Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen — The Hundred-Ghosts Robe

There is a saying: a ghost bewitches the heart. Li Daoxuan was in just such a state.

He was, after all, a cultivator who had refined mana and attained the Dao — his three fires blazing, his yang energy abundant, such that common evil ghosts could not approach. But the ghost bride was no common evil ghost.

Even pinned by the Paralysis Talisman, she had silently beguiled Li Daoxuan, using his own hand to free her.

Li Daoxuan's hand at last touched the red veil…

Golden light flared; his finger stung. His spirit jolted, and he recoiled three steps, gasping, cold sweat pouring down his brow.

Terrifying! Too terrifying!

Li Daoxuan thanked his luck inwardly — having learned caution from the bat demon, on the way with Zhang Qianyang he had used all his protective talismans!

Nine Six Ding Six Jia Protective Talismans, stacked together, guarding both his soul and his flesh — and that was why, the moment he touched the red veil, he had snapped awake, and committed no grave error!

Li Daoxuan quietly put more distance between himself and the ghost bride.

But no sooner had one wave passed than another rose. Just as Li Daoxuan breathed easy, a figure slowly walked in from afar.

She walked with painful slowness, yet left no footprint on the village's earthen path.

Moonlight lit her aged face and that black burial robe.

The old woman!

Li Daoxuan's heart clenched in an instant. By Zhang Qianyang's account, this old woman was the vengeful ghost the demon Daoist kept — so why, with the demon fled, did she linger here?

Could it be the demon Daoist had not truly given up on the ghost bride — that his flight was only to draw Zhang Qianyang away, after which he would send this old woman to take her?

Li Daoxuan's thoughts raced, and in a flash he guessed the demon Daoist's mind. Pity that guessing was one thing, beating her another.

"Five thunders, five thunders, hasten to Huang Ning; mist and change, roar of lightning and thunder; at my call you come, swift send the yang sound — swiftly, swiftly, as the law commands!"

Li Daoxuan pinched the Five-Thunder Talisman. He did not risk approaching with Shrinking the Earth, Divine Striding, but chose to steer the thunder's fall himself.

Fortunately these Five-Thunder Talismans were drawn by Li Daoxuan before, only Tier One — and now his comprehension of the talisman had deepened greatly, so this bolt did not go astray.

Boom!

A green bolt, thin as a serpent, fell upon the old woman in the burial robe.

Her step faltered; the yin energy about her swiftly melted away.

But before Li Daoxuan could rejoice, the color of her burial robe deepened, as if flowing, and at last faces upon faces emerged upon it.

Those faces seemed to struggle and roar, yet could make no sound; the heavenly thunder's force was shared among them, and the old woman's yin energy coalesced once more.

For source clarity, the author publishes the chapter on the NovelPhoenix site, while this copy was not permitted.

This was the artifact the demon Daoist had specially forged for her, named the Hundred-Ghosts Robe.

This burial robe had been worn by over a hundred dead, each wronged and humiliated in death; their grievance condensed upon it, and the demon Daoist had refined it into a fetish.

Li Daoxuan drew another Five-Thunder Talisman and called the thunder again.

Boom!

Another bolt struck — yet was still blocked by that black burial robe. The old woman was all but unharmed, only her movements slowed somewhat.

Seeing this, Li Daoxuan did not hesitate. He turned and ran toward the ghost bride, then swept her up and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

Golden light flared — the protective talisman, sensing the dense yin energy, had triggered of its own accord.

Ghosts are gathered yin energy, wholly yin and foul; for an ordinary man to touch one, lightly he suffers weakened yang and a debilitated body, heavily he loses his wits and lies at death's door.

And at the level of a Red Robe vengeful ghost, it is all the more terrible. Had Li Daoxuan not used his protective talismans beforehand and rashly touched the ghost bride, he might not have died, but would surely have fallen gravely ill after.

Shouldering the ghost bride, Li Daoxuan ran swiftly in a direction.

Lucky the ghost bride was not heavy, even feather-light, as if nothing — only her body was icy beyond bearing, like cold jade.

That he did not simply abandon the ghost bride and flee alone had its reasons.

First, should the ghost bride fall into the demon Daoist's hands, who knew how many more innocents would die; second, if the foe controlled the ghost bride, then Li Daoxuan would only die the faster, with not the slightest chance to turn the tables!

Working Shrinking the Earth, Divine Striding, Li Daoxuan ran with the ghost bride, his form flickering and uncertain, and before long reached the place where he and Zhang Qianyang had met — the shrine.

Li Daoxuan brought the ghost bride into the shrine, set her down at once, then turned to close the door.

By now the golden light about him had grown faint — those nine Six Ding Six Jia Protective Talismans had nearly all been spent in this span!

Clatter!

As if sensing the ghost bride's arrival, the tablets in the shrine trembled violently, expressing resistance.

And a touch of fear?

Li Daoxuan said aloud, "Elders, fear not. She has been pinned by my master's Paralysis Talisman — cannot move, will not harm you!"

He had already begun calling Zhang Qianyang "master" to curry favor; thus the shrine's ghosts would think the more of him, and his later words carry weight.

"Elders, that demon Daoist is even now being hunted by my master. The vengeful ghost he keeps now means to seize this ghost bride — and once he succeeds, perhaps he escapes my master, and your chance at vengeance is lost forever!"

Li Daoxuan bowed deeply to the spirit tablets. "You who rest in the ancestral shrine were surely the village's venerated elders. Now your descendants are harmed by that demon Daoist — have you no wish for revenge?"

No sooner had he spoken than the tablets trembled, as if answering him.

"I beg the elders lend me your strength. A vengeful ghost will come to the door; I pray you hold her for one quarter-hour. I have a means to destroy her — but need time to prepare."

The tablets suddenly stilled, motionless.

Li Daoxuan's heart sank. Had he failed?

If they truly would not help, he could only flee alone.

But in the next breath, a sight that stunned him appeared.

Figures took shape before him — mostly white-haired elders, many leaning on canes; the youngest looked sixty or seventy.

The eldest among them came forward and bowed to Li Daoxuan.

"We receive our descendants' offerings, yet could not protect them — we are ashamed. Now we fade ever more; to do one last thing for our descendants before we scatter is a great good!"

So saying, the whole company bowed to Li Daoxuan together and said in unison, "We thank the Daoist for granting us this!"

Li Daoxuan opened his mouth, his heart a tangle of feelings. These elders, after death, were sustained by their descendants' offerings and incense, and so had not scattered; but as Li Family Village declined, they too grew faint, already at the edge of dissolution.

A yin wind blew, bringing bone-deep cold.

Li Daoxuan started, and quickly peered out through a crack in the door. In the distance, the old woman in the burial robe had appeared again, step by step drawing near.

"Elders, I entrust this to you!"

Li Daoxuan's gaze was resolute; he would waste no more time. He chose to trust these venerable elders.

"Rest assured, Daoist Li — we shall hold her for one quarter-hour!"

Li Daoxuan had by now crouched down and drawn several blank sheets of yellow paper from his bosom — the talisman-crafting materials he carried always.

He would draw a Tier-Two Five-Thunder Talisman!