Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Not long after Hua Jiunan and Chen Daji arrived in the courtyard, Old Sixth Hui appeared beside them.
Chen Daji couldn’t help asking curiously, “Old Immortal, how are you always so punctual? Don’t you sleep at night?”
If anyone else had asked that, Old Sixth Hui would have slapped them across the face so hard their teeth rattled.
Unfortunately, Chen Daji was Hua Jiunan’s close friend. For Hua Jiunan’s sake, Old Sixth Hui could only snort coldly and pretend he hadn’t heard.
Seeing Old Sixth Hui’s reaction, Chen Daji immediately realized he’d said the wrong thing.
Damn it, I’m such an idiot!
Aren’t mice nocturnal? They hide during the day and only come out at night to steal food…
Just as Chen Daji’s thoughts were running wild, the old wall clock in Deaf Granny’s room began to chime.
Dong, dong, dong.
Midnight had arrived!
The clear night sky was instantly swallowed by thick fog.
Even the moon turned hazy and indistinct.
From the distance came all kinds of strange sounds from time to time:
the whoosh of a fierce wind sweeping through the treetops, the roars of beasts, and the cries of a night owl.
Mixed in among them were all sorts of eerie laughter, enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end.
Chen Daji was a little scared. Without realizing it, he edged closer to Hua Jiunan.
“Everyone, stay sharp. The filthy things are about to come out!”
The moment he finished speaking, a pale, icy hand landed on Chen Daji’s shoulder from behind.
At the same time, a cackling “Jie jie jie” laugh drifted over.
“Holy crap! A ghost got into the courtyard!”
Chen Daji was so frightened he jumped three feet in the air, then shot behind Old Sixth Hui with a whoosh.
“Old Immortal, save me!”
Yet Old Sixth Hui merely glanced at him indifferently, without the slightest intention of making a move.
At the same time, a long tobacco pipe came down hard on Chen Daji’s head, raising a huge bump in an instant.
“Jie jie jie. You little brat, look properly before you start screaming!”
Chen Daji clutched his head and rubbed it nonstop, tears of pain welling in his eyes.
“Oh my god, that hurts like hell! So it was you, Grandma!”
“Grandma, when you showed up before, you never made such a big entrance. I thought the filthy things had arrived…”
Hemp-clad Grandmother liked Chen Daji’s muddleheaded nature most of all. Watching him, she let out another strange cackle.
“You little brat, coming here is the same as coming home for Grandma. What kind of entrance would I need?”
“This lousy commotion wasn’t my doing. There really are filthy things coming.”
Old Sixth Hui smiled faintly.
“When Hemp-clad Elder Sister travels, her procession is far grander than this.”
“At the very least, there would be black snow filling the sky and a blood moon overhead.”
“And those messy things would still dare make noise? They’d have been scared off long ago!”
Old Sixth Hui’s subtle flattery pleased Hemp-clad Grandmother immensely.
“Jie jie jie. Old Sixth, ever since your cultivation improved, even your tongue has grown sweeter. Grandma has high hopes for you!”
As they were talking, a chaotic clatter of footsteps came from far away, drawing closer and closer.
It headed straight for the small courtyard.
Only when they got close did Hua Jiunan see clearly that it was a troop of roughly a hundred “Ghost Soldiers.”
Calling them “soldiers” was a bit of a stretch.
Every one of them had a bluish-gray face and was nothing but skin and bones.
A yellow scarf was tied around each of their heads, and faint black qi drifted from their bodies.
Although they were lined up in a long column, the formation was obviously crooked and disorderly.
They were also chattering nonstop as they shouted slogans.
But their voices were so uneven that it sounded more like jeering than chanting.
The weapons in their hands were even more varied:
sabers, spears, swords, halberds-everything was there. Some were even carrying hoes and plows.
Only a handful wore tattered armor. The rest of the Ghost Soldiers were dressed in coarse, ragged clothes.
When this troop of Ghost Soldiers reached the gate of the courtyard, it was as if they couldn’t see the entrance right in front of them.
They simply kept circling around nearby.
Chen Daji found it novel and couldn’t help exclaiming,
“Holy crap, what are these Ghost Soldiers wandering around blindly for?”
“Did they grow two eyes just to piss with? They can’t see a gate this big?!”
“Don’t tell me they’re all severely nearsighted like Fatty Zhao?”
Hua Jiunan understood the key to it. He bowed toward the pine tree in the courtyard.
“Thank you for your trouble, Elder.”
With Hua Jiunan’s reminder, Chen Daji also realized that Elder Pine was protecting them, and immediately bowed as well.
At the same time, he asked Hua Jiunan in a low voice,
“Big Brother, these Ghost Soldiers look so miserable, like a bunch of refugees fleeing a disaster.”
“Elder Pine didn’t secretly make a move and rob them halfway here, did he?”
Hua Jiunan glanced at Chen Daji.
“Cut the nonsense. Elder Pine isn’t that bored.”
Old Sixth Hui smiled faintly.
“If these Ghost Soldiers crawled out of an ancient tomb, then there’s nothing strange about it.”
“They were exactly like this when they were alive!”
Chen Daji had just offended Old Sixth Hui and didn’t dare ask him anything, so he could only keep talking to Hua Jiunan.
“Big Brother, what are the Ghost Soldiers shouting about? I can’t understand a single word.”
Hua Jiunan was just about to answer when Old Sixth Hui cut in first.
He walked over to Chen Daji with a beaming smile and said,
“If you want to understand ghost speech, that’s easy enough. I’ll help you.”
Seeing the ill intent on Old Sixth Hui’s face, Chen Daji instinctively backed away.
Before the guy could refuse, Old Sixth Hui grabbed a handful of dirt and swiftly stuffed it into Chen Daji’s mouth.
Then he slapped his hand over it for good measure.
Not a single grain of that dirt was wasted. Chen Daji swallowed it all.
Then something miraculous happened.
After eating the dirt, Chen Daji really could understand the Ghost Soldiers.
“The Azure Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise. The year is Jiazi; all under Heaven shall know great fortune.”
Chen Daji was so stunned he even forgot to retch.
“Holy crap, it’s that miraculous?”
“Why can I understand ghost speech after eating a handful of dirt?!”