Ch.144: Gates Open at Mount TongLu; the Assembly of Millions of Ghosts 2
Xie Lian turned to look and the one who spoke was that “Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade”. He accused, “The scent of humans on you is a little too heavy.”
The crowd of ghosts all chided, “He’s a Puppet Master… it’s understandable. He’s got essence of evil on him too.”
The Demon Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade countered, “No no, look closer everyone. This essence of evil on this ‘Puppet Master’ doesn’t feel like it’s emitted from within, more like dyed from the outside.”
To stain dye the essence of evil from the surface should’ve been passable originally, but once it became the point of focus for the crowd of ghosts, the details would be magnified. This Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon didn’t look like he was very smart at first, similar to that Heaven’s Eye, and Xie Lian had taken him for an insignificant little side character, but who knew he wasn’t that easy to deceive. A ghost piped up, “You look like you’re well versed in this, so is there anything concrete to your words? How do we tell? You got any ideas?”
The Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon replied, “Yes. There’s a tool that can determine just exactly what he is!”
From his sleeve he pulled out an object. The moment the crowd of ghosts saw they instantly backed away, “THE FUCK! YOU HAVE YELLOW TALISMAN ON YOU?! YOU SURE YOU’RE NOT THE HEAVENLY OFFICIAL?”
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon explained earnestly, “No! I’ve killed some cultivators on the way here and took their belongings, that’s all. These are just the typical yellow talismans for dealing with little ghosts and irrelevant little minions. Since everyone made it here, I’m sure these talismans would do nothing to you. Watch!”
Then he slapped that yellow talisman on his forehead. Crackle crackle, that yellow talisman burnt up into a wisp of black smoke on his face, leaving a black, ashen mark on his forehead.
That Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon said, “Even though this talisman can’t do anything to me, but I can at least prove my identity.”
Something like a paper talisman could be used to deal with ghosts and demons, but on the flip side, it could also be used to identify whether a person was in fact, a person. Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon pointed at Xie Lian, “If you’re really a Puppet Master, then stick this yellow talisman on your forehead. We’ll see whether if it leaves a mark.”
Xie Lian didn’t show any reaction but his mind was spinning rapidly. However, Hua Cheng whispered, “Don’t worry, gege.”
Thus, Xie Lian knew that Hua Cheng was confident in his chances. He put Hua Cheng down and approached easily, took that talisman and pressed it on his forehead. Crackle crackle, that yellow talisman burnt to a wisp of black smoke, however after the smoke had cleared, Xie Lian’s forehead was still unmarred with not a trace left behind!
This proved that the essence of evil on his person was stained from the surface!
Other than that cloaked figure with crossed arms, hundreds of ghosts instantly surrounded them, yelling and howling, looking like they were ready to bring out all sorts of bizarre weapons, but then they were all instantly repelled by an invisible barrier. The crowd of ghosts were stunned, “Well, well! Pretty skilled too!”
Xie Lian flipped open his hands, “I didn’t do anything,”
Just then, Hua Cheng who was standing behind him spoke.
He approached with his fists at his sides, “You bunch of unlearned country bumpkin ghosts, what’re you all looking so surprised for?”
“And you’re a man of the world, little ghost baby??”
“It ain’t a lie that he ain’t got essence of evil on him. Just who’re y’all, declare yaselves now!”
Hua Cheng answered, “What a bunch of fools. Of course there’s none on his body, because I’m the real Puppet Master!”
Just as the words left his lips, the crowd of ghosts could sense an exceedingly haunting chill blow past them, like the entire field was going to freeze. Even with their cool bodies they still shuddered, “…What… What’s… going… on…?”
“Giving you all a taste of the world, is all.” Hua Cheng said.
He rescinded his aura and the crowd of ghosts finally stopped shivering. That Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon questioned, feeling trepidation, “If… If you’re the Puppet Master, and he’s also a Puppet Master, then who’s the? No no, it can’t be him, so what kind of person is he?”
Before Hua Cheng responded, Xie Lian smiled, “Obviously, the kind that belongs to him.”
The crowd of ghosts were befuddled for a moment, then it finally dawned on them, “So– So it’s the opposite? He’s the master, and you’re the puppet?!”
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon was suspicious, “Then why did you say you were the Puppet Master earlier? What’s the intention of your lie?”
Hua Cheng smiled, “Because, I thought it’d be amusing.”
Xie Lian smiled too, “That’s right. Master finding it amusing is the most important reason.”
After the female ghosts got over their initial shock, they tucked away their long claws and tongues and started circling around Xie Lian anew and started examining him. From some reason, the commentary from the female ghosts directed to him took on a completely different flavour than when they were checking Hua Cheng out. Somehow, they sounded more bold:
“So this little gege is the real puppet? Aiyah, I like this age better, now I want one even more! Are you sure you don’t take orders?”
Xie Lian replied gently, “Um… thank you for your affections. But, I’m actually very old…”
“This material is human skin, right? The treatment is done fairly cleanly, there isn’t any of that stinking, rancid smell of Yang* from those burly men. Master, how do you manage the maintenance? Do you use perfume?”
“It’s human skin,” Xie Lian replied, “No perfumes. Just bathe frequently and drink lots of water.”
“Wow! Feels like this puppet can do many things! All sorts. Both the face and body look pretty good, eh? Looks like the feel of his skin is nice too. But he’s a little skinny, I wonder if there’s some meat in there after stripping the clothes off hehehehe…”
Xie Lian had been maintaining a polite and humble smile the entire time, but seeing that there were actually female ghosts coming closer ready to feel his chest with their eyes bright, his brows twitched. Hua Cheng pressed two fingers together and lightly swung them upwards, and the circle of delicate as well as withered hands were waved away. Xie Lian immediately crouched behind Hua Cheng to hide. The female ghosts were annoyed, “What, are you going to say that this puppet has a bad temper too and doesn’t like other people touching him? He looks nice!”
Hua Cheng reached out and lifted Xie Lian’s chin, “His temper is certainly nice, but my temper is bad. No one shall touch what I love except for me.”
Xie Lian followed along and obediently raised his face, holding back his laugh so hard his guts were spasming. Still, he was very cooperative and gazed at Hua Cheng’s eyes, speaking earnestly, “No. San… Master’s temper is very nice too.”
Hua Cheng laughed too, looking very satisfied. The two went back and forth, getting quite into their roles, but another ghost on the side interrupted, “I still think the scent of human on him is too strong.”
“Then what do you want to do?” The female ghosts questioned.
That ghost said, “I heard puppets made of skin aren’t stuffed with flesh, so if they’re stabbed they won’t bleed. Let me stab him with a blade and see…” But before he finished his thought he was frightened to silence with a sharp eye.
Hua Cheng said coldly, “Try touching him, I dare you. Think I would let the things I treasure deep in my heart be so easily touched by you lot?”
The crowd of ghosts were pushed back by the power of his aura earlier, and now that Hua Cheng was making threats, they didn’t dare move another muscle, and had subconsciously backed away to give them a large breather area. That Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon who had started everything saw things were going downhill and actually became the first to try and smooth things over, “Please don’t be furious, Puppet Master. We haven’t even entered the boundaries of Mount TongLu yet, we can talk more after going in. Let’s not start things among ourselves now.”
Hua Cheng’s eyes glanced to the side, “Rather than harassing my puppet, why not ask instead why that one still wouldn’t remove their cloak.”
The eccentric cloaked figure that had been standing there on the side this entire time still hadn’t removed their cloak since the ruckus started, and had been watching with his arms crossed like they were enjoying a show, completely removed from the hubbub. Now that Hua Cheng pointed them out, the show couldn’t be watched anymore since they became the star. Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon walked forward a step, “Will this friend also remove your cloak to let us see?”
That cloaked figure paused for a long time, and just when Xie Lian was starting to suspect if they were ready to kick up dirt and run away, that cloaked figure suddenly reached out and cleanly pulled off the cloak.
Under the cloak was a handsome but plain and normal face.
Such a person, if they were thrown into a crowd, they wouldn’t look bad, but they’d be easily forgotten, their appearance unretainable, and it made those ghosts who saw this reveal rather disappointed. However, Xie Lian was growing wary.
“Obviously a fake face.” Hua Cheng said.
His voice could only be heard by Xie Lian, and Xie Lian nodded. Sometimes, when heavenly officials or renown ghosts had business to do in the mortal realm, instead of using the inconvenient real form, they’d conceive such a fake face. Times like these, the most important element of this transformation was “plain and normal”; whether it be good looking or not, as long as it was plain enough to ensure that no matter how long someone was to stare at their faces, they’d still forget the moment they turn away. That would constitute a successful transformation.
The face of that cloaked figure perfectly matched the key component of such a transformation, so, it was more than likely not his real face, and his real identity unknown.
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon handed out a yellow talisman. That cloaked figure took it and stuck it on his forehead without hesitation. Crackle crackle, smoke, a mark.
It seemed, he was also a ghost and not a human.
After all this ruckus, the crowd was getting aggravated, “So is there actually a heavenly official mixed in or not?”
“Who’s the one who brought this up first? You better not be wrong.”
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon raised his hand, “The first to notice is me, but it’s true! I definitely smelt a heavenly official.. AH!”
Unexpectedly, in mid-speech he suddenly screamed and toppled over. Shocked, Xie Lian rushed forward and there was an extra bloody hold on his body. The hold pierced through the abdomen, and, on the wound, there was a faint residue of the kind of spiritual light only found on the body of a heavenly official!
The crowd of ghosts were shocked, “LOOK AT HIS WOUND! THERE’S REALLY A HEAVENLY OFFICIAL AMONG US!”
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon covered that bloody hole and cried, terrified, “EVERYONE WATCH OUT! THEY WANT TO WIPE US OUT!”
The crowd of ghosts immediately lost their minds in terror, like a pot had exploded, and they all raised their weapons ready to face enemies from any direction, yelling, “WHO IS IT?! WHO WANTS TO WIPE US OUT?! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?!”
When that Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon was first hit, the first thought that flashed through Xie Lian’s mind was, “I knew those who give themselves such ridiculous titles are the first to go down!” Then after blinking, he shouted, “EVERYONE SAW JUST NOW, RIGHT? MY MASTER AND I WERE BOTH UNDER YOUR SCRUTINY THE ENTIRE TIME, WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.” As he spoke, he glanced sharply at that cloaked figure. The other also raised his hand, his suppressed voice low, “Same.”
Xie Lian leaned down to check over Swift Blade Demon’s injuries and claimed, “It’s a sword wound. Whoever’s using a sword right now is…” When he turned his head, he was instantly speechless. It seemed, the sword wasn’t just the most popular weapon in the mortal and heavenly realms, but also in the ghost realm. Of the four hundred some ghosts present, at least more than three hundred wielded swords, completely uncountable. Xie Lian cleared his throat, “If only there’s more yellow talismans we can use like the ones earlier, we won’t have to worry over who’s who.”
Of course, this was an offhanded comment, making himself sound helpful. If there really were heavenly colleagues who infiltrated this crowd, he certainly didn’t want to help pick them out.
This Swift Blade Demon also couldn’t possibly have that many yellow talismans at the ready either. Yet unexpectedly, just as he made his comment, Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon actually did pull out a thick stack of yellow talismans, “OH! I DO HAVE MORE!”
“…”
Xie Lian couldn’t help but want to take a look behind his back, “Just where did you pull those out?”
“THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT!” Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon said.
“No, it’s very important.” Xie Lian said, “Normally you don’t take such heavy burdens with you on the road, they’re heavy enough to be thrown like bricks to kill people… just how many cultivators did you kill?”
Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade Demon glared at him, “Maybe twenty some.”
…No wonder. If every cultivator carried with them over ten talismans, then adding them all together there were at least over two hundred!
Without further ado, the crowd of ghosts were anxious to find out who among them were heavenly officials, and quickly came up with a rough method. They formed into groups of two, each sticking a yellow talisman on their partner’s forehead, and observe whether if their partners left ashen marks. Some small time ghosts were still afraid, “Do I actually have to do this? Won’t this break my spirit…”
“It won’t, it won’t, it’s exactly like those talismans they were using earlier, the powers are weak, so at most they’ll just leave a mark.”
“Oh…”
Hua Cheng narrowed his eyes and seemed to have noticed something. Soon, in the four hundred some ghosts, fields after fields of them all had that yellow talisman taped onto their forehead, looking peculiar and silly. However, after the talismans were stuck on, nothing happened.
The ghosts all looked at each other, “What’s going on?”
“Hey, Swift Blade Demon, what kind of cultivators did you kill? Why are the talismans so shitty, they’re not working.”
Xie Lian had thought things were off from the start, and now his brows were knit. He was just about to speak when a female ghost next to him pursed her lips and whined, “I’m not doing this anymore, I’m ripping this off… huh? What’s going on? Why can’t I rip this off?”
Several female ghosts all started shrieking at once, “ME TOO! WHY WON’T THIS RIP OFF?!”
Crap!
Just at the same time, Hua Cheng warned in a low voice, “Gege, crouch down!”
Xie Lian immediately followed his instruction, and Hua Cheng immediately covered his ears. Not far from them, that cloaked figure also immediately pulled his cloak over, half knelt to the ground. Soon after, “BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!” Like a series of firecrackers exploding, the loud rumbles roared to the skies!
———-
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