Chapter 141: The Ghost's Punishment!

The sky brightened completely at the Imperial Medicine Bureau.

The Imperial Medicine Bureau, located outside the Imperial City, functions as a government-run hospital and also manages medicinal formulas, such as the 'Dragon Blood Pill'. The formula for it is held by the imperial court; anyone wishing to refine it must report and pay taxes, otherwise it is considered embezzlement of state property, punishable by exile to Lingnan!

The Gu Du Pai is called fake medicine peddlers because the unlicensed pills circulating in the martial world are all produced by them; their prices can be half as cheap, but the quality is a chaotic mix of a hundred schools contending.

After leaving his wife's home, Xie Jinhuan came to the Imperial Medicine Bureau and saw that five constables from Danzhou were resting there.

Constable Xiao Wang and his partner had already awakened, their bodies covered in some unknown ointment; they were awake but temporarily unable to rise.

Liu Qingzhi and his partner, being elite guards of the Wang Fu, were in relatively good condition.

Yang Dabiao, relying on the exaggerated foundation of seven bowls of mutton soup for breakfast and possessing truly solid bone structure, sat at the table stuffing his face, not forgetting to spout nonsense to the old Physician:

"A demonic Taoist ghost cultivator! I've never seen one in my life. We four held out for over a hundred moves; even the celestial officials of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau might not have such a resume..."

"Indeed, these days are becoming increasingly unstable. Even the Jingzhao Prefecture has started seeing ghost cultivators emerge..."

Seeing his comrades were unharmed, Xie Jinhuan felt relieved. After greeting Yang Dabiao and the others, he turned and headed toward the banks of the Fengyi River.

Recalling last night's experience, Xie Jinhuan felt both delighted beyond measure and somewhat apprehensive.

Walking along the riverbank thick with autumn vibes, he confirmed no one was around, then placed his hand on the Zhenglun Sword:

"Beauty Ye?"

The Zhenglun Sword gave no response.

It's over...

Yesterday, Xie Jinhuan had truly been provoked by that unhappy, disdainful look; his mind went blank and he tested whether the 'Ghost Glasses Girl' model was realistic, and the result clearly showed no clipping!

Discovering the ghost wife had no reaction, Xie Jinhuan grew nervous and held the sword up:

"Hong Shang? I was wrong. I thought you truly had no feelings, so I just moved slightly..."

Before his words finished, the daylight dimmed a few shades.

Xie Jinhuan looked up and saw a magnificent carriage appear on the riverside street.

A towering figure over five meters tall, draped in a blood-red long skirt with a golden dragon pattern on the sash, holding a red umbrella that blocked out the sky, looked down at him from above. Her soul-stealing eyes gazed at him as if he were an ant beneath her feet:

"Do not view a deity with mortal eyes. Sister originally had no feelings; that was Wan Yi's reaction. When she woke up, I came out."

Is that so?

Xie Jinhuan did not understand the principle of ghost possession, but at this moment he certainly could not contradict her, so he simply looked up and said:

"That's good..."

"However, your reckless behavior has angered me. Send me back as soon as possible so we can part on good terms. Do not dig me out again in the future."

"?"

Seeing the ghost wife wanted to break up, Xie Jinhuan's expression turned serious. Unable to reach her hand, he could only hug his knees:

"Do you want to hit me again? I accept the punishment!"

Ye Hongshang did not clip; she simply looked down:

"Why should I reward you?"

"Uh..."

Xie Jinhuan thought this didn't really count as a reward...

But if the ghost wife thought it did, he would accept it. He immediately looked up, but her clothes blocked out the sky, and he still couldn't see her face, so he had to lean back:

"How about you think of a way to reconcile? Anything goes, I will accept it calmly."

Ye Hongshang blinked her eyes, pondered for a moment, put away the red umbrella, and her figure slowly shrank until she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Xie Jinhuan. She raised both hands, revealing two spheres, one red and one blue:

"You choose yourself. One is a reward, one is a punishment. Watch each for a quarter of an hour. Once you have watched a total of twelve hours, I will forgive you."

Facing the red and blue spheres, Xie Jinhuan said: "Uh... surely not?"

Ye Hongshang raised an eyebrow, her expression leaving no room for doubt:

"Only if you are afraid will you learn your lesson. If you don't choose, you lose your chance."

"..."

Xie Jinhuan looked left and right, then pointed at the blue sphere.

The sphere immediately turned transparent. Xie Jinhuan hit the jackpot instantly, unsurprised, and looked at the ghost wife beside him:

"At least make it truly random; it seems it doesn't matter whether I choose or not..."

Ye Hongshang narrowed her eyes slightly: "I gave you a chance. You chose wrong yourself. Do you think I am cheating on purpose?"

What else could it be?

Xie Jinhuan hurriedly waved his hands: "No, no..."

Ye Hongshang did not bully people; the red sphere also turned into a crystal ball, inside which appeared a scene of him and Wan Yi embracing in sleep.

?

Xie Jinhuan was stunned:

"This is called a reward?"

"It... it doesn't even count as a reward?"

Xie Jinhuan thought it did count, so he immediately studied it carefully and even tried to touch it, only to discover he could rotate the view angle, leaving him utterly amazed!

Ye Hongshang held the light ball while walking with him, humming lightly:

"I'll reward you once first. If your gaze moves away for longer than a blink, we start over."

"How is it possible to move my eyes away..."

Shortly after, at Suyun Zhai.

The two-story building by the river remained with its doors and windows tightly closed.

Xie Jinhuan sat on the doorstep steps, straining to recall how the peerless beauty Wan Yi washed her eyes, while Ye Hongshuang leaned against the door with arms crossed, his gaze returning to its usual teasing manner:

"Oh ho~ Can't you be smug anymore? Are you up for it?"

"Sigh..."

Xie Jinhuan had accidentally made a wrong choice just now and felt a bit uncomfortable; he immediately swept away distracting thoughts and straightened his robes:

"Let's handle the main business first."

Having said that, he knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock~

But there was no response from within.

Ye Hongshuang took out the red and blue dual spheres again, holding them in his palm:

"Hmm?"

Xie Jinhuan noticed that the Great Ice Lump was not there and felt puzzled, but given that borrowing such a precious treasure as the Sixty-Year Lotus wouldn't happen quickly, he thought he would return in the afternoon; he departed with the Ghost Bride for now, continuing to play Russian Roulette along the way...

——

Danzhou, Mount Zihui.

At noon, inside the Sword and Scripture Pavilion on the main peak of Mount Zihui.

Thousands of magical swords were neatly arranged in the main hall; seven statues of auspicious beasts suppressing evil crouched in the center of the hall, their mouths holding chains connected to a hollow sphere.

Inside the sphere was a searing white light, resembling the Lei Chi forbidden zone; a flickering ghostly figure could be seen, its face grim and terrible, yet not a single sound emerged.

Three hall masters of Mount Zihui sat cross-legged beneath the sphere, wielding thunder techniques to bombard the sphere.

On the second-floor corridor, Nangong Ye, dressed in a black-and-white Daoist robe, searched through the wall-to-wall books for methods to deal with ghost cultivators; his expression was stern and unsmiling, his sect leader's aura freezing a thousand li, making the Sword and Scripture Pavilion disciples breathe with extreme caution, though thoughts of the wall-side gossip they heard last night occasionally flashed through their minds.

Going into the bath meant knowing to cover the eyes; I thought this fellow was a gentleman of modesty, but the result was that I got injured, the young lady got injured too, and I even made the young lady cry...

Seeing Mo Mo was as light as a willow, innocent and kind-hearted; how could she bear such a ruffian who directed all his energy at his older sister...

And I still...

Sigh...

The more he thought, the more unsettled his Dao heart became.

Behind Nangong Ye, a little girl followed, carrying a pile of books in her arms; she was not even shoulder-high and asked curiously:

"Does the Sect Master mean that this ghost cultivator, borrowing a shell to escape, was killed more than ten times by a small eagle?"

Nangong Ye flipped through the books, his expression stern and unsmiling:

"Eagles are naturally the lions and tigers of the bird world; with sharp beaks and claws, one force overcomes ten skills. Even if Sect Leader Lu turned into a sparrow or a rabbit, he would be pecked to death in two strikes. This person might just have had bad luck and failed to find a bear or tiger in the forest."

"Oh." The little girl pondered thoughtfully: "A prestigious demon path ghost cultivator, unable to defeat a bird; counting back a thousand years, this would be considered the 'Shame of the Demon Path.' This matter must be recorded in the sect history. But why didn't he possess that black eagle?"

"That eagle was entirely ink-black, with eyes like amber, very spiritual; it was likely a mountain and marsh spiritual bird. Black represents yin; from the black qilin down to black cats and black dogs, they usually have the effect of warding off evil and can see yin, evil, and foulness; it is normal not to be bewitched by yin and evil. If you use thunder techniques to fight a thunder beast or fire techniques to fight a fire phoenix, you would also be chased and bitten."

"Entirely ink-black..."

The little girl thought carefully, then had a sudden inspiration:

"Hmm... According to the Northern Region Classic, in the extreme yin lands of the Northern Nether, there is a bird named 'Black-Winged Great Roc'; its form is like an owl, with black wings and golden eyes, capable of seeing yin, evil, and foulness; after three thousand years, upon maturity, its wingspan reaches a thousand zhang, and it feeds on dragons..."

Nangong Ye shook his head: "The Regional Classic is a legend; it also says that south of Huai River, the Central Plains qilin sleeps, guarding against the world-destroying demon god to prevent the sky from collapsing and the earth from breaking; every dynasty built its capital there, hoping for peace in that region, yet demons and monsters wreaked havoc across the world, and the qilin never appeared to suppress the demons."

"Then perhaps the demons weren't big enough."

"Wasn't the Corpse Ancestor big enough? What would be bigger than that..."

As the two chatted casually like this, Nangong Ye remembered the matter of the Sixty-Year Lotus.

They had agreed to give the Sixty-Year Lotus to Xie Jinhuan today; even though Xie Jinhuan had committed an impropriety toward her, she could not break her promise.

But the remnants of the Mingshen Sect had already moved to the backup location; they would surely act within the next two days. Now that the leader had been captured, today they must torture him severely to force out information and prevent disaster before it happens.

If they arrive before the hour of Zi, it will not count as breaking the appointment; therefore, progress must be accelerated.

Thinking thus, Nangong Ye swept away distracting thoughts, took the classics to the main hall, and continued interrogating the captured ghost cultivator...

——

On the other side, Li Fu.

On the long street, carriages and horses flowed like water; the County Commandant Fei Ji, dressed in plain clothes, sat in a small tavern, his face iron-green!

Across the table, Yang Dabiao, with both arms bandaged, sat boldly in his patient's gown, speaking with audible clicks of his tongue:

"Do you know what strength that old ghost had? He was on the same level as Lord Tie Fengzhang. I went up, slashed once—crack! —and his head was chopped off. Old Fei, I'm not bragging; that feeling is something you can't imagine in this lifetime..."

Fei Ji picked up the wine pot, found it empty, and put it down again:

"You dragged your injured body all the way from the Imperial Physician Bureau just to say this?"

"What else?"

Yang Dabiao raised his hand and pointed out the window:

"Go outside and count; how many in Jingcheng have achievements like mine? Before, you called me 'little rascal,' and I said nothing; but if you call me that again in the future... never mind. Such a great joyous occasion, we must drink until we can't stand. Shopkeeper, bring another pot..."

Clang—

The official blade unsheathed three inches, frightening the Shopkeeper, who had just opened his mouth, into shrinking back.

Yang Dabiao also calmed down a bit, spreading his hands and saying:

"Old Fei, this is meaningless. I treat you as my old superior; seeing you alone watching the Thief Saint for two days without spotting any movement, I dragged my sick and injured body over to visit. You won't even let me drink properly, and you haven't ordered a single dish... Eh?"

While speaking, Yang Dabiao's gaze shifted, looking outward:

"Are those three the ones who went out yesterday morning?"

Fei Ji turned his head and indeed saw three horses galloping from the street's end; he immediately suppressed his angry expression and examined them closely:

The three on horseback were all dusty; their belts, arm guards, and tie strings were the same as yesterday morning; they had not even taken off their clothes to sleep...

The leader, Du Mushan, held an object covered in black cloth; judging by the outline, it was a birdcage; a ration bag hung at his waist, rusted with the yin-yang fish...

Under his saddle was a green-maned steed, six to eight years old, newly purchased, commonly seen in Dengzhou's horse market, and the saddle itself was also made in Dengzhou…

Three horses were worn out; during the journey, he glanced at the birdcage every three steps, fearing jolts—it was extremely precious…

The spiritual bird acquired by the Dengzhou Daoist sect…

Fei Ji felt this intelligence was important; after watching the three riders gallop into the side alley of Li Fu, he turned his head:

"Go notify Jinhuan… Hss—?!"

On the table sat four cold dishes; Yang Dabiao held a newly opened bottle of wine, filling Fei Ji's wine bowl and smiling as he said:

"Notify Jinhuan about what? I'm going right now!"

"I just looked out the window, and you've already put up four dishes?"

"I just wanted to have a proper chat with you—last night was truly dangerous…"

"Get lost!"

……

———

Requesting monthly votes or 2!

(End of Chapter)