Yan Chixia ate a hearty meal.
Then came time to pay.
He blew up.
Why?
Five taels of silver for one meal!
Chicken, duck, and fish—his head went blank, and he started thinking he'd lost his edge.
He even began hearing things.
He had planned to set off on the road once he'd eaten his fill.
Only now, at the moment of checkout, did he learn the truth.
In the past two days, between lodging at the inn and food and drink, the total had run up to thirty-one taels.
He was gnawing away at his coffin money!!
"Honored guest, let me shave a little off—how about thirty taels?"
Faced with a heroic-looking sort like this,
the shopkeeper came out personally.
If the price sounded outrageous, a fellow like this might just chop you in half with a single stroke.
These days were tumultuous.
Finding a corpse was nothing rare.
Didn't they know that Lanruo Temple, just ten li down the road, had turned into a haunt for the sneaky and the damned?
As the saying goes: if you've got no money, even the Buddha won't step in.
If he could recover thirty taels right now,
that already felt like good fortune.
"Huh? Looking down on me, are you? It's thirty-one taels—and for you…"
What Yan Chixia hated most was the look in other people's eyes—
that condescending gleam that said he didn't understand anything.
He slapped thirty-one taels of silver onto the table.
The shopkeeper immediately started nodding and bowing, nearly crying out "Grandpa!" on the spot.
Yan slung his bedding over his shoulder, took his leftover wine gourd, and lifted his single-edged cross-blade.
The bearded face was full of gloom.
How was he supposed to make money?
Alas… even though he had obtained the methods of those gods, he still needed to find a clean place to cultivate.
It was noon already.
He had only fifty taels of silver left in his purse.
Robbery… that wasn't a trade he could do.
Forget it. Find a ruined temple or something and practice a while.
He walked ten li, and sure enough—there was a ruined temple.
A large compound at that: not only were there quarters to live in, there was also a great banyan tree nearby.
A fine spot, truly.
The bearded man smiled.
He walked inside.
He failed to notice that, as he passed beneath the banyan, a pair of strange eyes in the trunk gazed after his back.
Lanruo Temple.
Ten years ago, it had been a grand monastery.
Then a great fire had broken out here, and all the monks fled overnight.
In the tumult that followed,
it fell into ruin.
By now, it had become an abandoned temple no one tended.
Full stomach, wine in his belly,
Yan Chixia found a place, lay down, and fell asleep.
He held his blade in his hand.
He feared nothing.
Besides, a martial artist's essence and blood run strong; low-level demons and ghosts can't enter the body at all.
Snore.
Snore.
Without even realizing it, Yan Chixia, in his sleep, began circulating the method of meditation.
His body changed unconsciously.
And as it happened, today was overcast.
In a short while, darkness fell.
Within Lanruo Temple,
as a chill wind rose, a cluster of female ghosts gathered beneath the great banyan.
"Good Grandma…"
"Grandma, we greet you."
"Grandma…"
Creak.
A crack split open in the trunk.
An old woman with red hair hobbled out on a crutch.
She swept the assembly with a glance,
and snorted coldly: "You failed yet again to find yang energy—what use are you to me!!!"
At that, a pretty woman stepped forward in a hurry and said, "Grandma, please don't be angry. There have been fewer travelers lately, and the sisters can't help it."
There was a trace of helplessness in the woman's eyes,
and a flicker of cunning as well.
Clearly, she was lying.
"But why is it that I smell the breath of a living human in this temple, and you still haven't brought him to me?!"
The old woman's scarlet gaze fixed toward Yan Chixia's direction.
Her voice was ice cold.
"Grandma, it's not that our sisters didn't go—this human warrior is like a dragon. Before we even circled around him, we were forced to retreat."
"Exactly, exactly. Probably only Sister Xiaoqian or a few of the elder sisters could handle a man like that."
…
The woman called Xiaoqian turned pale at that,
but did not dare to speak up.
Because of her beauty, coupled with her innate yin meridians,
her cultivation progressed quickly.
And she had never devoured a man's yang energy.
"Then send Xiaofei."
"Yes, Grandma."
The female ghost in the yellow dress—Xiaofei—after receiving the order,
arched her brow triumphantly at Xiaoqian.
Her body turned into a gust of yin wind and surged out.
She hadn't even spoken yet
when a thunderous roar burst out from within:
"What evildoer dares cause trouble for your grandpa!!!"
"Ah!!!"
Boom.
Thunder cracked.
The gathered female ghosts scattered in terror.
Even the Tree Grandma was taken aback.
That fierce surge of yang energy—
her burning skin began to smoke.
What kind of person was this?
He was clearly a sun!
The female ghost Xiaofei was burned to death on the spot, and then Yan Chixia strode out from the ruined temple.
At that moment, golden light flickered in his eyes.
He could see the difference in the Tree Grandma at a glance—
black resentment clung to her as if made solid.
Countless dead souls seemed to be roaring and wailing within her.
"Hmph… you wicked thing—you've killed so many! Seeking death…"
Yan Chixia sliced out with his blade.
Golden lightning struck Tree Grandma directly.
"Oooh—"
A harsh cry tore out from within.
Whoosh.
A flock of female ghosts under Tree Grandma's control were flung out of her body.
Yan Chixia moved like lightning, felling them with a single stroke each.
In a short while,
among the female ghosts, only Nie Xiaoqian remained.
Because she alone among them had not been tainted by resentment!
"What's your name?"
"Nie Xiaoqian!"
The thunder-lit blade flashed, flickering constantly above the female ghost's head.
Yan Chixia recalled the chat conversations he had read yesterday, particularly Ninth Uncle's—words he admired greatly.
Whether ghost or human,
so long as one was benevolent and could be invited into the sect,
they were all pitiable folk.
"I'll give you a chance—join my sect, and help me spread the doctrine from here on!"
The bearded man grinned.
In Nie Xiaoqian's eyes, he was as terrifying as the old Black Mountain Demon.
But she had no choice.
If she refused, she would most likely be erased.
"All right… so long as you don't kill me, hero, I'll do whatever you ask."
Nie Xiaoqian knew which way the wind blew.
She cleverly knelt,
blinking rapidly,
putting on a lovely expression.
"Hmph… put away that foxlike charm. I've seen you haven't harmed anyone, and you're joining the gods' teachings—maybe one day you'll even gain a physical body. Come inside with me, and tell me what's been going on here."
"Yes, my lord."
One person and one ghost
entered a room in the ruined temple.
After Nie Xiaoqian's account, Yan Chixia finally understood how dreadful this tree demon was.
This had once been a fine temple.
And the tree demon had listened to scripture as well; over time, a trace of spirituality had accumulated.
Unfortunately, after the abbacy changed hands,
they abandoned proper practice.
In a time of turmoil, everyone wanted money.
More and more travelers came to lodge here.
And the monks began to kill.
Chanting by day; by night, murdering travelers and splitting the spoils.
The bodies were buried right here in the rear courtyard.
A dryad is a very peculiar sort of being.
Strictly speaking, it is a spirit, not a demon.
Such an existence, after long cultivation,
under the right influences,
can become quite powerful.
But because the backyard brimmed with corpses, and blood and flesh brewed heavy resentment,
the Tree Grandma was contaminated.
All the women who died—
she took control of them, turned them into female ghosts, and sent them out daily to absorb men's yang energy, in hopes of purging the resentment within her.
"Drinking poison to quench thirst—how could that ever cleanse anything? Even the roots are black; there is no way to recover…"
"Yes, my lord, you speak truly. But… that tree demon has treated me very well. She never forced me to actively absorb a man's yang energy, and… and she has treated me as a daughter."
Wicked as the dryad might be,
she had indeed shown kindness to Nie Xiaoqian.
Nie Xiaoqian had to admit as much.
Yan Chixia snorted. "This is fate. Enough… we'll end matters between you and the tree demon here. I'll teach you the divine method. From today on, you'll be a believer of the Eternal Faith in this world."
"Thank you for the favor."
Golden light bloomed at the center of Nie Xiaoqian's brow.
The notion of Eternal Meditation sank into the depths of her soul.
Watching the female ghost fall into trance,
the bearded man curled his lip. If he weren't alone, he wouldn't be recruiting people this casually.
Well, hopefully this female ghost had some wit—
enough to act as an assistant.
Otherwise… it would be hard to accomplish anything big when it was just him, one man against the world!
...
Wanjie Chat Group.
Bearded Swordsman: "@Cutting Demons and Slaying Spirits Ninth Uncle, brother, how about building power with ghosts—does the world accept it easily?"
Ninth Uncle the Demon-Slayer: "What's wrong—are you also in a world of monsters?"
Bearded Swordsman: "Yes. I just took in a female ghost named Nie Xiaoqian at Lanruo Temple. By the way, I destroyed all the ghost dens here. But because I'm alone, it's really difficult to found a religion."
He felt helpless too.
If it were otherwise, he could spread the faith as easily as the others.
Even becoming a county magistrate would be fine.
But alas, he was just a rough man.
Tanjirou: "The problem's simple. If you don't know how to build power, demonstrate miracles first and recruit people. What's your world like—an era of peace and prosperity?"
Bearded Swordsman: "On the contrary: it's chaos. Word has it the emperor is on the verge of death…"
Li Er: "Isn't that a god-given chance? First, approach a loyal minister of the court and claim you have a method to extend life. It'll be easier to enter the emperor's sight that way."
General Yuwen: "Or do as I did—choose a mysterious art, and directly control the emperor."
Bearded Swordsman: "…I feel so dim. How is it that a question that seems so difficult looks so simple in your eyes?"
Ninth Uncle the Demon-Slayer: "They've all been at this long enough that they've nearly worked out a rapid way to preach. As for your situation, I can tell you this: as long as ghosts practice the divine methods, they can obtain the power of ghost-immortals!"
The ghosts in his world
could walk out and bask in sunlight by day.
Ha—what's a ghost then?
And what's a human?
Even the soul, when cultivating divine law, was no longer constrained by the rules! Place.
(End of chapter)