Dusk.
Outside the Inner City of Nanyang Prefecture, Lin Heng Alley.
Chen Mu stood at the door, seeing off the carpenter who had come to repair the windows and doors.
He looked up to see Jie Jia walking leisurely towards him from the end of the street.
Chen Mu didn’t bother to acknowledge him and turned back into his house without expression.
Under the pavilion, Jie Jia narrowed his eyes as he observed the brand-new windows and then looked Chen Mu up and down—the latter seeming swollen all over. A glint of green light flashed and disappeared in his eyes, and he frowned, “Ghosts?”
“Thanks to you!” Chen Mu said with a face full of scorn.
Jie Jia narrowed his eyes at Chen Mu.
“It was that long-haired woman from last time.” Chen Mu’s face was dark as water.
“Impossible,” Jie Jia replied indifferently without even lifting his eyelids.
“I nearly died here last night! And you tell me it’s impossible!” Chen Mu was furious.
Jie Jia was slowly and methodically wiping his eating utensils.
Upon hearing Chen Mu’s yell, he thought for a moment, put down his chopsticks, and pulled out a Zuming Talisman from his sleeve to hand to Chen Mu.
What for? Compensation?
My life was almost gone! What use is your compensation now!
Chen Mu glared at Jie Jia with a face full of annoyance, “Two of them!”
Jie Jia, expressionless, pulled out another Talisman and handed it over to Chen Mu.
“Ah! Now that’s more like it.” Chen Mu immediately grinned from ear to ear, cheerfully stowing the two Zuming Talismans snugly in his bosom.
“Five thousand taels,” Jie Jia said indifferently.
Chen Mu was startled and immediately became irate, “Isn’t that the compensation for my emotional distress? Why the charge!”
Jie Jia’s yellow eyes moved, glancing at Chen Mu.
“Ghosts have substance yet no form, adept in transforming into what terrifies.”
“In most cases, whatever the target fears, the ghosts transform into that.”
“If your fear remains unchanged, facing a hundred ghosts, transforming into the long-haired woman will still be their preferred choice.”
Jie Jia paused slightly, looking sideways at Chen Mu, “I’m quite curious, why are you so afraid of that long-haired woman?”
Chen Mu’s lips twitched, “I’m afraid she’ll crawl out of the TV.”
Jie Jia: “…”
“I’m also afraid she’ll lunge at me, rotten and decaying, to take a bite.”
Jie Jia looked at Chen Mu, puzzled.
Chen Mu had no intention of explaining; he just wore a wistful expression… it seemed his attempt at extortion was foiled.
Yet, he felt unwilling to let it go.
“I was at home having a beautiful dream, snoring away, when suddenly a ghost collided with me.”
“I was bruised all over, with internal bleeding.”
“Look at how swollen my body is; can’t you show a little sympathy?”
Jie Jia was the picture of calm, “I already gave you a discount.”
A discount? From you?
That will only happen when the sun rises in the west!
“No money!” Chen Mu said gruffly.
“You can put it on credit,” Jie Jia replied nonchalantly.
Chen Mu rolled his eyes, “And then you’ll deduct it from the profits of the Gentle Breeze Powder, right?”
“Of course.”
…
After the meal, Chen Mu told Jie Jia about his encounter from the previous night and raised a question, “How could the ghost break through the Zuming Talisman?”
Is this thing even useful?
“The purpose of the Zuming Talisman is to expel evil and ward off calamities,” Jie Jia explained calmly. “Expecting it to kill a ghost is a bit difficult.”
Chen Mu immediately understood, grasping the meaning of ‘expel’ and ‘ward off.’
So it’s more like a perfume, not an insecticide.
“Is there a Daoist Talisman that can kill ghosts?”
“Not here,” Jie Jia said flatly.
“Which state capital in Da Liang has one?” Chen Mu’s eyes lit up. “Isn’t Zhu Yi Pavilion present all over the world? Could you buy one for me?”
“None of the state capitals in Da Liang have it,” Jie Jia shook his head.
Chen Mu was confused, “Overseas?”
“Something like that,” Jie Jia nodded.
Chen Mu couldn’t help but sigh, and then said with frustration, “Why does that ghost keep targeting me?”
After some thought, Jie Jia said, “When you were a child, were you ever possessed by a ghost?”
“If I were possessed by Ghosts, would you still be able to see me?” Chen Mu looked askance at Jie Jia.
“Possession by Ghosts doesn’t always result in death,” Jie Jia said indifferently, “Sometimes they coexist with the host. Especially with infants.”
“By growing alongside infants, they can continuously absorb Vital Energy.”
Chen Mu was immediately startled; this was like going from a one-time feast to having meals all the time. Ghosts had such tricks up their sleeves?
“Are you sure this isn’t called parasitism?”
Jie Jia glanced at Chen Mu and continued, “Such Ghosts can be exorcised. However, the host will have been altered and is more susceptible to possession a second time.”
Chen Mu furrowed his brow and pondered, “I don’t have such experiences.”
“Maybe you were too young to remember,” Jie Jia said calmly.
“That unlucky?” Chen Mu couldn’t help but sigh.
His predecessor had left him with a serious problem indeed.
After some thought, Chen Mu shrugged. He should be thankful to his predecessor for being alive. Where did he get the entitlement to complain?
Moreover, he was able to come into contact with this world of extraordinary powers… well, even though it was a bit terrifying and scary.
But Chen Mu was still very grateful to his predecessor.
“Worst case, I’ll just prepare more Zuming Talismans in the future.”
“Soak in a vat of floral-scented water, and I refuse to believe that mosquito will dare to come near me!”
…
In the following days, Chen Mu stayed at home to recuperate.
He initially wanted to move again.
But given his special constitution, it wasn’t quite safe regardless of where he moved.
It was better to stay in Lin Heng Alley, closer to the Inner City.
Chances of encountering Ghosts might be higher elsewhere.
…
Five days later, the swelling on Chen Mu’s body had subsided.
The pain in his back and chest had also vanished.
Practicing the White Jade Toad Shape Cultivation Technique in the yard three times, he felt no discomfort.
“After all, I’m not the weakling I used to be,” he mused.
Last time he had only been brushed by a palm strike from Qian Shan Daoist and was forced to recuperate for two or three months before fully recovering.
Now he faced even fiercer Ghosts, yet he had recovered in just five days.
Only that he got hungrier quicker, eating five meals a day.
Each meal was two to three times that of an average person.
Now that his body had recovered, his appetite hadn’t, and he still ate a lot without ever putting on weight.
“I wonder how those Shell Soul experts manage,” Chen Mu said with a complicated expression as he stepped out of the restroom.
Eating a lot meant, well… dealing with the consequences a lot too.
“They must have high-energy food,” Chen Mu concluded firmly.
Like… Fasting Pills, for instance.
Chen Mu now somewhat understood why Jie Jia despised that name so much.
He had seen it!
“Perhaps I could find a way to get some to study,” Chen Mu’s eyes brightened with the thought.
But before that, he needed to think about how to make money.
…
Under the eaves, Chen Mu toyed with a Dragon Transformation Pill in his hand.
This was the last one he had.
He had initially obtained twenty.
He had given four to old man Ge in exchange for the Shape Cultivation Technique and sold fifteen for Zuming Talismans.
This one was the only pill he had kept.
“I wonder if there’s anything that can replace the palace lantern red,” Chen Mu thought to himself.
Although the Dragon Transformation Pill was a risk, it was very valuable in Da Liang’s Jianghu.
It could be exchanged for Shape Cultivation Techniques and buy Zuming Talismans, making it as good as cash!
A scroll as long as a small forearm appeared in his hand amidst rolling black smoke.
A Scripture Scroll he hadn’t looked at in a long time—Thousand Mountains Sutra.
Chen Mu untied the black binding rope and spread it out on a long table, immediately looking at the last part.
The handwriting in this section was slightly different from the rest, as if added by later generations.
“Medicine Cultivators, Sacrificial Shadow Souls. It turns out it’s not just about sacrificing Ghosts, but also about refining the Three Treasures Essence,” Chen Mu noted with a complex expression.
The so-called secret technique of extracting essences, he had owned it for a long time already.