Ghost Immortal

Qiu Sheng shouted excitedly.

Four-Eyebrows laughed and said, "You haven't heard the real ghost stories yet. These are just the additional effects of activating your ear orifices with the Yin Mud, which is equivalent to improving your hearing by several levels."

"True ghost stories can only be heard in places with a high enough concentration of yin energy. There was still some yin energy left by the underworld officials in the hall just now. If you listen carefully, you should be able to catch some clues."

Qiu Sheng quickly shut his mouth and concentrated on listening.

The hall was quiet, with only the faint crackling of the ever-burning lamps.

But in the silence, Qiusheng suddenly caught a very faint fragment of sound.

It sounded like someone was speaking from a very, very far place, their voice coming in broken, intermittent syllables.

"...The Book of Life and Death...page 372...line 4..."

The voice was extremely low and had a strange tone.

Qiu Sheng's eyes widened instantly. This was clearly the voice of Hei Wuchang reading the account book!

The sound lingered in the air, not completely dissipated, but because the frequency was so low, it was usually inaudible.

"...Wang...fu...gui...shou...died...zheng...si...yang...shou...qi...shi...you...san..."

Black Impermanence's words drifted into his ears, one word at a time.

Each word was drawn out in a very long, strange tone, as if singing an extremely slow ballad.

Qiu Sheng became more and more engrossed in the music, completely absorbed in the deep and melodious rhythm, forgetting everything around him.

Just then, a gurgling sound suddenly came from his stomach.

His stomach was churning violently, as if something was churning inside him.

"Ugh!!"

Qiu Sheng groaned, his face turning deathly pale.

He crouched down, clutching his stomach, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Senior brother, what's wrong?"

Qiulan nervously leaned closer.

Qiu Sheng was speechless and could only shake his head frantically.

He had only one thought in his mind: he must not open his mouth, he absolutely must not open his mouth!

Master just said that after sealing the Yin mud, you must not speak, otherwise the practice will be broken and the Yin energy will rush into your ears.

He tried his best to hold it in, biting his lips until they turned white, his cheeks puffed out like a toad.

But the movements inside her belly were getting stronger.

A churning sensation surged from my stomach and intestines, rushing up my esophagus and throat, threatening to break through my last line of defense.

"Ughhhh!!!" Qiu Sheng covered his mouth, looking at the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist Master with a pleading look in terror.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows stood to the side, his expression extremely strange.

His lips curled slightly upward, clearly suppressing a laugh, but his eyes remained serious.

Seeing Qiu Sheng's face turn purple from holding it in, he finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Alright, alright, go throw up."

Qiu Sheng felt as if he had been granted a pardon and scrambled out of the hall.

He plunged headfirst into the drainage ditch in the corner of the yard, and started churning his stomach while clinging to the edge of the ditch.

He vomited for a while before he could catch his breath. He lay on the edge of the ditch, panting heavily, his mouth filled with the nauseating taste of earth and sour water.

My stomach felt like it was being twisted several times, and every breath I took felt like my stomach walls were spasming.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Qiu Sheng roared hoarsely.

"Wasn't it supposed to be 'tonifying yin mud'? Why does it taste like this?!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the hall.

Qiulan laughed so hard she squatted on the ground, unable to straighten up, tears streaming down her face.

Even the usually serious Taoist priest with four eyebrows was laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking, and he had to hold onto the offering table to keep himself from squatting down.

Li Feng walked out of the hall, carrying a bowl of water in his hand. He knelt down next to Qiu Sheng and handed him the bowl.

"Senior brother, rinse your mouth." Li Feng's tone was calm, but his eyes twitched slightly, clearly he was also holding back a laugh.

Qiu Sheng took the bowl of water and gulped down several mouthfuls, then spat them out. He repeated this several times before he could get rid of the strange taste in his mouth.

He looked up at Li Feng, his eyes filled with such resentment that they seemed almost tangible.

"You already knew, didn't you?"

Qiu Sheng asked through gritted teeth.

"Know what?" Li Feng asked innocently.

"This isn't yin mud!" Qiu Sheng pointed to two lumps of mud covered in dust on the ground.

"It's clearly just ordinary yellow mud! You've all teamed up to fool me!"

Li Feng finally couldn't hold back and a smile crept up his lips: "Senior brother, you can't blame me. Master said that yellow mud can connect with the underworld, and that's not exactly lying to you. It really can connect with the underworld, but it doesn't connect with the ears, it connects with the stomach and intestines."

"Yellow mud is cold in nature. After eating it, it will stimulate the stomach and intestines to move violently. When the stomach and intestines move, the turbid gas in the stomach will rise. After the turbid gas rushes through the throat, it can indeed change your hearing in a short time. The principle is the same, but the effect is not as good."

"You guys are ruthless!" Qiu Sheng sighed helplessly; he had gotten used to being tormented.

The next morning, the sounds of carriages and horses could be heard at the entrance of the mortuary.

Li Feng was practicing his martial arts in the courtyard when he heard the noise, so he stopped his stance and went to the door to check.

A large procession appeared, turning from the main road into the path in front of the mortuary.

Leading the group was Master Baihe, the junior brother of Master Simei, followed by more than twenty strong men.

Each of them wore a white cloth belt around their waist and hemp shoes; they were clearly a professional coffin-carrying team.

In the middle of the procession was a specially made flatbed cart carrying a huge coffin.

This coffin was more than twice the size of an ordinary coffin. It was entirely black, and the lid was carved with five menacing golden dragons, their eyes dotted with cinnabar.

Nine copper nails were driven into each side of the coffin. The nail heads were about the size of a fist and were engraved with densely packed corpse-suppressing runes.

The strangest thing is that there is a specially made sunshade on top of the coffin. The roof is covered with three layers of black cloth, and the black cloth is embroidered with gold thread to ward off evil spirits. It covers the coffin completely and does not allow a single ray of sunlight to shine on the coffin.

Hearing the commotion, Master Si Mei quickly walked out of the hall. Upon seeing the scene, his expression immediately changed.

He strode up to Master Baihe, bowed respectfully, but his gaze remained fixed on the enormous coffin.

"Junior Brother Baihe, what's going on?"

Master Baihe sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

He was in his early forties, a few years younger than Master Si Mei, but because he had been traveling around for many years, the weathered look on his face was more pronounced than that of Master Si Mei.

He was dressed in a gray-blue Taoist robe, the cuffs and hem worn white, with a string of copper bells and a peach wood sword hanging at his waist. He exuded a sense of weariness from his travels.

"Senior Brother Four Eyebrows, this assignment has really given me a headache."

Master Baihe pointed to the coffin behind him and said, "This is the coffin of Prince Jingnan. You know Prince Jingnan, right? He's the imperial uncle who died of illness in the capital last winter."

"His Majesty, mindful of his great merits, granted him special permission to be buried in his ancestral home. The ancestral home of the Prince of Jingnan is located at the foot of Longling Mountain, southwest of our Qingyan City. The Ministry of Rites arranged for our Maoshan Sect to escort him. I led a group of people from the capital for three whole months. Along the way, the pallbearers alone were changed three times."

Master Si Mei walked to the coffin, glanced around the sunshade, then squatted down to look at the five golden dragons on the coffin lid, his expression very solemn.

He reached out and gently pressed down on the coffin lid. The moment his fingertips touched the coffin board, a faint, chilling aura seeped into his meridians along his fingertips.

"Is the one inside starting to get restless?" the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist asked in a low voice.

Master Baihe nodded, his face full of bitterness: "Senior brother, you sensed it too? Along the way, the noise from the coffin has become louder and louder. It was fine for the first month, but starting from the second month, knocking sounds would come from the coffin every midnight."

"At first it was very light, like someone tapping the coffin lid with their fingers inside. Then it got louder and louder, and now it sounds like someone is hitting it with a fist. The night before last, when we passed Huaiyin Mountain, the whiskers of two of the five golden dragon reliefs on the coffin lid were broken off."

As he spoke, he lifted a corner of the sunshade to show the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist Master the dragon pattern on the coffin lid.

Sure enough, the whiskers of the two outermost golden dragons had broken off at the root, and dark red liquid, like congealed blood, was seeping from the cut.

The liquid spread along the texture of the coffin lid, leaving eerie red patterns on the black lacquer surface, making it look as if someone had drawn a map on the coffin with blood.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows looked even more solemn.

He walked around the coffin three times, carefully examining the copper nails and talismans, before finally stopping at the back of the coffin.

On the lacquered surface at the rear of the coffin, there is an extremely fine crack, only as thick as a hair, which is almost invisible unless you look closely.

But through this narrow slit, a faint black mist was seeping out. The mist was extremely thin and, after being blocked by the awning, it gathered below the roof, forming a thin layer of black cloud.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows asked, "Was this coffin transported directly from the capital?"

Master Baihe shook his head: "Prince Jingnan died last winter. His body lay in state in the capital for forty-nine days before being placed in the coffin. After that, it stayed in the prince's mansion in the capital for more than half a year."

"We waited for the Ministry of Rites to choose an auspicious day, select a route, and arrange an escort. The journey actually began three months ago. It took three months just to travel from the capital to Qingyan City."

"The body was laid in state for forty-nine days, and then the coffin was kept in state for more than half a year, totaling more than a year."

The Four-Eyebrowed Taoist's voice turned cold: "Junior Brother Baihe, do you know how this Prince Jingnan died?"

Master Baihe looked around, then leaned close to Master Simei's ear and whispered a few words.

Upon hearing this, even the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist priest couldn't help but gasp.

Qiu Sheng, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, couldn't help but lean close to Li Feng's ear and whisper when he saw his master's expression, "Junior brother, your ears are better than mine. Did you hear what Uncle Baihe said?"

Li Feng's five senses far surpassed those of ordinary people. Although Master Baihe lowered his voice, Li Feng could hear everything he said clearly.

He leaned close to Qiu Sheng's ear and whispered, "He was forced to commit suicide."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Sheng couldn't help but gasp.

A prince who was forced to commit suicide died unjustly.

Those who die unjustly harbor far more resentment than those who die of natural causes.

In addition, the long period of time the body remained in the morgue meant that the body did not decompose for a long time, and the soul could not return to the underworld for a long time, with resentment accumulating in the body for more than a year.

If this were to turn into a zombie, it would be an absolutely terrifying and monstrous creature!

"Master, what would a royal corpse become if it were to undergo a transformation?" Li Feng asked in surprise.

The four-browed Taoist priest, with a cold and stern expression, uttered two words: "Corpse Demon."