Chapter 19: Guanzhu, Stop Moving. All Gu Have Tattoos…
While Yun Wuxiang was fighting Princess Shunming.
In the band, a figure slipped away. Shen Lanqing held the talisman paper person in his hand and asked, “Master, what do we do now? Since you were taken away by that evil creature, will anything happen?”
Yun Wuxiang directed him: “It’s fine, I won’t die. You go meet up with Mo Yang first and deal with Princess Shunming.”
“Yin energy has entered my body, so I can’t suppress Song Yilou’s poison, but she won’t be much better off.”
Song Yilou wouldn’t leave his main body, so Princess Shunming wouldn’t have a helper there, but he did.
“Mo Yang’s cultivation method is pure Yang, specifically countering ghostly things.” Inside the barrier, there was no Heavenly Dao suppression, so Mo Yang should have recovered his true cultivation level.
Logically speaking, given Mo Yang’s obsession with slaying demons, he should have run toward Princess Shunming, who had the heaviest Yin energy here, long ago. Yet, the talisman he left on Mo Yang had remained stationary in one place.
Shen Lanqing followed the route directed by Yun Wuxiang and saw an empty mourning hall.
Walking into the room, standard mourning hall furnishings came into view. The memorial tablet was exquisitely made, but the place where the deceased’s name should have been carved was blank.
Shen Lanqing: “No name carved?”
Yun Wuxiang: “Do you know how Princess Shunming died?”
Shen Lanqing recalled, “I heard a group of desperadoes broke into the manor on the Princess’s wedding day, harming the Princess, the Consort, and over a dozen imperial guards. But the names and appearances of those people were never made public.”
Yun Wuxiang knew immediately there was something fishy. “The news is fake.”
Shen Lanqing nodded. “So many people died, yet only Princess Shunming became a malicious ghost and is looking for a husband here. She was obviously dissatisfied with the original Consort.”
“Prince Li should know some of the truth. Should I go back and ask him first?”
Yun Wuxiang looked at him expressionlessly. “I said, he won’t be in danger for the time being.”
Shen Lanqing said sheepishly, “Cough, well, it’s reassuring to have him around… I understand, Master. I won’t look for him early and alert the enemy!”
So can you stop looking at me with that ‘I’m going to break your legs’ look?
Yun Wuxiang let out a soft snort, turning his eyes to the memorial tablet. The divine light in his eyes shone brightly. Wisps of black smoke lingered in the air, light and thin like fine gauze—it was diffusing Yin energy.
In Yun Wuxiang’s eyes, the nameless tablet had turned pure black, and the Yin energy emitted from it was even stronger than that on Princess Shunming.
With such heavy Yin energy on it, no wonder it could mix into the wedding band.
Yun Wuxiang asked, “Lanqing, do you feel anything strange about your body?”
The Yin-energy mummy shook his head. “No?”
Yun Wuxiang asked again, “Do you feel cold then?”
“Not cold. Master, what exactly is wrong with me? Don’t scare me!” Shen Lanqing’s somewhat panicked voice came from the Yin-energy mummy.
Yun Wuxiang retracted the divine light in his pupils. “It probably isn’t a bad thing. You are absorbing Yin energy.”
Shen Lanqing was confused. “Absorbing Yin energy isn’t a bad thing?”
Yun Wuxiang: “Not for you. The Five-Color Cloud Mushroom grows by absorbing various energies between heaven and earth; its capacity for containment and absorption is extremely strong.”
“The Five-Color Cloud Mushroom merged into your body, subtly changing your constitution, blood, and even meridian structure. The reason you can’t cultivate Zhenqi is also because of this.”
Shen Lanqing’s meridian structure was completely different from ordinary people. It wasn’t obvious when he was young, and Yun Wuxiang had once mistakenly thought it was a congenital meridian deformity, treating him in that direction for a while. Naturally, it was useless.
Looking at Shen Lanqing’s meridians now, both the number and general direction had completely departed from the scope of humanity.
Shen Lanqing stared blankly at his hand. After a long while, he said, “Who on earth gave me such a precious Lingzhi as a teething stick when I was little? Which idiot was it? I thank his whole family!”
Yun Wuxiang looked up at the sky rather inconspicuously. “This constitution isn’t entirely useless. Now, go touch that tablet. Whatever happens, don’t panic, and don’t scream.”
Shen Lanqing nodded, then reached out and touched the tablet.
He suddenly felt a massive suction force from the tablet. His body leaned forward uncontrollably, and in a blur, the surrounding scenery changed completely.
The originally somewhat dim daylight turned completely into night. The mourning hall turned into a wilderness with burial mounds rising up. The ground was full of ghosts with various death states, densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see.
Shen Lanqing sucked in a breath of cold air, remembering Yun Wuxiang’s instructions, so he didn’t scream out.
So many ghosts!
“Whose youngster are you? Such a handsome doll, how did you die so young?”
An old lady ghost with kind brows and pleasant eyes discovered Shen Lanqing and asked. If one ignored the gory wound on her stomach and her pale complexion, she truly looked very kind and amiable.
[You have heavy Yin energy on you right now; you are no different from a ghost,] Yun Wuxiang transmitted his voice.
“Haven’t seen him.”
“Don’t know him.”
The nearby ghosts shook their heads, indicating they hadn’t seen Shen Lanqing.
“Then he’s an outsider.” A circle of ghosts looked at Shen Lanqing in unison, their gloomy eyes staring straight at him.
“Outsider… how do we divide him?”
“I want the eyes.”
“I want the heart.”
“I want his skin.”
[Pretend you don’t know you’re dead, and pretend you can’t tell they are ghosts. Talk to them as if they were people.]
Shen Lanqing: “What are you talking about? Planning to kill someone in broad daylight?! I am from Prince Li’s Manor. If you dare touch me, Prince Li won’t let you off!”
The ghosts, whose eyes had revealed fierce glints, actually stopped their movements upon hearing these words, then looked at each other, whispering.
“He doesn’t know he’s dead?”
“Seems so.”
[Ordinary people realize they are dead not long after death; only malicious ghosts are different.]
Yun Wuxiang recalled some records about ghosts he had seen in the Library Pavilion and relayed them to Shen Lanqing.
[Some malicious ghosts blur the memory of their death immediately after dying, still thinking they are alive, recovering their memory only on the seventh day.]
[If exposed by a human or ghost beforehand, they will immediately turn into a malicious ghost.]
[Vicious ghosts fear malicious ghosts. Before they are sure you aren’t a malicious ghost, they dare not touch you.]
After listening, Shen Lanqing instantly felt more confident. He shouted angrily, “Who died? I’m alive and well! You people are all sick!”
The ghosts’ expressions changed one after another.
“The Yin energy on him got heavier!”
“This is…”
“Which bastard is so wicked to throw this kind of… into our village’s graveyard.”
“Shh, keep your voices down, don’t wake him up.”
That’s right, I am a malicious ghost. Watch yourselves!
Noticing the ghosts’ fear, Shen Lanqing pretended even more naturally, frowning at them in displeasure. “What nonsense are you people babbling? I want to go home!” Saying this, he flung his sleeves and walked away.
The ghosts were pleasantly surprised. “He’s leaving, he’s leaving!”
After walking a few steps, Shen Lanqing turned back and asked somewhat awkwardly, “Do any of you know the way to Prince Li’s Manor? I will pay you a reward when we get there. If you don’t trust me, I can use my clothes as collateral first; these clothes are made of silk.”
The ghosts shook their heads in unison.
The old lady ghost who spoke first spoke up again. “Youngster, looking at your outfit, you aren’t from around here. People here haven’t stepped out of the county town in their lives and don’t know the way outside, so we can’t send you home.”
“Coincidentally, a Daoist priest came from outside to help perform rites here. He might know the way. This old woman will take you to find him.”
Shen Lanqing asked, “What is that Daoist called?”
The old lady ghost leaned on her cane and shook her head. “Don’t know. But the man has real skills, and he’s quite handsome too. He charmed the Little Peony from the East Village so much her eyes wouldn’t turn. Pity he can’t speak, and is a living… Daoist.”
Hearing he couldn’t speak, Shen Lanqing felt this Daoist was eighty percent likely to be Mo Yang. So he went with the flow: “Alright, then I’ll ask the Old Madam to lead the way.”
Hearing the words “Old Madam,” a genuine smile appeared on the old lady ghost’s face. “Sure enough, from a big family. In this poor remote place, no one calls this old woman that. There are many people here; follow behind me so those reckless fellows don’t bump into you.”
Shen Lanqing nodded and followed behind her.
Yun Wuxiang continued to transmit his voice along the way: [Princess Shunming’s grave should be nearby. Find Mo Yang first, then look for Princess Shunming’s grave.]
The Yin energy on that tablet matched the energy on Princess Shunming. Shunming’s cause of death was suspicious, and Princess Huiqing only dared to set up a wordless tablet to secretly pay respects.
He had followed the Yin energy here, thinking it might be some mass grave, but he hadn’t expected it to be a collective graveyard for a village.
What was the Emperor thinking, burying her in such a place?
Yun Wuxiang suddenly frowned, looking down at his foot, his expression twisting for a moment.
Song Yilou!
“Get lost!”
Yun Wuxiang kicked the person in front of him away, but his leg was caught backhand.
Song Yilou’s hand pinched the area between Yun Wuxiang’s calf and ankle. On the back of his hand sat the Blue-Patterned Spider King, which had fought its way out from the island’s poisonous insects. “Guanzhu, stop moving. All Gu have tattoos.”
“Actually, I wanted to tattoo a scorpion on you more. How great would it be for us to be a pair? Pity there isn’t a suitable Gu; only this Blue-Patterned Rain Flower Spider is somewhat pleasing to the eye.”
Yun Wuxiang stared at his mouth with a grim expression. What does that have to do with you licking my ankle?
Song Yilou let go of his leg, leaning his entire body close to Yun Wuxiang. “If the Guanzhu doesn’t like this spider, we can switch to something else.”
Rustling sounds arose as various poisonous creatures crawled out from corners, surrounding them. Song Yilou had the blue spider on the back of his hand, a black scorpion on his shoulder, and a green snake hanging around his neck.
Song Yilou displayed the few Gu he considered most beautiful like treasures. “Centipedes and toads aren’t good-looking, so we won’t look at them. Is there anything here the Guanzhu likes?”
Yun Wuxiang kept a poker face. “No. I don’t like crawling insects.”
“Don’t like crawling insects? Right! I also have a butterfly.” Saying this, Song Yilou inserted his fingers into his right eye. After stirring two fingers around for a while, he pulled out a crystal-clear cocoon.
After a burst of wriggling inside the cocoon, a pair of red butterfly wings broke out. It was dreamlike and illusory, flowing with iridescent light.
Song Yilou held the butterfly in front of Yun Wuxiang and asked, “How about this one?”
Yun Wuxiang looked at the flapping red butterfly. It was beautiful, yes, but thinking about Song Yilou wanting this thing to burrow into his body made even the most beautiful thing look hideous.
Not to mention, this thing was dug out from Song Yilou’s eye!
Song Yilou urged, “Has the Guanzhu chosen?”
Yun Wuxiang: “No.”
“If the Guanzhu can’t choose, then I’ll decide. The barrier exists for a limited time; I won’t let the Guanzhu stall for time.”
Song Yilou smiled as brightly as spring sunshine, seemingly with flowers blooming behind him.
This face smiled too happily; it made Yun Wuxiang want to kick it.
However, Song Yilou wasn’t wrong. He was stalling for time.
Yun Wuxiang said, “Butterfly.”
It was just a tattoo. As long as no bugs crawled in, he would find a way to remove it later.
Before the tattooing was finished, he had to break this barrier!
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Butterfly on the ankle?? Only one step up from a tramp stamp lmaooo
Thanks for the chapter!
You’re welcome!