Chapter 21: Furiously Slaying the Evil God

After Pangzi threw the talisman out, everyone in the room became extremely panicked. Moreover, some people stepped forward to cause trouble, saying we were offending Guanyin.

I tightly guarded Pangzi's rear, blocking those who wanted to step forward and cause trouble, and shouted loudly: "This is an evil god, not Guanyin at all—are you all blind?"

"An evil god? How could that be? This is clearly Guanyin!"

"Yeah, I think this Guanyin looks quite kind and benevolent..."

Those ignorant people were startled by my shout, staring at each other, chattering away.

"It's true, everything Brother Hai Sheng said is true..." At that moment, Meng Xue also stepped forward to defend me and Pangzi. Then she explained the whole story to Aunt Mei and the others.

I paid no heed to the argument behind me, focusing my spirit and guarding Pangzi's side, not letting anyone disturb him.

After Pangzi threw the talisman out, although the rat spirit was clever and, seeing the situation turn bad, hid back inside the statue, it was still tightly trapped by the talisman array. What remained was to see how Pangzi would cast his spell to subdue it.

The talismans Pangzi drew were all on yellow paper with red characters, their heads being the "rain gradual ear" motif; this is the Ziwei Taboo Command, written by borrowing the power of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

Now, Pangzi was chanting the names of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, activating the talisman array.

"Pangzi, it's time," I lightly pushed him and reminded him.

Pangzi nodded, took three sticks of clear incense from the altar table, with his left hand forming a finger seal and his right hand gripping the red incense; he turned the incense tip a few circles over Guanyin's statue, moving it from his body up to the top of his head.

To onlookers, Pangzi seemed to be just twirling the incense in circles, but those who had opened their spiritual eyes could see that as he turned, the incense tip emitted red threads that tightly bound the rat spirit inside.

After binding the rat spirit, Pangzi began to negotiate with it. He demanded that the rat spirit release the soul it had lured away, letting it return to the girl's body, otherwise he would slay it.

I rolled my eyes at the side—just kill it, why all the nonsense.

Although bound, the rat spirit showed no weakness, baring its two large fangs, looking at me and Pangzi with a ferocious glare. When Pangzi uttered the words "soul," the rat spirit seemed to understand, licking the corner of its mouth. The meaning was clear: it had already eaten the soul, and it was delicious.

My expression changed; an unstoppable fury rose from my mind—this bastard actually swallowed Xiao Yu's life soul and shows no remorse.

Thus I shouted at Pangzi: "Hurry up and chop him, what the hell are you hesitating for?"

Pangzi looked reluctant, shaking his head: "Hai Sheng, I remember Dad saying that every ghost was once a person in life, each with a story. What we ought to do is understand these vengeful spirits' stories, resolve them, and liberate them—not indiscriminately slay them. First pacify, then expel; this is forever how we Daoists show respect to them."

I shouted back: "But this isn't a ghost; it's a wild immortal, a rat that cultivated into a monster, and it just ate a child's life soul, don't you know?"

Pangzi shook his head and spoke softly: "Have you considered that, just as a tiger hunts for food and a lion stalks a rabbit, a rat's greed and appetite are merely its nature? Before gaining spiritual awareness, they survive solely by instinct; after gaining it, who has taught them to do good, to tell them what goodness is? We jump to conclusions that ghosts must be evil and wild immortals must be harmful—is that right? Have we given them a chance? Is that fair to them?"

"Fairness? Where in this world is there so much fairness? From the moment I was born, people have spat on me, taken me for a plague god. Who doesn't judge by my appearance, and who would offer me even a scrap of sympathy? Think about it—is that fair to me?"

I pointed at Aunt Mei's daughter and sneered at Pangzi: "Think again—when has heaven ever been fair to this little girl? At such a young age, a rat spirit lured away her soul; from then on she would go from a normal person to an idiot, don't you know? You're thinking for the rat spirit—have you ever thought for this little girl?"

Pangzi was left speechless by my questioning, yet he still couldn't bring himself to strike.

I cursed him "hidebound," snatched the red incense from his hand, formed a sword-finger seal, channeled my power, and slashed— the incense ignited without flame, startling everyone in the room.

Pangzi turned away with a reluctant expression, while I continued to hold the red incense with a calm face, watching the rat spirit's soul burn in the roaring flames.

As the flames burned, the rat spirit inside the clay statue could no longer endure; with a squeak, it strained hard to break free of its bonds. Guanyin's statue emitted a black smoke, which also reeked of scorched burntness.

At that moment, a thumping sound echoed in the room; before anyone could react, a huge rat burst from a hidden cabinet beside them. This rat was at least several times larger than usual, its neck ringed with long whiskers, its eyes blood‑red. Because its divine soul was wounded, fresh red blood flowed from its mouth.

Seeing this rat emerge, I too was stunned—I hadn't expected the rat spirit to be so cunning, hiding its soul in the clay statue to absorb incense while its true body lay concealed in the secret cabinet.

Unfortunately, he appeared too early; as a precaution, I had already laid out the Nine Luminaries Array outside the house—even if he could leave the room, he couldn't escape my formation.

Only after the big rat ran far did everyone come to their senses, grabbing brooms and stools, eagerly rushing out to catch the rat.

I and Pangzi also followed the crowd out; as I had expected, the rat spirit did not charge out of the formation—instead it was held fast at the eye representing the Jin De Star Lord. No need to guess; surely the Five Emperor Coins I buried underground took effect, entangling its feet.

I snatched a hoe from an uncle's hand, preparing to step forward and chop the rat spirit to death.

Just as I approached the rat spirit, a swish sounded—my vision blurred, and the rat spirit was pierced through the intestines by a chopstick, killing it utterly.

I turned around in astonishment and saw Pangzi standing behind me, holding another chopstick.

He grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth: "Although I don't know whether what you did is right or wrong, I know we are brothers—we share hardships together; guilt cannot be borne by one alone, and if we must shorten our lifespans, we will do it together."

I gave a hehe laugh and turned away; no one could see the moisture in the corner of my eyes.

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The rat spirit had been slain, but Meng Xue's cousin's soul had not yet been found; the matter was not over. Meng Xue explained the whole story to everyone, and they finally understood that what Pangzi and I had just done was justified.

But just as Pangzi and I felt genuine joy after slaying the evil god, those relatives of Aunt Mei who were gathered around not only failed to thank us—some even came to blame us both, claiming that by killing the rat spirit we had caused Xiao Yu to become completely idiotic. If it weren't for us, the rat spirit, after receiving the offerings, would have let Xiao Yu go.

Pangzi was inherently kind; hearing those words, he silently bore their blame. In contrast, Hai Yan, seeing someone accuse her foster brother, this naturally simple girl actually clenched her fists, her face flushed and ears red as she argued with them.

To everyone's surprise, Aunt Mei, who was painfully holding her child, rose up in anger, grabbed a broom, and drove out all those aunts and cousins.

Aunt Mei cried and told us: "Little Daoist, I know you all act from pure goodwill; Aunt Mei also thanks you greatly. Don't blame yourselves, don't pay attention to those people. I know even if we had offered sacrifices to that monster, it wouldn't spare our Xiao Yu—it would never be satisfied. This is my family's Xiao Yu's fate; don't blame others."

Meng Xue told us that those aunts and cousins are extremely annoying; whenever something happens they just stir up trouble, can't help but still point and gesture, saying far more than they actually do.

Meng Xue's words left my heart in sudden silence; I suddenly recalled an incident from two years ago, when Pangzi and I followed QingSongShu to Zhejiang to handle a matter for a household—the head of that household was a company boss.

His business rival had hired a head‑lowering master to place a gu poison on the child.

The gu poison that the head‑lowering master planted was extremely vicious; it actually latched onto the child's life soul. If forcibly expelled, the child's soul would likely be injured, turning him into an idiot forever—at the time the situation was extremely dire.

In the end, QingSongShu's skill surpassed the rest by a notch; he used an unorthodox method to draw out the gu inside the child's body. At that time everyone regarded QingSongShu as a god, praising his Daoist arts as divine.

Despite everyone's praise, QingSongShu's expression remained ordinary, neither humble nor arrogant.

On the way home, Pangzi gave QingSongShu a thumbs‑up and praised: "Dad, you're truly awesome—look, those people almost worshipped you as a god. It's just that you could stay calm while they praised you; if it were me, I'd have gotten carried away long ago."

Then QingSongShu asked Pangzi: "If your dad lost, that child's life soul would be eaten by the gu—would those people then keep giving your dad a thumbs‑up and continue praising him, or would they want to skin your dad alive and eat him raw?"

Next, QingSongShu turned to me and asked: "If you knew that after failing you would be despised by ten thousand people, would you still go to save?"

I shook my head and said no; a Daoist isn't a god—if success brings praise and failure brings enmity, I might as well not bother. After all, I too act from goodwill to help people; to be scolded for no reason—I'd rather not be that fool.

Pangzi then continued, QingSongShu said to us: "Life presents a hundred aspects, human nature a hundred uglies; others don't care whether you act from goodwill or malice—they only look at the outcome. Sometimes you act with good intent but end up doing harm, and then you will be despised by ten thousand. Therefore a Daoist's character should be like the highest good water—tranquil, facing mockery and praise yet remaining calm as water. A Daoist's heart should be like an old tree with deep roots—steadfast, paying no heed to right‑and‑wrong talk; as long as you know you are correct, you keep going. Paying too much attention to others only makes you lose yourself and become unlike yourself."

Back then we thought QingSongShu's words made sense, but we lacked personal experience, so it remained mere talk on paper, lacking some experience. Now, when we ourselves slew the evil god alone, we deeply grasped his words.

Of those who slandered us recklessly, how many actually helped when we killed the rat spirit? Now that the rat spirit is dead, they instead turn and blame us for making Xiao Yu idiotic. No one knows that Xiao Yu's life soul has already been eaten by the rat spirit, nor do they realize how many layers of guilt we bear.

Only now have I truly realized that a cultivator who walks a hundred paths and travels a thousand miles cultivates not only supernatural arts and techniques, but also a true and steadfast heart.