When ordinary people die a violent death, they often transform on the spot into vengeful ghosts due to obsessions and unwillingness, embarking on a killing spree. Thus, nowadays, larger towns have sect cultivators stationed in them, while smaller villages also set up protections, so that very few people dare to carry out executions or burials without making the slightest protection, out of fear of inviting revenge from ghosts.
The mindset of many vengeful ghosts is very simple: when I was human I could not defeat you, but now that I am a ghost, am I still afraid that I cannot kill you?
According to the number of grave mounds here on Mount Lanfen before their eyes, this place should have been surging with resentment and extremely sinister long ago, yet as they walked over, they merely felt a faint yin energy lingering around the surroundings all along, which was quite subtle. If one were to say that the vengeful ghosts transformed from these people before their eyes had already been completely eliminated by someone, then why gather the corpses of these people here for burial? Yan Baichuan felt that ordinary people did not have such courage, and only evil spirits and cultivators could pull off such a thing.
Yan Baichuan tapped the ice coffin sealed by Lingyun earlier with the hilt of his blade, signaling with his eyes, “Open it for me, let me take another look.”
Lingyun’s series of movements in covering the coffin and sealing it with ice earlier was far too smooth. Apart from smelling that terrifying rancid stench, he saw nothing else, so right now he still had to confirm it again.
Lingyun hesitated a bit, “Do you truly want to open it?” Mount Lanfen is far too humid, and coupled with the root systems of the banyan trees winding around the corpse inside the coffin, the rancid stench of the branches and leaves mixed with the corpse had fermented for who knows how long, so thinking about it made her stomach churn.
Unable to see the condition of the corpse, Yan Baichuan could not make a judgment, urging, “Didn’t you eat an elixir pill? Relax, I will only take one look.”
Gritting her teeth, Lingyun removed the ice on the coffin, and the wooden coffin was pried open by Yan Baichuan with his blade edge, as he held his breath and looked inside.
The corpse was rotted beyond recognition, long unable to reveal its appearance in life, and even the exposed white bones were stained with moss. Yan Baichuan put away Duanming, casually picked up a tree branch to flip the corpse’s skull over, and sure enough, saw a unique place on the back. At the back of the skull, there was a square mark.
Jin You also leaned over, looking at this mark with some confusion, “This mark looks somewhat familiar, as if I have seen it somewhere.”
Ying Chuang had no clue whatsoever, pinching his nose and still hiding far away to watch. Lingyun, on the other hand, endured her disgust, leaned over to take a look, measured the size of the mark, and asked, “This size looks a bit like an official seal.”
“An official seal?” Jin You looked at this mark in somewhat disbelief, feeling in his heart that it indeed looked a bit like one. But for a corpse to rot to this extent always required time, yet the appearance of this mark was as if it had been stamped onto the back of the head from the very beginning. If it was not stamped after death when the corpse exposed the back of the head, then there remained only one possibility, which was during life.
Thinking so, Jin You turned his head to ask Yan Baichuan, receiving his affirmative answer.
“This is indeed an official seal, but this is not for human use, but for ghost use.” Yan Baichuan lost interest in the corpse, casually covering the wooden coffin. Seeing this, Lingyun immediately frozen the wooden coffin again, taking a deep breath.
“An official seal used by ghosts?” Jin You looked at Yan Baichuan with suspicion, but what he thought of in his heart was King Qin Guang and the others he had met previously in the Underworld. It was precisely because Yan Baichuan died and was saved that Jin You and Yan Baichuan were able to learn the current situation of the Underworld: no underworld messengers remained, the Ten Halls had no kings, and only King Qin Guang alone was left struggling to support it.
If this was an official seal that only ghosts could use, did it mean there were still underworld messengers walking on land?
Yan Baichuan let out a sneer, “Underworld messengers? Is he even worthy. This calamity ghost set up the Soul-Locking Spirit-Snatching Array, created these people who died violent deaths, and chose this fine place of Mount Lanfen, all just waiting to command the crowd of ghosts.”
Just as Yan Baichuan’s voice fell, a surge of dense resentment rose sharply into the sky. Yan Baichuan swung his blade, flicking the three of Jin You outside the Soul-Locking Spirit-Snatching Array, shouting, “You are no match for him, go to the outer perimeter to find clues to break the array!”
“Yan Baichuan!” Jin You prepared to return to help Yan Baichuan, only to discover that he could no longer enter the array. Just as he was about to force his way through, he was stopped by Lingyun and Ying Chuang, “The array has opened, and unless it is broken, one cannot get out. We shall split up, find the weak spots of the array, and work from inside and outside together to break the array!”
With a grave expression, Lingyun looked at Yan Baichuan, saying, “Before that, we can only believe in him.”
Holding Duanming in hand, Yan Baichuan looked at the male ghost wearing official robes before his eyes with a half-smile, mocking wantonly, “What, didn’t serve as an official when alive, and still thinking of enjoying the thrill after death?”
“Bold! What manner of petty rogue dares to speak to this official like this! Men, come forth!” The male ghost revealed his frame, and only then did Yan Baichuan notice that this male ghost’s official robes actually seemed to belong to a first-rank high official. Drawing his blade, he was preparing to respond, but discovered that following the command of the official-robed ghost, many ghost shadows actually appeared behind the official-robed ghost, their numbers seeming only more rather than fewer compared to the grave mounds.
Looking across at a glance, Yan Baichuan saw that most of the vengeful ghosts were stained with blood aura, likely possessing quite a few human lives on their hands. Apart from vengeful ghosts, there were even quite a few severe ghosts under the official-robed ghost’s command. The official-robed ghost was already a calamity ghost above severe ghosts, so if one ignored the pale skin on his face, at a glance he seemed no different from a mortal.
This time, things were probably going to be a bit troublesome.
The official-robed ghost brushed his sleeves and turned to leave, as if certain that Yan Baichuan would die under the hands of the crowd of ghosts just like others who strayed into Mount Lanfen. Thus, with a flash, he returned to the manor deep in the mountain forest, yet at the instant he turned his back, a lock of his hair was shaved off, whereupon he turned back in uncontrollable rage, “Assassinating an official of the imperial court, punishable by execution according to the law!”
“What a coincidence,” Yan Baichuan pointed Duanming at the official-robed ghost, a low laugh rising from his throat, his eyes looking at the official-robed ghost as if looking at his most favored prey, “The Duanming in my hand was given by old man Qin Guang, so do you say I count as killing you by order?”
Yan Baichuan moved extremely fast, and in the next moment Duanming was already slashing toward the official-robed ghost’s neck, only to be dodged by the official-robed ghost, who slapped a backhand palm toward Yan Baichuan’s heart, blocked by Yan Baichuan using the back of his blade, “Only this little capability? If you still do not take out that official seal of yours now, are you trying to let it accompany you into the soil?”
Having spoken, Yan Baichuan let out a laugh as if suddenly remembering something, “My apologies, I forgot you entered the soil long ago, old thing.”
Provoked by Yan Baichuan until his eyes turned blood red, the official-robed ghost could no longer care about much, taking out an exquisite small official seal with a backhand movement, pouring ghost power into it, and muttering under his breath, “Ghosts of the ten directions, hear my command, attack!”
One could see that the places where the seals remained on the back of the heads of the ghosts summoned by the official-robed ghost suddenly emitted a red light, as they closed their eyes in pain and held their heads, and when opening their eyes again, both eyes were blood red, completely devoid of reason, surging toward Yan Baichuan in an instant. Yet they were swept away by one blade from Yan Baichuan, “You cannot handle this evil aura slash, roll out of my way!”
Many vengeful ghosts lacking in strength had their souls scattered on the spot upon touching the evil aura of Duanming, turning into streaks of black smoke and vanishing forever from this world, yet other ghosts still pounced toward him as if risking their lives, showing a great momentum like moths flying into a flame.
Having lost quite a few subordinates, the official-robed ghost put away his previous contempt toward Yan Baichuan, beginning to harbor fear toward his strength, and poured more ghost power into the official seal in an attempt to crush him to death here, only to lose another batch of subordinates as Yan Baichuan swung his blade again.
The official-robed ghost was a clever person in life, rolling his eyes and putting away the official seal, quietly retreating under the cover of the crowd of ghosts, vanishing without a trace.
“Truly annoying!” Yan Baichuan drew his blade and was just about to look toward the severe ghosts, when he discovered that the red light on the back of one severe ghost’s head seemed stronger than the other ghosts, deciding to start with this ghost. As his blade edge swung and was about to slash toward him, a frail figure blocked in front of the severe ghost, pleading with Yan Baichuan with a sorrowful gaze, “I beg sir not to kill my brother, he did not intend to harm sir, I beg sir!”
Yan Baichuan looked with a frown at this little girl before his eyes, whose soul was solidified, her body faintly emanating a faint white light that belonged only to kind and good people. Clearly this was a ghost who had never done evil, a good ghost that Yan Baichuan could not kill.
Yan Baichuan temporarily paused his movements, but the other severe ghosts had no intention of stopping. Seeing this, the girl used her small hand to touch the mark on the back of the evil ghost’s head, and the severe ghost’s eyes suddenly turned bewildered, no longer attempting to attack. The little girl had no time to explain, saying urgently to Yan Baichuan, “Sir, please follow me!”
Perhaps due to having turned into a ghost, the girl’s steps were extremely fast, and carrying a severe ghost along, her speed showed no sign of slowing down either, quickly guiding Yan Baichuan to a small cave.
Looking at the two grave mounds outside the cave that were much tidier than those outside, Yan Baichuan guessed that this place was likely the “home” of these two siblings on the mountain.
Ghosts actually have a home? How strange. Yan Baichuan shook his head, following the girl into the cave.
The girl supported the severe ghost to lie down, kneeling on the ground to kowtow to Yan Baichuan, “Thank you, sir, for saving our lives! I am willing to tell sir everything about the matters on this mountain, only requesting sir to rescue us out.”
Yan Baichuan could not stand such a scene, letting out a ‘tsh’ to tell her to get up, saying with some impatience, “Speak about what happened on this mountain, as well as the background of that official-robed ghost. Dare to speak a single lie, and do not blame me for being ruthless and cruel.”
The little girl nodded repeatedly, carefully observing Yan Baichuan’s complexion, and only then spoke slowly, “Without hiding from sir, my name is Tan Ziruo, and the severe ghost who wanted to attack you just now is my elder brother, Tan Ziye. We two siblings originally lived in Xing County not far from here, and many of the ghosts manipulated by that official-robed ghost were originally people of Xing County as well.”
Hearing this, Yan Baichuan said thoughtfully, “Sounds like this official-robed ghost’s connection with your Xing County is not shallow.”
Tan Ziruo let out a sigh, her gaze looking at Yan Baichuan clear and clean, “I dare not deceive sir, the official-robed ghost whom sir encountered is precisely the former magistrate of Xing County, Chen Zheng.”
County magistrate? He truly was an official, except it did not quite match the first-rank official robes on his body.
Tan Ziruo continued speaking, grief showing in her eyes, “Magistrate Chen was an honest and upright man, who never misjudged a single case, so the people in Xing County, including us two siblings, respected him greatly. But perhaps precisely because of this, it seemed the lords above Magistrate Chen disliked this personality of his, so even though Magistrate Chen’s administrative achievements were quite good, he continuously had a hard time getting promoted, gradually becoming depressed and unhappy.”
Yan Baichuan gave a knowing smile. Human nature was the hardest thing in the world to fathom, so it was not impossible for this Chen Zheng to undergo a drastic change in temperament because of this.
“My Tan family had decent family circumstances in the county, and I once heard that Magistrate Chen enjoyed seal carving. Perhaps because he was unsuccessful for a long time, Magistrate Chen put some mind into stone carving. It was precisely because of this stone carving that all the subsequent unfortunate events were caused.” Looking at her bewildered elder brother on the side, blood tears in Tan Ziruo’s eyes were on the verge of falling without falling, as she squeezed the corner of her skirt tight and said in a low voice, “Someone, under the name of feeling grateful for Magistrate Chen’s benevolence, presented an official seal.”
“It was precisely the one sir saw just now, the Underworld Messenger Seal.”