Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 430 The Yin-Walking People of Zangke

"Xifu, is there really no problem this time?"

In a dilapidated little county town called Rongjiang, a young girl with a thick Cantonese accent asked cautiously.

She looked uneasy, glancing around frequently.

This is a roadside hot pot restaurant.

As night fell, the hot pot restaurant was sparsely populated with customers, and a strange smell filled the air. In each pot, a bizarre, pale green broth was bubbling.

Opposite the girl, the old man she called "Master" was thin and short, with a face full of wrinkles. He was sitting cross-legged on a chair, leaning forward and using an iron spoon to scoop up the boiling, pale green soup from the pot.

Upon hearing his young apprentice's question, the old man named Chen Guanren, who was somewhat famous in Guangdong and known as Mr. Baimu, grinned.

He said cheerfully, "Of course, no problem! This beef offal hot pot is a specialty of Zangke. You won't find a more authentic taste anywhere else outside this small county. Don't be fooled by the strange smell or scary appearance; it tastes absolutely delicious!"

"Try it quickly, when has your master ever lied to you?"

The master chef, with a perfect Mandarin accent, cheerfully called his young apprentice to eat, full of confidence in the strange, pale green hot pot in front of him.

But the young female apprentice shook her head anxiously and leaned closer to whisper.

"...It's not hot pot! Xifu!"

"It's about tonight's events in Hong Kong!"

"Are we really going to help out tonight?"

"When I arrived, I heard someone say that the local Taoist practitioners here are very strange!"

"Half a month ago, Master Luo from Minzhou gathered a group of people to hold an altar in Yue Zhao, also wanting to go to the legendary Wujiang Ghost Realm to find the Ghost King's Coffin."

"I heard that the people sent by Bureau 769 to cause trouble were all dealt with by Master Luo and his men. The female Taoist priest who led them, Liu Fang, was even beaten until her head was swollen like a pig's."

Everyone thought everything was going smoothly.

"As a result, halfway through the ritual, a Zangke wandering spirit suddenly appeared, smashed the altar by himself, and killed everyone present. Half of the Xuanxiu who participated in the ritual that night were arrested by Bureau 769, and the other half all went insane."

"I've heard that the Zangke Yin Walker is extremely fierce and eerie, with a huge wooden ghost face and a head as big as three ordinary people's heads."

"Its body is like a monster's, with sharp claws and toes thicker than a child's arm. When it opens its mouth, it spews poisonous smoke and fire."

"What he says is completely incomprehensible to ordinary people; it has a terrifying and evil magic. Once you are under his curse, you will go insane on the spot, and no one can save you."

“Master Luo is so powerful in the Minzhou area. Back when he went south to Hong Kong, you also said that this Master Luo had real skills.”

"But I heard that that night, Master Luo didn't even get close to the spirit medium. He was scared out of his mind by the terrifying spirit medium from four or five meters away."

At this point, the young girl nervously looked around.

The peaceful and tranquil hot pot restaurant, in her eyes, was as dangerous as a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

The guests at the next table were three young people who looked like students, chatting excitedly about their upcoming university registration in a few days.

Further away, there was a family of five: middle-aged parents and young children, all dressed in brightly colored local clothing and speaking a minority language that outsiders couldn't understand.

Beside the counter at the back, the tired-looking proprietress was taking a break from her busy work to sit in a chair and calculate something on a piece of paper with a ballpoint pen.

Behind the proprietress, the kitchen was covered by a dirty curtain, and only the sounds of flames rising and busy work could be faintly heard from inside.

Everything was peaceful and normal in the hot pot restaurant.

Outside the hot pot restaurant, the streets were deserted under the cover of night, and no vehicles passed by on the remote alleys.

Seeing that everything was normal and no one was eavesdropping, the young girl breathed a sigh of relief.

She moved a little closer to her master and continued in a lower voice.

"...When we outsiders arrive in Zangke, we are already suppressed by the Wujiang Ghost Realm, and seventy or eighty percent of our skills will be lost."

"Now that Zangke has produced such a powerful Yin-Yang walker... Xifu! Maybe we should stay out of this mess and leave as soon as possible."

"You are in good health and have no illnesses or disasters. You can live for another thirty or fifty years without any problem. There is no need to look for any ghost king's coffin..."

The young girl looked worried and anxious.

After listening, the elderly Mr. Bai Mu chuckled and shook his head, saying with a smile, "Don't worry, don't worry, I know all this too."

"That's why we chose Rongjiang, a small county town, as the venue for this gathering."

"This place is far from Yue Zhao. That Zangke Yin-Yang walker wouldn't come here if he had nothing better to do."

Compared to his tense and anxious female apprentice, Mr. Hyakume was relaxed and at ease, sitting back and fishing.

He leisurely savored the unique flavor of the beef offal hotpot while admonishing his disciple: "I have already investigated and found out that the Zangke wanderer has nothing to do with Bureau 769. He is a new person who has just emerged recently."

“The spirit medium in the Zangke area used to be called Mo Baifeng, and she was an old woman.”

"But that old woman is eccentric and unconventional. She never interacts with fellow martial arts practitioners and is only interested in catching ghosts."

"This newly emerged Zangke spirit medium is said to be very young and is her apprentice."

"It's probably because Luo Hui and his group caused trouble in his territory and angered him that they were targeted."

"Besides, Luo Hui and his group... do have some skill, but apart from them, the rest are just third-rate nobodys who are just there to make up the numbers."

"Once the leaders, Luo Hui and his companions, fall, won't the rest just scatter like birds and beasts?"

Mr. Hyakume chuckled and said, "Tonight is different."

"Those coming to Rongjiang tonight are all notorious and ruthless figures from Southeast Asia."

"The sorcerer Ghost Dragon King from Southeast Asia, the ascetic monk Anato Jie from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the psychic old woman from Chancheng, the water fairy from Zhujiang... plus your master, Mr. Baimu, tonight is truly a gathering of masters."

“Even if Mo Baifeng from back then came, we wouldn’t be afraid, let alone the current Yin Walker who is just her young apprentice.”

Mr. Hyakume chewed the food in his mouth and exclaimed with satisfaction that it was delicious.

After savoring the taste of the food for a moment, he continued, "...You should also try this beef offal hot pot. After you finish eating, I'll take you to see the world."

"It's quite a spectacle that all these experts from Southeast Asia have gathered in Zangke."

"Even during the turmoil in the ghost realm of Wujiang ten years ago, not this many people came."

Mr. Baimu chuckled and said, "This might be the best opportunity in hundreds of years, the closest we've ever been to the Ghost King's Coffin."

Mr. Bai Mu looked at his apprentice with a worried expression, but he had already picked up his chopsticks and obediently started picking up food.

The old man then chuckled and said, "That's right. Immovable as a mountain and calm in the face of trouble, that's my good disciple."

"Your senior brothers are all useless. In the future, our lineage might have to rely on you to uphold its reputation..."

Mr. Hyakume shook his head and lowered his voice.

"...Even if we can't find the Ghost King's Coffin, so many unorthodox cultivators died in Zangke this time. We can make a fortune by looting a few magical artifacts."

Hearing her master's explanation, the girl suddenly understood. "So that's what we..."

She had barely opened her mouth when her quick-witted master covered it.

Mr. Bai Mu, dressed in all black, winked at his young apprentice and said with a smile, "Got it? If you do, hurry up and eat."

Mr. Baimu's purpose in coming to Zangke tonight for a gathering of like-minded people has never been the Ghost King's Coffin.

The elixir of immortality is too illusory and too dangerous.

What Mr. Baimu cared more about were the relics left behind by the fellow cultivators who died in Zangke some time ago.

Perhaps those fellow travelers who came to Zangke this time had similar thoughts.

That's why there are more Yin-Yang Dao cultivators gathered in Zangke now than there were ten years ago...

Half an hour later, the master and apprentice, having eaten and drunk their fill, walked out of the hot pot restaurant.

As night fell over Rongjiang City, a warm breeze blew through the streets.

The young female apprentice felt the temperature in the air and sighed, "...Zangke is so cool. I wish Hong Kong was this cool too."

Mr. Baimu shook his head and stroked his beard: "It's not like there's no air conditioning at home... You're only feeling excited now that you're here. If you stayed a couple more days, you'd probably go crazy."

"This poor place has no air conditioning, no milk tea, not even a McDonald's. It's a remote and impoverished area. Otherwise, why wouldn't any of your senior brothers want to come with me?"

"The moment you mention coming to the mainland, everyone finds an excuse... Go to hell..."

The old man cursed with resentment, "A bunch of cunning and treacherous disciples! When I get back, I'll give them a good beating!"

The old man's lips were somewhat red and swollen.

Clearly, he couldn't get used to spicy food and was burned by the spiciness, which made him a bit irritable.

The young female apprentice immediately shrank her neck obediently and carefully changed the subject.

The master and apprentice continued on their way. At a three-way intersection ahead, a pretty little girl in a clean dress, with delicate features, was skipping and hopping on the sidewalk, happily holding up a small windmill in her hand.

This clean and tidy little girl, like a princess in a movie, appeared in this dirty and old county town, completely out of place amidst the dust that filled the streets.

The young female apprentice subconsciously glanced at her a couple more times.

She saw that behind the cute little girl was a sunny boy who should be her older brother.

The boy was young, around seventeen or eighteen years old. His hair was neatly cut, and surprisingly, he didn't have the rustic look often seen on people from this southwestern mountainous region. His clothes were clearly carefully coordinated, trendy yet not tacky.

He smiled and said to the hopping little girl in a dialect with a Zangke accent, "...Xiaoya, don't run too far, we need to wait for Sister Moli to buy things."

The streetlights shone on the boy's face, and his clean and handsome smile seemed to have a healing power, causing the young female apprentice to unconsciously stare in a daze.

Meanwhile, in the shop next to the boy, a young woman carrying a plastic bag complained with a frustrated expression.

"...It's so hot here in Rongjiang. It's much cooler in Yue Zhao. I'm dying of heat."

The girl fanned herself as she walked, speaking standard and pleasant Mandarin without a trace of regional accent.

This young girl was clearly the boy's companion. Her equally sophisticated and trendy clean attire stood out starkly against the dusty, rustic atmosphere of this old county town.

The female apprentice subconsciously looked at the girl's face and figure, silently comparing them to herself.

...You think it's too hot even though it's so cool?
Could it be that the Moonlit City they're talking about is cooler?
The young female apprentice was lost in thought when her master's voice rang in her ears, but she subconsciously ignored and blocked it out.

Her mind was in disarray, and she seemed lost in thought, her mind wandering.

The young female disciple, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and instinctively followed her master, but almost bumped into him. She was startled to realize that she had been distracted and had followed her master to the outside of a secluded gate.

The gate was wide open, and the walls extended to both sides. Standing at the gate, one could vaguely see a low-quality artificial mountain, a stagnant flower pond, and a three-story building inside.

Mr. Bai Mu, who was standing at the gate, said to his female apprentice, "...You wait for me here while I go in and discuss the Dao."

Mr. Hyakume, who originally intended to take his female apprentice to broaden her horizons, suddenly changed his mind upon arriving at the destination.

He frowned and stared at the house in front of him, saying, "This place is strange. There's a foul smell, as if an old enemy of mine has come here."

"For safety's sake, you shouldn't go in yet. If a fight breaks out, I won't be able to protect you."

After giving instructions and making arrangements for his apprentice, Mr. Baimu walked alone through the gate and headed towards the small building behind the flower bed.

This is a house on the edge of the county town. The road in front of the house is no longer made of cement, but is a bumpy dirt road.

Besides the young female apprentice, there were other figures scattered around the gate.

They all appeared to be female disciples or similar figures, young nieces or nephews who had come with the masters tonight to attend the gathering and broaden their horizons.

Some people knew each other and chatted quietly in twos and threes, while others stood alone in the distance, watching indifferently and silently.

The young female apprentice didn't know anyone, so she could only imitate the others and find a corner to stand in.

There aren't even streetlights here. On the empty, dark dirt road, crickets chirp incessantly in the roadside grass.

You can even see a few fireflies flitting about in the darkness below the roadside embankment.

Although it was a remote and impoverished area, the unique nighttime scenery of this rural landscape fascinated the young female apprentice.

Having grown up in a big city, this was the first time she had ever seen fireflies.

Curious, she crouched down, leaning forward with her hands on her knees, wanting to observe the fireflies more closely.

As for her master who went in, she was not worried and had full confidence in him.

But at that moment, a strange, cold wind suddenly swept across the desolate dirt road.

The fireflies in front of the female apprentice were all startled and flew away, disappearing quickly.

The chirping of insects and crickets in the roadside grass also stopped instantly.

The streets on both sides of the darkness fell silent, eerily so.

The figures lingering outside the gate all looked up and subconsciously searched, but found nothing unusual.

There was only one young boy, standing politely with a smile in front of his young female apprentice, who had arrived at some unknown time.

He looked at the young female apprentice in front of him, and then at the gate not far away.

The boy smiled and asked, "...Excuse me, is tonight's Dharma assembly held here?"

In the dim light, the boy smiled very gently and brightly.

The young female apprentice being questioned felt her heart pounding.

—Isn't that the boy in front of me the one I bumped into on the roadside just now?

(End of this chapter)