Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 429 The Sailing Ship of Life

The corpse poison that had afflicted Liu Fang, the corpse-driving Taoist, was visibly alleviated after Mo Li fed her fresh blood.

Although his face was still pale and his body was twitching from time to time, the corpse-driving Taoist priest had at least regained his senses.

He sat listlessly in the doorway of the cement house, basking in the sun, hoping the sun would help expel the corpse's aura from his body. He also soaked glutinous rice in water and kept applying the rice water to his body to remove the corpse's poison.

Once he recovered and regained the strength to move, he immediately begged Mo Li to buy him three meals, which he then devoured like a starving ghost.

As dusk fell, when Ran Qing, who had slept all day, got up, the Corpse-Driving Taoist had already recovered most of his strength.

Although the corpse poison will take three to five days to be slowly removed and completely eliminated, daily activities are no longer affected.

Upon seeing Ran Qing emerge, the Corpse-Driving Taoist immediately ran inside to make a phone call, relaying the latest situation to Bureau 769.

Ran Qing sat at the door, watching the moonlight illuminate the mountain city under the setting sun, her expression somewhat dazed.

This peaceful and serene Moonlit City, though seemingly close at hand, also feels incredibly distant, evoking a sense of unreality and illusion.

After more than a month of hardship, Ran Qing was finally able to relax and calm down.

He no longer needs to worry about being haunted by evil spirits, nor does he need to fear death.

The dangers within Moonlit City have been completely eliminated.

All the grudges and entanglements that had been attached to him were now settled.

At this moment, he truly became a free man, free from debt and all worries.

From now on, you can do whatever you want.

Mo Li sat to the side and said softly, "...I went to the elevator building to take a look, and the terrain of the Ghost Nest inside the elevator building has been destroyed."

"All of Uso's arrangements inside the elevator were destroyed by the ghost soldiers."

"Those mountain monsters and monstrous creatures that were hiding in the elevator building and were raised by Uso and his men have all disappeared. They must have been eaten by the ghost soldiers."

The riot of evil spirits triggered by Li Hongye swept through all the cities of Zangke.

Those ancient evil spirits flooded into the human world, searching for heretical practitioners on this land and killing them.

Monsters and mountain spirits like the "Changpo" are naturally on the evil spirits' hunting menu.

Now that the turmoil has subsided, the heretical practitioners and the mountain monsters and demons hidden in the city have been almost completely wiped out.

Moonlit City is experiencing unprecedented peace and tranquility.

Ran Qing sighed with a complicated expression, "...This is a good thing, but it's also a bad thing."

Decades ago, the Central Plains were in turmoil, and a large number of heretical practitioners flocked to Zangke to escape the disaster.

It's not that there aren't good people among those unorthodox practitioners, but the proportion is far too small.

Even a family like the Ran family, which doesn't harm the living, still digs up graves and disrupts people's feng shui, which is utterly immoral.

Among other unorthodox and heretical practitioners, the practice of using living people or animals to create artifacts and cast spells is extremely common.

This group of dangerous individuals usually hides among the crowd and is inconspicuous.

But they are always unstable time bombs that can secretly harm the living.

Now they have all been wiped out and slaughtered by the indiscriminate evil spirits of ancient Luo...

Ran Qing said softly, "The Zangke region will be in chaos for a while from now on."

With the extinction of the unorthodox Taoist cultivators, although the evil cultivators who harmed the living have disappeared, the monsters hiding in the mountains and the evil spirits that became vengeful ghosts after their tragic deaths... these things have temporarily lost their balance.

Furthermore, the magical artifacts and valuables left behind by those unorthodox practitioners and sorcerers, these ownerless items, may attract the covetousness of outsiders.

Originally, due to the appearance of the Ancient Luo Ghost Kingdom, people from all over the world, including Southeast Asia, Central China, Northwest China, and the snowy region, had their eyes on the Ghost King's Coffin and were eager to make a move.

Now that Zangke has been emptied by evil spirits, there will surely be outside practitioners who will take the risk of entering Zangke.

Mo Li looked at Ran Qing with concern and asked, "...Are you planning to step in?"

Ran Qing, a wanderer of spirits, is fierce and powerful in the Zangke region, able to use his individual strength to fight against a group...

Ran Qing smiled and shook her head, saying, "I'm not stupid, and I shouldn't meddle in other people's business. The future of Zangke is not my concern."

As she spoke, Ran Qing glanced sideways at the inner room and said, "Master Liu and the 769 Bureau will handle it."

Inside the house, the corpse-driving Taoist priest, holding the telephone receiver, was quickly reporting the situation to his superiors at Bureau 769, requesting that the bureau send more people to provide support.

As for Ran Qing, all he wants now is to lie quietly for two days, get plenty of rest, remove the death energy from his younger sister Xiao Ya, and perform a ritual to help Teacher Li rest in peace.

He sat at the door and chatted with Mo Li for a while, and the two reached a consensus during their conversation.

Then came dinner. Ran Qing, who had been dieting and eating sparingly for several days, had also undergone high-intensity exercise and slept for a whole day. At this point, she was so hungry that she could no longer feel hungry.

After resting for a while, Ran Qing regained her appetite, but because she had been hungry for so long, her chopsticks were trembling as she picked up the food.

Dinner was mutton rice noodles, a dish readily available in Yue Zhao. As a local, Ran Qing seemed to never get tired of it.

Ran Qing ate three large bowls of mutton rice noodles with extra meat in one go before she felt full.

After repaying the sacrifice for the Nuo opera mask with two goat's eyes, Ran Qing got up and went into the house to prepare to set up an altar and perform a ritual to dispel the evil spirits from Teacher Li.

But after entering the room, no matter how he called out, there was no response from Teacher Li in the jar.

Upon opening the jar, Ran Qing was surprised to find that Teacher Li's ghost had disappeared.

This jar, which was supposed to contain a vengeful ghost, contained no trace of evil spirits or resentment.

Ran Qing heard the eerie laughter of the evil lords.

Ran Qing learned about the situation from the accounts of the evil lords.

After listening to Ran Qing's entire account, Teacher Li, having resolved her inner conflict, managed to dispel all resentment and malevolent energy and find peace on her own, without needing the help of a spirit medium.

This situation surprised Ran Qing.

"...Teacher Li."

She could even let go of life and death grudges. If it weren't for Li Hongye's mother using evil magic to harm and kill Teacher Li, she would never have become a vengeful ghost.

But at least in this moment, he found peace, and passed away peacefully...

With Teacher Li at peace, Ran Qing focused her attention on her half-sister.

In the dimly lit room, the little girl was still fast asleep.

She wasn't a spirit medium; she had spent a very long time in the underworld, and the death energy entering her body was extremely severe.

Ran Qing had to spend more time helping her remove it.

In the end, it took Ran Qing five whole days to remove the death energy from Xiao Ya's body. This restored the little girl's usual vitality, and she was no longer so sleepy.

Even after regaining her energy, the two-year-old girl was visibly less active than before.

She didn't fully understand the death of her parents, but she was smart enough to know that she would never see them again.

The little girl whispered to Ran Qing, "Brother, what's the password for our family's bankbook?"

"The bankbook is in the closet in my parents' room."

The two-year-old girl, who spoke with a slight stutter, accurately recited the password to her family's bankbook.

Hearing this, Ran Qing was somewhat surprised: "How did you know?"

The little girl looked at Ran Qing pitifully and said, "...Mom made me remember it. After Dad left, Mom made me memorize the bankbook password."

"She said that if she ever disappeared in the future, she would ask me to come find you and bring you the bankbook."

"If you have the passbook password, you can withdraw the money from your home..."

"Oh, right, there's a letter at home that your mother left for you. We'll go to her house tomorrow and I'll show it to you."

The little girl said timidly.

Her words surprised both Mo Li and Ran Qing.

"Your mother told you to remember this..."

Did the ghost that was resurrected using the ancient ghost money foresee Ran Jianfei's death in the last few days of its life?

Despite being a demon, the living personality within her struggled in her final days to find a way for her daughter to survive...

Ran Qing subconsciously thought of her sixth aunt.

Both were personalities played by evil spirits, yet even before her death, Aunt Liu still cared for and worried about Ran Qing...

Mo Li sighed and said in a low voice, "Your stepmother trusts your character a lot..."

Although Ran Qing and her stepmother had only met a few times, in the final moments of her life, her stepmother entrusted her daughter entirely to Ran Qing.

Perhaps this is the only person I can entrust with this.

But in her stepmother's eyes, Ran Qing was definitely not a bad person. Even though in their previous meetings, Ran Qing's attitude towards her stepmother and Ran Jianfei had been terrible...

The next day, Ran Qing took her younger sister Ran Xiaoya back to the old staff dormitory building and found a suicide note left by Ran Qing's stepmother in the room.

There was no sentimentality or moral blackmail; the words in the suicide note were simply a sincere plea for Ran Qing to take care of her younger sister when she had time.

If Ran Qing is unwilling to take care of her, then please ask Ran Qing to send her younger sister to an orphanage.

As for the family's bankbook and the password, the dying mother also wrote them down in her suicide note.

She didn't ask for much; she was willing to hand over her entire estate to Ran Qing to handle.

Such magnanimity made Ran Qing feel awkward about ignoring her younger sister.

“…Your stepmother is very clever,” Mo Li sighed softly.

In fact, that "stepmother" is still sealed in Ran Qing's hands.

Ran Qing sealed the ancient evil spirit in the mirror, but hasn't dealt with it yet.

However, the personality belonging to Xiaoya's mother within the evil spirit has completely disappeared and cannot be retrieved.

Now all that remains is a pure ancient demon.

Or perhaps...Master Shou.

Ran Qing said softly, "...The Ghost King's Coffin is indeed hard to refuse."

The personality this evil spirit masquerades as is exactly the same as that of a loved one when they were alive, without any difference.

After tidying up the house, closing the doors and windows, and taking the bankbook and suicide note with them, Ran Qing and Mo Li took Xiao Ya back to Park Road.

As they left, the little girl seemed reluctant and nostalgic, but she didn't say much. It wasn't until they had completely gone downstairs, left the neighborhood, and reached the street outside that the little girl, who had been silent all along, suddenly uttered a sentence.

"elder brother……"

The little girl timidly held Ran Qing's hand, head bowed, and murmured, "Are Daddy and Mommy really not coming back...?"

This question is difficult to answer immediately.

In a daze, Ran Qing suddenly thought of that winter ten years ago.

Beneath the Huangguoshu tree in the early morning fog, he stood on the edge of the field, watching helplessly as the man walked into the fog without looking back...

They were both abandoned, and they both never saw their parents again.

The helpless little boy from back then seemed to overlap with the little girl in front of him at this moment.

After a few seconds of dazed silence, Ran Qing gently squatted down, hugged the little girl in his arms, and said, "...Brother will always be with you from now on."

Unable to answer his sister's question, he could only awkwardly comfort her with his company.

The little girl, held in his arms, nodded as if she understood but not quite.

Although she is intelligent, she is too young to understand complex things.

The little girl instinctively hugged her brother tightly and nodded vigorously, "Mmm."

At least for this moment, she was not alone.

She has a half-brother who is always by her side.

When I returned to Park Road, Master Liu Fang, whom I hadn't seen for several days, was back.

Since removing the corpse poison, Master Liu has been busy running around these past few days, I don't know what he's been busy with.

With no evil spirits watching him, he naturally saw no need to continue living in the concrete house, so he went out and opened a hotel to sleep in.

Although he no longer went back to the cement house, the hotel he stayed at was not far from the foot of the mountain, and Ran Qing and Mo Li could occasionally see him running around in a hurry on the park road.

Many other people with unusual clothes and appearances also followed him around.

Seeing the corpse-driving Taoist priest return, Mo Li became somewhat wary: "Master Liu, is there something you need?"

Mo Li took the initiative to step forward, trying to shield Ran Qing from some unnecessary disturbances.

The situation in Zangke is currently chaotic, and Bureau 769 is very likely to target Ran Qing.

However, Ran Qing's fierce battle a few days ago had drained her energy and spirit, even though the knife seller didn't charge her when he came to collect the knife. Using the knife still had taken a heavy toll on Ran Qing.

He vaguely sensed that he would need to rest for at least a month to return to normal health.

Despite Mo Li's wariness, the Corpse-Driving Taoist pretended not to see it with a grin.

He said with a big smile, "...I've come to bring good news! Good news! Great news!"

The corpse-driving Taoist priest laughed heartily.

Ran Qing looked at the boastful Taoist priest with amusement and said, "...Taoist priest, please come in and sit down. Let's chat slowly. What good news could there be?"

Ran Qing is not interested in Bureau 769.

Right now, all he wants is to return to a peaceful life and temporarily leave the affairs of the Yin-Yang path untouched.

But then the Corpse-Driving Taoist cheerfully took out a stack of papers and said to Ran Qing, "...Our bureau chief heard about what happened to Brother Ran and knew that you had stopped the disaster and saved hundreds of thousands of people in Moonlit City. He immediately went to apply to the higher-ups."

"A total of 500,000 yuan in cash rewards has been applied for. The money is already in the process of being transferred to your account in a few days."

"In addition, the bureau also sent these admission notices..."

The file folder opened by the corpse-driving Taoist priest was full of thick sheets of paper.

He said to Ran Qing with a big smile, "Our boss said these are admission notices from all the top 20 universities in the country."

"Young Master Ran, just fill in the name of the university you want to attend, and we'll process your admission right away."

"With your grades, Ran, you could easily get into any university in China."

"You can enroll right away. The school season will start in a few days, and you'll be able to go to university soon."

"If you feel it's too urgent, you can postpone it for another year, study for another year of senior high school, and enroll next September. We'll admit you now."

The corpse-driving Taoist priest said with a smile, "If the universities here don't suit your taste, you can choose any university you like. As long as it's the university you choose, you can choose any major and enroll at any time."

The thick stack of admission notices that the corpse-driving Taoist priest took out stunned Ran Qing.

The top few pictures do indeed show the three top universities in China.

It's difficult to achieve what he has so far.

He was somewhat confident that he could pass the remaining exams, but that would require him to dedicate all his energy to studying and doing practice problems during his final year of high school.

But now, these top-ranked universities in the country are laid out before him like the cheapest cabbages at a market, available for him to choose from...

Ran Qing was momentarily dazed.

Compared to the significance of these acceptance letters, the 500,000 yuan cash reward seemed less important.

Mo Li stared suspiciously at the corpse-driving Taoist priest and asked, "What is your Bureau 769 up to? Are you trying to recruit Ran Qing?"

Ran Qing also looked at the corpse-driving Taoist.

But the corpse-driving Taoist priest said with a smile, "Our boss said that it would be best if Brother Ran were willing to join us."

"But those who follow the path of the spirits have always been unrestrained."

"So we didn't mean anything else, we really just wanted to thank the Yin Walkers for saving Zangke and the hundreds of thousands of people in Moonlit City."

"Compared to the heroic deeds of Brother Ran, the small token of our appreciation is far from enough."

"But Bureau 769 has only been established for a few years. It doesn't have much say and its cash flow is even smaller. This is already something our leader has tried his best to secure."

"Furthermore, regardless of whether Brother Ran is interested in Bureau 769 or not, based on the remarkable deeds of Brother Ran and the other two of you, you will enjoy the treatment of a deputy director of Bureau 769 for life."

"My monthly salary is deposited into my account on time every month."

"That young man, Long Zongshu, has been awarded a special merit by the bureau, and his family will also receive a large sum of cash compensation."

"If you two need anything in the future, feel free to call me anytime. As long as it's within the capabilities of Bureau 769, we will do our best to help."

The corpse-driving Taoist priest smiled obsequiously and handed over a business card.

"Thanks to the two of you, I have made a great contribution and been promoted in the bureau."

"Whether for public or private reasons, your affairs are my affairs from now on. If you need anything, just call me, and I will never refuse."

The corpse-driving Taoist priest smiled obsequiously and handed over the stack of admission notices as if trying to curry favor.

But Ran Qing was in a daze as she looked at the thick stack of admission notices.

Top universities that were once out of reach, which I could not get into even if I pushed myself hard, are now open to me for me to choose from.

Just a month ago, I was wearing a tattered school uniform and worn-out cloth shoes, and I had to be careful with my food.

Now he has an inheritance of several hundred thousand, plus another 500,000 in cash on the way, and he can receive a salary every month without having to do anything...

The ups and downs of life made Ran Qing stare at those admission notices with an absurd sense of disillusionment.

The prestigious university acceptance letter, which he once considered extremely important and unattainable, suddenly lost its sacred and lofty aura and seemed to have become nothing more than scrap paper, ordinary and unremarkable.

Mo Li whispered from the side, "...You're not going to refuse, are you?"

Mo Li was all too familiar with Ran Qing's personality and reactions.

Ran Qing's weary expression clearly showed that she had lost her desire for a prestigious university.

But the next second, Ran Qing smiled and shook her head, saying, "Why would I refuse? Getting into a top university has always been my biggest wish."

"Even if it's not so important to me now, I still want to go to the university in person."

"I want to see what it's like inside top-tier universities."

Ran Qing smiled as she accepted the admission notice and said to the corpse-driving Taoist priest, "Thank you very much, Taoist priest Liu."

"If you encounter any difficulties in Zangke in the future, you can come to me. I will try my best to help if I can."

Ran Qing smiled and expressed her gratitude.

The corpse-driving Taoist smiled and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No need, no need. Zangke is very peaceful now. Even if a few clowns cause trouble, our 769 Bureau can handle it."

"I am here today purely on behalf of Bureau 769 to thank you, and I have no other intentions."

"The dragon-demon river crossing over Poyang Lake has ended, and the bureau is sending people to help."

"Brother Ran, you guys just continue to rest, don't worry about us."

“You’ve done enough; leave the rest of the cleanup to us.”

The corpse-driving Taoist priest really only came to express his gratitude.

Or, to put it another way, to forge a good connection.

They didn't really intend to tie Ran Qing to Bureau 769.

In the realm of Yin and Yang, there are countless people who are unwilling to enter the government or public offices.

Ran Qing and Mo Li watched the corpse-driving Taoist leave before sitting down.

Mo Li asked curiously, "...With so many schools, which one are you planning to go to?"

Ran Qing flipped through the admission notice in her hand and shook her head: "Take your time to think about it, there's no rush."

His life now is no longer one where he has to be so anxious that he has to work non-stop to catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits.

Having become a wanderer of spirits, Ran Qing quelled the turmoil in the Ancient Luo Ghost Kingdom. Now, he can say without boasting that he is the most powerful unorthodox cultivator in the Zangke region.

He has plenty of leisure time to slowly enjoy life and compare and choose which university to attend.

He has full choice as to where his life leads him in the future.

Since that's the case, there's no rush.

“…Let’s go have hot pot tonight,” Ran Qing said with a smile. “Let’s try that hot pot place you’ve always said is delicious.”

"We'll rest for two days and wait until the situation stabilizes before we visit Zongshu's family."

Zongshu's matter should be told to his family.

(End of this chapter)