The Demonic Taoist Priest Emerges from the Mountain

"That old bastard!"

I chuckled and pursed my lips.

I was touched, to some extent.

But what I felt most was emptiness.

I felt empty inside, like someone who knew when they would die and was watching their death arrive.

To be honest, I wasn't that scared.

In the words of Master Qin, these eighteen years of my life have all been stolen, so I've actually already made a profit.

Now I understand why Master Qin made me stay in the dilapidated Taoist temple all this time.

Because I have never seen the prosperity of this world, nor have I witnessed the wonders of life.

So I don't have many worries, and I don't feel much fear when facing death.

But I still feel a little sad.

After all, my life has only just begun.

Who would want to die if they could live?

Ning Jinrou, who was standing to the side, also finished reading the letter.

She looked at me, unsure of what to say for a moment.

I folded the letter and put it back in the wooden box.

He took out the [Corpse Blood Jade] and the [Zhong Kui Talisman].

Ning Jinrou suddenly grabbed my hand.

I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

She bit her lip.

"We're going to make a lot of money together tomorrow."

She gave a playful smile.

This girl was born with the face of an ice queen, but she has the personality of a witch.

I know she was trying to comfort me.

I nodded emphatically.

"Okay, get some rest."

After saying that, I walked back to my room without looking back.

This night was destined to be anything but peaceful.

I affixed the [Zhong Kui Talisman] and, as Master Qin instructed, put the [Corpse Blood Jade] in my mouth.

Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling with my eyes open.

The burning sensation in my chest grew stronger and stronger.

I was convulsing uncontrollably.

Slowly, the burning sensation began to spread.

I could feel my internal organs boiling.

This is perhaps what Master Qin wrote in his letter: the Soul-Sealing Nail is dissolving and merging with my body.

The intense pain tore at my consciousness.

I don't know how much time passed; in a daze, I actually fell asleep.

I slept for a very long time, and I also had a very, very long dream.

In my dream, there was a dilapidated village.

In the village's threshing ground, an offering table has already been set up.

The offering table was filled with all sorts of sacrificial items.

A person is opening the altar and sprinkling holy water.

I recognize this person; he's Master Qin.

He held a bowl of clean water in one hand and a willow branch in the other, and sprinkled it around the offering table.

Then, Master Qin lit three incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner while chanting incantations.

I know this process; it's called "Inviting the Saint to the Altar."

Normally, such a procedure only occurs at grand Buddhist ceremonies.

Below, a group of villagers began to kowtow.

I watched quietly, like a lost soul.

I could vaguely hear them praying.

The general meaning is to pray to the Water God for favorable weather, abundant harvests, and for the floods to recede, bringing peace and tranquility to the seas and rivers.

I watched with my own eyes as tiny specks of golden light, like fireflies, fell from the offering table.

Clearly, this Dharma assembly was a success.

However, this scene was soon broken by two people.

These two people are a married couple.

The woman was pregnant and full-term; her belly was swollen high.

At that moment, the woman suddenly cried out in pain.

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

Even more bizarrely, the three long incense sticks used for worshipping the gods suddenly broke apart.

I was like an observer, watching as the golden light that fell instantly surged into the woman's belly.

Upon seeing this, Master Qin, who was performing the ritual, suddenly changed his expression.

The villagers around them also showed expressions of fear.

In those days, everyone was quite superstitious.

The breaking of incense sticks is a disaster; this is "common sense" that everyone knows.

In an instant, everyone in the village turned to look at the woman.

The woman's face was deathly pale, and large beads of sweat kept rolling down her forehead.

She was breathing heavily, and a stream of bright red blood was already flowing between her legs.

Her water broke!

The woman's husband wanted to pick her up and carry her home.

But the villagers nearby stopped them.

"Your family has angered the Water Official Emperor!"

"You are a scourge!"

"The crops have already been flooded this year, and you two want to ruin our whole village's harvest next year too? Wouldn't that be better?"

Each question and insult pierced the couple's hearts like a knife.

The man knelt down and kept kowtowing to the villagers, hoping they would make way for him so he could take his wife back to find a midwife.

But the villagers completely ignored the man's pleas.

They pointed at the men and women and kept cursing.

Just then, Master Qin parted the crowd.

He glanced silently at the woman lying on the ground, clutching her stomach in pain.

"Come with me."

Third Master Qin said something to the man.

Once he spoke up, the surrounding villagers dared not continue to block the road.

As Master Qin led the couple out of the crowd, he suddenly stopped, turned back to the crowd, and said, "The midwife, come along."

Before long, the group arrived at a rather dilapidated house.

The midwife and the woman went inside.

Master Qin and that man sat at the door.

Master Qin smoked a Red Plum cigarette, his face serious.

The man was extremely nervous at that moment.

As the cigarette burned out, Third Master Qin suddenly spoke to the man, saying, "Your child stole a breath of the Water Official Emperor's energy, which should have been a blessing. However, your child's life isn't strong enough. Even if he's born today, he won't live for more than a few days."

These words struck the man's chest like a heavy hammer.

The man's face turned deathly pale.

He knew that Master Qin was a capable man.

He immediately knelt on the ground.

"Third Master, you are a living god! My Qin family has only had one son for generations, we can't let our lineage die out! Please save my child!"

After saying that, the man kowtowed heavily to Master Qin.

After kowtowing for a long time, Third Master Qin finally sighed.

"Alright, I've already been dragged into this matter, so I'll do my best."

After Qin Sanye finished speaking, he glanced at me with a deep look in his eyes.

Now I know the identities of this man and woman.

They are my biological father and mother!

However, when I met Qin Sanye's gaze, my heart trembled violently.

I don't know if Master Qin could really see me, or if it was just a coincidence.

That one glance made me very uncomfortable.

However, Third Master Qin's gaze quickly shifted elsewhere.

This made me breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Time passed little by little.

It lasted for about ten minutes.

A gasp suddenly came from inside the room.

My father and Third Master Qin, who had been waiting outside, were immediately startled.

Not long after, the midwife came running out as if she had gone mad.

As she ran, she shouted, "A ghost! The Qin family has given birth to a ghost child!"

Upon hearing the midwife's words, my father and Uncle Qin's expressions changed drastically, and they rushed into the room.