Chapter 290: Lanjiang Dam

Outside the door, Ye Bing and the Fox Immortal Corpse fought fiercely. Baleful aura scattered in all directions, making it nearly impossible for ordinary people to approach.

I helped Daoist Priest Xianqing to the corner, skirted the corpses, and took a quick lap around the inner room.

"What are you doing?" Daoist Priest Xianqing asked, watching me knock on the walls as if searching for something.

"Seeing if there's another exit. We need to get out of here first."

Daoist Priest Xianqing shook his head. "Don't even think about it. We chose to process the corpses here and seal the yuan chen in this place precisely because this room is completely enclosed and cut off from the outside world."

Finding nothing, I returned to Daoist Priest Xianqing's side. "There's no way out. Are we really going to meet our end here tonight, like fish on a chopping block?"

I was unwilling to accept this, but I had no other choice. The walls had been specially reinforced; aside from the front door, there wasn't a single window.

"Daoist Priest, why did you come to a place like this in the middle of the night?" The student corpses stood silently in the inner room, facing the altar. No matter how I looked at them, the sight was deeply unsettling.

Daoist Priest Xianqing sighed helplessly and looked toward the Fox Immortal Corpse outside. "Corpse driving is incredibly complicated. The principles behind it can't be explained in a sentence or two. Just the act of raising a corpse involves three steps: selecting the time, opening the altar, and sacrificing to the corpse. Tonight is the time of the mourning apparel, condolence visitor, and funeral door. To ordinary people, it is a baleful time, but to us corpse drivers, it is an auspicious occasion."

"As for opening the altar, every item I placed around the Fox Immortal Corpse had a purpose, strictly following the rules passed down by our ancestors. Finally, sacrificing to the corpse is the most crucial of the three steps. Corpse driving has thirty-six methods, and the first is the Standing Corpse Skill. If you want to drive a corpse, you must first make it stand."

"A normal corpse wouldn't be a problem for me, but this is my first time driving a fox corpse. Strangely enough, ever since it reacted to you that day and nearly underwent corpse reanimation, it hasn't shown any abnormalities. Only later did I realize that this lack of abnormality was the biggest abnormality of all."

"I summoned lonely ghosts, intending for them to enter the fox's corpse and make it stand, but despite trying numerous methods, none succeeded."

"A fox immortal is ultimately too different from a human; it cannot be judged by common sense. I was out of options, which is why I brought the fox corpse here, hoping to use the death qi of hundreds of corpses to suppress it."

Speaking up to here, Daoist Priest Xianqing paused. He glanced at the room full of corpses respectfully bowing their heads and sighed again. "Ah. Even with all my caution, I still underestimated the fox immortal. It seems the heavens mean to destroy the Corpse Driving Lineage."

Daoist Priest Xianqing was extremely weak, his words intermittent. I roughly understood the sequence of events. "Daoist Priest, that fox has already undergone corpse reanimation. If we just leave it alone, I'm afraid..."

"I know what you want to say, but things have reached a point beyond my control." Daoist Priest Xianqing lowered his eyes, a faint trace of death aura surfacing on his face. "Only now do I understand why the Drunken Old Daoist, despite his realm being several times higher than mine, was unwilling to personally escort the fox immortal away. This corpse must be related to that taboo. I was too reckless."

He seemed to have figured something out. "So be it. I must reap the karma I've sown. Help me up."

"Daoist Priest, don't be impulsive. While there are green hills left, there is no lack of firewood." I noticed Daoist Priest Xianqing's tone was a little off and feared he might do something reckless.

"Don't bother persuading me. You still have important things to do tonight, don't you? You shouldn't stay here." Daoist Priest Xianqing seemed to be hinting at something. Hearing his words, I fell silent. Right now, what I lacked most was time. I had already lingered at Xinhu High School for far too long.

"Destined patron, in a moment, I will do everything in my power to help you leave. I only ask that you promise me one thing."

"Name it, and I'll do it."

"Take Yun Chuan away. That child was born with a bitter fate, but he is naturally gifted. Following me has only held him back."

Daoist Priest Xianqing's words sounded increasingly ominous, as if he were making his final arrangements.

"Daoist Priest, please reconsider."

Waving his hand, Daoist Priest Xianqing looked serene. "If the two of you can escape, don't let Yun Chuan return to Qingtu Temple. Let what is destined to decline, decline. Corpse driving was originally meant to help the unfortunate. Ever since I agreed to help that drunken Daoist drive a corpse for half a million, its nature changed. It's better for this unnecessary craft to disappear entirely, lest it stir up karma and bring disaster to the mortal world."

Daoist Priest Xianqing reached into his robes and pulled out a Wolf-Hair Brush, then retrieved a jade box.

"Daoist Priest, what are you trying to do?"

"Help me up."

I helped Daoist Priest Xianqing up and assisted him in opening the jade box. The moment the jasper lid was lifted, the scent of rice wafted out. Inside was a white "ink" that appeared to be ground from glutinous rice.

Dipping the Wolf-Hair Brush into the ink, Daoist Priest Xianqing shrugged off his dark cyan Daoist robe. Affixed to the center of his back was a yellow talisman.

The material of the talisman was indiscernible. Even though his robe was completely soaked, the talisman remained perfectly intact.

It used a yellow paper base. The front was blank, but the back bore Grandmaster Zi Buyu's Personal Decree.

"This Heart-Protecting Talisman Embryo was passed down by the grandmaster to suppress the fate of our lineage. Only the Dao Zheng of each generation may wear it." Daoist Priest Xianqing's gaze grew somewhat distant, as if recalling something from long ago. "I never expected twenty years to pass in the blink of an eye."

Daoist Priest Xianqing withdrew the Wolf-Hair Brush from the jade box and stood holding it. "Junior disciple Xianqing earnestly implores the grandmaster to manifest his divine presence!"

He flourished the brush, dipping it in the white "ink" and writing with bold, flying strokes.

"First stroke to move the world, second stroke for the grandmaster's sword, third stroke to banish vicious deities and evil fiends thousands of miles away!" He stepped on the talisman head, drew the talisman core, and wrote the talisman decree—all in one smooth motion.

"Divine kings, the general star, and thunder; sun, moon, Ding Jia, and the Dipper!" Ten characters entered the talisman, encompassing the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. That wasn't all. Daoist Priest Xianqing wrote over a dozen Daoist mantras back and forth. The moment the final stroke was completed, the entire Wolf-Hair Brush snapped in half.

"Heaven is round and earth is square, nine chapters of the law. As my brush descends today, ten thousand ghosts shall hide and submit!"

Finishing the incantation, Daoist Priest Xianqing slapped the talisman over his own heart and shouted at the ceiling, "Junior disciple Xianqing faces a sect-exterminating calamity today. I earnestly implore the grandmaster to manifest his divine presence!"

The talisman flashed with golden light, illuminating the inner room like a rising sun, resonating with the thunder and lightning outside.

Daoist Priest Xianqing gently pushed me away and walked toward the door alone. "Destined patron, I leave Yun Chuan in your hands."

The talisman bathed his entire body in a faint layer of golden light, the Daoist mantras flowing across the yellow paper. By the time he stepped out of the inner room, Ye Bing and the mummified fox corpse—who had been fighting outside—both stopped.

The Fox Immortal Corpse stood to the side of the room like a living person draped in mourning attire. Its blood-red eyes darted around shiftily, seemingly searching for me.

On the other side, Ye Bing's reaction was even more bizarre. Ever since Daoist Priest Xianqing activated the Grandmaster's Personal Decree that suppressed fate, Ye Bing had become somewhat distracted. Her eyes alternated between clarity and chaos, and her attention shifted from me to Daoist Priest Xianqing.

'Is that talisman related to the vicious entity possessing Ye Bing?' I constantly monitored the situation outside. Strictly speaking, Ye Bing's change had only begun after Daoist Priest Xianqing shouted the phrase—earnestly imploring the grandmaster to manifest his divine presence. This aroused my suspicion.

'If the vicious entity possessing Ye Bing is the one suppressed at Bridge No. 3 Crematorium, why would it shed its brutal demeanor and show a hint of contemplation after Daoist Priest Xianqing called upon his grandmaster to manifest? Corpse driving requires selecting a time, ideally the time of the mourning apparel, condolence visitor, and funeral door. That vicious entity definitely couldn't possess just anyone, and Ye Bing happens to be someone whose fate carries the mourning apparel, condolence visitor, and funeral door.'

'Is there some special connection here?'

Ye Bing had temporarily ceased her movements, and Daoist Priest Xianqing was blocking the fox immortal with all his might. Seeing my opportunity, I didn't hesitate. Grabbing Jiang Chen with one hand and Yun Chuan with the other, I dragged them and ran out of the building.

Heavy rain drenched my body. I didn't dare stop, running a long way before I finally dared to look back.

In the Incineration Trench, the Fox Immortal Corpse wanted to give chase, but it was desperately held back by Daoist Priest Xianqing and couldn't break free anytime soon.

Through the curtain of rain, I could feel the Fox Immortal Corpse's gaze. The blood color in its two eyes deepened, as if telling me that it would come looking for me. I wouldn't be able to escape.

Shivering, I turned my head and walked out of Xinhu High School. I couldn't stay in this place for long. Aside from the Fox Immortal Corpse and Ye Bing, there was also Qiu Ren waiting to pounce, as well as the armed police officers ready to attack me at any moment.

'I've already obtained the Double-Faced Buddha Mind-Consciousness. The initiative is in my hands. I should just head straight for Lanjiang Dam.'

The environment around Lanjiang Dam flashed through my mind. That place was extremely similar to the death premonition drawing made by Sakurako. 'What must come will eventually come. There is no hiding from it.'

There had never been such a thing as a peaceful and quiet life in this world. It only felt that way because, in places you couldn't see, there were people fighting desperately, putting everything on the line, and carrying the heavy burden forward.