Wu Xin: The Monster Killer

Chapter 22 Past Events

Chuchenzi dodged the shards of glass on the ground, gracefully descended, circled Wuxin once, and finally stopped in front of him, asking, "Who exactly are you?"

Wuxin was secretly pondering his own thoughts when he suddenly heard him ask. He didn't tell the truth, but just smiled mysteriously and said, "I'm neither a monk nor a layman, and I can't really say what kind of person I am. I just wander around and make a living."

A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard, ruffling Chuchenzi's long, glossy black hair: "Do you know the person in the coffin?"

Without looking up at him directly, she said, "We didn't know each other before, but ever since she returned to the human world, she's claimed to have fallen in love with me and has been pestering me relentlessly, which has annoyed me to no end. To be honest, I'm not entirely without skills, but her cultivation is extremely profound, and I simply can't do anything about her."

Chuchenzi raised his hand to support his chin, giving Wuxin a reserved glance: "Fall in love with you?"

Wu Xin nodded: "That's right, but I already have a wife."

Chuchenzi spread his five fingers and then gathered his hair behind his back: "Extremely profound cultivation?"

Wu Xin nodded again: "That's right, she can summon even the corpses buried underground to hurt people."

Chuchenzi lowered his hand and looked at him through the part of his long hair. Before he could ask any more questions, Wuxin directly stated his purpose: "Daoist Master, please tell me her background, otherwise I am confused and do not know where to start to deal with her."

Chuchenzi stood with his hands behind his back. Another gust of wind swept through the courtyard, and his long hair fell all the way down to his eyes: "I don't know."

Wu Xin sighed, "Fine, since you won't tell me, I'll just have to lead her to Qingyun Temple. I've long heard that the Daoist is a living immortal. When a living immortal meets a living monster, there will surely be a lively exchange, which will definitely be quite a sight."

Upon hearing this, Chuchenzi tossed his long hair aside, his expression turning drastically red: "Nonsense! What does this have to do with me? I said I don't know, and I mean it!"

Unwittingly, he discovered that Chu Chenzi was not good at lying; his words were incoherent and full of holes. He hadn't originally thought Chu Chenzi could actually know anything, but Chu Chenzi's smashing of the wine cup and his tantrum forced him to believe that the other man had some connection with Yue Qiluo. He bowed to Chu Chenzi, adopting a defiant attitude, and turned to leave. He hadn't taken three or five steps when, as expected, Chu Chenzi called him back.

Chuchenzi led Wuxin into the house. Qingyun Temple was a grand temple, and Chuchenzi was a distinguished Taoist priest who often associated with high-ranking officials, so his residence was elegant on the outside and luxurious on the inside. He sat cross-legged on a large mahogany daybed, and without looking at Wuxin, spoke with his eyes lowered: "The person in the coffin should still be a young girl, right?"

Across a small kang table, Wuxin, leaning against the bed railing, sat comfortably: "That's right, she's said to be fourteen years old."

Chuchenzi continued, his expression troubled: "She...she was my great-great-uncle, an orphan who grew up with my great-great-grandfather. My master said that my grandmaster said that my great-great-grandfather said that my great-great-uncle was obsessed with ghost and spirit arts from a young age. At first, she only drew talismans and chanted incantations, but later she even dug up graves and practiced on both the dead and the living, causing many tragic accidents. My great-great-grandfather couldn't bear to watch and wanted to persuade her to wake up, but before he could even speak, she committed suicide in the night."

At this point, Chuchenzi let out a long sigh: "Since the person was dead, Grandmaster had nothing more to say. But more than a decade later, a little girl came to our door, her speech and mannerisms strikingly similar to Grandmaster Uncle. Grandmaster initially thought she was a reincarnation, but upon closer inspection, he realized Grandmaster Uncle's soul was still alive, reborn as a human. It turned out that Grandmaster Uncle sought immortality; she had practiced on unrelated people until she was satisfied, then she hanged herself to test her true abilities. Grandmaster sensed something was wrong, but he was powerless against her. For the next few decades, Grandmaster and Grandmaster Uncle fought endlessly. Grandmaster Uncle died several times, but to her, death was merely a change of body."

Wu Xin interjected, "So your great-grandfather decided to seal her away?"

Chuchenzi nodded: "As my great-grandmaster grew older, he knew that my great-uncle had become a demon, so he led my master to search for him in many places. Finally, they found my great-uncle in Wen County. At that time, my master was still a child. She saw my great-uncle with her own eyes and said that when my great-uncle was sealed in the coffin by my great-grandmaster, she looked like an ordinary girl."

After completing this momentous task, the Grandmaster built the Qingyun Temple on Qingyun Mountain, supposedly to suppress the evil spirits of his Grandmaster Uncle. However, since the Grandmaster's passing, the matter has never been mentioned again. Now, within the entire temple, apart from the current abbot, no one knows of this life-or-death struggle that took place a century ago.

Wu Xin fell silent, thinking that while Yue Qiluo was indeed evil, his great-grandfather wasn't entirely righteous either. The formation his great-grandfather set up was a method of fighting poison with poison; not only did he bury Yue Qiluo next to a desolate well, but to ensure the well's yin energy was strong enough to suppress her, he also tortured and killed a maidservant and threw her inside. Little did he know that the longer Yue Qiluo was imprisoned in this extremely yin place, the stronger her evil energy became; and the maidservant, who had always loved her mistress in life, remained devoted even in death, becoming a vengeful ghost, determined to rescue her mistress.

After Chuchenzi finished telling this story, he turned to Wuxin and asked, "Who broke my great-grandfather's formation?"

Without hesitation, he used the maidservant as a shield—the maidservant's tragic death, the maidservant's murder, the maidservant's crashing into the stone wall… it was all the maidservant's fault. The reason he was entangled with Yue Qiluo was purely by chance, and also because he was too handsome.

The lie had come to an end, and he asked Chu Chenzi, "Daoist Master, do you have any way to subdue Yue Qiluo again?"

Chuchenzi shook his head: "No."

Without thinking, I asked, "No?"

Chuchenzi waved his hand: "No."

He then got out of bed, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth on the floor: "This is all I know about what happened more than a hundred years ago, and I've told you everything. In short, I'm at my wit's end."

Wu Xin followed politely, bowing to Chu Chenzi: "Daoist Master, thank you for your explanation. However, you are a compassionate person, and you can't just watch me being chased all over the streets by your grandmaster uncle."

Chuchenzi thought he was going to cling to him and immediately became nervous: "What grandmaster uncle! I have absolutely no relation to her!"

Wu Xin laughed: "Don't misunderstand, I didn't mean to lump Taoist priests and demons together. I just want you to draw a few more for me, following the pattern of the yellow talismans. To be honest, your great-uncle is quite afraid of these talismans!"

Chuchenzi flicked his sleeve: "Bullshit! My grandmaster uncle hanged himself over a hundred years ago. I have no grandmaster uncle! If you dare say she's my grandmaster uncle again, I'll beat you to death!"

Wuxin was sprayed with spittle, but being under someone else's roof, he had no choice but to bow his head: "Daoist Master, don't be so hasty. I haven't told anyone that your great-uncle came out of the coffin to eat people. I've kept your great-uncle's near-death experience and transformation into a monster a secret all along!"

Chuchenzi raised his hand and pointed at him: "You dare threaten me?" Then, without waiting for Wuxin to answer, he moved his finger to draw a talisman in the air, and the last stroke directly touched Wuxin's brow.

Wu Xin said nonchalantly, "Taoist Master, I'm not threatening you. I'm just asking you to draw me a few more yellow talismans. If you don't agree, I'll just leave."

Chuchenzi was so angry that his long hair became disheveled. He had never witnessed the power of his Grandmaster Uncle, but he felt that Wuxin was far more hateful than his Grandmaster Uncle!

Chuchenzi had no choice but to change his clothes, wash his face, and comb his hair. Drawing talismans was an extremely solemn and complicated ceremony; however, because Chuchenzi was already quite accomplished, he was not bound by such restrictions and displayed his own elegant style.

After he drew three yellow talismans, Wuxin respectfully asked, "Daoist Master, do these talismans also have names?"

Chuchenzi paused for a moment: "Name? This is a talisman created by my great-grandfather. We don't usually use it, so it doesn't have a specific name." Then he threw the brush on the table and said coldly, "I've told the story, and I've drawn the yellow talisman. I'm going to Tianjin tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll be back. We'll part ways here, and I won't see you off!"

Unwilling to accept defeat, he immediately took his leave. He arrived in Pigsnout Town at nightfall, and by the time he knocked on the door, his legs were so tired he could barely stand. Fortunately, Yueya and Master Gu were home. Master Gu helped him back to the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room, and before he could even sit down properly, Yueya patted a hot towel down his head and face, wiping away all the dust.

Once home, the gentle care and attention brought Wuxin to tears of happiness. He took out three yellow talismans from his pocket and asked Yueya to sew a few more sachets. He told Gu to put one in, he would keep one, and return the last one to Yueya. After all, the talismans were lightweight, so carrying an extra one wouldn't be a burden. After a hot dinner, Wuxin had Yueya sit beside him to do needlework. He had initially intended to kick Gu out a few days ago, but now he couldn't bear to, and invited Gu to sit with him on the kang (heated brick bed).

With his hands resting on Yueya and Lord Gu's knees respectively, Wuxin slowly and deliberately recounted Yue Qiluo's background. Yueya and Lord Gu listened, but didn't understand, because they couldn't figure out the generational relationships involved. After Wuxin finished speaking, Yueya bit off a thread with her teeth: "Who cares who she is, as long as she stays away from us. Shouldn't we buy some cabbages tomorrow? Buy a lot, enough to last the winter."

Lord Gu, picking his ear, also had something to say: "Master, are you really not coming up the mountain with me? Three chests of gleaming gold, you really have the heart to just throw them away?"

Crescent Moon immediately looked up at him: "Don't try to get him to go to the mountains with you! If you see a ghost, why don't you avoid it and instead walk right into it? We're going to buy cabbages tomorrow, we don't have time to go up the mountain to see ghosts with you."

Lord Gu frowned. "This young woman is all talk and no action." He shoved Wuxin aside and changed his target. "Say something, are you going up the mountain or not?"

Wuxin moved closer to Yueya and smiled at Lord Gu, "I still want to go buy cabbages with Yueya."

Lord Gu slapped his thigh, utterly disappointed: "You! All you ever do is fawn over women. Even if you live for ten thousand years, you'll still be a good-for-nothing!"

Crescent Moon told Wuxin, "Ignore him!"

Yue Qiluo walked alone on the dark streets of Wenxian County. A fierce battle had taken place on the street during the day, and now the street was full of sandbags and corpses.

She found a dark corner and sat down, hugging her knees. She was very hungry, and her right eye was also a little sore. When she was weak, she couldn't suppress the poisonous blood in her right eye, and the blood spots gradually spread, turning her right eyeball bright red. Her fingers touched the ground, she hesitated for a moment, and decided to do it herself to save her magic power.

Dragging a young corpse into a corner, she picked up a military knife and cleaved the body's head open. She dipped her fingers in the warm brain matter and put it in her mouth; the taste was bland with a slight fishy odor. Suddenly, she heard the distant sound of hooves approaching. She blinked her right eye, which was gradually returning to its original black and white, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and then got up and went outside.

(End of this chapter)