An Evil Presence

Qu Zan opened his eyes and saw that the white cloth covering the corpse had actually become stained with blood.

More and more blood seeped through, forming a stark human shape on the white cloth. The features of that shape twisted and distorted, looking like a vicious cat grinning hideously.

"What's going on? Why is it rotting so quickly?"

Qu Zan silently recited a mantra, switching this time to the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra. White smoke drifted around him, faintly forming a white lion in the air to suppress the evil presence that had arisen.

The human-shaped patch of blood on the white cloth gradually faded.

"It seems the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra really does have the power to subdue evil." Qu Zan inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, Dajie's son opened his eyes and saw that his grandmother's shroud had become stained blood-red. He screamed in fright, "Dad, Grandma's corpse is coming to life!"

That scream was like a spark setting a fire ablaze.

The shroud over Dajie's mother suddenly seemed to come alive, shaking incessantly and exposing the old woman's corpse.

The old woman was very thin, practically skin and bones. Her face, in particular, was nothing but coarse, wrinkled human skin wrapped around a skull. Livor mortis mottled her brown skin, and her eyes, especially, were ashen and hollow, without a trace of life.

"How could a dead person suddenly open her eyes?"

Qu Zan noticed that her face kept twisting, her eyes rolling upward, their narrow slits like a cat's eyes. Her twitching corpse warped and changed, forming a hunched cat ghost.

Dajie and his wife heard the commotion upstairs and hurried down. Seeing his mother's uncanny appearance, they shook like chaff in a sieve. He gathered his son and daughter into his arms and fled outside.

"Lama, Lama, save us!"

The moment the cat-faced old woman saw her son, the venom and hatred in her eyes all but overflowed. The shroud around her had become completely soaked in blood, so red it was black, wrapping her body as though she were draped in a black cat's pelt.

Qu Zan waved the cypress branch, and the white smoke it produced formed a wall that cut off the cat-faced old woman.

The old woman regarded the fragrant smoke of the Sang Offering with wariness and fear.

An idea stirred in Qu Zan's mind, and he formed a plan. He waved the smoke, mingled with the fragrance of pine and cypress, spreading it throughout the room. As more smoke dispersed, the space in which the cat-faced old woman could move grew smaller.

As long as I keep this thing trapped in the room until the great sun rises, I refuse to believe it can withstand the great sun!

The cat-faced old woman glared venomously at Qu Zan, her body involuntarily retreating.

Suddenly, driven into a corner by the smoke, the cat-faced old woman let out a mournful howl and a piercing scream. Amid those cries, she murmured an uncanny name.

"Om benza mahakala ching che zha..."

The voice was eerie and fathomlessly deep, filled with ill omen.

This is bad. This thing is summoning some terrifying being! Qu Zan vaguely sensed the air here becoming thick, damp, and heavy. Something ominous was emerging from the void.

The white smoke he had summoned vanished instantly beneath that ominous being's aura.

Utter darkness appeared overhead, harboring a great terror.

"The Great Black Protector."

Qu Zan looked up into the darkness. A six-armed Vengeful Ghost appeared, a necklace of human heads encircling it and a tiger-skin skirt tied around its waist. The moment its wild, ghost-lion mane appeared,

the butter tea and tsampa on the offering table grew moldy, then rotted, finally becoming a disgusting, pitch-black substance.

The instant that darkness appeared, Qu Zan felt as though something had seized his body. From his throat to his eardrums, he felt the suffocating pressure of being held underwater.

This is absolutely no ordinary evil presence. It's a true Vengeful Ghost!

If it manifested fully, this place, and possibly even the entire village, could be wiped out!

There's no way to confront that Vengeful Ghost directly. Then I'll eliminate the evil presence summoning it!

Qu Zan looked at the cat-faced old woman. I don't know what resentment or bitterness you bear. If you truly have grievances, then hate the person who hurt you.

His lips moved continuously as he recited the sacred mantra.

This time, he gathered all his focus. His entire bearing changed in an instant, like a mighty lion reigning over the earth.

Roar!

He abruptly opened his mouth wide. The sound did not come from him; rather, a lion roared in the void above.

It was only a soft roar, yet Qu Zan felt as though his brain had been emptied.

A spiritual lion's roar burst forth in an instant, thundering against the cat-faced old woman chanting the name of that great terror.

Boom!

The spiritual sound wave struck the old woman. Like paper touched by flame, she burned, turning into gray-black ash that drifted through the air.

Once this conduit for the summoning disappeared, the pitch-black darkness overhead vanished instantly, and the ceiling became an ordinary house ceiling again.

Qu Zan rubbed his head. It felt as though his consciousness had been drained dry.

After a while, orange sunlight streamed in from the east, falling over the shadows on the walls and illuminating the enclosed little courtyard. Only then did Qu Zan let out a deep sigh of relief.

"The great sun has risen."

The rising sun brought a surge of warmth to Qu Zan's heart.

Only after seeing the sun rise did Dajie's family come back, peering cautiously around. When Dajie saw Qu Zan, he asked, "Lama, is my mother all right?"

Qu Zan glanced at him and said, "Your mother seems to have harbored resentment and become an evil presence after death. When the sun rose, that evil presence turned to ash!"

He pointed at the pile of ash on the floor. "That's what your mother left behind."

"Oh dear, how could this have happened? Where could she have picked up such resentment? Our whole family treated her with the utmost filial devotion." Dajie stamped his foot and sighed.

Qu Zan recalled the old woman's gaunt frame. It had clearly been caused by hunger.

Qu Zan offered no comment. This godforsaken place, Mìdì, had neither police nor courts. Even if it did, they would not bother with this sort of sordid business.

Dajie said, "Lama, thank you for subduing the evil presence. I'll give you more Secret Silver. Please perform some more rites to deliver her soul!"

Qu Zan waved his hand. "I still have to return to the monastery. There's no need."

He had originally come here to chant sutras and deliver a soul, never expecting to encounter an evil presence. Now that he had fulfilled his promise, Qu Zan wanted no further entanglement with this family. Who knew what else might happen here?

He left Dajie's house and returned to his family's wooden cabin.

Duimu had already gone out to work, leaving Meiduo home alone. Qu Zan gave Meiduo five of the ten taels of Secret Silver he had earned this time, telling her to hide it carefully and, when Duimu came home, ask her to buy meat for the household from time to time.

The little girl was far too thin and small. She needed meat to properly build her strength. This encounter with an evil presence had certainly been frightening, but fortunately, he had earned enough to make up for it.

Qu Zan took out the coral pendant Dajie had given him.

He absorbed the mystic resonance within it, gaining 0.7 available points.

After its mystic resonance had been absorbed, the coral pendant still looked exquisite and beautiful. It could still be sold for some Secret Silver coins.