A Strange Dream
At 5 p. m., Shuhang said goodbye to the Medicine Master and returned to the university town.
On the way, I received a text message from Yangde, saying that the results of the 5,000-meter race at the sports meet were in, and Shuhang had undoubtedly won the championship. Because he wasn't there, Gao Moumou excitedly accepted the award on Shuhang's behalf. He also asked if he had returned from the pharmacy and if he wanted to have dinner with everyone.
"Speaking of which, I still owe Yangde a meal of Ten-Fragrance Fish Head after the sports meet. I'm so grateful for his intelligence, otherwise the Altar Master might have escaped." Song Shuhang thought to himself.
"Furthermore, it's time to sign up for driving lessons. And... should I get a membership for a chat app so I can level up faster in the game farm?"
He hasn't played the old game Farmville in a long time. Now he only checks it occasionally when he's on his chat app, if he feels like it. Otherwise, he just leaves it there to fend for itself.
But now... so many senior members in the Nine Provinces Number One Group are playing this game, Song Shuhang has to consider picking it up again. Who knows, maybe one day, one of the senior members in the group will get carried away stealing from his home and, in a good mood, give him some unexpected benefits?
While the possibility is slim, it's not impossible. It's just a virtual farm game; it doesn't require much time investment! If you could reap some rewards, you'd be rich!
"There's a lot to do." Shuhang opened the text message reply interface and sent Yangde a message: "Reply received. Where are you? I'll be there soon!"
Then, he jogged back to the university town location.
After having dinner with my roommates, the four of us had no other plans for the day, so we went back to the dorm to stay home and play games.
So much happened today: running at the sports meet this morning, traveling a long way to find the Altar Master, then taking the Altar Master's head along the way, being dragged to the hospital for a checkup by Zhao Yaya, and then encountering all sorts of other things.
So even if he obtained the Blood Qi Pill, Song Shuhang didn't have the energy to try it. After playing a few games with his roommate, he went to bed early.
He was indeed a little tired.
Before going to sleep, Shuhang gathered his last bit of energy, using the method of mental Vigilance to put himself in a state of extreme sharpness.
Soon... he drifted off to sleep.
Shuhang slept soundly during the first half of the night.
In the latter half of the night, he had an interesting dream.
In his dream, Song Shuhang returned to ancient China... He didn't know the exact era. He could only tell it was ancient from the clothing of the people around him and the various buildings.
Then, he is revealed to be the son of a coffin shop owner. Perhaps because he is surrounded by coffins all day long, the young boy in his dreams always has a deathly expression.
"What kind of bizarre dreams are these?" Shuhang thought to himself. They say you dream about what you think about during the day, but I didn't think about any of this during the day, did I?
In his dream, years passed by. When he was five or six years old, one day, a Daoist priest with Dao Bone passed by the small village. He immediately recognized his talent and wanted to take him as his disciple.
And as expected, he was easily lured into becoming the Daoist priest's apprentice. One wonders how heartbroken his father, a coffin seller, must be.
After cultivating under the Old Daoist priest for several years, he learned that his teacher was a rogue cultivator who had accidentally obtained a part of the Daoist lineage called "Ghost Gate Exorcist" and had been cultivating diligently ever since. However, the lineage was incomplete and fragmented, and at most it could only allow him to barely reach the Second-Grade Realm.
A few years later... the Old Daoist was killed.
Because they were 'evil Ghost Cultivator's who often summoned Resentful Ghost, they were killed, and their bodies were never found.
In his dream, he had no choice but to rely on himself.
The Old Daoist's death greatly affected him, and he began to become more cautious. The higher his strength became, the more timid he became.
His life thereafter unfolded much like that of a protagonist in an evil novel. In order to advance further in his cultivation, he used every means to cultivate various evil spirits and demons, searching for blessed Grotto-Heaven Abode to nurture them.
His ultimate goal is to find a Spirit Ghost and use its special abilities to elevate his cultivation level to a higher level!
During that time, he did everything he could to provide the resources needed to cultivate ghosts. For example, right now, his main job is as an exorcist, and he also works part-time as the leader of an assassin organization.
Then one day, while treasure hunting, he unexpectedly discovered a blessed land perfect for raising ghosts—a place called Ghost Lantern Temple. More importantly, there was actually a Spirit Ghost in Ghost Lantern Temple! He was overjoyed!
[This isn't a dream?] Song Shuhang immediately realized, understanding the moment he appeared at Ghost Lantern Temple. Could this be the memories of the Altar Master?
Ghost Lantern Temple, Luoxin District! Is the Ghost Cultivator in my dream 'he' the Altar Master? Why would I dream of the Altar Master? Song Shuhang wondered.
The dream continued, and after inspecting the Ghost Lantern Temple, the 'he' in the dream was filled with utter disappointment.
Because he arrived too late, Ghost Lantern Temple had already been bought and sealed with a magic array. The seal was clearly placed by a master, and he dared not attempt to break it, fearing that he might accidentally attract the master's attention and be killed in retaliation.
But with such a blessed land for raising ghosts and Spirit Ghost right in front of him, how could he not be tempted?
Spirit Ghost! It's Spirit Ghost!
Even if you can't break the formation yourself, you can use someone else's hand and find a scapegoat to break it. Although the formation trapping the Spirit Ghost is ingenious, you can break it as long as you find the core of the formation!
If you use someone else to break the formation, even if the expert really appears afterward, they will only vent their anger on the scapegoat!
So, he transformed into a feng shui master and tried every means to guide Huang Dagen, the original owner of Ghost Lantern Temple, and incite him to demolish Ghost Lantern Temple and build a cemetery.
Huang Dagen harbored such thoughts, and with encouragement from others, he became even more tempted. The two hit it off immediately, and the following year Huang Dagen demolished Ghost Lantern Temple and built himself a large cemetery.
Ghost Lantern Temple was destroyed, and a cemetery was built.
Under the guidance of this fake feng shui master, Huang Dagen personally carried his own tombstone to the cemetery and placed it in a designated "feng shui treasure land"—the very spot he had painstakingly searched for in his dream.
As soon as the tombstone was erected, the first layer of the sealing formation set up by the mysterious master was destroyed. The Spirit Ghost in Ghost Lantern Temple roared and rushed out, draining Huang Dagen's life force.
Huang Dagen, whose life force had been drained, did not die on the spot, but only felt weak. He fell seriously ill after returning home and died seven days later.
After the Spirit Ghost drained Huang Dagen, it did not leave but returned to its original position.
This delighted him. Although he had set up a sealing barrier around the Ghost Lantern Temple, the materials for setting up the barrier were very expensive, so he wanted to save as much as possible. Impacts on the barrier would damage the materials, and the fact that the Spirit Ghost did not attack the barrier saved him a lot of materials.
After the formation set up by the master was broken, 'he' did not rush to subdue the Spirit Ghost.
Firstly, he was worried that the expert might arrive soon.
Secondly, the Spirit Ghost is not yet mature and needs to be nurtured in the blessed land for a period of time.
What happened next is known to everyone in Luoxin District. Huang Dagen 'Huang Dagen family cried all the way to bury his body.
This action further enraged the Spirit Ghost!
While Huang Dagen's family was mourning at the grave, the Spirit Ghost came out and wandered around, absorbing most of their Blood Qi. After returning home, Huang Dagen's family members began to fall ill one after another.
A year later, the whole family was buried in this tomb.
Perhaps the Spirit Ghost was temporarily satiated after absorbing so much Blood Qi. That's why the people who came to bury Huang Dagen's family later escaped.
For the next few years, the 'he' in the dream stayed in Luoxin District, guarding Huang Dagen's grave and observing the growth of the Spirit Ghost every day.
When Song Shuhang reached this point in his dream, he was puzzled. If the formation had been broken, why didn't the Altar Master take the Spirit Ghost when it matured?
What happened next?