Chapter 30: Alienation of Flesh and Blood

Xu Jia identified the type of Chang Soldier Hu Jinhua had refined and praised her: "Not bad. This Mountain-Roaming Chang of yours has decent power; it is adept at searching mountains and tracking, driving away wild beasts, finding medicinal spirits, and setting up illusions. It can also detain human souls."

"Now that we have subdued the Mountain God of this mountain, the Evil Qi of this mountain can be used by us as we please. Offering to the Chang, releasing the Chang, and recalling the Chang—we now have a basic territory for all of this."

"Your Daoist Practice is not high; you can likely refine a squad of twelve Chang soldiers to keep by your side, but this Mountain God can help command fifty or sixty. It is just unclear whether the Evil Qi of this mountain can refine that many Chang soldiers."

"Next, you should refine a Chang Soldier Jar to store the Evil Qi, and place it before the Altar for offerings. On the first and fifteenth of every month, just drip a drop of blood into the jar to nourish it."

Xu Jia then explained the essentials of refining Chang to Hu Jinhua. Refining Chang by gathering Evil Qi is one method, but one can also capture the 'defeated generals and dead soldiers' of ancient battlefields to refine. This type is more akin to 'Yin soldiers'.

However, Hu Jinhua did not have the ability to subdue defeated generals and dead soldiers.

Once they refined the Chang, it meant Xu Jia had refined the Chang, saving himself a great deal of effort.

Since Xu Jia had nothing better to do, after finishing his explanation on refining Chang, he carefully lectured Niu Congcong on the Three Commandments. The first commandment is not to kill indiscriminately; these lonely ghosts and wild spirits are already pitiful enough, and if you bully them further or use them to experiment with spells, it is a bit of 'the strong bullying the weak'.

The second commandment is not to 'offer indiscriminately'. You must never recklessly accept offerings and sacrifices from poor families; you can only 'earn money from the rich'. This is actually based on the same principle as the first commandment.

The third commandment is not to engage in spell battles or act with malice. Once one possesses spells, one likes to show off, and at the same time, emotions become infinitely magnified. It becomes easy to find this person or that person displeasing, and then malice arises in the heart. At first, one uses spells to tease, and then it leads to murder and taking lives.

This is what is called a 'Demonic Obstacle'. As the saying goes, the deeper one practices, the greater the Demonic Obstacle. If one cannot control oneself, one falls into becoming an Evil Master.

Xu Jia was also earnest and spoke to Niu Congcong: "If you violate these Three Commandments, there is no need for me to take back your spells; you will easily die an unnatural death yourself. I teach you these Three Commandments so that if you violate them, this Guardian Divine General will lash you ten times. You must keep this in mind."

He said the same to Hu Jinhua and the other little foxes: "You must never do evil. Your cultivation is already difficult; only by accumulating merit and virtue can you achieve a righteous result sooner."

Previously, Xu Jia had prioritized increasing their power and had not taught them this way. Now that the matter of the original body's Soul had been resolved, he felt much more relaxed and made up for their lessons.

After finishing these words, he closed his eyes and entered Turtle Breath Hibernation to recover the divine intent he had just expended.

The next morning at dawn, Xu Jia yawned and returned to Xu Fu; he had not gone out during the night.

Xu Jia had not returned all night, and everyone in Xu Fu was anxious. Xu Jia had gone out with Niu Congcong and not returned, and it was said they went to Niu Fu, but when people were sent to ask, the two of them hadn't been there at all yesterday.

Niu Fu had assumed Niu Congcong had spent the night at the Xu residence.

Upon returning to the residence, Master Xu and Xu Mu had intended to scold Xu Jia for not returning home at night, but seeing his exhausted face, they could not bear to.

They had no choice but to wait for Xu Jia to speak for himself.

After returning home, Xu Jia first placed the Pressing Money that sealed the original body's Soul under the feet of the Bodhisattva in the Buddha hall. He then went to wash up, and after washing, he drank meat porridge and mutton soup, held a ginseng slice in his mouth, and then lay on the bed in Turtle Breath Hibernation.

He slept until noon, when Xiao Hong came to call him: "Young Master, it is time to eat."

Ever since she received guidance from Xu Jia last time and broke through her calamity, she had felt a sense of worship toward him, believing that Xu Jia was omnipotent and could foresee future events.

Xu Jia rose from his state of Turtle Breath: "I did not return to the residence last night; did anything happen?"

"The Mistress and the Master didn't sleep half the night and sent people to Niu Fu to look for you."

Xu Jia nodded, feeling a bit of a headache: "I know."

Drinking more porridge and mutton soup in his own room, Xu Jia's body felt much warmer. Seeing the sun outside, he got up to bask his back and dispel the cold.

He lay on the chair for half the day, eyes half-closed, holding ginseng slice after ginseng slice until they lost their flavor.

Outside the door, there came a knocking sound: "Dong, dong, dong!"

The gatekeeper opened the small door to reveal a young Daoist with a world-weary expression, as if someone owed him money, and he was in a foul mood. He held a letter: "This is a letter from my master for Master Xu of Xu Fu."

Xu Jia keenly sensed something was wrong and stood up immediately, walking toward him: "Who is your master?"

Seeing Xu Jia approach, the young Daoist was a bit afraid; he retreated a few steps, remaining silent, but his eyes stared fixedly.

Master Xu walked out from the inner hall, looking somewhat flustered, and took the letter.

"Tell your master that I have received the letter."

Xu Jia turned around, staring at Master Xu, his tone rising: "What are you hiding from me? Who is this Daoist? Can I see this letter?"

Master Xu said: "He is a friend of mine. When I was studying, I borrowed a quiet place to stay at the temple and became friends with him... Why do you want to see this letter?" Xu Jia interrupted Master Xu, his voice cold: "Is he the Daoist who told me to be buried in Luanzanggang when I died before?"

"Eh? Why bring that up? Don't mention such unlucky things." Xu Mu came out to smooth things over.

Xu Jia did not continue, as asking further would seem like 'interrogating'. But he already had the answer in his heart.

What was the meaning of that Daoist sending a letter in broad daylight? Was he deliberately provoking him?

Moreover, Master Xu was still in contact with him; this letter seemed like a 'reply' after Master Xu had asked him something first.

That is to say, after Xu Jia returned, Master Xu had been in contact with that Daoist.

Xu Jia turned away, ignoring the young Daoist, and said: "Father, Mother, I have always hoped that you would stand with me."

"To put it bluntly, I died once, and that death was suspicious; it is quite possible I was set up by someone."

"Now that I have managed to come back to life, I only wish to pursue the truth. I respect you, but I hope you will not be bewitched by outsiders. Otherwise, if the punishment is light, I will accept it; if it is heavy, I will leave. If you treat me as a monster, I will leave—I will just go. If you only have questions, you can ask me directly; why would I hide anything from you?"

Master Xu was embarrassed for a moment, his hand holding the letter hovering awkwardly.

At this moment, the young Daoist said: "You monster! You still want to deceive them? You have occupied someone else's body, and you still want to fool and cover it up?"

Xu Jia looked at him, then at Master Xu and Xu Mu; neither of them dared to look at Xu Jia, and they remained silent for a moment.

Xu Jia did not confront the two of them, but scolded the young Daoist: "Where is your master? If he has the ability, tell him to come and question me face-to-face. Sending Ghost Sha to harm people these past two days is truly sinister!"

"Now that the harm has failed, he resorts to sowing discord and provocation; what a poisonous heart. I will not argue with you. Go tell your master that the Condolence Guest Sha and the Yin Earth Sha have already been subdued by me. If he has the ability, let him come find me himself. If he doesn't come to find me, I will go find him myself to settle this account properly!"

Hearing this, the young Daoist was about to start cursing, but he was captured by Xu Jia's gaze, and the words stopped in his throat.

(End of chapter)