Chapter 293

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

I tightly guarded Pangzi's rear, blocking those who wanted to come 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 Hai Sheng brother said is true..." At this moment, Meng Xue also stepped forward to speak up for me and Pangzi. Then she explained the whole story to Aunt Mei and them.

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, the rat demon, though clever, seeing the situation bad, hid back inside the statue, but was still tightly trapped by the talisman array. Next, it's just a matter of seeing how Pangzi casts his spell to subdue it.

The talismans Pangzi drew were all yellow paper with red characters, the talisman heads were rain-gradual ear, this is the Purple Forbidden Taboo Command, borrowing the power of the Twenty-Eight Mansions to inscribe the talisman.

Now, Pangzi is chanting the names of the Twenty-Eight Mansions in his mouth, activating the talisman array.

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

Pangzi nodded, took three sticks of pure incense from the god table, with his left hand forming a hand seal, his right hand holding the red incense, the incense tip circled several times on the Guanyin statue, always moving from the body to the top of the head.

To onlookers, Pangzi seemed to be circling with the incense, but those who had opened their spiritual eyes could see that as Pangzi rotated, the incense tip emitted red threads that tightly bound the rat demon inside.

After binding the rat demon, Pangzi began to negotiate with it. Pangzi demanded the rat demon release the souls it had snatched, letting them return to the girl's body, otherwise he would slay it.

I rolled my eyes to the side, thinking, just slay it, why all the nonsense.

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

My face changed, unstoppable anger surged from my mind—this bastard actually devoured Xiao Yu's life soul and shows no remorse.

Thus I shouted at Pangzi: "Hurry up and slay him, what are you hesitating for, you bastard."

Pangzi wore a look of reluctance, shaking his head: "Hai Sheng, I remember Dad said. Every ghost was once a person in life, each with a story; what we should do is understand these grieving spirits' stories, resolve them, and help them cross over, not indiscriminately slay them. First send off, then drive away—this is forever how we Daoists show respect to them."

I retorted: "But this isn't a ghost, it's a wild immortal, a rat that cultivated into a demon, and it just ate a child's life soul, you know."

Pangzi shook his head, speaking softly: "Have you not considered that, just as a tiger hunts for food, a lion contests a rabbit, a rat's greed and gluttony are merely its nature. Before gaining spiritual wisdom, they survive solely by instinct; after gaining it, who has taught them to do good, told them what is good? We hastily label ghosts as evil, wild immortals as harmful—is that right? Have we given them a chance? Is this fair to them?"

"Fair? Where in this world is there so much fairness? Since I was born, I've been despised, treated as a plague god; who looks at my appearance and offers even a shred of sympathy? Think about it—is this fair to me?"

I pointed at Aunt Mei's daughter and sneered at Pangzi: "Think again—has heaven ever been fair to this little girl? At such a young age, a rat demon snatched her soul; from now on she'll become a fool, you know? You're thinking for the rat demon—have you thought for this little girl?"

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

I cursed him "stubborn," snatched that red incense from his hand, formed a sword finger with my hand, channeled power, and slashed— the incense ignited without fire, startling everyone in the room.

Pangzi turned away with a look of reluctance, while I still held the red incense, face as usual, watching the rat demon's soul burn in the roaring flames.

As the flames burned, the rat demon inside the clay statue could no longer endure, squeaked, and strained hard to break free. The Guanyin statue emitted black smoke, still permeated with a scorched smell.

At that moment, a thudding sound rang out in the room; before anyone could react, a huge rat emerged from a hidden cabinet beside. This rat was at least several times larger than usual, its neck surrounded by a ring of long whiskers, its eyes blood-red. Because its spirit was wounded, fresh red blood flowed from its mouth.

Seeing this rat burst out, I too was stunned—I hadn't expected this rat demon to be so cunning: its soul hid in the clay statue absorbing incense, while its body lay concealed in the hidden cabinet.

Unfortunately, it appeared too early; as a precaution, I had earlier laid out the Nine Luminaries Array outside the room, so even if it could leave this room, it couldn't escape my formation.

Until the big rat ran far away, everyone finally came to their senses, grabbing brooms and stools, eagerly rushing out to catch rats.

I and Pangzi followed the crowd out, just as I expected: the rat demon did not charge out of this formation, but instead was held fast at the eye representing the Gold Virtue Star Lord; no need to guess, it must be the Five Emperor Coins I buried underground taking effect, binding its feet.

I snatched a hoe from a big uncle's hand, preparing to step forward and chop this rat demon to death.

Just as I reached the rat demon's front, with a swish, my vision flashed—the rat demon was pierced through the intestines by a chopstick and died completely.

I turned around in astonishment, just to see 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 not, I know we are brothers, sharing weal and woe, karma cannot be borne by one person alone; if we must shorten our lifespans, let us do it together."

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

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The rat demon was slain, but Meng Xue's cousin's soul still hasn't been found. The matter is not yet settled. Meng Xue explained the whole story to everyone, and they finally understood that what I and Pangzi did earlier had cause.

However, just as I and Pangzi were heartedly delighted after slaying the evil god, these relatives of Aunt Mei who were watching not only failed to thank us, but some even came to blame us, saying we killed the rat demon, causing Xiao Yu to become completely a fool. If it weren't for us, the rat demon would have spared Xiao Yu after receiving the offerings.

Pangzi, inherently kind, upon hearing this, silently bore their blame in his heart. On the contrary, Hai Yan, seeing someone blame her foster brother, this naturally simple girl clenched her fists, face flushed, and argued with them.

Unexpectedly, Aunt Mei, who was holding her child in pain, rose up angrily, grabbed a broom, and drove all those aunts and uncles out.

Aunt Mei cried and told us: "Little Daoist, I know you both come from a good heart; Aunt Mei also thanks you. You need not blame yourself, don't bother with those people. I know even if we had worshiped that monster, it would not spare our Xiao Yu, never be satisfied. This is our Xiao Yu's fate; don't blame others."

Meng Xue told us that these aunts and uncles are extremely annoying; when there's trouble they cause chaos, can't help but still point fingers, saying more than they do.

Meng Xue's words made my heart sink into silence; I suddenly recalled an incident two years ago, when I and Pangzi followed QingSongShu to Zhejiang to handle a matter for a client, that household was a company boss.

His business rival invited a head‑lowering master, who placed a gu on the child.

The gu that the head‑lowering master placed was extremely vicious, actually biting onto the child's life soul; if forcibly driven out, the child's life soul would likely be injured, turning him into a fool thereafter— the situation then was extremely urgent.

In the end, QingSongShu's skill was superior by one notch; he used a side‑door method to draw out the gu from the child's body. At that time everyone regarded QingSongShu as a god, praising his Daoist arts as divine.

Facing everyone's praise, QingSongShu kept his expression unchanged, neither humble nor arrogant.

On the way home, Pangzi gave QingSongShu a thumbs‑up, praising: "Dad, you're truly amazing—you see those people almost treating you as a god. Moreover, it's only because you remain calm when faced with their praise that you don't get carried away; if it were me, I'd already be floating away."

Then QingSongShu asked Pangzi: "If your dad lost, the child's life soul would be eaten by the gu—do you think those people would still raise their thumbs to praise your dad, or would they want to skin him alive and eat him?"

Afterwards, QingSongShu turned to me and asked: "If you knew that after losing you would be spat upon by ten thousand people, would you still go to save?"

I shook my head and said I wouldn't: a Daoist is not a god; if praised after success, blamed after failure as an enemy, I'd rather not exert this effort. After all, I too act out of good will to help others; I don't want to be scolded for no reason—I'm not that fool.

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

At that time we thought QingSongShu's words made sense, but we had no personal experience, so it remained mere talk on paper, lacking experience. Now, when we ourselves slew the evil god, we deeply grasped QingSongShu's words.

Those who slandered us recklessly—how many of them lent a hand when we slew the rat demon? Now that the rat demon is dead, they instead brandish a spear, blaming us for making Xiao Yu a fool. No one knows Xiao Yu's life soul has already been eaten by the rat demon, nor do they know how much karma we bear on our shoulders.

I have now truly realized that cultivators walk a hundred paths, travel a thousand miles; they cultivate not only divine powers and arts, but also a steadfast heart.