Chapter 43: 42. Guardian Spirit, Mastiff Zan-Bond

42. Guardian Spirit, Mastiff Zan-Bond

In the pitch-black courtyard, Bai Xiue rose to her feet from behind a haystack.

She looked at the curly-haired black dog crouching by Zhou Chang's leg, visibly a little afraid.

But on half her face, the visage of Bai Ma surfaced; gazing at the black dog, her eyes lit up: "A guardian zan?

Where did you get this kind of 'mastiff zan-bond'?"

"Zan?" Zhou Chang patted Ao Duoji on the head, signaling it to scout ahead, then turned to look at the paper face. "What is a zan?"

At his words, Bai Ma knit her brows tightly.

She saw that the confusion on Zhou Chang's face did not seem feigned, yet she knew well that judging this fellow's thoughts by his expression alone was often unreliable.

"In the secret tongue, zan means a ghost of violent death, something inauspicious.

What is called a 'guardian zan' can be understood as a guardian ghost, a guardian demon.

The 'Zan Realm' is the world where, by legend, zan-demons and zan-ghosts dwell — in truth, this world is closer to one conjured by the shared thoughts of the people of the Secret Land.

Though it may seem a figment of thought, the Zan Realm is nonetheless present in nearly every part of daily life for the people of the Secret Land.

All manner of horrors, plagues, misfortunes, treasures… are born from the Zan Realm and spread through the human world.

Thus, understanding 'zan,' sacrificing to zan, subduing zan, became an important part of life for the people of the land.

Those afflicted by plagues who suddenly recover from grave illness, or madmen who have wandered long in madness and, upon waking from a dream, recite long poems praising gods and kings… these people are born 'zan-bond masters.'

Zan-bond masters can communicate with the demons and ghosts of the Zan Realm, returning them to embryo form and keeping them within various vessels, where, fed by offering-breath, they become the mortals' 'guardian zan.'" Bai Ma's eyes shone bright as she watched the curly-haired black dog run off in silence.

The curly-haired black dog's uncanny hide could not block her gaze from seeing the true form of 'Ao Duoji': "Your guardian zan is a fine one.

From the moment of its birth, it has been close to humans, bearing no aggression toward the living.

This must be a 'true zan-bond,' preserved only by selecting from the very first generation onward — destroying the vicious ones, keeping the good stock, and cultivating through several generations.

In truth, there are not many zan-bonds rooted in the thought of mastiffs…

Most excellent mastiffs are, in fact, powerfully built, but their spiritual intelligence is wanting — in their lives they recognize only one master; after death, should their thought chance enter the Zan Realm, the vast majority become zan-ghosts that cannot be tamed.

And mastiffs that are not excellent enough have mostly never fought the ghosts, spirits, and fierce beasts of the Secret Land's wilds.

They have never been touched by the offering-breath shed by ghosts and spirits, never fed on the flesh and blood of beasts far stronger than themselves, so their thoughts could not possibly be taken in by the Zan Realm.

So… your guardian zan was, in all likelihood, summoned back from the Zan Realm by a shepherd or hunter who lived a very long time — one who personally called back the thought of a mastiff he had once used to herd sheep or hunt.

Thereafter, using that mastiff's thought as the root zan, he cultivated, over time, the 'true zan-bond' that has now come to you…"

Zhou Chang's fingertip rasped against the bone thumb-ring; now that the 'Ao Duoji' guardian zan in the first Kong Dong had been fully born, the mastiff-thoughts in the remaining six Kong Dong grew restless one after another.

And within the Kong Dong left behind after Ao Duoji's departure, there still lurked a drifting thought.

Zhou Chang had no time at the moment to examine what that thought contained; he turned his gaze to Bai Ma, his face full of smiles: "A woman of such insight — in the Secret Land you must surely be of high status and noble birth!"

After first flattering Bai Ma, Zhou Chang then said: "But why are you so certain that my true zan-bond was cultivated by a shepherd or hunter who lived a very long time?"

In truth, after hearing Bai Ma's words, he had for the most part accepted what she said.

Because the bone thumb-ring he had obtained was covered in cracks and carved marks — every crack and mark was the trace left over the years by arrowheads and blades pressed against it.

Those who regularly use the bow are either armored soldiers or hunters.

And the thumb-ring itself was originally a tool for archery.

The nobility of the former dynasty were mostly of fisher-hunter stock; their forebears had a tradition of wearing thumb-rings and drawing bows, but by the time of their unworthy descendants, all manner of fine jade thumb-rings had become mere playthings.

This bone thumb-ring was obtained by Zhou Chang from the coffin before Yinsheng Laomu's grave; it was the relic of a man named 'Zhou Chang.'

Could that Zhou Chang have been a shepherd who lived a long time in the Secret Land?

Judging by his possession of a Han name, this Zhou Chang was perhaps not a native of the Secret Land, but very likely someone who, like himself, lived in a place such as Qingyi Town, on the border between Sichuan and the Secret Land.

From within the thumb-ring's Kong Dong, the call of a boy often sounded — who was this youthful lad?

Bai Ma did not know what was in Zhou Chang's mind; hearing his question, she answered: "Only shepherds and hunters who move about outdoors have the ability to train mastiffs; most others in the Secret Land live no better than pigs and dogs — their station is even lower.

How could they possibly train mastiffs?"

……

After a round of talk with Zhou Chang, Bai Ma had not only failed to draw out of him the origin of the 'mastiff zan-bond,' but had instead let Zhou Chang pry a great deal from her.

She did not much mind this; following behind Zhou Chang, she hesitated a moment, then said to him: "Have you given this mastiff zan-bond a name?"

"Duoji." Zhou Chang stared at Ao Duoji's figure slipping into the darkness and answered softly.

"Do you know how to tend a zan-bond?

If you don't, you may ask me to help you feed Ao Duoji." Bai Ma said with reserve.

But her true thoughts could not be concealed at all — they spilled out fully with her words.

"Indeed, I really don't know."

Zhou Chang turned his head to glance at Bai Ma and grinned.

His smiling face nettled Bai Ma a little.

"Still, if you're willing to help, I suppose none of this will be a problem.

If in the future I should obtain other mastiff zan-bonds, please teach me how to feed them as well." Zhou Chang lowered his manner a touch as he spoke thus.

At his words, the corners of Bai Ma's mouth curved in a faint smile: "Zan-bonds are hard enough to come by, let alone mastiff zan-bonds.

Where could you possibly find so many zan-bonds?"

Zhou Chang shook his head and said no more.

Bai Ma too fell silent.

Bai Xiue gazed at Zhou Chang's back; her expression once again became as timid, shrinking, and cautious as before.

At this moment, Zhou Chang suddenly halted his steps, pressing his body against a side wall while pulling Bai Xiue behind him; his eyes fixed on the narrow alley between the two walls that led straight to the front courtyard, and he said in a low, pressed voice: "The second mastiff zan-bond is here!"

"Mm?" Bai Ma raised an eyebrow.

Zhou Chang's body shot out like a bolt!

In the pitch-black alleyway, the sudden sound of dogs fighting fiercely rang out:

"Aooo—hiss-hiss—ha!"

"Whine—"

"Woof woof woof!"

The mastiff Ao Duoji, wearing the uncanny pelt of the two women, opened its great bloody maw and bit straight onto the neck of the short-haired yellow dog lunging at it, then pinned it beneath him, shaking his head violently!

Its sharp fangs sank deep into the yellow dog's neck flesh, and every thrash of its head tore the wound on the yellow dog's flesh wider!

Wisps of dim yellow qi of merit drifted from the rips in the yellow dog's flesh into the second hole on Zhou Chang's thumb ring.

That was the hole inhabited by the merit-pet named 'Ao Bai Ma'!