Chapter 324

Disheveled fallen-corpses, gloomy hanged ghosts, vengeful souls with resentment soaring to the heavens…… all told, at least a two‑digit number.

I don't know how many ghosts I've summoned; I only felt my body was about to be drained, and then I stopped.

With a wave of the command flag, I drew all these ghosts into the wooden figure.

As the wandering soul soldiers gradually merged into the wooden figure, their silhouettes slowly took on substance, becoming indistinguishable from a living person.

This is the art of summoning troops: whether it's grass and wood or a stand‑in made of thin paper, once the soldiers merge with it, they look no different from an ordinary person.

"Heh heh, how many years have passed? I finally have my own stand‑in, and I no longer have to linger in that sunless City of the Wronged Dead."

The speaker was a yin soul stationed at the Kan position, his aura grim; as he spoke, his skin sagged bit by bit, making him look like a seventy‑ or eighty‑year‑old man.

I frowned inwardly, never expecting to have summoned a malevolent spirit from the City of the Wronged Dead. One spirit, two ghosts, three grudges, four evils—this wicked spirit's cultivation was nearly at the level of a fiend, and even the wooden container could not withstand the corrosion of its aura.

He gave me a strange smile; my heart skipped a beat, and I silently thought, "Not good."

"Heh heh, this wooden body has no vitality at all—totally unsuitable for an old ghost like me. Brat, since you summoned me, obediently offer up your flesh." He curled his hands into claws and lunged at me.

Faced with this seemingly fierce attack, I merely raised my eyebrows slightly; having summoned spirits, I was prepared for an evil ghost's onslaught. Moreover, the Yin Mountain Sect has encountered such things before since its founding—how could we lack a countermeasure?

Without changing expression, I slipped my hand into my bosom and grasped the small square seal there, waiting for the old ghost to pounce so I could shatter his soul and spirit.

The seal in my bosom is precisely the Yin Mountain Sect's Yin Mountain Dharma Chief Seal; in the Daoist Sect, Dharma seals are always essential implements for Daoists, and my sect is no exception. The Six Seals of Yin Mountain—the Yin Mountain Dharma Chief Seal, the Ghost‑King's Mighty Seal, the Heavenly Thunder Marshal Seal, the Netherworld King's Seal, the Pangu Great Emperor Seal…—each has its special use: to interrogate ghosts, to command troops, to protect the body, or to subdue demons.

Although I have no longer refined the other five seals, this Yin Mountain Dharma Chief Seal is more than enough to deal with a wicked spirit that hasn't even reached the level of a fiend.

"Heaven's Five Thunder Generals, Earth's Five Thunder Masters, generals and masters emerge together……"

Before I could even draw the Yin Mountain seal, Pangzi struck first, unleashing the entry‑level martial art Five Thunder Palm of Huaguang, slamming it hard onto the vengeful old ghost.

The Five Thunder Palm is supremely yang; thunder is like fire, an innate bane of yin spirits. One palm strike down, and the old ghost let out a miserable scream, his resentment greatly weakened.

"Hmph, if you want to seize my brother's master, you'd better ask me first." Pangzi, still holding the Five Thunder Palm posture, spat a mouthful of contempt at the old ghost curled on the ground.

"I dare not, I will never dare again—just now the old ghost, his mind confused, offended two exalted immortals; please forgive them, exalted immortals." Pangzi's move not only drove off the ill‑intentioned old ghost, it also intimidated the restless yin spirits lurking nearby.

Sigh…… Looking at these yin troops, I felt an indescribable taste. Daoists who summon troops usually give the soldiers a show of force; only then will they obey your command. If a Daoist's cultivation is lacking, the summoned ghosts will likely turn on the summoner first.

It's a simple truth: ghosts who died unjustly cannot be reborn. Now that a fine stand‑in lies here, no ghost would be foolish enough to let it go.

"Hai Sheng, frankly, I don't approve of your troop‑summoning; humans and ghosts follow different paths, and summoning too many ghosts isn't good for you either." Pangzi walked to my side and placed his hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head and smiled, then countered: "The Yin Mountain Sect's arts have always focused on commanding and deploying troops; if you tell me not to summon ghosts, what skill would I have left to get by?"

Pangzi was left speechless by my question, unable to utter a word even after holding his breath for a long time.

"Scatter"—with a wave of the command flag, I set the summoned troops loose in all directions to search for the hidden old cat immortal deep in the mountains.

I walked over to the old ghost curled on the ground and looked down at him.

"If you serve me well, I won't punish you; I'll even give you a fine body for cultivation."

He lifted his head, looked at me in astonishment, and said, "You're telling the truth." Perhaps he couldn't understand why, despite his desire to seize my body, I neither punished him nor offered him a benefit.

I nodded and smiled: "Of course it's true. This time I summoned these ghosts to find a wild cat that has cultivated a Spiritual Aperture. He lies hidden in this mountain; whoever can kill her will naturally gain this body—may the best win."

Hearing my words, the old ghost jumped up as if injected with adrenaline; without my saying more, he eagerly plunged into the deep mountains and ancient forest.

As for me, I naturally sat beside Pangzi by the command flag, quietly awaiting news.

Pangzi came to my side, furrowed his brow, and asked, "Hai Sheng, do you really intend to give that old cat's body to the wicked ghost from the City of the Wronged Dead?"

I understand Pangzi's doubt, but any wandering wild ghost or feral immortal who has cultivated spiritual intelligence likes to possess a human body for cultivation. Wild immortals prefer to burrow into a corpse's belly and devour the five viscera and six bowels. Yin spirits with some Daoist attainment like to occupy a person's physique, find a stand‑in for themselves, and hide from the heavenly mechanism to survive. However, such a cultivation method runs contrary to the Dao; it is an unorthodox path. Those immortals and ghosts who cultivate this way mostly go against heaven, drawing human qi and consuming souls—let alone discussing karma or upholding virtue.

But would I really be that foolish? Of course not; I also fear creating karma and dread the corpse‑possessing old ghost wreaking havoc everywhere.

I pointed to the command flag stuck in the skull and gave Pangzi a faint smile.

Pangzi suddenly understood and chuckled: "So you're planning to be the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole waiting behind."

Yes, I promised the old ghost that if he could find the cat immortal, I would give him her corpse. But I never said I would let him go. Rather than leave an unknown possibility to run amok and create karma, it's better to enroll him as a troop and keep him by my side.

Pangzi and I sat silently by the grave, both of our faces somewhat gloomy, our moods not good. I couldn't smile because of Qingqing; Pangzi couldn't smile because of me. Perhaps he has always feared that I would lose control of my mind and become an evil‑path practitioner.

What can I say? Actually I, too, am often confused; sometimes I ask myself whether what I'm doing is right or wrong. I frequently can't tell whether I'm righteous or evil. Later I simply stopped thinking about it, letting things take their natural course—just as I faced Master Yang Seven without fear and spoke those words. Right and wrong, black and white, have long been turned upside down by the world; since we drift and sink in this mortal crucible, it's inevitable to become stained with karma and morality. When people act, as long as they feel blameless in conscience, they should just go ahead and do it.

I don't know what will become of me in the future, but at least now I feel blameless—what's wrong with summoning ghosts, or with using sinister arts? I watched my beloved die before my eyes, yet it let me keep a compassionate heart to try to reform the killer—is that possible? Seeing my love die, you demand that I remain unmoved, feigning the utmost detachment.

Rather than that, I might as well take off this Daoist robe, pick up a saber, become an ordinary person, and seek justice in an ordinary way.

…………

Time trickled by, and just as the yin hour passed, the command flag planted in the skull trembled.

At last came news……

Following the direction indicated by the command flag, I arrived at a secluded thicket where a dozen or so troops were locked in combat with a black‑robed old woman.

The old woman was gaunt, yet her movements were agile—hardly inferior to an ordinary wildcat. Notably, a long tail protruded from the back of this cat, and her eyes were a pale greenish hue with a black pupil, exactly like a cat's eyes in the night.

Although she was formidable, she could not withstand the onslaught of the many troops. After all, the troops are spiritual bodies; fighting them in a gang is tantamount to suicide. Their forms are temporary wood; even if the body is destroyed, it matters nothing to them. Unless it is a Daoist Sect spell that can harm spiritual entities, physical attacks will never injure them.

The cat immortal retreated step by step under the troops' encirclement, defeat already evident. Then the old ghost timely surged forward, and before the cat could react, he swiftly seized her by the back of the head.

Whether human or animal, the occiput is an extremely weak spot; the wild immortal, struck by the old ghost's sneak attack, became a corpse‑spirit and collapsed to the ground.

By then the sky was gradually brightening; I formed the hand seal, waved the command flag, and sent all the yin spirits back except the old ghost.

After the yin spirits were dispatched, the empty ground held only bundles of firewood bound with twigs; many were already riddled with holes, rotted into sawdust.

At my nod, the old ghost lunged eagerly at the cat immortal lying on the ground.

Yin spirits differ from wild immortals: the latter can possess a corpse to cultivate, but the former cannot. If a person is dead, there is no vital qi, which is useless to a yin spirit. Hence, yin spirits usually possess living beings.

Quietly I grasped the command flag behind my back, formed the finger seal, and waited for the old ghost to take over the cat immortal—then I would wave the flag to reel him in.

The old ghost was utterly off‑guard, his mind fixed on the cat spirit curled on the ground; the instant he was about to seize her body, my eyes narrowed and I readied the flag.

But before I could swing the flag, suddenly my vision blurred; the old ghost screamed and was flung backward, and after flying out, his spirit actually separated from the wooden stand‑in.

"Heh heh, isn't the Yin Mountain Sect's lineage long lost in the Daoist Sect? I never expected to run into it today—though, from what I've seen of Yin Mountain Daoists' abilities, yours is pitifully weak."

A grim, yin‑tinged voice rang out from the thicket—sharp and hoarse, giving the impression of a sharp‑tongued shrew.

But when that shrew stepped out from the bushes……, Pangzi and I were both dumbfounded.