Chapter 22: Helping Lin Fengjiao Catch Ghosts

The seventh month of the lunar calendar is the Ghost Month, and the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the Ghost Festival, is the Ghost Day. On this night, the gates of the underworld are thrown wide open, and ghost messengers escort those lonely ghosts and wandering spirits who have yet to be reincarnated into the world of the living to receive offerings from people.

On the night of the Ghost Festival, people release water lanterns, burn paper clothes or release water cloth, and invite high-ranking monks or masters of the Profound Gate to chant scriptures, deliver the souls of the dead, and help them escape their suffering early.

At the same time, when late night arrives, a stage will be set up, and a theatrical troupe will be hired to perform plays for the ghosts to watch.

On this night, with Uncle Nine, Aunt Cane, and Zhang Cheng sitting in command, no problems occurred.

It was just that a major incident happened over at the Third Senior Brother Lin Fengjiao's place.

In the evening, Uncle Nine saw a golden Eight Trigrams in the sky and knew that something had happened at the Third Senior Brother's place. The next day, he left Aunt Cane to look after the righteous manor, then took Qiusheng and Wencai, along with Zhang Cheng, and the four of them rushed to Lin Fengjiao's Daoist temple.

They arrived early, and only Daoist Priest Qianhe had arrived at Lin Fengjiao's temple. When Uncle Nine saw Lin Fengjiao, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Third Senior Brother, what exactly happened? With your magic power, a mere few wild ghosts should not be a problem."

Lin Fengjiao sighed and said, "Alas, my two inferior disciples are not up to the task."

Uncle Nine realized something; it seemed that the Third Senior Brother's two disciples were just like his own—both good-for-nothings.

As the few of them chatted casually, before long, Daoist Priest Treasure Banner, Daoist Priest Golden Umbrella, and Daoist Priest Copper Cymbal also arrived. They greeted each other and sat down.

Lin Fengjiao bit the bullet and said, "Fellow Junior Brothers, now that the ghosts have all run out, if we don't capture them and send them back down, there will likely be bigger problems later when they start haunting everywhere. But with so many ghosts, I cannot capture them all alone, so I hope you Junior Brothers can help."

Daoist Priest Treasure Banner asked, "How is this? Has the Eldest Senior Brother not arrived yet?"

Lin Fengjiao nodded and said, "Then let us wait a while longer for the Eldest Senior Brother."

Zhang Cheng thought that as long as those lonely ghosts and wandering spirits were trapped, he could collect them all by himself, so he said, "Why trouble the Eldest Senior Brother with this matter? I have a magic treasure; as long as you Senior Brothers trap those lonely ghosts and wandering spirits, I can collect them all alone!"

"Little Junior Brother has quite the big mouth, doesn't he?" Shi Jian strode in, his gaze like a torch, staring at Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng was not afraid either, and bowing, he said, "Having the Eldest Senior Brother's help would naturally be for the best."

Shi Jian sat in the main seat and asked, "Who caused this matter?"

Lin Fengjiao stood up and bowed, saying, "Eldest Senior Brother, it was those two good-for-nothing disciples of mine, Qiusheng and Wencai, who caused it."

Shi Jian said with a hint of sarcasm, "What do you mean by 'not up to the task'?"

Shi Shaojian interjected, "Master, 'not up to the task' means stupid or foolish, or at worst, an idiot."

Zhang Cheng frowned, squinting at Shi Shaojian, and said, "Eldest Senior Brother, this disciple of yours is truly lacking in manners. When elders are speaking, when is it a junior's turn to interrupt?"

Shi Jian furrowed his brows and let out a cold snort. Lin Fengjiao hurriedly changed the subject, saying, "Eldest Senior Brother, it was my two disciples who were careless..."

Shi Jian reached out and interrupted him directly, questioning, "Can you really use 'careless' to shirk responsibility for failing to teach your disciples? You called me here today—are you trying to make me help you carry this burden?"

Lin Fengjiao said in a very conciliatory tone, "Eldest Senior Brother, we have already discussed it and plan to use the Innate Eight Trigrams Mirror to capture those ghosts."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jian let out a cold snort and said, "You have already discussed it, so why did you call me here?"

Lin Fengjiao was somewhat embarrassed and had to ask, "Does the Eldest Senior Brother have any brilliant ideas?"

Shi Jian stroked his beard and said, "The Innate Eight Trigrams Array, fine, the Innate Eight Trigrams Array it is. But who will lure those ghosts out?"

Shi Shaojian was eager to show off and patted his chest, saying, "Such a difficult task, naturally I shall take it on!"

"Hmph!"

Hearing Shi Jian's voice, Shi Shaojian hurriedly took a step back, but Qiusheng and Wencai were there stirring up trouble.

Shi Jian said with a straight face, "If certain people would take responsibility for their own actions, that would be even better."

Lin Fengjiao knew he was in the wrong.

He let Qiusheng and Wencai go to lure the ghosts. This time, Zhang Cheng did not step in to help; after all, they were the ones who caused this disaster, so they naturally had to put in the effort.

In the afternoon, they set up the Innate Eight Trigrams Array in the wilderness, then had Liu Qiusheng and Wencai carry a tofu stall to sell tofu.

At night, not a single soul could be seen on the streets of the town, and with the light rain that had fallen in the afternoon, the street surface was covered with water stains, making it look slick.

On the silent street, Qiusheng and Wencai trembled as they shouted a few times to sell tofu. Before long, the female ghost they had let go appeared.

Qiusheng was nervous and afraid at first, but as soon as he saw the beautiful female ghost, he immediately forgot the danger, only caring about flirting with her, and even told the female ghost about the plan to capture the ghosts.

Just as they were talking, a crowd of masterless ghosts that had escaped the Ghost Festival appeared on the street. Qiusheng and Wencai screamed in terror, no longer caring about the beautiful female ghost, and ran for their lives.

Soon, the two of them lured the group of ghosts into the Innate Eight Trigrams Array. Shi Jian, who was in the lead, immediately cast a spell to activate the great array, and an Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams appeared in mid-air.

Then, Zhang Cheng was seen leaping high into the air, shouting, "A thousand miles of mountains and rivers, the myriad phenomena of the universe, obey!"

He threw out the magic treasure, the Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers Map. The map bloomed with golden light, floating in mid-air, and under the reinforcement of the Innate Eight Trigrams Array, it instantly erupted with dazzling golden light, collecting all the ghost entities in a single moment.

"Return!"

The unfurled Mountains and Rivers Map immediately rolled up and flew back into Zhang Cheng's hand.

"Little Junior Brother, you are truly amazing; this magic treasure is extraordinary!"

"I didn't believe it before, but I didn't expect what Little Junior Brother said to be true."

"Little Junior Brother, if I have anything I can't solve in the future, I'll have to come to you, hahaha."

Shi Jian looked at Zhang Cheng, who was surrounded by the others like stars around the moon, and said with an ugly expression, "Little Junior Brother, magic treasures are ultimately external objects; do not rely on them too much."

Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "The Eldest Senior Brother is right. I couldn't use this magic treasure before, but now that I've returned to Mount Mao to receive the register and learned the Qi Refining Method, I can use it right away."

Daoist Priest Golden Umbrella took a closer look and said in surprise, "Oh my, Little Junior Brother, it's only been a little over a month, and you've almost finished practicing the Qi Refining Method? A genius!"

Uncle Nine laughed, "Little Junior Brother has extraordinary natural talent, which is why Master took him as his closing disciple."

Shi Jian's expression turned much gloomier. Now that Zhang Cheng was favored by Master and had contradicted him multiple times, he couldn't easily teach him a lesson due to Master's face, which made him, the Eldest Senior Brother, lose a lot of face.

He flicked his sleeve, let out a cold snort, and looked at the female ghost not far away who was thinking of watching the show, shouting, "How bold! There is still one who slipped through the net, and she actually doesn't leave, daring to spy here—she simply doesn't put me in her eyes!"

"Lightning-Running Thunder Fist!"

"Eldest Senior Brother!"

Lin Fengjiao hurriedly tried to stop him, but he was a step too slow.

"Ah!"

The female ghost Xiaoli screamed and fell to the ground, her soul body looking as if it were about to dissipate.

Zhang Cheng saw this and knew that Shi Jian was venting his anger, but Xiaoli was innocent, so he immediately took out the Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers Map and collected the female ghost Xiaoli inside as well.

"Solved the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, obtained 1,000 merit points."

He stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Eldest Senior Brother, one of these ghosts is missing, and it won't be easy for the Third Senior Brother to explain."

"Junior Brother, what do you think of my Lightning-Galloping Thunder Fist? Hmph!" Shi Jian gave a cold laugh and turned to leave.

Zhang Cheng's expression changed, and he was secretly startled; he asked himself, Shi Jian was truly worthy of being the First Senior Brother of the Maoshan Sect, as even a female ghost with three hundred years of Daoist cultivation could not withstand a single strike of this Lightning-Galloping Thunder Fist, so it was no wonder he could also control a Hairy Zombie; he was indeed not to be underestimated.

But it was precisely this that made Shi Jian arrogant and conceited, and his mindset had already changed. Since he had Master Jin Bao Zhenren backing him anyway, Zhang Cheng decided to teach Shi Jian a lesson to prevent him from eventually being beaten to death by the Third Senior Brother.