Moonlight True Water Cleanses the Soul

Effigy Curses were different. They often tampered with the living soul of a person, which was why they were so uncanny and hard to guard against! Tang Changsheng had drawn a Soul-Locking Talisman on the girl, suppressing her soul so it could not fly away, then guided it into the jade tablet.

The tablet had naturally turned bitterly cold. If an ordinary person touched it without the protection of a talisman,

the soul might burst straight out of the jade. Worse, it might possess them.

Even wrapped in talisman paper, the tablet felt to Tang Changsheng like a block of ice ten thousand years old.

He could only suppress it with blood from his middle finger, which was connected to the fire of the heart.

Tang Changsheng gritted his teeth and silently stirred the fire within his heart. Then he steeled himself, bit through the tip of his middle finger, and pressed it once against the jade tablet. Only then did he pick up the tablet and place it in a basin of water.

This was because his internal cultivation was lacking. An expert in internal cultivation would never need to go to such trouble.

The legends of Zhong Kui chewing up evil ghosts alive were no joke, either!

With his internal cultivation lacking, Tang Changsheng could only suppress the soul with blood from his fingertip. But whatever the method, he had finally sealed the Grudge Ghost inside the jade tablet.

Seeing the girl's breathing grow steady, Tang Changsheng smiled and said, "That was a worm from the human body. They call it the Three Corpses. So, how did it taste?"

The two elite bodyguards had gone pale and were drenched in cold sweat. They forced down their nausea, but they looked ready to faint at any moment. It was frightening how powerful that trace of foul, fishy stench was!

Tang Changsheng had teased the bodyguards, but neither had the strength to answer him now.

At this point, even an ordinary half-grown boy might have knocked both elite bodyguards to the ground!

Finding that dull, Tang Changsheng ignored them.

He fetched clean water and carefully dropped the jade tablet into it.

On the tablet's once-smooth surface, the faint black shadow of a tiny human figure appeared.

The shadow struggled with all its might to escape, but remained firmly bound inside the jade tablet.

Barely an inch long and as thick as a chopstick, the wormlike shadow thrashed desperately. It even conjured a human face, showing anger, pleading, and other expressions.

That only made it more uncanny, sending chills down the spine.

The Three-Corpse Worm possessed astonishing power, however. It continuously released wisps of black qi that spread through the clear water.

In almost an instant, the entire basin of water had turned black as ink.

"Change the water..." Tang Changsheng ordered.

The two bodyguards were dedicated indeed. Even in that state, they obeyed and replaced the water in the basin.

Only then did Tang Changsheng burn another talisman and drop it into the clean water. "You're lucky," he said evenly. "My Moonlight True-Water Dust-Cleansing Talisman was originally meant to..."

He had drawn this talisman not long ago, also for refining Yin Soldiers. It turned moonlight into true water to wash impurities from ghostly souls. Its effect was far stronger than that of the Sweet Rain Spell!

He had not even had a chance to use it for that purpose before using it here instead.

"May the splendid pool nourish and nurture, form and soul be cleansed as one; may the six dusts leave no stain, all karmic filth turn clear; may the three fields fill with light, the nine gates open bright; may their bathing waters nourish roots, and the dead soul return as an infant. Let it be done at once, as the law decrees!"

Chanting the incantation and forming a hand seal, he held the Moonlight True-Water Form-Refining Talisman over the fire until it caught, then dropped its ashes into the basin of clean water.

The water had been perfectly ordinary, but now, as its surface rippled gently, flecks of silver light flashed within it.

The silver light fell on the tiny figure, washing the black qi from its body bit by bit. No matter how desperately it struggled, it was useless!

The talisman had not been made specifically to deal with the Three Corpses. It had originally been prepared for refining Yin Soldiers.

Fortunately, moonlight could also cleanse and purify souls, so it was close enough to the right remedy...

And Tang Changsheng cultivated the Lunar Form-Refining Method. He had gathered the essence of moonlight within himself.

As a result, the Moonlight True-Water Dust-Cleansing Talisman he had drawn carried a glimmer of moonlight, greatly increasing its power!

The silver light rippling through the basin of clean water was moonlight itself.

Every spell practiced at the General's Temple was tied to its five foundational Daoist arts!

Layers of black qi had seeped from the jade tablet like ink, staining the whole basin of clear water.

But now, under the cleansing moonlight, layer after layer of shadowy black qi was washed away...

The two bodyguards scarcely dared breathe. In the basin, black qi and bright light tangled and fought without cease. The sight had an eeriness neither could put into words.

The shadow kept shrinking, but at its heart, a maggot-like shape still resisted with its back against the wall.

Wave after wave of moonlight washed over the Three-Corpse Worm, raising curls of bluish smoke from its body. Its shadow grew fainter and smaller...

After an unknown length of time, the last silver flecks in the basin began to fade. The black qi within the jade tablet dissipated as well.

Only then did Tang Changsheng show a trace of delight!

"It worked this time!"

Tang Changsheng picked up the jade tablet again, held it between the girl's nose and mouth, and gave it a light tap.

Several faint black shadows immediately slipped back into the girl's body!

The two bodyguards' hair stood on end. They had always known that, according to modern medicine, the human body was full of bacteria and countless microorganisms...

But watching those strange, writhing human shapes still made their scalps prickle.

"All right. You can carry her away," Tang Changsheng said, as calm as a passing breeze.

Both bodyguards froze, then came to their senses. The girl's breathing was steady, and she seemed to be sleeping soundly. She no longer looked as though anything was wrong.

Then they recalled all the strange phenomena that had appeared when Tang Changsheng acted.

Their awe of him deepened at once. What people did not understand always seemed mysterious to them, and mystery often bred reverence.

Of all the things people struggled to understand, death and ghosts were surely among those that inspired the most fear and awe.

In every civilization, the mages and shamans who dealt with such things had undoubtedly been among its most revered figures.

And now, in the eyes of everyone present, including Ruan Wenhua, Tang Changsheng was undoubtedly someone to be held in awe.

Tang Changsheng had not explained himself clearly, and none of them knew exactly what the Witchcraft Curse he had mentioned was.

But none of them were fools. They could all guess that it had to be some evil art like the curses of legend...