Chapter 3 A Dance That Shocked Mountains and Seas
What Cang Ming never expected was that half of the burnt embroidered shoe jumped all the way into the Xiyuan Sanfang Inn.
The waiter not only didn't kick it out, but he even invited it to the second-floor guest room. A half-shoe demon, barely even able to transform into a human form, actually took up residence in a guest room.
The slow pace of the journey had already helped Cang Ming even out her breathing and stabilize her heartbeat. She stepped into the inn and shouted, "Good boy, I trusted this ghost inn, yet you dared to harbor the shoe demon!"
The little maid emerged from the darkness and said with a huge smile, "Sir, you are back."
The waiter grinned and said, "Sir, we are a shop that does business with demons and ghosts. Everyone who comes is a customer."
In an instant, Cang Ming threw out eight yellow talismans, covering the eight directions of the inn. "Do you want to hand over the embroidered shoes, or do you want me to catch them myself?"
"Hey, sir, you're joking," the waiter said tactfully. "Please take a seat. Just tell me what you want. Don't disturb the guests upstairs."
Cang Ming pushed him away and was about to go upstairs when he suddenly noticed a man using an abacus behind the counter.
The man stood up with the help of a crutch and said in a loud voice, "The wind is blowing, close the windows and doors."
With a sweep of his cane, the abacus soared into the air. Beads flew everywhere like hidden weapons, clanging against windows and doors like the beat of a drum, sending each door and window swooshing shut.
Powerful magic power burst out with the drumbeats, and for a moment teapots, tables and chairs flew everywhere, and a cold wind filled the hall.
The rows of paper flags hanging around suddenly shook and turned around, revealing that they were all paper ghosts, with green lights flashing in their eyes and sinister grins on their lips.
Cang Ming turned around again and saw a guest sitting across from him at the table, drinking by himself. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and banged on the row of bowls in front of him in time with the drum beats.
As the music began, magical energy surged through the hall like a wave. The entire table flew into the air, shattering into countless fragments. The shards pierced the air like darts, whizzing in all directions.
The man on crutches threw his crutch and said, "Shield open!"
The ordinary cane was suspended in the air before him, spinning like a lance. Wherever it swept, golden light spread, transforming it into a shield.
The fragments hit the shield with a clang and turned into ashes in an instant.
The two men, one standing, the other sitting, began to engage in a ping-pong battle of magic. The two forces collided, first causing chaos and then suddenly joining forces, forming a circle around the inn, locking it tightly shut.
At that moment, Cang Ming felt like he had seen a ghost for the first time.
These two people with young appearance but sophisticated eyes were the two closest friends of Cang Ming back then.
The young man with crutches was a handsome fellow, an old friend whom he hadn't seen in ten years. Zhong Wulü, a disciple of the Tongduo School, practiced rhythmic techniques based on musicality. He was a close friend of Cang Ming, having played in the mud together since childhood. Ten years ago, when Cang Ming was being pursued by the four major schools, he had betrayed Cang Ming's whereabouts.
The cold and seductive drinking buddy is another old friend, Yin Xisheng, whom she hasn't seen in ten years. Xisheng is a distinguished female Taoist priest of the Shiwen sect, known for her musical rituals. A childhood friend of Cangming, she's been to Lunar New Year fairs and men's bathhouses with him, but later leads a team to hunt him down.
Cang Ming always fled swiftly, completely disregarding the legacy of the immortal heroes, earning him the nickname "a deadbeat." Soon, Wu Lu and Xi Sheng also achieved immortality, never to be seen again. Only folklore tells of their remarkable story: three immortals in one generation, a feat unparalleled in history.
Cang Ming leaped onto the beam, desperately pressing her mask down while in mid-air. The entire set of movements was smooth and seamless, a skill she had acquired over the years of being on the run.
Cang Ming said in a clear voice: "I am just passing by. Please don't mistake me for someone else. Let me go."
No one paid any attention.
Wu Lu slowly withdrew his attack and bowed to Xi Sheng: "What a coincidence, we meet again."
Xisheng sneered and returned the greeting: "Long time no see."
Wu Lu crossed his arms and said, "Isn't the sect so idle? Why did Master Yin come to my shop?"
Xisheng said indifferently, "I'm just a commoner, so I've naturally traveled a lot. How could Master Zhong have the time to open this crappy shop that's about to go bankrupt instead of returning to the Tongduo Sect to inherit the throne?"
Wu Lu said bluntly, "My abilities are limited, and I am not up to the task. I am not as good as Daoist Master Yin in pleasing the sect and personally leading the team to capture the Death Star."
Xisheng crushed the chopsticks in his hand with a snap. "Didn't you also betray the Death Star? I admire Master Zhong so much that I humbly follow his example."
Wu Lu grinned and said, "Who is more noble than the other? The four major schools are just trying to get the pearl crown."
Cang Mingpin looked at the two men with a smug look. There were many folk legends, but no one knew that the three of them were once best friends, wandering and getting into trouble together, only to fall apart ten years ago.
After all these years, these two were still fighting for the crown on behalf of their respective sects. Fighting for it, they actually brawled in a shabby inn. Fighting, they even sent a letter to lure her here, hoping to kidnap her and force her to hand over the crown...
Cang Ming immediately decided to find an opportunity to tell this matter to the mortal world in the future, and let the storyteller compile it into a novel to dilute his unlucky deeds.
After the two exchanged pleasantries, they simultaneously raised their heads and looked at Cang Ming coldly: "Come down."
Cang Ming landed lightly, nodded and smiled, then raised his voice and said, "Are you two exchanging spells? I'm also a cultivator, and my humble name might offend your ears. You two can just call me by my nickname, Ghost Buster."
Xisheng said, "What an ugly mask."
“…”
Wu Lu smiled and said, "Why don't you take off your mask and talk?"
As he spoke, he swung his crutch and rushed towards Cang Ming's door.
Cang Ming only felt a strong wind coming, and immediately his feet turned, his body retreated, and he raised his sword in one hand to block it.
"What a misunderstanding, what a misunderstanding. I'm just passing by—"
Xi Sheng put his hands in his sleeves and said quietly, "If you ask me, why don't you all sit down..."
Before she could finish, Cang Ming kicked open a window and jumped out.
With a swish, Cang Ming drew his sword into the air, and the sword flowers flew, and a gap was immediately created in the circle of scattered and pieced together magic circle.
Wu Lu and Xi Sheng ran out of the gate one after another, each taking up their stances, forming hand seals, and silently chanting spells to protect the formation. Cang Ming's signature moves had been put away, and she began to shout again: "You have the wrong person——"
Paper figures flew out from behind Wu Lu, suddenly expanding into ghostly shadows several feet tall, holding hands with each other and sneering.
Cang Ming flicked his sword, and with a clang, the paper figurine twitched and twisted, screaming and rolling on the ground. But she had already leaped onto the treetops, escaping through the continuous canopy.
"Ghost Buster! Stop!" The two men jumped up and chased after him. Although they had no light body skills, they kept going all the way and showed no sign of weakness.
Especially Wu Lu, who was running in the front with a crutch.
They passed by the pedestrians along the way, who looked at these people chasing and shouting indifferently. Only a few vendors squatting on the roadside shouted: "Catching ghosts - catching ghosts again -"
South of Fengyan City, the river flows from west to east into the sea. South of the river, there is a vast wilderness. South of the wilderness, there are endless distant mountains.
The sky was pitch black, the wind howled coldly, and no one was in sight. Cang Ming circled the city, finally shaking off the two men. He then returned to the inn unnoticed and took a look. The guest room was empty. Embroidered Shoes had indeed escaped.
Following the slightly fuzzy aura, Cang Ming chased it to the riverside, where the two shoes had first appeared. The aura reached the other side, and Cang Ming flew across the river on his sword, finding a tree stump in the wilderness to sit down.
She waited quietly through the reeds that were as tall as a person.
As the moon's shadow moved forward, the evil aura of the embroidered shoes became stronger. It was a suffocating smell of powder mixed with an evil murderous aura, lingering nearby.
Crouching until the moon passed its zenith, Cang Ming heard a flurry of noises from the south bank, concentrating intently, waiting for the embroidered shoes to appear. Fearing that Xisheng and Wulu might be chasing them again, she drew her sword and held it in her hand.
Rustling, rustling, getting closer and closer.
Cang Ming held her breath. If Xi Sheng and Wu Lu came to capture her, would she throw a tantrum and escape as usual, or would she wash away her past hatred and fight to the death?
As footsteps approached, two young faces suddenly appeared before Cang Ming's eyes. Their faces were full of vigor and their eyes sparkled. They looked identical to Xisheng Wulü now, yet completely different. That time, when the three of them were just sixteen years old, they had raided an evil demon's lair, seized its aged wine, and drank until their faces were beaming with smiles.
Cang Ming slowly stretched out a hand, parted the reeds, and looked ahead. A black undead horse crossed the wilderness, heading east along the river.
There were two dark figures on the horse's back, one sitting and the other lying unconscious in front of him.
It wasn't Xisheng or Wulu. Cangming felt relieved.
The sitting shadow cursed: "Damn it, run faster, the king is waiting."
The words echoed hollowly, and he was a monster minion out on business. His black face almost blended into the night, as if only a hat was floating on his collar.
The undead black horse had an arrow stuck in its neck and was staggering. It must have died tragically from being shot.
Cang Ming followed quietly, keeping a distance that was neither too far nor too close.
Suddenly, the monster stopped its horse and raised the round object in its hand in confusion.
"Hey, why is the needle spinning so fast?" He turned around and looked in the direction where Cang Ming was hiding. "The needle is flashing..."
"Monster Identification Compass!" Cang Ming was immediately impressed. An ordinary minion on official business could actually hold such a precious magical weapon.
Anyone holding a compass can identify the location of immortals, ghosts, gods, and demons within a radius of ten miles. This magical tool was originally invented by Taoist priests, but was later appropriated by demons and ghosts.
The little minion on horseback looked at the compass for a while, and suddenly realized: "There's a big ghost!"
So he turned his horse around and called in the direction of Cang Ming: "Where are you, sir? Are you just passing by, or do you have any advice?"
Cang Ming remained silent, observing the dark shadow lying on the horse's back from among the reeds.
Suddenly, the clouds parted and the moon emerged, its radiance overflowing. Cang Ming saw that it was a young man in a red robe. On his feet were the same pair of red-faced, black-soled embroidered shoes.
The embroidered shoes that were only half burnt just now have become brand new and bright again, and are now in pairs and intact.
"If you and I have nothing to do with each other, we can just go our separate ways!" The minion immediately clasped his fists.
Cang Ming slowly stood up, his tall figure standing tall on the plain. The little minions shuddered visibly.
"What an ugly mask."
"..." Cang Ming stared at him with a strange smile, "What are you carrying on your horse's back?"
The little minion patted the person lying in front of him and said, "This? To answer the Great Ghost, this is a living person, not worth much."
"I'm not a bandit out to steal money." Cang Ming said patiently, "Why are you bringing a living person back? What bad things has he done?"
"What bad things could he do? Our king just asked me to take him back." The little guy said warily, "What a little thing..."
Before he could finish his words, a gust of wind blew by, and Cang Ming had already rushed forward and stood in front of the horse. He waved his hand and made the horse fall backwards. With a snap of his fingers, the undead black horse carried the living man to the other side of the river.
The undead black horse took a few steps on the water and stopped hesitantly.
Cang Ming took out a leaf and turned it into a yellow talisman, then stuck it on the horse's leg. The horse then started walking with its four shaking legs.
"Fuck you..." The little guy was furious and struggled to get up. With a flick of his hand, a spear appeared. With a ghostly wind, the spear stabbed towards Cang Ming.
With a ding sound, Cang Ming swung his sword to knock away the minion's spear, and the impact of the execution ground made the opponent retreat.
Cang Ming raised the corner of his mouth and smiled: "You are quite capable."
The little minion looked at Cang Ming's head, confused and uncertain: "Are you really his man?"
"Who?" Cang Ming turned over and hung up his sword, and in an instant he had already swung a few sword flowers. He asked loudly, "Stop talking nonsense. Who is your king?"
"Tianxinshu!"
“Never heard of it!”
The little minion let out a strange cry, leaped into the air, and chopped down with a spear from mid-air.
Cang Ming dodged and spun, stabbed the middle of the spear with his sword, and with just a light blow, the spear broke into two pieces.
The little guy suddenly collapsed: "Fuck you!"
"Stop!" Cang Ming slapped a yellow leaf talisman over, "Where is your king's lair?"
The little minion froze, his eyes rolling. Cang Ming took off his mask and fanned himself, suddenly feeling something was wrong.
Faintly from the east came the sound of earth-shaking mountains, as if thousands of troops were galloping, and ghostly energy was rising into the sky.
In a moment, a large cloud of black smoke, darker than the night, appeared in the distance and rolled over in the blink of an eye.
A large group of demons and ghosts in the black smoke shouted in a cacophony: "Deputy General, we are here to pick you up!"
Cang Mingyang threw his mask, instantly knocking down a group of demons in the front row. The demons in the back row rushed over one after another: "What are you doing lying down... Hey? What are you practicing, Lieutenant General?"
"You don't even know this. This trick is called opening the window to look at the moon!"
"Why did the deputy general's horse run into the river? Chase it back quickly."
"Who is this girl?"
Cang Ming flicked the sword lightly, and in the faint echo, the little demon who ran out to chase the horse fell to the ground.
The black horse paid no attention to the chaos behind him and continued to walk with great effort.
"Oh my god! It's a Taoist priest!"
All the demons and ghosts prepared to fight and rushed forward.
Some stretched out their hissing tongues, others plucked out the countless steel needles stuck in their bodies and flung them away. Last of all walked the headless corpse, stumbling step by step.
Cang Ming shifted his stance, swiveling, soaring into the air. He thrust his sword diagonally as he kicked the purple-gold crown backwards, then landed on his feet and flipped over to follow up with a sea-exploring move. A gust of wind rustled, and in an instant, his hind legs were pointed straight up into the sky, leaving only his long hair and the hem of his skirt fluttering slowly.
The ground was littered with fallen demons and ghosts, growling and roaring like wild beasts, terrifying and terrifying.
Just as he was about to grab a little demon to lead the way, the black smoke suddenly became thicker.
Some black oil-like things crawled up from the ground, condensed into twisted and indescribable shapes, and rushed towards Cang Ming.
"Get out!" Cang Ming's scalp tingled as he watched. He swung his sword vigorously to block and kicked out, "Where did this... evil beast come from!"
In the past, a demon built a temple specifically to accept the most evil prayers of human believers. The most muddy side of the petitioners' hearts was the offering they made to the demon.
Later, the temple was abandoned overnight, and the evil thoughts accumulated in the temple turned into spirits, which have wreaked havoc on the world ever since.
Evil thoughts will not arise out of thin air, nor will they disappear out of thin air. After being cut into pieces, they can still reunite and integrate, and even expand and ferment.
No matter how hard they tried to kill them, the evil beasts kept gathering and dispersing, dispersing and gathering again, in an endless stream. Cang Ming fought them so fiercely that his sword was stained with black oil.
"Why is it so dirty..." Cang Ming was instantly devastated, just like the deputy general. The endless evil beast dragged her down, and it looked like the fight would last for three days and three nights.
At this moment, a clear whistle sounded from mid-air, with a slight change of tune at the end.
Cang Ming was distracted and curious about who was blowing the hooligan whistle. He was almost entangled by two evil beasts on the left and right, and quickly jumped back.
A silver-white figure fell from the sky and landed in front of Cang Ming.
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