Wu Xin: The Monster Killer

Chapter 3 Midnight

Lord Gu was richer than most people in the county, so of course he didn't care about lunch. He took Wuxin and Yueya back to the front courtyard and ordered his adjutant to go to a nearby restaurant to order a feast. The county's high-class feast was really nothing more than chicken, duck, fish and meat, but Wuxin had endured many years of hardship in the mountains, barely having enough dry rations. Now, seeing meat, he almost fainted from the aroma on the spot.

He knew that Lord Gu needed his help, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He pulled Yueya down to sit, then swung his leg under the table, gently bumping Yueya's knee, and whispered, "Eat, eat more."

Yueya was a maid from an ordinary family who rarely saw fish or meat throughout the year. With many younger brothers in her family, she was never given a chance to eat the best dishes. She still felt that Wuxin was just a smooth talker. Although he had temporarily fooled Lord Gu, he might be kicked out at any time. So she decided to cherish what she had and eat enough for three days in one meal.

Lord Gu, seated at the head of the table, was inclined to exchange a few more words, but the sorcerer brother and sister began to devour their food like pigs, their heads bowed and eyes closed. Lord Gu, now somewhat respectful but not in the mood, dared not interrupt their meal. He watched as the two ate in a whirlwind, the sorcerer's sister shamelessly stuffing the remaining two large white steamed buns into her small bundle.

Lord Gu initially ate only one bite of the cold dish. After a moment of hesitation, he wanted to eat more, but when he looked up, he saw Wuxin dipping half a steamed bun in the soup and broth on the plate and chewing it vigorously, making the plate shine white.

Master Gu put down his chopsticks, thinking he had met his match at the dinner table: "Master, you have quite an appetite!"

Having satisfied his craving of ten years in one meal, he nodded and smiled at Lord Gu, "Not at all, not at all."

Despite his hunger, Lord Gu continued, "Master, please tell me your idea! You said there's a malevolent spirit living in my house. What exactly is a malevolent spirit?"

Wuxin let out a burp and then replied, "When people eat, they gain strength; when ghosts eat other ghosts, they grow stronger. When they grow to a certain extent, they can take on a real form, and that is what we call a malevolent spirit. The malevolent spirit in your mansion is probably newly formed. The reason it has been killing people one after another is simply to get new ghosts to eat. Lord Gu, if this malevolent spirit is not eliminated, your mansion will become increasingly dangerous, and you will never have a peaceful day."

As the man's words became increasingly earnest, Lord Gu clasped his hands in a respectful bow and said, "Master, tell me, how do you get rid of it? If you succeed, I will reward you handsomely!"

Wu Xin, desperately poor, had long plotted to extort money from him. With a cryptic smile, Wu Xin said, "Lord Gu, exorcising the evil spirit is not easy, but there are ways. I prepared everything this afternoon, and we'll begin tonight. However, to draw out the evil spirit, we need a brave, living person to radiate yang energy. Lord Gu, you are incredibly fortunate; no one else can do it!"

Lord Gu opened his mouth: "Master, aren't you a living person too?"

Wu Xin smiled slightly, then answered decisively, "I can't!"

Lord Gu really didn't want to act as bait to lure the ghosts, and wanted to find a few adjutants to take his place, but Wu Xin, harboring ulterior motives, resolutely refused. Lord Gu had no choice but to return to headquarters, open a wooden crate, and pull out a machete over a foot long. Holding the machete to the sunlight, he said, "My family were butchers, and this knife was passed down to me by my father. I used this knife to kill pigs first, then people. Countless fat pigs have died under my blade, and twenty or thirty people have perished! Master, isn't this knife vicious enough?"

Unintentionally, he was plotting how to swindle money from him when he suddenly heard this question. He clapped his hands maliciously and exclaimed, "How vicious!"

Hearing the strangely relaxed tone in his voice, Lord Gu couldn't help but turn to look at him: "Master, how did you usually exorcise ghosts?"

After a moment's thought, he finally replied, "Basically, I just curse them when I see them, beat them when I catch them, and beat them until they submit!"

Lord Gu was deeply surprised: "Why does this sound like a man beating his wife? Don't monks usually use hand seals and chant incantations?"

Wu Xin waved his hand dismissively: "Low-level tricks, not worth mentioning. Lord Gu, would you please catch me a few black dogs and a rooster?"

Lord Gu, gripping his cleaver, obediently went out to find the black dog and the rooster.

Wuxin killed the black dog and drained two large jugs of its blood. He then bound the rooster's claws and tied its head and beak with a red rope to prevent it from crowing. After eating a pot of stewed dog meat that evening, Wuxin, along with Yueya and Lord Gu, returned to the mansion, surrounded by guards.

As dusk fell, the sky grew dim. The old man who looked after the house, as usual, sat on a stool outside the door. The guards gathered in the front yard, while Wuxin and his two companions walked alone into the third courtyard.

Crescent Moon held a large rooster in one arm and carried a large copper kettle in the other, knowing no more than Lord Gu. The rooster couldn't open its beak and had been clucking softly in its throat the whole way. However, as soon as they entered the courtyard, it trembled in Crescent Moon's arms, and all its feathers ruffled.

Wuxin turned around and took the large copper kettle from Yueya's hand. He poured dog's blood into the center of the courtyard to draw a deep red circle, and said, "Yueya, come in and sit down."

Crescent Moon indeed walked into the circle and sat down on the ground. Trembling with fear, she looked up and asked, "What are you trying to do? Don't cause any big trouble!"

Wuxin squatted down and placed the large copper pot next to Yueya: "Dog blood can ward off evil spirits, and roosters have strong yang energy. I don't feel comfortable leaving you outside. You sit properly in the pen. If you see any unclean or evil spirits, splash them with dog blood. If dog blood doesn't work, untie the rope on the rooster's head, and the rooster can also help you resist for a while."

Crescent Moon and he had only known each other for a day, yet they had unexpectedly become sworn brothers. She really wanted to complain to him, but then she thought better of it and decided not to say anything. After all, she had eaten the banquet and dog meat, so she would die a full-bodied ghost.

The moon gradually rose into the sky. Crescent Moon, cuddling a stinky rooster, sat in the dog-blood circle, looking around. The house was truly magnificent, with its carved beams and painted rafters—something she had only ever seen in pictures before. The doors and windows were all closed; she hadn't dared to look closely when she came during the day, and now even if she wanted to, she couldn't see clearly, wondering what the furnishings inside were like. Suddenly, a cool breeze swept across the ground, and Crescent Moon shivered. Looking up at the sky again, she noticed that the stars had diminished, and the sky was now a hazy, moon-obscured spectacle.

Lord Gu, tall and long-legged, was sitting on the railing of the veranda, smoking. A jug of black dog blood sat beside him, and his cleaver was tied to his waist. He glanced back suddenly and was relieved to see that Wuxin was standing upright at the corner of the veranda, not having gone far.

Smoking a cigarette, Lord Gu turned forward, a sense of unease creeping into his mind. Because he had never seen the true face of "Sha," he felt that Wuxin was even more frightening than Sha—this man stood against the wall in the shadows, not only motionless but also without even a sound of breathing. In the gloom, one could see his slightly lowered, snow-white face with slightly sunken eye sockets, which at first glance looked like two black pits.

After finishing a cigarette, Lord Gu took out his cigarette case and lit another. It was summer, and both sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows. Suddenly, his exposed forearms felt like they were being electrocuted. He instinctively rubbed his arms and found that he had goosebumps all over.

Lord Gu suspected that the night air was chilly and that he wasn't dressed warmly enough. Wuxin stood motionless, his right hand tucked into his sleeve, slowly kneading a clump of horse manure.

After a long while, all was quiet. Crescent Moon, half-asleep while hugging the stinky rooster, vaguely saw Lord Gu get up and walk into the courtyard, a cigarette dangling from his hand. He muttered to himself, "Is it raining?"

Crescent Moon reached out, but caught no raindrops. Lord Gu casually flicked his cigarette butt into the well, then returned to his seat. Bored, he yawned, feeling a chill on the back of his neck—the sensation of a water droplet. Just as he was about to reach back to touch it, a "drip" sounded beside his ear, and another drop of cold water landed on the railing.

Lord Gu suspected that rainwater had accumulated on the roof of the covered walkway and was now slowly seeping in. He reached up to touch his head, intending to move to another spot, but unexpectedly, what he touched was cool and damp. He paused for a moment, then pulled a strand of his long, dripping hair from his head.

The water dripped more rapidly. Lord Gu suddenly drew his cleaver, looked up, and saw a pale, filthy face hanging from the ceiling. Not only was its face riddled with bloody gashes, but its eyes were also gouged out, and its chin and lips were dry and blackened, the skin gone, revealing two rows of teeth, the gaps between which were filled with bloody saliva. A head of wet black hair cascaded down. Lord Gu could see clearly that the ghostly face above had actually split open its mouth, grinning maliciously at him through its wounded appearance!

Lord Gu was terrified. He roared and raised his cleaver, but before he could even move, long hair had already wrapped around his neck. He groaned in half-suffocation and terror as the long hair, like tentacles, spread and covered his face, seemingly disappearing into any hole it found.

Crescent Moon saw it from afar and was so frightened that she was about to scream when suddenly a figure appeared—it was Wuxin.

Wuxin calmly raised his hands, grabbing her long hair from above and below, slowly pulling it down alternately. The female demon followed suit, opening her bloody mouth towards Wuxin and spewing out black gas with a "whoosh." However, before the black gas could escape, Wuxin swiftly struck, shoving a clump of horse dung into the female demon's mouth, and shouted sharply, "Shut your stinking mouth!"

The female demon's face remained expressionless, but two white eyes suddenly bulged out from the two bloody holes in her face. She then closed her cold, wet hands around Wuxin's neck, clearly intending to strangle him to death. Seeing that her hair was entangled around Lord Gu and her hands were clamping down on him, rendering her unable to harm Yueya, Wuxin confidently raised his hands to slap her. A series of sharp cracking sounds followed as he delivered over thirty slaps to the female demon's face. The female demon, however, gripped his neck tightly, her eyes turning red as she did so, noticing something amiss—Wuxin was not breathing. Wuxin looked directly at her and saw that not only had her eyes changed color, but her head was like a sac filled with pus and blood, gushing blood from its wounds.

Suddenly, he lunged forward, right in front of Wuxin's eyes, a white maggot crawling across her bloodied, mangled eye. Wuxin smirked, then whispered, "You filthy wench, you think I'm afraid of you just because you're ugly? When I was wandering the world, your three souls and seven spirits weren't even complete yet!"

At this point, he pulled a long, thick hemp rope from his sleeve: "Come on, let me show you the sunshine of tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)