The ultimate master in the city

At this point, Liu Zhenguo's voice became hoarse, so he had to stop talking, run to the side, pour himself a glass of cold water, and gulp it down.

Telling ghost stories late at night is really exciting, especially since they're based on real experiences. The six or seven people next to him were both terrified and nervously eager to know what would happen next!

Zhou Fengchen and Zhang Shisan looked at each other. They were both Taoist disciples and professionals in dealing with ghosts and spirits, so they thought it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Alright! After all that rambling, let's get back to the point!" Zhang Shisan shook his head and said to Zhou Fengchen, "But that Su Sungua he mentioned is quite interesting. He played around with that female ghost for days, then got scared and turned his back on her!"

Zhou Fengchen, also feeling bored, idly remarked, "This is nothing. A friend of mine played with butterflies, and in the end, they were still killed!"

"A butterfly demon?" Zhang Shisan asked in surprise.

Zhou Fengchen nodded. "Yes! And he's quite handsome."

"Your friend's got some nerve!" Zhang Shisan chuckled. "Did he get covered in powder?"

Zhou Fengchen rubbed his nose. "I asked him the same question back then, but he didn't answer."

"Your friend is interesting. Introduce me to him sometime."

"That's the monk! Didn't you see him in the Bat Cave?"

"Wow! That's impressive!"

The two of them were talking nonsense, and they didn't look like enlightened masters at all. The group of people watching were stunned.

"You two, stop gossiping!" Ku Zhu said, pursing her lips, to Liu Zhenguo, who had finished his water. "I also think you've gone a bit off-topic. Let's get straight to the point!"

"Okay, okay!"

Liu Zhenguo wiped his mouth and continued:

He ate a peanut and went to open the door. He was terrified when he opened it. Old Liu and Su Sungua found it strange and ran over to take a look. They were also scared out of their wits.

Standing outside the door was the young Taoist priest, Hei Yun. He looked extremely miserable, his face covered in blood, his hands and feet were nailed with large nails, and his stomach had a hole in it, with his intestines spilling out.

This shape... is exactly the same as the female ghost corpse in that coffin!

Old Liu and Su Sungua quickly pulled the terrified Liu Zhenguo aside. Instinctively, they reached out to stuff the young Taoist priest's intestines back into his stomach, but after a while, they couldn't get them in. They then cried out, "Young Taoist priest! What's wrong with you? Why are you like this?"

The young Taoist priest, Hei Yun, didn't say anything. He grinned, a strange smile, then pushed them aside, went into the house, sat down at the table, and started eating with his chopsticks.

Old Liu and Su Sungua watched nervously from the side, their minds completely blank.

After eating for a while, the young Taoist priest Heiyun finally spoke, and his voice startled Old Liu and Su Sungua so much that they fell to the ground.

"You not only invited an old Taoist priest to exorcise my spirit, but also a young one? This wicked man has sealed my body and almost killed me!"

The voice was clear and crisp; it was a woman's voice, and it was the female ghost.

"ah--"

Old Liu and Su Sungua's heads went blank for a second, and they almost instinctively tried to crawl out.

"Hehehehe...Trying to leave!"

The corpse of the young Taoist priest, Hei Yun, fell to the ground with a thud. Suddenly, the red-clad female ghost emerged from behind him, her long, jet-black hair flashing as it instantly wrapped around the waists of the two men. She roared, "You two bastards, I'll eat you both today!"

"ah--"

"ah--"

Old Liu and Su Sungua tried desperately to climb out, but even the two strong men couldn't overpower the woman's hair, and they were pulled backward little by little.

Just as the female ghost's sharp claws were about to pierce their backs, Liu Zhenguo, who had been standing there dumbfounded, suddenly became emboldened. He grabbed a door god plaque from the side and smashed it at the female ghost, yelling, "Damn you!"

Unexpectedly, this "door god board" could ward off evil spirits. The female ghost screamed and instantly darted out the door and disappeared.

Old Liu and Su Sungua were still in shock, lying on the ground panting heavily. It took them a long time to get up, close the door, and huddle together, staring at the doorway, trembling.

They endured until dawn, buried the young Taoist priest's body, and then discussed it. They realized that things couldn't continue like this. If the female ghost came again that night, they might not be able to escape. As for running away... where could they go? Home was safer!

After thinking it over, I realized that door gods are supposed to ward off evil spirits, so let's get a few more and try it out.

Door god boards are things with ink used to print New Year pictures. Every household has them, so the three of them went all over the village to borrow some. By nightfall, they had gotten more than a dozen boards, which filled the room. They ate a quick meal, squeezed together, and looked around, not daring to sleep.

However, after two days and one night without sleep, feeling panicked and extremely exhausted, the three of them still fell asleep without realizing it in the middle of the night.

Old Liu and Su Sungua had the same dream: they were standing on a dark road with nothing in front or behind them. Then a person staggered towards them and came up to them. It turned out to be the deceased Master Ziyun.

Old Liu stammered, "Taoist Master, how did you come back to life?"

Master Ziyun said, "I didn't come back to life; I came here specifically to find you!"

It didn't come back to life? Isn't that a ghost too?

Old Liu and his companion were startled and asked, "W-what do you want with us?"

Master Ziyun sighed and said, "That wicked beast was no match for me, but the maid Honglang, who served the Tiger Head Mountain God, bred a nest in her belly, owing her a favor and granting her cultivation! My good-for-nothing disciple and I died so unjustly! I fear you two will follow in our footsteps, so I've come to show you a way to survive!"

Upon hearing this, Old Liu and Su Sungua immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Taoist Master, you are so compassionate! Please save us! We are about to be killed by that female ghost."

Master Ziyun helped them up and said, "That female ghost has Honglang as her backer; we can't afford to offend her. The only way to survive is to avoid her!"

"How do we hide? Where do we hide?" Old Liu and his companion asked hurriedly.

Master Ziyun said to Old Liu, "Aren't you a bamboo craftsman? Make a paper figure, write your birth date and time on it, then go outside and walk straight ahead, silently reciting, 'Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor; my life is here, take it!' Walk eight hundred steps, lean the paper figure against a tree, and go home! Then you can rest easy!"

Then, pointing at Su Sungua, he said, "You're no good. You and that female ghost had been intimate for half a month, and your grudges are too deep. You can only flee to another place. But as long as you hide for seven years, you'll be fine when you come back! But there's one thing you must remember: stay far away from any water you encounter on the way, or you'll lose your life!"

He vanished in the blink of an eye after saying that!

Old Liu and Su Sungua sat up abruptly, only to realize they had just had a dream. Wiping away their cold sweat, they looked at each other and both felt the dream was too real.

By then it was already broad daylight. The two of them discussed it and decided that it was better to believe it than not, so they did as instructed.

So Old Liu made a paper figure, wrote his birth date and name on it, carried it out the door and walked forward, muttering to himself, "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor, my life is here, take it." He walked for eight hundred steps, and there happened to be a crooked tree in front of him, so he leaned the paper figure against the tree and turned around to go home.

Next up was Su Sungua. This guy was a bachelor who spent money extravagantly and had no savings. He was going to starve to death if he went on a long trip empty-handed, so he asked Old Liu for help.

Old Liu was quite generous; he took out a large sum of money he had saved for Liu Zhenguo's wedding and stuffed it into Su Sungua's arms, saying, "Brother! Go on your way! Take good care of yourself when you get here!"

Moved to tears, Su Sungua knelt down and kowtowed several times, saying, "I won't take this money for nothing. If I accomplish anything in these seven years away from home, I will definitely come back to repay you!"

……

Old Liu and his father reluctantly saw Su Sungua off. Where Su Sungua went and what became of him will not be discussed for now.

When Old Liu and his son returned home, they dared not go anywhere and waited anxiously.

However, nothing happened overnight.

The next morning, the father and son, out of curiosity, ran to the place where the paper figure was kept and found that it had been torn in two, as if it had been ripped apart by something!

I like the novel "The Strongest Master in the City".