Chapter 9: Chapter Nine, Tomb Adventure Chronicle

Even if I were more afraid and unwilling, I was still kicked out by Li Feng's merciless kick at midnight the next night.

"If you can't form an alliance and can't find your own commanding soul, you don't need to come back." Kicking my butt, Li Feng threw out a box, then with a bang, he slammed the door shut.

Old man, you're ruthless. When you have a son someday, I'll kick him to death, kick him to death—I thought this, and I gave Li Feng inside the house a vicious middle finger. I admit, I now find that old man utterly unlovable.

Li Feng told me to go to the graveyard today mainly to do two things: first, to make an alliance with the Five Direction Ghost Emperor; second, to find my commanding soul.

The art of the Five Ghosts has ancient origins; even laypeople have heard of techniques like the Five Ghosts bringing wealth and summoning spirits.

In many Daoist sects, the practice of invoking the Five Ghosts exists, but the scriptures and chants vary widely; many sects' invoked Five Ghosts are completely different—some call upon Cao Shi and Zhu Fang, others upon Zhang Wu and Yu Tai, etc.

Thus, many laypeople who know only one side but not the other argue; some even pose as masters, claiming the Five Ghosts are these five, not those five, unaware that insiders see their behavior as a laughingstock.

The so-called Five Ghosts troop command technique does not mean summoning five ghosts, nor the Five Direction Plague Gods; rather, one petitions the Five Direction Ghost Emperor, using the Five Direction Yin Masters as intermediaries to dispatch yin spirits and yin generals to act on one's behalf. Those Cao Shi, Zhu Fang, etc., mentioned above are the Yin Masters of a certain sect; such Yin Masters usually hold certain positions in the underworld, which is why they appear in the incantations, allowing the sect's disciples to summon ghosts for troop command through them.

Therefore, although the names of the Five Ghosts vary in the incantations, the Five Direction Ghost Emperor are always exactly those five. And in the Yin Shan Sect, which emphasizes using ghosts for troop command, forming the upper covenant with the Five Direction Ghost Emperor is of utmost importance.

So, even if I am more afraid, I have no choice but to go to the graveyard in the dark.

Fortunately, the Yin Shan Sect's members like to cultivate in places of extreme yin energy such as graveyards, so Li Feng's dwelling is not far from the graveyard—just over ten minutes away.

However, for me walking blindly in the dark night, those ten-plus minutes feel as long as a lifetime. Walking down the pitch-black mountain path, through the ghastly white moonlight, even the trees along the way seem to brandish their claws and fangs.

Stepping on the pebbles of the small path, I walked step by step toward the graveyard. On the graveyard, uneven little mounds overgrown with weeds are visible everywhere; if I'm not careful, I might step on the burial coins on someone's head, or a candle.

Holding the box, I searched carefully all around, for Li Feng said he had made a marker at a place suitable for the Five Ghosts alliance, letting me find it myself.

But it's pitch black, I can't see anything—who knows what marker he made.

I searched and looked around, when suddenly a blob of greenish light appeared in the distance; staring at it, I saw these lights, one blob after another, drifting in the air.

Startled, I jumped and hid behind someone's tombstone. Although I'd never seen such things before, that doesn't mean I hadn't heard of them; these lights must be ghost fire, the kind old people often talk about.

Old people often say that each blob of ghost fire is a ghost's resentment; whenever it sees a person, it mercilessly deprives that person of their life.

I spread my fingers and counted the ghost fire I had just roughly seen. Damn, there are over a dozen blobs; at this rate, even if I were a nine-lived cat, I wouldn't have many lives to spare.

So I could only hide behind the tombstone, clutching my knees, silently praying, thinking I'd wait until these ghost fires drifted away before coming out.

After a long while, hearing no movement around, I poked my head out from behind the tombstone. Not looking would have been fine, but as soon as I looked, my heart jumped out of fright—the ghost fire hadn't diminished; it had increased. Blobs jumping about in the air, to me they looked like several children playing, even forming a circle—what the hell, holding hands, looking for friends?

Suddenly, at the center point of the ghost fire circle, I saw something unbelievable.

It was a small flag inserted upside down; in the ghost fire's glow, the flag emitted an eerie green light, with a skull and the character for 'order' suddenly appearing in the air.

I sucked in a breath—wasn't this command flag Li Feng's? And inserting the command flag upside down is exactly the hallmark of the Yin Shan Sect.

Damn, what the hell is this old man up to? Couldn't he have picked a better spot? The ghost fire brothers and sisters are having a gathering, and you stick a command flag there—what the hell are you doing?

By now I finally understand what Li Feng's marker was—it's just his command flag. I regret it to the core, having cursed him a thousand times in my heart. Let me come to the graveyard to form the alliance and form it; do you really need to place the marker in such a bizarre spot?

Instinctively, I prepared to flee, but when I recalled Li Feng's words before I entered the door, I forcibly stopped my steps. I remember the old man saying that as long as I obediently learn his magic, I'll be able to see my sister Jia Jia again.

In my mind, her warm smile flashed across, and I gritted my teeth—no matter what, I must see my sister again.

I took a deep breath, exhaled, held the box, and stepped toward those ghost fires.

But what happened next once again made my scalp tingle; these ghost fires seemed sentient, strangely turning in unison to stare at me.

Terrified, I let out a weird sound, my legs went numb, and I could only shut my eyes and rush forward.

"Should be okay now?" After running a stretch, I guessed I had reached the command flag's position, and slowly opened my eyes.

A blob of eerie greenish ghost fire hovered not far from me, almost face-to-face, that chilling sensation making my whole body feel icy.

"Ah—" a shrill cry, I was startled, staggered, and fell to the ground.

"Whoa—" another shrill cry, I jumped up from the ground, clutching my buttocks, scrambling about. Looking down, I saw the command flag standing upright in the ground—I had, in my fright, actually sat on it.

Damn, my asshole.

Despite the pain, I felt less afraid, and quickly took five talismans from the box, arranging them in a circle around myself. These are the Five Ghost talismans Li Feng wrote for me, used to summon the Five Direction Ghost Emperor.

As soon as the five Five Ghost talismans appeared, the ghost fires scattered as if they'd seen a plague god.

Seeing that, my resolve firmer, I hastily cut my finger, dripped blood onto the Five Ghost talismans, then took out the five-color cloth and covered my body with it.

This was Li Feng's instruction: the Five Direction Ghost Emperor are deities who preside over a region of the underworld; therefore mortals must not profane their true appearance. Even Yin Shan Sect disciples, when forming the alliance, must cover their whole body with the Five Ghost cloth and may not peek at the five emperors.

But forming an alliance with the ghost emperor brings a sensation: when the Five Direction Ghost Emperor arrive, you feel breathless, unable to move, your blood running wild uncontrollably. Only after the covenant is set and the ghost emperor departs does this feeling fade; at that moment, the blood‑dripped Five Ghost talismans on the ground burn up completely.

I hid inside the five‑color cloth, sincerely chanting the invocation of the Five Ghosts.

Not long after, this sudden feeling came, striking me abruptly, as if I were being pressed by a front‑weight. The talismans Li Feng had drawn on my body seemed like clusters of fire, burning and stinging my whole body.

By then I knew the Five Direction Ghost Emperor had descended; I endured the agony, chanting the text of the upper covenant. In a daze, I repeated it over and over; I don't know how long passed, but a cool breeze blew by, and this painful torment vanished in an instant.

I lifted the five‑color cloth and saw that the Five Ghost talismans on the ground had burned out completely. This also meant I had formed an alliance with the Five Ghosts, gaining the qualification to command ghosts and troops. Henceforth, I could summon yin soldiers in the name of the Five Direction Ghost Emperor.

Only then did I finally relax. But I then recalled Li Feng's second task: to find my own commanding soul.

But what is this commanding soul? He only told me the two words 'master soul'; I don't know whether it's a person or a ghost, wind or rain, flower or grass—how am I supposed to look for it?

In an instant, I fell into extreme gloom.

Suddenly, a blob of ghost fire drifted from not far ahead. However, this ghost fire was like mist, white, and completely unlike what I had just seen.

Before I could react, that whitish blob of ghost fire whooshed and plunged into my forehead.

"Done for…"

These two words were my only thought before I passed out.