Chapter 12
Chapter 12
What appeared before my eyes was a massive ceremonial archway.
The wooden archway was boundless and towered majestically. At the very top, two large characters, “Fengdu,” were written in a vigorous, ancient script that carried a primal power, enough to make one’s heart skip a beat.
Beneath the archway stood a stone carving. I pulled Jiang Haoyan along as we walked toward it.
“The living shall not enter!”
The stone carving let out a low growl. I hastily took a step back and said respectfully, “May I ask Your Honor, is there a Wangliang nearby?”
The stone carving remained silent for a while.
“You are the current Sect Master of Feng Sect? Why are you asking about a Wangliang?”
“It has stripped a Living Soul from the mortal realm. It is a heinous crime, and I wish to report it to the Underworld!”
The stone carving replied, “Oh? Stripping a Living Soul? Do you have evidence?”
I nodded quickly.
“I do. There is a young boy in Li Family Village named Li Zhu. You will know as soon as you check. He is dead, yet he has no soul and has not reported to the Underworld.”
The stone carving said, “Words are useless. Bring Li Zhu’s physical body here for me to see.”
I was shocked.
“A soul stripped body is as heavy as a thousand pounds. How could it possibly enter the Underworld?”
The stone carving replied, “That is your problem. If you do not bring his corpse, how can you claim someone stripped his soul based on nothing but your word?”
I grew anxious. “How can you say it’s just my word? Why don’t you come outside with me and take a look?”
“Nonsense,” the stone carving barked. “I am ordered to guard the entrance to Fengdu. How can I abandon my post? You Living Souls are not permitted to linger here.”
As it finished speaking, a gust of air swirled out. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing by the riverbank once more.
I stomped my foot in frustration.
“Damn it, this bureaucracy is the same for the living and the dead.”
I was about to jump back into the river when an old man rushed up from behind and grabbed my arm in one swift motion.
“Little girl, don’t do anything foolish!”
“It’s not worth it over some man! I’ll introduce you to my grandson!”
After being pestered by the old man for half an hour, and with Jiang Haoyan even taking a scolding, more and more onlookers began to gather.
Helpless, we could only take advantage of the chaos to get into a car and leave the area.
After waiting for two days at the hotel, the Breathing Earth arrived via courier. I packed the items and took Jiang Haoyan back to the Ghost Market to search for the Water Man.
The Ghost Market only opened once every ten days. We staked it out twice and spent a whole month in Chongqing, but we never saw it again. During this time, Li Zhu’s parents called me. They couldn’t handle the pressure anymore and planned to cremate and bury Li Zhu.
“The child needs to be laid to rest to find peace.”
On the day of Li Zhu’s funeral, Jiang Haoyan and I returned to Li Family Village.
A fine drizzle was falling. Li Yuan stood in the funeral procession wiping away tears. Although this kid loved to swindle and deceive, it seemed his feelings for his cousin were quite deep.
I gave his shoulder a comforting pat, but the moment I did, I realized something was wrong. It was raining lightly, and Li Yuan’s clothes were wet, but while others only had speckles of rain on their clothes, his felt greasy to the touch, as if a layer of water was floating on the surface.
Li Yuan’s expression changed drastically and he bolted. Jiang Haoyan and I burst through the crowd, chasing after him.
Li Zhu was being buried on the mountain. We fought our way against the crowd, charging down the hill. When we reached a small earthen mound, Jiang Haoyan lunged forward, tackling Li Zhu hard to the ground. Simultaneously, a large glob of water flew off Li Zhu’s shoulder and merged into the rainwater.
“You damn pervert, you still dare to show up!”
A Wangliang is a water monster of an extremely malevolent nature. It loves to watch people grieve and weep; it enjoys seeing people in agony and suffering. When people cry, it devours their tears to strengthen its own body. The more painful and agonizing the tears, the more nourishing they are for it.
However, when a Wangliang kills, the traces are too obvious and would certainly be discovered by a Yin Chai. Furthermore, its water-form body cannot accomplish many complex tasks. Something like Li Zhu’s case, involving both a formation and soul-stripping, must have been done by someone else.
I summoned five yellow Command Flags and set up a simple Kun Earth Formation, then took the jar of Breathing Earth out of my bag.
The rainy day was naturally advantageous for the Wangliang, and it took Jiang Haoyan and me a great deal of effort to finally subdue it. I collected the Wangliang into the jar; it had now turned into a massive water droplet, rolling around on the yellow soil.
“Earth Master, have mercy!”
“Heh, you’ve actually cultivated enough to speak. Tell me, who made you harm Li Zhu?”
The Wangliang was already terrified and blurted out the whole story.