Spirit Officer

Zhou Sheng was playing Wang Lingguan.

Wang Lingguan, also known as Wang E, bore the full title "Primordial Chief General, Red-Hearted Protector of the Dao, Heavenly Lord Wang of the Three-Five Fire Chariots, Manifested in Majestic Divine Might." He was a Daoist guardian deity of the mountains!

His status was roughly equivalent to Weituo in Buddhism. Both were gods who hated evil as though it were their sworn enemy—fierce, overbearing deities with no tolerance for even a grain of sand in their eyes.

In Journey to the West, when the Great Sage overturned Laojun's Furnace and fought his way toward Lingxiao Palace with unstoppable momentum, Wang Lingguan, golden whip in hand, was the one who stopped him.

The two had fought to a standstill.

Wang Lingguan was far too powerful. Though Zhou Sheng knew how to sing Spirit Officer opera, he had never dared formally portray him, fearing his own body would be unable to bear it.

Only now that his Dao cultivation had advanced did he dare make a slight attempt. Even then, he merely changed his Face Paint, without donning a costume or fastening armor flags; he had not immersed himself deeply in the role.

Yet even so, the instant he became Wang Lingguan, the air around him seemed to turn scorching hot, as if flames were blazing furiously.

Wang Lingguan was a god of fire. The Jade Pivot Heavenly Fire he commanded was exceptionally tyrannical, capable of incinerating every demon, evil spirit, and ghost.

Thus, the Spirit Officer Finger of the Daoist school was also called the Jade Pivot Fire Finger. It could bolster Yang Fire, protect the body, and ward off evil.

In an instant, the Fierce Ghost, filled with resentment and hatred, actually revealed a trace of human-like terror.

"How presumptuous! This is the temple of an Orthodox God, yet you dare commit violence here!"

"Let me burn you—demon!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Zhou Sheng felt an unbearable heat surge through his chest, as though a mass of invisible fire were churning upward. His throat felt as if he had swallowed burning coals, and even his skin flushed red from the heat.

If he did not spit it out, it felt as though the next instant he would melt himself.

BOOM!!

A roaring blaze erupted, like a fire dragon baring its fangs and claws as it roared toward the evil ghost.

The terrifying heat even left the surrounding candles showing signs of melting.

The evil ghost let out a shrill scream. Great quantities of Yin energy dissolved away with a sizzling sound.

It turned and fled toward the Silver Locks General, like an injured beast trembling as it curled up at the general's feet.

The flames automatically dispersed three feet before the Silver Locks General.

Zhou Sheng's vision blurred, and everything around him had already returned to normal.

The statue of the Silver Locks General still stood with one foot pinning an evil ghost, the chains in his hand tightly bound around the neck of that stone ghost statue.

Only, at some unknown time, a scorched black mark had appeared on the evil ghost's stone statue, as though it had been seared by flames.

Zhou Sheng raised his sleeve and put away the Face Paint, returning to his true appearance.

His mouth was dry and his tongue parched. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and exhaustion seeped out from deep within him.

Yet his heart was filled with excitement.

He really could perform the Spirit Officer now. Though he had lasted only a short time, it was already tremendous progress!

That breath of fire just now had been no ordinary flame. It was enough to be called a divine ability.

"A young tiger's fangs and claws have not yet grown old; the bright silver spear's tip picks up the setting sun~"

A line of opera rang out, lyrics from Luo Cheng Calls the Pass.

Zhou Sheng turned around and saw that City God Lu Bingyuan had somehow appeared behind him, smiling at him.

Lu Bingyuan truly loved opera. Though his singing was not especially stunning, it was already exceedingly rare among ordinary people.

"Danshan, you are not like Marquis Huan. You are more like the King Who Stands Shoulder to Shoulder—a young hero with courage in his heart, trampling thirteen enemy camps beneath his horse's hooves."

Zhou Sheng shook his head. "Duke Lu, you misunderstand. I meant no offense. I merely wished to repay you for the medicine before leaving Yang City."

"Besides, Luo Cheng died at twenty-three, while I am already twenty-one this year. Duke Lu, you cannot praise me like that."

Seeing that this young man remained neither humble nor overbearing before him, and even dared to tease him with mock contradiction, Lu Bingyuan was not angered. Instead, he nodded with a smile. "As expected of Yu Zhensheng's disciple. Even your mouth gives no quarter."

After a pause, he looked Zhou Sheng up and down.

"I did not expect you would really dare to take that prescription."

The smile on Zhou Sheng's face froze at those words.

What did that mean?

So he had not even known whether it could be taken before giving him the prescription?

But when he saw the amusement in the other man's eyes, he suddenly understood. Duke Lu was deliberately trying to frighten him.

"You did not come merely to offer thanks, did you?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Lu Bingyuan stopped beating around the bush. His calm gaze was like a deep pool as he quietly watched Zhou Sheng.

"Duke Lu sees clearly. You warned me, so I had originally resolved not to touch Shen Jinhua's matter. But afterward, I figured some things out."

"Oh? Let us hear them."

Leaning on his cane, Lu Bingyuan listened silently, though his expression had grown serious.

"This Mica Formula is too precious. Why did you give it to me? Was it merely because of a Stage Breaking performance?"

"I said it was out of regard for an old friend."

"It was not out of regard for an old friend. It was for that old friend to see."

Zhou Sheng raised his eyes. His gaze had never been brighter or clearer, and his voice struck the ground like iron, resolute and unwavering.

"This prescription specifically stated that it was an incomplete fragment. Therefore, you were certain I would not dare take it myself and would certainly bring it back for Master to examine. And Master would surely understand how precious this formula was."

"So from the very beginning, this prescription was meant for my Master."

Lu Bingyuan did not refute him. He merely continued, "What else?"

"And the reason you wished to give this prescription to Master was because you hoped he would come out of retirement and take over Shen Jinhua's case!"

"This case runs extraordinarily deep, and the true culprit behind it possesses vast divine abilities. Even you do not have absolute confidence of winning, which is why you need my Master's help."

"You knew that after seeing the prescription, Master would certainly not refuse, because... of me."

Zhou Sheng pointed to himself, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

"If a Ghost Opera Performer wished to truly complete his apprenticeship, he had to pass Ghost Gate Pass and sing the Ghost Opera of the Ghost Festival. This was a rule established by the Yin Opera lineage since ancient times."

"That trial had nine chances of death for every one chance of life."

"Master's temper may be foul, and his tongue may be venomous, but I know that if one day he truly broke his vow and returned to the world, it would certainly be because of this useless disciple of his."

"So when faced with a prescription that could help his disciple improve his cultivation and survive the Ghost Opera of the Ghost Festival to complete his apprenticeship, Master could not possibly remain unmoved."

A flicker of surprise passed through Lu Bingyuan's eyes. At last, for the first time, he truly regarded the young man before him.

When they had first met at the opera stage, he had considered Zhou Sheng only a medium through whom to speak and trade with Yu Zhensheng, and had not thought much of him.

When Zhou Sheng had stormed the temple just now, Lu Bingyuan discovered that he truly dared take the medicine. Though he praised his courage, he had thought him merely a rash and reckless green youth.

Luo Cheng had been brave, yet he had died young.

But now, as Zhou Sheng calmly laid out every one of his inner schemes and exposed them one by one, he realized that perhaps he had never truly understood this young man.

"Correct."

Lu Bingyuan gazed deeply at him, and a ripple entered his aged voice.

"Ordinary Ghost Opera Performers must pass Ghost Gate Pass at eighteen. The reason you were able to delay until now was because your Master..."

"Used his own life as a guarantee with those below, buying you three years!"

Zhou Sheng was shaken. This was something he had never known. Master had told him that Ghost Opera Performers passed Ghost Gate Pass and sang the Ghost Opera of the Ghost Festival only when they turned twenty-one.

"Then if I fail to complete my apprenticeship alive when the time comes, what will happen to Master?"

A foreboding rose in Zhou Sheng's heart.

Lu Bingyuan let out a soft sigh.

"The temple is Su Wu Temple; the stele is Li Ling Stele."

"Yang Qilang has died—how can Duke Yang alone survive?"