Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 399 Straw Rope
"Ran...Ran Qing?"

A cold wind swept silently through the dark world.

When Teacher Li woke up from her coma, she felt a tremor and shaking, as if she were lying on a moving carriage.

After opening her eyes somewhat dazedly, Teacher Li was surprised to find herself lying in a transparent glass jar.

A huge human face was reflected next to the glass jar.

The light refracted through the glass jar, making the face look distorted and strange, but Teacher Li still recognized it.

It exclaimed the boy's name in surprise.

Ran Qing, who was holding up an incense stick in the darkness and following the smoke as it burned, heard the sound coming from the glass bottle and looked down.

Inside the glass jar he held in his hands, Teacher Li's spirit was awakening.

The gazes of the human and the ghost met through the transparent glass jar. Ran Qing nodded and said.

"It's me, Teacher Li."

Ran Qing said, "We have returned to the Ghost Realm of Wujiang and are on our way back to the human world."

The burning incense sticks were held in Ran Qing's other hand.

The smoke from the burning incense sticks was drawn by some unseen force, drifting continuously into the depths of darkness.

On the desolate and broken dark land, there seemed to be an invisible mist, or some special force blocking the view, making it difficult to see anything from a distance.

In this dark and gloomy place, one's line of sight is limited to only a few meters around them.

Ran Qing walked briskly forward, the Nuo opera mask on the back of her head.

But the more you look at that incredibly vivid demon mask, the more it seems like another face growing out of the back of his head.

Inside the glass jar, Teacher Li's spirit remained motionless for a long while.

Its expression was sometimes ferocious, sometimes painful, and the demonic side within it was churning wildly.

But in the end, Teacher Li successfully suppressed the demonic side within him.

It asked hesitantly, "...Where are those ghost messengers?"

For Teacher Li, the vengeful ghost, the terrifying ghost messengers resembling the legendary Black and White Impermanence, and the enormous deity appearing behind them, all possessed a mysterious and oppressive aura that was difficult for him to resist.

In order to save it, Ran Qing actually clashed with those terrifying things...

Teacher Li felt both guilty and uneasy.

Ran Qing, who was walking alone on the dark land, glanced expressionlessly in the direction he had come from and said, "I killed the ghost messenger."

In reality, it was eaten by the evil master...

But these so-called ghost messengers and righteous gods were too strange and evil, and Ran Qing was unwilling to mention them too much.

Those secrets visible to the naked eye must remain buried deep inside.

Ran Qing said, "Teacher Li, don't worry. We are in the Wujiang Ghost Realm, and no ghost messengers can enter."

"I will take you back now and use the methods of a spirit medium to convert you."

"Although I cannot help you reincarnate, I can help you find peace after death and let your soul return to the world."

"This is the only thing I can do to help you now..."

Ran Qing recounted the story calmly.

Teacher Li, who was shaking inside the glass jar, suddenly noticed Ran Qing's face.

Startled, it said anxiously, "Ran Qing, your...your eyes!"

In the dark, eerie wind, one could vaguely see Ran Qing's face, her right eye socket completely black, clearly missing its eyeball.

The blood clots, which had just solidified, piled up in the empty eye sockets, looking rather eerie.

Ran Qing said calmly, "Teacher Li, there's no need to be nervous. My eyes can be cured, but there's no need to be right now."

He can easily heal his wounds simply by rolling up his sleeve and using the demon eye given to him by the demon-eyed goat god.

But to use the Ghost Eye for such a minor injury as losing an eyeball and a finger is too extravagant.

Ran Qing still has a real tough battle to face. The Ghost Eye must be used wisely and cannot be wasted.

In the darkness, Ran Qing moved forward rapidly.

Teacher Li inside the glass jar wanted to say something, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she felt a wave of dizziness and a drowsy feeling that only the living experience surged up inside her.

The tired Teacher Li was incredulous.

Ran Qing's muffled voice rang out from outside the glass jar.

"...Teacher Li, why don't you take a nap first?"

"I wrote the [Silent Spell] on this glass jar, which can bring temporary peace and a peaceful sleep to the departed souls."

"After you fall asleep, the demon inside you will also fall asleep, so it will stop tormenting you."

Once transformed into a vengeful ghost, resentment and hatred will torment it constantly, as if it were suffering the agony of a gruesome death.

Therefore, the more tragically a ghost dies, the more ferocious it usually is.

Although Teacher Li's spirit was able to maintain its rationality, the demonic side within it must have been tormenting him constantly.

With the limited resources at hand, Ran Qing could only write a "Silent Spell" to temporarily put Teacher Li's spirit to sleep for a while, and then use other methods to help it resolve its resentment after bringing it back to the human world.

Inside the glass jar, Teacher Li's spirit, upon hearing Ran Qing's explanation, paused for a moment. It gratefully thanked Ran Qing and then ceased resisting its drowsiness.

A few seconds later, the spirit of Teacher Li inside the glass jar quickly fell silent and entered a deep sleep.

Ran Qing continued walking towards the end of the dark earth, still holding the glass jar and the burning incense stick.

The eerie ghost realm of the Wujiang River unfolded before his eyes.

On this desolate and eerie land, one can often find strange buildings, mansions, or human artifacts.

A stone Buddha head with its neck severed stands smilingly on the mountain path ahead, entwined by purple vines.

Ran Qing avoided it from a distance.

A brightly lit asphalt road, illuminated by streetlights, suddenly appeared on the barren yellow earth, its end pitch black, resembling a cliff.

Ran Qing stared coldly for a long time until the thing at the end of the broken road disappeared before he bypassed the broken road and continued forward.

The eerie and desolate Ghost Realm of the Wujiang River remains, as always, teeming with evil spirits.

This was definitely the farthest and longest stay Ran Qing had ever made in the Wujiang Ghost Realm since becoming a spirit medium.

He saw many unfamiliar sights and encountered many unfamiliar things along the way. By the end, he could even clearly feel the warmth of his body gradually being stripped away.

Even those who can freely enter the underworld will lose their body temperature if they stay there for too long.

The malevolent and deathly aura of the underworld was silently eroding his body.

On the way, he vaguely encountered some strange evil lords.

Those weaker evil lords are the easiest to deal with; some weaker evil lords may even be easier to deal with than ordinary vengeful ghosts.

Ran Qing didn't even need to set up an altar or cast a spell. After the little red rope figures jumped out of the canvas bag, the weak evil lords immediately disappeared.

The lineage of Yin Walkers has been traversing this underworld land for many years, and the evil lords in the darkness and netherworld are generally familiar with them.

Among these encounters, there were some powerful evil lords.

There is an evil lord, extremely strange, who is a cold river flowing in the underworld.

The river water was a pale white, like flowing moonlight or solidified grease.

He suddenly appeared in front of Ran Qing, instantly cutting off Ran Qing's path.

But soon, the evil lord sensed something and disappeared without a trace.

Behind the Nuo opera mask came the laughter of the evil lords.

"...He is afraid of the sheep god!"

"Hey... Afraid of the Sheep God? Aren't you afraid of us?"

"Boy! Eat him!"

"Chase after them! Chase after them!"

Behind the mask, the evil lord was as noisy, manic, and irritable as ever. The pale river was wary of the aura of the Ghost Eye Goat God on Ran Qing, which clearly angered the group of evil lords behind the mask.

They clamored for Ran Qing to chase after them.

But Ran Qing coldly ignored the noisy group of evil lords.

He had a general understanding of the evil master behind the Nuo opera mask.

They seemed to be confined to a place like a gladiatorial arena on weekdays and could not leave at will, so they did not miss any opportunity to chatter and make noise in Ran Qing's ear.

However, this noisy and chaotic evil lord, though numerous, was not particularly terrifying.

Behind the Nuo opera masks, what is truly terrifying are the three mysterious evil lords, each as large as a mountain.

But they seemed to be outside the arena, and were rarely sensed by Ran Qing.

Even when Ran Qing activated the blood talisman, it took some time before one of the evil lords responded to it.

The true form of that evil lord was the spider that had swallowed the giant human head in one gulp.

—A spider as large as a mountain.

Seeing the terrifying power of that evil lord, Ran Qing finally understood why his sixth aunt was surprised when he got the Nuo opera mask during the Qiling ceremony.

Aunt Liu's ritual implement, the sheepskin drum, has a mysterious and powerful ghost-eyed sheep god on its back.

That demon-eyed sheep god is definitely one of the top evil lords in the Wujiang ghost realm.

Behind Ran Qing's Nuo opera mask, even excluding the noisy and numerous evil lords, there are still three mysterious evil lords who are almost comparable to the Ghost-Eyed Sheep God...

The power of Nuo opera masks is self-evident.

According to the records in "Witchcraft and Spiritual Arts", the more powerful the evil master behind the artifacts used by spirit mediums, the more dangerous that power becomes.

But for Ran Qing, being able to obtain the Nuo opera mask was still an extremely lucky thing.

In addition, the demonic eyes given to him by the demonic goat god seemed to carry the aura of the goat god.

Therefore, Ran Qing traversed this dark and eerie ghost realm of Wujiang, avoiding all the dangers he could find. Without actively seeking trouble, he actually led Teacher Li's spirit safely across the desolate land and arrived at Wuzhai Pass.

The Wuzhai Pass, shrouded in a chilling wind, remained as desolate and eerie as ever.

Once Ran Qing walked out of Wuzhai Pass, the rest of the way became much easier for her.

Holding an incense stick, he followed the smoke from the burning incense as he walked out of the Wuzhai Pass, down the mountain, and into a vast expanse of white fog.

After walking along this foggy road for a while, the human presence became increasingly strong.

Finally, Ran Qing returned to a room where the air was heavy and the floor was lit with candles.

The familiar main room and the familiar altar signified that Ran Qing had successfully returned home.

The little red rope figures inside the canvas bag laughed happily. Without Ran Qing's command, they excitedly jumped out of the canvas bag and climbed up to hang on the ceiling.

Ran Qing stood in the stuffy main room, lit three more incense sticks, and respectfully bowed to the memorial tablets of her ancestors made of old sheepskin before inserting the incense sticks into the large vat.

Then, he took a deep breath and returned to the human world.

The surrounding scenery blurred, and the many burning candles on the ground vanished. In their place was an empty and desolate main room, though the air inside remained stuffy and hot.

Pushing open the main door, I saw the sun shining brightly outside, and the azure sky was cloudless.

Mo Li, wearing a light yellow dress, sat anxiously by the door, weaving something with straw rope.

Hearing the door to the main room open, Mo Li subconsciously turned around and met Ran Qing's gaze.

Their eyes met, and Mo Li was taken aback.

A look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Ran Qing!"

The girl exclaimed in surprise and jumped up from the chair in an exaggerated manner, then casually hid the half-woven straw rope.

She cried out with immense joy, "You're finally back!"

The girl breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a hint of theatricality in that joyful expression.

Ran Qing glanced at her hand but didn't ask what the straw rope the girl had hidden was.

Instead, she asked in surprise, "There's no fog today? How come the weather is so nice?"

Previously, Zangke was shrouded in ghostly mist, and the pale ghostly figures of the Ancient Luo Ghost Kingdom were causing harm to people everywhere.

But now that Ran Qing has returned to the mortal realm, what she sees is a clear blue sky without a single cloud, which is somewhat unexpected.

Surely those evil spirits from the Wujiang Ghost Realm wouldn't suddenly stop, would they?

Hearing the commotion behind Ran Qing, Long Zongshu ran out of the house.

Long Zongshu explained, "The ghost fog suddenly dissipated around four o'clock yesterday afternoon, and it hasn't returned since."

"Furthermore, no ancient ghost soldiers appeared after dark last night. They seemed to have suddenly disappeared. I don't know what happened."

After Long Zongshu finished speaking, he was about to walk towards Ran Qing.

Mo Li, who was facing Ran Qing, suddenly froze, finally noticing the abnormality on Ran Qing's face.

Her voice trembled, tinged with a sob: "Ran Qing, your...your eyes..."

Under the bright sunlight, Ran Qing's right eye was hollow and eerie, with only congealed scabs piled up, clearly indicating that she had lost an eyeball.

Long Zongshu was also startled and rushed to the front, where he saw Ran Qing's miserable state.

"Your eyes...and your fingers..."

Long Zongshu asked anxiously, "What happened to you after you were dragged into the mirror? Did you use up all the ghost eyes that the Ghost Eye Sheep God gave you? Why are your eyes and fingers gone?"

Seeing her companion was frightened, Ran Qing quickly explained, "I haven't finished using the Ghost Eye yet. I just don't want to use it for now. I can recover at any time."

"After being dragged into the mirror, I went to the edge of the Wujiang Ghost Realm and walked around inside all night before finally coming out."

"We did encounter some trouble, but there was no danger to our lives."

Ran Qing spoke up to comfort her companion.

Upon hearing Ran Qing's answer, Mo Li and Long Zongshu were taken aback.

Long Zongshu scratched his head and hesitated, "Uh... well, you didn't just go for one night, you've been gone for two nights..."

Mo Li walked to Ran Qing's side and said, "The sense of time is confused in the Wujiang Ghost Realm. I guessed that you went to the Wujiang Ghost Realm, so I brought Zong Shu back to wait for you."

"You should go and rest quickly. You've been inside for so long, and the death energy will be very strong. You need to rest for a day or two and dispel the death energy from your body."

"Otherwise, if too much death energy accumulates in your body, you'll get sick when you get older."

Mo Li urged Ran Qing to rest, but was surprised to see the glass jar in Ran Qing's hand.

And the souls of the dead in the jar.

"Huh? This vengeful ghost is... Li Hongye's father?" Mo Li leaned down with some surprise, resting his hands on his knees, and observed the vengeful ghost in the glass jar up close.

She seemed to notice something, and looked surprised: "This vengeful ghost that Teacher Li has turned into... it feels kind of strange..."

Ran Qing handed the glass jar to Mo Li and said, "Although it has become a vengeful ghost, it has retained its personality and rationality from its previous life. It should have been made by Li Hongye using ancient ghost money."

"I want to help it dispel its resentment and let it rest in peace after death."

Ran Qing did not hide her plans and briefly recounted what had happened in the Ghost Realm of Wujiang.

The unusual behavior of the ghost messengers and the righteous gods was omitted, and only the general outlines that were not of great importance were mentioned.

Even so, Mo Li and Long Zongshu were shocked by what they heard.

"...Ghost messengers...one in black and one in white...could they be the legendary Black and White Impermanence?"

"Ran Qing, you...you're actually this powerful? You can even slay the ghost messengers?"

The two were shocked by the appearance of the ghost messengers and by the fact that there was a place crowded with wandering souls on the edge of the Wujiang Ghost Realm.

But what was most shocking was Ran Qing's terrifying strength in being able to annihilate even ghost messengers and Yin gods.

Mo Li murmured, "...Two hundred sticks of incense, the empowerment of the past masters of the Yin-Yang School, it is indeed powerful."

(End of this chapter)