CH 54

Bai Gu was silent all the way, and Wu Rong didn’t speak. Huang Mao was talking about the current preferential policies and activities of the Ghost Fights platform. Gradually he felt something was wrong with the atmosphere, and finally closed his mouth. They called for a taxi. It was surprisingly quiet all the way. It was so quiet that the taxi driver couldn’t find a word. 

“Eh?”, it’s going to rain. I’m afraid I can’t return to Beacon Hill at this time.”

“Young man, are you going to the Yellow Weasel Temple to seek marriage, eh?”

The driver spoke in Teochew dialect, which Wu Rong and Huang Mao couldn’t understand at all. When they got on the taxi, they all relied on Bai Gu to communicate and act as a translator between the driver and Wu Rong. 

“He said it was going to rain, and now we might be stuck in the mountains.”

“Huh? It’s going to rain? Shall we still go, or should we go tomorrow?”

Huang Mao glanced at the clear sky outside, with question marks all over his head. Wu Rong was a little motion sick, and from when he first got into the car, he opened the window a little, closed his eyes and rested his mind. Bai Gu carefully studied Wu Rong’s expression, and said carefully, “I know that there’s a residence on the mountain, but it hasn’t been occupied for a long time, it may be a bit old…”

“Mm.”

Wu Rong responded, and the matter was ended in this way. Originally, he set aside three days to solve the Chaozhou affairs, but unexpectedly the flood rushed into the Dragon King Temple. That being the case, there was no need to waste time here. After taking the Purified Rootless Water and washing the Zhong Gu, they’ll be able to set off for Jieyang tomorrow.

The car drove towards the eastern suburbs, and the scenery on both sides became more and more barren. The high-rise buildings turned into sparse low-rise bungalows. While the surroundings were surrounded by lush trees and vegetation, more and more clouds gathered to cover the sky. 

“There is a dragon on Beacon Hill.”

The driver said cheerfully, pretending to be mysterious, pointing to the rain clouds gathered in the sky ahead, and said: “It’s the Dragon King demanding rain.”

“What did he say, is it going to rain?”

“He’s talking about the Dragon Kiln on Beacon Hill.” 

Bai Gu explained: “There are Chaozhou kiln ruins on Beacon Hill. Because the kiln is built on the mountain and goes up the slope, it looks like a long dragon, so it is called Dragon Kiln.”

A few years ago, there was a disturbance near the Yellow Weasel Temple in Beacon Hill. When the disturbance was at its worst, several people died. The Ministry of Public Security in the Guangdong-Guangxi Safety Zone dispatched special police to search the mountains, sweeping out illegal activities and acting during the disaster, at least to suppress its momentum. But Beacon Hill, which was originally considered a tourist attraction in Chaozhou, now had few people visiting. The vegetation was growing better and wilder, and traces of human beings was gradually being covered up by it.

When the driver sent them to the foot of the mountain, it was completely dark, and the wind was blowing, but it wasn’t, and it was humid, hot and stuffy, making people breathless. The air conditioner in the car was fine, but soon after getting out of the car, Huang Mao pulled his soaked shirt and fanned it, sweating all over his face, and panting with his luggage. Seeing that Bai Gu and Wu Rong didn’t sweat at all, he felt wronged.

“Aren’t you hot??” 

“Not hot.”

Bai Gu said in a good temper, and unscrewed the cap of a bottle and handed it to Wu Rong: “Let’s go up the mountain, there’s still time.”

Wu Rong, who was still suffering from motion sickness, looked a little gloomy, and took a sip of water while not saying much. He picked up the luggage from Huang Mao’s hand, and raised his eyes to let Bai Gu lead the way. Bai Gu smiled when he saw this, and rounded up Huang Mao’s other luggage, and then the three of them walked up the mountain along the path. Stacks of broken porcelain could sometimes be seen beside the mountain road, most of which are covered by overgrown vegetation. Climbing a mountain is physical work, and among the three of them, Huang Mao, the ordinary person, tired the fastest, but he didn’t complain, and followed Wu Rong.

When they arrived at the Yellow Weasel Temple, the rain also poured down. Bean-sized raindrops hit the hilltops in the forest like hailstones, and a layer of white mist rose from the verdant branches and leaves. The Temple of the Yellow Weasel wasn’t big, and it had not been repaired for some time. Half of it had collapsed, but the main hall was still intact. There’s a Yellow Weasel’s statue in the middle, with half of its head cracked, leaving only a long and narrow eye, and the corner of its mouth looked like a smile that wasn’t a smile, as he quietly watched the three people who came in. 

“It’s inside.”

Bai Gu looked at Huang Mao, who was panting and out of breath, as a sign. Wu Rong left him to rest in the hall for a while, and followed Bai Gu to the left rear of the hall. There used to be a small courtyard here, but now it had almost collapsed, with only a small warehouse for storing sundries that remained.

Wu Rong could tell at a glance that a ‘fierce’ battle had taken place here. The blue stones on the ground were broken and raised, and the mud was full of fragments of paper figurines and paper horses, occasionally mixed with the corpses of many bugs. Like a millipede the size of a thick arm, a centipede more than one meter in length, he couldn’t see what kind of black-shelled insects they really were. The pus of the insect body was mixed with scraps of paper on the ground, which made a mess. 

It could be seen that Bai Gu really did his best to help Wu Rong grab this batch of Purified Rootless Water.

“Sorry brother, I really didn’t know…”

Bai Gu sincerely apologized in a low voice again, but was stopped by Wu Rong with a wave of his hand. He went into the warehouse to have a look, and saw a half a person tall paper man with thick eyebrows and big eyes wearing red and green clothes, and a large centipede, strangled to death in front of the warehouse door. A foam box could be seen through their entangled ‘corpses’. Wu Rong didn’t need to do anything himself. The human-faced spider became as big as a table top, and its two fore long legs carefully put the foam box on its back.

“Brother Rong, Brother Rong! There are ghosts ahead!!” 

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“The statue, the statue is moving! Fuck it, it’s laughing at me!” 

Lejcu Zjb lcmbtfgfcais rtgjcx ab Qe Ebcu’r rlvf ab olcv j rfcrf bo rfmeglas, tlr ojmf oeii bo qjclm.

“We’ll be all right if we pay a visit to the temple, after all, we can be regarded as entering someone’s house.”

Bai Gu comforted him. Hearing his calm tone, Huang Mao also calmed down. After taking them back to the main hall, his breath suddenly became stagnant, he gasped, and stammered: “T-the statue moved!”

Wu Rong’s eyes were fixed, Huang Mao was right. The statue in the hall did move. Originally it was facing the door, but now its head was slightly turned to the left, and the only long and narrow eye that was intact was looking deeply at Wu Rong and the others who came in. It was raining heavily outside, and the light was dim, causing the statue to be shrouded in the shadows. The hot and damp mountain breeze blew, and the tattered cloth streamers fluttered like ghosts, full of a strange and evil spirit. 

Bai Gu walked up to the statue, murmuring words, as if he was communicating with something in the statue. Immediately afterwards, he took out a roast chicken, a bag of apples, and a bunch of flowers from his bag, and put them all on the altar in front of the statue. They were all bought by Bai Gu in front of Beacon Hill.

But after he finished all this, the temperature in the hall suddenly dropped.

Swish fuu——!

The strong wind passed through the hall, and the old doors and windows collided with each other making a harsh sound, which was creepy. The offering that Bai Gu had just put up was blown up in a mess, there seemed to be evil things sneaking in from the depths of the shadows, and it seemed like an auditory hallucination of Prajna teachings were echoing in the dark. The strangely tall statue in the dark was condescending, giving people an almost suffocating sense of oppression. 

Bai Gu’s complexion changed, he flicked the musical instrument box-like backpack on his back, and took out the wooden stick that had been passed down by the Elder Wu in the village for many years. The wooden stick fell, and Bai Gu’s whole demeanor changed. He confronted the statue with neither a humble nor overbearing presence, but instead with a solemn and dignified expression, showing a hint of warning.

Boom!

The dilapidated doors were slammed shut as if blown by the wind, and the hall almost became an extremely depressing confined space. There was the clicking sound of falling gravel, which hit the forehead of the human faced spider. The big flat spider shook its body in suspicion, as more gravel fell onto the foam box it was carrying, carrying a very indicative hint. 

The corners of Bai Gu’s mouth, which was always gentle and smiling, were tightened, and his face was ugly, revealing a bit of anger. Just as Bai Gu was about to swing his stick, Wu Rong, who finally recovered from motion sickness, pressed his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“It is not satisfied with the tribute, and wants the Purified Rootless Water.”

The Purified Rootless Water can wash away the filth and miscellaneous aura in the Yin Qi of Ghost Qi. It can not only be used to cleanse ghosts and Gu, but is also very useful for mountain spirits and wild monsters such as the Yellow Weasel. Especially the ‘wind, frost, rain, and snow Purified Rootless Water sent by the Witchologist, containing the power of heaven and earth, which was even more beneficial to them. 

“I’ll take care of it right away.”

Bai Gu felt ashamed and uneasy, and was about to make a move when Wu Rong shook his head: “Go and look at Chen Cheng.”

Huang Mao couldn’t bear this kind of Yin heavy environment, his face was pale, his eyes were out of focus and turned upwards, and his soul seemed to be leaving his body. Seeing this, Bai Gu hit him on the top of his head with the stick.

“Dong!” 

“Damn it hurts, hiss—it’s so cold, what happened?”

Huang Mao, who came back to his senses, breathed into his hand, and quickly stood next to Bai Gu, looking at Wu Rong who was walking in front of the statue with a face full of panic and worry, and asked Bai Gu anxiously in a low voice: “Did we offend that? Immortal? Do you want to fight? Don’t worry about me, go and help Brother Rong!”

“Don’t panic.”

The smile on the corners of Bai Gu’s lips was very subtle, and when he saw a mighty and majestic pure black dog leaping out of Wu Rong’s shadow, he smiled even wider and muttered in a low voice. 

“What are you saying?”

Huang Mao couldn’t see the black dog, but he could see Wu Rong standing under the statue, the sizes of the two were very different. The wind was blowing, the rain was pouring, and Huang Mao was so nervous that his heart would jump out of his throat. He held Bai Gu’s arm tightly, and asked anxiously: “Is he talking to the statue? Can you see it? What the hell happened, I can’t see anything.”

“He’s talking to the Yellow Weasel.”

At this time, Bai Gu seemed to be in a good mood, and his tone was more gentle and patient, as he smiled and said, “He told him, ‘You’re done'” 

Just now, when Bai Gu saw the black vicious dog that appeared from Wu Rong’s shadow, he was so startled by its terrifying aura that his scalp became numb, and many fragments from his previous life appeared in his mind.

This black vicious dog soul was stronger and more terrifying than what he saw in his previous life. After Bai Gu’s short-lived heart palpitations, what rose in his heart was a kind of unknown, subtle pride and joy. Especially when he looked at the deadly Yellow Weasel again, when Wu Rong asked the ghost dog “Do you want to eat it?” in a low voice, Bai Gu almost had a bewildered smile on his face.

Ah, it’s the familiar Wu Rong who let dogs kill people

But this time it wasn’t him who was killed. 

Ha.

Bai Gu felt the pleasure of a daughter-in-law finally becoming a mother-in-law. He regretfully glanced at the bewildered Huang Mao. The feeling of not being able to share his joy with others really made him uncomfortable, so Bai Gu used an understatement like tone to describe it in more detail. Describing to Huang Mao the grand occasion of Wu Rong’s unilateral crushing of the Yellow Weasel.

For example, the ghost dog bit the weasel and their sons and grandchildren out of the statue at one bite. Another example, the old weasel was all old and white. To tell you more, it was not enough to confiscate the weasel’s house, the black dog even forced the group of weasels to kowtow to Wu Rong to apologize, and then made them bite and destroy the statue. 

At first, one would have thought that Huang Mao would be happy and excited, but when he heard the smile behind his voice, his excitment disappeared. Fidgeting and buttoning the seam of his trousers, there was a sad emotion on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Bai Gu didn’t know anything, so he asked casually, and Huang Mao let out a long sigh, his voice was very low, mixed with anxiety and low self-esteem.

“Brother Rong is too strong, I have been holding him back.” 

Huang Mao actually had a strong self-esteem, so this recognition felt painful and made him uneasy: “I can only wistfully think that I can help Brother Rong.”

Seeing that Wu Rong is becoming more and more powerful and going further and further away, how can he stay where he is with a peace of mind?

Bai Gu didn’t say a word, he could have comforted Huang Mao with “everyone grows”, “you can help Wu Rong in the live broadcast”, but Bai Gu’s mind was buzzing. Huang Mao’s words struck his Celestial Spirit cover like lightning, awakening Bai Gu, and completely dissipated the little joy in his heart.

Huang Mao said that he was holding him back, Bai Gu asked himself, was he an indispensable subordinate of Wu Rong? 

No!

Whether it was about the Purified Rootless Water or the matter of Yellow Weasel, he had not been able to help. Thinking of his self-satisfaction just now, Bai Gu broke out in a cold sweat and finally woke up. He just took the first word. According to Wu Rong’s current development, he will definitely have many subordinates in the future. If he doesn’t seize the opportunity, work hard to improve, and clarify his position, in the end he will be stripped from Wu Rong’s core power circle.

This is something that Bai Gu couldn’t stand! 

“Thank you.”

Bai Gu’s tone was complicated but he sincerely thanked Huang Mao. He didn’t mean to, but he awakened himself, clear as a bell. Seeing that the statue of the Yellow Weasel was being crushed by the weasels, the problem had been solved, and the crushing had almost come to an end. Bai Gu paused, and reciprocated, pointing Huang Mao, who was still depressed, and said: “Although you are an ordinary person, it is easy to change your physique.”

“As long as Brother Rong gives you a drop of blood, that’s it. It just depends on whether you can bear the price.”

After all, regardless of Huang Mao’s shocked face, Bai Gu took the initiative to walk towards Wu Rong, respectfully said to him: “Cousin, tonight is a full moon, it is best to drink Purified Rootless Water to wash the Zhong Gu.” 

It was still raining outside, and it was raining like a torrential rain. It seemed that it might not stop at night. The mountain road was dangerous in the rain, and the night was too dark, so the three simply stopped at the Yellow Weasel Temple temporarily. The group of weasels were trained to submit by the black vicious dog, they obediently let Wu Rong and the others inside, and cleaned up the temple.

Its ear was bitten off by a black dog as a warning, and the bloody old weasel wanted to serve Wu Rong with all his heart, to send out these plague gods away as soon as possible, and ordered his sons and grandchildren to take out many clean clothes and fur from their nests. Clothes and furs came, and he laid them on the ground courteously.

“The old Yellow Weasel is used to using the halo technique to deceive humans by turning into a beautiful girl.”

Bai Gu picked up a few clothes and shook them off, all of them were youthful and beautiful skirts, and a few other styles of women’s clothing, which were not outdated in terms of styles. 

“In the past, there were legends that the Yellow Weasel would eat up people’s bodies and live in human skin to pretend to be human, but most of them were during the beginning of the spiritual recovery. There aren’t many cannibals now.”

The aging old weasel nodded as if he understood. It and a group of weasels squatted on the ground obediently from big to young. The youngest one was covered in milky hair and couldn’t even stand upright. After squatting for a while, softly to the ground.

After chatting with Huang Mao with a few words, and sharing the grilled chicken and apples that were originally offered, Bai Gu estimated the time, got up and walked towards Wu Rong. 

The ground was still wet and muddy as it had just rained. The black dog lay quietly on the ground, like a soft and thick black velvet cushion, and Wu Rong sat on it. A pale and cold light glowed faintly from around Wu Rong’s body. Wu Rong lit the resentment fire soul lamp bought from the ghost market and the pale resentment fire covered up the aura around him.

The Purified rootless water and the Zhong Gu were both heaven and earth spirits after all, if there was no cover, it would be easy to attract some dirty things towards the mountains when washing the Gu.

The foam box was next to Wu Rong, and it had already been opened. Inside were bamboo tubes arranged side by side in an orderly manner. Bai Gu could tell at a glance that it was a high-quality Xiaoxiang black bamboo. The growth environment of these bamboos is extremely harsh, and they are usually found in clean places of Buddhism and Taoism. Thinking of the paper figures and paper horses he fought with his Gu slaves before, Bai Gu guessed that the one who sent Wu Rong the rootless water must be one of the most orthodox Taoist great celestial masters.

To travel across the black and white roads.

When he looked at Wu Rong again, this line suddenly appeared in Bai Gu’s mind. Every time he got to know Wu Rong better, it would bring him a new shock.

“Brother, the time is almost up.” 

Get rid of distracting thoughts, Bai Gu reminded himself. The dense clouds that had been layered on the sky above his head disappeared at some point, revealing a clear night sky. The bright moon, as round as a jade plate, climbed up the treetops, and would soon reach the top of everyone’s heads.

Bai Gu looked dignified, holding a wooden stick to protect Wu Rong. And Wu Rong had already taken out a bamboo tube of Purified Rootless Water, and drank it all at once when the full moon reached the top of his head.

The water soaked in the faint fragrance of bamboo, and was cool and sweet as it slid into his throat. It takes forty drops of Purified Rootless Water to wash away the bloodstains on the Zhong egg, and of course, the more the better. The Witchologist sent a total of three bamboo tubes to purify the Rootless Water, which was the “snow” water in the “wind, frost, rain and snow”. He chose the second snowfall last year to collect the purest snow that fell on the bamboo leaves and put it into special clay pots. Buried in the bamboo forest, they were dug out after a year and poured into bamboo tubes for preservation.

The Witchologist liked to use this kind of Rootless Water to brew Mingqian Longjing tea. Even without making tea, Wu Rong could taste the refreshing fragrance of bamboo leaves. This pure fragrance was invisible to ordinary people, but it had a strong temptation to the mountain spirits. He saw one, two, three, four, five, six… eight little heads stacked one on top of the other, and the little weasels leaned against the door to look at Wu Rong. The smallest one couldn’t hold back, and was drooling all over the floor. 

After drinking three bamboo tubes of Purified Rootless Water, Wu Rong closed his eyes and silently recited the formula for controlling Gu in the Song of the Gu King, urging the lazy Zhong Gu to get close to the Pure Qi transformed from the Purified Rootless Water. The Zhong Gu’s jade-colored shell became clearer and clearer after being washed by the Pure Qi. Wu Rong spread his hand, and a warm jade-colored phantom could be vaguely seen at his fingertips. The little spider, who had been excitedly riding around Wu Rong on the human-faced spider for a long time, climbed onto his arm with all eight legs, looking at the halo with curiosity and longing.

Without the bloodstains, the Zhong Gu’s aura was pure and clean, shining like a star falling into Wu Rong’s fingertips, brighter than gems.

At this moment, Wu Rong felt the Zhong Gu’s abundant energy and vitality very clearly, and it couldn’t wait to break out of its shell. In a trance, Wu Rong seemed to see the scene of Zhong Gu breaking out of its shell, and a colorful caterpillar in the warm yellow halo was happy. Raising its upper body, its voice was tender and clear.

‘Mama! ‘ 

Wu Rong: …

Wu Rong extinguished the halo with a blank expression, and his thoughts were withdrawn from his body. The Zhong Gu had now been irrigated with Wood Essence, purified and washed with Rootless Water. As long as the three pure items left were used, it could successfully hatch.

Just thinking about it, Wu Rong’s throat felt itchy, he coughed lightly, and coughed up a drop of dark red blood. This was the blood condensed on the Zhong Gu’s shell, compared to Wu Rong’s own blood, it had more ability to control Gu insects. It could be said that this drop of blood was like an inferior version of something that could transform the body. Everything on the market that was related to changing your physique was extremely precious, costing tens of millions or hundreds of millions.

But Wu Rong doesn’t intend to go out to sell blood, he had a special constitution, and many people can curse through mediums such as blood or hair. Wu Rong did not intend to take any risks. 

Tomorrow he’ll leave for Jieyang, currently he had more than 3 million yuan, it was unknown if he could make a name for himself in the jadeite market.

“Do you have any money?”

Wu Rong asked the question abruptly. Bai Gu reacted quickly after a moment’s hesitation. He took out a wax dyed cloth package from his backpack and handed it to Wu Rong.

“This is what Grandmother asked me to bring you before I left.” 

Inside the package were all kinds of odds and ends, gifts from the old smoking man, Ai Qiao and others, and a small cloth bag wrapped in an old blue cloth, tied with a navy blue ribbon. Wu Rong opened it to take a look, and found that inside was a small and exquisite sterling silver earring with five poisons engraved on it, and a bank card of the Tiandi Bank.

“After great-aunt died, the alliance’s annual pension was remitted to this card, and Grandmother has not touched it.”

Bai Gu said to Wu Rong: “Grandmother said that if you are short of money, you can withdraw money directly from this card. Only the Wu who wear this earring can withdraw money from this card. 

When Bai Gu said this, he sighed in his heart. In his previous life, he didn’t know about this card and the earrings. If Wu Rong hadn’t inherited the Zhong Gu, these secrets might have been taken to the grave by Grandma Wu. Thinking of their great-aunt, Bai Gu had mixed emotions.

A hero who was willing to sacrifice herself, calm down the Tiankeng, and save the world.

It’s not easy for most people in this world to live their own lives well. Like Bai Gu, who was planning and plotting in every possible way, just to make himself stronger. However, the nine heroes, including Master Fu, were undoubtedly the strongest nine people in the world at that time, but they were able to resolutely give up power and wealth, abandon their friends, relatives, wives and children, and sacrifice themselves to seal the various Tiankengs.

They were very great and worthy of respect, but thinking of himself, Bai Gu would rather be a small person for the rest of his life. 

He looked at the bank card in Wu Rong’s hand. Grandma Wu had always firmly refused all kinds of pensions and preferential treatment given by the alliance, and had never touched a penny in it. For her, the person who was sacrificed was her sister, the only relative she had at the time. The person was already dead, so what’s the use of these cold dead things? While everyone praises the victim as a hero, no one pays attention to whether the family members of the hero were distraught.

They seem as if they ought to be proud of their own sacrificed sister, son, and father.

It’s better to be a bad guy.

Bai Gu sighed deeply. In the end, Huang Mao made up his mind to go to Wu Rong and ask for a drop of blood. From that moment, Bai Gu finally had a faint sense of belonging. 

In this life, he and Chen Cheng might have sold their lives to Wu Rong, but it was okay following Wu Rong, even if they turned into ghosts in the future, it was better than following a righteous path. At least you could live freely.

While thinking about this, Bai Gu inadvertently raised his head to look at the forest, and suddenly stared blankly.

“Cousin, what do you think that is?”