Deliverance from calamity, salvation for the dead; Solomon's seal loses its essence, humans and spirits are different

A foul, fishy stench spread along the bank. Ning Zhi covered her nose and mouth, examining the black snake closely.

Having spent years gathering herbs and making medicines with her father, she recognized it at once.

"Is this a snakeskin? Why is it empty? That snake..."

The ink-black snakeskin was shriveled and tattered, even its sheen somewhat dull.

"Dead." Ao Ding's expression was indifferent. "Once the demon-suppressing chains pierced it, the black snake was pinned to the riverbed with no way to escape. Even its intake and release of the world's spiritual energy was blocked-the spiritual energy it breathed was instead used to strengthen the chains."

Sun Chen had explained to Ao Ding that, in the vast majority of cases, accidentally undoing a "demon seal" would not unleash a demon at its full strength to ravage the mortal world again.

Seals were meant to suppress demons, not protect them from being killed.

Suppression, execution, refinement, annihilation...

These were the four essential stages of any demon seal.

This black snake spirit had long since been worn down to dry bones over a hundred and fifty years. Only the exceptional quality of its skin had allowed that to survive.

"This snakeskin is extraordinarily tough, impervious to water and fire. Sold to the mortal martial world, it could probably be made into quite a few masterwork pieces of martial equipment."

Ao Ding waved the Xuanjia Spirit Staff. A gust flipped the snakeskin over, spilling out stark-white snake bones.

Ning Zhi's eyes lit up. "These snake bones are good-they can be used in medicine."

At this, Ao Ding put away the snakeskin, casually shrank the bones, and gave Ning Zhi a portion.

Turning back to the river, Ao Ding told the water ghost, "Be careful. I'll help you pass on."

Yellow paper talismans flew from his sleeve, arranging a Qingwei Xuandu Talisman Formation around them.

Then he took out two plum-blossom pastries and offered them to the older man.

Once the food from Feeding the Hungry Ghosts entered his mouth, the burly man distinctly felt his ghostly body grow lighter, as though he might float away into immortality.

"By Qingwei's command, nine suns illuminate the darkness..."

Ao Ding slowly recited the Qingwei Spells, his fingers driving true heaven golden gang across the pitch-black chains. The true-script characters on the chains shone one after another, working with the circulating talisman formation around them to manifest a compassionate sage holding a willow branch.

As sweet rain fell, flecks of golden light sank into the water ghost.

The water ghost immediately felt the stagnant yin within him disperse, leaving only a wisp of clear qi circulating without cease.

"Soul, return to Zhuling; be refined, delivered, and freed."

Ao Ding clapped his palms, and the water ghost, enveloped in brilliant golden light, descended straight into the netherworld.

Just before entering the netherworld, the water ghost remembered something and pointed into the water, calling, "Brother, I still have some belongings down there. They're all yours!"

Having completed the entire procedure, Ao Ding let out a long breath and smiled at Ning Zhi. "Let's go, miss. It's time to attend to your matter."

Ning Zhi looked at the rippling water. "The things he left you..."

Ao Ding lightly tapped his wooden staff. Like a dragon or snake, the pitch-black chains plunged into the water and hauled up a silk bundle.

Inside were a jade page engraved with the Flood-Raising and Tide-Manipulating Spell, five pearls, and three Jade Cloud Shell Leaves.

Ao Ding paid little attention to the shell leaves.

He glanced casually at the pearls, then tossed them to Ning Zhi.

Only that spell formula...

Well, its function was nothing particularly remarkable, merely a water-controlling spell for raising waves and floods. But when Ao Ding picked up the jade page, a thread of fortune settled upon him from the Unseen.

The Hundred-Curse Fortune-Gathering Secret Rite had taken another small step forward.

It was also then that a faint realization arose in Ao Ding. In a hazy instant, his left eye pierced the hidden mysteries and glimpsed a Dharma Artifact shaped like a book.

To cultivate my spells, perhaps... I really need to gather "a hundred spells" in the mortal world.

With that thought, Ao Ding turned and smiled at Ning Zhi. "Miss, after you-it's time to attend to your matter."

Ning Zhi's home was in Ninghe Town, at the foot of Phoenix Mountain.

She led Ao Ding to a large residence. Instinctively, he observed it with the Qi-Gazing Technique, then worked out the feng shui configuration here.

"It seems your family is one of the prominent households here, miss."

Ning Zhi gave a bitter smile. "Our family has simply spent years making medicines and treating the neighbors, earning a little wealth."

She asked the gatekeeper to announce their arrival.

Before long, a middle-aged couple and a burly man hurried out.

"Little sister, where did you go? You've been gone for days. What were you doing?" Though his words were questioning, the worry in the burly man's face was unmistakable.

The plump couple in red came forward as well, taking Ning Zhi's hands and looking her over again and again.

Only after a good while did they collect themselves and thank Ao Ding for bringing their daughter home.

"I happened to be there and saw your daughter preparing to throw herself into the river, so I lent a hand. After hearing her explain what had happened, I took it upon myself to mediate for Miss Ning and investigate a few things."

At the mention of suicide, Ning Zhi's mother nearly fainted. Her father hurriedly took her pulse and applied acupuncture, bringing his wife around.

Once she recovered, Ning Zhi's mother sobbed and struck at Ning Zhi.

"You wretched child-must you break this old woman's heart and kill her? I gave birth to you only for you to come collecting debts-"

Seeing her mother like this frightened Ning Zhi into apologizing and begging forgiveness over and over.

Ao Ding gave two light coughs.

"Gentlemen, perhaps we should step outside to discuss this."

He invited Ning Zhi's father and brother outside and asked about Huang Lang and the baby.

Father and son exchanged helpless looks. "Ah-young man, we truly weren't lying-that girl, she... she really did give birth to a whole platter of that stuff. But no matter how we explain it, she simply won't believe us."

"Never mind her-even the neighbors refuse to believe it. They insist our family is vicious, without a shred of the compassion expected of a hereditary medical household, unable to tolerate our own grandson." Ning Zhi's father smiled bitterly. "Our family has been established in Ninghe Town for centuries and saved countless lives. Though this has tarnished our ancestors' good name, we can let the townsfolk gossip behind our backs. They watched Ning Zhi grow up too, and she's a woman physician who has treated many of their ailments. Whatever happens... everyone can muddle through and let it pass."

They truly had not killed their grandson.

"Do you still have the fetus?"

"It's buried in the woods out back. That thing-ah, eldest, take some men and dig it up."

"All right." Ning Zhi's brother immediately called the household servants to go with him.

Soon, they returned carrying a lump of "pitch-black charcoal."

Charred tendrils wrapped around a tuber; one glance showed it belonged to the plant world.

After examining the charcoal, Ao Ding was certain.

Just as I thought!

Its aura connected with Ning Zhi's. This thing indeed had to be what she had given birth to.

It should be that possibility.

"Have either of you met Huang Lang?"

"No."

"We only heard from my sister that the fellow surnamed Huang was also an accomplished physician, well versed in medicines. Tell me-our family practices medicine too. Why would we look down on a fellow practitioner? He could simply have come openly to ask for her hand. This whole matter... if he hadn't swindled my sister out of her money, her claim that he'd met with an accident might actually have been somewhat believable."

It would only mean another set of chopsticks and a bowl in the Ning household. What did they have to quibble over?

They could even discuss medicine together.

After hearing this, Ao Ding formed a plan.

He pulled a tendril from the pitch-black charcoal and smiled at the two men.

"If my judgment is correct, Huang Lang should be a spirit."

"A spirit?" The father's and brother's expressions changed dramatically.

"Indeed-such wooden fetuses are usually the offspring of humans mating with plant spirits. Nothing particularly unusual."

Worried that Ao Ding might someday be beguiled by a female demon, Sun Chen had deliberately left him several books of strange tales and romances written by cultivators about love between humans and spirits in the mortal world.

Most ended with human and spirit separated, or with lives lost.

They also recorded many women carrying spirit fetuses and giving birth to strange things that died at birth. These cases not only provoked controversy, but depleted the women's vital essence. Ning Zhi's case was unusual, however: though she had given birth, her vitality had not been depleted.

The books mentioned similar cases as well, caused by the male spirit compensating her with his vital essence.

After explaining this to her father and brother, Ao Ding asked Ning Zhi to come and checked her pulse again.

Her vital essence remained abundant, that foreign vitality circulating within her body. Not only was there no postpartum weakness, Ning Zhi had shown no abnormalities even after eating and drinking little for over half a month.

"As I thought, the foreign true qi within you bears no ill intent. It has merely accumulated in your body... I imagine, ah! His entire store of vital essence must have spilled out."

Ao Ding sighed ruefully.

"Cultivation is this difficult for beings of other kinds."

Ning Zhi did not understand, but she had watched Ao Ding personally deliver the water ghost and knew what this youth could do. She hurriedly questioned him.

"Though your Huang Lang is a spirit, I imagine he is no vicious sort and truly admires you. But his cultivation was insufficient, and he could not control himself, suffering under the Heavenly Dao's cycle of the four seasons. Once, while making love with you, he released his vital essence. This made you pregnant, but also cost him his cultivation. By now, I fear he has lost his true qi and reverted to his original form. The reason you haven't seen him for so long is probably that he cannot show himself at all."

Hearing this, Ning Zhi was overcome with grief and clung to her mother, crying.

Her father could not bear the sight, repeatedly muttering, "What a tragedy, what a tragedy-"

Her brother fell silent too. Seeing his sister so deeply devoted left him with a bitter feeling.

Ao Ding tapped the Primordial Truth Mirror and stared toward the mountain behind town. The three children worked their magic together and glimpsed a wisp of true qi with a similar aura on Phoenix Mountain.

"Would you all be willing to come with me to look for him?"

"Well..." Ning Zhi's father and brother looked troubled.

Go looking for a spirit? What for? Bring him back for a wedding?

Humans and spirits simply could not be together.

"Father, brother-" Ning Zhi rose shakily, pleading for their help.

But just as she stood, her legs gave way, and she fell straight to the ground.

"Get up, quickly-wife, help her inside at once. As for that spirit-ah, fine, fine. The two of us will go. Immortal master, sorry for the trouble; please lead the way."

"Of course, of course."

Smiling, Ao Ding beckoned the two men to follow him into the mountains under cover of night.