Chapter 46: Candlelight Shadow Puppetry

Even a ninth-rank cultivator, suddenly attacked by the ghostly wails of five hanging ghosts, would have their soul and spirit shaken, their body and soul separating within three to five breaths, leaving them unable to move.

When Old Qian served the Master, it often ended with just a charge from five hanging ghosts.

The five hanging ghosts split into three groups, each aiming at the main door and the two windows, launching their assault.

The stepmother hid beneath the window, while the bamboo dragonfly outside in the courtyard transmitted the view from every angle back to her.

The stepmother curled her body into a pose resembling "Heavenward Kick," her slender body incredibly flexible; her long leg swept upward and kicked, with a clanging crash, sending the entire window flying out!

Crack...

The window landed in the courtyard but did not shatter; instead, it automatically reconnected, clicking and clacking as it transformed and assembled into a cage.

Then it automatically rose into the air!

The five hanging ghosts were sucked and dragged by some irresistible force, all thrown into the cage at once.

With a clanging crash, the cage door slammed shut, locking all the hanging ghosts inside.

These hanging ghosts were also Yin Soldiers, having no physical form. The cage was only three feet square; inside, the five hanging ghosts tangled together like water weeds, struggling desperately but unable to escape.

The cage bars were the previous window lattice, only as thick as a thumb, yet they were even coated with the power of lightning, crackling with electric sparks, causing the hanging ghosts to let out screams of agony.

Old Qian stood outside the courtyard, his old face as calm as an ancient well.

If the hanging ghosts won't work, then use other methods.

After all, the Master's orders must be carried out properly.

He pulled a wet net-cage from the shadows behind him, opened it, and the drowning ghosts inside immediately lunged out ferociously.

These drowning ghosts were half-human, half-fish; some had fish tails and human bodies, some had fish heads and human legs, some had fish bodies but human arms, and others looked human but were covered entirely in scales.

But without exception, they all possessed gaping maws, with long fangs protruding beyond their lips, and long fish whiskers dangling and swaying on both sides of their mouths, topped with thorn-like barbs!

This group of drowning ghosts, in the viscous Yin Qi, moved as effortlessly as fish entering the sea, their speed even faster than the hanging ghosts just now.

Each of them had devoured countless living humans who had accidentally fallen into the water, carrying a body full of blood and killing intent; they lunged into the courtyard, intending to slip in through the now-empty window.

Inside the house, a single lamp flickered, its light and shadow swaying between bright and dark.

A beautiful woman could be seen standing behind the window, and a young man sat behind her with a helpless expression.

What delicious, fresh blood food!

The drowning ghosts opened their gaping maws and lunged forward.

The window was not large, capable of accommodating at most two drowning ghosts rushing in together.

Yet there were only two blood foods, so they rushed forward in a frenzy, several drowning ghosts squeezing together at the window.

One of the strongest broke free with great effort and rushed into the house first.

It bit toward the woman, but although the woman appeared stiff, for some reason her speed was extremely fast, her movement giving a sensation of "flashing and swaying."

It lunged and bit repeatedly, but every strike missed.

The drowning ghosts were not particularly smart, so they abandoned the woman, turned around, and lunged at the young man.

Behind it, the other drowning ghosts all rushed in as well.

Suddenly, the lamp inside the house went out; they did not care, for without light, they had the advantage.

But immediately after, they felt the world spin; the originally square house suddenly became spherical and began shrinking rapidly.

They were inside a sphere!

The tables, chairs, and various furnishings inside the house, along with the man and woman, all turned into thin sheets and were rapidly pulled away.

The drowning ghosts bumped and crushed against each other, caught all at once in a net.

This was not a real house, but a technique of shadow puppetry; using light to cast shadows, it deceived both the drowning ghosts and Old Qian outside.

The drowning ghosts walked straight into a trap, rushing into the bag.

The bag's opening was positioned right behind the real window!

The stepmother gathered the bag in her hand, shrinking it to the size of a water ladle; a group of drowning ghosts were packed inside, still struggling incessantly.

The "family heritage" passed down by Xu Yuan was the stage next door.

This old stage could host opera troupes to perform, or be used for shadow puppetry.

Xu Yuan's father possessed the skill of shadow puppetry; he could not only perform and sing but also craft shadow puppets of various materials.

This was inherently a skill of the "Artisan Cultivator," and naturally, it was passed down to the stepmother.

Old Qian frowned this time, feeling that things were becoming tricky.

He began to fiddle with those broken, ragged bottles and jars.

"I have seen grand scenes with the Master in Southern Capital."

"Do you think these tricks can stump me?"

This Shanhe County town is not even as large as one "ward" in Southern Capital.

He found a small jar, dull gray and unremarkable, just dug out from beneath the corner of the wall, still covered in dirt.

A bowl was placed upside down over the jar; lifting the bowl revealed the jar's mouth sealed with mulberry paper mixed with pig's blood, lime, rice paste, and other substances.

At this moment, the contents inside the jar seemed to sense something, appearing exceptionally excited; they struck outward with force, causing the tough mulberry paper to thump and thump, bulging outward repeatedly with each impact.

"No rush, no rush," Old Qian said to the things inside the bottles and jars with great patience, a kind smile on his face.

Just now, when releasing the hanging ghosts and drowning ghosts, it was like driving long-term laborers to work.

Now, however, it was like calling his own grandson up to study.

Old Qian pointed the mouth of the jar toward the courtyard and murmured, "Eat well, eat your fill," then suddenly tore off the mulberry paper sealing the jar's mouth.

Whoosh—

In an instant, thick, turbid Yin Qi shot forward like a flame; a massive shadow, viscous like slime, crawled up the courtyard wall, flipped over it rapidly, and rushed along the ground toward the house where Xu Yuan and the stepmother were.

Wherever this thing passed, it left a huge trace of Yin Qi erosion, as if brushed over with concentrated acid.

The stepmother let out a cold snort, standing proudly at the window; in her hand, she now held the candlestick from the table, having grasped it at some unknown moment.

In the darkness, that monster rushed closer at extreme speed, a foul stench assaulting the face!

It had no organs visible on its entire body, just a huge, black, sticky mass, fully one zhang in size.

Utilizing its own characteristics, it could freely condense hands, feet, sharp claws, horns, and so on.

When it rushed to the front of the house, countless tentacles spread out from its body, trying to drill directly in through the windows, door cracks, and every other gap.

Seeing this thing, the stepmother's face changed slightly, and she spoke in anger: "Insane! You actually cultivated a Corpse Water Monster!"

"It requires at least one hundred and fifty corpses; only the rotting, seeping corpse water can nurture it to this level!"

Outside the courtyard, Old Qian heard the stepmother's words and actually revealed an expression of "meeting a kindred spirit in a foreign land."

Shanhé County was truly too small, too backward.

It was hard for these "children" in his bottles and jars to meet anyone who could appreciate them.

Requesting monthly tickets!

These two days are the new book PK; please help out a lot.

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(End of this chapter)