At the first glimmer of the red sun, the Qian residence in Jiang City was already bustling.
For weddings and funerals alike, the most important thing was an auspicious day and hour.
A ghost marriage was no exception.
To make the auspicious hour, everything had to be prepared with care. Missing the hour and delaying the joint burial was a small matter; damaging the Lineage's fortune was the greater concern.
And so, as dawn broke over the horizon, the Qian residence was already filled with the clamor of pipes and drums.
A vermilion coffin passed through the gates and made its way along the city's main road toward Tuoyun Mountain.
Compared to yesterday, when ten thousand streets had been emptied by spectators, there were far fewer idlers eager for a spectacle today. Once they left the city, only the funeral procession remained.
The funeral master hired by the Qian family clearly knew his trade, timing everything with flawless precision—not a minute early, not a minute late.
As soon as the hour of the Snake arrived, the funeral procession reached its destination.
It was a low hollow in the wilderness of Tuoyun Mountain, surrounded by overgrown weeds and desolate beyond measure.
The Qian family's second son, who had died young, was buried here.
It was not that the Qian family begrudged him a plot of land; it was purely due to local custom.
—Infants and children who died young were forbidden from entering the ancestral graves and could only be buried in watery ground.
Once the coffin was set down, it was time to break the earth and raise the spirit.
Though the Qian family had buried their second son in a fine coffin, after eleven years of erosion, all that raising the spirit yielded were a few dry bones.
Fortunately, Madam Liu was not qualified to attend the funeral. Otherwise, the sight would surely have drawn a round of heartrending wails from her.
After the spirit was raised came the joint burial.
When the two coffins were lowered into the grave, the funeral master followed custom and set a trough-shaped bridge between them, signifying "crossing the bridge." This counted as a burial of joined bones, making them kin in death.
As the grave was filled, red wedding paper money was burned, and a marriage rite was held.
The roaring flames reduced mountains of paper funerary offerings to ash, scattering them into the vast sky. The wind sent them whirling away, until none knew where they went.
Thus, this absurd ghost marriage finally came to an end.
But for Mo Chuan, it had only just begun.
By fortunate chance, the joint grave lay in a hollow in the wilds, making it convenient for him to keep watch.
He carefully surveyed the terrain, chose a high spot, then, like a cunning mountain hare, hid among fallen leaves and brush, concealing himself.
All that remained was to wait patiently.
The morning passed quickly enough, after all, with the bustle of the ghost marriage to watch.
But once afternoon came, time became difficult to endure.
With nothing better to do, Mo Chuan considered cultivating the Three Scenery Daoist Magic, but worried that if his mind sank too deeply into it, he would neglect the outside world.
So he turned instead to studying Yunji Temple's inheritance.
Over the past few days, the teachings of Yunji Temple had gradually begun covering practical applications.
They were roughly methods for wielding primordial qi and the power of the three lights—the sun, moon, and stars!
This portion was exceedingly complex and varied.
After listening for half the day, Mo Chuan finally managed to sort out some of it.
The core of Yunji Temple's practical teachings lay in three great divine curses!
They were:
The Sun Curse, the Moon Curse, and the Dipper Curse. Note 1
If the Three Scenery Daoist Magic was the root system of Yunji Temple, then the three great divine curses were the trunk and branches that held it aloft!
The remaining complex talismans, arts, and curses were merely tender twigs and leaves growing from those branches.
Yunji Temple's requirements for passing down the three great divine curses were extraordinarily strict. Thus, they had only been mentioned during the midnight teachings and had not been taught.
What Juezhen Zi taught in his grand lecture hall were all insignificant branches and leaves.
Even so, Mo Chuan had benefited immensely.
For instance, how to attach sunlight to a weapon and grant it the power to cleave evil and shatter delusion!
Or how to use moonlight to awaken the spirit and sharpen the mind.
...And much more besides.
These methods were quite intricate. As Mo Chuan pondered them carefully, time slipped by like a white colt passing through a crack, and the sun sank behind the fusang tree.
The wilderness gradually grew lively.
Rats, mountain hares, wild boars, Yellow Weasel Spirits... from time to time, they ran past the grave, clearly seeking out the sacrificial food.
"Big brother, what are you looking at?"
A childish voice suddenly sounded behind him, terribly close, as though it were right beside his ear.
Mo Chuan, who had been absorbed in watching the beasts, shuddered in alarm and whipped around.
He saw a young child with hanging locks staring at him with wide, bright black eyes full of curiosity.
Looking closer, the child wore a white narrow-sleeved shirt, a jue ornament at his waist, open-crotch trousers below, and two small topknots at the back of his head.
He looked exactly like he had a Nezha hairstyle!
"Of course I'm watching the birds and beasts."
Mo Chuan drew a slight breath and answered with a smile.
"What's so interesting about birds and beasts? I see them every day. I'm sick of looking at them."
The child looked immensely pleased with himself. After speaking, he eagerly asked, "Big brother, can you play a game with me?"
"What game do you want to play?" Mo Chuan asked.
"Um... let's play Blind Fish! I'll strike the wooden fish, and you wear the blindfold." As he spoke, the child produced a grayish-white skullcap shaped like a wooden fish from nowhere.
Mo Chuan's heart nearly skipped a beat at the sight of that tiny skullcap. "My hearing isn't very good. You should wear the blindfold, and I'll strike the wooden fish."
At that, the child shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, no! You'll run away, and then no one will play with me."
Mo Chuan narrowed his eyes, his thoughts turning over.
The child came up with a new idea. "Let's play horse-and-rider! You run, and I'll chase you."
After a brief pause, Mo Chuan said, "All right."
"Wonderful!"
The child clapped excitedly, then jumped and snapped two branches from a tree over ten feet tall.
"Which one do you want?"
Mo Chuan's expression turned complicated at the sight. He remembered that when he had been a ghost, he could not even touch physical objects, let alone break a branch.
To kill Chong Shizi, he had even specially draped himself in painted skin and stolen a Nangzi dagger.
"This one will do for me!"
Mo Chuan bent down, picked up a dead branch from the ground, and copied the child. He placed it between his legs, gripped the front in one hand, and let the rear drag along the ground as a pretend horse.
"I'll count. We start on three!"
The child began counting with great solemnity. "One, two... three!"
Before the second sound had even faded, Mo Chuan shot away with a whoosh.
"Big brother, you cheated..."
The child shouted, but his voice was brimming with excitement. He pumped his little legs and gave chase, his small mouth imitating the sound of driving a horse:
"Giddyup! Giddyup! Giddyup!"
"Big brother, slow down! Little horse, run fast, run fast, run faster!"
The child shouted at the top of his lungs, pretending to hold a whip in his other hand as he struck the branch beneath his legs.
"Heehee, you fell for it! I caught up to you!"
In the blink of an eye, the child had reached Mo Chuan's side. With his head cocked smugly, he looked at Mo Chuan.
"So be it. What exactly do you intend to do?"
Mo Chuan stopped, his expression turning grave.
"Play games, of course! Big brother, you're so slow! My little horse is still the best!"
The child seemed not to notice Mo Chuan's stern expression at all, wholly immersed in the joy of the game.
"Then... how about we switch games?"
Mo Chuan frowned and asked tentatively.
"Sure, sure!"
The child tossed away his branch, his face full of anticipation.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"I, I... I don't remember."
"Do you want a wife?"
"A wife? The kind of wife you can play fighting games with at night?"
"...More or less."
"I want one! I want one! Big brother, do you have one?"
"I don't."
"Ah?"
The child immediately became dejected.
But children's sadness came quickly and went quickly. Before long, he had cast it behind him. "Big brother, what game are we playing?"
"Let's play Leapfrog Pit. Whoever jumps into this incense burner first wins. What do you think?"
Mo Chuan summoned the Sacrificial Dao Furnace and placed it between them.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
The child clapped with delight at the sight.
"I'll count. No jumping early. Whoever cheats is a puppy."
"Mm, whoever cheats is a puppy!"
The child nodded in complete agreement, staring fixedly at the mouth of the Sacrificial Dao Furnace.
"One... two... three... jump!"
With a whoosh, the child leaped high into the air, arcing through a lofty parabola before plunging into the Sacrificial Dao Furnace.
Mo Chuan immediately waved a hand, and the Sacrificial Dao Furnace abruptly vanished, hiding once more within his soul.
Thanks to "Book Friend 20210912090544255" for the reward!
Note 1: Quoted from "Supreme Three Caverns Divine Curses."
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