Great Scholar!
That was the highest rank a Confucian scholar could attain in the mortal world!
Above Great Scholars were the sages.
Yet in this age, Confucianism had no sages, Daoism had no Heavenly Venerable, and Buddhism had no Buddha.
It could be said that Great Scholars were among the handful of the world's most exalted figures.
And a personage like that had actually summoned me by name? What could he possibly want?
Chen Luo racked his brains but could not figure it out.
Though he was puzzled, Chen Luo still swiftly tidied his appearance according to Cai Tongchen's instructions and followed him to the county office.
The ragged, dying boy was naturally left in Xiao Huan's care.
"Are you Chen Luo?" When Cai Tongchen brought Chen Luo back to the county office, Wei Yan was writing. He set down his brush, helped Chen Luo up from his bow, looked him over from head to toe, and sighed. "What a pity. You are not a disciple of my Confucianism."
Chen Luo gave an awkward, helpless smile. "This junior is dull by nature. I lack the Omniscient Reading Talent and cannot give birth to Righteous Qi."
"It does not matter..." Wei Yan gestured for Chen Luo to sit and said gently, "Righteous Qi is merely a path of cultivation. It is not necessary for scholarship."
"I heard that you have a Book Spirit capable of eating ghosts and probing souls. Might I see it?"
Chen Luo froze for a moment. This Great Scholar wanted to see Zhong Kui? He glanced at Cai Tongchen, who nodded and signaled him to comply.
Chen Luo softly called, "Zhong Kui." A mass of black mist appeared from thin air, and Zhong Kui emerged from within it. He saluted Cai Tongchen and Wei Yan, then stood at Chen Luo's side.
"Wonderful..." Wei Yan seemed to have seen an unmatched beauty. He rose and took two steps closer, his eyes almost turning emerald green as he stared intently at Zhong Kui, examining him from head to toe.
"A ghostly body, yet belonging to the spirit category, and carrying Heavenly Dao Power as well..." Wei Yan suddenly turned toward Chen Luo. "He can eat ghosts?"
Chen Luo looked at the somewhat peculiar Great Scholar and nodded slightly.
Wei Yan said, "Wait a moment," then took a single step and vanished from the county office.
"Uncle..." Chen Luo looked toward the embarrassed Cai Tongchen. "What does Great Scholar Wei mean by this?"
Cai Tongchen shook his head. "I do not know either. Earlier, I reported the whole story of that literary heart to my teacher. When my teacher heard about your Book Spirit, he fell into deep thought. In the end, he had me call you here..."
Before Cai Tongchen could finish speaking, Wei Yan appeared before Chen Luo again. With a flick of his sleeve, he flung out two black shadows. They were actually two little ghosts at the Wandering Spirit level.
"These are wild ghosts from the mass grave outside the city. Have your Book Spirit eat them both so I can see..."
Chen Luo froze for a moment. Seeing the seriousness on Wei Yan's face and realizing he was not joking, he turned his head and gave Zhong Kui a meaningful glance.
Zhong Kui was dumbfounded too. Was he about to be put on the payroll as a food tester?
Still, Chen Luo had given him an order, so he did not refuse. He strode up to the two Wandering Spirits, seized one in each hand, opened his great mouth, and began crunching them down.
The scene was horrifyingly bloody!
Only after Zhong Kui had finished eating the two Wandering Spirits did he lick his lips, let out a burp, and return to stand beside Chen Luo.
"Wonderful... Wonderful..." Wei Yan actually burst into hearty laughter. Then he suddenly bent at the waist and saluted Chen Luo, startling both Chen Luo and Cai Tongchen. Chen Luo sidestepped out of the way, while Cai Tongchen hurried forward to support Wei Yan and asked, "Teacher, what are you doing? Luo'er is your junior. He cannot accept such a grand salute from you!"
"Out of the way, out of the way!" Wei Yan waved a hand and flung Cai Tongchen aside. "You excel in scholarship, yet you are ignorant of the affairs of the world. What a momentous matter this is, and you did not notice it at all!"
Cai Tongchen was just as bewildered, with no idea what he had overlooked.
Wei Yan suddenly reached out and seized Chen Luo. "Young friend, come with me somewhere else to talk!"
Chen Luo only felt weightless for an instant. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing high in the sky. Beneath his feet was an ancient carriage with Crimson Banners and Black Canopy. Great Scholar Wei Yan stood at his side, while Zhong Kui stood behind him, subtly displaying an intent to protect him.
"Old Mr. Wei, what are you..."
Wei Yan gazed downward and cut him off. "Young friend, do you know of the world's three calamities?"
Chen Luo shook his head.
"The Barbarian Calamity, the Ghost Calamity, and the Demon Calamity!" Wei Yan's gaze suddenly turned distant as he looked toward the horizon. "There is no need to say much about the Barbarian Calamity and the Demon Calamity. Ever since our human race established itself, we have fought the barbarians in the north and resisted the myriad demons in the south. Everyone knows this."
"Only the Ghost Calamity is different. 'Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, extraordinary feats, chaos, or spirits,' so very few know about it."
"Even those who do know understand only what it is, not why it exists."
Wei Yan withdrew his gaze from the horizon and looked down again. "What do you see?"
Filled with doubt, Chen Luo lowered his head. Below them lay Wan'an County, its lamps just beginning to shine. The workers who had gone out were returning home one after another, while restaurants and taverns bustled with people.
"Ten thousand homes lit by lamplight, peace and prosperity throughout the land?"
Wei Yan chuckled lightly and swept out his sleeve. A streak of azure light shot into Chen Luo's body. Azure light flashed across Chen Luo's eyes, and Wei Yan said, "Look again!"
Chen Luo lowered his head once more, and his expression changed. He now saw clusters of drifting black mist within Wan'an County, while outside the city they were countless, moving in great swarms.
"These are... ghosts?"
Wei Yan sighed and nodded. "That is right. They are ghosts!"
"The sages of old said that, in places unseen within this world, there is a River of Living Beings. When living beings die, their wisps of wisdom and spirit disperse and become pure spiritual bodies, which can then be drawn in by the River of Living Beings and cast into it. They are either carried elsewhere by the river, where they fall again and reincarnate as another life, or they drift away with the river and enter the legendary Nether Land."
Hearing this, Chen Luo's heart filled with doubt. According to Wei Yan, did this world have neither an underworld nor the Six Paths Reincarnation?
Just then, Zhong Kui's voice suddenly echoed in Chen Luo's mind through a transmission. "My lord, do you remember what I said before—that the Nether Land here is somewhat strange?"
"I tried to enter the Nether Land, but it was as if some force blocked me. It seems that the Nether Land here is unlike the one I know and cannot draw in yin souls and creatures."
"I also sensed no aura of reincarnation."
Chen Luo was startled. He looked at Wei Yan. "Then where did these ghosts come from? Should they not have entered that River of Living Beings?"
Wei Yan shook his head. "Whether human, demon, or barbarian, all souls contain wisdom and spirit. Take humans, for example. After a person dies and the soul leaves the body, that wisdom and spirit should naturally disperse. Yet there are always some people who, whether because of an obsession or a desire, cling desperately to that final spark of spirit and resist the pull of the River of Living Beings."
"Over time, once their spiritual light has completely dispersed, they are forgotten by the River of Living Beings and become ghosts."
"Ghosts need the essence and vital energy of living beings to survive. Thus came the saying that ghosts harm people."
"This world has far too many living beings. Even if only one percent, or even one-thousandth, of their souls transformed into ghosts, the accumulation over countless years would still produce a mighty host of ghosts. Though the vast majority are merely the lowest-level Wandering Spirits and little ghosts, they are still a considerable danger. This is the Ghost Calamity!"
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