Chapter 177: Ren Yaozhe Appears
For this Ghost Festival religious ceremony, Xuan Xia had specially learned the method to open the heavenly eye from Yan Wentao in advance, just to see what Li Qiaozhen would become after receiving deliverance.
After Yan Wentao taught her very seriously, he asked Xuan Xia with slight hesitation: “Boss, have you never participated in this kind of religious ceremony before?”
During the two days Xuan Xia went to Jiangshi for work, Yan Wentao had chatted idly with Uncle Zhong and gained a deeper understanding of Xuan Xia.
This included the fact that Xuan Xia had no contact with this line of work before taking over Changsheng Temple.
When he learned of this, Yan Wentao was dispirited for half a day, for no other reason than he simply couldn’t believe Xuan Xia hadn’t been exposed to and learning these things since childhood.
After all, she was simply too proficient in talismans.
However, there were also many aspects that could corroborate that she indeed hadn’t been exposed to these things since childhood. Just like when handling Ding Lu’s family matter in Yanjing before, she didn’t know how to defend herself.
So when Xuan Xia wanted to learn the divine eye technique now, saying she wanted to witness Li Qiaozhen after receiving deliverance, Yan Wentao had this guess.
Xuan Xia nodded and said: “Yeah.”
With his guess confirmed, Yan Wentao couldn’t quite describe his mood, and his expression became complicated for a moment.
Xuan Xia looked at his expression and asked puzzledly: “Why that expression?”
Yan Wentao quickly said: “It’s nothing. Just… Boss, are you sure you want to invoke the divine eye during the religious ceremony?”
“Is there some taboo or prohibition, like you can’t open the heavenly eye during a religious ceremony?”
“That’s not it, there’s no such rule.” Yan Wentao thought for a moment, then quickly said with self-mockery: “Sigh, I’m just overthinking it. Boss, you’ve seen lost souls before.”
Xuan Xia raised an eyebrow.
So strange.
–
When the religious ceremony began, Xuan Xia invoked the divine eye herself and watched Yan Wentao host the religious ceremony in the courtyard together with Daoist Master Qin.
It was Yan Wentao’s first time hosting this kind of religious ceremony alone. Before starting, he felt a bit of pressure, afraid he would mess up, but once he stepped onto the erected altar platform and formally began invoking and presenting the memorial, that bit of pressure completely vanished, leaving only a state of complete immersion.
As the religious ceremony proceeded, Yan Wentao released Li Qiaozhen, who had been bound for many days.
Li Qiaozhen’s appearance was still that terrifying look, but her emotions were quite stable. She even showed a bit of piety after hearing Yan Wentao chant the scriptures.
Although still bound, Yan Wentao had given her special treatment these past few days, and she had learned from him that Shen Jiabing had turned himself in.
Her resentment had already dissipated.
At the same time, as Yan Wentao prayed, quite a few lost souls arrived in the Taoist temple.
These were the ancestors of the believers and pilgrims. Because they had entrusted the temple with ancestral sacrifices, all the ancestors had come to the temple.
Xuan Xia saw the not-so-large space suddenly filled with ghostly shadows.
But this wasn’t all. Today’s religious ceremony, besides ancestral worship, also included offerings for lost souls, meaning lonesome ghosts could come to receive the incense offerings.
Compared to the neatly dressed and calm-faced ancestors, the lonesome ghosts that followed were much more varied.
This variety was in every aspect.
And in terms of numbers, they clearly outnumbered the prayed-for ancestors.
Fortunately, these lonesome ghosts were fairly orderly, lining up behind the believers’ and pilgrims’ ancestors without running around chaotically.
Xuan Xia skipped over these lonesome ghosts and focused her gaze on the ancestors in front.
She had specially learned to invoke the divine eye from Yan Wentao, not just to see Li Qiaozhen, but also to see her great grandfather.
But after identifying all those ancestral lost souls, she still didn’t see her great grandfather’s figure.
She didn’t give up and searched again, but still saw no sign of him.
Xuan Xia couldn’t help it and quietly asked Daoist Master Qin beside her: “Did you see my great grandfather?”
Daoist Master Qin raised his eyes. Compared to Xuan Xia, he remained calm and composed.
“No, Mr. Xuan didn’t come.”
“Is he late?” Xuan Xia asked him: “Or did Daoist Master Yan not pray for him on my behalf?”
Xuan Xia thought that she had arranged with Yan Wentao on the day she returned from Jiangshi that during the Ghost Festival religious ceremony, he would pray for her great grandfather to return to the temple on her behalf.
Today wasn’t the day the Earthly Official released spirits whose karma is fulfilled from the underworld, and Xuan Xia felt that given what her great grandfather had done in life, she didn’t believe his merit was insufficient.
She thought this and said as much to Daoist Master Qin.
Daoist Master Qin agreed with her, then comforted her: “So there’s another possibility: Mr. Xuan’s merit is already fulfilled, and he has long since reincarnated.”
Upon hearing this, Xuan Xia felt it was very reasonable.
“You’re right.”
Her previously somewhat anxious mood was instantly soothed.
The religious ceremony was still ongoing. After Yan Wentao offered incense food to the lost souls present, he began the final deliverance religious ceremony.
Xuan Xia asked Daoist Master Qin about these lonesome ghosts again. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes now, she wouldn’t have known Ningzhou had so many lonesome ghosts.
And these certainly weren’t all of them, because tonight Baoyi Temple and other Taoist temples would also hold religious ceremonies to offer to lonesome ghosts.
Daoist Master Qin looked at the courtyard full of lonesome ghosts and said thoughtfully: “Indeed, there are many more than in previous years.”
And as Yan Wentao’s religious ceremony proceeded, more and more late-arriving lonesome ghosts came, and the entire courtyard was almost too packed to stand in.
Uncle Zhong and the others were also in the temple. They couldn’t see the current situation in the temple, but they could feel the temperature inside the temple suddenly drop a lot.
Fortunately, Li Xinze and the other three men had strong yang energy. Even the older Uncle Zhong, being with them, didn’t feel any discomfort.
Xuan Xia wasn’t sure if Daoist Master Qin saying there were more lonesome ghosts this year than last was good or bad, so she just said: “Then it seems Daoist Master Yan does have some skill, able to draw so many lonesome ghosts.”
Yan Wentao on the platform had no idea Xuan Xia had said this about him and continued chanting the religious ceremony.
After Yan Wentao’s deliverance, Li Qiaozhen shed her body of baleful energy and returned to her appearance from life.
Just like what Xuan Xia had seen in the illusion at Auntie Feng’s house.
Li Qiaozhen’s face was serene. Knowing Xuan Xia was present, she specially turned back to look at Xuan Xia, grinned, and her lips moved slightly.
Judging by her lip movements, she was saying the words “thank you.”
Xuan Xia nodded to her, though she didn’t feel she had done anything worth her thanks.
As the deliverance religious ceremony reached its final step, with the last segment of chanting, Yan Wentao shook the ritual bell in his hand.
After the ritual bell rang, a sudden strong wind blew in from outside the temple into the temple. The wind blew Yan Wentao on the platform, along with all the setup on the platform.
The tall banners swayed urgently in the wind, and the burned paper money was swept into the air by the strong wind. Since not fully burned, sparks flickered and glowed in the wind.
“Something’s wrong.”
Daoist Master Qin suddenly spoke, and Xuan Xia’s heart skipped a beat.
“What?”
Right after this, a sudden change occurred in the courtyard.
Amid the wind sounds was a faint bell sound.
Those lonesome ghosts that had originally been delivered by Yan Wentao suddenly reverted to their original forms, even more terrifying than before.
Their eyes all turned into blood-red pupils without irises, those pairs of blood pupils so red they seemed to glow in the night.
These lost souls even manifested forms. Uncle Zhong and the others instantly saw the situation in the courtyard clearly, their faces all changing.
Xuan Xia’s eyes widened too.
This wasn’t “something’s wrong”—this was “something’s bad”!
Yan Wentao on the platform also stopped his actions, staring dumbfounded at the scene below the platform, instantly suspecting his religious ceremony had failed.
He hadn’t delivered these lonesome ghosts; instead, he had stirred their ferocity, turning them into… ghostly appearances?!
These fierce ghosts below had completely lost order. Some attacked the karma-fulfilled ancestral souls, some scattered in all directions—one part charged at Yan Wentao, another part at the distant Li Xinze and the others, and the rest all rushed toward Xuan Xia’s side.
Xuan Xia and Daoist Master Qin acted at the same time.
Daoist Master Qin also called out to Uncle Zhong’s side: “Uncle Zhong, you all go into Lingguan Hall.”
Almost as soon as Daoist Master Qin finished speaking, Uncle Zhong and the others reacted immediately, turning and entering the nearest Lingguan Hall, then shutting the door.
Those blood-pupiled fierce ghosts stopped at the hall door. They still feared the grand hall enshrining the divine official.
“How could this happen, Daoist Master Qin?” Xuan Xia felt her experience was truly limited. Could a Ghost Festival religious ceremony turn out like this?
Daoist Master Qin didn’t speak. After subduing a wave of fierce ghosts, he turned his gaze to the night sky.
By now the strong wind had died down. Without the wind noise interference, when the bell sound rang again, it sounded so abrupt.
Xuan Xia followed the sound with her gaze and soon saw the same thing as Daoist Master Qin.
At some point, a human figure had appeared at the gate of Changsheng Temple.
The figure held a thin stick in hand, with a string of small bells on the tip of the thin stick—the bell sound Xuan Xia heard came from there.
It was also because of the decoration on that thin stick that Xuan Xia and the others could spot the figure’s presence.
Otherwise, the other party seemed fused into the night.
“It’s that person!” Yan Wentao also spotted the figure and quickly identified him: “Ren Yaozhe!”
Ren Yaozhe!?
Xuan Xia tensed.
Ren Yaozhe had been in Ningzhou for so many days, playing hide-and-seek with Gong Ziliu for so many days, yet on this Ghost Festival night, he came to Changsheng Temple.
This was clearly… no good intentions!
But good that he came—after searching bitterly for so long, he finally showed himself.
Xuan Xia thought this and ground her molars slowly.
Hearing himself recognized, Ren Yaozhe no longer hid, lifted his chin to reveal his eyes, then showed his full face, and gave a wicked grin toward Xuan Xia’s direction.
“I know you’ve been looking for me, so I came.”
It was the first time Xuan Xia heard Ren Yaozhe speak. His voice matched his grin, carrying an evil tone.
Daoist Master Qin pushed his wheelchair forward one step, blocking in front of Xuan Xia, and didn’t forget to say: “Be careful.”
Xuan Xia acknowledged with a “mm,” her gaze locked tightly on Ren Yaozhe.
“These lonesome ghosts—you did this?” After looking for a few seconds, Xuan Xia suddenly asked Ren Yaozhe.
Ren Yaozhe chuckled lowly twice and replied to her: “Don’t you Daoist priests love deliverance? These are gifts for you. How about it, like them?”
With that, Ren Yaozhe swung the thin stick in his hand. The bells jingled, and those originally subdued fierce ghosts had their ferocity stirred again, struggling to charge at Xuan Xia and the others once more.
Daoist Master Qin raised his hand and drew talismans in the air with his finger. Once the talismans formed, they glowed with golden light and flew toward the oncoming fierce ghosts.
The fierce ghosts were flung back instantly upon touching the talismans, collapsing to the ground unable to even crawl up.
Such fierce attacks also made the other fierce ghosts cower, letting out hissing roars but not daring to approach.
Seeing this, Yan Wentao subdued the wave of fierce ghosts near him, then hurriedly jumped down from the platform and ran to Daoist Master Qin’s side.
Staying by his own master felt much safer.
“You’re the Daoist priest, your whole family are Daoist priests!” Xuan Xia spat.
Ren Yaozhe: “…”
Ren Yaozhe had never encountered this kind of bickering and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
Xuan Xia had another line: “Compared to delivering them, I’d rather deliver you. Why don’t you hurry up and die so I can deliver you.”
