met free Chapter 20 Talk of Demons and Ghosts
Chapter 20 Talk of Demons and Ghosts
After dealing with the ghost statue, Song Quyou kicked the now delirious and confused prefect out of the room.
Its stiff body, like a thrown arrow, sank a few feet into the ground, arched out a clump of withered grass, and then lay flat on the ground.
Song Quyou walked out of the study, grabbed the old servant who had been stubborn, and dragged him to the side of the dazed prefect.
"Is he still your prefect?"
The old servant's graying head swayed unconsciously, he remained silent, tears streaming down his cloudy eyes, and he collapsed to his knees on the ground.
Song Quyou sheathed his sword and let out a long sigh of relief.
suddenly.
A chill ran through my chest, and a warm jade pendant, engraved with evil spirits, floated out.
The jade pendant slowly rose into the air, drawing in the moonlight from the high sky, emitting a soft blue glow that illuminated the entire garden.
The servants, who had just breathed a sigh of relief at the sudden turn of events, tensed up again. The swords they were about to sheath and the spears they were about to raise were gripped tightly once more.
Under the blue light, the prefect and the four-faced ghost statue pierced by a sword emitted wisps of smoke.
Each of them was drawn out with a phantom image, one with one head and the other with three heads.
Two illusory figures struggled in the air, eventually merging into one, transforming into a form identical to the ghost statue. The statue continued to writhe in mid-air, its abdomen pierced by a sword, the wound visible. Four faces took turns staring at the person on the ground.
"Boy, as long as greed, anger, and ignorance exist in Zhongtian, I will not destroy it. If my magical power hadn't been greatly depleted some time ago, how could I have let you, you brat, get away with this today? How could I have allowed you to be so presumptuous?"
Song Quyou remained silent, holding his sword, letting him spout nonsense.
The ghostly phantom looked at the jade pendant in the air with resentment: "I thought I had hidden it very well, but I didn't expect that you, with your little jade pendant, would still find out. But you think you can devour me, this Yin Buddha, with just this jade pendant? You're dreaming."
As he spoke, the phantom disintegrated, turning into specks of firefly light that drifted away in the wind.
But the blue jade pendant persisted, hovering motionless in mid-air. Its blue light not only did not diminish, but instead became even purer and brighter.
The blue light grew stronger, and the fireflies that were scattering and drifting were drawn together by invisible threads, swirling in the air. After struggling for a moment, they slowly gathered back together and transformed back into the illusory image of the Yin Buddha.
The Yin Buddha struggled endlessly under the moonlight, its four faces twisting in turn, emitting four completely different roars.
"impossible……"
Before he could finish speaking, the four faces of the Yin Buddha twisted in terror and were quickly absorbed into the jade pendant, transforming into a tiny four-sided ghost pattern that was swallowed up by the many evil spirits.
The jade pendant trembled slightly, emitting a faint hum, before falling back into Song Quyou's hand. It then dimmed its light and spirit, transforming into ordinary, lustrous green jade.
The sound of armor scraping against armor came from outside the courtyard, growing louder as a troop of armored soldiers surged into the garden, led by Captain Cheng Qing.
Cheng Qing stepped past the servants, glanced at the prefect covered in corpse spots and was startled, then looked at Song Quyou, whose clothes were tattered, and asked in confusion:
"Master, what has happened?"
"The prefect was possessed by evil spirits and demons, and his five wives died in less than a year. I have already executed him."
Cheng Qing frowned and cupped his hands to Song Quyou, saying, "Although I haven't known you for long, I trust your character. But the prefect has died, and this matter is of great importance. I beg you to bear with me for a while, and I will come back to apologize once everything is clear."
Song Quyou gave Cheng Qing a deep look, then laughed loudly:
"I'm afraid I can't comply with you today. I will come to the military camp to find you before noon tomorrow and accept your investigation."
As he spoke, Song Quyou took up his sword and leaped lightly, like a bird in flight, onto the roof.
Seeing that someone was about to leave, the armored soldiers in the courtyard held their crossbows with arrows in hand, tapped their hanging swords lightly, and the arrows pierced the air and disappeared into the night.
Cheng Qing roared furiously, "Who gave you permission to shoot arrows?"
Fortunately, Song Quyou was agile enough to dart past the arrow, which grazed his tattered clothes and took away the last remaining piece of cloth covering his face.
He lightly touched the roof ridge with his toes, then rose up again and disappeared among the towering buildings in the blink of an eye, no longer able to hear Cheng Qing's roars and curses.
The lingering clouds were swept away by the wind, revealing the bright moonlight.
Song Quyou dodged and weaved, running dozens of miles north of the city, finally stopping beside a familiar mountain stream.
The water flowed swiftly, and under the moonlight, it seemed as if a layer of white phosphorus had formed on it.
After crossing the mountain stream and walking through the dense forest, the view opened up, but there was no familiar fragrance of flowers, and the beautiful summer scenery of yesterday was nowhere to be found.
The view that was revealed made Song Quyou gasp.
Yesterday's vibrant green grass and blooming flowers are now all withered, lying listlessly on the ground, their leaves a dull yellow. They are desperately trying to conceal more than ten fleshless skeletons.
The skeleton was a bright red, covered with dense teeth marks. Song Quyou stopped in front of a skeleton wrapped in a tattered red gauze dress, looking at the familiar black hair bun. The person who had been alive for only two or three days had been murdered, and he felt an indescribable sorrow in his heart.
Song Quyou sighed softly, drew his sword, unleashed a series of sword energies, dug a pit, and carefully placed more than ten skeletons into it.
Into the ground is safe.
After finishing everything, Song Quyou was sweating and pale. He had used too much sword energy, and the weakness made him feel dizzy.
Despite being exhausted, I still finished reciting the sutras for the deceased.
Looking at the pale eastern sky, Song Quyou exhaled a breath of stale air and continued walking deeper into the forest, passing through the bamboo grove and arriving at the red bean tree.
The red bean tree remains, but the rock beneath it now bears a line of delicate, small characters.
"I urge you to open your heart and see clearly; do not believe anyone who tells lies."
Song Quyou's eyes were deep, a sense of pent-up frustration was stuck in his chest, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
The morning breeze swept through the bamboo forest, carrying the chill of late autumn. It made Song Quyou's tattered clothes flutter in the wind, and his body was soaked in frost.
Under the red bean tree, he stared at the delicate handwriting for a long time without moving.
But dawn had already broken, and Song Quyou, ignoring the frost in his hair, picked up his sword and turned back. He had to keep his promise to Cheng Qing.
High on the mountain, a woman with a white headscarf and a compassionate face stood beside a crystal-clear white ape, quietly watching Song Quyou's figure under the red bean tree through the clouds below.
"Now that he's exhausted, I'll go and kill him."
The woman smiled faintly and shook her head. "He's just waiting for you to kill him. If you go, you won't come back. You should save your life and go to Qiantang to help that vile snake clear a path."
……
As dawn broke and the sun rose, the outline of Jiannan County gradually emerged from the thin mist.
Song Quyou changed into a coarse Taoist robe and came to the drill ground in the north of the city.
Cheng Qing, fully armored, looked at Song Quyou, whose face was full of exhaustion.
"The Taoist priest keeps his promise."
"Let's go. I didn't bring any weapons. Let's find a cell and let me rest for a bit."
Cheng Qing summoned his personal guards and said:
"Send the Taoist priest to the yamen jail and tell the officers there that if they dare to neglect him, my weapon, Cheng Qing's weapon, is stained with blood."
It must be because of Cheng Qing that the prison in Jiannan County was cleaner than Song Quyou had imagined.
It was more like a simple guest room than a prison cell. The brick walls were damp, but the floor was covered with dry grass, on which was a coarse cloth mat. In the corner was a low table with a teapot, teacups, and even an oil lamp.
Song Quyou lay flat on the dry grass. He had been quite exhausted last night, and all he wanted to do now was catch up on his sleep.