At the words "Are you human or ghost?", Lin Jiugong exhaled, and faint icy mist condensed in his breath.
The needle on the compass in his hand had already spun into chaos.
The moonlight flowed like water, and the grass was so green it seemed ready to drip.
The air temperature had not changed much. Vegetation flourished, yet not a single insect could be heard.
Su Che instinctively held the peachwood sword across his chest. Sword intent answered within his brow as his eyes locked onto One-Brow Taoist.
"North and south are muddled, Life and Death overturned. Brother Buqun, Yin energy has gathered here, turning this place into a corpse-nurturing den. You and I look more like ghosts than men here." One-Brow Taoist's expression was grave.
Su Che let out a breath. Everything about this One-Brow Taoist was good, except that he truly spoke in maddening pauses.
That earlier "Are you human or ghost?" had nearly made him suspect that One-Brow Taoist had unknowingly fallen prey to this place. He had almost greeted him with a sword strike.
"How did this place become like this?"
Su Che had visited Withered Forest Chan Temple before. Though the temple had been thick with wood energy back then, with the Wood Wraith One-Eye causing trouble, it had absolutely not looked like this.
"Take refuge in Buddha, and do not fall into Hell. Take refuge in the Dharma, and do not fall among Hungry Ghosts. Take refuge in the Sangha, and do not fall among beasts."
"Take refuge..."
"Take refuge..."
"Take refuge..."
The chanting rang out again and again from the thick fog before them, as though Withered Forest Chan Temple had returned to its former days of prosperity.
"What heavy Yin energy. A hundred ghosts walk at night—how are the vicious ghosts of Withered Forest Chan Temple even fiercer than those of Lanruo Temple?"
Daoist Lin could not help taking several steps back. At some point, dark clouds had drifted across the sky, hiding the full moon behind them.
"I once read in a book: when a hundred ghosts walk at night, Yin energy blots out the sky. I never imagined I would witness it today within this ancient temple."
Su Che looked at the scene before him, unable to hide his surprise.
"Today is the eighth day of the eighth month. There is nothing unusual about it, so why has the Yin energy here suddenly become so dense?" One-Brow Taoist stared at the sky in astonishment.
Lin Jiugong had inherited Maoshan Daoist arts, and his cultivation had already reached the Daoist School's Eighth Grade, the realm of "Mystic Insight." At this realm, one embodied the teaching in the Dao Scripture: "Cleanse away the Mystic Insight—can one remain without flaw?"
When Daoist cultivators reached this realm, they could observe the waxing and waning, birth and extinction of Heaven and Earth's Yin-Yang forces outside, while within they could inspect the dust and grime upon their own souls, as well as corpse worms.
Qi Consumption was the foundation of cultivation; Mystic Insight was the root of attaining the Dao.
Distinguishing the right time and favorable terrain was precisely One-Brow Taoist's proper profession.
A thought faintly arose in Su Che's heart. Perhaps Zhongyuan, that mysterious figure within the Mount Zhong Association, had sent him to Withered Forest Chan Temple for another purpose.
That was right. How could an expert of that caliber send someone to the wrong place?
"Fellow Daoist Yue, at this point, we truly ought not investigate any further. But Lin has been unyielding all his life. Since I have encountered this today, I must go in and see for myself. Fellow Daoist, you accompanying Lin this far is already kindness enough for me to remember. If fate permits in the future, I shall drink and make merry with Brother Yue again."
Su Che frowned. "Daoist Lin, ghostly shadows are everywhere ahead. Under such dense Yin energy, their hunger for flesh and blood will surely be stirred. Once the ghosts' ferocity erupts, even two fists will struggle against four hands."
"Brother Yue need not worry for me. I possess a secret art that will keep those ghostly creatures from seeing through me for half a shichen," Daoist Lin said.
Su Che smiled at that.
"Brother Lin, I too have a secret art. I simply do not know whether it can fool those ghostly creatures. I ask Fellow Daoist to judge it for me."
If Zhongyuan truly had some deeper intention, then he ought to go and have a look.
Moreover, one great trait of the Mirage Shadow Primordial Sword Zhongyuan had taught him was concealing form and hiding shape. Su Che silently circulated his sword intent, and a trace of coolness at his brow wound around his entire body.
In an instant, the shadow behind him vanished into nothingness, and his entire body became translucent.
Under the cover of Yin energy, he did look somewhat ghostly.
Once cultivated to a profound realm, the Mirage Shadow Primordial Sword could transform one's entire body into emptiness, leaving only an image without substance. My sword cultivation is insufficient, but it is more than enough to pretend to be a ghost.
If sword arts were divided and forcibly given categories such as the sword of Heaven and Earth, the sword of Creation, the sword of benevolence and righteousness, the sword of dominance, and all manner of other names—
Then the Mirage Shadow Primordial Sword undoubtedly belonged to the ghostly sword of assassins.
Su Che's understanding of the Mirage Shadow Primordial Sword deepened further.
"Brother Yue's Sword Qi is indeed extraordinary, to possess such marvels."
Lin Jiugong had originally not thought much of Yue Buqun's sword art, which he claimed "emphasized Sword Qi." He had thought the other man had wandered the jianghu too long and picked up the habit of speaking in evasive, roundabout ways.
Now, it seemed that Mr. Yue's Sword Qi truly possessed a different kind of mystery.
It was not as though Lin Jiugong had never seen so-called sword immortals, but most of them were of the fierce, unyielding sort: "Let you wield a thousand transformations and ten thousand arts—I need only one sword to cut them down."
Sword arts such as this, which concealed one's form and transformed one into a ghost, were indeed rarely seen in the Central Plains.
"Then I shall make a fool of myself as well."
Lin Jiugong silently circulated the Maoshan turtle-breathing art, stopping his breath. He removed his outer Daoist robe and put it back on inside out, then took a Yellow Talisman from his bag, folded it into a triangle, and pressed it atop his crown.
Finally, he pulled out half a stick of leftover incense from his pocket, scraped off a tiny grain, and tucked it beneath his tongue.
"Yellow Talisman, suppress the soul; nether incense, connect to the dark. Divine soldiers and earthly fire, swift as the command!"
A flash of fire passed, and the Yellow Talisman on his head turned to ash. One-Brow Taoist's face became livid, Yin energy shrouding his body. He looked three parts unlike a living man, seven parts like a vicious ghost.
"Excellent methods, Fellow Daoist."
Su Che praised him sincerely. As a fellow player of the prop-stream, Lin Jiugong had truly played it into a hundred blooming tricks.
"Brother Yue, after you."
The two entered the Yin mist one after the other.
Within the Yin mist, ghostly shadows flitted everywhere.
Thump, thump.
A huge black urn bounced through the fog and came to Su Che's side.
"You look unfamiliar."
A head emerged from the urn. Half its face had turned into a skull, exposing stark white bone, while the other half was covered in slick, bulging eyeballs.
"Qutan, today is the eighth of August, when offerings are made to the Ghost Buddha. They may have come from a neighboring county after hearing of it. It is perfectly normal that you do not know them."
A lovely female ghost emerged from the dense fog. She wore white gauze, her black hair gathered into a bun. Her skin was like congealed cream, her eyes held a unique charm, her flower-like lips were pale purple, and a pair of snow-white feet stepped upon the ground.
"You are kindhearted, at least."
The urn ghost called Qutan muttered, then bounced away.
"You need not mind him. Qutan likes eating people, not ghosts."
The lovely female ghost looked curiously at Su Che's face.
"What is your name? I feel as though I have seen you somewhere before."
"We serve under the Yin-Yang Dharma King of Guobei County and rarely leave our grounds. Today is our day off, so we came together to watch the excitement."
One-Brow Taoist was clearly accustomed to speaking ghost-talk, smoothly picking up the lie without missing a beat.
The lovely female ghost nodded.
"My name is Xue Fu. You serve under the Dharma King, so you should have names as well, yes?"
"Ice-like flesh and jade-like bones, hibiscus blooming beneath the snow." Su Che took over. "Miss, that is truly a fine name."
The female ghost froze, as though she had not heard words like that in a long time.
"Is this name good?"
"Very good. Names differ from one another. When ordinary people name themselves, it represents a beautiful wish. Someone called Ruhuai merely hopes to be like a flower, but your name, Miss, is a simple description."
"You are quite interesting." Xue Fu looked at Su Che. "The last scholar who spoke to me like this passed his first death anniversary only a few days ago. When I next pay respects to the Dharma King, I will ask him to give you to me as a personal attendant. What do you think?"
"That would be his Creation, would it not?"
Daoist Lin lightly patted Su Che's shoulder. "With Lady Snow before us, you and I cannot be allowed to show off our little tricks."
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