[{"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-68":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},2263174,4416,"Chapter 68: 67, Those Without Official Status Are Dead","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-68",68,"\u003Cp>67, Those Without Official Status Are Dead\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scent of alcohol bursts forth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst this sea of devotional offerings and rampant alcohol fragrance, even without taking a single sip, one’s heart would be intoxicated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang sprinted up the slope, his gaze sweeping over every rice mound within sight—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden chains forged from the Emperor’s decree swayed as they threaded toward one of the rice mounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind the massive rice mound bearing the stone stele inscribed “Wen Zhao Lin,” a rustling sound arose—like chicks pecking grain or dogs digging soil—grains of rice slowly rolled down from the mound’s peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In some corner behind the mound, a round shadow rolled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhou Chang drew nearer, he suddenly realized: that round black shadow was a human head!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head wore a silk guapimao hat; behind it trailed a fake rat-tail braid woven from black cotton thread, now wrapped around its cheek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hid behind the rice mound, its pallid face fixed with hollow, upturned eyes staring directly into Zhou Chang’s—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang halted on the slope, locking gazes with the pallid head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recognized its face, identified its identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Wen’s eldest son, who had married Bai Xiue!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Wen Yongsheng!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen’s eldest son shared the same name as Wen’s ancestral patriarch!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the head saw Zhou Chang’s corpse approaching, it uttered a single, hollow syllable from its mouth, then instantly retracted into the rice mound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind the mound, a clattering sound of wood striking wood echoed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, the head rose high above the mound’s peak, ascending further and further—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the head with its fake rat-tail braid was not a stretched neck, but a black wooden spirit tablet inscribed with “Spirit Tablet of Ancestral Lord Wen Yongsheng”; beneath that tablet hung another head, strikingly similar to the one above, and beneath that head lay yet another tablet—“Spirit Tablet of Heavenly Ancestor Wen Siming”; beneath Wen Siming’s tablet, another head continued the chain…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spirit Tablet of Heavenly Ancestor Wen Sizu!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spirit Tablet of High Ancestor Wen Zhao Lin!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spirit Tablet of Great Ancestor Wen Xingren!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heads linked to tablets, tablets linked to heads, coiling and winding through the wine cellar like a serpent-dragon of skulls and spirit plaques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from the topmost head—Wen Yongsheng’s—all other heads bore pallid faces, eyes tightly shut, until Wen Yongsheng’s mouth uttered that hollow syllable: “You—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, one by one, the heads beneath opened their eyes, fixing their gaze on Zhou Chang, and spoke in turn—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You, a mere commoner, dare covet the woman chosen by the gods?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It called itself a god—it was the master of the altar tablet inscribed “Grass-Head Dragon Demon Wen Yongsheng Divine Altar” enshrined in the main hall of the Wen household!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a folk deity—the Grass-Head Dragon Demon!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The topmost head of the Grass-Head Dragon Demon stared fixedly at Zhou Chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After posing its first question, its expression turned wooden and cold, and it asked Zhou Chang again: “Do you… hold official status?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant the folk deity asked this question, Zhou Chang felt a sudden warning surge within his heart!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fierce burning sensation flared in his right palm; threads of thought slithered across his palm, and in the blink of an eye, the red robe with golden-scaled, four-clawed python embroidery was already upon his body!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hum!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The python on the robe seemed to stir for a moment, then settled back into place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warning in Zhou Chang’s mind vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He realized: had he not donned this robe in time, the Grass-Head Dragon Demon would have immediately imposed a “Death Omen” upon him after asking about his official status!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grass-Head Dragon Demon’s taboo: “Kill those without official status!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This robe, gifted by the Emperor’s golden skull, concealed the Emperor’s restraint upon Zhou Chang—but at times, it could also function as intended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, now: wearing this robe granted Zhou Chang a status greater than mere “official status,” rendering the Grass-Head Dragon Demon’s death taboo powerless against him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you… hold official status?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you… hold official status?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grass-Head Dragon Demon, its face blank, asked again and again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang sensed that its questioning was no longer directed at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When it first confronted Zhou Chang and accused him of stealing Bai Xiue, Zhou Chang had felt faint traces of sentience in this “Grass-Head Dragon Demon”; but now, it had become entirely the deity itself—devoid of any emotion or intellect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heads bearing tablets, tablets linked to heads, the Grass-Head Dragon Demon, its surface coated in fungal filaments, rose slowly upward under the lead of its topmost head—Wen Yongsheng—passing through layer after layer of the wine cellar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A demonic voice echoed from its mouth: “Do you… hold official status?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intermittently, its chant of secret mantras mingled with the question:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Om! Be Ya! Sa Wa Na Ye! So Ha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grass-Head Dragon Demon mindlessly chanted a mantra linked to the Wealthy Heavenly King; beneath its tail’s final head, the golden chains of the Emperor’s decree were attached, dragging Wen Yongsheng’s headless body as they all swayed upward toward the cellar’s uppermost level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether due to the mantra’s power or not, Zhou Chang saw copper coin-like square holes gradually forming on the Emperor’s decree chains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, outlines of copper coins spread around those holes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One by one, copper coins became embedded into the Emperor’s decree, corroding it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The links began to crack!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Clatter!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the living spring at the cellar’s bottom, more and more wine surged forth, as if inexhaustible!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This overflowing, fragrant spring flooded the cellar’s base, rose past the second-to-last tier, and continued to lift the water level higher!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simultaneously, the entire wine cellar trembled!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rice mounds, covered in fungal filaments atop each cellar tier, cracked open violently one after another!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grain spilled, mounds collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One by one, human heads flew out from the crumbling tombs, drifting and fluttering toward the ascending Grass-Head Dragon Demon, joining its body to become part of its form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath each head, a spirit tablet was attached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the names on the tablets were all from the Wen clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you… hold official status?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold, blank questioning of the Grass-Head Dragon Demon still echoed throughout the cellar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang stared at the headless corpses revealed by the collapsed rice mounds; a chill seized his heart—he instantly realized—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grass-Head Dragon Demon had distributed its Death Omen to the living bodies lying in the cellar, killing them instantly, turning their heads into parts of its own body!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grass-Head Dragon Demon’s Death Omen differed from Feng Si’s!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Feng Si imposed a Death Omen on Zhou Chang, Zhou Chang still had ten days left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Grass-Head Dragon Demon’s Death Omen meant instant death!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tap-tap-tap!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang sprinted up the slope, chasing the swaying serpent-dragon of skulls and tablets to the cellar’s top.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the cellar’s upper level, two trembling figures crouched beside the dark wooden door.\u003C\u002Fp>",1153,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","f93d30446581bbdab5cb4818846dada4b7e0fe1f9d3a85c8ade54748193fbe2c","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-69","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-67",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]