With virtue

"Ah... Uncle? Are you alright?" At this moment, the child in his arms finally spoke to Zhao Yunshu after the ghosts had dispersed.

Zhao Yunshu looked up at the child.

He was pale and thin, bony and emaciated, just like any other poor child.

Just like before, I was sent up the mountain at a young age to become the mountain god's "attendant"...

Is this me as a child?

Hmm... obviously not.

He's so ugly, he doesn't look like I did when I was a child.

Back then, even if Zhao Yunshu was so hungry that her tongue was sticking out and she didn't take a bath, she couldn't be called dirty; she was called full of brokenness.

There's nothing we can do; that's just how people are.

Zhao Yunshu has a full understanding of his own looks. He is very proud of being a handsome seventeen-year-old who gets fed fruit by young ladies on the street.

"Cough! My liver is a little weak, but my kidneys are fine, I'll definitely be alright." Zhao Yunshu managed to muster a little strength and stand up again.

But this child

"Kid, get up. Let's go. It's quite dangerous up in the mountains. Just come with me for now, and I'll take you into town later," Zhao Yunshu said with a smile, shaking his head.

Sending him to the city was pretty much the best solution he could think of.

Taking him as an apprentice is out of the question. This kid doesn't seem to have any talent. Sending him home would only lead to his death. It's better for him to go to the city and find some work to make a living.

He still has that much face to lose.

Two children, one seventeen and the other seven or eight, were walking in the mountains.

The two talked as they walked.

"Go to town? Now?" The child was clearly surprised.

"Definitely not now. I need to go see my master's grave now. Come with me." Zhao Yunshu paused for a moment, then said, "You've got some nerve, daring to talk to me now."

The child immediately replied, "Uncle saved my life, so why should I be afraid?"

"Good lad, you have potential! If you had met my master, you might have become my junior brother." Zhao Yunshu laughed, tilting his head back, then patted the child: "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Wang Haiting, Uncle," the child said immediately.

"Huh? You're not called Er Gouzi?" This time it was Zhao Yunshu's turn to be surprised.

"My parents aren't fools. They didn't give birth to me to abandon me. Naturally, they found a way to get the village scholar to name me and teach me to read!"

"Your parents must really love you. So why were you sent up the mountain?"

"I doted on him, but it's also true that we weren't getting enough to eat. My younger brother is good at studying; the scholar who named him said he was a child prodigy. There was nothing we could do at home," Wang Haiting said.

"You seem to have a good outlook on things." Zhao Yun chuckled.

It's really rare to see a child of this age with this kind of awareness.

As they talked, the two arrived at a mountain hollow.

There is more than one tomb in the mountain valley, many of which are magnificent, with various dragon and phoenix carvings, large blue stone slabs, and stone figures and horses standing in front of some tombs. Although weathered by wind and rain, one can still glimpse the former glory of the family.

Zhao Yunshu led Wang Haiting through these large tombs without stopping or even glancing at them.

The old Taoist priest certainly couldn't be buried in these places. He only chose this place because there were many graves here and it looked impressive. It's in an inconspicuous little corner of the area.

In that corner, there is a small grave.

There was no stone tablet, no hanging green stones, no stone figures or horses, and even the grave mound was so low that it was almost level with the ground. If it weren't for the few stacked green stones surrounding the grave mound, outsiders would just think it was an ordinary mound on the hillside.

There was no offering table or incense burner in front of the grave; only a slab of stone that had been split open served as the altar and tombstone.

The tombstone has two lines of text, which are obviously not carved by a stonemason. The characters are crooked and uneven. If a stonemason's work is like this, he is guaranteed not to get any business.

The two lines of text read: "This is where the old Taoist priest sleeps; please do not step on it when passing by."

The signature reads "Disciple Zhao Yunshu".

Apart from that, there was no name, no birth or death date, no sect affiliation or biography; just these ten characters, just like the old Taoist priest himself—living quietly and dying quietly.

But now, the small grave is completely unrecognizable.

The soil in the grave was dug out from the center, revealing the thin coffin underneath.

The coffin lid was violently thrown aside and cracked into several pieces. Scattered around the coffin were bits of soil, withered branches, and a few pieces of coffin wood casually tossed on the edge of the pit.

The coffin was empty, and the futons used as burial offerings had been torn open, revealing the straw inside, clearly indicating that someone wanted to check if there were any hidden items inside.

Several scrolls of handwritten scriptures were carelessly thrown outside the pit, their pages dampened by the night dew, suggesting they had been read and then carelessly tossed on the ground.

Apart from that, there were no other items buried with the deceased.

The bluestone altar in front of the grave is almost intact, but it has been pushed askew.

On the stone slab, someone drew a mark with their fingertip. The mark penetrated three-tenths of an inch into the stone, and the edge was as smooth as if it had been cut with a knife.

Humans couldn't possibly have such sharp fingernails. It's likely that some walking corpse, while digging a grave, leaned over this bluestone to examine the coffin and pressed down hard, leaving this deep mark on the stone.

Zhao Yunshu stood motionless in front of the grave.

Wang Haiting stood behind him, not daring to make a sound.

Although the child was young, he knew how great a grudge it was to dig up someone's ancestral grave. At this moment, looking at his uncle's motionless back, he felt even more frightened than when he was surrounded by a hundred ghosts.

Zhao Yunshu remained silent for a moment, then stepped forward, squatted down, and straightened the tilted bluestone slab.

He picked up the prayer mat and scriptures one by one and put them into the thin coffin.

He looked down at the empty coffin floor, which was covered with a layer of old cotton wadding, on which was a shallow human-shaped indentation.

Some gray hairs were scattered along the concave edge.

He bent down and picked up the hairs one by one, gathered them into a bundle, and then pulled a thread from his sleeve, tied it carefully, and placed it in the coffin as well.

He had already put away the luxurious clothes and golden crowns that the fairies had used before, and after thinking about it, he decided not to have them buried with him.

It's better for the living to use something that's dead.

Then, using both his hands and feet, he covered the grave with mud and placed several large stones on top of it.

After doing all this, he plopped down on the rock, patted the bluestone pressing down on the grave, and said, "Master, you've had such bad luck. But luckily, your disciple has some skills and has avenged you. Although I don't know what you hid from me that led them to come looking for you, I'll take responsibility for this karma. You old bastard, rest in peace."

Then, he looked at Wang Haiting and said, "Alright, stop bothering. You're already hungry, where will you get the energy to do this?"

While he was doing those things, Wang Haiting was also helping out. Although he couldn't do much work, he was also panting heavily from exhaustion.

After speaking, Zhao Yunshu took out some dry food from his bundle, which was some dried flatbread, and handed it to Wang Haiting.

Wang Haiting hesitated for a moment, but still took it and started eating it in small bites.

While he was eating, Zhao Yunshu was not idle either. He took out the yellow book and turned to the page with the ghost general.

The paper rustled, as if a cold wind was seeping through it.

The portrait was even more lifelike than before, almost indistinguishable from the real thing. If you saw it at night, you would really think that the ghost general had come back to life!

At the same time, the information in the yellow book is also more detailed:

Soul-stealing Ghost General.

This was a valiant general from the previous dynasty, surnamed Zhou, named Heng, a native of Fanyang.

He was known in his hometown for his bravery and strength. He could draw a bow with a draw weight of thirty stones and shoot arrows from both sides without exhausting his strength.

At the age of seventeen, he joined the army under the military governor of Caizhou. In every battle, he was always the first to charge into battle, accumulating merits until he became a general. He fought in seventy-three battles, large and small, and never suffered a defeat.

However, due to unfavorable weather conditions, lack of reinforcements and food supplies, the military governor secretly submitted a letter of surrender, abandoning Zhou Heng's troops in the wilderness.

He led three thousand exhausted soldiers in a fierce battle for a day and a night. He was hit by seventeen arrows, his intestines protruding, yet he still fought. His body did not fall for seven days. The enemy general was horrified and ordered his soldiers to bind the body with iron chains before it finally collapsed.

After Zhou Heng died, his sins were heinous. He slaughtered the city and ate people, which was horrific. He should have been reborn as an animal for ten lifetimes. However, using his general's seal as proof, he gathered three thousand ghost soldiers and built a camp in a shady place behind the mountain. Every midnight, he would lead his ghost soldiers to practice their formations. On the last day of the moon, he would drive a hundred ghosts to patrol. If they encountered a living person, they would devour them. They especially craved the blood and essence of children, saying that "their flesh is tender and their bones are brittle, and eating them can prolong one's life in the underworld."

Its ability is called "White Bone Observation," which allows it to observe the decay of human flesh from a distance. When ordinary people are within its gaze, their skin and flesh immediately rot, their internal organs collapse, and they turn into a pool of pus and blood, leaving only bare white bones.

The second is "commanding a hundred ghosts". The ghost head knife contains a hundred ghosts. The souls of the hundred ghosts are bound by the wrath and cannot be reborn. They are slaves for eternity.

The third type is the "Fiend Armor," which contains malevolent energy that condenses on the bright armor, making it impervious to swords and spears, water and fire, and iron that rusts upon contact with it. It is only afraid of thunder.

This painting of ghost generals is so lifelike, so full of charm and spirit, that it is a masterpiece of contemplation!

If one carefully studies it using the method of observation, one can even comprehend the abilities and power of the ghost general!

The old Taoist priest doesn't often kill ghosts. Even if there are ghosts causing trouble, he usually performs rituals to help them pass on rather than killing them. So this is the first time that a visualization diagram of this caliber has appeared in the yellow book, which makes Zhao Yunshu quite amazed.

But this was not a good time for cultivation. After he finished reading, he simply put the book away and sat for a while longer.

His plan was that once he and Wang Haiting had regained some strength, they would take the child and go down the mountain; they couldn't stay in this troublesome place.

But then... a figure suddenly appeared from the forest.

It was Chen Wanchuan, who had just escaped!

----------

As Chen Wanchuan pushed aside the last clump of bushes and climbed up the ravine, panting, he still clutched a machete he carried with him, smeared with prepared black dog blood.

He came back prepared. After settling the child and woman, he packed his belongings, taking with him all sorts of things for self-defense while traveling.

He thought that if the Taoist priest were still alive, he would risk his life to help him no matter what.

If the Taoist priest dies, he should at least provide a proper burial for the deceased; he can't let his benefactor's body lie exposed in the wilderness.

He had just settled the women and children at the foot of the mountain when he heard thunder coming from the mountain. When it exploded, he was so shocked that he squatted down on the ground.

Then came the howling of ghosts and wolves that filled the mountains and fields. Many dark figures swept through the woods on both sides of the mountain path, running in panic. There was even a mandrill that darted through the treetops above him, ignoring him as a living person and only caring about escaping for its life.

Only then did he dare to sneak up the mountain, but he had already prepared for the worst.

However, when he was crossing mountains and valleys, he looked up and was stunned.

There were no ghosts, no ghost generals, and no alluring beauties in the mountain valley.

All that remained were scattered rubble, a few pools of black blood seeping into the soil, and crisscrossing scorch marks and cracks on the ground.

Even the Taoist priest has disappeared.

"This..." Chen Wanchuan opened his mouth.

In this scene, he recited all the gods and Buddhas he had worshipped in his life, from the City God to the Earth God, from Guan Yu to Guanyin, without missing a single one.

But since we're going to collect the Taoist priest's body, we can't just leave it at that.

So he gritted his teeth, climbed over the dilapidated Taoist temple, and continued his search.

He followed the mountain path all night and finally found the cemetery.

Chen Wanchuan had traveled all over the country for many years and considered himself to be knowledgeable and experienced, but the scene before him still left him completely dumbfounded.

The young Taoist priest did not die.

Not only was he not dead, but he was standing there perfectly fine, wearing an old Taoist robe. Beside him, a sallow-faced, emaciated child was taking small bites of a pancake.

"Taoist...Taoist Master?" Chen Wanchuan's voice trembled. "Where are the ghosts and monsters?"

Zhao Yunshu was just slinging the bundle over his shoulder when he heard this. He turned around, glanced at him, and laughed, "They ran away."

"Ran...ran away?" Chen Wanchuan looked around in disbelief, his Adam's apple bobbing several times before he finally managed to choke out, "Where's that ghost general? The one with the knife, that tall guy—"

"He's dead," Zhao Yunshu said casually.

Chen Wanchuan stood there, speechless for a long time.

He glanced at Zhao Yunshu's somewhat pale face and suddenly realized that this young Taoist priest, who looked to be seventeen or eighteen, had just experienced a battle that he could not even imagine.

He dared not ask further, but simply planted the wood-chopping knife in the ground, clasped his hands in a deep bow, and said, "I will never forget your life-saving grace, Daoist Master. I have escorted the woman and child to the middle of the road, so please rest assured, Daoist Master. I wonder if you... were injured this time?"

"They're just superficial injuries, nothing serious." Zhao Yunshu waved his hand and slung the bundle over his shoulder. "By the way, what's your name, brother?"

"My surname is Chen, and my given name is Wanchuan. I am a traveling merchant. I came from the north this time, intending to exchange mountain goods for some seafood on the coast. I am just passing through here!" Chen Wanchuan immediately introduced himself.

"Brother Chen, why are you back?" Zhao Yunshu asked.

Chen Wanchuan scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed: "I was thinking... of collecting your corpse, Daoist Master."

"Haha! So your plan has failed, but it doesn't matter, we can go down the mountain together!" Zhao Yunshu laughed heartily, stood up, and patted the merchant on the shoulder.

Chen Wanchuan readily agreed and led the way.

The three of them then descended the mountain under the moonlight, following the rugged mountain path.

When we reached the foot of the mountain, we could see two small figures by the roadside in the distance.

Upon closer inspection, they were indeed the two children Chen Wanchuan had just rescued. The two children's faces were covered in mud from crying, but the woman had disappeared. She was probably still in shock and had abandoned the children by the roadside before running home.

Chen Wanchuan frowned, about to scold, but Zhao Yunshu waved his hand: "It's good that they're alright. It's good to take them along. They're all children given to the mountain god, and they have nowhere to go back. It's a good thing to let them work as shop assistants in the city."

He didn't know what to say, so he simply bowed to the Taoist priest and sighed.