“Which room are you going to stay in tonight?” The Ghost King asked Chi Huo after reaching the hallways.
Chi Huo pushed open the room that he had neglected for two days and said, “I won’t disturb you tonight, Fellow Daoist Chi.”
There was no obvious emotion on the Ghost King’s face. He took out a small purple clay bottle and handed it to Chi Huo, “This medicine can help you heal faster.”
As he spoke, his eyes moved to the hideous wound on the back of Chi Huo’s hand and he curled his lips, “I don’t want your Shizun to think that you were injured because I took you out.”
Chi Huo took the medicine and smiled, “Thank you.”
The Ghost King, “I still have to go back to make maple lanterns. See you tomorrow.”
It seemed as if he deliberately told the young cultivator in front of him about the rush to make the maple lanterns.
“Chi Huo.” He suddenly called himself.
The Ghost King who was about to turn around turned back, “What’s wrong?”
After a moment of silence, Chi Huo said, “It’s not easy to make 365 maple lanterns. It’s a lot of work. It’s not worth it to give them away as gifts.”
The Ghost King looked at him with interest, “Qi Wang, how did you know that I want to make 365 lanterns?”
Chi Huo smiled and said the same old line, “Don’t forget, I’m your fortune teller.”
The Ghost King also smiled, “Got it, Fortune Teller.”
“I will remember your reminder, and don’t forget that you promised to bring me a maple lantern.” As he said this, the Ghost King had already pushed open the door to his room.
After returning to his room, Chi Huo cleaned the wound on the back of his hand with cool water, and then bandaged it with the medicine given by the Ghost King.
This medicine for wounds would turn as red as rouge, and felt cool and moisturizing when applied to the back of his hand. It was very valuable, but Chi Huo knew that he used to spend money lavishly and never took the spiritual tools and spiritual stones seriously.
Unfortunately, even if he wanted to spend money lavishly now, he didn’t have the fortune and could only rely on “his own” thighs.
Thinking of this, Chi Huo smiled to himself, a hint of self-deprecation in his eyes.
Chi Huo had gotten up early in the morning and was exhausted after running around the whole day. After taking a bath, he fell asleep on the couch.
In the second half of the night, Chi Huo woke up for a while in a daze. In a half-asleep and half-awake state, he seemed to hear someone blowing leaves as a musical instrument and playing “Sweet Reverie Tune” softly outside the window.
This was also a piece of music from Zuiya Tower. When he was a child, he often suffered from insomnia. The person who took care of him found some fresh leaves from somewhere and blew them above his pillow, which made him have a good dream that night.
Little Chi Huo had listened to the melody flowing from the leaves and soon calmed down, then fell into a deep slumber with even breathing.
Such a story didn’t seem to be supposed to happen in Red Sand Valley, especially in Zuiya Tower where “desire” was the basis of transactions.
Whether it was coaxing a child to sleep or picking fresh green leaves, it was like a mirage in the dark red land stained with resentment.
After all, in the end, fresh human skin was much easier to obtain than fresh leaves.
Later, when Chi Huo grew up, there was no one to coax him to sleep, so he taught the tune to the puppets himself. He asked the puppet to go thousands of miles away to pick fresh leaves, and then return to Zuiya Tower where there was no sunlight all day, and play the “Sweet Reverie Tune” to coax him to sleep.
Year after year, the corpse puppets were constantly replaced. They had no emotions, and the tunes they played were accurate but lacked flavor.
The leaves had been picked over a long journey and were no longer fresh, so the music they played always sounded a bit dull and sad.
He didn’t know when the autumn rain started pouring again, drowning out the “Sweet Reverie” outside the window.
Chi Huo, who wanted to wake up, fell into a deep slumber again. He didn’t know whether this good dream was real or not, but at this moment, truth or falsehood seemed no longer important. This familiar melody accompanied him all night.
The next day was sunny and the autumn weather was crisp.
The streets of Fushui City were bustling with activity. More and more horse-drawn carriages were driving through the streets, and the morning market was already packed with people.
Tonight was the long-awaited night of the Lantern Festival, which was the most anticipated part of the entire Thousand Maple Lanterns Sighting Banquet.
Except for Xiao Guo, all of them were downstairs to have breakfast. The Ghost King did not show up and his door was locked.
During this trip, the master and his disciples seemed to have completely integrated into the lives of ordinary people, eating and drinking tea on time almost every day.
Cheng Miao looked at the bustling crowd on the street outside the inn and sighed, “I’ve heard that the Lantern Festival parade is very lively, but I never thought it would be such a grand scene.”
Chi Huo, “This year’s lantern champion is the legendary Miss Bai, who is said to be extremely beautiful. People from all over the world want to see her beauty, so it’s naturally livelier than the previous years.”
“Shidi, don’t say anymore. It’s poking my curiosity…” Cheng Miao had been traveling around the city these days. He was no longer as rigid and reserved as before, and his speech had become more lively.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
After saying this, he shot a cautious glance at Shi Wuzheng to see what his master’s attitude and reaction would be.
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Shi Wuzheng nodded, “You are all young, and you are looking forward to a lively time. It is austere and lonely to practice in Suiyi Peak on weekdays. It is time to get a taste of the fireworks of the city.”
Shi Wuzheng, as the protagonist, was very open-minded and tolerant except for being emotionally indecisive, escapist, and over-doting on his disciples. He was in sharp contrast to those old Taoist priests in famous and upright sects who always talked about strict rules and regulations.
As he spoke, Shi Wuzheng turned to Chi Huo. Seeing the bandage on the back of his hand, he said calmly, “Wang’er, you should also watch the parade tonight. Don’t run around by yourself anymore. It’s not good to cause trouble.”
Shi Wuzheng’s words sounded ordinary, but in fact he was reminding Chi Huo in a light-hearted way that he knew the other party had been messing around last night and returned late at night.
Chi Huo nodded obediently, “Disciple understands.”
Chi Huo was not surprised that Shi Wuzheng discovered his sneak out yesterday. After all, he made such a big fuss in Yanlu Tower yesterday. Even if Bai Jianlin suppressed it for the sake of face and maintaining stability, Shi Wuzheng, a high-level cultivator, must have noticed it.
Maybe he was worried his disciple might get into trouble, so he kept the lights in his room on last night… Chi Huo thought as a matter of course.
After hesitating for a moment, Shi Wuzheng asked again, “Will Fellow Daoist Chi not come down to have breakfast today?”
Chi Huo shook his head, “He doesn’t seem to be at the inn. He may have gone out early in the morning.”
Shi Wuzheng nodded, “Fellow Daoist Chi is a casual cultivator, so he should be more relaxed and unrestrained on weekdays. You have just entered the inner sect, and the matter of the ghost cultivator cave has only temporarily been settled, so it is better not to make trouble.”
“I hope you don’t feel annoyed when your Shizun tells you this.” Shi Wuzheng added, looking up to observe Chi Huo’s expression.
Chi Huo smiled without any concern, and his tone held the humbleness that a disciple should have, “Shizun, you are right. Please rest assured, I know my limits.”
Seeing that he had a good attitude and responded in this way, Shi Wuzheng naturally didn’t want to say anything more.
“In the evening, if Fellow Daoist Chi is free, you can invite him to join us in the Lantern Festival.” Shi Wuzheng finally instructed.
Chi Huo, “Okay.”
*
After breakfast, Chi Huo returned to his room to regulate his breathing and entered a state of meditation, continuing his practice that was interrupted in the back mountain last time.
After eliminating distracting thoughts and entering the state of spiritual practice, time passed quickly, and after a cycle, it was already past noon.
The streets were even more lively. Even if the windows of the inn were closed shut, the hustle and bustle still poured into the house.
Chi Huo didn’t want to join in the fun, so in order to kill time, he decided to go to the back mountain behind the inn again to pick up some beautiful maple leaves to make maple lanterns.
After all, he had personally promised the Ghost King two days ago that he would also give him a maple lantern, and the Ghost King had specifically reminded him of it last night.
The promise he made to “himself” must be fulfilled. In his previous life, he made so many maple lanterns for others, so of course he had to make some for “himself” in this life.
When leaving the guest room, Chi Huo found that there was still no movement in the room next door. He wondered where the Ghost King had been all day long as he hadn’t seen him since morning.
For some reason, Chi Huo felt a little bored when he couldn’t see “himself”.
The streets in the city were bustling, but the mountains behind were very quiet. After days of autumn rain, most of the leaves in the maple forest had fallen, and the dead branches were intertwined with the rugged rocks, giving off a unique bleak autumn atmosphere.
The fallen maple leaves rose to a thickness of three feet, layer upon layer, and they felt crisp and soft when stepped on, like a red tide sweeping over the mountains.
While Chi Huo was carefully selecting maples for himself, he was analyzing the current plot progress in his mind.
Because of his own disruption and interference, the original trajectory of the plot had changed.
Shi Wuzheng and “himself” seemed to have no further contact or progress; the twins of the Zhu family appeared in Fushui Town ahead of time, and shifted their target of hatred, now seeing him as a thorn in their eyes; even Bai Zhuxi, who was originally strategizing, may have to change his plan to seize power because of his disruption…
In order to pass the time in his previous life, Chi Huo had written vernacular stories for several years. He knew very well that the plotline was a very important factor influencing the entire body. As long as there was a small change at a certain time point, it would trigger a series of chain reactions and the development of the story would become increasingly uncontrollable.
Chi Huo was thinking as he walked, and unknowingly he had reached the depths of the maple forest. Just as he reached the end of the cliff and was about to turn around, Chi Huo’s eyelids suddenly twitched slightly, and a ghostly aura filled the air.
He had always been most sensitive to the breath of ghosts and would never make a wrong judgment.
Chi Huo immediately became alert. He stopped and turned back, following the ghost energy and patrolled the edge of the cliff for a while, and finally found a cave covered by thorns and dead branches.
The ghostly aura came from the cave. There were even dark red bloodstains on the thorns at the entrance of the cave. The weeds around it lay flat on the ground, and there were signs that they had been trampled upon recently.
In the territory governed by the famous and upright sect, and on the eve of the Thousand Maple Lantern Sighting Banquet, which ignorant ghost would secretly hide here and release such undisguised, arrogant and turbid “qi”?
And judging from the bloodstains on the thorns and chaotic footprints on the ground, this ghost seemed to be in a panic and hurry, and was probably facing an unsolvable crisis.
Chi Huo suddenly felt very curious. Relying on the fact that he could use the wind chime to summon Shi Wuzheng for help at any time, he knew that his life would not be in danger no matter what crisis he encountered. So he was fearless. He carefully pushed aside the thorn bushes covering the cave and stepped into the pitch-dark cave.
The further he went in, the thicker the turbid ghost energy became. It seemed that the ghost hiding here was in a manic period. Their aura was extremely chaotic and they may go berserk at any time.
A “mature” ghost would not let himself be in such an out-of-control state. Chi Huo judged that the person hiding here was a very “new” ghost cultivator who had not yet learned how to suppress his restless blood and could not even understand and control his own power.
These clues pointed to a possibility for the identity of the ghost…
Chi Huo went deeper into the cave. Although he tried to make his steps as light as possible, he was in the light while the other party was in the dark. It seemed that his “visit” could not escape the sight of the person in the darkness.
Suddenly, a gust of wind with a smell of blood blew from behind. Chi Hup stopped in his tracks and stood still, saying calmly, “I just passed by here. It looked like it was going to rain, so I came in to take shelter. Sorry if I disturbed you.”
The other party completely ignored his words. The tingling smell of blood instantly filled his nose. Chi Huo felt something was wrong. The other party had an absolutely overwhelming murderous aura, and it seemed that it was directed at him!
Chi Huo did not draw his sword immediately, but subconsciously dodged and stepped back, drawing a series of messy circles under his feet.
But this ghost with disordered breathing kept pressing forward, as if he wanted to kill Chi Huo.
Chi Huo’s mind flashed slightly, and he made a lightning talisman in the pitch-darkness. As the dark cave was illuminated, the ghost who was originally brandishing his claws and fangs suddenly froze. In the flickering firelight, Chi Huo could see the other party’s face clearly.
Just as Chi Huo expected, the guy who had just revealed his murderous intention towards him was Xiao Guo, who had the blood of the ghost clan flowing in his body.
“Shixiong, if you come one step closer, I will call our Shizun to come over.” Chi Huo stood where he was and warned calmly, deliberately emphasizing the word “Shizun”.
He did not use the bluebell tattoo to summon Shi Wuzheng immediately, because rather than letting Xiao Guo be captured and put in solitary confinement at Suiyi Peak, he was more curious about how Xiao Guo’s plot would change with his intervention.
The word “Shizun” was a safety switch for Xiao Guo.
He suddenly knelt on the ground in pain, a hoarse whine coming from his throat, disordered energy rushing through his limbs and bones. He tried his best to suppress the urge to kill, and crawled in front of Chi Huo like a trapped beast.
Chi Huo noticed that Xiao Guo’s condition was very bad at the moment. Veins bulged on his forehead and blood kept oozing from the corners of his lips, quickly dyeing his originally pale and dry lips red. His fingers, which were tightly grasping the sand and dead leaves, were twisted and distorting, the meridians in his knuckles cramping.
The last time he went to Xiao Guo’s guest room to deliver food, Chi Huo noticed that something was wrong with Xiao Guo.
He guessed that Xiao Guo must have said something outrageous to Shi Wuzheng at the inn in HongShui Town before, and was scolded by Shi Wuzheng, which triggered his inner demons in advance, causing the plot point of Xiao Guo losing his sanity to be advanced.
It just so happened that during this period of time Shi Wuzheng was trying to avoid Xiao Guo’s suspicion and avoided him as much as possible, so he had no way of noticing anything unusual about his disciple.
“Shizun… No, Shizun must not know…” Xiao Guo prostrated himself on the ground, roaring and crying, “I beg you… Shizun must now know…”
Sure enough, as long as Shi Wuzheng was used as a shield, Xiao Guo would not be able to hurt him.
Chi Huo brushed off the dust on his body that had accumulated during the fight and looked at Xiao Guo’s miserable appearance.
The pent-up inner demons made Xiao Guo unable to control the ghost mark in his blood, so he became manic and out of control, like a wolf cub whose animal nature was aroused.
“Shixiong, how can you hide this condition from our Shizun?” Chi Huo sighed, and squatted down and looked at the other person straight in the eye.
“No… No!” Xiao Guo, who was crawling on the ground, tightened his fingers more and more, and his bulging eyes flushed red.
“Why? Shizun will know one day. There is no way to hide this matter.” Chi Huo asked based on facts.
“At least… not now…”
With the help of the light from the illumination spell, Chi Huo picked up a dry maple leaf and played with it in his hand, “I can help you and hide this matter from Shizun for you, but if I do that, you will owe me a favor.”
“Help me… please… I can do anything…” Xiao Guo pleaded with all his might.
Chi Huo paused for a moment, then said cheerfully, “Okay, don’t move for now, just be patient.”
As he spoke, he carefully brushed off the dust on the maple leaf, and then tore the leaf into the shape of a small paper man, and even gestured it against the light. Only when he was satisfied did he draw out Xiao Guo’s sword, used the blade to cut the tip of Xiao Guo’s right middle finger, then held Xiao Guo’s hand and wrote densely packed incomprehensible characters on the maple leaf man.
The talisman was completed, Chi Huo made a fire gesture and threw the little man with blood words written on him into the fire and burned him.
As the little man rolled in the fire and completely turned into ashes, the energy that was rampaging in Xiao Guo’s body finally calmed down. He let out a long sigh and fell to the ground exhausted.
The method of using paper figures as substitutes to suppress inner demons was learned by him in his previous life from Xiao Guo, who had fallen into the ghost realm in the later period.
Now that he had been reborn and reset the timeline, and also got the script of his previous life, he was the one who taught this method to Xiao Guo. Chi Huo felt more or less that cause and effect were confused and that fate was playing tricks on him.
Xiao Guo was in a coma for a full hour. During this time, Chi Huo kept his promise and did not call Shi Wuzheng.
When Xiao Guo finally regained consciousness, the blood color in his eyes had completely faded and he regained his rationality, but his face was paler than before.
Xiao Guo got up from the mud, looked at the scabs on his fingertips, then looked at Chi Huo who was meditating not far away. He struggled for a while before he gritted his teeth and said, “Shidi, thank you for your help just now.”
As he spoke, he bit his lip, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Chi Huo slowly opened his eyes, knowing exactly what the other party wanted to ask, and said calmly, “Shixiong, you don’t have to be polite. Don’t worry, I will never mention a word of what happened today to Shizun.”
Xiao Guo was stunned. He was surprised that Chi Huo actually knew what he wanted to ask.
“But why? Why are you…”
Chi Huo stood up from the maple leaves and patted the remaining leaves, “How should I know what you want to say? And why would I be willing to hide it for you, right?”
Xiao Guo, “…”
Chi Huo, “Don’t worry, I will never break my promise. I can guarantee that.”
He was very curious about how Xiao Guo’s plot line would develop under his influence. Moreover, Xiao Guo was an important figure in the encirclement and suppression of West Jizhou back then, so he had to keep him in his hands.
In his previous life, when Xiao Guo fell into the ghost realm, he had a brief contact with the other party.
The experience during that period made Chi Huo see clearly that Shi Wuzheng, although he was paranoid and vindictive, he valued gratitude and kept his promises for this unruly disciple the most.
If used well, Xiao Guo would be the best “chess piece”.
Chi Huo also threw a bottle of calming medicine to Xiao Guo, “Although the inner demons have been suppressed temporarily, Shixiong, you look very bad right now. It will be bad if Shizun finds out.”
Xiao Guo took the medicine and said, “…thank you very much. Don’t worry, I will never forget your kindness today.”
“In exchange, you have to keep it a secret for me that I’m helping you suppress your inner demons. After all, it will be troublesome if Shizun finds out.” Chi Huo said with a smile.
He glanced at the time, “It’s getting late. Once you have sorted yourself out, let’s go back to the inn.”
After saying that, he walked out of the cave, leaving the pale-faced Xiao Guo standing there stiffly.
Xiao Guo looked at Chi Huo’s receding back, and all kinds of doubts came into his mind.
What was the purpose of his Shidi? How did he know how to suppress the inner demons? And… was this guy really the dodder outer disciple in the rumors?
*
After returning to the inn from the back mountain, Chi Huo felt very sleepy, so he decided to take a short nap. Without the “Sweet Reverie Tune” that helped him fall asleep last night, he was confused and had trouble sleeping during lunch break, so he did not sleep well.
At dinner time, Shi Wuzheng booked a table at the inn as usual. As soon as Chi Huo woke up, he was called by Cheng Miao to choose the dishes for the table.
It was now the hour of rooster, and the sun was setting.
The streets were lit up, and cars and carriages were coming and going, creating a bustling scene with flowers and decorations.
Chi Huo walked out of the guest room in a daze. When he passed by the Ghost King’s room again, he found that the other party had lit a lamp.
The Ghost King, who had been busy outside all day, finally came back. Chi Huo hesitated for a moment, and finally raised a hand and knocked on the Ghost King’s door.
“Come in,” the Ghost King’s voice came from behind the door. The moment Chi Huo opened the door, the other party smiled knowingly, “Are you here to invite me to dinner?”
He turned his head, smelling of dust from a long journey.
Chi Huo also smiled, “Yes, would you do me the honor?”
At this moment, he noticed that the Ghost King’s room was already filled with maple lanterns that were about to be completed. Hundreds of maple lanterns stacked together made the already not very spacious guest room seem a little crowded.
Chi Huo sighed in his heart. It seemed that his reminder last night did not work. The Ghost King still worked hard to make these maple lanterns.
“I naturally don’t want to miss the dishes chosen by Fellow Daoist Qi. I didn’t drink enough rice wine the night before yesterday—”
As he spoke, the Ghost King’s eyelids twitched. He suddenly moved quickly and appeared right in front of Chi Huo, quietly locked the half-open door of the guest room, and stared at Chi Huo who was standing by the door from a very close distance.
The brief and silent confrontation made this already small guest room seem even more cramped.
“What’s wrong?” Chi Huo paused for a moment, already guessing about 70% of the answer, but he remained calm and asked tentatively.
The Ghost King leaned closer, buried his head an inch away from his neck and sniffed, his voice as light as a whisper, “You are contaminated with ghost energy.”
“And a little bit of someone else’s blood.”
He’s like a dog sniffing it’s owner lmaoo
Thank you for the chapter, op! 🙏🏻🙏🏻
The tension is real OwO!
Thanks for the chapter 💖.