Chapter 52

Disheveled hanging ghosts, gloomy strangled ghosts, vengeful souls with resentment shooting to the heavens……all told, at least double-digit numbers.

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

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

As the wandering soul soldiers gradually merged into the wooden figure, their silhouettes slowly became substantial, indistinguishable from real people.

This is the art of summoning troops: whether it's grass and wood or a substitute made of thin paper, once the soldiers merge, they look no different from ordinary people.

"Heh heh, how many years have passed? I finally have my own substitute; I no longer have to stay in that sunless City of the Wronged Dead."

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

I furtively frowned, yet I never expected to summon an evil spirit from the City of the Wronged Dead. One spirit, two ghosts, three resentments, four evils—this evil spirit's cultivation was nearly at the level of a fiend; even the wooden container couldn't withstand the corrosion of its aura.

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

"Heh heh, this wooden flesh has no vitality at all; it's utterly unsuitable for an old ghost like me. Brat, since you summoned me, obediently offer your flesh to me." He curled his hands into claws and lunged at me.

Faced with this seemingly ferocious attack, I merely raised my eyebrows slightly; having summoned spirits, I was prepared for evil spirits rushing upon me. Moreover, throughout the history of the Yinshan Sect, such incidents have occurred before—how could there be no 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—then I would make his soul and spirit scatter.

The seal in my bosom is precisely the Yinshan Sect's Yinshan Dharma Lord Seal; in the Daoist Sect, such seals have always been essential implements for Daoists, and our Yinshan Sect is no exception. The Yinshan Six Seals—Yinshan Dharma Lord Seal, Ghost Power Great King Seal, Heavenly Thunderbolt Marshal, Netherworld King, Primordial Great Emperor……each seal has its marvelous uses: to interrogate ghosts, to command troops, to protect the body, or to subdue demons.

Although I have not cultivated the remaining five seals, this Yinshan Dharma Lord Seal is more than enough to deal with an evil spirit that hasn't even reached the level of a fiend.

"Heavenly Five Thunder Generals, Earthly Five Thunder Masters, generals and masters emerge together……"

I hadn't even drawn the Yinshan seal when Pangzi struck, unleashing the entry-level martial art of the Five Thunder Palm from Huaguang, and he slammed it hard onto the old ghost of the City of the Wronged Dead.

The Five Thunder Palm is extremely yang, like thunder and fire, an innate bane of yin spirits. With a single palm strike, it made the old ghost scream in anguish, and even the resentment on his body weakened considerably.

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

"I dare not, I dare not anymore—just now the old ghost, his mind confused, offended the two exalted immortals; please forgive them, two exalted immortals." Pangzi's move not only repelled the ill-intentioned old ghost, but also deterred the yin spirits nearby that were stirring.

Sigh……Looking at these yin troops and yin generals, I felt an indescribable sentiment. When Daoists summon troops, they usually give the soldiers a show of force; only then will the soldiers obediently accept your command. If a Daoist's cultivation is lacking, the summoned ghosts will likely turn on him first.

It's a simple truth: ghosts who died unjustly cannot be reborn. Now that there's an excellent substitute placed here, no ghost would be foolish enough to let it go.

"Hai Sheng, frankly speaking, I really don't approve of your summoning troops this way—humans and ghosts follow different paths, and summoning 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 arts of my Yinshan Sect have always emphasized mobilizing and commanding troops; if you tell me not to summon ghosts, what skill would I have left to get by?"

Pangzi was instantly left speechless by my question, struggling for a long time without managing to utter a word.

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

I walked over to the old ghost curled up on the ground and lowered my head to look at him.

"If you can serve me well, I will not only refrain from punishing you, but also grant you an excellent fleshly body for cultivation."

He lifted his head, looked at me in astonishment, and said, "You're speaking the truth." Perhaps he couldn't understand in his heart: clearly he wanted to seize my body, yet I not only didn't punish him, but even promised him benefits.

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. It hides in this mountain; whoever can kill her will naturally gain this fleshly body, each according to ability."

After hearing my words, the old ghost jumped up as if injected with chicken blood; without me saying more, he eagerly rushed into the deep mountains and old forests.

I, naturally, sat beside Pangzi by the command flag, calmly awaiting news.

Pangzi walked to my side, furrowed his brow, and asked: "Hai Sheng, are you really planning to give the old cat's fleshly body to that old ghost who came out of the City of the Wronged Dead?"

I understand Pangzi's doubts, but any wandering ghost or wild immortal who has cultivated spiritual intelligence likes to possess a human body for cultivation. Wild immortals like to burrow into the bellies of corpses, devouring the five viscera and six bowels. Yin spirits with some Daoist attainment prefer to occupy a person's body, finding a substitute to conceal heavenly secrets and survive. However, such a cultivation method runs contrary to the Dao; it is an unorthodox path. Those who cultivate this way—immortals and ghosts—mostly go against heaven, absorbing human qi and devouring 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 planted in the skull and gave Pangzi a faint smile.

Pangzi suddenly understood, then gave a heh-heh laugh: "So you're planning to play 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 creating karma, it's better to take him as a troop and keep him by my side.

Pangzi and I sat quietly 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 cannot control my own mind and will become an evil-path cultivator.

What can I say? Actually, I'm also quite lost; sometimes I ask myself whether what I'm doing is right or wrong. I often can't tell whether I'm righteous or evil. Later, I simply stopped thinking about it, going with the flow—just as I faced Master Yang Seven without fear and spoke those words. Right and wrong, black and white, have long been inverted by worldly conventions; since we drift in this mortal furnace, it's inevitable to become stained with karma and morality. When people act, as long as they feel their conscience is clear, they should just go ahead and do it.

I don't know what I'll become in the future, but at least now I feel my conscience is clear—so what if I summon ghosts, or if my arts are yin and harmful? 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? Watching my beloved die, you demand I remain unmoved, like an ancient well without ripples.

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 person's way.

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

At last, there was news……

Following the direction indicated by the command flag, I arrived at a hidden thicket where several dozen troops were locked in combat with a woman in black robes.

The old woman was gaunt, yet her movements were extremely agile—hardly any less than an ordinary wildcat. What's striking is that behind this old cat there is a long tail, and her eyes are pale greenish-white sclera with a black pupil in the center, exactly like a cat's eyes in the night.

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

The cat immortal retreated step by step under the siege of many troops, defeat already evident. At that moment, the old ghost timely surged forward, and before the cat immortal could react, he swiftly grabbed the back of her head.

Whether person or animal, the back of the head is an extremely weak spot; the wild immortal, ambushed by the old ghost, became a corpse god and fainted to the ground.

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

After the yin spirits were sent away, the empty ground held only bundles of firewood bound with twigs and branches; many of them were already riddled with holes, rotted into a pile of sawdust.

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

Yin spirits differ from wild immortals: wild immortals can possess a corpse's body to cultivate, but yin spirits cannot. If a person dies, they have no vital energy, which is of no use to a yin spirit. Therefore, yin spirits possess bodies, mostly attaching to living beings.

I quietly held the command flag behind my back, pinching the finger seal, waiting for the old ghost to occupy the cat immortal—then I would wave the flag to take him back.

The old ghost was utterly off guard, his mind solely on the cat immortal curled on the ground; at the instant he was about to seize her body, my eyes narrowed, and I readied myself to wave the flag.

However, before I could wave the flag, I suddenly saw a flash before my eyes—the old ghost screamed and was flung backward, and after being flung back, his spirit actually separated from the wooden substitute.

"Heh heh, isn't the Yinshan Dharma lineage long lost in the Daoist Sect? I never expected to run into it today—though, from what I've seen of Yinshan Sect Daoists' abilities, you're this weak?"

A gloomy, eerie voice rang out from the thicket—sharp and hoarse, giving the first impression of a sharp-tongued, spiteful shrew.

But when that shrew emerged from the thicket……, Pangzi and I, damn it, were stunned.