Chapter 383

Old Master Xin waved for the steward to come over and instructed, "Go prepare a guest room for the Dharma Master; do not be negligent!"

The steward nodded hurriedly to acknowledge, but seeing Old Master Xin give him a wink, the steward knew to have someone wait with Qian Chen outside the hanging flower gate while he followed Old Master Xin into the main hall, where he heard him instruct: "Take this newly arrived Dharma Master to the guest room in the back courtyard!"

The steward looked up and said, "Master, isn't that the Madam's courtyard?"

"Can't you just let him stay in the east or west guest rooms? If he has real ability, why fear ghosts? If he has no ability, he deserves to die!" Old Master Xin said viciously. He then remembered something and urged the steward: "Remember to test him later; you don't need me to teach you what to say, do you?"

The steward nodded hurriedly to acknowledge.

After giving his instructions, Old Master Xin walked out leaning on his cane and said with a smile to Qian Chen, "If the Dharma Master needs anything, just tell the steward. He has been a family servant for many years and is very reliable. You can mention whatever you need for catching ghosts and subduing demons to him. It is getting late. I am counting on a good night's sleep, so I won't disturb you further!"

Having said this, he leaned on his cane and slowly turned to leave.

Qian Chen watched his limping back and felt clear-headed: "Clearly, his legs and feet are not inconvenient at all, yet he leans on a cane to feign frailty. Is it caution? Or does he have suspicions about me?"

"Wang Longxiang is a legitimate descendant of the prestigious Langya Wang clan, yet he appears here as a disciple of the Daoist Academy. With the most prestigious twenty-eight characters of the Central Lands, plus me, a true transmission of the Supreme Louguan, how has a rural haunting case turned into an invasion of Nascent Soul ghost immortals from an overseas ghost kingdom?"

Old Master Xin returned to the inner hall and saw Wang Longxiang staring blankly at the window frame; he only turned back slowly after hearing the movement behind him.

Old Master Xin felt a bit uneasy and asked in a low voice, "A Dharma Master came from outside to offer his services to subdue ghosts. It's just a wandering ghost that came knocking; it would be enough to leave it to him. With your status, Young Master, why bother with these trivial matters?"

Seeing Wang Longxiang remain silent for a long time, he couldn't help but press, "Is... is there a problem with that self-recommended Dharma Master?"

Wang Longxiang had been thinking about some things, and hearing this, he knew that his silence had caused another misunderstanding, so he had to explain: "That is not the case; I was just thinking about some matters."

He looked at Old Master Xin, who seemed to have more to say, and continued to explain: "Just now, when the ghost appeared, there was a trace of yin qi outside the manor. Shortly after, the nursery rhyme began, yet there were no signs of the ghost appearing. Moreover, that nursery rhyme seemed to have a specific target. I checked later and discovered traces of wish power..."

Old Master Xin did not seem to want to bring up the nursery rhyme and gave an awkward laugh: "And what does that wish power indicate?"

Wang Longxiang replied: "It is like some kind of spirit creature!"

"Young Master, do you mean that a demon is harming people?" Old Master Xin widened his eyes, looking completely convinced.

Although Wang Longxiang was taciturn, he was not stupid. Old Master Xin's little thoughts were as clear as lice on a mirror to him; it was just that he didn't care about these things.

He only said: "It is not necessarily a spirit creature harming people. Spirit creatures like the Ear-Dao God, ancestral spirits, the Book Gentleman, or the Dengtu Zi all have the ability to warn, predict, and know fortune and misfortune. Even when a person's lifespan is nearing its end and their fate has arrived, ghost messengers will transform into crows, sedan carriers, or passersby to detain the soul. Therefore, these words might not be ghost language, but rather spirit creatures or ghost messengers foretelling fortune and misfortune!"

"However, most spirit creatures have shallow cultivation and fear disaster, so they dare not speak recklessly. To be able to evade my senses and speak of such great karma, their cultivation should not be shallow!"

Old Master Xin's expression remained unchanged, and he lowered his eyelids: "It's all just demons and ghosts babbling nonsense. Tomorrow, I will invite that Dharma Master to perform rites and clear them out, so as not to disturb your peace, Young Master. I just don't know if that Dharma Master truly has any real ability."

Wang Longxiang nodded slightly: "There is a bit of sword qi nurtured on his sword; he should have some real ability!"

But in his heart, he thought: "Although the sword qi on this person's sword is weak, it is rare and very pure. The iron sword in his hand should just be a cover; he himself is a strange person who practices flying sword techniques. I took a hurried look, and the sword qi that hadn't dissipated from the tip of the sword swayed like a lotus; I don't know whose sword technique it is."

The steward led Qian Chen to a courtyard that had already been sealed. Several servants who came to tidy up clearly felt fear toward this not-so-small courtyard, and they were quite trembling and fearful as they cleaned.

Looking at the locust tree in the courtyard, their eyes darted away even more. The steward opened the newly tidied east guest room, and the servants fled as if escaping. Leaving the steward alone, he said with an unnatural expression: "Dharma Master, please settle in first. Tomorrow we will invite you to perform rites to catch the ghost. Regardless of whether you succeed, there will be three hundred strings of cash as a fee, and if you remove that ghost, there will be a heavy reward!"

Qian Chen said sternly: "A little money is not worth mentioning. My main purpose in coming here is to eliminate demons, defend the Dao, and uphold justice!"

The steward looked at his righteous and composed appearance and thought to himself that this swordsman had a good look, but he was just a bit young. Coming out to catch ghosts and subdue demons and saying this was inevitably a bit unconvincing.

Closing the door, the Ear-Dao God hopped out. Qian Chen pressed it down with a finger and said: "When did you become so bold? You only dared to bully demons weaker than you before. This time, you dared to play god in front of Wang Longxiang; isn't it all because you're relying on my prestige? I'm telling you, be low-key this time. With this Green Lotus Sword Art, I might not necessarily win against that Wang Longxiang. I observe that his aura is becoming increasingly profound; he is clearly someone who knows shame and then acts with courage!"

The Ear-Dao God hopped three times with a "ya ya" sound, gesturing and explaining something.

Qian Chen took one look and understood its meaning.

Small demons like the Ear-Dao God all need to borrow human "spiritual energy" to cultivate, which can also be considered a form of cultivating wish power.

Generally speaking, it only needs to respond to a mortal's wish, appear, recite a few nursery rhymes to point out the person's future fortune, and once it comes true, it will have wish power added to it, accumulating cultivation for it.

Therefore, this kind of small demon that walks the crooked path likes to appear in front of gamblers or people who have come into sudden, ill-gotten wealth. Usually, a few words make people believe in their fortune, and from then on, they believe it implicitly and ask for advice on everything. Ill-gotten wealth is never long-lasting, and keeping this kind of spirit creature will inevitably lead to the dissipation of luck and the theft of spiritual energy over time. Once the time comes, it will be the end of breaking the door and destroying the family!

It's just that the end of gamblers and blood-licking wanderers is usually like this, so it won't arouse suspicion. And by that time, the Ear-Dao God can still come out to predict a great disaster and earn a head-money.

Small demons that walk the righteous path like to help the poor, point out sudden wealth to those poor people who have kindness and deep virtue, then rise with the fortune, predict fortune and misfortune to guide them through a few disasters, and then slip away once the luck stabilizes, accumulating wish power for cultivation.

The one Qian Chen keeps is different. While other small demons were still in the primitive accumulation stage, it hugged a big thigh, was directly canonized, and arrived directly at the finish line of all Ear-Reporting Gods' spirit lives. But an Ear-Reporting God is also a god, and as a god, it must borrow from all living beings to cultivate.

After the Ear-Dao God was canonized, it gradually understood its divine duty, which is the role of reporting. Following the dark karma, it signals fortune and misfortune and makes predictions. As long as the predictions spread and come true, all the people who know the predictions will provide it with wish power, and it will receive feedback from its divine duty to improve its cultivation.

"In other words, true divination and prediction are actually inefficient methods for small demons. You have already become a god, so you must learn to boost your own performance. Ordinary small demons spend their cultivation and really divine for people; divination is like shooting arrows at a target, whether you hit it or not depends entirely on luck. Once you miss, it's a losing business. But you, who have become a god, are different. Shoot the arrow first, then draw the target; naturally, you will never miss!"

"As long as I predict first, and then find a way to complete the prediction. Such a prediction is a perfect prediction!"

"I can't tell! Ear-Dao God, you're actually a director!"

Qian Chen could imagine that the Ear-Dao God also had some magic power. If it divined for people, signaled fortune and misfortune, said this person would make a small fortune, then secretly moved money with five ghosts at night and put some silver in his courtyard; then after announcing the sudden wealth, there would inevitably be a disaster, manipulating the high official who lost the silver to come knocking; after harvesting a wave of bad luck, it would predict that fortune and misfortune depend on each other, making the high official's daughter fall in love with that poor scholar. Back and forth, it spreads, truly a great director of life, a harvester of leeks.

The small demon made "yi ya" sounds, its eyes full of innocence, not thinking of this point at all.

It was Qian Chen who thought too much...

It only had a confused concept of helping good people and punishing bad people, and it was not on the same level as a mature leek-harvesting businessman and capitalist like Qian Chen.

Looking at its stupid appearance, Qian Chen shook his head slightly, sighed with hatred for its failure to meet expectations, and said: "You've been influenced by me for so long, you can be considered a small big villain! How can you only have this much ability? Do you understand the merit of releasing life? The Buddhist sect has already started using cheat codes, engaging in millions of times of merit mantras. Are you still here cutting leeks one by one?"

"A predecessor of the demonic path once went around divining for people, and there was nothing that didn't come true. He only ever calculated one kind of fate, and that was a bloody disaster. What did he rely on?"

"Listen to me... do it like this, like that... follow the master. You can't beat the Buddhist sect in merit, but isn't it simple to become a jinx?"

Qian Chen planned the script for it. The Ear-Dao God's plan was too rough, just waiting for the female ghost to take revenge herself? The Ear-Dao God just came out from time to time to predict a few things to boost its presence; how could this work? Qian Chen looked at that ghost; the resentment was indeed deep, but there were many ghosts with deep resentment. Without cultivation to accumulate magic power, it might not necessarily be able to do anything to this rural poor family that had some methods.

The Ear-Dao God looked at Qian Chen in shock, as if its worldview had been refreshed. It lowered its little head and thought for a long time, only to find that there was no method more villainous than Qian Chen's. It just spun around twice in place, then suddenly reached out and pulled a fierce ghost out from the ground.

That fierce ghost was muddled, its face ferocious, its tongue hanging out a foot long, its blood-red eyes full of resentment. Seeing a living person, it pounced. The Ear-Dao God hurriedly took its brush, pulled it, and repainted a face for it. The fierce ghost put on a layer of painted skin and turned into a woman with a beautiful face, slender and thin.

Only then did she regain a trace of clarity. She raised her head blankly, looked left and right, and after seeing Qian Chen sitting by the desk, she suddenly remembered everything, knelt on the ground and said: "This concubine, Zhou Liushi, pays respects to the Immortal Master!"

Qian Chen signaled for her to get up and asked: "What grievance do you have that you insist on coming to trouble this family?"

The woman said tremblingly: "This humble woman was originally from this Liuhe Village. Because my family was poor, I worked at the Xin family doing laundry. Three years ago, my husband died in labor service. After I became a widow, because there was no one left in the family, my husband's family divided the property, and I had to sell myself to the Xin family as a slave. Old Master Xin is already seventy-four; I don't know when he started believing in that evil path of cultivating longevity..."

"Seventy-four!" Qian Chen thought of the old man who leaned on a cane but was actually as strong as a young man, and sneered: "I really couldn't tell!"

"How do you cultivate longevity?" Qian Chen lowered his eyes and asked softly: "Is it cultivating releasing life? Cultivating hidden merit? Or cultivating descendants?"

The woman trembled all over and said in an extremely shrill tone, word by word: "This humble woman stole his Daoist book on cultivating longevity, but I don't know many characters. I only know that he originally had four sons, and the youngest two both died of illness a few years ago. There are rumors in the village that they were all cursed to death by that old beast!"

"That is cultivating descendants..." Qian Chen nodded and said: "If an old man doesn't die, he becomes a demon. If a beast gets old, it can become a spirit, let alone a human?"

"Once there is an old man in the family who doesn't die and has passed through several tribulations, he can live more and more spiritedly, stealing the fortune and vitality of his descendants to extend his own life; this is called cultivating descendants. If the descendants are numerous and the family is large, each person sharing a little is not too much of a burden. This is called many children and many blessings, which can be considered the descendants fulfilling their filial piety. Therefore, if it is a family that accumulates kindness with many descendants, there are many old people with extremely long lifespans, and a family of several generations living together is an auspicious omen! If the descendants are weak and few, this kind of extracting fortune is like blood-sucking..."

"With only four sons, he wants to cultivate descendants; he is truly damaging his hidden merit!" Qian Chen shook his head and sneered.

The woman knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately, her face full of great resentment, and said: "Immortal Master, I have a grievance! That old beast cultivated descendants and cursed two sons to death. He was also afraid of having no descendants and losing the incense, so he searched everywhere for other ways to cultivate longevity. One day, he sneakily brought back a Daoist book. He wouldn't let anyone see it, and every night he locked himself in the house to read by the lamp. Later, I heard people say that he befriended a passing evil Daoist and begged the evil Daoist for a Daoist book!"

"That Daoist book wrote a wicked ghost method called Yu Yu Changsheng Soup!"

"It says it needs a young girl born in a yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour, where the six yins gather. She is not given food every day, only the ghost medicine from the Daoist book. After forty-nine days like this, taking the girl's internal organs to boil soup to drink, one can attain longevity!"

The woman raised her head, and the resentment had already made her look like she was going crazy. Her painted skin could no longer trap her true body...

Black blood and tears flowed from her eyes, and she said shrilly: "My daughter is that girl of the six yins!"

"My daughter, my daughter..." The woman roared at the sky, her fierce ghost body almost breaking free from the painted skin. Her eyes were blood-red, her fingernails grew rapidly like small daggers, and she muttered in her mouth: "I want revenge, I want revenge... Even if I die a violent death and become a fierce ghost, I want revenge! I want the whole Xin family to die, I want them to pay with their lives!"

Qian Chen pointed with his fingertip, and the innate clear qi turned into a green lotus that fell, landing on the woman's forehead, pulling her back from the edge of losing control.

His expression remained unchanged, his eyelids lowered, and he asked softly: "Who taught you the method of becoming a fierce ghost?"

The woman's fingernails sank deep into her palms, piercing the skin, her hands full of blood. She heard her say gloomily: "My daughter was taken away for many days, and I never saw her again. I was very scared, so I went to beg the Mountain God Granny... After the Granny's guidance, I took advantage of the old beast's inattention and stole the Daoist book. I asked the God Granny to look at the Daoist book, and only then did I know that my daughter had been made into soup. I begged the God Granny to help me get revenge, and she told me a way."

"As long as I sacrifice myself to the Mountain God, endure nine great tortures without dying, I can become a fierce ghost and go back for revenge!"

"Nine demonic tortures, you were able to endure them... Hmph! Girl of the six yins, mother of extreme resentment... This is not some Yu Yu Changsheng Soup; this is the secret method of the demonic path for refining the Nine-Child Mother Heavenly Ghost!"

Qian Chen's tone was deep, and cold light flashed in his eyes.

"You knew the Xin family were not good people; why did you hand your daughter over to them?"

He turned back slowly and asked a question that filled the woman with despair.

She only heard her mutter as if she were crazy: "Because the girl was his child, he said he had no children and wanted to adopt the girl, and from then on the young mistress would be the girl's mother. I didn't want the girl to suffer with me, so I handed her over to them... How did I know, how did I know they would lie! They didn't even spare their own children..."

She wailed shrilly, her voice unusually sharp and painful: "They didn't even spare their own children!"

Qian Chen recalled the man he saw hiding in the inner hall trembling when Old Master Xin opened the door, and his heart became even colder. He slowly closed his eyes.

"Framed into a dead end by a selfish father, cruelly tortured by a vicious grandfather, and the only mother willing to be good to her was deceived by others. After experiencing all kinds of cruelty, she voluntarily became a fierce ghost. This can be called having suffered all the cruelty and torture in the human world, using the human heart as poison and hatred as fire, violating human ethics, and concocting one of the most vicious gods and demons in the world."

Qian Chen opened his eyes suddenly and said in a rage: "Are the Daoist Academy and the Astronomical Bureau all a bunch of trash? Letting people refine such vicious gods and demons right next to the capital!"

"I came here to eliminate demons, defend the Dao, and uphold justice... Don't really think I'm just saying it!" A trace of murderous intent appeared on Qian Chen's face.