Ghost Immortal

The moment those two words were uttered, everyone present changed their expressions.

The coffin bearers behind Master Baihe did not understand Taoist magic, but they understood the term "corpse demon".

The twenty-odd people all took several steps back in unison, some of the more timid ones were so frightened that their legs were trembling and their lips were shaking.

Corpse demons and zombies are completely different concepts.

Zombies are corpses that do not decay after death. They are driven by the aura of death and resentment. Although they are ferocious, they are ultimately mindless creatures.

Corpse demons are different; they are monsters that regain their intelligence after a zombie has cultivated to its peak.

It possesses the invulnerability of a zombie, the ever-changing supernatural powers of a demon, and can use all its memories and abilities from its previous life.

A newly formed corpse demon is at least at the peak of Qi Refining, and with a little cultivation, it can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, or even a higher realm.

The corpse demon that is a royal prince who died unjustly carries the dragon energy in the royal bloodline. Coupled with the overwhelming resentment, the terror it becomes after it takes shape is unimaginable.

"Why not cremate him?"

Li Feng asked directly.

Master Baihe gave a bitter smile: "The Ministry of Rites won't allow it. According to the rules of the royal family, the bodies of the dragon princes and grandsons must be buried intact after death. Cremation is a great disrespect. Anyone who dares to mention the word 'cremation' will be treated as treason."

"I mentioned it three times along the way, and each time I was berated by the officials from the Ministry of Rites. They said that Prince Jingnan was the emperor's uncle, a descendant of the dragon, and even in death he was still a dragon. Dragons can only be buried, not burned."

"Absurd!" the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist priest couldn't help but curse.

"What's the point of distinguishing between dragon and phoenix offspring when people are dead? A corpse is a corpse. If it's not burned, something terrible will happen sooner or later! Those officials in the Ministry of Rites are all top-tier cultivators; don't they know anything about corpse transformation or demon transformation?"

Master Baihe sighed and patted Master Simei on the shoulder: "Senior brother, cursing won't help. Those people from the Ministry of Rites won't come to transport the corpses themselves. If you tell them it's a corpse demon, they'll tell you about ancestral rules. If you tell them it's a matter of life and death, they'll tell you about royal dignity."

"In the end, they just said, 'This was decreed by the Emperor,' and shut you up. We cultivators, while it's our duty to subdue demons and monsters, must also obey the imperial court's orders, mustn't we?"

Master Si Mei took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

He also knew that Bai He was right. Although the Maoshan Sect had profound Taoist magic, they were ultimately subjects of the Great Yan Dynasty.

The imperial court has its own rules, and the royal family has its own etiquette; these are not things that a few Taoist priests can change.

"Since cremation is not an option, we can only try to slow down the rate of corpse transformation." The Four-Eyebrowed Taoist turned and walked towards the hall, giving instructions as he went.

"Qiu Sheng, Li Feng, go and get the ink line and cinnabar line. Junior Brother Bai He, have the coffin bearers carry the coffin into the courtyard. I want to personally apply the ink line to this coffin."

Qiu Sheng and Li Feng quickly ran into the hall and took out an ink line and cinnabar thread from the cabinet of ritual implements.

The inkwell is a special ritual implement made by the Maoshan School. The body of the inkwell is carved from a hundred-year-old piece of wood struck by lightning, and it is filled with ink made from black dog blood, cinnabar, rooster blood, and more than a dozen kinds of medicinal herbs to ward off evil.

The ink thread is woven from pure silver wire and soaked in ink for a full forty-nine days, thus containing extremely strong power to ward off evil.

The coffin was carried into the courtyard of the mortuary.

Master Si Mei instructed the coffin bearers to light an ever-burning lamp at each of the four corners of the courtyard and to paste four talismans to suppress the corpse on both sides of the gate. Only then did he pick up the ink line and begin to draw lines on the coffin.

Sprinkling ink lines is a delicate task, but also a physically demanding one.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows held the ink line in one hand and pulled the ink line taut with the other. He then aimed it at the seam of the coffin lid, released his fingers, and with a "snap," a straight ink line sprang onto the coffin.

As the ink line fell onto the lacquered surface, a dull thud suddenly came from inside the coffin.

"Thump!"

The coffin lid jolted, startling Qiu Sheng, who was standing nearby, so much so that he jumped up.

He took three steps back, pointed at the coffin, and stammered, "Master, the thing inside is hitting the coffin!"

"I know."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows remained expressionless as he continued to flick the second ink line.

"Let him bump into me, I'll flick mine. The ink line is a pure yang substance. If he bumps into it, he'll be burned by the yang energy of the ink line. If he's smart, he should lie still and not move. The more he bumps into it, the more it will hurt."

Despite this, the thumping sounds from inside the coffin became more and more frequent.

Each time the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist Master flicked a line of ink, a thud would come from inside the coffin in response.

At first, it was just a dull thud, but it gradually turned into a sharp scraping sound, as if someone was frantically scratching the inside of the coffin lid with their fingernails.

The sound was extremely piercing, making people's scalps tingle, and the coffin bearers all retreated outside the courtyard.

Li Feng stood beside the coffin, staring intently at every ink line on the coffin lid.

He noticed a detail: whenever something inside the coffin hit the coffin lid, the ink line would glow with a faint red light.

The red light flashes and disappears in an instant, but the color of the ink line will deepen slightly in response.

This is a sign that the protective power within the ink lines is being depleted.

At this rate of consumption, these ink lines will only last for ten days to half a month before they are completely exhausted.

"Master, the effectiveness of the ink line is waning."

Li Feng said in a deep voice.

Master Four Eyebrows nodded, but his hands did not stop moving: "I know that flicking the ink line can only slow down the rate of the corpse's transformation, but cannot completely stop it. The only way to truly keep this corpse in peace is to cremate it and bury it in the ground as soon as possible."

"Junior Brother Baihe, how much longer until you reach Dragon Ridge Mountain?"

Master Baihe said while smoking his pipe, "It will take three days at the fastest and five days at the slowest. Longling Mountain is eighty miles southwest of Qingyan City. The mountain road is difficult to travel, especially the last twenty miles, which are all narrow mountain paths. The coffin cart cannot pass through at all and has to be carried by people. Even if twenty teachers take turns carrying it, it will still take a day and a night."

Master Si Mei calculated the time, and his brows relaxed slightly.

"If it's three days, the ink line can still hold its power. However, you must be careful on the way. Make sure the coffin doesn't get wet in the rain. Rainwater is yin and will wash away the yang energy on the ink line, and it will also amplify the resentment inside the coffin."

"Once the ink lines are soaked away, the coffin will be completely unprotected, and the contents could escape at any moment."

After finishing the last ink line on the coffin lid, he checked the coffin twice more to make sure all the seams were covered with ink before putting down the ink line.

Then he took out three corpse-suppressing talismans from his sleeve and stuck them in the center of the coffin lid. He also took out a palm-sized Bagua mirror and hung it on the copper ring at the head of the coffin.

"The corpse-suppressing talisman can prevent the corpse's energy from leaking out of the coffin, and the Bagua mirror can reflect the yang energy between heaven and earth and shine it into the coffin. These two things, along with the ink line, can slow down the rate of corpse transformation by at least half."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows patted the coffin lid and spoke to the contents inside.

"Prince Jingnan, I know you died unjustly, but every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor. The person who harmed you was from the capital, not from the common people of Qingyan City. You should lie peacefully in your tomb on Longling Mountain, and the King of Hell will judge for you in the underworld. If you dare to cause trouble on the road, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Master Si Mei said no more, turned and walked into the hall, and pulled out a heavy burlap sack from the deepest part of the cabinet of magical artifacts.

The bag was opened, revealing a full bag of glutinous rice.

This glutinous rice is not ordinary glutinous rice; each grain has undergone the unique "glutinous rice consecration" ceremony of the Maoshan School.

Soak the glutinous rice in rooster blood and cinnabar water for three days and three nights, then offer it before the statue of the Three Pure Ones for seven days and seven nights, so that every grain of glutinous rice is soaked in pure yang energy.

"Take this bag of glutinous rice with you." Master Si Mei handed the burlap bag to Master Bai He.

"If you find something wrong with the coffin on the way, scatter a circle of glutinous rice around it to temporarily trap the thing inside. If you can't trap it, grab a handful of glutinous rice and stuff it into the cracks in the coffin. The yang energy in the glutinous rice can burn its body and make it temporarily unable to move."

"But remember, this is only a temporary measure. Nuomi can only hold out for a while, not forever. If it really comes to that, immediately send me a message using a sound transmission talisman, and I will rush over to help you tonight."

Master Baihe solemnly accepted the sack of glutinous rice and tied it to the most convenient spot around his waist.

He then took a stack of talismans from the Taoist priest with four eyebrows, which included ten corpse-suppressing talismans, five fire talismans, and three thunder explosion talismans.

All of these were made by Master Simei over the past few days, working through the night.

Although these talismans cannot completely eliminate the corpse demon, they can at least hold it off at crucial moments, buying time to escape.

"Senior brother, I will remember your great kindness." Master Baihe bowed deeply.

"Stop with the formalities. Just make sure you deliver the coffin safely to Longling Mountain, and I'll treat you to a drink when you get back."

Master Si Mei patted Master Bai He on the shoulder, his tone light, but his eyes were heavy.

He also knew that his junior brother was on an extremely dangerous mission this time, and no one could say for sure whether he would return safely.

Master Baihe straightened up and waved to the coffin bearers: "Brothers, let's keep going! We need to cross Niutou Ridge before dark. We can rest at the mountain god temple there. Keep up the good work, everyone. When we get to Longling Mountain, I'll treat you all to mutton!"

The coffin bearers looked at each other, their legs still trembling.

However, the wages for this job by Master Baihe were three times that of ordinary coffin-carrying work.

They still gritted their teeth and went into the courtyard, re-attached the ropes, and slowly carried the coffin out of the mortuary gate.

Qiu Sheng and Li Feng stood at the door, watching the funeral procession gradually disappear into the distance.

The sunshade swayed back and forth in the middle of the line, looking from a distance like a giant black mushroom slowly moving.

After walking about half a mile, the group turned into a willow grove.

The outline of the sunshade became indistinct in the shadows of the trees and soon disappeared completely.

"Junior brother, do you think that prince in the coffin might really turn into a corpse demon?" Qiu Sheng swallowed and asked in a low voice.

"I hope it doesn't change, otherwise I'll have to play high-level games again!" Li Feng had a very bad feeling and sighed heavily.

He was certain that the creature in the coffin had regained a considerably high level of intelligence.

A corpse that can laugh out loud in its coffin could never lie obediently on Longling Mountain.

"Senior brother, get some rest early today."

Li Feng turned and walked back into the courtyard: "I have a feeling that tonight won't be peaceful."