Divine Tang Era

"Whoosh"

At midnight, a sudden gust of wind swept up outside the inn, sounding like ghostly wails and eerie howls, carrying a chilling aura that made the doors and windows rattle incessantly.

The black bear cautiously crawled out of bed, its eyes wide, staring intently outside.

Suddenly, a wisp of black mist pierced through the thick wooden walls of the inn and arrived outside Xu Dan's room. The talisman on the door lit up, briefly blocking the mist before quickly fading away. The black mist passed through the door and entered the room, transforming into a giant ghostly claw that reached for the bed.

The three scriptures bought from Donglai Temple suddenly began to turn on their own, page by page, with voices emanating from them.

"At that time, the Heavenly Venerable Who Saves from Suffering gathered the Heavenly Venerables and Immortals of the Ten Directions and spoke of various causes and conditions. Then, a True Man of Wondrous Conduct stepped forward and said: 'Your servant now observes the Desire Realm, Mount Fengdu, the Blood Lake, the Twenty-Four Hells, the Sharp Knife of Mount Tai, the Eighteen Hells, the Great Iron Mountain, the Hells of Intermittent and Uninterrupted Intercourse, the Hells of the Three Rivers and Four Seas, the Hells of the Nine Rivers and Springs, the Hells of the Fierce Ferry and the Flowing Sands, where some are subjected to having molten copper poured into their mouths, and others to being dismembered by sharp saws...'"

"At that time, the Heavenly Venerable of Salvation from Suffering always used his divine power to save all living beings from their delusions."

Sentient beings are unaware, like the blind seeing the sun and moon; I am originally from the vast emptiness, reaching out to the boundless limit.

"Auspicious clouds open the gate of life, and auspicious smoke fills the gate of death. The primordial chaos begins to emerge, connecting with the mechanism of auspiciousness and compassion, saving all sinners and delivering all from calamities..."

"In the beginning of the Azure Heaven, a song sang in the azure sky, and the Great Floating Land received the immeasurable supreme salvation from the Primordial Heaven. The Primordial Heavenly Venerable then recited this sutra, turning it ten times to summon the ten directions. At the beginning, the Great Heavenly Gods, the Supreme Saints, the Wondrously Virtuous True Men, and countless others, rode the sky to come..."

The Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun said that the three books—the Wonderful Scripture of Relieving Suffering and Relieving Sins from the Blood Lake of Fengdu, the Supreme Mysterious Treasure Scripture of Relieving Suffering and Relieving Sins, and the Supreme Scripture of Boundless Salvation from the Primordial Beginning—seemed to possess boundless magical power. As the voice rang out, words of scripture flew out of the books, transforming into chains that reached for the giant ghostly claw.

A massive cloud of dark mist spewed from the palm of the giant demonic claw, blocking the scripture chains and preventing them from advancing.

"Awoooooo!"

The black bear roared loudly; though still a baby, it already showed the majestic presence of its mother.

Xu Dan was awakened by the noise. He opened his eyes and saw the black bear roaring at the door. Turning his head, he saw a huge ghostly claw reaching for him. Knowing something was wrong, he grabbed the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer from beside the bed and stabbed it at the giant ghostly claw.

When the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer touched the ghost claw, it suddenly unleashed an extremely strong devouring power, instantly absorbing all the yin mist on the palm.

The enormous ghostly claw was terrifying; it retreated rapidly and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Where do you think you're going?" Xu Dan wasn't going to let it get away so easily, and was about to chase after it when the black bear behind him roared, indicating that it wanted to go too.

"You stay inside and keep watch, don't let the bad guys come in and steal anything." After saying that, Xu Dan chased after Ghost Claw.

Hearing its master's words, the black bear obediently lay down on the bed, waiting for its master's return. Xu Dan chased after the inn, his double pupils narrowing as he scanned his surroundings, instantly locking onto the giant ghost claw's trail, and swiftly gave chase.

"Ding ding ding ding"

Two lanterns flew out from the darkness of the long street, followed by the sound of a night watchman's gong.

"Xuanliang, what have you been looking at so suspiciously?" a middle-aged voice rang out.

"I've heard there have been ghostly sightings lately, so I'd like to take a look," a younger voice replied.

"What's so interesting about it? You'll encounter it sooner or later."

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past, followed closely by a small figure. In the blink of an eye, the two disappeared without a trace.

"That thing up ahead looks like a ghost," the middle-aged voice said.

"That person behind looks like a child. I heard that yesterday a child killed a flower-tailed snake and dragged it into the city, scaring the city guards so much they ran away in terror. Could it be him?" the young voice said.

"Don't talk nonsense. Come on, let's go take a look," said a voice that sounded even older than the two of them.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that there were three people inside the flying lights.

One man carried a night watchman's instrument, while two others carried lanterns. The three quickened their pace and chased after the two men ahead.

Xu Dan chased the giant ghostly claw to an abandoned courtyard, jumped inside, and saw the ghostly figure disappear in a corner of the courtyard. He ran over quickly and found it was a dry well. The well was filled with eerie mist, emanating a chilling aura.

Just as he was about to focus his eyes to see, he heard a noise behind him. Turning around, he saw several figures running towards him and couldn't help but shout, "Who goes there?"

The night watchman smiled kindly and said, "Young master, don't be nervous. We are the county's night watchmen. We came to investigate after hearing the noise."

"Night watchman? There are still people on night watch in this county town?" Xu Dan hadn't expected this to happen.

"Of course, someone keeps watch at night; otherwise, how could people live in peace and enjoy tranquility?" Chen Ding said. "I am Chen Ding, the night watchman, and these two are Dong An and Shi Xuanliang, the lantern bearers. We just saw the young man chasing after a ghost; we wonder how he fared?"

"What else could it do? It got inside," Xu Dan said, pointing to the dry well.

Chen Ding walked to the well and looked at it. He then said to the two lantern bearers, "Dong An, Xuan Liang, go down and take a look."

"Yes," the two replied, and were about to go down into the well.

"Wait a minute," Xu Dan stopped him.

"What are your orders, young master?" Chen Ding asked.

Xu Dan's eyes darted around, and he said, "I have an ancestral secret recipe that's incredibly effective against ghosts. The ingredients in that recipe are extremely easy to obtain; they can be found everywhere. I'd like to ask the three of you to help me prepare the formula. If it works, I'll sell the secret recipe to you cheaply. Whether you sell it to me or give it away is entirely up to you. What do you all think?"

The three exchanged glances, seemingly interested.

Dong An asked, "Are the ingredients in that prescription really readily available everywhere?"

"Indeed, they can be seen everywhere." Xu Dan nodded.

"Then let's give it a try. What does the young master need?" Chen Ding said.

"First, find a small bucket, then find some black dog blood, rooster blood, red dragon blood, cinnabar, and gold juice and put them inside. When you come back, find a temple with strong incense offerings, grab a handful of incense ash, and throw it in."

"What is a Crimson Dragon?" Shi Xuanliang asked, puzzled.

"It's for women with female 'tiankui' (a type of herbal remedy), and the stronger the flavor, the better. The black dog blood also needs to be from a strong young rooster, which should be at least three years old."

"That's simple." Chen Ding nodded and instructed the two lantern bearers, "Xuanliang and Dong Ding, you two go and find the things separately. The young master and I will stay here."

"Yes," the two replied, and left with their lanterns.

A short while later, the two returned with a small bucket, which was already half full of a filthy, foul-smelling substance, probably black dog blood and the like. Xu Dan glanced at it, then pulled up his pants and urinated into the bucket.

"What are you doing, young master?" Shi Xuanliang asked curiously.

"This is the last ingredient in the prescription, boy's urine, which is a good thing for killing ghosts and warding off evil spirits."

As Xu Dan explained, he stirred the contents of the bucket, then carried it to the well. The well was still shrouded in mist, emanating a chilling aura. Xu Dan sensed something peering down below; without even looking, he knew it was a giant ghostly claw.

So they poured the contents of the bucket into the well.

"ah..."

A mournful howl came from down the well.

Xu Dan laughed loudly, "No matter how cunning you are, you still have to drink my foot bath water." Then he suddenly realized something was wrong. Wasn't this guy a ghost?

The gloomy mist inside the well was instantly dissipated by the contents of the bucket, even the chilling aura vanished. Xu Dan peered into the well, then jumped straight in. This guy dared to kill him; he had to bear the consequences. He would skin him alive, dismember him, and stuff him with chaff.