The Water Official's Curse

Chapter 6: The Water Official's Curse

After learning how Lu Yuzhu had died, Wu Xian had completed the task Qi Zhiyong had given him.

But Wu Xian didn't leave.

Out of professional instinct, he searched the room thoroughly. At last, he found a hidden compartment behind a wall painting. Inside was something he hadn't expected.

A statue of a god!

It had the head of an eagle and the body of a man, and sat cross-legged on a divine throne. Countless venomous snakes of varying lengths and thicknesses coiled around it, their grotesque forms carved in such meticulous detail that they seemed alive, as if they might leap up at any moment and bite someone's throat.

Two red candles and an incense burner stood on the table before the statue. Beneath it was a brass base, its edge inscribed with the statue's name:

Water Official—Xuanming the Great God!

"There's a god statue!"

Wu Xian's breathing quickened. After burning the Red-robed Hanging Ghost to death, he had obtained a Branch Incense. This was how the Record of the Devoted's miscellaneous items page described it:

Ghostly Incense: Produced by a Yisu. Formed from the yin essence of an evil spirit, stripped of its filth and obsessions. Burning it can build up yin virtue and pay respect to the gods.

[Water Official's Curse]: "An Uncomfortable Coffin"

"Just you wait. I'll give you a surprise."

It seemed these statues could only be worshipped once.

"Find me. Hurry up and find me."

The Copper Coin Sword was short and thick, with ten layers of coins along its blade, each layer made of five stacked coins: Qin Dynasty Banliang Coins, Han Dynasty Wuzhu Coins, Kaiyuan Tongbao, Song and Yuan Tongbao, and Yongle Tongbao.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wu Xian saw a man's head resting on his shoulder. The side of the man's face was frozen blue and cracked, and tiny ice crystals clung to his broken skin.

"Fuck!"

In the man's eyes, Wu Xian was already a dead man.

Hearing there was a ghost, a flicker of relief crossed Qi Zhiyong's eyes. He hurriedly reassured Wu Xian, "Don't panic. Take your time and tell me what you found."

Copper Coin Sword: Woven from Prosperous Era Five Emperors Coins. One chi and three cun long. Heats up in the presence of ghosts and can harm evil spirits.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

The man vanished as soon as he finished speaking, leaving only a puddle of icy water on the floor behind Wu Xian.

But the problem now was: how could he find this "Mr. Wang"?

As he rejoiced, Wu Xian suddenly felt a chill.

It was a Buddha Statue.

A coffin was the dead man's home, but Mr. Wang didn't like the home his wife had given him. Find Mr. Wang and free him from this uncomfortable home. Until you find him, your body temperature will keep dropping.

The building had four floors in all. Floors two, three, and four each had eight guest rooms, while the first floor contained the front desk and the innkeeper's living quarters. Every door on the second and third floors had been smashed apart, just like the one in room 405. The furniture inside had begun to fade and weather away, like old photographs left out too long.

Though he had decided to keep his abilities hidden, Qi Zhiyong's attitude still irritated him. He decided that once he lifted the curse, he'd pull a little stunt on Qi Zhiyong.

"I... I'm so cold."

If they were outside, finding someone wouldn't be hard for Wu Xian. If Mr. Wang lived nearby, the few clues in those words would already have been enough to track him down.

He had only just worshipped the Water Official Statue, and now he was cursed by the Water Official. Clearly, the curse had come from worshipping the statue. He hadn't stumbled upon a lucky break; he'd taken a bite out of a sugar-coated bomb!

Along with his anger, Wu Xian felt a chill of fear.

"This is Mr. Wang's clue to me!"

"Since he's in such a hurry, I'll take my time."

Two new entries had appeared in the Record of the Devoted. One was about the Copper Coin Sword, just as Wu Xian had expected. The other was...

He didn't mention worshipping the statue and kept some of his discoveries to himself. He went into great detail about the terror of the curse, and Qi Zhiyong kept nodding along.

Wu Xian told Qi Zhiyong the lie he'd prepared, stumbling over his words.

A chill spread from deep within him for no apparent reason, raising goosebumps all over his body. A figure colder than ice pressed against him. Its bone-deep cold left Wu Xian unable to move.

A curse!

It took Wu Xian a long while to recover. He shivered all over, his limbs freezing and his fingers and toes going numb. A layer of frost had formed on his left ear. He hurriedly rubbed it with his left hand while clumsily opening the Record of the Devoted with his right, checking whether any new information had appeared.

Wu Xian cursed.

As Wu Xian berated himself, Qi Zhiyong called from outside, "Why aren't you out yet? Did you die in there?"

Wu Xian's anger flared. He was about to curse, then remembered the persona he was trying to maintain.

Wu Xian gave the three magic treasures a quick look, then reached into the water vapor and pulled out a dripping wet Copper Coin Sword.

Qi Zhiyong gave him a half-hearted reassurance before sending him off to look for supplies. He'd already gotten what he wanted and didn't want to waste any more time on Wu Xian.

Pure Dusting Brush: A peachwood handle and Spirit Horse Tail. Cleanses the body and surroundings, sweeping away yin influences.

"Heh. Looks like he's more impatient than I am."

As he played up his misery, his body temperature gradually rose again, though it remained slightly below normal. At this rate, he wouldn't lose the ability to move from hypothermia for at least a few hours.

But the blessed realm was unfamiliar, and Wu Xian had too little time. His mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan.

Wu Xian stopped hurrying downstairs. Instead, with his hands clasped behind his back, he strolled from floor to floor like an old man out for a walk.

So he mussed up his hair, took a deep breath until he saw stars, and staggered out. His face full of terror, he grabbed Qi Zhiyong by the arm.

"I'll wait for you. Always."

As Wu Xian turned a corner, he realized that the left side of his face had been cold before, but after he turned, the right side had grown cold. He turned around and tested it a few more times, then finally confirmed that the cold was coming from a fixed direction.

"Th-there's a ghost in there! And a woman..."

Wu Xian grinned and tucked the Copper Coin Sword into his lower back.

Then he rounded the stairwell landing and found a way.

Searching the scene had only been a habit. He hadn't expected to find anything useful, but he had. With the Copper Coin Sword and the True Fire Incantation, he now had at least a basic means of defending himself in the blessed realm.

Demon-Identifying Mirror: A polished ancient bronze mirror. Rub the Daoist Markings on its back to see the true forms of ghosts and monsters and expose their tricks. Each use consumes spiritual energy; once it runs out, the mirror becomes an ordinary object.

"This coffin's full of ice. It's too narrow and small—I can't lie straight or sleep well. Hurry and let me out. I'm waiting right here for you."

After saying goodbye to Qi Zhiyong, Wu Xian walked away, cursing under his breath.

Each time the Copper Coin Sword harmed an evil spirit, one layer would be removed from its blade. Once all ten layers were gone, the sword would be unusable.

But apart from that, the second and third floors were spotless.

After making his choice, the statue turned into a puddle of clear water, which quickly evaporated into mist and dissipated.

The Branch Incense didn't release smoke as it burned, but pale blue, hazy vapor. It floated over the table, forming into the shapes of three objects.

His surname was Wang; he was in a refrigerator, married, and dead...

The evil spirits in the blessed realm weren't things that could be fought off with a few talismans and magic treasures. If the thing that had just pressed against him had wanted to kill him, Wu Xian wouldn't even have had time to draw his Copper Coin Sword!

His earlier thought that he had a basic means of defending himself had been stupid on top of stupid!

There were no severed limbs, no blood covering the floor. Only thick gray mud, human-shaped concrete sculptures that didn't fit the inn's surroundings, and... the stench of rotting corpses everywhere!

Qi Zhiyong was still waiting outside. Wu Xian didn't waste any time and stuck the Ghostly Incense straight into the burner.

Wu Xian endured the stench as he looked around. He actually found something useful.

The Lotus Throne was piled high with treasures and valuables. A Buddha Head sat upright on top of the pile, its face twisted into a strange, miserly grin.

The throne bore the god's name.

Outsider God—the Many Treasures Tathagata Statue!