Spirit Hunters of Maoshan Sect - c2

Chapter 2: Opening the Coffin
Unexpectedly, the old Daoist priest waved his hand dismissively, pulled up a long bench, and sat down in the courtyard, saying: “Amitabha, this poor priest hasn’t had dinner yet, first get me something to eat.”

Old Man Ye was taken aback and ordered his daughter-in-law to quickly prepare food. Using the excuse of helping in the kitchen, he called his son there to inquire about the old priest’s background.

“Following Father’s instructions, I originally went to the county town to find Master Zhang, and while eating buns there, I happened to share a table with this old priest. He spotted the corpse energy on me at a glance, and after hearing my situation, immediately offered to help, so I brought him back,” lowering his voice, he added, “Father… he’s not a fraud, is he?”

Old Man Ye didn’t answer, instead asking, “Did he ask for payment?”

“Yes, he said after the job is done, we need to give him five thousand. I thought saving a life was paramount, so I agreed.”

Five thousand… in that era, especially for a rural family, was no small sum. However, if it meant saving his grandson, Old Man Ye wouldn’t bat an eye even if it cost him his life. But if this man was a fraud, not only would they lose money, but they’d also waste precious time – his grandson’s condition was deteriorating by the day.

With mixed feelings, Old Man Ye returned to the courtyard, poured two cups of tea, and sat opposite the old priest. He tried to probe the priest’s background while chatting, but the priest showed little interest in conversation, only saying his Daoist name was Qing Yun Zi, and he came from Maoshan. He refused to elaborate on anything else.

Old Man Ye grew more suspicious, but at this point, they had to treat even a dead horse as if it could still run.

When the food was ready, Qing Yun Zi showed no hesitation. He had Ye Bing go to the village store to buy the best bottle of liquor, and then leisurely ate and drank by himself for nearly an hour. Only then did he wipe his mouth, stretch lazily, and with slightly drunk, stumbling steps, head toward the back room.

Watching his swaying gait, Old Man Ye sighed quietly.

Entering the back room, Qing Yun Zi observed the child on the bed from a distance. Seeing the boy’s bloodshot eyes and blackened complexion, combined with Ye Bing’s earlier description, he was already eighty percent certain of his diagnosis.

Approaching the bed, he placed his large hand on the child’s forehead, using his spiritual energy to examine the boy’s internal organs. Suddenly, his whole body trembled – this child actually possessed the rare innate spiritual physique!

Looking more closely at the child, his features were full, his destiny strong, and his dao patterns long – truly an exceptional talent for cultivation! His heart leaped with joy, thinking how his impulse to leave the mountain and travel had coincidentally led him to meet the child’s father in this small county town. It seemed heaven had arranged this meeting to help him find this child!

“Amitabha, thanks to the Three Pure Ones for their blessing. Maoshan has an heir now, hehe, hehe.”

After chuckling for a while, Qing Yun Zi suppressed his overwhelming joy and examined the child thoroughly. He found the boy’s limbs ice-cold, while the rest of his body burned like hot iron – very strange indeed. Opening the child’s hands, he found the palms blackened, the skin keratinized and rough to the touch, with the black tinge threatening to spread toward the wrists.

“Such potent corpse poison!”

Qing Yun Zi sighed quietly, took out a handful of glutinous rice from his bag, and pressed it against the child’s hands. With a “hiss,” a puff of blue smoke rose, and all the rice turned black.

“Master, what is…” Ye father and son stood dumbfounded, trembling as they asked. The previous scene had dispelled some of their doubts, making them believe the old priest truly possessed supernatural powers, and a glimmer of hope arose in their hearts.

Qing Yun Zi didn’t answer. He had Ye Bing bring a large bowl, took out a talisman paper, drew several strokes with cinnabar, gave it a gentle shake, and the talisman paper self-immolated. He put the ashes in the bowl, dissolved them in water, and had the child drink it.

The previously unconscious child moaned once and woke up, crying that he was cold. Qing Yun Zi had Ye Bing bring another cotton quilt to cover the child, soothed him back to sleep, then took out a compass. After chanting an incantation, the compass needle spun rapidly, pointing toward the head of the bed.

Qing Yun Zi quickly walked over, felt under the bedding but found nothing, then, ignoring the dust, crawled under the bed and searched thoroughly. When he emerged, his expression was grave. As if performing a magic trick, he produced a red pill and handed it to Ye Bing. “Get two jin of yellow wine, mix it with three qian of realgar, one liang of cinnabar, and this Red Spirit Pill. Dissolve it in two jin of warm water, and give the child two liang every half hour to eliminate the corpse poison.”

Ye Bing thanked him with a bow and hurried off to prepare the mixture.

Qing Yun Zi returned to the courtyard, sat back on the long bench, and picked up his unfinished white liquor, drinking slowly with furrowed brows, appearing deep in thought.

Old Man Ye approached and bowed deeply to Qing Yun Zi – the priest’s earlier series of dazzling preparations in the room had completely dispelled his doubts, confirming that Qing Yun Zi was indeed a learned master.

“Master, can my grandson… still be saved?”

Qing Yun Zi put down his wine bowl, looked up, and squinted at him. “Do you have any enemies?”

“Enemies?” Old Man Ye was startled and shook his head. “I’ve been village chief for thirty years, and while I’ve offended many, enemies… we really don’t have any.”

“Think carefully, not just ordinary grudges, but someone who would want your entire family dead!”

Old Man Ye drew a sharp breath, a long list of names flashing through his mind, but he filtered through them one by one and shook his head, “Truly, there are none. Master, please understand, our family descends from scholars. While we may not be perfectly virtuous, we’ve never done anything truly wrong, let alone created such deep hatred. What exactly is happening? Please explain, Master.”

Qing Yun Zi nodded slightly, “Looking at your bright forehead, you do seem to possess some righteousness.” He then opened his left palm, and Old Man Ye saw a ping-pong ball-sized sphere, reddish and somewhat moist, like a small ball covered in blood.

“I pried this from the bed board. This is what’s harming your grandson.”

Qing Yun Zi shook his head, “This is corpse oil paste, cursed with secret methods. Within five feet of a person, it continuously releases corpse poison that gets absorbed. Within a month, the person becomes a walking corpse, loses all reason, and actively attacks others. Anyone bitten or scratched will also become a walking corpse. Your grandson’s heart has already been invaded by corpse poison, which has begun to spread outward. You’ve seen your grandson’s hands – that’s the characteristic of corporeal transformation.”

Old Man Ye could no longer stand. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face as he prostrated himself at Qing Yun Zi’s feet. “Master, please save my grandson. Our family has only had one son for three generations, he’s our only seedling…”

“Get up first. Though this matter is tricky, since this poor priest has encountered it, I won’t ignore it.”

After Old Man Ye stood up, Qing Yun Zi continued: “When corpse poison attacks the heart, it’s usually fatal, but your grandson is…” He suddenly thought it better to keep this matter secret, to prevent it from spreading.

“Your grandson has a special constitution. The corpse poison is extremely yin in nature, and upon entering his body, it triggered his inner yang energy, which is why his body is both cold and hot. If it were ordinary corpse poison, it wouldn’t be able to harm him…”

Qing Yun Zi frowned as he looked at the corpse oil paste in his palm, “Corpse oil varies in nature. This corpse oil comes from someone who died an unnatural death, with extremely deep resentment. Combined with the corpse poison entering the body, it has created this fatal situation for your grandson.”