Corpse liberation

Cheng Yunqi felt something profoundly wondrous. He felt himself floating in the air, as though he had truly become a wisp of cloud, while another "him" sat beneath his feet.

When he listened, the wind roared, and the rustling bamboo leaves sounded like thunder; when he looked, distance seemed to have vanished, and he could clearly see ants on the ground carrying an insect's corpse; when he smelled, he could distinguish the sweetness of rain and mist, the fresh green fragrance of spring bamboo shoots, and the faint earthy tang of the soil.

He wanted to explore these sensations more closely, but caught sight of Daoistess Sukong waving a sleeve at him. Heaven and earth instantly spun around him. By the time he recovered his senses, he was already in Bamboo Depths Unknown.

He looked around. Greenery surrounded him like an ocean, and mountain winds swept through the grove. Yunqi felt as though the wind would carry him away as well.

Yunqi gathered his thoughts and carefully sought the connection to his human soul that Daoistess Sukong had mentioned.

Somewhere deep within, he felt that he was now rootless duckweed, about to drift away on the wind. He could dissolve into the sky or seep into the earth. Only to the northwest did he feel a pull, as though he could take root only by going there.

Having found his direction, Yunqi formed the thought of going that way. As soon as the thought arose, he felt himself drifting toward it. The stronger his intent, the faster his soul floated.

He had traveled less than half a li when a sweet fragrance rose from the soil below. His awareness blurred, and his soul descended involuntarily. He saw a plant with green leaves and purple vines sprawling across the ground. Its elongated, heart-shaped leaves had white veins, and its vines were deep purple. It looked like fleeceflower root, but gave off an extraordinary fragrance. Merely hovering beside it and inhaling the scent made his soul feel a little more solid.

Only a few breaths passed, yet Yunqi had no idea how long he felt he had spent there. He sank into a daze, then abruptly came to his senses. Had he still possessed his body, he would surely have been drenched in cold sweat.

Forcing himself to resist the temptation and banish stray thoughts, Yunqi began drifting northwest again.

Along the way, spiritual creatures such as golden butterflies, white cats, green snakes, macaques, black muntjacs, and pheasants occasionally discovered Yunqi's wandering soul. These creatures had yet to awaken their intelligence and did not know what a wandering soul was. They often leaped or fluttered over to frolic with him. Yunqi struggled to evade them, suffering miserably.

Even more unbearable to Yunqi was the allure of all the strange flowers and exotic plants along the way. Their waves of invisible fragrance seemed like nets, ready to ensnare his soul.

Fortunately, Yunqi's resolve was tenacious. He turned a blind eye to every temptation, intent only on returning to his body.

Although his Earth Soul's five senses were keen outside his body, it was extremely slow to perceive the passage of time. Yunqi did not know how long had passed or how much time he had left. He could only hurry onward with all his strength, not daring to delay another moment.

As he drifted along, a feeling of weakness and exhaustion swept over him. Yunqi inwardly sensed trouble. Could my time be up? Is my Earth Soul about to lose its hold?

Fear immediately rose in his heart, but Yunqi could do nothing. Never before had he felt life slipping away so distinctly.

"Whooo-"

Just then, Cheng Yunqi keenly noticed that the ceaseless mountain wind had shifted toward the northwest. He realized this was an opportunity. Carefully sensing, pondering, and experimenting, he tried to merge his soul into the wind and ride it onward.

His soul existed between substance and insubstantiality. Earlier, when fragrances assailed him or spiritual creatures lunged to catch him, he had imagined himself as incorporeal, diminishing his sensations and drawing his soul inward. Now, to borrow the wind's strength, he imagined himself as solid instead, envisioning his limbs stretching out and billowing into a great banner.

These were all ideas he had fumbled upon himself, yet they proved remarkably useful. His soul rode the wind through the empty air, traveling far in an instant.

By the time the wind gradually slowed, Yunqi was nearly there. In the distance, he could already see the stone tablet marking Zhan Biyun's Bamboo Retreat.

He breathed a small sigh of relief and hurried toward the tablet. Soon he saw a bamboo pavilion as well, but when he looked more closely, a sudden dread surged through his heart.

It was still the same place. The stone tablet was there, the bamboo pavilion was there, and the bamboo mats were there. But where was Daoistess Sukong? Where were the boys and girls who had come with him? More importantly, where was his body?

Yunqi hurriedly searched the surroundings, but after circling countless times, he still found nothing. He wanted to shout, but his soul could make no sound.

The feeling of weakness and exhaustion grew stronger, and anxiety burned in Yunqi's heart. Suddenly struck by an idea, he flew into the bamboo pavilion, only to be left bewildered by what he found.

There, plainly arranged within the pavilion, were:

A handsome youth in white, thin and pale, with his brows tightly furrowed. He sat cross-legged, his life or death uncertain, but his condition looked no different from Yunqi's own body after his Earth Soul had left it;

A burly, powerfully built man who appeared to be in his thirties or forties. His right eye was ruined, giving him a rather ferocious appearance, and he too seemed bereft of his soul;

A slovenly, bald old Daoist, covered in filth and reeking terribly. Yet his robes were of exactly the same style as Daoistess Bikong's, and he likewise appeared bereft of his soul;

A somewhat chilling paper figure, dressed in an ordinary person's clothes, complete with a hat, shoes, and socks;

A plant with a thick root and few leaves. Its black root had already taken human form, with distinct limbs and facial features, looking for all the world like a little doll. The leaves atop its head twined together like a crown of grass;

The last was stranger still: a bamboo staff, seven feet long with seven segments, straight from top to bottom. It was jade-green and faintly translucent. The segments at either end were visibly hollow, while the five middle segments shone with multicolored radiance. Two bamboo branches grew from its second segment, and another two sprouted from the bottom of its last segment. Each branch tip bore five leaves, lending them a striking resemblance to limbs.

For a moment, Yunqi had no idea what to think. Yet his instincts told him that any of these people or objects could shelter his Earth Soul. All that remained was to choose.

Yunqi looked at the incense burner again. The incense stick had reached its end and was about to burn out.

Could returning in time not have been the test at all? Was this final choice the true test?

A human?

The handsome but frail youth? The vigorous but maimed middle-aged man? Or the elderly man of distinguished status who was utterly filthy?

A human likeness?

The paper figure and bamboo figure, so bizarre that they made no sense at all? Or the fleeceflower root, already human-shaped and giving off that extraordinary fragrance?

Yunqi's mind was a complete muddle, his thoughts jumping back and forth among the three people and three objects.

Before long, Yunqi rejected the three human bodies first. If he truly had to live anew, he did not want to wear someone else's skin. Besides, on second thought, might these three bodies also be waiting for their own Earth Souls to return?

Since immortals truly exist in this world, what is wrong with inhabiting an object?

Then Yunqi immediately rejected the paper figure as well, simply because the fleeceflower root and bamboo staff at least looked full of life, whereas the paper figure felt utterly lifeless.

His awareness probed back and forth between the fleeceflower root and the bamboo staff, but he still could not decide. Seeing the last bit of incense ash about to fall, Yunqi prepared to possess the more human-shaped fleeceflower root.

But just as his soul was about to touch the fleeceflower root's body, he suddenly discovered a faint consciousness within it. That faint consciousness was expressing fear and pleading with Yunqi's Earth Soul.

It turned out that this fleeceflower root had already become a spirit and developed intelligence.

Yunqi breathed a great sigh of relief. With no further choice to make, he immediately plunged into the bamboo staff beside it.

At that very moment, the last bit of incense ash drifted down into the burner.

Cheng Yunqi abruptly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was still the stone tablet marking Zhan Biyun's Bamboo Retreat. Looking around, he found Daoistess Sukong sitting serenely in the bamboo pavilion. Around him sat circle after circle of people with drooping heads, bereft of their souls. Beneath the stone tablet, some twenty or thirty boys and girls still stood where they were, not daring to approach.

He felt his cheeks, then his chest and back, discovering that he had somehow returned to his body. The youth, middle-aged man, old man, paper figure, fleeceflower root, and bamboo staff he had just seen had all vanished.

It was as though it had merely been a dream.

"You. Stand behind me."

Yunqi looked up at Daoistess Sukong and found that she was looking straight at him.

Not daring to hesitate, Yunqi rose, walked over, and stood behind the Daoistess.

Only then did he see that well over half the incense stick in the burner remained.

Truly the methods of an immortal. Does this mean I passed?

Yunqi silently pondered this, then lowered his gaze from nose to mouth to heart, standing motionless as a post.

He watched the incense burn out. Not a single other person woke.

The people sitting on the bamboo mats with drooping heads, bereft of their souls, showed no reaction at all.

At this sight, the expressions of the dozens of boys and girls beneath the stone tablet were quite a spectacle. Some were stunned, some horrified, and some regretful, but every expression was accompanied by the relief of having survived a calamity.

Once the incense had burned out, Sukong took a small white banner from her sleeve, her face expressionless. She gently shook it, and Yunqi heard her murmur:

"Wandering, drifting souls, where do you linger? Though your spirits roam a thousand miles, swiftly, swiftly return within!"

A sudden wind rose. Yunqi felt only a coolness brush his face, and immediately afterward, all the soulless people on the bamboo mats jerked their heads up, as though waking from some nightmare.

They looked around and gradually recovered their senses. When they saw Yunqi behind Sukong and the extinguished incense in the burner, frustration and resentment slowly surfaced on their faces.

Yet when those beneath the stone tablet saw the soulless people awaken, their expressions changed again, becoming even uglier than those of the people seated on the bamboo mats. Had they known this Daoistess could summon wandering souls back, how could they have been afraid to take the test?

Once everyone on the bamboo mats had regained consciousness, Daoist Ji Hu arrived as promised.

Sukong pointed at Yunqi and said:

"Sorry for the trouble, Ji Hu. First escort these young lay practitioners back outside the mountain. When you return, take him to Ten Thousand Tablets Peak."

"Yes, Feather Master."

Here is my new book. Please leave plenty of messages and comments.