Republic of China: From Street Performer to War God in a Chaotic Era

Visible blue will-o'-the-wisps floated out densely from the graves and withered tree branches.

However, under the natural suppression of the superior spirit puppet of [Huang Xian], these wandering souls dared not cross the line.

They could only obediently squat in the snow around the stage, inhaling the eerie atmosphere emanating from it.

At the same time, it also feeds back its own yin energy to the shadow puppets on the screen.

The second act, "Huang Xian Asks for a Title," has come to an end!

The cold wind intensified, and a thick layer of white frost formed on the glass cover of the lantern.

Sweat also appeared on Lu Guan's forehead.

Even for a martial artist at the peak of their cultivation, performing two Yin plays in the center of such a vortex of Yin energy, where all ghosts pay homage, would be extremely taxing on their spirit and blood.

But he gritted his teeth and didn't stop using the bamboo skewer in his hand.

"Final match, make it a success!"

"Thump, choke!"

The third act of the dark drama begins!

This time, the wandering ghosts gathered around seemed to have been summoned by something.

Their figures became increasingly solid, and they even began to sway and dance in the snow to the rhythm of Lu Guan's singing.

Just as the third act reached its crucial climax, "demanding the title,"...

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps rustling through the snow came from the direction of the entrance to the ruined tomb.

The voice was extremely soft, not like that of an adult, but more like that of a small animal.

Lu Guan frowned.

He peered through the gap in the curtain, using the light from his night vision.

Suddenly, a child wearing a thin, patched cotton-padded jacket appeared beside Ah Da's burly figure.

It was a little boy of about seven or eight years old, his lips were purple from the cold and his nose was running long snot.

The cloth shoes on his feet had his toes sticking out.

At midnight, when the mountains were blocked by heavy snow, how could a living child suddenly appear out of nowhere in the mass grave west of the city?!

What's even more alarming is that the little boy doesn't seem to be afraid of the wandering ghosts crawling all over the place.

He just stared blankly at the white cloth curtain and murmured to himself.

"Grandma...Grandma said there's a big show to watch today, and lots of people are heading this way."

The little boy was shivering from the cold, but he walked step by step toward the stage.

"That little brat!"

Lu Guan's heart skipped a beat.

If this child were to take a few more steps forward, he would step into the core circle where all the ghosts gather.

The yang energy of the living would be completely drained by these starving wandering souls in an instant!

But by then, the play had reached its final line.

Huang Xian's quest for a title is a do-or-die situation. If the performance is interrupted midway, not only will all previous efforts be wasted, but the century-old resentment within the Huang Xian shadow puppet will also completely spiral out of control and backfire!

"Get out!"

Lu Guan, behind the curtain, mustered all his strength and roared.

The shout startled the little boy so much that he fell flat on his backside in the snow.

At the same time, Lu Guan's bamboo skewer flew through the air as fast as he could, forcing the last line of the opera from his throat.

"Once a prisoner is found alive while seeking a title, is he a ghost or a god?!"

"Boom!"

As the last beat of the drum faded away.

The yin energy of the entire mass grave seemed to have found an outlet, transforming into a huge vortex that surged into the shadow puppet of the Yellow Immortal in Lu Guan's hand.

"Buzz—"

The stage of creation shone with golden light, illuminating Lu Guan's entire sea of ​​consciousness.

[Midnight Intrigue, Progress Achieved: 3/3!]

[With the gathering of thoughts complete, the shadow puppet has been completely transformed. The host has fully tamed the "Yellow Immortal" form!]

[Unlock exclusive minor supernatural ability: Seal-Breaking Technique!]

[Detailed Explanation: The rudimentary form of "Words Lead to Law." During possession, the host can use their Qi and blood as a guide to launch "Mental Interrogation" on a designated target. Those affected experience sensory confusion, mental madness, and are trapped in a spell-sealing illusion. Resistance depends on the difference in Qi, blood, and spirit between the two parties!]

Become!

Lu Guan suddenly released the bamboo skewer and ripped the burning hot shadow puppet from his chest.

The eerie wind that lingered over the mass grave lost its anchor the moment the shadow puppets were put away.

The wandering spirits that had gathered there scattered like frightened birds and beasts, fleeing back into the tomb.

The cold wind howled, and the abandoned tomb returned to its deathly silence.

Lu Guan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, lifted the curtain, and strode over to the boy who was slumped in the snow.

The boy seemed stunned by Lu Guan's outburst and stared blankly at him.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Are you out of your mind? What are you doing in this pile of corpses?!"

Lu Guan frowned, picked up the child who was frozen like an icicle, and wrapped his tattered coat around him.

"I...I've come to find Grandma."

The boy's jaw was chattering from the cold, and his big eyes were filled with terror.

"I couldn't sleep. Through the window, I saw a lot of 'people' lining up to walk towards the back mountain."

"The village's second uncle, the widow Wang who hanged herself the year before last, and... and my grandmother who just passed away last month, they're all in there. They said there was a big show to watch on the back hill, so I... so I came along."

"Can you see them?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Guan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He reached out and pinched the boy's chin, carefully examining the child's eyes in the dim light of the lantern.

The edges of those pupils, which were originally clear in black and white, now faintly carried a pale, double image.

"The ability to see ghosts?!"

Lu Guan gasped in shock.

In this remote and impoverished area of ​​Tianjin, there was a person who was born with the ability to understand the yin and yang and to distinguish between ghosts and spirits.

In the shadow puppetry industry, or even in the Yin-Yang Bureau of the Qing Dynasty, a person born with a purely Yin birth chart who can see ghosts with the naked eye is an extremely rare gem, one that is hard to find even with a lantern.

"Your grandmother died last month, so who are you living with now?" Lu Guan softened his tone.

"Living with...with my uncle and aunt."

The boy lowered his head, his eyes reddening.

"My aunt said I was a jinx, that I had killed my parents and then my grandmother. She wouldn't give me food and made me sleep in the cowshed."

In 1925, during those turbulent years of war, such tragedies of exploiting the destitute and abusing orphans were all too common in the countryside.

One silver dollar could buy thirty catties of good white flour. In his uncle and aunt's eyes, this kid was just a freeloader and a burden.

"What's your name?"

"Dog..."

"This name is too crude and can't contain your destiny."

Lu Guan sighed, picked up the boy, and placed him on the old camphor wood opera box.

"Ah Da, carry the boxes, let's go back to the city."

……

At dawn, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

A dilapidated village ten miles outside the city of Tianjin.

"Bang!"

With a loud crash, the dilapidated wooden door of a mud-brick house at the entrance of the village was kicked open.

A shrewish woman in a tattered cotton-padded coat was walking out, cursing and swearing, carrying a chipped rough porcelain bowl in her hand.

"Where did that jinx go? He didn't even light a fire this early in the morning. What a waste of raising that little beast! I hope he dies out there and gets carried off by wolves!"

A thin, bony man standing nearby, with his hands clasped in his pockets, remained silent and dared not utter a word.

Several villagers who get up early to empty the chamber pots were pointing and whispering from a short distance away.

"What a tragedy! That dog is too lucky. He killed his whole family, and now even his own uncle and aunt can hardly tolerate him anymore."