Must Die

Mount Tong Temple

Bamboo groves covered the hillside, lush and emerald-green. Worshippers streamed back and forth before the halls and bronze incense cauldrons, where the offerings burned so fiercely that the cauldrons themselves grew scorching hot. Bearing the prayers of the faithful, the rising smoke passed through invisible barriers and entered the blessed realm of gods unseen.

At that moment, a young lady knelt praying upon a cushion before the shrine tablets. Her eyes were tightly shut, her brows carrying an indelible trace of sorrow. She prayed for her father's illness to heal soon. Only after a long while did she rise and offer a fragment of silver to the Daoist priest.

Though it was only five taels, it was already an unusually generous donation. The incense priest was inwardly startled and hurriedly clasped his hands in salute, inviting her to leave her name in the merit register. The young lady politely declined, rejoined her maid, descended the steps, and boarded an ox cart for home. Yet they had not traveled far before the ox pulling the cart grew restless and began kicking up its hooves.

"Neigh—"

"Ah! What is happening?" The ox cart swayed from side to side, and cries of alarm immediately rose from within. The driver hurriedly pulled the reins, watching the agitated ox as doubts crept into his heart.

This ox had always been docile. Why had it suddenly changed?

"Miss, the ox was startled just now, but it is fine now." Fortunately, the disturbance lasted only a moment before the ox gradually calmed down. Only then did the driver breathe a sigh of relief and speak to the women inside the cart.

"Everything has gone wrong today. We agreed to ask Daoist Shen to divine our fortune and misfortune, yet when the time came, Daoist Shen was nowhere to be seen. He seems far too arrogant!" one maid immediately said.

"Exactly. With manners like that, he can hardly be an eminent master. We should go back and find another temple to worship and pray for blessings. Miss, I know of a Buddhist temple that is also quite efficacious..."

"Do not talk nonsense. This is Mount Tong; do not be disrespectful." The young lady gently rebuked her. "If Daoist Shen did not come, he must have had something to attend to."

Though she said so, doubts still lingered in her heart. Just then, a gust of wind swept over them, dark clouds gathered thickly, and in the blink of an eye, the bright sunny day turned overcast.

This was truly inauspicious. The young lady had come to pray for her father, and seeing the sudden change in the sky, her right eyelid began twitching violently. Unable to hold back, she urged, "Stop chattering and hurry home!"

"Yes, Miss!" Their voices faded away along with the ox cart. Then, in an instant, a point of white light appeared, faintly outlining a human figure. Looking closely, it was Su Ziji moving swiftly through the mountains. His body passed several people at great speed, yet not a single one of them noticed him.

"Coiling Dragon Lake is already at the prefectural city. An ox cart would need several days to reach Mount Tong Temple, but with the Dragon Lord's Primordial Spirit empowering me, it took only a quarter of an hour."

"If the temple's spiritual radiance had not blocked me, I could have entered directly and would not have startled the ox."

In Su Ziji's eyes, a white glow covered the hillside before him, like a semicircular dome. Yet this dome could not stop him. With one tear, he ripped open a gap.

"As for that demon Daoist, how could he have deliberately stood them up? He was clearly suffering backlash and unable to come out, wasn't he?"

"There are quite a few worshippers in the temple. He surely would not be performing a ritual in an ordinary room. If I am not mistaken, he is probably in a secret chamber."

"However, this Primordial Spirit's empowerment carries disaster with it. Wherever I go, the dark clouds follow. I do not have much time left—I must investigate at once!" After only a few glances, Su Ziji sensed an abnormal spiritual radiance somewhere. He lifted his head to look at the sky and felt the lightning brewing within the dark clouds. His expression changed, and with a turn of his body, he swiftly vanished inside.

Underground secret chamber

The torches still burned, but the secret chamber was a complete mess. Shen Cheng had collapsed upon the altar, clearly unconscious, while eighteen figures crashed about. Yet some invisible barrier seemed to stand in their way; every time they struck it, they were flung back, staining the area around the entire altar a blood-red hue too horrible to behold.

"Hmph, you wretched beasts!" Faint muffled thunder seemed to rumble outside, like cartwheels grinding through a bridge tunnel. The sound woke Shen Cheng. The moment he opened his eyes and smelled the thick blood stench filling the air, he knew something was wrong. He swept his gaze around once, then gave a cold laugh.

"You trash, I was not afraid of you while you were alive. Now that you are dead, even your souls have scattered into ash—do you still want to rebel?" Shen Cheng slowly sat up and crossed his legs. His hands rapidly formed seals, suppressing the sweet metallic taste rising in his throat before he coldly looked at the dozen-odd "people" surrounding him.

The backlash from his ritual had gravely injured him, and the Blood Corpses that had only just been refined instantly slipped out of his control.

Every one of these Blood Corpses had deeply hated him while alive. During this brief period of lost control, though they no longer possessed souls, the instincts of their resentment drove them to tear their enemy apart and swallow him whole.

Unfortunately, their wish was fated to go unrealized. Before falling unconscious, Shen Cheng had anticipated this possibility and used ritual flags and an array to protect himself.

By now, the eighteen Blood Corpses had struggled against the altar's formation for a long time, yet they still could not approach. They could only smash their heads again and again against the invisible barrier.

"If this continues, I fear even the barrier will not last much longer. I must subdue them again as quickly as possible."

Shen Cheng looked up at the small flag circling overhead. It released threads of white light that fused with the altar, forming a barrier that prevented the Blood Corpses from invading.

This was a ritual artifact he had obtained from Cao True Person, capable of protecting its master on its own. But it could only be used three times. He had already used it twice over the past few years, and once it was used today, the artifact would be ruined.

Moreover, it had a time limit. As time passed, the barrier would gradually weaken.

But unless their flesh decayed, the Blood Corpses, left with nothing but boundless resentment, would never tire. To waste time struggling against them was to sit and wait for death.

"What happened just now?"

"The Blood Baleful Intent was clearly aimed at Su Ziji, and I even used ancestral bones to pinpoint him. Why did it veer off course and suffer such powerful backlash instead?"

"Even if Su Ziji truly carries the bloodline of the former dynasty's imperial clan, it should not possess such immense Yu power."

"After all, the former dynasty is already a former dynasty."

Shen Cheng could not puzzle it out no matter how he thought. Naturally, he would not be foolish now. Seeing that his defenses were on the verge of collapse, he stopped dwelling on the matter and worked to steady his mind.

He was already seriously injured. If he forcibly subdued the Blood Corpses, it would only pile snow upon frost. Yet if he did not, the outcome would be even worse.

He bitterly hated the person who had reduced him to such a state, but he still had to ignore the Blood Corpses outside the barrier, which looked like vicious ghosts. As he chanted incantations, his hand seals changed swiftly and continuously, and the small flag rose into the air once more.

"Five-Colored Heart-Piercing Annihilation Flag."

Shen Cheng sensed killing intent descend upon him and assumed it came from the Blood Corpses. Without hesitation, he stirred all the Dharma power in his body. In the next moment, five-colored spiritual currents fell from the small flag, spreading into clouds of color.

Clang, clang, clang.

White light spilled forth as well, shining upon the Blood Corpses and forcibly suppressing their vicious aura.

"You will obey my command and must not defy it!" The sweet metallic taste surged up in his chest once more. Shen Cheng barely suppressed it, and when he saw the Blood Corpses finally pause and become docile, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But in the next moment, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Alas! My vitality has truly suffered grievous damage. I miscalculated!" What he vomited was heart's blood, the essence within blood itself. Shen Cheng wiped his mouth, resentment boiling in his heart.

With injuries like these, it would be impossible to recover fully without several years.

"This will delay Cao True Person's great undertaking."

"For the people and the realm, Cao True Person seeks to thoroughly cut off the former dynasty's Dragon Aura. He searches one by one for the bloodlines of the former dynasty's Yu remnants, willing to stain himself with bloody sin rather than retreat."

"I may not possess such lofty resolve, but since I have become a member of the Daoist Registry Office, I eat the court's salary and must share its burdens." Besides, this matter was not difficult. The former dynasty's Yu remnants were now dogs without a home, and nothing was easier than beating a dog that had fallen into the water.