Ghost Immortal

He Xiangu handed the pages of the book recording the art of divination to Qiulan, and added solemnly, "Tonight is the Ghost Festival, the gates of hell are wide open, and the yin energy is at its strongest. The ghosts that have escaped will be more active than usual. If you take action tonight, you will have the best chance of finding the ghosts, but the risk is also the greatest."

She took out three cloth bags from her sleeve and gave one to each person.

The cloth bag is woven from silkworm silk and feels cool to the touch.

The surface is embroidered with crooked runes, somewhat similar to those on the guiding lamps.

"This is a simple ghost-catching bag, not as big as mine, but it can hold two or three ghosts without any problem. You can use this tonight to collect a few ghosts as practice."

"Once you've dealt with your master, I'll naturally lend you my giant ghost-catching bag that can hold fifty ghosts."

Qiu Sheng took the ghost-catching bag, muttering with a bitter face, "Master, can we really catch ghosts? We've never done it alone before."

He Xiangu raised an eyebrow: "You caused this trouble. If you don't take responsibility, who will? If you don't want it, give it back to me."

"Of course I would do my duty!" Qiu Sheng immediately changed his tune, his face beaming with smiles.

"Master's conditions are perfectly reasonable! We'll not only exorcise ghosts ourselves, but we'll also find a way to lure Master here!"

He Xiangu was satisfied and turned to walk towards the east wing.

The three of them walked out of He's incense and candle shop, and the night wind carrying a heavy, eerie atmosphere rushed towards them.

The moon is round and bright during the Ghost Festival.

"Which one should we catch first?"

Qiu Sheng took out the pages of the book recorded by He Xiangu and flipped through them by the moonlight.

Qiulan pointed to the first line of writing: "There are three ghosts under the old locust tree in the south of the city, the most numerous, but my aunt said that these three just ran away last night, and their resentment is not strong, so they should be the easiest to catch."

Li Feng pointed to another line of writing: "Senior Sister, the female ghost in the dry well in the west of the city was specifically marked by Master as having deep resentment, and should not be visited alone. I think we should go and capture her first."

Qiu Sheng asked, puzzled, "Why? My aunt said she harbors deep resentment, why should we go and provoke her?"

"It's precisely because of their deep resentment that we need to capture them as soon as possible," Li Feng explained.

"Ghosts with strong resentment are most likely to attract Soul-Devouring Gu. Gu Master obtained thirty-seven ghost Gu puppets last night, and will definitely continue to use the mother Gu to search for wandering souls tonight."

"This female ghost is so full of resentment that she is as conspicuous as a lantern in the dark in the eyes of Gu Zhenren's Soul-Devouring Gu. If we don't capture her first, Gu Zhenren will find her first."

Qiu Lan nodded in agreement: "Junior Brother is right. The more ghost Gu puppets Gu Master has, the harder it is for us to deal with them. We can't let this female ghost fall into his hands."

Qiu Sheng had no choice but to put away the book and said helplessly, "Fine, fine, I'll listen to you. Let's go to the dry well in the west of the city first."

The three left Hejia Village and walked back along the road they had come from.

The night of the Ghost Festival is completely different from any other day.

Will-o'-the-wisps could be seen everywhere in the fields on both sides of the official road.

The eerie green lights flickered on and off in the rice paddies, like fireflies.

But they are not fireflies, but wandering ghosts that have escaped from the gates of hell.

They have no physical form and can only wander in the mortal world in the form of will-o'-the-wisps.

They must return to the underworld before dawn, or they will be scorched by the sunlight and their souls will be scattered.

As Qiu Sheng walked, he looked around and suddenly pointed to a dark figure under an old willow tree by the roadside: "Look over there!"

Li Feng and Qiu Lan looked in the direction he was pointing.

A blurry figure was crouching under the old willow tree, curled up as if crying.

The figure's outline was extremely blurry, and the moonlight shone through its body onto the ground, yet it did not cast any shadow.

Qiulan said softly, "It's a wandering spirit. It looks like it just died recently and hasn't adapted to being a ghost yet."

The wandering spirit seemed to sense the three people's gaze and slowly raised its head.

Its face was blurry, and it stretched out a translucent arm toward the three of them, as if trying to grasp at a straw.

Qiu Sheng instinctively took a step forward, but Li Feng grabbed him.

"Senior brother, have you forgotten the lesson we learned last night?"

Qiu Sheng awkwardly withdrew his hand, saying embarrassedly, "I just felt sorry for it..."

"The wandering souls are pitiful, but the living can't help them." Qiu Lan took the soothing bell from her waist and shook it gently.

Upon hearing the bell, the wandering spirit gradually calmed down, curled up under the willow tree, and stopped struggling.

"The requiem bell can only temporarily soothe it; it must return to the underworld on its own when dawn breaks."

Qiu Lan put away the bell and said to Qiu Sheng, "Senior brother, if you really pity it, burn more paper money for it. Money can make the dead work in the underworld, which is much better than dragging things out in the mortal world."

Qiu Sheng took out a few pieces of paper money from his pocket, lit them with magic, and placed them under the willow tree.

The ashes from the burning paper money drifted in the night wind, settling on the huddled figures of wandering spirits.

The wandering spirit bowed slightly to Qiu Sheng in gratitude.

The three continued on their journey.

About half an hour later, they returned to the outskirts of Qingyan City.

The city gates had already been closed.

Li Feng had a watchman's badge and led Qiu Sheng and Qiu Lan into the city through a secret passage at the foot of the city wall.

This secret passage was marked on the night watchman's route map and was exclusively for the watchman's use at night; even the officials in the government might not know about it.

After entering the city, the yin energy was noticeably denser than outside the city.

Many people have died in Qingyan City over the past few hundred years.

The underground atmosphere is already heavy with yin energy, and this year, the dark and ominous energy has been constantly seeping into the city's groundwater.

On the Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open, the entire city seems to ferment like a swamp of yin energy.

In the dark corners on both sides of the street, blurry ghostly figures could be seen everywhere.

They outnumbered Li Feng more than he usually saw when he was out on night watch.

But these ghostly figures remained quietly crouched in the corner, showing no signs of attacking the living.

The Ghost Festival is a day when ghosts return to the mortal world to visit their relatives. The rules of the underworld are very strict: ghosts are only allowed to visit their relatives and are not allowed to disturb the living.

Ghosts who break the rules are captured by the underworld officials and thrown into the Blood Pool Hell to be punished.

Of course, there are always some audacious and wicked ghosts who break the rules.

The dry well in the west of the city is at the end of this alley.

When the three arrived, they could see wisps of black smoke rising from the wellhead from afar.

The black aura was extremely thick, like ink, and completely different from the pale gray aura emitted by ordinary ghosts.

"This resentment is too strong. Maybe we should ask our master to capture her." Qiu Sheng gasped and subconsciously took a half step back, having second thoughts.

Li Feng used all five senses to explore the wellhead.

His nine-inch spiritual root allowed him to perceive details that Qiu Sheng could not.

The female ghost's resentment was far greater than any ghost he had ever seen before.

Even the malevolent aura emanating from the female corpse when it was first taken out of its coffin last night might not be as pure as the female ghost in this well.

"This female ghost must have experienced something extremely tragic before she died," Li Feng said solemnly.

"The resentment of ordinary people who die unjustly is not so pure or so strong."

Qiulan had already untied the copper bell from her waist, and with the talisman in her left hand, she carefully approached the well.

The ringing of the bell forced back some of the black mist emanating from the well.

When Qiulan was three steps away from the well, she stopped and pasted the talisman on the edge of the well.

The cinnabar runes on the talisman paper glowed with a pale golden light.

The black gas at the wellhead retracted like a scalded tentacle, making a hissing sound.

A female ghost's shrill scream emanated from within the black mist, making the three of them's eardrums ache.

"Get away! Don't come near me, I don't want to hurt anyone, don't force me!"

Qiu Sheng mustered his courage and stepped forward, shouting towards the well: "Miss, we are disciples of the Maoshan Sect, not here to harm you. You escaped from the underworld officials last night, and the underworld is searching for you everywhere."

"If you're willing to come out and come with us, we can plead with the underworld officials to lessen your punishment. But if you continue to hide in the well and wait for them to come and arrest you, your crime will be compounded!"

The female ghost cried, "I won't go back! I died unjustly! I don't even know who killed me! I'm not willing to go back to the underworld like this!"

Before Qiu Sheng could say anything more, Li Feng raised his hand to stop him.

His five senses detected an eerie noise; from the other end of the alley, he could faintly hear the sounds of music and celebration.

The joyful sounds grew clearer and clearer as they approached from afar.

The sharp melody of the suona, like the Great Compassion Mantra, drifted in the night wind, mixed with the sounds of gongs and drums and the noise of the crowd.

But this joyful melody had an inexplicable eeriness to it; the tune of the suona was clearly a celebratory one, yet it always felt like a funeral dirge.

The rhythm of the gongs and drums was completely different from that of a normal wedding procession, and it made people feel suffocated.

"Why would there be a wedding procession at this hour?"

Qiulan also heard the joyful sounds and looked surprised.

On the night of the Ghost Festival, every household closes their doors and windows, and even the night watchman only dares to walk a fixed route while striking his clapper.

Who will be the one to fetch the bride at this hour?

Li Feng suddenly turned around and looked in the direction from which the joyful music was coming.

From the other end of the alley, a procession appeared under the moonlight.

This group was extremely strange; everyone was dressed in bright red wedding attire.

The sedan chair bearers were dressed in red.

But their faces were all deathly pale, devoid of any color.

A stiff smile hung on his lips, but dark red tears of blood streamed from the corners of his eyes, making him look like a paper doll.