Chapter 65: The Hungry Ghost Tomb Mist

There was one thing in the Bamboo Grove that Su Rou had always been obsessed with: the large wooden bathtub made by my master.

In Su Rou’s words, it was half a small pond.

We returned to the mountain in the drizzle, and all three of us were soaked through. It was damp and uncomfortable against our skin.

Master wanted to take a bath, and I wanted to take a bath with Master.

In fact, when I was a child, I often bathed with my master. In the past two years, this kind of thing has become much less frequent, but today, I really want to bathe with my master.

Seeing that I wanted to bathe with my master, Su Rou didn’t want to be left out and insisted on bathing with us.

The master looked at the two of us and kicked us each once, but then rolled up his sleeves and started boiling the fragrant water without saying anything.

The wooden tub for the bath was indeed very large, and the three of us each had our own side, so it didn’t feel crowded.

The smoke rose, and the unique aroma of the fragrant soup wafted in the air, making people unconsciously relax. I sighed comfortably, and the sad mood I had just felt settled down.

I glanced at Su Rou, who had somehow managed to get a handful of melon seeds and was now comfortably munching on them, looking very cool. My master, on the other hand, looked a little tired, leaning back with his eyes closed, not sure what he was thinking.

“Su Rou, if I find half a melon seed in the water, I’ll kick you out.” Finally, the master spoke.

Su Rou quickly threw the melon seeds in his hand away and smiled at my master.

My master snorted and said, “You’ll clean up here later.”

Su Rou nodded eagerly and said, “Master Jiang, absolutely no problem, but please tell us what happened at the Hungry Ghost Tomb?”

I wiped my face with a handkerchief and said, “Master, tell us, how can people die?”

My master was silent for a moment, then said, “People die because we opened the coffin to take the ghost mother.”

“The ghost mother is in the coffin?” I was shocked.

“It was originally on the wall behind the coffin, but it flew into the coffin. Someone deliberately smashed a hole in the coffin.” My master’s voice turned cold.

Su Rou was stunned and couldn’t help but ask, “Master Jiang, why did you smash a hole? Who is that person?”

“We opened the coffin to wake the sleeping vampire inside. Once it touches the breath of a living person, it will wake up.”

“Master, don’t speak in fragments. Can you finish your sentence?” I was also anxious. What kind of zombie is so powerful that it killed two people in the presence of my master, Huijue, and Grandma Lingqing?

“Let’s talk after the bath,” the master said, and then closed his eyes again. It was clear that he was truly tired.

Compared to the excitement of the previous days, the Bamboo Grove was now a little quiet. I thought that if it weren’t for the crispy meat, it would be even more quiet.

On the veranda, a pot of tea, three armchairs, we sat lazily, watching the rain outside, waiting for the master to tell us everything about the Hungry Ghost Tomb.

After slowly swallowing a sip of tea, the master finally said, “Everything about the Hungry Ghost Tomb is a conspiracy. This person is very powerful, and he is proficient in Taoism, witchcraft, and the art of poisoning. I am not as good as him. He deserved to be trapped in a conspiracy.”

“Master, you always say that there are people beyond the sky and people beyond the world. You don’t seek to be at the top, but to do what I want in my years and to do my best. Why are you also thinking about comparison?” I couldn’t help but say.

“It’s not about comparison, it’s about unwillingness. I don’t have the passion to slay demons and monsters. After all, the world is full of complicated causes and effects. However, I know that what I have learned in my life cannot harm the world. The person who built the Hungry Ghost Tomb did so for his own selfish gain, and he didn’t care about the consequences. He lived his life for himself, and he didn’t care about others, even if the people of this world were in dire straits. Our department exists not only to prevent ghosts and monsters, but also to prevent people.” As he spoke, the master’s expression looked very tired. Perhaps the ghost tomb had given him too much of a shock.

“Master Jiang, can Taoist magic harm people?” Su Rou couldn’t help but ask.

“If the heart is not pure, Taoist magic is more dangerous than giving a child a pistol. If we talk about harming people, if a person with an impure heart happens to be a master of Taoist magic, he can cause people to suffer. Such things have not happened for nothing. They have always existed throughout history, but there have always been people like us who have prevented them.” The master sighed.

“What is the purpose of the person in the Hungry Ghost Tomb? Master, please tell me in detail.” My heart was also trembling. Su Rou didn’t understand, but I did. To put it simply, if I set up a formation to gather evil spirits in front of someone’s door, I could harm the whole family. If I were crazy, seeking only the metaphysical in this life, breaking free of karma and not caring about the next life, I could indeed do even more crazy things.

The most feared thing for a Taoist is having an evil heart. What he has learned can indeed kill people invisibly.

“Purpose? Haha, purpose? Let’s not talk about purpose. All I can say is that he failed. He abandoned the tomb. If the hungry ghosts were to come out in full force, he wouldn’t care about the consequences. Even if the unformed hungry ghost king appeared before the world, I guess he would just be happy to watch the show. The hungry ghost king is useless, and the ghost mother is naturally useless. Everything was abandoned by him. He just set up a trap to prevent people with ulterior motives from finding out, killing people to silence them and leaving no clues. If I hadn’t had a bad feeling about this trip to the Hungry Ghost Tomb, and if I hadn’t brought a talisman left by your master, we would have all been wiped out.” My master said solemnly.

I gasped in shock. That person was so powerful that even my master was taken by surprise and had to rely on the talisman left by the master to escape from the Hungry Ghost Tomb?

My master seemed to have read my thoughts and said, “It’s not him who is powerful, it’s the ancient corpse. An ancient corpse that has been around for nearly a thousand years has almost no weaknesses. At least it would be extremely difficult to deal with it with my methods. Sanwa, you must always remember that once a vampire is not handled properly, it is very difficult to deal with.”

“Why?”

Because the vampire is special. It is not afraid of fire, and it is not afraid of physical harm. It has no soul, only two spirits. Therefore, the effect of the attack of the mysterious arts is also limited, and it is extremely powerful. Especially the vampire that has been around for a long time, it will also be agile in movement. Think about it, if you are facing a guy who is invulnerable, extremely powerful, and fast, isn’t it dangerous?

The master’s description of the zombies made me and Su Rou feel a little scared.

I couldn’t help but ask, “Master, don’t zombies have anything to fear? Don’t they have any weaknesses?”

“Of course, zombies have things to be afraid of, but most of the folklore is useless, and it has a certain restraining effect on zombies that have just taken shape. If you can break its back of the head or break its spine, you can kill it, but you almost don’t want its spine because its body itself is very strong. In addition, Taoist methods are many, but they require time to prepare. The most direct method is to seal its yang energy.” The master simply told me.

After all, the occult arts are long to talk about, and dealing with zombies is also a long story. At least I understand that hand gestures are almost useless against zombies because they have no soul, only two spirits hidden deep within. The body is too strong, and it takes a lot of powerful magic to destroy its spirit.

“Master Jiang, does that mean you let the zombies out? And then fought for three days and nights?” Su Rou thought it was terrifying. After all, Master and the others didn’t return until three days later.

To be precise, it was three nights and two days.

“It’s not that simple. We went down through the crack. The original tomb was built by someone unknown. It was hidden under a formation. The crack was probably opened on top of the tomb. The person who built the tomb of the hungry ghosts was indeed a master. The location he was looking for happened to be a formation point. If he didn’t open the crack and break the formation, it would have taken him several days to get into the tomb.” My master said calmly.

“Master, you said that, and I remembered something. This tomb was once robbed by a tomb robber, who was later trapped to death in a stone room, which is under the crack.” I quickly said.

“This is the will of heaven. In fact, the secret chamber under the gap was the only safe place. The tomb robber really had some skills. He found the way out, entered the tomb, and when he escaped, he could still find the only safe place. But we still have to thank the will of heaven. He first met the wandering Candle Dragon in the tomb, not the coffin, otherwise this area would have become a new no-man’s land.” The master said solemnly.

“What exactly is that zombie? So powerful? Master, did you really fight it for three days and nights?” I exclaimed.