Fried Salted Fish

Chapter 177 Waxing and Waning Ghosts

Evil must be ground down by evil, and evil spirits are naturally cured by evil ghosts!

The Vajrakila's Hell Mark opened its hideous ghostly maw, emitting a strange laughter. The gates of Avici Hell opened, and countless formless ghosts were stripped from countless paper money.

Golden sand spewed from the ghost's mouth. Even the formless ni could not escape the Vajrakila's mark's devouring. Immediately afterward, cries of anguish echoed from the mouth of the hellish ghost face. The evil ghosts of Avici Hell seemed not to have expected that Ji Xiang would swallow the ni!

After all, Avici Hell was not a garbage dump. Even the Dharma Realm didn't just throw anything and everything inside!

But for Ji Xiang, wasn't the so-called sacrifice just a waste disposal center?

As for whether to sort the garbage, or whether the evil ghosts had things they wouldn't eat?

"The ni and the evil ghosts of Avici Hell fought each other. Although the formless ghosts are powerful, the evil ghosts of Avici Hell will not disappear. Even if their souls are torn apart, they can quickly be reborn."

"In the repeated struggles, the ni will ultimately fail, devoured by the evil ghosts. Likewise, weakening the power of the evil ghosts means there's less need to worry about opening the gates of hell and releasing some monster."

The last time, that ascendant expert almost pried open the gates of hell and ran out from within, a memory that was still fresh in Ji Xiang's mind.

It showed that the entrance to Avici Hell was not particularly sturdy. If one possessed great strength, one could force their way out.

The door panel before him, having lost the power of the ni, instantly turned to rotten dust, and along with it, the entire mansion turned to dust, ceasing to exist!

Ji Xiang followed suit, and the surrounding houses gradually collapsed.

"This is wrong. These houses are not buildings of the Yang world, but buildings of the Yin world. That paper money is the power that maintains their existence. Sure enough, that paper money was sent by the ghosts to the ni."

The houses collapsed, and within the dust, it was as if some power had lost control.

Ji Xiang noticed it, but the Inner Vision Divine Tablet did not provide a description, because these things did not pose a threat to him.

"Clearly, I've already broken these Yin Demon haunted houses, but why do I still have a feeling of unease in my heart?"

Ji Xiang felt that something was wrong and decisively activated the Yin-Yang Dharma Realm. However, even where the Dharma Realm enveloped, he did not see any resentful souls or anything of the sort. Instead, he wasted a chance to enter and exit the Yin-Yang world with the Dharma Realm, which made Ji Xiang frown deeply.

Should he continue to destroy those mansions?

.......

In the Fengyue Pavilion of Gusu, Feng Menglong was talking with his lover, Hou Huiqing, recounting the many strange and bizarre things he had seen on his way back from the north, often drawing exclamations of wonder from Lady Hou, who would occasionally pat her chest to calm her frightened heart.

And when Feng Menglong spoke of having the Qi of Heaven and Earth within him, Lady Hou was even more puzzled:

"What is the Qi of Heaven and Earth?"

Feng Menglong immediately smiled and said proudly, "Although I have repeatedly failed to pass the imperial examinations, and am just a failed scholar, this trip to the north has gained me the favor of the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and has also made me understand that everyone is born with their own destiny. Sometimes, it is not that they lack talent, but that they have not been shown in a suitable place."

"Even if it is the current Grand Secretary, what of it? They also do not have righteous Qi. Since ancient times, sages have never come from the court, but have lived in the mountains and fields."

"Do you know the great Master Wang Yangming?"

Lady Hou's beautiful eyes blinked, "Of course I know! Who doesn't know Master Yangming!"

Feng Menglong said solemnly, "I am going to be a person like Master Yangming! With the righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth, I will definitely make a career."

Afterward, Feng Menglong mentioned writing serialized novels, to be published in small newspapers.

Lady Hou smiled, "If my love wants to write serialized novels, instead of publishing them in those small newspapers that may be destroyed at any time, it is better to rely on Daoist Ji. He is an official of the court. We can start our own small newspaper, print it ourselves, distribute it at our own expense, and collect stories of subduing demons, and strange and bizarre tales. Most people in the folk love to read these things."

Feng Menglong thought for a moment and sighed, "Easier said than done, but I have no assets."

"Why should my love worry? Don't you still have me?"

Lady Hou took out some of her jewelry and precious wealth. Since ancient times, those who have been unfaithful have always been scholars, because scholars who pass the imperial examinations often find it difficult to look upon courtesans in brothels. But Feng Menglong had a congenital advantage, that is, he repeatedly failed the examinations.

Feng Menglong was very grateful, but he said, "These things are for you to redeem yourself, and should not be taken out at this time. I can borrow Daoist Ji's fame and sell newspapers on the street first. If the response is good, I can naturally earn a lot of money."

"After you redeem yourself, we can..."

This money was for Lady Hou to redeem herself. The affair between her and Feng Menglong was well known in the brothel.

Lady Hou's face was slightly red, but she was also a little unhappy, "How can you, a scholar, go out and sell newspapers?"

At this time, Feng Menglong smiled freely. Having experienced the Lost Dragon Casino incident and being possessed by the Celestial Fox, he had completed some transformation:

"Reading the books of sages is the foundation of establishing one's life, but if it is for livelihood, what is lowly and noble about work? Since I can copy down the boat songs of the boatmen, and ask the beggars in the folk, and know their lives, then what I see in my eyes are living people, and there are no upper-class and lower-class people."

"Work is work, and reading is not work, but to better do work."

"Accumulating soil makes a mountain, and wind and rain arise from it. Without small jobs, without a little accumulation, without experiencing many hardships, how can one achieve great achievements?"

The two looked at each other and smiled. At this moment, love was in the air, and they knew each other was a good match.

But soon, hurried shouts from other women came from under the Fengyue Pavilion. Feng Menglong immediately told Lady Hou to stay put. As soon as he reached the door, the house was suddenly blown open by a gust of wind. A clay statue of a deity, filled with evil Qi and covered with blood and rotten flesh, entered the boudoir.

The evil Qi on this clay statue was surging, and it was very tall. The entire face of the deity was extremely fierce.

But this clay monster shouted in pain:

"Save me, save me!"

Then the painful shouts turned into fierce screams:

"Kill you, kill you!"

"Your flesh and blood, let my clay body become a living person!"

Constantly switching between painful cries for help and brutal threats, this clay deity seemed to be coming for Feng Menglong!

The clay deity rushed forward, but stopped abruptly, then switched to a painful mask, and fell backward.

The painful mask disappeared, turning into a brutal mask, and he stood up again, and made a gesture to pounce!

This bizarre sit-up left Feng Menglong stunned.

At this time, Lady Hou looked at the clay deity, a trace of surprise and fear flashing in her eyes, but soon, she took a deep breath, silently retreated to the back, and took out a white hair from under the bed.

And Feng Menglong did not notice the actions of his beloved, he was also taken aback, and soon glared his eyes and shouted:

"Hey! What kind of evildoer! Reveal yourself quickly!"

As soon as he shouted this, the taste was instantly right, and a burst of righteous Qi erupted, and the evil Qi on the clay deity weakened a lot, and the blood and rotten flesh also quickly fell off. Immediately afterward, this clay deity immediately shouted:

"Finally freed! Thanks for the help! Good boy, you really know how to use righteous Qi!"

"Quick, where is the Tiger-Eye Chan Master who is with you! Something big has happened, I have a request for him! Beg him to save me!"

Feng Menglong recognized the voice and said in surprise:

"You are that old lecher from the daytime!"

The clay deity said urgently, "It's me, it's me! Please quickly ask Tiger-Eye Chan Master to save my life! Whether he is a demon or a heretic, I beg him to save my palace! I, the Fallen Immortal, will kowtow to him!"

"As long as he saves me once, let alone let me go to the Daoist Association to register, I will sell him my old life!"

Feng Menglong was confused, "What Tiger-Eye Chan Master, I don't know him at all, and why are you, old lecher, using a clay body to appear, are you afraid of being some monster in disguise!"

"Eat my talisman!"

Feng Menglong touched his pocket, grabbed a Golden Light Talisman, and looked at it before throwing it out, confirming that it was drawn by Ji Xiang, not by Fox Little Ten, and then threw it out.

The Golden Light Talisman flew out, and the clay deity was immediately knocked back by a huge force, and fell out of the door, but soon rushed in again, but praised:

"Good hit! Wait, is this a talisman given to you by Tiger-Eye Chan Master?"

"Hit me again, hit me again!"

Just now, that Golden Light Talisman had annihilated a lot of the evil Qi that was controlling him, and now he had taken the initiative and was fighting with another "Yin Spirit" in the clay for control.

Feng Menglong was dumbfounded. The other party actually asked him to hit him hard. He had never heard of such a request!

Feng Menglong felt that something was strange and did not dare to do it. The clay deity immediately jumped up and said, "Why don't you hit me!"

"Could it be that you want to trick my talisman, exhaust my talisman, and then plot against me! You evildoer, I can see that you are not simple! I knew you were not a good person during the daytime!"

The clay deity said anxiously, "If you don't hit me, then don't! Quickly lead me to see Tiger-Eye Chan Master!"

Feng Menglong scolded, "I've already said, what Tiger-Eye Chan Master, I really don't know him! But you said talisman, this is a talisman given by Daoist Ji. He is not some Tiger-Eye Chan Master, he is the head of the Great Ming Daoist Records Department, and the Northern Pole True Man personally conferred by the Wanli Emperor!"

Clay Deity: "Yes, that identity is fake, he is Tiger-Eye Chan Master.... never mind! Just tell me where he is!"

"Do I have to kowtow to you!"

The clay deity actually knelt down on both knees at this time, performing a great salute and kowtowing to Feng Menglong. Feng Menglong was taken aback, and even Lady Hou on the side was stunned.

At this time, the clay deity laughed, and blood actually flowed from those clay eyes.

"Feng, he does not seem to be an evil person, he should have been injured by some monster and turned into this, why not help him..."

Lady Hou was a little unbearable, and of course a little surprised. Blood flowing from the clay body was not an auspicious sign.

In addition, the rotten flesh on the other party's body seemed to be... human flesh.

Feng Menglong nodded, "....Okay, anyway, he can't beat Daoist Ji, it's okay to take him there."

The clay deity finally breathed out a sigh of relief, and the blood flowed even more fiercely. He explained, "This clay body of mine is the incense statue of the Earth God. Today, during the daytime, I was injured by Tiger-Eye Chan.... I was injured by Daoist Ji, and my body was damaged, so I borrowed the Earth God's clay body for a while."

"I, the Fallen Immortal, am a cultivator in the Xuanmiao Temple, you can believe me, Nanyangzi, the Abbot of the Xuanmiao Temple, the Gusu head of the Quanzhen Dao, he is my senior brother!"

"I'll tell you the rest of the story after I see Daoist Ji, I can only say that the Xuanmiao Temple is in danger, and Gusu is in danger!"

At this time, strange sounds appeared outside, and they were extremely loud and noisy. The harsh noise was indescribable. Lady Hou's boudoir was inside, without windows facing the outside, so it was difficult to see the external situation, so Feng Menglong could only go out to see.

The clay deity stood in front of the two of them. Inside the Fengyue Pavilion, the noise became louder and louder, followed by a cry of surprise!

Those guests and prostitutes below, including the women who were playing the zither, were all terrified and stood up to avoid. The madam of the brothel was scratching her ears and cheeks, and was in great pain. Her figure changed, and the noise was coming from her seven orifices.

"It's a shangmu ghost! She has turned from a human into a ghost! She has been invaded by that strange black Qi, and her form and spirit have been distorted and changed!"

The clay deity cried out in shock and anger, and said to the two of them, hurry down the stairs, I will protect you! Those ghostly Qi have already begun to attack mortals!

"Damn it, I must have attracted them!"

The clay deity was now remorseful, but if he hadn't come to Feng Menglong, he would have been taken over by the Yin Spirit soon, and even produced a disaster!

The shangmu ghost is said to be a monkey-like ghost, with one eye protruding, and at night it will break into people's homes and eat their hearts. When the demon arises from humans, and the family declines, then the evil Qi will flourish.

People turning into ghosts, losing their form and spirit, such things were unheard of. Feng Menglong's face was surprised, but he couldn't care so much at this time, he had to leave the Fengyue Pavilion, so he grabbed Lady Hou's hand and ran, but before he reached the place to go out, there was a sound of a female ghost biting behind him.

At the same time, more black Qi had emerged, and the girls and guests of the brothel were running outside. Feng Menglong vaguely saw some distorted outlines in the black Qi, and then he cast a Golden Light Talisman, and the Golden Light Talisman showed great power, and sure enough, it shook the black Qi away, revealing the transparent outlines inside, each one like an old woman, hunching their backs, holding something like a pocket in their hands, also transparent and colorless.

"What monster, Lady Hou go first.... Lady Hou?"

Feng Menglong was surprised to find that Lady Hou was gone, and then he turned his head and found that Lady Hou had appeared in the middle of the Fengyue Pavilion's hall, holding a strange little statue in her hand.

Those formless ghosts rushed over, the transparent pockets in their hands opened, and several eyeballs rolled out, and Lady Hou tried her best to throw the palm-sized statue towards these formless ghosts, and at the same time breathed on the white hair in her hand!

Whoosh!

In an instant, the white hair was entangled with the statue, and the statue's eyes emitted red light, and suddenly a human deity appeared, with a long beard and a majestic appearance, white eyebrows and a red face, holding a cloud moon broadsword!

It looked seven points similar to Guan Gong!

When this deity appeared, he displayed the power of form and spirit, and with a sweep of the long sword in his hand, he split a formless ghost into its true form on the spot!

"Go!"

At this time, Lady Hou seemed to have changed into a different person, commanding the actions of the deity, and pinching a strange hand seal in her hand.

This made Feng Menglong stare, and the clay deity was also shocked:

"Driving gods and commanding ghosts! Seventy-two Earthly Fiends!"

To be able to drive the gods to fight for oneself, the driver is the god master. Even these folk small gods are worshiped by people every day, condensing powerful incense divine power. Although they are not the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gods, and there is no divine title in the Great Floating Limbo, their strength also varies according to the prosperity of the industry's incense, the weak are extremely weak, and the strong are extremely strong!

This deity who was called out at this time is the protector of the brothel industry, the White-Eyed God!

Even a small god is a god, and even a ninth-rank sesame official has the mandate of heaven. Many formless ghosts like old women immediately scattered, and the surrounding black Qi was dense, and those brothel women were rushing towards Lady Hou.

Feng Menglong wanted to ask, and Lady Hou apologized to him, "My love, don't be impatient... I didn't mean to hide it."

The clay deity flew over and said immediately, "Of course it was not intentional to hide it. The Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends are not spells that ordinary people can cultivate, especially the art of driving gods. If it is cultivated to a high level, one can ask the heavens to lower the power of the gods to help. It can be said to be the supreme magic of borrowing strength to fight!"

"It seems that someone found you before and passed on this spell to you, hey! I said, why don't you go with me to cultivate, it turns out that you have already been taken a fancy to!"

"Let's get out of here quickly!"

The clay deity called out, and at this time, those guests and prostitutes also ran towards the three of them, but when everyone came outside, the previously bustling street was now empty, like a ghost town!

And between heaven and earth, there was more and more black Qi, and there was a ghostly silhouette in each black Qi. Feng Menglong immediately asked, "Old lecher, what are these ghosts, do you know them?"

The clay deity: "If I knew what they were, wouldn't I know how to deal with them? Of course I don't know! But looking at the formless appearance, they look somewhat like 'ni'!"

Feng Menglong: "Aren't you a Yellow Court Grand Cultivator?"

The clay deity: "The Yellow Court is not omniscient either, and my strength is damaged now, and I am suppressed by evil Qi, and I don't even have the realm of the Golden Core! The Yang Spirit can't come out either! The Fallen Immortal, is really fallen!"

Lady Hou looked at some places around the Fengyue Pavilion. She rushed to the night market stalls, where there were stalls selling statues of gods, but now they were empty. She picked up a few of the statues, recited spells, and soon flew out from the surrounding entertainment venues, several divine forms and spirits, along with a strong incense aura!

These places of romance and pleasure are excellent places to accumulate incense!

Boom!

In the Fengyue Pavilion, several people who did not escape were turned into ghosts, and the ghosts fought with the White-Eyed God, and Lady Hou pointed at the statues, and several more gods rushed out of the statues!

First of all, a deity whose whole body was covered with flags, holding eighteen kinds of weapons, greeted the ghosts!

Marshal Lei Haiqing, the patron saint of Liyuan actors!

Then there was a deity with wide clothes and a golden belt, a black gauze hat on his head, and a gold ingot in his hand!

The Immortal Official of Profit, the patron saint of money houses!

After that, there was a burly god holding twin blades, killing into the ghost group like a butcher!

King Deer Head, the patron saint of the slaughtering industry, later generations have associated him with the image of Fan Kuai!

The Four Gods blocked the group of ghosts, and the clay deity clamored to find Ji Xiang, but when a few people came to Ji Xiang's residence, there was nothing but the remaining sack of magical implements.

Feng Menglong pinched the Golden Light Talisman and carried the sack. With these magical implements still there, there was a guarantee of life safety.

He told the clay deity not to worry: "Don't panic, Daoist Ji is powerful. Since I met him, he has looked at everyone as if they are for sale. Let's wait a little. Now that such a strange situation has occurred in Gusu, Daoist Ji must have gone to subdue demons! In a while, wherever there is an explosion, we will go there..."

"So, Lady Hou, can you tell me, why do you know magic?"

Feng Menglong looked at Lady Hou, who looked a little dim, but she didn't expect Feng Menglong to grab her hand and sigh:

"Forget it, it's a good thing that your magic is not high. If your magic were high, I'm afraid that immortals and mortals would be different. If we are honest with each other today, we will not be able to see each other again in the future. That's how it's said in the popular novels. The celestial fairy has to return to the heavens."

Lady Hou was stunned and hammered Feng Menglong angrily.

But now is not the time to be intimate. Those formless ghosts, which are similar to "ni", are becoming more and more numerous for some reason....

.........