Ghost Immortal

Only a few harbored particularly deep resentment, their eyes still filled with venomous hatred.

At the very back of the ghost procession followed several unsecured, wandering spirits.

These are wandering souls that slip out when the gates of hell open. They are not within the scope of the underworld officials' escorts, and the underworld officials will not take care of them.

As soon as they emerged from the crack, they scattered and flew away, some drifting towards the city, others disappearing into the mountains and forests, vanishing into the night sky in the blink of an eye.

These ghosts descended onto the open ground in front of the mortuary.

Black Impermanence stopped and looked up at the burning incense and the earthenware bowl filled with wine on the offering table.

His pure black eyes were expressionless, and he stopped abruptly.

The stiff smile on Bai Wuchang's face seemed to widen slightly as he waved the paper lantern in his hand at the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist priest and said:

"A banquet hosted by cultivators from the mortal realm is a rare occurrence. Old Fan, shall we take a break?"

His voice was high-pitched and thin, like fingernails scraping porcelain, but his tone was still quite polite.

Black Impermanence didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

His movements were extremely stiff, as if his head was about to fall off, and a cracking sound could be heard from his neck with every movement.

Master Si Mei immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Four-Eyebrows, the thirty-sixth generation disciple of Maoshan, greets the two underworld officials. Tonight, the gates of hell are opening for the first time. You two have worked hard escorting the souls of the dead. I have prepared some simple wine and fruit. Please do me the honor of resting yourselves."

The White Impermanence tilted his head to look at him, his eyes showing admiration.

"You old Taoist priest certainly know how to behave. I've been a ghost messenger for three hundred years, and every year during the Ghost Festival, Taoist priests and monks chant sutras to help the dead pass on. But you're the first to set up a stage to entertain ghost messengers."

He hung the paper lantern on the bamboo pole next to the offering table, walked to the front of the table, picked up a bowl of yellow wine, brought it close to his nose to smell it, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good wine! It's made from glutinous rice and has been sealed for at least three years."

Black Impermanence also walked over and picked up another bowl of wine.

He didn't drink it, but just held the bowl to his nose and smelled it.

Bai Wuchang took a sip of wine and suddenly looked towards the stage.

"If there's a puppet show, why is there no one on stage?"

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows waved to the back of the stage.

Qiu Sheng and Li Feng immediately came out from behind the curtain, each carrying two thin bamboo poles for manipulating the puppets.

Qiulan stood to the side of the stage, holding a copper bell in her hand, ready to provide background music.

Qiu Sheng and Li Feng manipulated puppets to perform a play called "Zhong Kui Catches Ghosts" on stage.

This play was specially selected by Master Si Mei.

Zhong Kui is a ghost-catching master, specializing in capturing evil spirits. Performing this play in front of the underworld officials is both a way of showing respect for them and a way of indicating his identity as a disciple of Maoshan.

In the opera, Zhong Kui wields a demon-slaying sword, walks the Seven Star Step, and kills one evil spirit with each strike, while his singing is high-pitched and passionate.

Qiu Sheng manipulates the Zhong Kui puppet with such clumsy technique that it's almost unbearable to watch.

Zhong Kui wielded his demon-slaying sword like he was chopping wood, and his Seven Star Steps were unsteady and shaky, almost causing him to fall off the stage several times.

The little devil controlled by Li Feng was quite agile, dodging left and right, and occasionally doing somersaults, which made Bai Wuchang laugh.

"Although this young Taoist's puppetry skills are clumsy, his sincerity is his greatest asset."

Bai Wuchang, holding a wine bowl, said to the Taoist priest with four eyebrows.

"I appreciate your kindness. Now, tell me, what do you need my help with?"

Master Four Eyebrows was secretly delighted, but he remained outwardly calm.

"To be honest, sir, I do have a request. Recently, a dark aura has been permeating Qingyan City. A Gu cultivator from the Southern Frontier is causing trouble in the city, raising Gu with living people and killing many people."

"I suspect that this person may be using evil Gu to control wandering souls and create ghost Gu puppets during the Ghost Festival when the gates of hell are open. I implore you, sir, to reveal some clues so that I can eliminate this scourge."

The smile of the White Impermanence vanished instantly. He and the Black Impermanence exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with a strange light, their expressions showing considerable apprehension.

"We in the Underworld are also keeping an eye on this person. He does indeed have Soul-Devouring Gu, and not just one. Last month, he killed three Gu Masters in the Southern Frontier and took away the Gu worms they had refined throughout their lives, including the mother Gu of 108 Soul-Devouring Gu."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows' expression changed drastically: "The mother Gu of one hundred and eight Soul-Devouring Gu? That means he can control one hundred and eight ghosts!"

Bai Wuchang shook his head: "You underestimate him. In your hands, the mother Gu can only control one Gu worm, but in his hands, it can continuously reproduce new offspring Gu. One mother Gu can produce twelve offspring Gu in a day and night, and each offspring Gu can control a ghost."

"He has been in Qingyan City for more than a month, and heaven knows how many offspring he has bred."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows gripped his peach wood sword tightly, his expression darkening: "Will he make his move tonight?"

"Definitely!"

Bai Wuchang drank the remaining wine in the bowl in one gulp.

"During the Ghost Festival, the gates of hell open wide, and the number of wandering ghosts in the mortal world increases tenfold. For him, this is nothing short of a feast."

"However, the specific time and place to take action is beyond my control. The underworld has its own rules, and those who reveal heavenly secrets will be punished in the Tongue-Pulling Hell."

Knowing that further questioning would yield no results, the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist Priest changed his question, asking, "Then let me ask another question. Does Your Excellency know where the source of this dark aura is?"

White Impermanence looked at Black Impermanence, who said calmly, "Deep in the mountains to the west, there is a place called Corpse Pit."

"Hundreds of years ago, this was an ancient battlefield where many people and demons died. The Yin energy at the bottom of the corpse pit is stagnant and has been used as a breeding ground for Gu after being discovered by the Gu Master. The female corpse that you injured also escaped into the corpse pit and is currently absorbing Yin energy at the bottom of the pit to recover from her injuries."

Master Four Eyebrows' heart skipped a beat: "The female corpse is also in the corpse pit, and is Master Gu there too?"

Bai Wuchang continued, "The female corpse is a descendant of the phoenix bloodline at the peak of her transformation. The concentration of her resentment and evil energy is no less than the yin energy at the bottom of the corpse pit. Gu Zhenren wants to control her, but his current level of Gu techniques is not enough."

"Therefore, he needs a large number of ghost puppets to deplete the female corpse's power. Once the female corpse is weakened to a certain extent, he will use the Soul-Devouring Gu to forcibly control her."

This speculation sent everyone present into a deep slump.

If the Gu Master truly manages to control the female corpse, the consequences will be unimaginable.

They had already witnessed the power of the female corpse firsthand. It was only by combining the talismans of Master Si Mei, Zhao Tiezhu, two Maoshan disciples, and Li Feng that they were able to barely repel her.

If she is controlled by the Gu Master, along with more than a hundred ghost Gu puppets, even if the whole city fights together, they may not be able to stop her.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for informing me, gentlemen. Please have a seat, and I will perform another play to entertain you."

Bai Wuchang waved his hand and leaned against the offering table to continue drinking.

Li Feng was preparing to change to a new play when he suddenly heard Qiu Lan's voice coming from behind the stage.

"Senior brother, what are you doing?"

Li Feng turned around and saw Qiu Sheng taking out a willow leaf from his pocket and wiping it on his left eye.

Willow leaves are ghostly!

This is a kind of unorthodox magic in Maoshan magic.

Wiping the eyes with willow leaves soaked in morning dew can allow the living to temporarily see the true face of ghosts.

However, this spell is risky, because once the ghost eye is activated, the ghost will also be able to sense the gaze of the living.

Some grumpy ghosts will become enraged when the living see their true forms.

"I want to see what those ghosts below the stage look like," Qiu Sheng chuckled nonchalantly.

"Anyway, with the underworld officials around, they won't dare to cause trouble."

Before Qiulan could stop him, Qiusheng had already wiped the willow leaf over his left eye.

A pale green film appeared on the pupil of his left eye, which quickly seeped into the depths of the pupil and disappeared.

Qiu Sheng blinked his left eye and looked down at the stage.

The glutinous rice circle below the stage was densely packed with ghosts.

The ghosts, chained together, stood quietly in place, looking up at the stage.

The blank, lifeless expressions on their faces revealed their true nature under the gaze of the ghostly eyes.

Some ghosts have their faces mostly rotten, revealing the white bones underneath.

The hanged ghost had deep, bone-revealing ligature marks on its neck, and its tongue was sticking out long.

There were also several others whose bodies were swollen and pale, with murky water seeping from their skin; they were clearly drowned ghosts who had been soaking in the water for a long time.

Qiu Sheng felt a chill run down his spine and was about to look away.

Suddenly, I noticed that there was a female ghost among the group of ghosts who was particularly different.

The female ghost wore a plain white dress, her hair loosely tied up with a jade hairpin, and her face was beautiful and gentle, making her stand out among a group of ferocious-looking ghosts.

Her features were intact, her skin was as white as a living person's, and her eyes held a faint sorrow, unlike other ghosts who were wooden and dull.

She stood at the edge of the ghost horde, her head slightly bowed, her hands clasped in front of her lower abdomen, her posture serene and elegant, like a refined young lady who had accidentally wandered into the ghost horde.

Qiu Sheng stared wide-eyed.

"That female ghost is so beautiful..."

He muttered to himself, and as if possessed, he jumped off the side of the stage and walked toward the female ghost.