The group returned to the village and inspected the corpses of the deceased within the village shrine.
It was terrifying, at least that's how Xu Yan felt. The deceased shared the same ghastly appearance: their eyes bulged out, and beneath their pale skin, their blood vessels protruded, especially those on their faces, which were still clearly visible even in death.
As if they had been scared to death while still alive.
"Village head, this ghost seems unrelated to the grave we dug up. Has there been anything unusual in the village recently, or outside it?"
"No." the old village head replied after a moment of reflection, shaking his head.
"Has anyone traveled far?"
"Well..."
Li's Village was small, and news spread quickly through it. The old village head racked his brains and soon his face paled.
"Taoist master, Amu went to his wife's family for a funeral and said he encountered something strange on the way back. Could it be related to that?"
Was it really necessary to ask such an obvious question?
Xu Yan's heart skipped a beat, as if Amu was among the deceased.
Could this ghost really have been brought back from outside the village?
Previously, Xu Yan thought that all ghosts were terrifying and powerful.
But after being enlightened by his master, Uncle Ninth, he realized that ordinary ghosts weren't that strong and found it difficult to harm people. Humans had three fires within them, especially those with vigorous Yang qi. Ordinary ghosts would steer clear of them.
The reason ghosts were powerful was mainly because they were hard to detect, moved unpredictably, could pass through walls and underground, and conjured terrifying images to frighten people.
"Where are Amu's family members? Bring them here. I have some questions for them."
Uncle Ninth was convinced in his heart that the ghost came from outside, not within Li's Village.
"Master, were these people scared to death?"
Xu Yan asked quietly.
Uncle Ninth nodded solemnly and lowered his voice, "Almost. Ordinary ghosts fear the Yang qi of the human body, so they scare people when harming them, looking for an opportunity."
No wonder his master told him that one should never feel fear when encountering something strange, or else the ghost would seize the chance to harm them!
Xu Yan suddenly understood.
Originally, encountering a ghost wouldn't cause any trouble, but because you were afraid, problems arose.
In fact, many people who encountered ghosts had no issues at all when they didn't know the other party was a ghost. Once fear arose, they would be chased by the ghost and even have their essence drained.
"Taoist master."
Soon, Amu's wife sobbed as she hugged her child and came to the shrine.
She was an ordinary village woman. Due to a death in her family, and with a child in tow, it was inconvenient for her to travel far, so she let her husband attend the funeral and help out. Who knew that her husband died upon returning, and several others in the village followed suit.
The man was the sky of the family, and now that the sky had fallen, Amu's wife didn't even know how to raise her child or how to live on.
"He said he was very tired from keeping vigil, and suddenly felt a chill on the way back. When he got home, he kept saying he was cold, and then he passed away that night."
"Weren't you at home?" Uncle Ninth inquired.
Amu's wife nodded and sobbed, "I was helping with the grain at the neighbor's house."
The truth was out: the ghost was brought back from outside.
Because Amu was in a bad mental state, he encountered the ghost on the road and was brought back with it, causing the people in the village to suffer as well.
Next, they needed to find a way to catch the ghost.
Led by the villagers, Uncle Ninth and Xu Yan inspected the homes of the deceased and then conferred with the old village head. Several young men stayed at Amu's house, including Uncle Ninth and Xu Yan.
The ghost's power was obviously not strong. Uncle Ninth was highly skilled, and ghosts would dare not appear where he was. They needed bait, and to Xu Yan's dismay, he had become one of the baits.
Dammit, being a Taoist wasn't easy, and he was just a beginner.
Sitting beside the fire, throwing wood into it, Xu Yan couldn't help but complain silently. Fortunately, he was only a standby bait; the real bait was someone inside the room.
Comforting himself in his heart, Xu Yan never imagined that even when several people were together, strange things often chose specific targets, such as young men with vigorous Yang qi and energy.
Xu Yan happened to be one of them.
Time passed slowly, and nothing happened. Xu Yan, who had been vigilant and dared not relax at all, couldn't help but feel sleepy.
A chill wind blew, making Xu Yan slightly open his eyes and instinctively pick up a piece of wood to throw into the fire. But when he turned his head, he was almost scared to death. A terrifyingly pale face was right beside him, even smiling at him with bared teeth.
Shit!!
It proved that sometimes when people were excessively frightened, they wouldn't scream. At least Xu Yan didn't. He was still thinking about how the female ghost would appear, but she silently showed up beside him and smiled at him.
Even though this female ghost wasn't disheveled and didn't have bleeding facial features, she scared Xu Yan badly.
His body stiffened instantly. Xu Yan realized that the wind just now wasn't a chill wind but the Yin wind brought by the female ghost!!!
A chill ran from his coccyx to the top of his head, making Xu Yan's hairs stand on end.
"Get away!!"
Instinctively, Xu Yan raised his hand to push, and the wooden stick slipped out of his hand, passing through the female ghost's body. Even though he wasn't scared into a state of utter panic, he wasn't in much better shape.
Seeing that Xu Yan was slightly calmer than ordinary people, the female ghost revealed a cold smile and reached out to grab him. "Ah!!!"
Just then, the female ghost's hand touched Xu Yan's hand, suddenly letting out a loud scream. Her whole body was enveloped in electrical sparks, as if wrapped in electrical wires, emitting blue smoke.
Xu Yan jumped back, looking at the female ghost on the ground struggling and screaming in horror. His mind was somewhat confused. What was happening to this female ghost? Had his master intervened?
"Evil creature, meet your end!!"
At this moment, Uncle Ninth rushed out from a hidden hut, his right hand tightly gripping a peach wood sword, and his left hand holding a Soul-Calming Talisman. He was prepared to destroy the female ghost who still wanted to harm others. But when Uncle Ninth came out and saw the female ghost rolling on the ground and screaming, he hesitated for a moment.
"Meet your end!!"
He pinned the Soul-Calming Talisman onto the peach wood sword and threw it at the female ghost, causing her screams to intensify severalfold. Her spirit was burned by the talisman and soon turned into a trail of black smoke, leaving the peach wood sword pinned to the ground.
Ignoring the peach wood sword on the ground, Uncle Ninth grabbed Xu Yan's hand. Xu Yan's handback and fingers had tiny wounds from the wooden stick slicing them as he was frightened and threw it away, and blood flowed from the wounds.
"This can't be."
Uncle Ninth stared at Xu Yan's wounds, muttering to himself.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。