Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 272 Zombie Moon Worship
Seeing this sickly-looking but robust young man, Ran Qing frowned.

"Xiao Huang Xin?"

He recognized the robust young man; they were from the same village, about the same age, and had played together as children.

However, Xiao Huang dropped out of school early and spent his days hanging out in several nearby towns. He often called on his friends and was prone to fighting, gradually becoming a stranger to Ran Qing, who had gone to the city to study at a young age.

Their relationship wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either.

When Xiao Huangxin came back for the Spring Festival last year, his mother specially sent a piece of cured meat to Ran Qing's house for Ran Qing's New Year celebration.

Thinking of this, Ran Qing looked at the pine forest outside the stone temple and was about to speak.

Just then, the old fox's hoarse, ingratiating laughter came from the pine forest outside.

“…Um…Sir, this man is a farmer from the foot of the mountain.”

“A month ago, he accepted our family’s betrothal gifts, and he just got married to my granddaughter a couple of days ago.”

“According to the customs in the mountains, he has to marry into the family for at least ten years.”

"But we've seen his mother crying a lot down the mountain these past few days, and it looks really pitiful, so we decided to let him go home and reunite with his family."

"Sir, you seem to be from that village down the mountain too, right? It would be a pity if you could give him a ride. He's been drinking quite a bit these past few days and might be a little dizzy; he doesn't know the way..."

The old fox forced a hoarse laugh, proceeding cautiously.

Ran Qing was taken aback, then sneered inwardly.

It seems that this den of foxes was frightened by the commotion he made when he invited the ancestral tablets of past masters.

They didn't bring out Xiao Huangxin before, they insisted on waiting until he invited the ancestral tablets and wiped out all the evil spirits in the stone temple before bringing out Xiao Huangxin...

They even knew that Ran Qing came from a village at the foot of the mountain and was an acquaintance of this Xiao Huang Xin from the same village.

This group of foxes had obviously been following Ran Qing and his group before, which is how they learned that Ran Qing and his two companions lived in the village at the foot of the mountain and had a relationship with Xiao Huangxin.

Ran Qing sneered inwardly, but she also understood that this den of foxes had made a great concession.

Once the betrothal gifts are accepted, the marriage between a mountain demon and a fox spirit is considered a done deal, and ordinary mountain demons wouldn't give up. If the two sides really break off relations, unless Ran Qing can wipe out the entire fox den, there will be endless trouble after the feud begins.

Even if a Taoist hermit has the ability to deal with these mountain demons, it's generally best to avoid provoking these vengeful demons.

Since this den of foxes was so timid, Ran Qing naturally wouldn't expose them and offend them.

He stood up straight and bowed respectfully to the pine forest outside the door: "The water rushes across the Wujiang Dam, the moon travels over the Wumeng Mountains... My name is Ran Qing, and I am a disciple of Sister Mo Baifeng, the sixth sister of Zangke. If you need anything in the future, Madam, you can come to Yue Zhaocheng Park Road to find me."

Following the rules of the martial arts world, Ran Qing introduced himself and left his address.

He only said to come to him if I had any problems, but he didn't promise that he would definitely help.

Even so, the old fox in the pine forest was all smiles.

The old fox was clearly overjoyed, and he even stopped pretending to be hoarse and weak, laughing and hurriedly saying, "Of course, of course, sirs, please take your leave..."

A murmur rippled through the pine forest, and the eyes that had been glowing in the darkness parted to make way.

Ran Qing shook the corpse-driving bell, and two intact paper figures carried the unconscious Xiao Huangxin outside.

In my ears, I could faintly hear the low roars of the evil lords.

Ran Qing had some tinnitus and felt very uncomfortable. She said impatiently, "I know, the sacrificial ceremony will be doubled this time..."

No matter how calm Ran Qing was, when dealing with the evil lords, she would be affected by their violence and her tone would become irritable.

Only when the low growls and tinnitus in her ears disappeared did Ran Qing's surging violent emotions slowly subside.

They left the pine forest and walked a long way through the mountains. Surprisingly, while crossing a stream, they saw a Taoist priest, known for his ability to transport corpses, resting on a large rock below a waterfall. The icy stream water cascaded down the cliff above, crashing against the rocks in the mountains.

The cold water flowed under the dim moonlight, and the corpse-driving Taoist priest, covered in blood, sat listlessly on a rock, looking as eerie as a ghost.

When the flashlight shone on his face, if Ran Qing and the others hadn't recognized the face of the corpse-driving Taoist, they would have thought they had really encountered a wandering ghost.

After the two sides met, the corpse-driving Taoist priest was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned to shock.

"You...you survived?!"

The corpse-driving Taoist priest looked like he'd seen a ghost, clearly not expecting Ran Qing and the others to survive such a danger.

But the next second, the corpse-driving Taoist priest lowered his head listlessly and said weakly, "Your son invited the ancestral tablets of the spirit mediums? Are those things really that evil...?"

The corpse-driving Taoist muttered to himself, clearly lacking knowledge of the ancestral tablets of those who travel to the underworld.

Ran Qing didn't explain, but said, "Master Liu, would you like to come along? You look quite tired."

The old Taoist priest was not only exhausted, but his sickly and weak appearance gave people the feeling that he would die at any moment.

Moreover, he even possessed a faint aura of death that only those who are about to die have.

The corpse-driving Taoist looked at Ran Qing listlessly and said, "You three, get out of here. Don't disturb me as I absorb the moonlight. Whatever it is, I'll talk to you tomorrow at dawn. Don't bother me tonight..."

As the corpse-driving Taoist spoke, he slumped limply onto the large rock.

The stream cascaded down the cliff, splashing water droplets onto the rocks and soaking his hair and clothes, but he didn't care at all.

The way he lay exhausted and slumped on the big rock, limbs outstretched, looked like he was basking in the moonlight in the night sky.

This is an open area in the mountains and forests, bathed in moonlight, with a stream flowing nearby and a moist atmosphere. This is the kind of place zombies like to stay.

The fact that this corpse-driving Taoist priest was slumped down under the moonlight is similar to the behavior of the moon-dwelling zombie described in "Witchcraft and Ghostly Arts"...

Ran Qing frowned, then pulled Mo Li, who still wanted to say something more, away.

Long Zongshu remained silent, but kept staring at the corpse-driving Taoist on the big rock until he had walked away before speaking in a low voice.

"...Ran Qing, that corpse-driving Taoist priest seems to be a zombie. He is clearly performing a zombie moon worship."

Ran Qing shook his head: "Zombies aren't that smart, nor are they that big-mouthed... There are all sorts of strange and wonderful things in the Xuanmen and Hexie sects, so let's ignore them."

Ran Qing was exhausted and just wanted to go back and rest.

Mo Li then asked in a low voice, "By the way, about that ghost...should we tell Uncle Ran about it?"

Mo Li quietly asked Ran Qing for her opinion.

The fact that this tree spirit actually knew Ran Jianfei was beyond everyone's expectations.

Ran Qing calmly shook her head and said, "You won't get the truth from him if you ask him, and you'll only alert him."

"Let's not ask him, we'll investigate ourselves."

Previously, Ran Qing wasn't very interested in Ran Jianfei's past, after all, it was a grudge from ten years ago.

But now it seems that Ran Jianfei ten years ago wasn't so innocent.

He had a good relationship with his sixth aunt, Lu Baiyin, Long Shangyong and their group, and they seemed to be working together.

But another group of unorthodox practitioners who secretly raise ghosts are also on good terms with him... Is Ran Jianfei righteous or evil?

Is the matter of offering sacrifices to ghosts and raising ghosts related to him?

What exactly is the ghost that this group of people is worshipping?
(End of this chapter)