Chapter 108: Abandoned House of Rotten Corpses

While I was still tense, a wave of sighs rose from the crowd. Only the old man Hui Jue kept chewing his broad beans, and as for my master?

Facing the rushing fireball, the peach wood sword that had been held behind his back suddenly thrust forward. The movement was as fast as lightning and fire. Everyone present heard a sharp Chi., and the peach wood sword actually pierced into the hungry ghost’s body.

The hungry ghost let out an unprecedented scream and fell backward, unable to get up again.

“Hmph, what a waste of a fine magical artifact I have nurtured for years. Today, I cannot allow you to live.” After speaking, my master raised both hands above his head. A set of hand seals began to slowly take shape along with a chant.

I recognized this hand seal. The Golden Blade Seal.

One strike of the blade, and the soul is scattered into dust. The original hungry ghost souls had been kept by my master for salvation and transcendence. This one, he actually intended to strike into complete dissolution?

“Old Jiang, stop!” Hui Jue finally stopped chewing his broad beans and shouted loudly.

After all, he was a Buddhist. His compassion was extremely strong. In a casual conversation before, the old man Hui Jue had joked in a careless manner that he wished he could use a single compassionate heart to save all beings in the world. I thought he was joking.

But now I could truly feel his emotion. He was desperately trying to stop my master.

However, all he received was my master’s cold snort. Then the Golden Blade Seal came down without hesitation.

I could not quite describe how I felt. My master, who had used the art of descending Mao, in a certain sense had two presences within his body. After all, when a spirit is invited to descend upon the body, or when a powerful ghost is invited in, their combined power merges into one, and the mind is always somewhat affected.

Just earlier when my master spoke, his tone and voice had become somewhat unfamiliar. Others might not notice, but I could clearly feel that strangeness.

I was not sympathizing with the hungry ghost. Rather, that unfamiliarity made me uncomfortable. This was a flaw in my personality, something Old Man Jiang often sighed about. He said I had difficulty in cultivation because I was too sensitive and too emotional, which made me indecisive.

A Buddhist chant sounded in my ear. It was Hui Jue chanting beside me.

At this moment, the fierce Golden Blade Seal had already fully landed on the hungry ghost. My master was finishing the seal. Unlike its earlier overwhelming momentum, this strike was silent. The hungry ghost did not even manage to cry out before it completely lost all signs of life.

Everyone present, except Su Rou, could sense that subtle presence of life fading.

At that moment, Su Rou ran out from the building with a thud. He had been crouching on the second floor balcony watching earlier, and once he saw it was safe, he immediately rushed down and grabbed me.

“San Wa Er, is the hungry ghost finished?” he asked.

Before I could answer, my master had already walked over to me. At some point earlier, he had already used a special method to separate the descending spirit from his body.

“San Wa Er, good kid.” My master placed a hand on my head and rubbed it a few times.

I knew he felt some guilt about using me as bait. This was his way of releasing that guilt and worry.

I said casually, “I was never afraid. What’s the big deal?”

My master chuckled a few times. His voice sounded a bit weak. He turned to Hui Jue and said, “Old Hui, do you blame me?”

“What spirit did you invite just now? It was tainted with that fierce intent,” Hui Jue asked.

“My invited spirit cannot be tainted by that kind of violent intent. It is just that this hungry ghost cannot live. It truly cannot live. My Daoist path is different from your Buddhist path. This was unavoidable. In my lineage, we value the Natural Heart. When something must be cut down, it is cut down…” Old Man Jiang said seriously to Hui Jue.

“Amitabha. Hungry ghosts endure endless suffering. In truth, they are pitiful beings. I wish they could be delivered from hardship and attain enlightenment. I truly cannot bear to kill them. You say this one cannot live. Why cannot it live?” Hui Jue asked my master very seriously.

My master did not answer. He only turned and stared at the blazing firelight within the formation. After the hungry ghost soul was removed from its body, the hungry ghost corpse burned very quickly. In a short while, the flames gradually faded, leaving only a pile of black ash in the formation.

Only after the fire completely died out did my master speak.

“The situation is beyond our expectations. After they finish cleaning this up, I will take you to a place. Then you will know why it must die.”

With that, Old Man Jiang took out a piece of jade. The shape of the jade was strange, and a faint red light could be seen within its center.

Hui Jue stared at it, and his expression suddenly changed. “During your fight just now, you actually used this magical jade to absorb a trace of its essence blood. So that is it, so that is it. Amitabha.”

I had no idea what my master and Hui Jue were talking about. It all sounded completely baffling.

The people around were also confused. Only Hu Xueman suddenly said in shock, “Magical jade, I did not expect Master Jiang to even have something like that!”

I turned and asked Hu Xueman, “What is this thing?”

“This is a specially refined magical jade. You know jade, right? It is extremely sensitive to fields and energy, and can absorb power and essence. This includes blood essence. For example, jade buried in ancient tombs soaked in corpse blood will develop a faint red color. Some specially formed jade can even become priceless blood jade called Xue Tuo, with a deep red body. When placed in water, it can even turn an entire basin red. The jade in your master’s hand has been specially cultivated for this function. As long as it touches even a trace of blood, it can draw that blood energy into itself,” Hu Xueman explained briefly.

“I see,” I muttered.

I quietly thought that this thing felt unsettling, almost like a leech. I did not like that so called blood jade either. Anything soaked in blood felt unpleasant.

But at that time, I had no idea that such jade was actually a treasure, especially for Daoist practitioners.

“Clean this up. Clean it up. There are still many troubles waiting for us.”

My master was now sitting on a stool, eyes closed, resting. After giving the order, he said nothing more.

I was curious what he meant by many troubles, and where he would take Hui Jue next, but I could not ask. The art of descending Mao must have consumed a great deal of energy.

At that moment, Su Rou rushed over and said, “San Wa Er, that was damn exciting. No way, I am following you next time.”

“Exciting? You were hiding upstairs watching. Of course it was exciting. You are so fat, next time we will use you as bait,” I said unhappily.

Su Rou was about to argue when Old Man Jiang suddenly said, “The place we are going next, Su Rou, you do not need to go. San Wa Er, you also do not go.”

“No way, I am going.”

Su Rou and I shouted at almost the same time.

Old Man Jiang took out his dry tobacco pipe, lit it, took a deep drag, and after exhaling thick smoke from his nose, he asked, “Give me a reason to take you along.”

“Master, don’t you think I know nothing, understand nothing, and panic at everything? Am I supposed to never leave the sect in my life?” I said loudly.

Old Man Jiang paused, then asked, “Any situation is fine? You still want to go?”

I nodded firmly, looking righteous.

After a moment of thought, my master said, “Alright, San Wa Er, you can go.”

Su Rou also became anxious and said, “Master Jiang, I have seen what I should see and what I should not see. What am I afraid of? I saw snake spirits when I was young, and hungry ghosts when I grew up. What else do I have to fear? And there is something you said before. Do not think I am young and have forgotten it.”

“What did I say?” Old Man Jiang raised his eyebrow, clearly curious.

“You said San Wa Er and I are fated to be long time friends. I remember it clearly,” Su Rou said firmly.

“Heh…” Old Man Jiang chuckled, took another drag of his pipe, and said, “Fine. You will probably live through storms and winds in the future anyway. Go then.”

Su Rou cheered.

After a night of exhausting work, some people even ran to the kitchen to see if there were any noodles left to eat.