Chapter 29: Possessed by Evil Spirits

The bad news brought by the young man disrupted the peace of the night in Huaigu Village.

Liu Shan apologized to Wu Chang, and despite being half-drunk, he led his men, stumbling as they hurried toward the other end of the village.

Wu Chang naturally would not miss such an unexpected event and followed the crowd to act along with them.

On the way, he pulled over a villager who had used a talisman to verify the Mountain-Blocking Ghost and asked what had happened.

The man he stopped was named Liu Jinfu, and he gave Wu Chang a brief explanation.

Ever since the evil spirits began to haunt the area, every year on the eve of the Year-End Festival, the children and women of the village were arranged to live on the mountaintop near the village.

The mountaintop had strong Yang energy, making it difficult for evil spirits to approach; only after the Year-End Festival concluded and the evil spirits were suppressed would the children and women be brought back into the village.

This year, the evil spirits were exceptionally severe; starting two days ago, even those hiding on the mountaintop had been harmed by them.

The aforementioned Liu Ning was the granddaughter of the village chief, Liu Shan. She had just turned sixteen this year, had grown into a graceful and gentle young lady, and was the object of affection for all the youths in the village.

Liu Ning was naturally intelligent; not only was she deeply cherished by Liu Shan, but she was also the apple of the entire village's eye. If one were to ask whose attack by an evil spirit was the most difficult for the village to accept, besides Liu Shan, it would be Liu Ning.

For the youths in the village, this order might even be reversed.

As the group left the valley and headed up the mountain path, not long after leaving the village, a thin, dark shadow chased after them.

It was a boy who looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old, but due to malnutrition, his body was only at the developmental level of an eleven or twelve-year-old.

He wore tattered, thin clothing stuffed haphazardly with straw to keep out the cold, and on his feet were straw sandals that let in the wind. As he ran, he clapped his hands and shouted, "Fire, fire dragon, the fire dragon has come up the mountain again! The Immortal has come!"

"Run! Start running!"

"Lively!"

"Hee hee hee..."

Liu Shan and the others were preoccupied with Liu Ning and headed up the mountain without looking back, but Liu Jinfu could not stand the boy's noise. He picked up a stone, threw it at him, and barked coldly, "Shut up!"

The boy was struck in the forehead by the stone and, losing his footing, sat down on the ground. He shed tears from the pain, but his face remained foolishly happy as he kept repeating, "Fire, fire, fire..."

Wu Chang glanced at the boy and asked in confusion, "Who is he?"

Liu Jinfu spat, "This jinx is an idiot. The village chief is kind-hearted and originally wanted to take him in as a village guardian to ward off disasters, but he has a stubborn life. He can survive in the mountains by eating grass roots and drinking dew, yet he ends up bringing chaos to the village."

"To be able to make such a racket at a time like this, I'm afraid he's a mole for the evil spirits. If anything happens to Liu Ning, I'll cut out his tongue."

When the two arrived at the residence on the mountaintop, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive; there was no need to ask to know that something had happened.

Passing through the silent crowd, a burly man with a thick beard and dressed like a hunter was confronting Liu Shan inside the house.

"Uncle Shan, can you still not face reality? Everyone is at their breaking point! To prevent the next Liu Ning from appearing, we must start the Year-End Festival early!"

"If you can't make this decision, then hand the position of village chief over to me, and I will make it!"

Liu Shan was so angry his lips trembled. He pointed at the burly man and shouted:

"You bastard, how dare you say such things! Have you been hoping for something to happen to Liu Ning all along, just to force me to agree to an early Year-End Festival!"

The burly man: "I didn't..."

Seeing the conflict heading in a more intense direction, Wu Chang coughed dryly, interrupting their argument.

"Are you here to save people or to argue? Where is the person? Let me see."

Liu Shan dropped his hand that was pointing at the burly man, snorted coldly, and turned to force a reluctant smile at Wu Chang:

"Great hero, please follow me to the inner room."

Entering the inner room, Wu Chang saw the Liu Ning everyone had been talking about.

His first impression of Liu Ning was not as beautiful as Liu Jinfu had described.

It was not about Liu Ning's appearance, but rather that she had not passed away peacefully.

The young girl had been struck by an evil spirit in her sleep; the messy bed showed signs of her struggle. The girl's face was pale and terrified, and she had struggled all the way from the bed to the floor. During the struggle, she had frantically torn at her own hair, pulling her black, beautiful hair into bloody bald patches. Her slender neck was covered in ten dark-blue finger marks; judging by the posture and the marks, she had choked herself.

After being possessed by an evil spirit, the body would retain residual evil energy, and anyone who touched it would soon attract evil spirits. The deceased had to be left in the sun for a full day before the body could be prepared for burial, so Liu Ning was still lying on the floor in her final posture of struggle.

Liu Shan could not bear to look at his granddaughter on the floor and turned his head away. Even this man, once the toughest in the village, found it hard to maintain the composure expected of a village chief after such sudden, great grief and anger.

Wu Chang was just about to offer his condolences when a sudden inspiration struck him, and he stepped forward to examine Liu Ning's body.

This action caused the villagers behind him to erupt instantly.

"Great hero, you mustn't! Liu Ning's body still carries evil energy; you cannot touch it lightly!" The one who spoke was Liu Shan.

"Stop! What are you doing to Liu Ning's body!" This was the burly man who had been arguing with Liu Shan earlier.

"Quick, stay away! If this outsider goes crazy later, don't let him hurt anyone!" These were the villagers watching the spectacle.

Wu Chang ignored the commotion behind him. After simply confirming Liu Ning's state, he slowly turned back and said, "She is only temporarily soul-shocked; she can still be saved."

"Really?" A look of joy appeared in Liu Shan's eyes.

Wu Chang nodded.

If he could save Liu Ning, he could take advantage of the situation to solidify the persona he had established and gain the support of Huaigu Village.

By the time the Year-End Festival arrived, the entire village would be his home turf.

He put on a show by reciting a mantra and then shouted, "Flag, come!" The Soul-Cleansing Command Flag from his personal space appeared in his hand.

This feat of pulling a treasure out of thin air truly shocked the villagers present. The scene fell silent instantly, and all eyes turned toward Wu Chang.

Holding the command flag, Wu Chang walked around Liu Ning with special footwork, chanting words as he went.

Under normal circumstances, Wu Chang, having obtained the right to use the Soul-Cleansing Command Flag, could drive the flag with his own energy without needing much preparation.

But to maximize the utilization of his attributes, he had not allocated any points to energy, which meant that to drive the flag, he had to use the method taught to him by Chi Yuan, coordinating special footwork with the mantra.

Yet, because of the cumbersome steps, the villagers felt even more that he had true ability, and their gazes became increasingly reverent.

The command flag was waved three times, and accompanied by a faint white light, the world before Wu Chang's eyes turned into black and white.

The living were white, and the dead were black.

Liu Ning, lying on the ground, appeared as a shade of gray between life and death.

Parts of her body had already turned black, and a thin white line emerged from her body, drifting out the window.

This white line was Liu Ning's living soul.

The evil spirit's possession had caused her living soul to leave her body; if the soul were returned to the body in time, she could be saved.

Wu Chang held the Soul-Cleansing Command Flag, standing in place, but with a mere thought, his vision extended along the white line within Liu Ning's body.

His gaze passed through the window, through the safe zone on the mountaintop, and followed the mountain down to the foot of the mountain.

It was not until the intersection about to leave the valley that he saw Liu Ning's white living soul.

Liu Ning's living soul looked dazed, moving along with a deep red dot of light.

Wu Chang was very familiar with that deep red dot of light; it was the resentment containing a bloody last testament.

He first waved the Soul-Cleansing Command Flag to sever the connection between Liu Ning's living soul and the deep red dot, guiding Liu Ning's living soul back to her body.

Then, his gaze locked onto the deep red dot, his eyes full of curiosity.

It was the first time he had seen a resentment that could act on its own without attaching itself to anything else.

Let me see what exactly you are.

(End of chapter)