Chen Shi hid behind the broken temple's window, taking in the scene before him.
In just a brief moment, dozens of cultivators at the Divine Fetus Stage were wiped out completely, leaving him truly shocked.
Under the moonlight, a little girl met his gaze, her expression indifferent, devoid of any human emotion. She took a bite of an apple and turned to leave.
Behind Chen Shi, his grandfather's voice came, "Don't envy them. With your current body, you can defeat these officers too."
Chen Shi was slightly taken aback, both surprised and delighted, "Am I as strong as my godmother from Fragrant Field Village now?"
His grandfather was stoking the fire, patiently brewing medicine, and without looking up, he said, "Your godmother could kill you with just a twig. Those officers may not look strong, but one spell from them could kill you."
Chen Shi was puzzled.
"Did you notice? These Divine Fetus Stage cultivators died as soon as the twig got close, without any chance to fight back. Their Divine Fetus may be strong, but their bodies are too weak. If you get close before they can cast a spell, you can defeat them."
His grandfather stirred the medicine and said calmly, "Cultivators who practice the Heavenly Heart True Qi Technique often only cultivate their spirit, not their body. Your body is already strong and getting stronger. Of course, if they strike first, even the weakest spell could easily kill you. You have no True Qi to counter spells. When facing such enemies, you must act first and not give them any chance to attack!"
Chen Shi nodded.
The officers outside were all scholars who practiced the Heavenly Heart True Qi Technique, which focuses on building Qi and foundation, not on strengthening the body.
But the Three Lights True Qi Technique that Chen Shi practiced was different. It aimed to cultivate a Sacred Fetus Body, which meant refining a body like a Divine Fetus. The technique also meant that the power and True Qi would be as strong as the body.
Chen Shi didn't have a Divine Fetus, so even if he cultivated power, it would dissipate. But if he focused all his energy on strengthening his body, his progress would be twice as fast as normal cultivation!
Plus, with his grandfather's brewed medicine and the strange "meals," Chen Shi's progress was even faster!
Soon, the medicine was ready. Chen Shi took it and continued practicing the Three Lights True Qi Technique, unknowingly entering a meditative state, forgetting himself and his surroundings.
Moonlight spilled in from outside, through the window, casting a quiet and mysterious glow on the ground.
His grandfather avoided the moonlight, sitting in a corner, his body trembling.
"Hungry, so hungry... such a delicious smell, human flesh..."
Under his hat, a pair of blood-red eyes fell on Chen Shi. The campfire in the broken temple suddenly turned green, and the air temperature dropped sharply, as if snow could fall.
The black dog couldn't help but shiver, lying down and not daring to move.
In the dark corner, his grandfather stood up at some point, staring intently at Chen Shi, who was practicing.
"I'm really hungry, I want to eat people!"
Suddenly, a window opened, and his grandfather had disappeared from the broken temple, appearing outside.
He ignored the bodies on the ground and vanished into the moonlit night with a few leaps.
Heiguo, the black dog, saw the open window and quickly raised its head, barking twice.
Chen Shi was awakened by the noise and hurriedly went to close the window.
"Grandfather went out again?"
Chen Shi was slightly startled, not finding his grandfather in the temple. He quickly looked outside, seeing the bright moonlight shining on the bodies of dozens of officers and white horses.
Suddenly, one of the bodies twitched a few times.
Chen Shi rubbed his eyes and looked carefully. Indeed, a body was slowly getting up in the moonlight.
His heart skipped a beat, "Is it a zombie?"
As soon as he thought of this, he saw the bodies on the ground start to move, slowly rising one by one.
Even the eight horse corpses were now standing on their four legs!
They were full of bloody holes, should have been dead beyond doubt, yet now they were moving, as if they had come back to life!
Chen Shi's heart pounded wildly. At this moment, Heiguo also crept over, putting its front paws on the window edge to look outside.
In the moonlight, faint music could be heard. The bodies swayed to the music, as if drunk.
Both Chen Shi and the dog were extremely tense, trying to find the source of the music. After a while, the sound of trumpets and suonas became clearer, and two lines of performers emerged from the forest, dancing as they came out!
Chen Shi had seen many wedding processions, always lively, with the host family hiring performers to play music for celebration.
But the scene outside looked like a wedding procession welcoming a bride, except the performers were all foxes, standing on two hind legs like humans, puffing their cheeks, and blowing hard on their instruments.
Some foxes held cymbals, clanging loudly, and others had drums tied to their waists, beating them vigorously, with the drum sounds echoing.
They swayed as if dancing under the moonlight.
Following them was a large red sedan chair, floating in the air without anyone carrying it, swaying along with the music.
The dozens of corpses in front of the temple also danced to the rhythm of the music, appearing eerily under the moonlight.
"It's not an evil spirit, it's a curse!"
Chen Shi gasped, remembering his grandfather's words that curses were more dangerous than evil spirits, something even the godmother of a village couldn't fend off!
Whenever a curse appeared, several villages would be wiped out, with villagers and godmothers dying overnight!
"The Peachwood Talisman grandfather left might not stop a curse!"
Chen Shi looked at the wedding procession. The red sedan chair's curtain fluttered, revealing a glimpse of a woman in a red wedding dress, her fair hand, and her head covered under a red veil.
"Invite the groom—"
The foxes suddenly turned their heads, looking directly at Chen Shi's direction, stretching their necks and calling out in human voices, "Invite the groom to the sedan chair—"
The dancing corpses also turned to look at Chen Shi, their gray eyes staring straight at the young man in the temple, speaking in unison, "Invite the groom to the sedan chair!"
Chen Shi and Heiguo quickly ducked their heads, their hearts nearly jumping out of their chests.
Outside, the wedding procession played music, and the red sedan chair floated towards the broken temple, coming to welcome the groom!
Chen Shi swiftly retreated, his eyes fixed on the Peachwood Talisman hanging on the door and window.
The talisman, though inscribed with symbols, outlined the shape of a door guardian. A Peachwood Talisman drawn by a cultivator with a Divine Fetus could ward off ordinary evil beings.
His grandfather's power was extraordinary, even in old age, his cultivation was still there. The talismans he drew had never failed to ward off evil!
Suddenly, everything went silent outside.
Heiguo stood in front of Chen Shi, lying down and staring ahead, baring its teeth and growling threateningly.
Suddenly, the Peachwood Talisman hanging on the door and window burst into flames, turning to ashes in an instant!
The temple door opened.
A red sedan chair stopped right in front of the temple door.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
Heiguo rushed to the door, barking madly. At this moment, a slender hand reached out from the sedan chair, gently lifting the curtain, revealing the bride sitting inside.
Heiguo's fur stood on end, barking even more fiercely.
"Heiguo is truly loyal!" Chen Shi thought, secretly praising, "I misjudged it before."
The bride's slender hand slowly lowered the curtain, and Chen Shi was startled, "Could it be that the curse was scared by Heiguo and decided to retreat?"
Just as he thought this, he suddenly found someone beside him.
Chen Shi turned his head and saw it was the bride from the sedan chair.
Chen Shi was stunned, looking around, everything was a crimson red.
Heiguo, seeing the curtain fall, also breathed a sigh of relief, but noticed another person in the sedan chair, dressed in a red robe, presumably the groom.
The glimpse when the curtain fell showed the groom in the sedan chair looked just like Chen Shi!
Heiguo was horrified, quickly turning back, only to find Chen Shi had disappeared from the temple!
The red sedan chair slowly floated up, with many foxes beating drums and playing instruments, joyfully escorting the red sedan chair out of the temple.
Heiguo couldn't care about anything else, rushing out of the broken temple, running towards the red sedan chair, determined to save Chen Shi.
At this moment, a startled cry came from the sedan chair, followed by a gust of cold wind, making it hard to discern direction. Heiguo quickly stopped, seeing as the cold wind passed, the red sedan chair, the fox performers, and the corpses all disappeared, leaving only Chen Shi sitting on the ground.
Heiguo rushed over, finding Chen Shi looking confused, not knowing why he was in the sedan chair.
He only saw the bride, and then found himself inside the sedan chair.
As for how he got out of the sedan chair, he was equally clueless.
At that time, the bride beside him tore at his clothes, but suddenly seemed frightened, shrinking into the corner of the sedan chair, afraid he might harm her, screaming shrilly, and then he was sitting on the ground instead of in the sedan chair.
The man and dog returned to the broken temple, still shaken.
Chen Shi looked at the open temple door and the ashes of the Peachwood Talisman, still a bit lost, quickly shaking his head to steady his mind.
He hurriedly closed the temple door, moving a giant stone to block it.
Heiguo jumped into the cart, rummaging through boxes, quickly jumping down with his grandfather's knife in its mouth, dropping it in front of Chen Shi, and using its front paw to gesture at its neck, suggesting he stab there, where the black dog's blood was most potent.
Chen Shi took out pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, not smearing Heiguo's neck but carefully taking a bit of black dog blood, imitating the drawing of a Peachwood Talisman.
Chen Shi had memorized his grandfather's Peachwood Talisman long ago, and after grinding the cinnabar, he immediately started drawing.
Drawing talismans required True Qi, so Chen Shi used the Three Lights True Qi Technique, pouring his hard-earned True Qi into the ink, focusing on the tip of the brush, quickly completing a Peachwood Talisman in one go.
It was already deep into the night, and evil beings could come at any time, so he had to quickly draw enough Peachwood Talismans to seal the doors and windows!
Chen Shi drew with divine inspiration, soon completing six Peachwood Talismans, hanging two on the door and four on the windows.
He didn't know if his talismans would work, feeling uneasy and unable to sleep.
Heiguo couldn't sleep either, both lying by the window, quietly watching outside, to prevent another attack by evil beings.
"It's really strange, why did that curse let me go?"
The more Chen Shi thought about it, the more puzzled he became. A curse could easily destroy a village and a godmother, and a kid like him would probably be drained dry in an instant.
Yet the bride curse seemed afraid of him, leaving him behind and running away.
Chen Shi couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it, staying alert to the movements outside the temple.
After a long time, everything outside was peaceful.
Heiguo placed its front paws on the window, also watching outside, ready to relax when Chen Shi's voice came, "Heiguo, grandfather might not be human anymore."
Heiguo perked up its ears, looking at him in confusion.
Under the moonlight, the boy's face had a few tears, but his eyes seemed deep, looking far away, speaking softly, "More than half a month ago, grandfather said his time was up, and he needed to hold a funeral for himself to trick the Underworld Messengers coming to take him. If they saw him dead, they wouldn't capture him."
Heiguo remembered this.
The old man had planned for a long time, preparing his own funeral hall, and even his own memorial tablet, not to mention the gold ingots, candles, and paper money.
"Grandfather said he would lie in the coffin pretending to be dead, and if he could endure that day and deceive the Underworld Messengers, he could live a few more years. He couldn't bear to leave me alone."
Chen Shi stared blankly into the distance, then continued, "But after that day, when grandfather came out of the coffin, he changed. He no longer ate food but liked to eat candles. He didn't like the taste of meals but liked the smell of incense. He also liked to eat strange things, like... people!"
He shivered, saying sadly, "Maybe after that day, the grandfather who came out of the coffin was already dead. Maybe he didn't fool the Underworld Messengers."
Chen Shi, with a maturity beyond his age, said softly, "He doesn't want me to know this. He wants to stay by my side, protecting me, watching me grow. But he's no longer human; he's a corpse, always wanting to eat people."
Heiguo looked serious, nodding solemnly.
"No matter what, he's still my grandfather. Even if he turned himself into a zombie, even if he wants to eat me, he's still my grandfather."
Chen Shi's eyes glistened, speaking softly, "He's the only family I have... Heiguo, you go rest first, and come back to take over later."
Heiguo put down its paws, lying down to sleep, while the boy whispered by the window, "The dog knows too many of my secrets, it might tell grandfather. Should I kill the dog to silence it?"
Heiguo immediately got up, quickly coming to Chen Shi's side, indicating he should go to sleep and it would keep watch, wagging its tail to show it was the right thing to do.