[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit":3,"chapter-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-30":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","There Is a Malevolent Spirit",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2263136,4416,"Chapter 30","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-30",30,"\u003Cp>29. The Great Heart Elixir Scripture\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Yang Rui’s condition, Shi Danshi panicked and plopped onto the ground, then scrambled backward on hands and feet!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Sanji’s face froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang felt a chill surge up his spine, racing straight over the back of his neck!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had once witnessed Shi Danshi pretending to be possessed, and at a glance he knew the boy was faking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, seeing Yang Rui assume the demeanor of someone truly possessed by a “spirit,” Zhou Chang couldn’t tell if it was real or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when Yang Rui himself calmed his strange expression and coughed a few times did the eerie, heavy atmosphere ease slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at Shi Danshi, who had retreated several steps, then lifted his head to meet Zhou Sanji’s unwavering gaze, his face finally showing embarrassment: “I thought I wasn’t acting convincingly enough, but I didn’t expect to scare you all…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seems Shi Danshi learned his ghostly tricks from me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s right, Master!” Shi Danshi’s eyes welled with tears as he quickly crawled forward on his knees to Yang Rui’s side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Rui’s expression grew melancholy, his voice low: “Ghosts and spirits… they’re clearly not meant for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can’t reach them…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shi Danshi, I’m not blaming you for this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All those things I said earlier—just forget them. Treat them as the ramblings of a foolish old man.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Master! Grateful thanks, Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shi Danshi had finally passed this trial; he was deeply grateful and bowed repeatedly to Yang Rui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Zhou Sanji, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke: “It’s been over forty years already, Brother… Even a corpse would have turned to dust by now. Why are you still clinging to this delusion?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I gave up on it long ago. I let it go.” Yang Rui smiled and shook his head, taking up his wine gourd and drinking deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Zhou Chang heard his almost ritualistic phrase: “Wine is medicine—it cures the heart’s sickness…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, I’ve recently found a method to refine a ‘thought demon’ into a ‘heart elixir’—it’s called the Great Heart Elixir Scripture.” Yang Rui’s voice grew excited, his eyes gleaming, “Once mastered, this method lets you trap a thought demon within your own mind!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A-cui might be able to use this method—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huang A-cui died over forty years ago, Brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You say you’ve let go.” Zhou Sanji stared fixedly at Yang Rui. “Where did you get this so-called scripture?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this, Yang Rui’s expression grew uneasy: “I poured all my effort into obtaining this Great Heart Elixir Scripture.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What kind of effort?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I traveled far and wide, seeking out every legendary adept whispered about in the martial world…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At a roadside stall by a bridge, I bought this book for five copper coins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bring me that scripture. Let’s study it together,” Zhou Sanji said, his tone serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes! Yes!” Yang Rui hadn’t expected his brother to neither scold nor stop him—instead, he was actively offering to study the Great Heart Elixir Scripture with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leapt to his feet, walking toward his bedroom as he spoke: “I always thought—if only there were a scripture that could guide cultivation, transforming thought demons into something useful—it would be perfect!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, right there by the bridge, I found that stall and bought this scripture!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is fate, Brother! Even though the book’s price was printed as three copper coins, I paid five to the vendor to buy it back!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Rui brought out the Great Heart Elixir Scripture—only a dozen or so pages—and they all flipped through it together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first ten pages described its specific wonders, detailing the supernatural effects of cultivation, while the final three pages gave the actual method—pages filled with incomprehensible, malformed characters: missing radicals, twisted shapes, haphazardly assembled “pseudo-Chinese.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“From these scribbles, you deduced the cultivation method?” Zhou Sanji frowned at Yang Rui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course! Don’t you see it, Brother?” Yang Rui pointed to the “pseudo-Chinese” characters. “Look at this passage—it says… it says…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Rui clearly wanted to describe something, but he clawed at his head, unable to articulate his exact perception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang watched Yang Rui and realized: these people’s thoughts could no longer align with the true Yang Rui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a normal person cannot understand a madman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Sanji stared deeply at Yang Rui, then closed the scripture, walked into the woodshed, and tossed it into the stove to burn it to ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reciting the Pure Heart Sutra at the door, Zhou Sanji and Yang Rui set off toward Meng Mountain outside town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today they were going to Iron Threshold Village to inquire about the end-of-month threshold fee for the Iron Threshold Gathering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang and Gu Shitou headed to Yongsheng Wine Shop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the ordeal, Gu Shitou was dazed and walked silently beside Zhou Chang the whole way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only as they neared the wine shop did he grab Zhou Chang’s arm: “Big Brother Zhou, I heard that those who go to Jade Maiden Pond to watch the water don’t finish work until half an hour later than you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By then, it’ll be nearly dark, and my master won’t come to fetch me—could you come find me? Let’s walk home together?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course.” Zhou Chang nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy sighed in relief, his anxious expression fading: “Big Brother Zhou, you’re cold on the outside but kind at heart!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He caught a rich aroma of braised meat and followed the scent to the opposite stall—“Li’s Braised Meat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I get paid this month, I’ll treat Big Brother Zhou to braised meat!” Shi Danshi said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang also saw the stall—already lined with a long queue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A plump woman in a leather apron used an iron hook to pull steaming, glossy-red dog carcasses from a giant boiling cauldron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dog meat smells amazing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shi Danshi licked his lips: “Master says, dog meat boiled three times—gods can’t stand still!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nowadays, people barely have enough to eat—who still has the means to raise dogs?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where does this stall get so many dogs?” Zhou Chang stared at the rows of hanging dog carcasses, frowning slightly. “Is this dog meat even legitimate?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe they’re wild dogs caught outside,” Shi Danshi’s eyes flickered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew all too well what wild dogs ate—corpses, even weak living people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang nodded, lifted his left thumb, and pressed his ear close to the bone ring on it, listening carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the seven holes of the ring, there was no longer the boy’s cries or the puppy’s whimpers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Zhou Chang arrived at Yongsheng Wine Shop today, the staff had just opened the front gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As yesterday, a dense crowd had already gathered before the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking Shi Danshi with him, Zhou Chang found the wine shop’s foreman, who handed Shi Danshi off to a worker to take to Jade Maiden Pond, then led Zhou Chang to the back courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the back courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chaodong, who had just arrived for work, sat in a round-backed chair, a wine flask and a dish of salted meat beside him on a high stool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fat man cradled a pure white dog, doting on it, picking up salted meat from the dish to feed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white dog was plump, its fur spotless, clearly well cared for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It showed little interest in the salted meat Qian Chaodong offered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Usually, it chewed twice, then spat it out onto the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chaodong didn’t mind; he merely smiled indulgently. Seeing Zhou Chang approach, his smile faded slightly as he gave a curt nod: “Wait a moment. You’re the first here today—wait until the first group is assembled before going down to the cellar.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang nodded, studying the fat dog in Qian Chaodong’s arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the bone ring on his thumb trembled slightly. Zhou Chang raised his hand and heard, from the seven holes, a chorus of puppy growls—defiant, warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were they reacting to a fellow dog?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then why had there been no sound from the holes when he saw the dogs hanging at the braised meat stall?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or was this white dog somehow different?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As these thoughts crossed his mind, Zhou Chang casually asked Qian Chaodong: “Manager Qian, you’re so busy every day—how do you find time to care for a dog?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This dog is beautiful—its fur has not a single speck of dirt. Raising one this pristine must be difficult.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1403,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b2dd50812546aceafc970bfea47961555b817259ad86601821701e3ede4c5000","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-31","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-29",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]