Chapter 18 - Wounding Evil Spirits to Retrieve the Vital Soul

Upon arriving at Qianniao Garden, there were still people in the park who hadn’t dispersed. The trio waited for a while and then drove around the garden a few times to ensure no one was around before getting out of the car with their gear.

Chen Shaoxian took out three command swords, each embedded with the Big Dipper pattern, from his bag and distributed them to the others, keeping one which he slid into a sheath on the side of his calf. He then took out a soul nurturing jade from his bag and placed it into a slot in his leg wrap around his waist. From Liu Baodong’s bag, he retrieved six evil-slaying blades, giving two to each person to insert into the sheaths on the back of their Tianma Armor.

After distributing the items, Chen Shaoxian opened a layer of padding on his Tianma Armor at the shoulders and adjusted the collar to protect his neck. He secured his hood tightly and flipped his socks over the outside of his trousers, securing them with leg wraps. After a thorough check to ensure there were no oversights, he went to assist Xiao Zhuang.

While helping, he explained to Xiao Zhuang, “Raising a layer of the shoulder padding ensures that the lamp on your shoulder won’t be extinguished when you turn your head. The shoulder guard, hood, and leg wraps prevent insect bites and are specially treated to avoid causing itchiness.” After finishing with Xiao Zhuang, Liu Baodong also got himself ready.

He then took out a bottle of baijiu, poured some on the shoulder guards and hood, and lit them with a lighter, muttering, “Invoke the divine light of heaven to illuminate the way, invoke the protective light of earth to safeguard the body, invoke the human light to repel evil spirits; the Three Yang Lights shine brightly to ward off ghosts and dispel evil in all directions.” He also cautioned Xiao Zhuang not to touch his shoulders or head and never to remove the shoulder guard or hood. As the flames flickered, Chen Shaoxian looked at the color of the flames on the others and chuckled, “The fire is strong.”

Once they were ready, the three picked up their bags and headed up the hill.

As they were nearing the summit, Chen Shaoxian stopped. He gave each a swig of baijiu and had Xiao Zhuang sing the Song of Righteous Qi along with him and Liu Baodong.

After finishing his song, he finally arrived at the summit where the Thousand Souls Stele stood. Chen Shaoxian found it odd that the suction force present at noon had vanished by evening, but since there were other tasks to attend to, he didn’t dwell on it. He placed the incense burner down, stuck three incense sticks into it, and weighed down a stack of joss paper with the Altar-Stabilizing Wood. Once the incense had burned out, he circled the Thousand Souls Stele with baijiu and poured the remaining liquor from the bottle over the stele. He then packed up the Altar-Stabilizing Wood and casually tossed the joss paper aside. Nodding at the two men, he said, “Let’s get to work.”

Chen Shaoxian and Liu Baodong played a game of stacking up on each other, with Chen Shaoxian stepping on Liu Baodong’s back.

He asked Xiao Zhuang to hand over Su Jingya’s clothes.

After receiving the clothes, Chen Shaoxian tore off the cling wrap and located the thread sewn into the fabric. He pulled a soul nurturing jade from a slot on his belt, wrapped it in a soul-binding talisman, and tied it to the end of the thread from the clothes. He then took out the ocular mirror to verify the positioning and stuck the other end of the thread, which had tape on it, onto the Thousand Souls Stele.

With the thread attached to the stele, a faint blue light could be seen with the naked eye, flowing along the thread into the soul nurturing jade, which had just begun to emit a blue glow. Suddenly, the wind picked up around the Thousand Souls Stele, growing stronger and the disappeared suction force returned. As the wind intensified, so did the suction force on the stele, battling against the soul nurturing jade for that strand of blue light, which flickered on and off.

At the other end corresponding to the Soul-Suppressing Stele, a deep blue seeped into the Thousand Souls Stele, forming the face of a woman without any features except for a mouth. This face suddenly lunged forward, bit the colored thread, and fiercely pulled it inward, dragging the thread into the Soul-Suppressing Stele. The mouth continuously sucked on the colored thread, drawing it bit by bit into the stele. Each time a strand of thread was absorbed, the mouth opened and exhaled a puff of green smoke, turning the thread charred. As more thread was consumed, the mouth’s opening and closing slowed down, as if digesting the thread. The length of the colored thread at Chen Shaoxian’s end was getting shorter.

Chen Shaoxian felt his body expand and contract with the opening and closing of the mouth, his thoughts becoming increasingly blurred, feeling an urge to merge into the stele with the thread, drawing ever closer to the Thousand Souls Stele. Suddenly, he heard Liu Baodong shouting, “Shaoxian!”

Startled back to reality, Chen Shaoxian quickly called out, “Xiao Zhuang, hand me the Altar-Stabilizing Wood.”

Xiao Zhuang was momentarily dazed by the scene he had just witnessed, but snapped back to reality when he heard Liu Baodong’s shout. Hearing Chen Shaoxian calling him, he hurriedly picked up the Altar-Stabilizing Wood from in front of the stele and handed it over.

Chen Shaoxian took the Altar-Stabilizing Wood and shouted loudly, “All gods, heed my call!” He then fiercely slapped the face on the stele.

With a loud smack, Chen Shaoxian and Liu Baodong, standing below, were jolted violently, almost falling over.

The face in the stele was marked with red from the Altar-Stabilizing Wood. The red, burning like fire, caused the face to emit blue smoke and shriek in agony, making a screeching sound like nails on glass, which was unsettling to hear. Meanwhile, the Thousand Souls Stele cracked slightly with a sharp snap, but this sound was drowned out by the shrieking of the face, and all three men were too focused on the face to notice the stele’s condition.

The bottom of the Altar-Stabilizing Wood also picked up a hint of blue, which burned briefly before fading.

The soul nurturing jade, following the impact of the Altar-Stabilizing Wood against the stele, flashed brightly, its blue light significantly stronger and more persistent than before.

Chen Shaoxian steadied himself and continued to strike the Thousand Souls Stele with the Altar-Stabilizing Wood, preventing the face inside the Soul-Suppressing Stele from contesting the strand of blue light, which it howled painfully amidst the blue smoke.

The soul nurturing jade took this opportunity to absorb all of the blue light, and its glow briefly intensified before returning to normal. After the jade had fully absorbed the light, the face transformed into blue smoke and vanished within the stele, but the eerie presence lingered.

Relieved to see the strange face disappear, the three men exhaled deeply, their clothes soaked with sweat. Liu Baodong bent over, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag before attempting to pass it to Chen Shaoxian. However, Xiao Zhuang intercepted it, took a puff himself, and then handed it over.

Chen Shaoxian took a deep drag from the cigarette and said, “Damn, I reckon there are five more.”

Liu Baodong expressed his concern, “Shaoxian, don’t overdo it. If it’s too much, we’ll think of another way.”

Chen Shaoxian glanced at the Altar-Stabilizing Wood in his hand and said, “I know. Uncle Liu, how many pieces of Altar-Stabilizing Wood did you bring? This one can still be used once.”

Liu Baodong replied, “I brought four.” He then told Xiao Zhuang, “Xiao Zhuang, take out all the Altar-Stabilizing Wood inside.”

Xiao Zhuang was quick to act, retrieving the remaining three pieces from the bag and holding them in his hands.

Chen Shaoxian took a drag from his cigarette and asked Xiao Zhuang to pass him a piece of clothing. He used the same method to tie the soul nurturing jade and adhere it to the Soul-Suppressing Stele, and this time, like the Thousand Souls Stele, a face with only a mouth appeared, but this time it was a man’s face. Chen Shaoxian, using the same method, found that the piece of Altar-Stabilizing Wood had burned to a char and thus was ruined.

After ruining two pieces of Altar-Stabilizing Wood, Chen Shaoxian managed to rescue the souls and spirits of four people. Liu Baodong was also freed and no longer had to carry Chen Shaoxian; he straightened up and stretched his body to loosen his muscles.

This time, standing in front of the Thousand Souls Stele, Chen Shaoxian did not ask Xiao Zhuang to hand over the last piece of clothing. He said to Liu Baodong, “The next one is He Xin’s. I doubt we can retrieve it, I need to take a risk and go directly for the last piece.”

Having said that, Chen Shaoxian took out a piece of yellow cloth from his bag and asked the other two to wrap the location of He Xin’s essence with it, securing it with the magic rope and stuffing a five emperors coin into each corner of the cloth. He handed a piece of Altar-Stabilizing Wood to Liu Baodong.

Chen Shaoxian said to Xiao Zhuang, “Xiao Zhuang, hold the evil-slaying blade and watch the other three sides. If anything tries to break through the cloth, use the blade in your hand to cut it. If the grey on the blade wears off, switch to another one.”

Xiao Zhuang nodded, found a good vantage point, and drew his blade, keeping his eyes fixed on the Thousand Souls Stele.

Chen Shaoxian steadied his mind, tied the soul nurturing jade securely, and glued the thread to the bottom of the Soul-Suppressing Stele.

At that moment, out of nowhere, a cloud of dark clouds covered the moon overhead. The shadow cast perfectly matched the size of the mound where the Thousand Souls Stele stood. The wind, louder and stronger than before, roared as it blew, carrying sand that hit them with a rustling sound. There was a faint smell of burnt flesh in the air. Chen Shaoxian shielded himself from the wind, firmly gluing the thread to the Thousand Souls Stele. The same face appeared at the bottom of the stele.

Meanwhile, the cloth covering the Soul-Suppressing Stele bulged like boiling water, as if it might burst the fabric like a bubble. Chen Shaoxian shouted, “Strike!” and the piece of Altar-Stabilizing Wood he held hit the face like raindrops.

Liu Baodong was also desperately hitting the bulging part of the cloth with the Altar-Stabilizing Wood. Each strike left a red mark on the cloth, which immediately turned black. The three could hear the roaring sounds coming from inside the Thousand Souls Stele. As the Altar-Stabilizing Wood continued to fall, Liu Baodong’s side soon turned completely black and the bulge in the cloth subsided.

Xiao Zhuang watched the two men struggling, the veins on his hand gripping the knife whitening. Seeing Liu Baodong’s side return to normal, Xiao Zhuang loosened his grip slightly, then held onto the knife with even greater strength. Suddenly, the cloth on Liu Baodong’s corresponding side bulged again, and a face appeared beneath it, biting the cloth and tearing it continuously. The entire cloth began to emit blue smoke, the magic rope binding it tighter and tighter. The eight Five Emperors Coins were slowly bent by the force, and the face was pushed back into the Stele by the bending strength of the coins, embedding the coins into the Thousand Souls Stele. All of this happened in an instant.

The cloth was calm for a moment, then the face surged forward with tremendous force, revealing half a head on the cloth, even causing the Thousand Souls Stele to shake. Xiao Zhuang’s blade fiercely chopped into the half head, caving it in. As he continuously hacked away, the half head broke into pieces but kept rising from the cloth.

Liu Baodong moved to Xiao Zhuang’s side and shouted, “Leave it to me,” as he brought down his Altar-Stabilizing Wood.

Taking advantage of this, Xiao Zhuang inspected his blade, which had lost all its gray hue and the edge was chipped. He threw his knife aside and pulled out another evil-slaying blade from behind his back, his eyes fixed on the Thousand Souls Stele.

Liu Baodong kept smashing the Thousand Souls Stele, his hand turning red from the tremendous force. His Altar-Stabilizing Wood emitted puffs of blue smoke, as if it could catch fire at any moment from the intense shaking.

The two heard Chen Shaoxian shout, “It’s done, scatter!”

After Chen Shaoxian shouted, he rolled to the side, and the other two also retreated.

The Thousand Souls Stele made cracking noises and suddenly shattered. The area wrapped by the cloth burst into a black flame that surged towards Chen Shaoxian.

Liu Baodong cried out anxiously, “Shaoxian, be careful!”

Chen Shaoxian saw the creature charging towards him and drew the command sword from his calf to stab it fiercely into the creature’s body.

With a loud howl, the creature let out a massive roar and violently retreated backward, vigorously shaking to throw the command sword out of its body.

The force also violently shook Chen Shaoxian, twisting his wrist as if it might break at any moment.

At that moment, Xiao Zhuang rushed towards Chen Shaoxian, gripping his sword with both hands and chopping down with all his strength into the creature, embedding half of the evil-slaying blade’s blade into it.

The creature unleashed a tremendous force, causing both men to lose grip of their weapons, which flew sideways out of their hands.

Chen Shaoxian and Xiao Zhuang heavily fell to the ground. Fortunately, they were protected by their Tianma Armor, but the impact still left their chests feeling stifled.

Ignoring the two men on the ground, the creature continuously shook, trying to throw off the evil-slaying blade and the command sword. Smoke sizzled around the two weapons embedded in its body, further enraging the creature.

Liu Baodong rummaged through his bag and pulled out a large glass globe filled with water, which he hurled at the creature.

Already furious from the burns, the creature charged towards the incoming object. Upon impact, the glass shattered, and the water splashed over it like water poured into a boiling oil pan, causing the surface of its body to boil and sizzle with shrieks, its color gradually fading as it began to flee.

The creature leaped upwards, smashing into the base of the stele. With a thunderous crash, it knocked a millstone-sized hole in the base.

The three men watched in astonishment.