Chapter 8 The Bride

Chen Shi hid behind the window of the dilapidated temple, witnessing this scene unfold before his eyes. In just a moment, dozens of God Embryo Realm cultivators had perished completely, which genuinely shocked him. Under the moonlight, a little girl met his gaze, looking indifferent without a trace of human emotion, raised her hand to take a bite of an apple, then turned and left. A voice came from behind Chen Shi, his grandfather said, 'There's no need to envy; with your current body, you too can defeat these constables.' Chen Shi was momentarily stunned, both surprised and delighted, 'Am I now as powerful as the foster mother from Fangdian Village?' His grandfather, stirring the fire and patiently brewing medicine without looking up, replied, 'Your foster mother can kill you with just a twig. Don't underestimate those constables; even a single spell can easily kill you.' Chen Shi was puzzled. 'Have you noticed? These God Embryo Realm cultivators were doomed as soon as they were approached with a twig; they had no time to resist. Their God Embryo is indeed powerful, but their physical bodies are far too weak. If you get close to them before they can cast a spell, you can kill them.' His grandfather stirred the medicine and said lightly, 'Cultivators of the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Technique often focus solely on spiritual cultivation and neglect their physical bodies. Your physique is already strong enough, and it continues to grow stronger. Of course, if they strike first, even a low-level spell can easily kill you. Right now, you have no true energy to counter a spell. When facing such enemies, your goal is to seize the initiative and give them no opportunity to act!' Chen Shi nodded. The constables outside were all scholarly types, practicing the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Technique, which is a method for cultivating Qi and establishing a foundation, lacking in physical training. However, the Three Lights Righteous Qi Technique he practiced was different; it aimed to cultivate the Sacred Embryo Physical Body. The Sacred Embryo refers to the God Embryo, meaning to refine a body like that of a God Embryo. The Physical Body refers to magical power and true energy, meaning the magical power is robust and equal to the body. Chen Shi did not have a God Embryo; even if he refined magical power, it would dissipate, but if he devoted all his energy to tempering his body, his advancement would be twice the normal cultivation speed! Coupled with the medicine brewed by his grandfather and the strange 'food', Chen Shi's progress was even faster! Soon, the medicine was ready. Chen Shi took the medicine and continued cultivating the Three Lights Righteous Qi Technique, unknowingly entering a meditative state where he lost track of time and self. Moonlight spilled through the doorway, shining through the window and onto the ground, creating an atmosphere of quiet mystery. His grandfather, avoiding the moonlight, sat in the corner, his body trembling incessantly. 'Hungry, so hungry... so fragrant, the scent of human flesh...' Beneath the wide-brimmed hat, a pair of blood-red eyes fell on Chen Shi, and the bonfire in the dilapidated temple suddenly turned a sickly green, the temperature of the air plummeting as if snow could fall. The black dog couldn't help but shiver and crouched down, afraid to move. In the dark corner, his grandfather stood up at some point, staring intently at the cultivating Chen Shi. 'I am really so hungry, I want to eat people!' Suddenly a window opened, and his grandfather had vanished from the dilapidated temple, appearing outside the temple. He ignored the corpses on the ground and, with a few leaps, disappeared into the moonlit night. The black dog, seeing the window wide open, hurriedly raised its head and barked twice. Chen Shi was awakened by the noise and quickly approached to close the window. 'Has grandfather gone out again?' Chen Shi was slightly taken aback, not finding his grandfather's figure in the temple, and hurriedly looked outside, only to see the moonlight brightly illuminating dozens of constables and white horses' corpses. Suddenly, one of the corpses twitched. Chen Shi rubbed his eyes and looked closely; indeed, one corpse was slowly rising under the moonlight. Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat: 'Is it a zombie?' Just as he thought this, he saw the corpses on the ground trembling and rising one by one. Even the eight horse corpses, at this moment, were pushing up with their hooves and standing! They were riddled with bloody holes, should have been dead beyond any hope, yet now they were moving as if they had come back to life! Chen Shi's heart raced, and at that moment, the black dog approached, raising its front leg on the window edge to look outside. There were faint sounds of music in the moonlight, and the corpses swayed to the rhythm, as if drunk. A boy and his dog were extremely tense, straining to find the source of the music, and after a moment, the sound of horns and suona became clearer, and from the mountains and forests, two lines of a theater troupe danced out! Chen Shi had seen many wedding scenes, all lively and bustling, where the host invited the theater troupe to perform in celebration. The scene outside was like a bridal procession, but the theater troupe turned out to be a bunch of foxes, standing on their hind legs like humans, puffing their cheeks, vigorously playing the sheng and suona. Some foxes clutched cymbals in their paws, banging loudly, while others tied drums around their waists, beating energetically, the drum sounds booming. They swayed, as if dancing under the moonlight. Following them was a large red bridal sedan chair, floating in the air without anyone carrying it, swaying along with the music. The dozens of corpses in front of the temple began to dance to the rhythm of the music under the moonlight, creating an indescribably eerie scene. 'Not evil, but a curse!' Chen Shi gasped; he had heard his grandfather say that curses were even more powerful than evil spirits, even the village's foster mother couldn't guard against them! Every time a curse arose, several villages would be wiped out, with villagers and the foster mother dying completely overnight! 'The peach talisman left by grandfather is unlikely to ward off the curse!' Chen Shi looked at the wedding procession; the curtain of the red sedan chair fluttered, revealing a woman in a red wedding dress seated inside, with fair hands and her face hidden beneath a veil. 'Please, groom—' All the foxes suddenly turned their heads in unison towards Chen Shi's direction, stretching their necks and raising their heads to emit human-like voices, 'Please, groom, board the sedan—' The corpses dancing to the music also turned their gazes towards Chen Shi, their gray-white eyes fixed on the boy in the temple, speaking in unison, 'Please, groom, board the sedan!' Chen Shi and the black dog quickly shrank back, their hearts nearly leaping out of their chests. Outside, the wedding procession played music and sang, the red sedan chair floated towards the dilapidated temple, coming to welcome the groom! Chen Shi quickly retreated, his eyes fixed on the peach talisman hanging on the door and windows. Although the talismans depicted runes, they outlined the form of the door gods, and talismans drawn by cultivators who had achieved the God Embryo could repel ordinary evil beings. His grandfather's strength was exceptional; even though he was old, his cultivation remained, and the talismans he drew had never failed in repelling evil spirits! Suddenly, the outside fell silent, not a sound to be heard. The black dog stood in front of Chen Shi, crouched down, staring intently at the front, baring its teeth and emitting a low growl. Suddenly, the peach talisman hanging on the door and windows ignited, burning to ash in an instant! The temple door swung open. A red sedan chair stopped in front of the temple. 'Woof, woof, woof!' The black dog rushed to the door, baring its teeth, appearing frantic. At that moment, a delicate jade hand reached out from the sedan, gently lifting the curtain, revealing the bride sitting inside. The black dog's fur stood on end, barking even louder. 'Black Dog is truly loyal!' Chen Shi thought to himself, 'I misunderstood it before.' The bride's delicate jade hand slowly lowered the curtain of the sedan, and Chen Shi was startled: 'Could it be that this curse was scared away by the black dog and retreated?' Just as he thought this, he suddenly found someone beside him. Turning his head, he saw the bride from the sedan. Chen Shi was taken aback, looking around; everything was drenched in scarlet. The black dog, upon seeing the curtain drop, also let out a sigh of relief, but then noticed another person in the sedan, dressed in a bright red robe, likely the groom. The glimpse of the groom behind the fallen curtain revealed that he looked exactly like Chen Shi! The black dog was horrified, quickly turning its head, only to find that Chen Shi was no longer in the temple! The red sedan chair slowly floated up, and numerous foxes beat drums and played instruments, joyously surrounding the bright red sedan chair as they moved towards the temple exit. The black dog, not caring for anything else, dashed out of the dilapidated temple towards the red sedan chair, determined to rescue Chen Shi. Just then, a cry came from within the sedan, followed by a chilling wind that obscured all sense of direction; the black dog quickly halted. As this chilling wind passed, the red sedan, the fox troupe, and those corpses all vanished, leaving only Chen Shi sitting on the ground. The black dog rushed forward, finding Chen Shi looking bewildered, completely unaware of how he ended up in the sedan. He had only seen the bride and suddenly found himself in the sedan. As for how he got out, he was equally confused. At that time, the bride had torn his clothes, but suddenly seemed frightened, curling up in the corner of the sedan, afraid he would harm her, and let out a piercing scream, after which he found himself sitting on the ground instead of in the sedan. The boy and his dog returned to the dilapidated temple, still feeling shaken. Chen Shi glanced at the open temple door and the ash of the burned peach talisman, still feeling dazed, quickly shaking his head to steady himself. He hurried to close the temple door, moving a massive stone to block it. The black dog jumped into a wooden cart, rummaging through it, and soon leaped out, bringing Chen Shi his grandfather's small knife, raising its front paw to gesture at its own neck, indicating he should stab here, where the black dog's blood had the strongest yang energy. Chen Shi took pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, carefully took some black dog blood, and imitated the drawing of the peach talisman. He had memorized the talismans drawn by his grandfather long ago, and as soon as he ground the vermilion, he swiftly began to draw. Drawing talismans requires the mobilization of true energy, and Chen Shi utilized the Three Lights Righteous Qi Technique, pouring his hard-earned true energy into the pen and ink, focusing on the pen tip, and soon completed a peach talisman in one go. It was already late at night, and evil beings could arrive at any moment; he had to quickly draw enough talismans to seal the doors and windows! Chen Shi penned as if possessed, and before long, he had drawn six peach talismans—two on the door and four on several windows. He wasn't sure if the talismans he drew would be effective, feeling anxious and unable to sleep. The black dog couldn't sleep either; the boy and the dog lay quietly by the window, peering outside to prevent another attack from 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; curses could easily destroy a village and the foster mother, and a child like him could be absorbed in an instant. Yet this bride curse seemed to fear him, running away instead. Chen Shi couldn't figure it out, so he decided to stop thinking and remained alert, observing the movements outside the temple. After a long while, the outside was peaceful. The black dog's front paws rested on the window as it gazed outside, just about to relax when it heard Chen Shi's voice: 'Black Dog, grandfather might no longer be human.' The black dog perked up its ears, looking at him in confusion. Under the moonlight, the boy's face glistened with tears, his gaze seemed deep and distant, as he softly said, 'More than half a month ago, grandfather said his time was up, and he had to hold a funeral to deceive the ghostly messengers who come to take him to the underworld. If the ghostly messengers saw he was dead, they wouldn't come to capture him.' The black dog remembered this. The old man had been planning to deceive the ghosts for a long time, having prepared his own mourning hall and even his own spirit tablet, and as for the money, candles, and paper money, that goes without saying. 'Grandfather said that if he set up the mourning hall and lay in the coffin pretending to be dead, as long as he survived that day and tricked the ghostly messengers, he could live a few more years. He didn't want to leave me alone.' Chen Shi stared blankly into the distance and continued after a moment, 'But after that day, when grandfather came out of the coffin, he changed. He no longer eats food but likes to eat candles; he doesn't like the taste of meals but prefers the scent of incense. He also likes to eat strange things, like... people!' He shivered, saying somberly, 'Perhaps the grandfather who came out of the coffin that day was already dead. Maybe he didn't deceive the ghostly messengers.' Chen Shi, with a maturity beyond his years, whispered, 'No matter what, he is still my grandfather; even if he turns himself into a zombie, even if he repeatedly tries to eat me, he is still my grandfather.' Chen Shi's eyes glistened as he murmured, 'He is my only relative... Black Dog, you go rest first; I'll call you later.' The black dog lowered its paws and lay down, going to sleep, while the boy by the window whispered, '... The dog knows too many of my secrets; it might tell grandfather. Should I kill the dog to silence it?' The black dog immediately stood up and quickly came to Chen Shi's side, signaling him to sleep while it kept watch, wagging its tail to indicate that it was its duty. — Thanks to the support of Alliance Leader Shijiasuo! The next chapter will be updated around six o'clock in the evening.