Chapter 49: The Problematic Earth Temple

After Zhang Cheng fled Huangyun Village, he arrived at a nearby town to rest for seven days.

During this period, that Flying Zombie, the Hairy Zombie, and the Thousand-Faced Ghost were all refined, and he obtained a total of 18,000 points of Merit. The time had also reached the Little New Year.

"Host: Zhang Cheng"

"Profession: Daoist"

"Rank: Seventh Grade"

Cultivation Methods: "Valley Clothes Heart Scripture" Lv5 (0/800), "Supreme Three-Five Capital Merit Scripture Seal" Lv10 (1500/25600)

Spirit Refining Art Lv4 (0/400)

Equipment: Universe Patchwork Robe (↑), Five Thunders Command (1/1), Spirit-Refining Treasure Gourd (refining in progress), Fire Crow Pot, Eight Trigrams Mirror, City God Department Superintendent Seal, Xuanyi Seven-Star Copper Sword, Altar-Suppressing Wood, Five Elements Command Flags, Heavenly Canopy Ruler, Soul-Absorbing Banner, Three Pure Ones Bell, Gold Coin Sword, Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Umbrella, Thousand-Mile Mountains and Rivers Map, Universe Bag.

Merit: 59300"

He checked the progress of his cultivation methods; it could be said that the road ahead was long and the burden heavy.

Afterwards, Zhang Cheng left the small town, and after walking and investigating along the way, dealing with some minor matters, he arrived at Nanchang City. This was the provincial capital of Gan Province.

He had already walked a circle in the vicinity and had not found any traces of the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect. In fact, people from the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect were very easy to find; the places where they cultivated were inevitably corpse-raising grounds.

If it were a man-made corpse-raising ground, it would be even easier to discover. You only need to look at the nearby soil; first, the area around a man-made corpse-raising ground is barren, second, by brushing away the topsoil you can find lime, and finally, you can find some glass shards.

These are all characteristics of man-made corpse-raising grounds; along this journey, Zhang Cheng had not discovered such a place.

If they were scattered scouts of the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect, he also had not smelled that kind of corpse stench. People from the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect always had a faint corpse stench on them, which ordinary people could not smell.

Having gained nothing, Zhang Cheng entered the city today to see if he could find any clues. After all, Nanchang was a large city and also an important city within the Yangtze River basin; there should be spies.

After he entered the city, he found a relatively cheap inn to stay in; it was easier to gather information in this vicinity.

After checking into the inn, he changed into a short shirt and carried his Universe Bag on his back; this Universe Bag looked like a gray single-shoulder messenger bag.

If he wore a suit, carrying this bag would be quite incongruous.

Zhang Cheng left the inn, found a restaurant on the street, ordered a few dishes at random, paired them with a pot of wine, and ate with great relish.

After three rounds of drinks, he heard guests at a nearby table talking about strange things they had heard.

That man in the gray short jacket ate a peanut and said in a low voice, "Hey, have you heard about the matter at the Earth Temple outside the city?"

The square-faced man pondered for a moment and hurriedly asked, "Oh? What happened to that Earth Temple?"

The man in the short jacket said mysteriously, "That Earth Temple is haunted!"

"Haunted? That's impossible!" The square-faced man was very surprised, and he hurriedly said, "I heard that Earth Temple is very efficacious; how could such an efficacious place be haunted?"

The man in the short jacket waved his hand and said, "Efficacious my foot. That temple keeper blocked the news, but a few individual pilgrims let it slip; very few people know about this matter."

The square-faced man frowned and said, "Aiya, then why did I donate incense money? No wonder my prayers for wealth were useless. Hurry up and tell me, what kind of ghost is haunting that temple?"

The man in the short jacket continued, "I heard it's a female ghost. As soon as it hits midnight, she appears at the entrance of the Earth Temple, opens the door in the middle of the night, takes a shoe and slaps the threshold, and I don't know what she's saying."

The two were still whispering, stating their guesses, and Zhang Cheng was also confused. What kind of ghost was this? Her actions were truly bizarre; he would go take a look at night and know.

Inside the Earth Temple, the temple keeper Sun Qiyang was frowning. Facing Yu Daze's inquiry, he said helplessly, "Don't you gentlemen know how much ability I have? Besides, I only take thirty percent of this incense money;

seventy percent belongs to you gentlemen. If something happens, I can't rely on myself alone."

Yu Daze frowned and said, "Is it really a ghost, and not someone talking nonsense?"

Sun Qiyang hurriedly nodded and said, "It's true, I saw it with my own eyes. She just sat there at the threshold slapping the threshold, and she was singing something about the cold winter nearing and the New Year arriving. It seems to be that crazy woman who died at the temple entrance a few days ago."

"Sister-in-law Alin?" Yu Daze was somewhat surprised.

Sun Qiyang hurriedly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, isn't it her? Who knew she would turn into a ghost? We must quickly find an expert to come, otherwise, once she becomes stronger, that will be a disaster."

Yu Daze nodded and said, "Alright, I know. I will go tell my master about this right now."

Afterwards, Yu Daze immediately returned to the city to discuss this matter with his master. Master Yu consulted with other gentry and decided to invite the Daoist Ling Po to resolve this matter.

Very quickly, Master Yu and the others found a Daoist. One could see that the Daoist had long, flowing hair, his outfit was very complete, and his every gesture was very professional.

This Daoist was not just for show; he was called Lingyunzi and came from Longhu Mountain. Being able to invite a Daoist from Longhu Mountain showed that this Master Yu's influence was not insignificant.

Lingyunzi, led by Yu Daze, arrived outside the Earth Temple. He saw the problem at a glance and said, "There is still the resentment of that vengeful ghost remaining at the entrance. If that vengeful ghost is allowed to obtain enough resentment, I fear she could become a Ghost King, and at that time, it will be a catastrophe for all living things."

Yu Daze said in a panic, "Daoist, then what should we do?"

Lingyunzi waved his hand and said, "No need to panic. This vengeful ghost is very easy to resolve now; tonight, this poor Daoist will come to capture it."

Upon hearing this, Yu Daze breathed a sigh of relief and then brought Lingyunzi into the Earth Temple to rest.

Not far away, a rickshaw ran over and stopped at the entrance of the Earth Temple. Sitting on the carriage was a beautiful woman wearing a coat, with a cheongsam underneath, and flesh-colored silk stockings and high heels visible on her lower body.

The rickshaw puller looked back, hurriedly lowered his head, and swallowed his saliva, saying, "Miss, the Earth Temple has arrived."

"Thank you!" the woman said softly, then paid the fare and entered the Earth Temple. She gave ten yuan in incense money and then asked the temple keeper if she could stay in the temple's guest room.

In order to make money, the temple keeper naturally agreed to this. The woman was very happy, immediately paid the money, and went to the guest room.

At dusk, Zhang Cheng took advantage of the fact that the city gates were not yet closed and immediately left the city. A moment later, the sky turned dark. At this time, the sun had set and the moon had not yet risen; it was the darkest time.

Zhang Cheng, however, had no obstacles and walked on the main road leading to the Earth Temple.

Before long, Zhang Cheng saw the Earth Temple not far away. Three hundred meters from the Earth Temple, Zhang Cheng smelled some familiar scents.

One was the scent of a ghost, which he could smell even from far away, and the other scent was the corpse stench.

His brows were tightly furrowed, and he was very puzzled in his heart. How could there be two kinds of scents? It seemed that the matter inside was not simple.

He thought carefully; the only plan now was to wait. Wait until midnight, and no matter what kind of monsters or demons they were, all the facts would naturally be revealed.