Chapter 304

The incense inserted instantly.

One hundred ghost notes flew out from the statue of the God of Wealth and landed in Wu Xian's hand.

Then a draggable slider appeared before Wu Xian's eyes, used to select the amount of Yin Virtue converted into wealth; since Wu Xian had too much Yin Virtue to spend, he selected the maximum, and another one hundred and forty ghost notes flew out.

When he left the last Blessed Land, Wu Xian still had one hundred ghost notes, but all of them were spent casting the 'Ghost Milling Technique,' so these two hundred and forty ghost notes were now his entire fortune.

After securing the ghost notes.

Wu Xian suddenly felt a chill from deep within his bones, as if a faint, elusive evil aura had seeped from the statue into his body, and the skin and flesh where it touched tingled faintly.

Crackle!

Somewhere in the void, it seemed a pair of eyes glowing with Lei Guang were watching Wu Xian with sinister intent.

"Shit!"

Wu Xian immediately understood.

He opened his Dao Permit, flipped through a few pages, and found the cause of this strange sensation.

Bestowed Evil: Lei Gui Hunting! Lightning and Yin Darkness share one curtain, blending the end of spring with the start of summer; the Lei Lightning talismans you hold have attracted the Lei Gui's greed—now that Lei Lightning evil qi has entered your body, the Lei Gui will accompany your Thunder-Calling Spell and hunt you!

Wu Xian immediately clenched his teeth in rage.

He had thought that with his growing Yin Virtue, Bestowed Evils, Curses, and Divine Punishments would no longer touch him—yet after bowing to the God of Wealth, he'd been cursed by the God of Wealth himself.

He wanted to curse.

But he dared not offend the God of Wealth, so he merely scowled and tucked the Dao Permit away.

Yet this might not be entirely bad—at least when the Lei Gui appeared was up to Wu Xian; if the timing was right, he might turn this misfortune into an advantage.

After finishing the worship.

The tables before Wu Xian vanished, and everyone else had also completed their worship.

Ran Huang Tian had chosen the Earth Official—Yao Shen Zhu Yin, Du E had chosen the Water Official—Xuan Ming Great Lord, and Wen Chao had chosen the Earth Official—Fengdu Underworld Lord.

Wen Chao's once-straight posture now looked as if he'd been beaten senseless; every step he took made him grimace in pain, and Jiang Chun hurried over to support him—he must have triggered the Earth Official's Punishment.

Wu Xian had experienced this before, but he'd only felt a bit of pain; it seemed Du E was right—Wen Chao's virtue truly was low.

Regardless of the truth behind Wen Chao, having someone else suffer alongside him eased Wu Xian's mood slightly.

……

After worship ended.

Everyone found the urn belonging to Gao Fushuai, opened it, and discovered inside a pale corpse—this was Gao Fushuai's true body.

The corpse looked horrific.

The boy, who had once weighed at least one hundred and fifty jin, now weighed only twenty to thirty jin after being lifted from the urn.

His body had shriveled beyond recognition; his features twisted into something inhuman, his flesh and skin reduced to a thin, pale membrane clinging to his bones, his bones themselves as light as bird bones, brittle as biscuit—despite being handled with utmost care, several bones shattered as they lifted him.

It was as if the pale ghost had drained every nutrient from him—flesh, blood, tissue fluid, pigment, bone marrow—all used to craft a perfect disguise.

Wu Xian even suspected the pale ghost might possess all of Gao Fushuai's memories.

Everyone stood before the corpse and silently mourned for a long while.

This poor boy had merely happened to cross the bridge; he'd carried a sense of inferiority because of his name, disliked showing himself, so all anyone knew of him was this slightly absurd name.

Yesterday morning.

They'd used his name to relieve the fear and pressure brought by the Blessed Land; today they were holding his funeral—this stark contrast left everyone feeling uneasy.

At the same time, everyone felt a quiet dread about tonight.

Tonight they would face the enormous pale ghost; by tomorrow, someone else might be replaced—Gao Fushuai's fate could be anyone's fate… They covered Gao Fushuai's corpse with a cloth.

Sorrow settled on their faces.

Their goal was to perform the correct funeral; the only confirmed information they had so far were the eight bamboo tallies they'd obtained, two each held by Wu Xian and Jian Lingyu.

The eight bamboo tallies recorded various details, but all fell into two categories.

One category: Ghost Artifacts—some had blue-and-white porcelain, others white porcelain, underglaze colors, enamel colors…

The other category: paper effigies for burial—red paper dogs, green male paper figures, white horses…

Based on Wu Xian's earlier deduction.

To complete the correct funeral, five elements were needed, yet they'd obtained eight bamboo tallies and only two types of information—so Wu Xian had to suspect that the funeral could only yield information on Ghost Artifacts and paper effigies; other details must be obtained elsewhere.

That meant.

Of their ten people, they still lacked twelve bamboo tallies.

If the funeral went smoothly, they'd need to bury at least two people correctly, and for safety, three, to ensure everyone received information.

But the problem now was.

The only corpse available for burial was Gao Fushuai, who needed cremation.

Where would they find the other two corpses? Would they have to wait days for an elder to die naturally—or wait for one of their ten to be killed by a ghost?

As for killing an elder to bury them…

That was completely impossible.

Not only could they not bring themselves to do it.

Even the bamboo tally requirement demanded the deceased have little subjective malice—if they deliberately killed someone, the corpse would become a ghost like Aunt Miao and attack, yielding only worship rewards, not bamboo tallies.

No one had an answer for now.

They could only follow their usual daytime routine.

Cook meals, deliver food to the elders.

The Wei siblings went hunting; after Jian Lingyu healed Wen Chao, he still took Jiang Chun to forage; some trained their abilities, others wept quietly in corners.

Two unusual changes occurred today.

One was Ran Huang Tian.

He ate breakfast and then went out running wildly, moving like a happy stray dog; no one knew what this half-man, half-dog creature was thinking.

The other was Old Tang.

The elders of Wuzang Village used to come out every day to bask in the sun, but since Wu Xian and a group of inexplicable people arrived, these elders rarely came out voluntarily.

But today, after eating his fill, Old Tang visited each elder's room, and no one knew what he was saying to the other elders.

Time passed slowly, and noon was drawing near.

Several Lotus Juanren sat staring blankly in the center of the village.

They still had no idea where to obtain corpses; for now, they could only take things one step at a time.

Creak…

Old Tang changed into a clean set of clothes and walked up to Wu Xian, who sat with eyes closed in deep thought.

"Young man… I've watched you for days. You want to hold the proper funeral, is that right?"

(End of Chapter)