Ghost Immortal

While Li Feng was studying Confucianism, the Wu Youde case had already enraged the county magistrate.

He ordered a thorough investigation of all of Renhetang's properties and a detailed investigation of everyone associated with Wu Youde.

Unfortunately, there is still no trace of Gu Zhenren.

The mysterious man in the black cloak vanished as if he had evaporated into thin air.

Zhao Tiezhu led his men to search the entire city, but still found nothing.

Master Si Mei's injuries have recovered to 70%, but the two tufts of white eyebrows on his left eyebrow have never grown back.

The face that originally had four eyebrows now only has two on the right side, which looks rather unbalanced.

Qiu Sheng joked that his master should now be renamed "Master Ermei".

He was slapped on the back of the head by the Taoist priest with four eyebrows, and he grimaced in pain for a long time.

Qiulan secretly told Li Feng that her master's two tufts of eyebrows were longevity eyebrows that had been nurtured for many years, with each eyebrow hair containing a year's worth of lifespan.

That night, when Master plucked two tufts of his eyebrows to unleash the Samadhi White Flame, it was equivalent to losing at least ten years of his lifespan.

July 12th, three days before the Ghost Festival.

The atmosphere at the mortuary was much more solemn than usual.

All the coffin lids in the hall were tightly sealed, and the ink lines were re-stamped three times.

Master Si Mei instructed Qiu Sheng to light an ever-burning lamp in the southeast corner of each coffin.

The lamp oil was mixed with cinnabar and talisman ash, and the resulting flame was pale red, which could suppress the yin energy inside the coffin and prevent it from leaking out.

"Three days before and after the Ghost Festival, the gates of hell are wide open, and ghosts are released from the underworld to visit their relatives in the mortal world."

While instructing them to flick the ink lines, Master Si Mei explained the taboos of the Ghost Festival to his three disciples.

"During these three days, the yin energy in the mortuary will be ten times greater than usual. Most of the corpses in the mortuary are those who died unjustly and were left unclaimed. They have the heaviest yin energy and are easily possessed by wandering ghosts."

"So starting tonight, the three of you will take turns keeping watch, each for two hours, to ensure the ever-burning lamp never goes out."

Qiu Sheng asked curiously, "Master, does the Gate of Hell really exist? Are there really underworld officials escorting ghosts?"

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows glared at him: "You've been studying Taoism with me for over ten years, and you still ask such a stupid question?"

Qiu Sheng shrank his neck, but since Master Si Mei was there, he still offered an explanation.

"The Gates of Hell are neither in the mortal realm nor the underworld, but at the boundary between the two realms."

"Every year at midnight on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, the gates of the underworld open, and the underworld officials escort batches of ghosts back to the mortal world."

"Some of these ghosts come back to visit their relatives, while others come back to collect debts. There are even wronged ghosts who died prematurely before their lifespan was over and sneak out to find a replacement while the gates of hell are wide open."

"Therefore, on the Ghost Festival, every household burns paper money and releases river lanterns to appease the returning ghosts. Temples and Taoist monasteries hold rituals to help the souls of the dead pass away, and government offices offer sacrifices to the City God to pray for peace. Places like our mortuary need to be even more vigilant."

Qiulan blinked her big eyes and asked, "Master, what are underworld officials like? Are they like the constables in the government office?"

"Of course they're different; they're much scarier." The Taoist priest with four eyebrows shook his head, took out a yellowed old booklet from his pocket, turned to a page, and handed it to her.

The booklet contained a simple illustration of two figures dressed in black and wearing tall hats.

The guy was dressed entirely in black, with the words "We're catching you" written on his hat.

The other was completely pale, with the words "You've come too" written on his hat.

"These are the legendary Black and White Impermanence!"

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows pointed to the two underworld officials in the picture and said solemnly.

"The two most famous soul-capturing messengers in the underworld are in charge of capturing the souls of those whose lifespans have ended. The Black Impermanence is called Fan Wujiu, and the White Impermanence is called Xie Bi'an. They are both righteous gods of the underworld."

"Don't be fooled by how simple the illustrations are in the book. If you were to actually meet them, not only you, but even your teacher would have to respectfully address them as 'Seventh Master' or 'Eighth Master'."

Qiu Sheng leaned closer to look at the picture and couldn't help but say, "The Black Impermanence's hat says 'We're getting you,' isn't that terrifying?"

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows chuckled: "That's exactly what scaring people is all about. The task of the underworld messengers to capture souls is inherently frightening. People whose lifespan has come to an end will know they can't escape when they see this hat, and they'll obediently follow along."

"If you dare to resist, Black Impermanence will flick his soul-hooking rope and drag your soul back to the underworld. That won't be a polite invitation; you'll deserve to be beaten to a pulp."

Li Feng suddenly asked worriedly, "Master, if ghosts return to the mortal realm during the Ghost Festival, will they be exploited by Gu Zhenren?"

Master Four Eyebrows sighed, "Alas, this is exactly what I was worried about."

He walked to the entrance of the mortuary and looked towards the north of the city.

"The Gu Master's Gu worms need to be nourished by Yin energy. Dark Qi is the main material for him to raise Gu worms. However, during the three days of the Ghost Festival, the concentration of Yin energy in the mortal world will increase tenfold, which is a golden opportunity for him. If he takes advantage of the opening of the gates of hell to control the wandering ghosts with Gu worms, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Qiu Sheng scratched his head: "Ghosts can be controlled by Gu worms? That's terrifying!"

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows said solemnly, "Ordinary Gu worms won't work, but there is a long-lost evil Gu in the Southern Frontier called the Soul-Devouring Gu."

"This kind of Gu worm specializes in devouring the souls of ghosts. Ghosts bitten by the Soul-Devouring Gu will become puppets of the Gu worm, completely obeying the Gu Master's orders. If a Gu Master has this kind of Gu worm, the Ghost Festival is the perfect opportunity for him to create an army of ghosts."

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled.

This news is like adding insult to injury.

Qiu Sheng patted Li Feng on the shoulder and smiled confidently: "Junior brother, don't be afraid, your senior brother is here!"

Just as Qiulan was about to mock her senior brother, Master Simei suddenly raised his hand to stop them from speaking.

His expression changed instantly; he pressed his right hand against the Bagua mirror at his waist, staring intently at the dozen or so coffins in the hall.

A strange scratching sound came from under the coffin lid.

"Click, click"

The sound came from each coffin, like long fingernails scratching inside.

The ink line on the coffin lid simultaneously glowed with a dark red light, like a red-hot iron wire branding the wood.

The pale red flame of the eternal lamps flickered violently, and the flames of several lamps simultaneously turned a ghostly green.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows' expression changed drastically, and he shouted sternly, "All the ever-burning lamps must be guarded! Not a single one can be extinguished! Quickly, go and add oil to the lamps!"

Li Feng, Qiu Sheng, and Qiu Lan immediately took action.

Qiu Sheng took out a ceramic jar from under the offering table. The jar contained lamp oil mixed with cinnabar and talisman ash.

He used a small spoon to add oil to each ever-burning lamp, holding the handle tightly with his fingers, afraid to pour out even a drop more than necessary, lest the oil spill out and extinguish the flame.

Qiulan then took out a copper bell, stood in the hall, and rang the bell with a special rhythm.

The sound of the requiem bell echoed in the morgue.

The sound waves slightly reduced the scratching sound of fingernails inside the coffin.

Li Feng stood guard beside the last coffin, lightning crackling in his right palm.

If the ink line on any coffin breaks, his palm lightning will immediately blast it, hitting it first and worrying later.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows held a Bagua mirror in his left hand and a peach wood sword in his right, chanting a corpse-suppressing incantation.

Dark golden Bagua runes appeared on the Bagua mirror, and the runes formed a beam of light that enveloped the entire row of coffins.

The yin-yang fish in the pillar of light slowly rotated, suppressing the yin energy in the coffin and even posing a direct threat.

"Behave yourselves, or I'll burn you all down!"

It took a full incense stick's time for the scratching sound from inside the coffin to gradually subside.

The flame of the eternal lamp returned to a pale gold color, and the light of the ink line dimmed.

Master Si Mei put away the Bagua mirror and frowned slightly.

"It's only the 12th of July, and the gates of hell haven't officially opened yet, but the yin energy in the coffin is already so agitated. This year's Ghost Festival is probably going to be difficult."

He had his three apprentices re-examine the ink lines on all the coffins.

He then personally pasted three talismans to protect the house on the main gate and the four walls of the mortuary before he felt a little relieved.

As Qiu Sheng inspected the coffin, he muttered, "Master, our mortuary always goes through this kind of ordeal every year during the Ghost Festival. This year is a bit strange."

"Last year when the gates of hell opened, only two coffins made any noise, but this year more than a dozen are acting up all at once?"

Master Four Eyebrows shook his head and said, "This year is different. The evil energy has seeped into the city's groundwater, and the foundation of the mortuary is probably also affected. The corpses in the coffins have been absorbing yin energy for a long time. When the evil energy comes, it's like lighting a fire on dry wood. If I hadn't taken action just now, I'm afraid several coffins would have been unable to suppress the corpses turning into zombies."

He sheathed his peach wood sword and beckoned his three disciples to gather around.

"The reason I am worried about this year's Ghost Festival is not only because of the evil spirits. Gu Zhenren came to Qingyan City from the Southern Frontier, so it is impossible that he did not know that the Ghost Festival is a great opportunity to raise Gu."

"If he had the Soul-Devouring Gu, he would definitely release the Gu worms when the gates of hell are wide open, to devour the wandering ghosts and turn them into ghost Gu puppets under his control."

"By then, he will have a large army of ghost Gu that are not afraid of sunlight or talismans, enough to deal with anyone in Qingyan City, including your master."

Qiu Sheng's face instantly paled with fear: "What do we do then? Should we run for our lives first?"

Master Four Eyebrows tapped him on the forehead and scolded, "We cultivators take it upon ourselves to exorcise demons and subdue monsters. How can we back down when faced with trouble? I have a solution, though it is a bit risky, but it may be able to resolve this crisis."