Chapter 33: The Out-of-Body Messenger, the Out-of-Body Disciple

The Ox Ghost heard this and was furious, thinking it was being enslaved by a human, and immediately charged over.

"Screw your mother!"

The spirit body turned evil, transforming into an old ox radiating Black Qi, and charged toward Hu Jinhua.

Hu Jinhua did not move; with a shift of intent, several Wandering Mountain Changs pinned the Ox Ghost down.

One took a nose ring and pierced the ox's nose, two others pressed down on each of the ox's legs to force it to submit, and another rode onto the ox's back, pulling on a rope tied to its nose. A Chang soldier took a bamboo whip and lashed it against the Ox Ghost.

With such a whip strike, the spirit body was scattered, and the Ox Ghost hissed in pain.

Hu Jinhua then picked up the broken idol and smashed it on the ground: "If you don't want to be treated with respect, then don't!"

This unintentionally aligned with the Daoist practice of "Destroying Mountains and Breaking Temples, Overturning Altars and Smashing Caves."

This broken idol was the Ox Ghost's dwelling and the medium through which it received Incense Fire; now that the idol was smashed into pieces, the Ox Ghost instantly withered.

Hu Jinhua wanted to subdue this Out-of-Body Messenger to be a disciple of the hall, so naturally, he would not allow it to continue receiving Incense Fire here; it was already a thin thread of Incense Fire, very limited, unless it was willing to enter the hall and become a Yin Messenger under the Fox Immortal, like the Niutou Mian of the Underworld.

Hu Jinhua's smash startled the Out-of-Body Messenger awake; she sat up in shock, her eyes vacant, gasping for air.

Suddenly, the Out-of-Body Messenger felt something watching her; she turned her head to look and saw a pair of ghostly green eyes floating on the Altar.

The room was dark at night, so she could not see Hu Jinhua's form, only the eyes in the night, like two balls of Ghost Fire.

Even though the Out-of-Body Messenger was startled, she did not scream, but instead questioned: "What are you?"

"I am Hu Jinhua, Master of the Fox Immortal Hall, here today specifically to take you as a disciple of the hall!"

The Out-of-Body Messenger lit the oil lamp by the bedside and finally saw clearly that it was a Zamaohu sitting where the idol had been worshipped, its mouth opening and closing, revealing sharp teeth, while its throat emitted a strange sound like a child's sinister laughter.

The woman knew she had encountered a spirit, so she quickly got up, grabbed a broom, and cursed: "Which furry, stinking, rotten piece of trash dares to come to my territory to run wild?"

"I am not someone just anyone can bluff. If you have a conscience, get as far away from me as you can; I didn't provoke you!"

"In this village, which household doesn't have ancestors protecting them? Don't be ignorant; before I lose my temper, I'll count to three—if you don't leave!"

"Don't try to play games with us honest, simple farmers! Get lost, don't force me to curse your ancestors for eighteen generations..."

Village women, through oral tradition, would curse when encountering evil things; the harsher, louder, and fiercer the cursing, the more effective it was.

A fox entering the house in the middle of the night and speaking was clearly evil to the extreme.

Hu Jinhua was already angry at being called a "furry, stinking, rotten piece of trash," but mindful of Xu Jia's instructions—the commandment not to abuse magic to punish others—he forcibly suppressed his impulse.

"I am not a ghost; no matter how fiercely you curse me, I am not afraid of you."

Hu Jinhua changed from sitting to standing and leaped to the top of the cabinet to prevent the woman from actually hitting him with the broom, as that strength could break bones even if it didn't kill him. The next moment, he leaped down, performed magic, and landed as an old woman in a black jacket and skirt.

This trick of a fox turning into a human was just the thing to scare people and simultaneously break her existing perceptions.

"I am here to help you!"

This transformation from fox to human truly terrified the Out-of-Body Messenger; she retreated a few steps but was tripped by a chair, stammering: "You... you... what do you want?! Don't come over..." Hu Jinhua did not approach, but sat on a chair, his tail poking out from the skirt and swaying, smiling broadly, revealing sharp canine teeth and a scarlet tongue, his green eyes carrying the cunning and cruelty unique to a beast, looking extremely eerie: "I am here to help you. I know you lost your father in your early years, your husband in your youth, and your child in middle age; if you didn't pretend to be a god or ghost, you couldn't survive at all. You are also a pitiful person..."

"You cannot see a bright future, and you cannot walk the winding path of life alone; how about becoming my disciple? I will teach you magic... to make your days easier, to keep you from being bullied, to let you earn money, so you don't have to live such a bitter life..."

"You used to deceive these people, but if you take me as your master, you won't need to lie to people anymore; your ability to pretend to be an Out-of-Body Messenger will become real."

The Out-of-Body Messenger felt moved, especially by those two sentences that made her sad, almost bringing her to tears...

She wanted to agree and have someone to rely on, but she also had her concerns.

As the saying goes, it is easy to invite a god but hard to send one away; this was a demon, not an Immortal, and foxes were legendary for being the most cunning.

However, there seemed to be no choice now; if she said no, what would the outcome be? Therefore, she spoke with difficulty: "To take a useless old woman like me as a disciple, what do you want, Fox Immortal?"

"I don't want much; from now on, whatever you earn, whether it is money or other offerings, I want half."

Hu Jinhua let out an ambiguous laugh.

"I agree." The Out-of-Body Messenger heard that he only wanted half—recalling that the landlord's rent was seven-tenths—and immediately agreed, even feeling a bit gleeful: "This fox is afraid he doesn't know the ways of the human world." It felt like working for someone while still making a profit herself.

"Good." Hu Jinhua heard her answer and immediately formed a bond with her, touching his claw to the Out-of-Body Messenger's forehead and scratching a shallow cut to serve as a mark; yet, the Out-of-Body Messenger did not feel pain, but rather a sour, bloated sensation.

"I have already opened your Yin-Yang Eyes; from now on, you can see ghosts or unclean things... enough to negotiate and communicate with wandering souls..."

"It is only right that you know my origins: I am Hu Jinhua, an outer disciple under an Immortal, having established a Daochang in the local Qingtian Xiang, known as the Fox Immortal Hall, with the mission of coordinating Yin and Yang to earn Merit; I am not some evil demon or ghost."

"Since you have been accepted as my disciple, you shall be an Out-of-Body Messenger of the Fox Immortal Hall; there are various rules to follow, but I cannot explain them one by one to you now. Tomorrow, you only need to find a piece of paper, have someone write 'Seat of Hu Jinhua of the Fox Immortal Hall' on it, and paste it where I was just sitting; tonight I will enter your dreams to teach you magic."

"Rest assured, I will not harm you; or rather, if I wanted to take your life, I could do it at any time. This is not a threat, because you have nothing worth me harming you for."

After saying this, Hu Jinhua disappeared, and the Wandering Chang soldiers took the Ox Ghost and left together.

After Hu Jinhua had been gone for a while, the Out-of-Body Messenger slapped herself twice to see if she had been dreaming, as the matter was too magical and felt unreal.

As a result, the two slaps left her face stinging, and she saw the broken, ruined idol. Feeling the swelling sensation between her brows, she wanted to test these Yin-Yang Eyes.

As a result, just as she stepped out of the courtyard and saw shadows moving outside, she was so scared she retreated back into the courtyard.

Yet, her eyes gradually began to regain their spirit...

"My child, the child's father... if you have spirits in the underworld, please protect me. If I can really not be bullied, then demons are not more terrifying than people..."

For so many years, the Out-of-Body Messenger had suffered cold looks; everyone said she was a Heavenly Evil, cursing her whole family to death, and she had been forced to pretend to be a god or ghost for most of her life.

After pretending to be a god or ghost, in a daze, she even believed it herself, believing she was an Immortal maiden descended to earth to guide the masses... because only in this way would those who used to bully her be afraid, respect her, and allow her to live well.

Looking at the pitch-black void outside the courtyard, the Out-of-Body Messenger said in a voice only she could hear: "This disciple thanks the Fox Immortal for saving me from suffering."

(End of chapter)