CH 3

Chapter 3 - Entertain A Hundred Ghosts For Peace 2

“It’s over! We woke him up!”

“It’s that guy again. We took him into the village, yet he’s so ungrateful. Why don’t we just throw him out?!”

“Are you crazy? You didn’t see him that day…”

“Forget it, let’s go back home. It would be a disaster if we wake up the others too.”

“What kind of sin have we committed?! Our village has been perfectly alright, so how did we get into this kind of trouble?!”

The crowd in the city was in awe of the man on the wall, and amidst everyone’s whispering and complaints, the man on the wall suddenly leapt down.

The wall was twenty-feet high. Ordinary mortals would have ended up undead or crippled after leaping from the top, but the man was exceedingly lithe. His robes flapped as he dropped, and the sound of the soles of his shoes on the ground was also obscured by the crowd’s exclamations.

The man was tall and straight. When he landed, his back faced Lou Muge, so he could only see a luxurious black robe.

He was a demon.

Lou Muge distinctly felt the unkind aura, emitting from the man. He looked down and found that at some point his hands were shaking like sifting chaff. He instantly slapped himself and inwardly cursed: This body is too damned useless!

The man’s right hand moved and slowly took the half a body-length scimitar off his shoulder.

The crowd screamed and fled away. They gathered together and dared not talk about him any more. In a blink, they retreated within the city gates, falling over each other as they fled inside.

Only then did the man’s unsightly face improve.

“Wen Changchu! What are you doing?!” A woman in pink rushed out from the city and glared at the man. “Are you thinking of doing something to these mortals?”

Right behind the woman was a plain-clothed man. The two have a slight resemblance in face, looking like a family.

The man called Wen Changchu casually turned the scimitar in his hand,  revealing an out-and-out evil look: “I was just wanting to shut them up.”

“Nonsense! You clearly have your scimitar out! You must have had a bad intention!” The man pointed at him: “This is not a place where you demons can do evil. I will not let you do any mischief!”

“What are you nervous about?” Wen Changchu remained indifferent, flicking the blade with his fingertips and producing a crisp tingle: “These mortals are so weak that slaying them in one stroke is more than enough. I don’t even need to use my sword to kill them. Besides, even if I were to do it, can you stop me?”

When Lou Muge saw them actually arguing in front of him, his interest was suddenly aroused, so he didn’t make a single sound and stood by to enjoy the show.

Wen Changchu’s disdain greatly stimulated the man. The man’s white face turned red and collapsed on the edge of an explosion. He was on the verge of rushing forward and beating him, but seemingly had qualms about something.

As the man was about to break into a tirade, a voice untimely stopped him.

“Ze Wan, Ze Qian,” the voice carried a breeze-like power, gently suppressing the tit-for-tat that permeated the air.

At the same time, an oppressive force also spread over. Here was a big shot. Lou Muge’s legs went weak, almost giving the person a deep salute.

This body, which Lou Muge picked halfway down the road, couldn’t withstand the oppression. Even though these people were beneath his eyes, his body sang against him, making him a little embarrassed. He could only follow the shaking of his hands and feet, pretending to shake off the snow on his body to cover it up.

Lou Muge looked sideways along with the arguing people and saw a man in a snow-white robe approaching leisurely. His clothes, however, were thin in the cold winter. He had an emerald jade hairpin in his hair and a calm countenance.

When the man and woman who were arrogant just now saw him, they immediately turned sideways and bowed squarely to him, greeting respectfully, “God King Zhang Rong.”

Zhang Rong nodded slightly and smiled faintly at Wen Changchu: “The Demon Race has always acted in an unconventional manner, and it is not unusual for them to do so. Besides, we are all still in the Divine Trial Convention, so Wen Changchu naturally can weigh whether something is light or serious.”

On the surface, these words were excusing Wen Changchu again, but in fact, they also implied a warning.

Wen Changchu snorted in response and put away the scimitar in his hand in the blink of an eye. “Just so you know.”

Ze Wan rolled him a glance and whispered, “The people of the Demon Race are really disgusting.”

Zhang Rong merely turned a deaf ear to it, but Wen Changchu was not a good-tempered one, and instantly sneered back, “As if people from your Immortal Realm are more pleasing.”

The people traded insults, and between a few words, they allowed Lou Muge to figure out their identities.

Lou Muge was originally a person from the Immortal Realm and was very familiar with the personnel matters in the Immortal Realm. He figured that Zhang Rong should belong to the Water Dragon clan in the Immortal Realm, but he was promoted to God, so he was just called the God King.

The young man and woman belonged to the Immortal Realm Phoenix Clan. The combat power or that race was not weak, and they were known as the “Little White Tiger” in the realm. The women of the Ze clan were even more powerful, of which Ze Chen was a typical example.

As for the demon surnamed Wen, Lou Muge inwardly pondered for a moment. Hundreds of years ago, the Wen clan reigned over the Demon Realm. He wondered if the kid in front of him had any relationship with them. 

Now that Lou Muge processed their identities in his head, he moved his stiff feet. Thinking that he was also considered from a Demon Race, he naturally couldn’t stand by as the three immortals in front of him bullied his fellowmen.

“In such freezing weather, how many of you are in a good mood to stand at the door bickering?” Lou Muge said as he walked to them.

Then he realized that he couldn’t walk too close to them, lest his two disappointing legs would shake out a rhythm. Hence, he immediately stopped in his tracks.

The moment he spoke, he startled Ze Wan, who was fighting vigorously with Wen Changchu. She leaned a little closer to Ze Qian and asked, “Brother, when did this person get here?”

“She’s been here all along. But I saw her scared silly and thought she was a mortal in the city,” Ze Qian replied in a whisper.

Lou Muge stayed motionless, but Zhang Rong approached him a bit when he heard his words. His oppressive aura steeply intensified, making Lou Muge’s chest surge. He promptly released some weak power to resist and to keep his face as normal.

Just as he released this power, Wen Changchu;s face dramatically changed. His body trembled, even as if drained out of his strength, and plopped on the ground on one knee. Such a turn of events made bystanders astounded.

Lou Muge was appalled for a moment: “What’s up with you?”

Wen Changchu’s head snapped up to look at him. A strange shadow flooded his black eyes, melting in the depths of his eyes. Shock, amazement, and something inexplicable surfaced on his face.

Lou Muge was shocked. He murmured deep inside, Is this person trying to blackmail me?

So, he immediately defended himself, “I did not do anything to you! Don’t try to throw dirty water on me!”

Before Ze Wan could jeer at him, she saw Wen Changchu cover his heart, bend his head and curl up. Dark purple smoke billowed out from him and completely wrapped him, but dispersed again a moment later.

The one who reappeared in front of them, however, was no longer the handsome man, but a gray-furred wolf cub with furry ears up and light-colored eyes looking at Lou Muge. It suddenly leaped and sprang to Lou Muge’s feet.

“Awhoo——Awhoo——” The wolf cub rubbed against Lou Muge’s feet and jumped around with joy as if seeing his master, almost wagging its tail like a dog.

Lou Muge was somewhat frightened. He pushed the pup aside with his toes. It staggered a few steps with its short legs and quickly came sticking to him again. It howled somewhat fiercely at Lou Muge, as if complaining that he shouldn’t push it away. After howling, it snuggled around his feet.

Ze Wan and Ze Qian felt nothing but shock. Even the poker-faced Zhang Rong frowned. He also sized Lou Muge up vigilantly.

The whelp found rubbing against Lou Muge’s feet not enough, so it also got under his skirt to rub his legs. Lou Muge was disgruntled. He was still conscious of his disguise as a woman, hence, he kicked it into a sprawl: “Is the bottom of my skirt something you can look at?”

Weng Changchu howled furiously beside him.

Lou Muge crouched down, and time and again, the wolf pup immediately scrambled over. He reached out and touched its head, and saw a pair of round wolf eyes narrowed into a slit. The cub’s ears were tucked back, as if it was very happy.

He picked up the wolf cub by its neck and watched its four paws flutter in the air. Something suddenly occurred to him, and he said with surprise, “Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to me, do you?”

After saying that, he felt that it was really possible. After all, his skin face was quite attractive.

Wen Changchu stared at him and bared his teeth, frantically shaking his head, his whole body expressing denial.

Seeing this, Lou Muge tossed him on the ground again and hummed, “Tactful of you.”

Zhang Rong, however, had sharp eyes and saw the immortal stone on his wrist. He asked without moving a muscle, “Are you also participating in the Divine Trial Convention?”

Lou Muge stood up, pulled out the wooden card issued to him by the Immortal Realm from his bell, and showed it to Zhang Rong: “Lou Shengsheng.”

In fact, When Lou Muge entered the immortal gate, he wanted to use his name, but then he was told that there were thousands of Lou Muge who came to participate in the Divine Trial Convention. Even if he used his name, he could only get a wooden card engraved with a number. Moreover, it seemed that the Immortal Realm would keep him under surveillance, so he simply used another name.

“You are an immortal mortal cultivator?” All three people read the word “human” circled next to his name.

Lou Muge didn’t answer directly, but asked, “Can’t immortal mortals participate?”

“Not really.” Ze Wan smiled, her voice returning to a girl’s gentleness:  “It’s just a little dangerous.”

“Then I will be more careful.” Lou Muge stretched. Sleepiness struck him, and he yawned, his beautiful eyes tinged with a teary shade. He started walking towards the city by himself. “It’s so late, I have to find a place to stay first. Goodbye.”

As soon as he left, Wen Changchu jumped to follow him, circling around his feet.

Lou Muge tried to drive him away two or three times to no avail. Its tail was stuck to the side of his shoe like glue, so he could only ignore it.

After walking into the city, he found that those people who were scared by Wen Changchu did not disperse, but were watching the show with their necks craned out. After Lou Muge entered, their expressions changed, and most of them were fearful of the wolf cub at his feet.

They were all mortals. Naturally, they revered and feared gods and ghosts. It was also human nature.

Lou Muge didn’t care whether they were scared or curious. He just curled his lips at them and smiled, giving a naive and innocent front: “Do you have a vacant place for me to stay for a few days?”

The crowd pushed and jostled each other. At this point, no one dared to take a person of unknown origin to their home.

Lou Muge understood their feelings very well. When he was considering whether to snatch a house, a young man holding a wooden stick slowly stepped out. He had changed out of his costume, but the make up on his face hadn’t been washed. He warmly replied to Lou Muge, “My house still has a spare room. If Mister does not mind, you can temporarily stay in my house.”

A low scoff came nearby: “Only this blind man can’t distinguish between men and women.”

Lou Muge’s juvenile voice was easily recognizable, but in order to hide his identity, he deliberately combed his hair into long braids, wore a girl’s dress and pretended to be a girl. Hence, everyone thought that his voice was neutral and normal for a child whose voice hadn’t changed.

The crippled boy couldn’t see his dress, so of course, he thought he was a man.

Lou Muge readily agreed, “Okay, I’m sorry for bothering you, Elder Brother.”

“Come with me,” the teenager remained unfazed by the mockery he heard. He nodded blandly, led the way with his long stick in his hand, and walked slowly with Lou Muge. The other teenager and Aunt Li who had been around him had disappeared. Lou Muge thought they must have returned home first.

When the two had gone far away, and silence was around them, the teenager asked, “What is your name, young master?”

“Lou Shengsheng, Sheng the wind instrument sheng,” Lou Muge answered.

“My name is Tao Ming, and my brother is Tao Zai.” Tao Ming walked slowly but knew the way well and didn’t stumble, saying as he walked, “My younger brother is somewhat bad-tempered and doesn’t like to get in touch with strangers, so don’t be bothered when you get into contact with him in the house.”

Lou Muge nodded, and then remembered that this young blind man couldn’t see, so he responded, “It’s me who’s bothering you.”