Chapter 38: Encountering the Demon Again

Having believed that Wu Chang could truly communicate with vengeful spirits, Liu Wu, who had now made his decision, laid out everything that had happened.

The matter had to be traced back to two and a half years earlier, to that dark-skinned foreign monk who had let the evil entity escape.

They had once sparred with the dark-skinned monk; his muscles were like tempered iron, impervious to blade and spear, his strength far surpassed ordinary men, and he had easily suppressed the two of them one against two.

Yet such a powerful dark-skinned monk had been slain with ease by the demon right before their eyes.

From that day on, the two brothers understood one thing: the power of humans has its limits.

To defeat demons, one must become a being that transcends the mundane.

Although the two brothers had not picked up some gargoyle mask, a little over a year ago, while hunting a fierce, round-eyed tiger in the mountains, they had come across a cultivation manual.

The Ghost-Dominion Art.

This art could refine living people into servant ghosts, to be commanded by the practitioner.

The stronger the dead, the stronger the servant ghost.

So the two ambushed outsiders like Wu Chang, binding them and dragging them into the Weeping Ghost Forest to interrogate them about their cultivation methods.

If the captive could not produce a method, or if its effects fell short of the Ghost-Dominion Art, they would butcher them cruelly and bury them beneath the trees in the forest.

Before burial, they would take a single drop of the victim's heart's blood and merge it into the ritual implement, allowing them to command the servant ghost the victim became.

The ritual implement was a mask split vertically into two halves like a taiji diagram; Liu Wei and Liu Wu each held one half.

So long as one wore the mask, one could freely enter and leave the Weeping Ghost Forest and command the servant ghosts within.

"Where is that cultivation manual you two picked up?" Wu Chang asked.

Having already confessed so much, one bit more made no difference now, so Liu Wu answered honestly: "Big Brother and I each carry half a volume. It's right here against my chest right now."

Wu Chang drew the half-book from Liu Wu's chest, and with just one glance, his face took on the expression of an old man on the subway looking at a phone.

He pointed at the talisman-like script filling the pages, unable to believe it: "You two can actually read this thing?"

He felt his intelligence had been insulted; if only there had been a few more illustrations on it, he might have believed Liu Wu a little more.

Liu Wu said: "At first we couldn't read it either, but after soaking the tiger's heart in wine, Big Brother and I could read it."

Good lord, is a tiger's heart some kind of Little Tigers decoding card? Even if Liu Wu wanted to trick him, he wouldn't make up such an absurd lie, so for now he took it as truth.

But even so, there were still a few points that couldn't be explained.

He continued asking: "Then why did you send servant ghosts to attack Liu Ning?"

Liu Wu: "According to what's recorded in the book, only when the two mask halves are joined as one does the art reach its peak. To fuse the two halves requires a powerful master ghost capable of bearing the complete ritual implement. Our original target was the evil entity in the village."

"Right now the evil entity is at its weakest. By holding the Exorcising-Age Festival early, we can seize the chance to devour it. But if we delay another month, the evil entity will fully recover, and the servant ghosts won't be able to win."

"Uncle Shan has been blocking the early holding of the Exorcising-Age Festival. We have to find a way to make him step aside."

Wu Chang asked curiously: "Being able to get rid of the evil entity once and for all—Leng Shan might not necessarily refuse. Did you never think of discussing it with him?"

Liu Wu shook his head. "The Dao does not pass through six ears; the mask the art creates only has two halves."

What a persuasive reason.

Wu Chang looked Liu Wu up and down. "Judging by your look, you seem to be preparing to go out. What for?"

A hint of awkwardness crossed Liu Wu's face. "For the art to reach its peak, it needs a powerful master ghost. It could be the evil entity, or it could be you."

"Big Brother is soft-hearted. He keeps thinking about the village and wants to wait until after the Exorcising-Age Festival to act. I'm worried there are too many variables, so I'm preparing to act on my own in secret."

Wu Chang glanced at the sky; seeing it was getting late, he sped up his questioning.

"What exactly is the evil entity?"

"I can't say it well. Once you see the core of the Exorcising-Age Festival with your own eyes, you'll understand naturally."

Regarding his own greatest secret, Liu Wu hid nothing, but when it came to the evil entity, his words became evasive instead.

"Everything I should say, I've already said. It's time you kept your promise."

Wu Chang removed Liu Wu's mask, patted Liu Wu on the shoulder, and said softly:

"I promised to let you go, and I'll keep my word. But as for how to convince them to let you go, you'll have to figure that out yourself."

Having said that, he gripped the mask and walked out of the forest.

Without the mask's protection, Liu Wu felt the temperature around him plummet. He thought of something, was instantly panicked, and shouted: "Wait, you—"

Before he could finish, the tongue in his mouth suddenly burst apart, and the words he meant to say became pitiful whimpering.

The wind rose throughout the entire forest, howling like weeping and laughing, eerily chilling.

Half an hour later, the half-mask in Wu Chang's hand stirred slightly; now an ownerless item, it displayed its attribute panel.

"Item Name: Demon Transformation—Human Face (Black)." "Item Type: Instance Item"

"Item Grade: D."

"Item Skill: Ghost Dominion."

"By offering one's own vital essence and blood as sacrifice, one may control the servant ghosts refined within the mask."

"Item Description: When combined with Demon Transformation—Human Face (White), the item's combo skill may be unlocked."

Demon Transformation?

Wu Chang stared at the name prefix on the mask, his expression growing increasingly strange.

He remembered the ritual implement from Chen Family Village that turned people into mist-demons was also called Demon Transformation.

The ritual implement Liu Wei and Liu Wu had been using was Demon Transformation, yet when Liu Wu spoke of its abilities, he only knew that joining the two mask halves into one would fuse the implement and grant the user its power—he had no idea it would transform one into a demon.

Was it deliberate concealment, or truly complete ignorance?

Perhaps Liu Wei would give him the answer.

He put on the mask and saw the faint red bloodstains scattered through the forest transform into bloody, mangled servant ghosts.

The servant ghosts crowded around with faces full of longing, murmuring as they had the first time they met:

"Help me…"

"Free me…"

"Deliver me…"

After discovering the true body of the resentment conglomerate, this time he saw clearly their blood-colored last words.

The content was just as he had guessed — the very sentence the blood-red flesh orb had shrieked at the end.

【Give it back to me!】

They wanted to take back the heart's-blood that had been stolen from them, cast off the bodies of yang-gu, and regain their freedom.

He took off his mask and said softly, "Wait a little longer. It's not the right time yet."

At present he only had half a mask; the other half was still in Liu Wei's hands.

God knew whether tossing this half of the mask to the yang-gu would free half of them, or send them all into a collective frenzy.

Besides, keeping this half of the mask in hand would still be of great use in the future.

After burying Liu Wu — who had been marked with a physical mosaic — in Ghost Cry Forest, cleaning up the scene of the incident, and confirming no traces were left behind, he returned to Spring-Arrival Mountain.

The Mountain Guardian was sitting on a meditation cushion, facing the Old Man of the Spring Pagoda Tree and grinning foolishly.

Seeing Wu Chang return, the Mountain Guardian immediately stood up and took out from beneath the offering table half a roast chicken served on tree bark.

Wu Chang patted the Mountain Guardian's head and said, "It's all for you."

"These next couple of days will be a bit chaotic. Hide yourself well, and don't go back to the village. If there's any trouble, have your friend come find me."

Seeing the Mountain Guardian nod as if half-understanding, he set down some more food before turning and leaving.

As the sun set and the sky gradually darkened, torches and lanterns were lit inside Huaigu Village.

Liu Shan had gathered a few of the village's managers and was just about to discuss how to prepare the New Year-Exorcising Rite when he saw Liu Jinfu striding over quickly, saying in a rush:

"Uncle Shan, Hero Wu is back!"

The faces of everyone present darkened — something had indeed gone wrong at Chen Family Village, and even with Hero Wu's abilities, he had found it hard to reach.

Liu Shan was the first to ask, "What's going on? Could Hero Wu have run into danger on the road? Don't rush to open the village gate — be sure to look carefully and see whether there are any demons chasing behind him."

Liu Jinfu shook his head. "No — Hero Wu brought the Palace Lantern back!"

"What?!"

Five minutes later, the group followed Liu Jinfu up to the watchtower at the village entrance.

Standing at the high point and gazing into the distance, they saw within the pitch-black mountain road a bright, blazing crimson firelight moving swiftly.

Wherever the firelight reached, the darkness and the demons alike retreated, not daring to come within a hair's breadth.

The crowd burst into cheers, their faces full of excitement and exhilaration, as if the one striding in to shatter the night were truly a Star Lord descended from the heavens.

Among the crowd, only Liu Wei's expression flickered between dark and light, his smile forced.

Hero Wu came back so quickly — Wu-di probably didn't have time to run into him, right?

(End of this chapter)