Starting from Hong Kong in 1988!

The uncle was the middle-aged man Xu Guangkun had met before.

His common name is unknown, but his Taoist name is Xuande.

He and the old Taoist were about the same age, but one was a master of Taoist arts, while the other could only be described as having achieved some success in cultivation.

Therefore, the old Taoist priest, as the junior brother, looks much older than his junior brother.

"What business does the sect leader have with me?"

Inside the grand mansion, Xuande pushed open the door, his expression calm.

The old Taoist priest hesitated to speak, looking around nervously until Xuande showed his displeasure, then he whispered, "I'm out of money."

"You've already become the sect leader and taken on disciples, and now you still want to borrow money from me?" Xuande's expression grew increasingly dissatisfied. "Is this how you conduct yourself as a teacher? What kind of sect leader are you? What kind of master are you?"

These words made the old Taoist priest almost droop his head to his chest.

Even Xu Guangkun felt it was a bit too heavy.

Fortunately, Xuande didn't make things too difficult for him. He cursed a couple of times and then fell silent, taking out a stack of silver dollars: "You owe me 800."

Unexpectedly, the old Taoist stared at the money for a while, but in the end didn't reach for it. Instead, he said, "Senior brother, I'd like to take on a bounty of 1000. Could you help me keep watch?"

....

"Your Uncle Xuande has outstanding talent in cultivation and a very strong personality. He should have been the sect leader, but your grandmaster said before he died that he was too obsessed and acted too fiercely. He could only be a sword, not a sect leader, so he passed the position of sect leader to me."

The old Taoist priest led Xu Guangkun back to the dilapidated sect and pointed to a memorial tablet placed in the main hall.

Xu Guangkun glanced at it.

Di Xiao, the 36th generation leader of the Lingbao Sect.

The old Taoist stepped forward and stroked the plaque: "From then on, your uncle never returned to the sect. I know he hates Master, and I know he hates me. If I had a choice, I would rather pass the position of sect leader to him. However, according to the sect rules, the position cannot be passed on until the sect leader dies."

He sighed softly, "I'm afraid of death, so I can only apologize to your martial uncle."

After saying that, he fell silent, staring at the memorial tablet with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Master, perhaps he doesn't hate you."

Xu Guangkun said softly.

Perhaps it's true that bystanders see things more clearly than those involved; in his eyes as an outsider, Xuande didn't hate the old Taoist.

Over the past month, he accompanied the old Taoist priest to visit Xuande several times, and each time they met, the old Taoist priest would make a few sarcastic remarks about the old Taoist priest.

But whatever the old Taoist priest asked for, the other party would agree.

Just now, the other party readily agreed to go and oversee things for the old Taoist priest tomorrow.

The criticism was more like a lament about their lack of ambition.

"His master raised him from age six to eighteen. If he doesn't hate him, why doesn't he come to offer incense to his master?"

The old Taoist priest sighed deeply, "This hatred will last forever..."

....

at the same time.

North of the city, the Gao family.

"You rascal, this house has been haunted for days! How dare you go out and come back here?"

The third concubine of the Gao family opened the window and let a young man with red lips and white teeth into the room.

"That old man forced me to do things and study. When I refused, he whipped me with a long stick. Today he even made me kneel in the ancestral hall."

As he spoke, it seemed that hatred was rising in his heart. The young man gritted his teeth and put his arm around the third concubine's waist. "I'm angry and can't sleep, so I can only take it out on you."

"You're angry with your father, yet you make things difficult for me, a weak woman. How hateful you are!"

The third concubine leaned her head against the young man's chest as she spoke, "How are you going to punish me?"

"Of course, I'll send you to heaven." The young man lewdly pushed the third concubine down onto the bed and carefully examined her face.

Round face, delicate nose, red lips and white teeth.

"What a beautiful face."

The third concubine covered her mouth and chuckled: "It's only because you believed your glib tongue."

She touched the young man's face, "His skin is so delicate."

The young man was taken aback: "What did you say?"

"I said you're really good-looking."

The young man was extremely pleased with these words, thinking, "It's all thanks to the old man that I have such a fine appearance."

As he spoke, his hands hurriedly began to remove the third concubine's clothes.

"The window is still open!"

"Ignore it! If it's haunted, who would dare go out at this hour?"

Hearing this, the third concubine stopped interfering and let the young man take off his clothes and take him into bed.

But the young man was about to commit that shameful act.

Why are you so cold?

"It's late at night. If the wind blows and you take off these clothes, you'll get cold." The third concubine wrapped her fair arms around the young man and pressed him down. With a flick of her wrist, the blanket covered the two of them.

A few laughs, three soft moans.

Suddenly, a scream rang out.

The blanket suddenly swelled up, and amidst the violent churning of the waves, a chilling chewing sound could be faintly heard.

....

After a long while, everything calmed down.

A monstrous demon, entirely blue with round eyes and chisel-like teeth, crawled out of the blanket. He threw the head he was holding onto the ground, and the remaining brain matter swayed gently inside.

"Well."

The demon let out a burp, lit an oil lamp, laid out two blood-stained human skins on the table, and then picked up a brush to carefully draw on them.

As the oil lamp flickered, it picked up the left side and draped it over itself, instantly transforming into a handsome young man with rosy lips and white teeth. Then it picked up the right side and wrapped it around itself, transforming into the lovely third concubine.

....

The next day, early in the morning.

The old Taoist priest woke Xu Guangkun up early to do his homework. After he finished, he gave him a science lesson.

"Humans are the spirits of heaven and earth. If they have strong obsessions after death, they will become ghosts. On the seventh day after death, they will return home, harm relatives and friends, and eat friends. They can only regain their senses after eating, but the hunger that follows them will always accompany them. Only by eating people can they be relieved. However, the more people they eat, the stronger they become."

Xu Guangkun was puzzled, "Won't you be unable to accept eating your family members once you sober up?"

"Yes." The old Taoist priest's expression was inscrutable as he continued, "But what good is that? The dead cannot be brought back to life. Those who are eaten by ghosts will have their souls scattered and will never be reincarnated."

Are there any ghosts that don't eat people after they regain their senses?

Xu Guangkun remembered the monk with three heads and six arms.

"No." The old Taoist shook his head. "There are times when people don't eat each other, but in that eternal and endless hunger and thirst, no one, no, no ghost, can resist it."

The two were chatting.

"Meow."

A cat meowed.

Xu Guangkun looked up and saw a cat, entirely black except for its four snow-white paws, jump down from the eaves and land on the old Taoist's shoulder.

Xu Guangkun recognized the cat; it was Xuande's spirit pet.

Their sect possesses a secret technique that can enlighten spirit pets, enabling them to reach the level of intelligence of ordinary people.

However, only one can be enlightened.

Xu Guangkun has also learned it, but he hasn't decided what to teach him yet.

"You've come, General Cat."

The old Taoist scratched the cat's chin, stood up amidst the cat's purring, and said, "Let's go, your uncle is urging us."

.....

The three met in the city and headed north.

The architecture of this mountain town in this era is complex, with a unique blend of Chinese and Western styles, and a fusion of old and new.

Xu Guangkun was looking around idly when a hand grabbed him.

Xu Guangkun turned his head and looked.

However, it was Xuande who had changed into a blue Taoist robe.

"I have something to tell you."

....