I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 33 The First Killing of a Ghost

The school is on vacation, and the community notified us.

Starting from last night, the water in the house became turbid and had a fishy smell. Then sewage began to flow back into the toilet bowl, making many people miserable.

Even fish would rush out of the sewage.

These fish are not the common ones we see, but some strange fish. Although they are not big, you can see that they have four legs and claws growing on their bodies. Their scales are very thick, and they make strange sounds similar to those of babies.

Someone heard it in his sleep at night and actually had a nightmare that night.

Moreover, those fish can twist and crawl on dry land and will not die because of leaving the water. If you look closely, you will find that their teeth are extremely sharp.

After people caught them, they first chopped them to death with knives. The blood that flowed out was extremely foul and smelled bad, polluting the home environment and making people nauseous, and it lingered for a long time.

People from the community behind us came to distribute lime, one bag to each family. If any strange fish came out of the bathroom at home, they could just put it in the lime water. It would drown it directly without making the house smelly.

However, those fish monsters hiding deep in the sewers are difficult to eliminate. They often make strange cries like babies crying in the dead of night, as if they are wailing, or as if they are collectively waking up from hibernation.

Under this kind of sound, many people were actually in a trance.

In the Pei family's Zhan Gui Sword Hall, the number of people coming for treatment suddenly increased a lot.

Mr. Pei Si was old and no longer able to take on so many patients, so Pei Ju took over.

Mr. Pei Si put on a black Bagua Zhangui robe for him and put a mask with black and white patterns on his face.

He burned incense again to pay his respects to the ancestors Shentu and Yulei, and then burned a yellow talisman paper with Pei Ju's name and birth date written on it. The smoke curled up, and his name and birth date seemed to be transmitted to the unknown world through the smoke.

Pei Ju stood in front of the altar and the two statues, his eyes closed, chanting, "Disciple Pei Ju pays homage to the ancestor. I wish to kill the evil spirit before the seat and offer food to the ancestor."

This was the first time Pei Ju knew that one had to make such a vow in order to acknowledge the ancestor.

In a trance, he seemed to see a huge door with two portraits of door gods pasted on the door, looking down at him.

His spiritual will seemed to be pulled up by an invisible force.

It was as if his own soul was rooted in his body, and now someone was grabbing the exposed branches and leaves and was about to pull them out.

"Boom!"

Fourth Master Pei knocked on the altar, and the sound interrupted the hand that was trying to grab his consciousness from the dark.

"Gods are also a kind of spirit. Any kind of spirit can be seen as a trick from another perspective. Don't be careless." Master Pei Si said.

"Now, you can already borrow the power of the ancestors here. The application of this power must be guided by your own will. This is called the harmony of the inner and the outer."

"You've practiced swordsmanship for so many years that you've been able to harness your inner strength. Now, you're concentrating your spirit within, adding the power of the 'divine spirit' to achieve the effect of easily slaying demons."

Pei Ju knew that if he relied solely on his own strength, it would be very tiring and he would not be able to strike many swords. With his current ability, if he could strike a sword, he would be exhausted.

Because in the world of the Tiger Temple, even someone as strong as Third Uncle would feel exhausted after every kill of a ghost, much more tired than him from killing people.

After making all the preparations, Mr. Pei brought in a person.

Pei Ju knew this person. He lived on the street ahead and was not young at all.

He saw the clothes Pei Ju was wearing and said with some surprise: "Juzi has also started to take over."

"Yes, the craft has to be passed down to someone," said Mr. Pei.

"Juzi is fine, he's a good kid." After looking at Pei Ju again, the man sat down on the chair.

"Uncle, what's wrong with you?" Pei Ju asked directly.

"As for me, ever since I heard the strange crying last night, my head has been buzzing all day long. I often hear crying. Whenever I am alone, I can hear the crying. And if I listen for a while, I will find that the crying is getting closer and closer." said the old man.

"Can you hear it now?" Pei Ju asked.

"Yes, and it's quiet here. Its voice is louder, like it's restless."

In the dim light, he couldn't see the other person's expression clearly, but when he was killing ghosts in the ancestral hut, he didn't need to look at those things. When killing ghosts in the sword hall, there were not so many ways and methods.

There is only one sentence: kill the thoughts but not the people, kill the evil but not the souls.

Just like pruning branches, just cut off all the branches that pop up.

The reason why Pei Ju asked this was that he just wanted to hear their opinions.

Pei Ju did not ask any more questions, but said, "Please sit down."

After he finished speaking, he covered the other person's head with the gossip-covering cloth.

Then he held up the sword and said to the statue of the divine master: "Now there is Master Yang, who has heard a strange cry that has entered his heart. It lingers and causes strange harm. Your disciple Pei Ju, please kill it with the Killing Ghost Sword."

There is no unified standard for such words of asking the ancestors to come, but there is a certain format. First, explain the reason, then state your identity, and then ask for the ancestors' divine power.

Fourth Master Pei had also instructed that one cannot directly ask for the divine power of the ancestors, because if one does so, these two beings called ancestors but actually ghosts and gods will descend upon one's body. Then it will not be a simple borrowing of divine power, but the other party may want to take over one's body.

So we can only say that we are asking for the Killing Ghost Sword, because the Killing Ghost Sword is enshrined together with them and they are connected to each other, so asking for the Killing Ghost Sword is like borrowing their power, but it is not so direct.

Standing in the east, with the sword hanging above the opponent's head, he closed his eyes, calming his mind and concentrating his attention.

After a long while, he finally spoke: "One cut, cut off all the delusion in your heart."

There is no fixed way to say this. It is just a format that can be adjusted according to each person's situation and is determined by oneself. However, if you have done it many times, you will be able to say it fluently no matter what the format is.

What he meant was to harmonize the body and mind, and then mobilize the power of the Ghost-Killing Sword to kill the monster in the opponent's heart, which can also be called evil thoughts.

There is also a saying that weirdness comes from the heart. Sometimes weirdness is just a seed planted in the human heart. The weird seed germinates in the heart, takes root in the soul, and then grows slowly to achieve the purpose of parasitism and possession.

Moreover, it doesn't matter if the first sword doesn't hit anything, because the power of the Ghost-Killing Sword will fall into the opponent's heart and can be used to remove the weeds and find the snake.

Pei Ju raised the sword in his hand, concentrated his will, mobilized the strength in his heart, felt the power in the sword, combined it into one, and slashed down.

It hangs above the opponent's head, just touching the opponent's scalp, so that the opponent can feel it but not feel any pain. This is to make the opponent feel that a sword is really falling on him, and is really killing the monster. This feeling will be transmitted to the opponent's heart, take root in his mind, and form a power to fight against monsters.

However, when Pei Ju struck with his sword, he felt nothing beneath it, as if he had struck nothing. Undeterred, he turned his sword to another position, hovering it over the opponent's head. He closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.

However, the person under the black cloth had a different feeling. He felt that the crying in his heart seemed to be disturbed and suddenly paused, like a frog calling in the field, disturbed by a passerby.

Then, he heard Pei Ju's voice say, "Second cut, cut off the evil spirit in your ear."

As he finished speaking, the copper coin ghost-killing sword in his hand was raised high again and swung down, but this time it did not fall on his head, but landed precisely on his ear hole, still touching it lightly, and the strength was controlled very well.

The purpose is still to let the opponent feel the power of the sword, forming a mental suggestion, thinking that this sword has cut off the strange sound in the ear. The power of this suggestion will fall into his own heart, forming a seed power to fight against the evil thoughts.

The person who had placed the cloth suddenly felt his left ear become clear, as if the thing that had been filling his ear had been driven away.

Pei Ju changed his position and said, "Three cuts, cut off the evil spirit in the ear."

This time the sword landed on the other ear hole.

The person under the black cloth also felt his right ear become clear again.

Pei Ju finally turned to the north, with his back to the statue of the ancestor, and hung the sword in his hand on the other's fontanelle. According to legend, this is the gateway for the primordial spirit to emerge.

He remained calm and focused. After these three consecutive slashes, he felt as if he had cut into something, just like the sword had been fiddling with the fog three times in a row, and finally he had touched something.

He grasped this little feeling from the unknown and said, "Fourth cut, cut off the ghost fish crying."

The sword was raised and swung down.

This time, the tip of the sword in his hand seemed to condense a little glow, and fell towards the fontanelle at a very fast speed, with a determination to cut through iron and gold. However, it stopped abruptly when it just touched the black cloth on the fontanelle, and the power contained in the sword seemed to be unstoppable and fell into the fontanelle.

It penetrated into the hearts of those beneath the black cloth.

The other person only felt that his originally gloomy and dark soul was suddenly opened by a ray of sky, dispersing everything, and the crying sound of fish that filled his soul disappeared in an instant.

Pei Ju felt very good at this moment. He immediately understood what his grandfather meant by the feeling of cutting through the void but feeling as if he was cutting something solid.

At the same time, I also thought of the three realms in the Ghost-Killing Sword Technique.

Cut the fire, cut the water, cut the wind.

Cut the fire and it will be extinguished; cut the water and it will be cut off; cut the wind and it will be dispersed.

"Master Yang, don't worry, everything is going well, go home and have a good sleep." Pei Ju said as he lifted the black cloth.

Mr. Yang looked much more relaxed and said, "Fourth Master, Juzi has already mastered this skill. He is no worse than Xuzi back then."

Master Pei Si was also very happy. He saw that Pei Ju was not restrained, but was able to change the mantras and words to suit his will according to the different weirdness, and he was very happy.

He felt that Pei Ju was indeed talented in this area. He had only told him once, but he was able to adapt flexibly, which was very rare, and what he said was so appropriate to the situation and his heart.

Just like that, people came in one by one.

Pei Ju killed them one by one.

After the first success, the second one was also successful, but the third one failed. It didn’t matter if it failed. He took a rest, drank a sip of water, changed the mantra for beheading the ghost, and tried again. This time it was successful.

The fourth one was successful, but the fifth one failed. After he changed the mantra, he still failed to kill the creature, but he felt that he had cut something.

He asked the person under the cloth how he felt, but the person said that frogs had given birth in his body and many tadpoles had appeared. He felt very uncomfortable, as if something was drilling into his brain.

So, at this time, Mr. Pei Si took action.

"...This sword is called the Taiyi Light-Splitting Sword, which cuts off the roots of billions of evildoers."

Pei Ju only saw the Fourth Master's sword fall, and there seemed to be a ray of light scattered down.

Then the restless person under the cloth stopped moving and groaned in comfort. After removing the cloth, Yifang said, "Fourth Master, your sword is still sharp."

But Pei Ju clearly felt that his grandfather's spirit had become much weaker.

After this person left, Pei Ju couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, what is the name of this sword?"

"This sword is called Taiyi Splitting Light Sword. The name is not important. What's important is that I feel I can split countless sword lights with one sword and kill many targets." Master Pei Si said.

After hearing this, Pei Ju immediately understood that this was an ability that he had to develop after practicing successfully killing monsters countless times.

Once the sword is drawn, I feel I can do it, and then I can do it.

The grandfather and grandson went out. There were still people in the hall, but they were tired and decided to take a rest.

After resting for half an hour, Pei Ju returned to the hut again. His belief was even stronger, and then the three of them killed the enemies in succession in one go.

This time, Zhan Gui Tang will not charge these people for killing ghosts. The community will come to give money, but it will not be much.

The sky grew dark.

After everyone left, the two of them started to cook and eat.

While eating, he couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, what's the difference between Slashing Ghosts and Slashing Fire, Slashing Water, and Slashing Wind in the Demon-Slaying Sword Technique?"

"Slashing Water, Fire, and Wind is just to train your spiritual perception, but slashing ghosts is a direct way to get started. When there are not so many ghosts for you to slash, you can slash Water, Fire, and Wind."

"Of course, slashing water, fire, and wind will have more direct feedback, while slashing ghosts will not have such obvious feedback. Each has its own advantages. The ultimate goal is to enable a swordsman to kill ghosts and demons without relying on external forces."

"It is said that when a sword falls, it is like a god, ghosts and monsters howl, and spirits are frightened." Mr. Pei Si said slowly after taking a sip of tea.

Pei Ju found that his grandfather was indeed tired under the light.

Even though Grandpa only made one move, the other party stood there, watching over him without a moment's slack, sensing the strength of his men and whether he had done well, which was an extremely mentally draining task.

He once again longed to grow up quickly and take on family responsibilities.

"Grandpa, I heard that swordsmen are now in decline. Why is that?" Pei Ju couldn't help but ask. This was the doubt in his heart. He felt that swordsmen were not bad either.

"Because guns are so powerful nowadays, swordsmen often need to fight at close range. Facing guns, swordsmen are very weak. Moreover, during the exploration of the spiritual field, swordsmen's abilities are relatively limited, making them easy to die."

(End of this chapter)