Casting Holy Cups

The next day, by the Pear Blossom River.

It was still pitch black, but Zhou Sheng was already up and by the river, warming up his voice.

Although he had been severely beaten by his Master last night, he was actually happy. It wasn't that he was seeking praise, but rather hoping his Master would loosen up a bit.

He always felt like his Master lived a heavy life, sometimes even like a living dead person.

Only when teaching his craft could he occasionally catch a glimpse of his former spirit, but it was fleeting.

After warming up his voice, Zhou Sheng didn't rush off. Instead, he took some paper money and burned it by the river.

This was for the Underworld Messengers who had brought him back.

"Brothers, thank you for escorting me home. Please take this small offering for some drinks. It's the least I can do."

Zhou Sheng recited their names and hometowns, then continuously scattered paper money into the fire.

The firelight flickered, standing out starkly by the dark Pear Blossom River before the sun had risen.

Few people came to this river when it was dark, because someone had drowned here.

In folklore, people who drowned were called Water Ghosts. These ghosts could not reincarnate until they found a Substitute Ghost.

Therefore, if someone drowned in the water, the locals would throw a mud figure at the spot where they fell in, to deceive the Water Ghost.

There had indeed been a Water Ghost in the Pear Blossom River.

When he was fourteen, he had gone swimming in the river to cool off and felt a hand grab his foot and drag him down.

However, by then he had already been studying Ghost Opera for nine years. A newborn calf fears no tiger, so he directly dove into the river and, guided by Luoshu, dug out the corpse that had already turned to bone.

He then carried the corpse ashore and left it to bake in the sun all day.

That night, he dreamed of a person who looked as if they had been roasted, with disheveled hair, coming to beg him, kneeling and pleading incessantly.

Later, Zhou Sheng burned the corpse, and from then on, nothing else happened.

The Pear Blossom River had always been peaceful.

The paper money was almost all burned. Zhou Sheng clapped his hands and prepared to leave, but just then, a gust of wind blew, stirring up the paper money in his brazier.

Ashes danced, and fire snakes twirled.

Zhou Sheng's eyes narrowed, a look of surprise on his face.

This was no ordinary wind, but a swirling Yin wind.

His Master had told him that without opening the Wise Eye, there was actually a way to determine if there were ghosts.

If the Yin wind swirled normally, it was a natural phenomenon. If the Yin wind swirled in reverse, it was very likely that a ghost was causing trouble.

"Is this... someone trying to steal the paper money?"

A strange glint flashed in Zhou Sheng's eyes. To snatch paper money burned for Ghost Messengers from a Ghost Opera Performer?

Where did this lonely wandering ghost come from, to be so reckless?

He let out a cold snort, and the next moment, his voice boomed like thunder.

"Halt!!!"

His voice, freshly warmed up, was exceptionally clear and loud. This Yan Man's Roar, imbued with three parts of the spirit of Marquis Huan and Zhang Fei, was like a Vajra's furious glare, a roar of thunder!

In an instant, the Yin wind swirling the paper money was violently dispersed, and the ashes fell like snowflakes.

At the same time, a strange sound echoed from the river.

A shhh sound, like the crisp crack of tearing silk.

Immediately, blood-red hues appeared on the surface of the river. A figure slowly emerged not far away, looking very bloated.

The sky was dim, with only faint light. For an ordinary person, it would be impossible to see clearly, but Zhou Sheng's Eye technique was exceptional. He saw the other party at a glance.

It was a person!

More precisely, it was a corpse that had been submerged for an unknown amount of time.

The corpse was rotten and swollen, its skin an abnormal orange-yellow. Its abdomen bulged high, like a woman in her tenth month of pregnancy.

Its black hair, like seaweed, seemed to have been scraped by something, tearing at the scalp and revealing blood mixed with black corpse water.

The scene was bloody and disgusting. If an ordinary person saw this, they would likely be so terrified their legs would go weak and they wouldn't be able to stand.

Even Zhou Sheng, who had some psychological preparation, couldn't help but feel a chill and a slight nausea at the sight.

A single Yan Man's Roar had actually summoned a floating corpse.

Most importantly, the floating corpse was slowly drifting towards him with the current.

In the main hall, before the statue of the Patriarch.

Yu Zhensheng respectfully offered three sticks of incense and placed some fruit as an offering.

"I pray for the Patriarch's protection. That child has high aptitude, a good heart, and is intelligent. He will surely revitalize our Ghost Opera lineage in the future!"

"But he died and came back to life in his childhood, his yang energy greatly depleted, his life force drained, making him very susceptible to unclean things. For so many years, I have been using medicine to treat his body. Coupled with the child's determination and willingness to endure hardship, he has actually cultivated some Dao cultivation, and has only now gotten a little better..."

If Zhou Sheng were here right now, he would surely be greatly surprised.

He thought he had hidden himself well, but he didn't know that Yu Zhensheng back then had seen at a glance that he was resurrected.

A dead man's body, a living man's life.

A child who shouldn't have lived, yet somehow survived.

That's why Yu Zhensheng had unhesitatingly refused Zhou Sheng's request to become his disciple back then; he didn't want to bring trouble upon himself.

But later, the tenacity, stubbornness, and resilience that child displayed, like wild grass, moved him nonetheless.

"The Ghost Opera of the Ghost Festival is inherently a matter of life and death. He hasn't even graduated yet, and now he's been drawn into this vortex. Disciple Yu Zhensheng dares to ask you to take this child as your adopted son and protect him."

There's a folk custom where sickly children are made god-children of the deities in temples, which can help them grow up safely.

In some places, children are even made god-children of ancient trees.

However, for the lineage of Ghost Opera Performers, this method must be used with caution. Because Ghost Opera Performers constantly associate with ghosts and gods, they attract too much trouble. Casually forming such kinship could instead anger the other party.

Therefore, after praying, Yu Zhensheng knelt down and began casting the Holy Cups.

He first asked if Great Emperor Huaguang would agree.

The so-called casting Holy Cups, also known as casting 筊, is a way for people to communicate with spirits. If the result is one yang and one yin (one flat side and one raised side), it means the spirit agrees and is called a Holy Cup.

If the result is two yang sides, it means the spirit's mind is not yet made up, and you can ask again. This is called a Laughing Cup.

If the result is two yin sides, it means disapproval, or that the deity is angry. This is called an Yin Cup.

Crack!

As the Holy Cups landed, Yu Zhensheng's expression changed slightly.

All the cups on the ground showed the raised side. Yin Cups. Disapproval.

He picked up the cups and continued to cast them.

To ensure solemnity and accuracy, casting Holy Cups is generally judged by three consecutive Holy Cups.

The second time, it was another Yin Cup.

The third time, it was still a Yin Cup!

Yu Zhensheng was silent for a moment, then continued casting the Holy Cups.

Yin Cup, Yin Cup, Yin Cup, still Yin Cup...

He cast nine Yin Cups in a row!

Yu Zhensheng's brow furrowed. He seemed to want to say something, but just then, the main door was suddenly knocked upon.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The knocking was urgent, like the beat of a drum.

Honestly, when Zhou Sheng saw the corpse floating towards him, his spine chilled.

It wasn't out of fear, but pure disgust.

As it floated closer, he realized the corpse wasn't that of a woman who had been pregnant for ten months, but a man.

The reason his belly was so distended, to explain it in terms of his past life on Earth, was that after death, bacteria multiplied rapidly, producing a lot of putrid gas that was compressed within the abdominal cavity, causing it to swell.

It was like a balloon stretched to its limit, ready to burst at any moment.

Seeing the corpse getting closer and closer, Zhou Sheng hesitated for a moment and decided to go back and get his gear first.

Without his Opera Box nearby, and lacking a suitable weapon, his combat power would inevitably be affected.

As he turned to leave, a question arose in his mind.

There had never been anything like this in Pear Blossom River before. Had something happened in Qinggu County while he was away on business?

Happy National Day, wishing our motherland a happy birthday!