Chapter 18
The Taoist priest ran over and pushed Grandpa Zhong over. The dead Rakshasa's body used its remaining hand to insert into the Taoist priest's body.
The Taoist priest used a peach wood sword to cut off the arm that had pierced his body, spat out a mouthful of blood, then used the peach wood sword to pierce the Rakshasa's heart, bit his fingertip, and drew a talisman on the sword with blood.
Everyone was shocked by this sudden situation.
"Go find some firewood quickly, we need to cremate it!" said the Taoist priest.
Grandpa Zhong was so frightened that he completely lost the ability to think.
After everyone brought the firewood and piled it together, Daogong, holding on to his last breath, directed everyone to place the Rakshasa's body on the pile of firewood and instructed them, "After I die, burn me with it."
After saying this, the Taoist priest passed away.
The villagers followed his instructions and burned the Rakshasa along with him.
Poor Taoist priest, he died at the hands of Rakshasa while trying to save Grandpa Zhong.
Another twenty years passed since then.
Yang Ming was basically raised by the villagers, as a way of repaying Yang Baoku for saving his life.
Grandpa Zhong and Yang Ming got along well. They often went to the mountains to catch rabbits and to the river to fish together.
That year, the Jialing River flooded and many big fish were washed up. Men, women, and children in the village all went to the river to fish.
Grandpa Zhong and Yang Ming were also inside.
Yang Ming is now very strong and sturdy, completely different from when he was a child. Seeing that many people are fishing here, the two of them are ready to run upstream to fish.
When the water rises, the water flows faster the further upstream you go.
Yang Ming and Grandpa Zhong were just fishing on the shore when suddenly a big fish about one meter long jumped out of the water.
Yang Ming saw this and thought, "I'm going to catch this!" He relied on his swimming prowess and chased after the fish. After a while, Yang Ming finally caught up with the big fish. However, the fish was much stronger in the water than out of it. Yang Ming held the fish's mouth tightly, and the fish actually dragged Yang Ming into deeper water.
By the time Yang Ming realized what was happening, it was too late. The current in the middle of the river was surging. Yang Ming quickly let go of the fish and tried to swim to shore. Instead, the fish latched onto Yang Ming and dragged him underwater. Grandpa Zhong saw this and quickly ran down to call for help. But in that short time, Yang Ming had already choked on the water. He'd already lost strength trying to catch the fish, and now, pulled by the fish, coupled with the strong current and lack of oxygen, Yang Ming was dragged underwater.
When the villagers ran up, there was no one in sight.
Everyone said that it was Yang Ming's fate, and that the big fish was the reincarnation of the Dragon King of this river. Yang Ming should never have chased that big fish.
After someone died, the villagers didn't dare to continue fishing in the river and all went back home.
Grandpa Zhong blamed himself. He felt that he and Yang Ming should not have separated from the group, otherwise they might have been rescued.
The next day, Grandpa Zhong unknowingly walked to the place where Yang Ming disappeared and saw a person floating on the shore. When Grandpa Zhong approached, he saw that the body was Yang Ming. He had been dragged into the water the previous day, and the villagers had searched for him for a long time without success. Now he was resting on the shore.
Grandpa Zhong quickly pulled the man out of the water, but when he felt his breath, he found that he was dead.
Grandpa Zhong hurried back to the village to call for help.
When the villagers heard that Yang Ming's body had been found, several people about the same age as Grandpa Zhong came and went to the river to see that it was indeed Yang Ming. They carried Yang Ming's body to the ancestral tomb and buried it there.
This is where the trouble began. Yang Baoku was buried here and turned into a demon. Now Yang Ming was buried here too. At first, no one noticed, and no grass grew around Yang Ming's grave. It was Zhou Ren, a fellow villager, who went to the mountain to dig the soil and saw that there was not a single blade of grass around Yang Ming's grave. He couldn't help but think of Yang Baoku's death.
Zhou Ren was still young at that time, but he remembered it clearly.
Zhou Ren told the villagers about this, and they gathered around to see what was happening. They all decided to dig up Yang Ming's body and burn it, to prevent him from turning into a Rakshasa and causing further harm. After all, Yang Ming was alone, with no family to eat. If he did turn into a Rakshasa, the villagers would be the first to suffer.
They got to work right away. After paying their respects at Yang Ming's grave, they started digging the grave.
When they opened the coffin, they found that there was no body inside.
It had only been a few months; even if Yang Ming's body had decayed, it was impossible for nothing to remain. Everyone was baffled, not knowing what had happened. They returned and reported the incident to the village chief. The village chief, now in his eighties, understood what had happened.
Although Yang Ming wasn't particularly bright when he was alive, he had already become a Rakshasa after his death. Back then, Yang Baoku had become a Rakshasa there, turning it into a dangerous place. A place like this, where a Rakshasa can thrive for less than three years, wouldn't it? Yang Ming must have already become a Rakshasa and gone into hiding. By the time he's cultivated for 49 days, the entire village will likely suffer.
The key point now is that no one knows when he became a Rakshasa.
The village chief quickly gathered the villagers and told them about the situation.
Everyone remembered what happened to Yang Baoku back then. Back then, he was already difficult to deal with even before he fully transformed into a Rakshasa. Now Yang Ming is hiding, and who knows what will happen when he fully transforms into a Rakshasa.
Everyone was talking about it, saying all sorts of things, and in the end many people moved away. Those who remained were basically reluctant to leave their family business.
A month passed like this, and the thing I worried about happened.
Someone in the village discovered that Zhou Renyi's family had suddenly disappeared.
At first, people thought that they were afraid that Rakshasa would come back, so the whole family fled for their lives, but they didn’t take any of their belongings with them. This was not reasonable.
The next day, the family living next to Zhou Ren's house was nowhere to be seen.
No matter how slow-witted the villagers were, they knew that Yang Ming must have turned into a Rakshasa and returned to the village to eat people.
At that moment, the brothers Zhang Pingyin and Zhang Pingyang happened to be passing by. Dressed as Taoist priests, they were stopped by Grandpa Zhong. Grandpa Zhong, being clever, invited the brothers into his home and treated them to delicious food and drinks.
After Zhang Pingyin finished eating, he said to Grandpa Zhong, "Brother, if you have anything to say, just tell me. Although my two brothers are not very skilled in Taoism, we can still deal with some ordinary ghosts!"
Grandpa Zhong was shocked and thought to himself: How did he know that something happened to me, and it was something about ghosts.
He didn't know that the brothers Zhang Pingyin and Zhang Pingyang were the orthodox sect of the Dragon and Tiger Mountain Tianshi Temple, their abilities far surpassing most of the Xuanmen sect. They had come here to train and, upon passing this place, saw a sinister aura gathering throughout the mountain, lingering day and night. They knew there must be a demon. So, they came here to slay the evil spirit. Seeing Grandpa Zhong's actions, they immediately guessed what he was thinking.
Grandpa Zhong said, "Masters, a demon has appeared here. Two families have already been harmed. I wonder if you can handle it?"
Hearing it was a Rakshasa, the two brothers were thrilled. Young men full of vigor and ambition, they had come out to see the demons and monsters of the land, but they hadn't expected to encounter a Rakshasa in the Daba Mountains. They promised Grandpa Zhong they would stay tonight and see.
Grandpa Zhong was happy to see the two of them staying and quickly thanked them.
When the other villagers heard that two Taoist priests had come to the village, they also came to watch.
Everyone waited for the night to come together at Grandpa Zhong's house.
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