The day passed quickly.
At night, Lu Zheng lay in bed, awaiting the old priest’s performance.
Soon, a chill spread, followed by a faint burst of yin energy.
It’s here!
Lu Zheng jolted, springing up, but before he could act, sounds came from the backyard.
“Zha!”
A hoarse voice rang out, followed by a series of bell chimes.
Peering through the window crack, Lu Zheng saw the priest standing in the yard, holding the brass bell, stepping in a ritual pattern, forming hand seals, eyes sharp, muttering incantations.
The ghost child floated in mid-air, letting out eerie laughs and screams, darting around the priest unpredictably.
A dazzling scene, not as grand as the Peach Blossom Village battle, but more than enough to impress ordinary folk.
Perhaps noticing Lu Zheng, the priest and ghost child’s clash intensified.
The ghost child stirred gusts of cold wind, making the yard howl, while the priest shook his bell rapidly, unleashing bursts of golden light.
For a moment, man and ghost traded blows, back and forth.
But… Lu Zheng frowned, the bell’s noise was a bit loud, wouldn’t it disturb the neighbors?
As Lu Zheng’s brow furrowed, the priest likely sensed the act was sufficient. He pointed at the ghost child, formed a hand seal, and directed it toward the bell.
The ghost child let out a wail, turned into a white light, and shot into the bell.
“Phew—”
The priest exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow, then held the bell in one hand, stroked his beard with the other, and nodded calmly at Lu Zheng, “The ghost has been subdued, you can rest easy now, young master!”
“Creak—”
The bedroom door swung open. In the priest’s stunned gaze, a surge of potent martial blood qi and pure Taoist true qi erupted.
The next moment, saber in one hand, talisman in the other, Lu Zheng stepped out.
Priest: Σ(°△°|||)︴
“Reverend?” Lu Zheng smirked.
“Young master, this is…” The priest forced a weak smile, “I didn’t expect you to have cultivation…”
“Reverend?” Lu Zheng raised his saber.
“Thud!”
Without a word, the priest dropped to his knees.
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow, that practiced?
“Young master, have mercy! I only meant to scam some money, never to harm anyone!”
His grim face twisted, oddly comical.
“I’m just a wandering conman, scraping by, never done anything heinous, spare me, young master!”
“Hmph, and the ghost child?”
“It died of illness! Already dead when I took its soul on burial day, I’ve never killed anyone, young master!”
Lu Zheng pursed his lips, tucked the exorcism talisman away, and extended his hand, eyes fixed on the brass bell.
The priest’s face showed reluctance.
Lu Zheng raised his saber again.
The priest immediately stood, bowing, and handed the bell to Lu Zheng.
Taking the bell, Lu Zheng sat on a stone bench under the persimmon tree, “Speak.”
“S-speak what?”
“Clang!”
Lu Zheng tapped his saber on the ground.
“I’m from Mozhou, fled war and famine, stumbled into a strange tomb, got a partial cultivation text and this brass bell, and have been…”
…
As expected, the priest had some skill but was indeed a seasoned swindler.
His abilities amounted to a fragmented cultivation text, a soul-driving and spirit-nurturing technique, and the tomb-acquired brass bell.
The soul-driving technique required the bell as a medium, no wonder he was reluctant to part with it.
“How’d you pick me?” Lu Zheng tapped his saber again.
“Heard you’re new here, living alone, running a candy shop, figured you’re an easy mark with no connections, so…”
Regret filled the priest’s eyes, the hunter pecked by his own prey!
“Why not go straight back to the west city after retrieving the ghost child, why detour through the north or south?”
This was Lu Zheng’s biggest grievance, if you’d gone straight west the first day, he wouldn’t have spent a whole day scaring himself!
The priest glanced at Lu Zheng, “The city center and main streets have City God yin soldiers at night, I… I didn’t dare let the ghost pass through there…”
Lu Zheng, “…”
He caught the priest’s look, so this was just common knowledge!
Gritting his teeth, Lu Zheng asked, “Where’s your cultivation text?”
“I burned it after learning…”
“Clang!”
“I carry it with me!”
Trembling, the priest pulled a tattered book from his robes.
“Young master, this is all I’ve got to live on, please, let me go!”
The priest was near tears, “I swear, I’ll never come back to Tonglin County!”
Lu Zheng took the book, “You’ve been at this for decades, haven’t you saved enough for retirement?”
Glancing at the priest, he said coolly, “Tell me, where’s the land and house you’ve bought, how many concubines do you keep?”
The priest gaped, was this a plan to strip him bare?
“Young master, I swear I’m broke, I don’t dare go to big cities, and counties don’t have many rich folks!”
“Clang!”
The air stilled.
“Stop wailing!”
Lu Zheng snapped, “Keep it up, and I’ll drag you to the magistrate, let you wail to the Anomaly Suppression Office!”
The priest shut up instantly.
“Don’t worry, I don’t want your money, I’ve got my own ways to earn,” Lu Zheng said.
“Young master, skilled in both martial and Taoist arts, a savvy merchant, young and promising, with grand ambitions, you’d never care for my pitiful savings!”
“But from now on, no more scamming,” Lu Zheng said calmly.
“Young master…”
“Or we can visit the magistrate?”
“Have mercy, young master! I’ve long wanted to quit, it harms my karma, but because of the ghost child, I had no choice.”
Lu Zheng flipped through the tattered book, reaching the soul-driving section.
“You dispersed its three souls, leaving only the seven spirits?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Lu Zheng nodded, understanding why the ghost child lacked any sentience.
With the three souls governing memory and thought gone, only the seven spirits controlling form remained, a vegetative ghost, only able to follow simple commands, devoid of autonomy.
Lu Zheng looked at the priest, who kept his head low, submissive.
“Alright, you can go.”
The priest, as if pardoned, nodded repeatedly, scurried to grab his bundle, and prepared to flee.
“Clang!”
Lu Zheng tapped his saber, “Forgetting something?”
The priest, with a mournful face, shakily pulled out the thirty guan of banknotes.
“I’m a lay disciple of Baiyun Temple, if you want revenge, come find me.”
“No, no!” Hearing Baiyun Temple’s name, the priest’s eyes widened, wishing he could slap himself.
…
Watching the priest flee in disgrace, Lu Zheng felt a tremor in his mind’s jade seal, three strands of fortune light instantly credited.
