"Are you Zhong Kui?" Chen Luo walked several circles around Zhong Kui. Good heavens, this was an immortal! He had summoned one just by writing an article...
Zhong Kui merely stood there steadily, then bowed again and said, "In reply to my lord, I am not the true Lord Zhong Kui, but the Book Spirit of the Brief Biography of Zhong Kui you wrote. I am also named Zhong Kui."
"Book Spirit?" Chen Luo frowned slightly. "Can you catch ghosts?"
Zhong Kui nodded. "My lord wrote in the article that I could eat ghosts, and this world's Heavenly Law acknowledges that statement. Thus, I can eat ghosts. However..."
"However what?"
Zhong Kui continued, "A Book Spirit's abilities are closely tied to its author, and I am no exception. I naturally restrain ghosts, but at most I can deal with ghosts two realms above my lord."
Chen Luo nodded. "Two realms above me?"
Chen Luo recalled the cultivation realms of this world. Among ghosts, wandering souls and wild ghosts counted as the first level and could affect people with weak bodies, while vengeful ghosts that entered dreams to kill were the second level.
As Chen Luo and Zhong Kui exchanged questions and answers, a sudden cry of alarm came from outside the room. Almost simultaneously, Zhong Kui's nose twitched, and he said in a deep voice, "There is ghostly aura!"
Chen Luo froze, then reacted. He remembered that Chen Xuan was still outside and hurriedly rushed out, with Zhong Kui following close behind like a gust of wind.
Because people had died one after another at Chen Manor, Chen Xuan had dismissed quite a few servants, leaving the enormous manor looking rather deserted. Chen Luo ran out of the rear courtyard and saw the little maid who had earlier shouted that he had risen from the dead sprawled beside the garden, with a thin quilt scattered by her hand. The maid was named Xiao Huan, and she was Chen Xuan's personal maid.
Chen Luo hurried over and helped Xiao Huan up. "Where is the young lady?"
When Xiao Huan saw that it was Chen Luo, she hurriedly said in panic, "We saw a ghost. The young lady chased after it... The young lady, she..."
Before Xiao Huan could finish, the moon emerged from the dark clouds. Moonlight illuminated Zhong Kui's face behind Chen Luo. Xiao Huan paused, then pointed at Zhong Kui and said in an almost trembling voice, "Young Master Luo, run! There's a ghost..." As soon as she finished speaking, she fainted completely...
Chen Luo glanced back at Zhong Kui. Zhong Kui gave an awkward smile, but under the moonlight, the smile looked especially hair-raising. Chen Luo checked Xiao Huan's breathing and found that she had merely fainted, so he casually covered her with the thin quilt. Then he asked Zhong Kui, "Can you sense it?"
Zhong Kui nodded and went ahead. Chen Luo hurried to catch up.
Chen Xuan cultivated, and Chen Luo knew that. However, she could not be considered part of the orthodox traditions of the Three Teachings. She practiced merely a heterodox technique of wild foxes, called the Thirteen Needles of the Heavenly Gate. It was not acupuncture from the medical arts, but an assassination technique that used silver needles to defeat enemies. It was naturally more than enough against ordinary people, but against ghosts, it was somewhat absurd.
"This woman is way too reckless!" Chen Luo complained as he chased after her. Just as they were about to reach the entrance of Chen Manor, Zhong Kui suddenly stopped. Chen Luo was about to ask why when he suddenly saw Chen Xuan sitting cross-legged not far from the gate.
"Are you all right? What kind of ghost were you chasing? What if something happened..." Chen Luo walked toward Chen Xuan as he spoke. Suddenly, his footsteps halted, and his entire face twisted.
He saw five silver needles stuck into Chen Xuan's head.
"Silver Needle Soul Crossing!" Chen Luo forced the words through clenched teeth. Having absorbed his predecessor's memories, he naturally knew exactly what was happening.
This was a forbidden technique of the Thirteen Needles of the Heavenly Gate. It sealed the body's five sensory orifices with silver needles, allowing the soul to briefly leave the body. Compared to the orthodox Daoist schools that cultivated the Yang God, this method of soul departure lasted less time but had far more hidden dangers. The most common consequence was that after the soul returned, one of the five senses—hearing, sight, touch, taste, or smell—would be lost at random.
Chen Luo turned to Zhong Kui. Zhong Kui waved his sleeve, and a streak of cold air shot toward Chen Luo's eyes. His eyes turned cold, and after he blinked, they returned to normal. Then he raised his head along with Zhong Kui and saw Chen Xuan's soul battling a green-faced, fanged ghost with long arms and legs atop the main hall's roof.
"Zhong Kui!" Chen Luo shouted in a low voice. Zhong Kui's figure moved, and he flew toward the roof.
Zhong Kui's appearance startled both Chen Xuan and the ghost. Chen Xuan immediately spotted Chen Luo standing below, her face filling with anxiety. "Xiao Luo, go back quickly!" Chen Luo instead shouted, "Chen Xuan, hurry and return to your body!"
The ghost also noticed Chen Luo and looked surprised. It made as if to pounce at him. Just as Chen Xuan was about to step forward and stop it, a black shadow flashed, and Zhong Kui was already standing before the ghost.
When the ghost saw Zhong Kui, it opened its mouth and roared, sending out a wave of ghostly sound. Zhong Kui paid it no heed. He merely stared at the ghost, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then unconsciously stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.
For no apparent reason, panic seized the ghost's heart. It turned and fled, flying three meters away in the blink of an eye. Zhong Kui waved a hand, and an iron hook shot from his sleeve, accurately hooking the ghost by its pipa bone. Zhong Kui yanked the chain back, and the ghost flew toward him. At that moment, Zhong Kui thrust out his other hand and wiped it across the ghost's face. The ghost let out a pained wail. Two egg-sized round beads had appeared in Zhong Kui's hand—the ghost's eyeballs!
Zhong Kui swallowed the ghost's eyeballs in one bite and chewed them in his mouth. At the same time, he reached out again, grabbed the ghost's arm, and twisted and pulled in the opposite direction. He actually tore the ghost's arm off. The ghost tried to struggle, but Zhong Kui planted one foot on its back, pinning it to the ground so it could not move.
Like someone eating a sugarcane stick, Zhong Kui rapidly chewed and swallowed the ghost's arm, skin and bone alike. He then sat on the ghost, grabbed one of its feet, and without pulling downward, simply opened his mouth and began tearing into it. The ghost's wails grew louder. Zhong Kui frowned, released the ghost's thigh, and hooked a finger into its throat. At once, a mass of Green Qi gathered in Zhong Kui's hand. He drank it down like water. With a gaping hole torn through its throat, the ghost tried to speak again, but could not make a sound...
After witnessing Zhong Kui's feast, Chen Xuan froze. Only when Chen Luo called out to her again did she return to her senses. She drifted down to the ground, then looked back uneasily at Zhong Kui, who was still eating ravenously. "Who is that?"
Chen Luo was already frantic. "Hurry and return to your body. I'll slowly explain who he is later..."
Chen Xuan did not immediately return her soul to her body. Instead, she gazed at Chen Luo carefully, with a trace of reluctance. "Let me look at you a little longer. What if I can't see you afterward..."
Chen Luo's heart gave a thump, and he hurriedly shook his head. "Don't say such depressing things. Maybe you'll only lose your sense of smell. Just think of it as getting rhinitis..."
"Rhinitis? What's that?"
"Nothing. Hurry and return to your body. If you take too long, your soul will disperse, and it'll be hard to go back even if you want to..."
Chen Xuan nodded and walked toward her physical body. In an instant, she merged with it and opened her eyes.
Chen Luo hurried over. "How is it? Is anything wrong?"
Chen Xuan sensed herself, then smiled. "You were right. I lost my sense of smell..."
Chen Luo breathed a sigh of relief, then complained, "You're an ordinary person. Why did you have to fight a ghost head-on? Don't you know how dangerous that was?"
Chen Xuan shook her head slightly. "I was afraid it would come back to harm you..."
Chen Luo's heart shook. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw Chen Xuan's pupils rapidly turn white and could not help freezing. He slowly raised a hand and placed it before Chen Xuan's eyes. Chen Xuan did not react at all!
For some reason, counting this occasion, Chen Luo had only met the woman before him twice. Yet at that moment, a fire seemed to ignite in his heart. His nose tingled, and his eyes instantly grew moist.
"By the way, who is that expert?" Chen Xuan was completely unaware of Chen Luo's strange state. She lifted her head as if watching Zhong Kui eat the ghost, then asked with a smile.
"His name is Zhong Kui. He is..." Chen Luo suppressed the emotions surging within him and continued, "The Book Spirit I summoned!"
"Book Spirit?" Chen Xuan reached out and grabbed Chen Luo's arm. "He's a Book Spirit?"
Before Chen Luo could answer, Zhong Kui had already swallowed the entire ghost into his belly. He drifted down from the roof and bowed to Chen Luo. "My lord, I have subdued the ghost. However... this ghost was not the true mastermind!"
Chen Luo and Chen Xuan's expressions changed drastically at the same time. Chen Luo asked, "What exactly happened?"
Zhong Kui bowed again. "This ghost was no ordinary ghost, but a Tamed ghost! A Tamed ghost is born when a tiger eats a person. Tamed ghosts cannot control themselves and can only act according to the tiger's orders... Therefore, the one truly plotting against my lord's family is the Tiger Demon behind this Tamed ghost!"
"A Tiger Demon?" Chen Luo turned his head toward Chen Xuan, whose pupils had already turned snow-white, and clenched his fists. "What a Tiger Demon!"
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