Noticing Sang Qiqi's gaze, they used their hands with long, sharp nails to pull hard at the soul-binding chains around their necks, venting their dissatisfaction with being trapped to Sang Qiqi.
Taiwei Sanren, with a hint of pity in his eyes, walked up to Sang Qiqi and asked, "How will the underworld deal with them?"
"First, they'll go to the First Hall for trial. Then, depending on their circumstances, they'll go to the various lesser hells to receive punishment or simply queue up for reincarnation." When the word 'lesser hell' was mentioned, Sang Qiqi noticed that Taiwei Sanren frowned, so she offered a few more words of her own opinion. "Just from the rumors here, these little ghosts are all victims. They probably haven't had time to harm anyone yet. Even if they caused a few floods, if there were no casualties, the underworld wouldn't have sent them to the lesser hells to receive punishment."
After all, these little guys are young and ignorant. It is unrealistic to ask them to control the spread of ghost energy and resentment when they can't even control their urine.
While Lin Yanluo was a bit stingy, he wasn't a rigid, unsympathetic person who only followed the rules. This was completely different from the annoying old men in other halls. When these little ghosts were assigned to Lin Yanluo, at most he would have them do child labor for a few days.
"However, if they also involve drownings in recent years, the verdict may have to be changed."
"Wasn't that the water ghost who did that?"
"The resentful spirit within the formation provided the water ghost with a shelter. It seems they have ulterior motives."
There was one thing Sang Qiqi didn't say. When she went to the underworld to call for help, she casually asked the ghost catcher in charge of the Wuyanzhuang area. The ghost catcher said that he had not received any news about the soul-binding near the reservoir. This meant that after Zhang Lin, Yanyan and others drowned, their souls also disappeared.
Of course, this does not rule out the possibility that their souls were devoured by water ghosts.
But judging by Sang Qiqi's sixth sense and her interactions with the water ghost, the ghost's resentment wasn't too strong, and it didn't seem like it had devoured a living soul. So, where did Yanyan and the others' souls go? This was worth investigating.
As they were talking, several ghost messengers arrived on the shore. After greeting Sang Qiqi, they prepared to head to the underworld. Sang Qiqi raised her hand and handed the evil ghost she was holding to the leading ghost messenger, "Take this one with you too."
The ghost asked her, "Aren't you going back with me?"
Sang Qiqi shook her head: "I'll be there later."
Upon hearing this, the ghost officials did not stay any longer.
After sending the ghost messenger away, Sang Qiqi looked at the calm water and said to Taiwei Sanren, "I'm going to the drowned girl's home. Taoist priest, would you like to come with me?"
Taiwei Sanren looked at her suspiciously.
-
Late at night, Wuyan Manor should have been hushed, the sound of insects humming, but now, the sound of low, lingering scriptures echoed in my ears. When Sang Qiqi and Taiwei Sanren arrived at Yanyan's home, only Yanyan's relatives and Cheng Heyi were present under the dark shed. Inside the mourning hall was Yanyan's coffin, and her mother, almost numb, sat beside it.
Seeing Sang Qiqi approaching, Cheng Heyi put down her work and quickly walked over. She scanned Sang Qiqi's body twice, but didn't see any injuries. The tension she'd been worrying about all night gradually dissipated. She exhaled and asked, "Is everything resolved?"
Sang Qiqi nodded and introduced him to Cheng Heyi: "This is the master of Taoist Mingxin, and also the abbot of Liuyun Temple, Taiwei Sanren."
The old Taoist priest was wrapped in a black and gold Taoist robe, a Taoist scarf on his head, and had white hair, white eyebrows and a white beard. At first glance, he really looked like an immortal who had attained enlightenment.
Ever since Sang Qiqi appeared, the villagers in the shed had their eyes on her. They all knew Sang Qiqi was Cheng Heyi's assistant, so when Cheng Heyi arrived without Sang Qiqi, they didn't think much of it. After all, the responsibility of keeping vigil didn't fall on Cheng Heyi and his partner, so Cheng Heyi's willingness to come was unexpected.
And now, when Sang Qiqi appeared, they subconsciously pricked up their ears to listen to the other party introduce the identity of this old Taoist priest.
One of them, an elderly man smoking an old pipe, asked curiously, "Liuyun Temple? Is it the Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture?"
Sang Qiqi raised her eyebrows when she heard this and asked in surprise, "You knew?"
The wrinkles on the old man's face were squeezed together, and a smile appeared on his face. "Of course. When I was young, I went to the Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture to pay homage. The Taoist priests there are all very capable."
As soon as he said this, several people of similar age in the shed suddenly groaned, their memories of their youth brought back. They asked, "Is this the incident with your soldier?"
"right."
Sang Qiqi became interested and moved her chair to the old man's side, very familiarly. She held her chin with her hand and asked curiously, "What's going on?"
Sang Qiqi is fair and pretty. When she is not causing trouble, you would never guess that she is a tough girl who can smash a ghost's head with one punch. You would only think that this girl looks like a well-behaved girl who is particularly easy to win the favor of the elders.
The same goes for the old man.
He put away his pipe and said with a smile, "Dabing is my son. About forty years ago, my son went to the mountains and disappeared without a trace. Not every household had a cell phone at the time, and there was no signal in the mountains, so we couldn't find him. We were in a panic. My daughter-in-law had just given birth, and the good days of three generations living together were just beginning, but we didn't expect Dabing to get into trouble first."
"Yes, I still remember the scene back then," the old lady of the same age as the one who had originally spoken to her continued, "At that time, our village chief mobilized all the young and strong men in the village to go to the mountains to look for your soldiers. Even the police came."
"Yes, the young men from the village and the police searched the mountains for two days and finally found the unconscious soldier next to a grave. They rushed him to the hospital. After examining him, the doctor said he might have hit his head, which caused his coma, but it was nothing serious. We figured since the doctor said so, there must be nothing wrong, so we took him home."
According to Sang Qiqi's experience of listening to stories, there must be a "but" as a turning point at this time.
Sure enough, the old man said, "But we didn't expect that although the soldier woke up after returning home, he became very strange. He kept mumbling something incomprehensible and scratching his ears and cheeks. His face was covered in blood and flesh, which was scary. The family was shocked and immediately took him to see a doctor. As a result, when the doctor was holding him for an examination, he bit the doctor!"
"The bite was so severe that it tore off a piece of flesh from his arm," the old lady sighed. "Everyone thought he had been bitten by something in the mountains and had contracted rabies."
At that time, Wuyanzhuang was in a bloody mess.
When some people heard about this, they were afraid that the soldier would bite them as well, so they suggested killing the soldier.
But the laws forty years ago were already very complete. Although Wuyanzhuang is a village in the mountains, the villagers are not as ignorant as they were a hundred years ago. Not only do they believe in river gods, but they also commit illegal and criminal acts.
A group of people led by the village chief firmly rejected this suggestion, and the old man's family even called the police.
The two sides were in a fierce quarrel.
But at this time, a very young Taoist priest came to the village. Someone in the village kindly warned him: "Don't go near Zhang Dabing's house. Zhang Dabing was bitten by some strange creature after entering the mountains. Now he has rabies and will bite anyone he catches!"
The young Taoist priest thanked the villagers for their kindness, but he had to pass by Zhang Dabing's home on his way to the reservoir near Wuyanzhuang.
It was during this time that I realized Zhang Dabing didn't have rabies at all! He was clearly possessed by a mountain spirit!
"When the young Taoist priest said this, I thought he was a liar. But he said he would not accept any money and would just help the soldier to see if he could be cured. Only then did I feel relieved and let him get close to the soldier." The old man sighed. There was no way to survive with rabies. The hospital had already refused to accept the soldier, and he was planning to give up. Therefore, he heard the Taoist priest's crude words of 'try everything possible', and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
And every day after that, the old man was grateful that a Taoist priest happened to pass by their house that day, saw the crazy soldier, and chose to stop and help.
"The Taoist priest performed a ritual on the soldier, and he recovered in no time!" the old man exclaimed. "Later, I asked the Taoist priest for his Taoist name and temple. The year after the soldier recovered, I saved some money and took the soldier and his family of three to Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture, where I met the Taoist priest again."
Sang Qiqi exclaimed in amazement, then pointed at the old Taoist priest beside her and said, "That's perfect! You saw the abbot of Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture today. The Taoist priest you mentioned who saved your soldier is probably his junior fellow apprentice."
After Sang Qiqi finished speaking, everyone present, including the old man, turned their gazes to Taiwei Sanren's face.
Taiwei Sanren's face tightened, and he inexplicably felt like a parent taking their child out to visit relatives during the Lunar New Year holiday. He thought numbly, "It's okay. At least they're not asking their own children to perform on stage."
After calming down, Taiwei Sanren nodded and said, "If that Taoist priest is called Xuan Chanzi, he is indeed my junior fellow apprentice."
The old man immediately slapped his thigh and said, "Yes, yes, that's Xuan Chanzi! I didn't expect that the flood would flood the Dragon King Temple. Taoist Xuan Chanzi is actually your junior fellow apprentice. How is Taoist Xuan Chanzi these days?"
Taiwei Sanren nodded and said concisely: "Okay."
The old man nodded: "That's good, that's good."
After a brief exchange of greetings, "I thought you were an outsider, but you turned out to be an acquaintance," Sang Qiqi quietly poked Taiwei Sanren on the back. The old Taoist priest glanced at her from beneath his long white eyebrows. She immediately clasped her hands together in a gesture of worship and said in a low voice, "Please, Taoist priest, next time you encounter an evil spirit you can't deal with, feel free to come to me and I'll help you deal with it!"
Taiwei Sanren: "..."
If anyone else had said that she could help deal with the evil spirits that Liuyun Temple couldn't, Taiwei Sanren would probably just laugh it off.
But if it’s Sang Qiqi, it’s a different story.
After three seconds of silence, he finally stood up amidst the crowd's curious gazes, waving his whisk as he walked towards the middle-aged woman sprawled over the coffin in the mourning hall. Yanyan's mother's face was almost pale, her eyes lifeless as she stared at her swollen daughter in the coffin. The sound of the little girl's sweet voice calling her "Mom" could still be heard in her ears.
"Yanyan's mother, Taoist Taiwei is talking to you."
In a daze, Yanyan's mother's body was gently nudged. She raised her head slowly and noticed the old Taoist priest bending over her. Taiwei Sanren said, "Good believer, can you please let me perform a ritual for Yanyan? I wish her a smooth journey ahead and a peaceful afterlife."
Yanyan's mother opened her mouth, but her throat was so dry that she couldn't make a sound. Seeing this, Yanyan's father quickly supported his wife's shoulders and handed her a glass of water. With red eyes, he nodded to Taiwei Sanren and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Taoist priest."
He had just heard the conversation between the old man and Sang Qiqi, and knew that Taiwei Sanren had an extraordinary identity. If such a half-immortal prayed for his daughter, it would naturally be a good thing.
His eyes fell on the coffin, Yanyan's father exhaled and held his wife's hand.
I hope my child will have a smooth future and a peaceful afterlife.
-
While Taiwei Sanren was performing a ritual for Yanyan, Sang Qiqi and Cheng Heyi huddled nearby to watch. This was Cheng Heyi's first time observing a complete ritual, and she found it quite refreshing. She turned to look at Sang Qiqi, thought for a moment, and said, "I remember your funeral parlor also offers funerals, and someone previously praised your experience online."
Sang Qiqi guessed what she meant and asked with a smile, "Are you asking why I don't do it myself?"
Cheng Heyi nodded.
"Master Taiwei at least has the title of Abbot of Liuyun Temple in Jiashan Prefecture, while I'm just an ordinary corpse-retrieving 'successor'." Sang Qiqi bit the melon seeds handed to her by Cheng Heyi and said vaguely, "It's just like when you're looking for a tutor. Between a famous teacher and someone without a teaching certificate, you'll definitely choose the former and trust the former more."
"Looking at the condition of Yanyan's mother, she probably won't be able to hold on for a few more days. Taoist Taiwei came out and told her that after performing a ritual, Yanyan would be able to live peacefully in the next life. Maybe she would still have some thoughts." Live a little longer.
Hearing that Yanyan's mother could not hold on for a few more days, Cheng Heyi pursed his lips and said nothing.
She sat in the shed for five or six hours, and naturally saw all of Yanyan's mother's reactions.
Numb and dull, the unbearable pain between his eyebrows gradually turned into deathly silence.
Cheng Heyi even wondered if she would just bump into the coffin and follow her daughter.
Cheng Heyi seemed to be talking to himself, but also seemed to be asking Sang Qiqi: "Will Yanyan be happy in her next life?"
Sang Qiqi didn't say anything.
This was also the reason why Taiwei Sanren was quite critical of her instigating him to perform the ritual. They hadn't found Yanyan's ghost, which meant that Yanyan couldn't be reincarnated from the underworld, and it was hard to say whether she had a next life.
Taiwei Sanren had performed countless rituals in his life, and he had a clear conscience in every one of them. However, this was the first time he had deceived Yanyan's family like today.
Sang Qiqi scratched her head in annoyance, glanced at Cheng Heyi who was still busy, and lowered her voice: "I have something to do, so I'll leave first. Please drive back to town and be careful. As for the Taiwei people, please help me greet them for a while."
She was a little unwilling to give up and wanted to go to the underworld to take another look.
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