Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Chen Daji asked curiously, “Eighth Master, are you planning to ask my Big Brother for something again?”
Eighth Master Chang saw no need to hide anything from Chen Daji, a brother who shared his every ambition.
“Daji, I want to earn more merit, then ask the young master physician to teach me the Taiping Talisman-Water Secret Art.”
“When the time comes, you’ll have to put in a few good words for me.”
Chen Daji understood none of the Daoist terminology, so he could only ask, “Eighth Master, what’s the Taiping Talisman-Water Secret Art for?”
Since Eighth Master Chang needed his help this time, he did not mock him. Instead, he patiently explained.
“It’s one of the three great secret arts of Taiping Dao. It heals the sick and saves lives!”
“If the three Zhang Jiao brothers hadn’t known it back then, they could never have gathered a million followers in just a few short years.”
That made Chen Daji see Eighth Master Chang in an entirely new light.
“I never would’ve guessed, Eighth Master! You actually have so much love in your heart that you want to heal the sick, save lives, and deliver all living beings from suffering!”
Eighth Master Chang froze, then cursed quietly.
“Deliver my ass!”
“I want to learn it so I can heal myself if I ever run into someone I can’t beat!”
Chen Daji froze as well, then lowered his head and swore.
“Fuck, I’m an idiot! I never should’ve expected anything decent from Eighth Master’s character!”
And so the pair of bosom buddies turned their heads away and refused to speak to each other.
Before long, everything was ready.
With Hua Jiunan leading them, the group lit incense and began the worship ceremony.
“Uncle Snow Corpse, please hear me.”
“Your unworthy nephew, Hua Jiunan, has failed to restore your golden body all these years.”
“Now, through the gracious help of Uncle Chen Fu, I have finally been able to rebuild your temple, raise your statue, and clothe you in battle armor.”
With that, Hua Jiunan knocked his forehead loudly against the ground three times.
The three Oldling Spirits hurried forward and dressed the statue in the newly restored armor.
The instant every piece was in place, blue light flared.
The entire suit of armor seemed to merge with the statue, making it look even more imposing and ferocious.
It wore a ghost-faced helmet and Tiger Guard Armor, with a wolf’s head sculpted on each shoulder.
At that same moment, deep inside a cave somewhere in the Yin-Yang Realm, the severely wounded Snow Corpse found an identical suit of armor appearing around his body.
His exhausted, haggard face instantly came alive.
Hua Jiunan’s voice sounded beside his ear.
“Uncle Snow Corpse, your nephew will remain at the temple, burning incense and presenting offerings to you.”
“I hope you can return from the Yin-Yang Realm soon, so our family can be together again!”
“Oh, right. By a stroke of fortune, I became acquainted with General Li Guang.”
“If you can reach Xiaoyu Mountain, he will help you!”
Snow Corpse’s spirits soared. With a tiger’s roar, he charged out of the cave.
Although the Female Corpse on his shoulder could not speak, two trails of tears ran down her face.
Empowered by the armor, Snow Corpse became even more fiercely unstoppable.
He had no desire to hurt anyone, so whenever he encountered the ghost bailiffs sent to capture him, he merely sent them flying with his charge.
Like a heavy tank that had just been filled to the brim with fuel, Snow Corpse smashed through everything in his path and thundered straight toward Xiaoyu Mountain.
His strength reached its peak after people from all the nearby villages came to worship him.
Meanwhile, on the mountain where the ancient tomb stood, a band of little ghosts came running from afar, chanting with effort as they carried the female ghost Daoist.
They slipped straight into the ancient tomb through the cracks in the ground.
After Zhang Liang’s death, the Human Bone Altar and stone coffin had sunk back into the tomb.
The female ghost Daoist stopped before the stone coffin and began chanting with a savage smile.
“Spirits of Heaven’s Prison, heed and manifest; act by the High God’s decree. Lord of All-Heaven rites, mighty Celestial Stalwarts. Generals of the Five Thunders, great gods who establish the prison.”
“Manifest Heaven’s Prison and confine ghosts and gods. Heaven’s Prison now stands; Earthly Hell is complete.”
“I summon the celestial generals to seize and confine ghosts and gods. Great God of the Celestial Dungeon, Divine Lord of the Earthly Dungeon: seize and confine the wicked ghosts. Show no mercy.”
“The High God has issued his decree. Take them into the ghost encampment. Swiftly, swiftly, by the law and command!”
As the incantation ended, the little ghosts who had carried the female ghost Daoist screamed as the stone coffin swallowed them.
The coffin lid slowly opened and floated into the air.
The female ghost Daoist transformed into a gust of yin wind and slipped inside. Only then did the lid descend again.
Inside the coffin, she abruptly opened a pair of deathly white eyes and stared fixedly at the human-skin scripture stuck to the lid-the Taiping Corpse-Raising Art.
“Just you wait! Just you wait! I will return for revenge!”
Early the next morning, the stone coffin was transported directly to the provincial capital as a cultural relic.
The instant the female ghost Daoist opened the Taiping Corpse-Raising Art, a seated skeleton in a mysterious underground palace responded.
The skeleton wore apricot-yellow Daoist robes, and black mist coiled above its head.
In its left hand was a nine-section staff; in its right, a yellowed bamboo scroll.
The scroll glimmered with hazy blue light. Three large characters were written upon it: *Taiping Scripture*.
This man was none other than Zhang Jiao, founder of Taiping Dao and a supreme Daoist patriarch of his age!
Zhang Jiao slowly opened his eyes and drew a deep breath.
The withered skin across his body rapidly filled out, becoming indistinguishable from that of a living man in the blink of an eye.
He flicked the dust from his robes, rose to his feet, and stared toward the Northern Lands.
“May boundless blessings arise from the Yellow Heaven.”
“Third Brother, why did you ignore my warning and emerge ahead of time, only to suffer such a calamity?”
“Do not worry. Your Eldest Brother will personally fulfill our dream.”
The Azure Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise. The year is Jiazi; all under Heaven shall know great fortune.