C21 Zombie Meat

As a warlock, one naturally seeks to learn from the most powerful practitioners. Zhou, by his own admission, was a standout in the warlock community, having mastered a good seventy to eighty percent of the Daoist arts from various sects and schools. As such, he was quite the target of envy within our circle.

Zhou generously shared his knowledge with me, but given my youth, I've only managed to digest about a quarter of the wisdom contained in his notes. These things take time. On his deathbed, he assured me that he had bequeathed to me all the prominent Daoist arts of our circle, confident that with my aptitude, I would eventually master them all. Yet, there was one spell he couldn't pass on—the most potent of all, with unparalleled efficacy against ghosts and demons: the Lightning Spell.

Rumor had it that the Lightning Spell was a closely guarded secret of a major sect, with the ultimate mastery granting the power to command ghosts and gods. Whether this was true remained unknown to Zhou. In his youth, he had infiltrated a sect and even became the favorite disciple of the sect master, coming tantalizingly close to learning the Lightning Spell.

But he fell just short, and so my use of the Lightning Spell was limited to intimidation. If it were within my grasp, I wouldn't bother with idle threats against the Old Ghost; a single lightning strike would suffice to end him.

Even the mere pretense of the Lightning Spell had drained me completely. Clutching the peach wood sword that had struck the Old Ghost, I hobbled back to the village. The long battle had stretched into the night, but Wang Dali and Bai Xiaoxiao were still there at the village entrance, waiting for me—a gesture that moved me deeply.

"Wang Xu, are you okay?"

"Did you... did you take down the old ghost?"

They bombarded me with questions as soon as they saw me. Exhausted, all I could do was weakly gesture with my hand before collapsing to the ground. Wang Dali hoisted me onto his back and headed to his home, and I recounted the evening's events to them as we walked.

"So, the old ghost is scared of your lightning, and he won't even dare to call forth his ghost soldiers and specters anymore? We don't have to fear him now?" Bai Xiaoxiao asked, her large eyes sparkling with a mix of curiosity and relief.

I let out a wry smile.

"If only it were that simple. That old ghost is clearly a cunning one. Since I didn't strike him with lightning, he's probably figured out I'm not versed in lightning magic. Next time we cross paths... we'll have to engage him in a real fight..."

Bai Xiaoxiao gave a nod, her expression tinged with disappointment.

"Wang Xu, since you didn't take down that old ghost, what about my sister's illness? You mentioned she could only hold on for a day, and now it's almost..."

The ghostly pact afflicting Wang Lele was exceptionally malevolent. The Golden Cock Life Reckoning Scale could at best assure that the evil spirit wouldn't harm her for a single day. Beyond that, I was uncertain of the outcome, which is why I initially intended to resolve the matter with the old ghost within a day. But it looks like I might need a few more days to prepare.

"Rest easy, Dali. I've got a strategy to buy us a few more days. Give me a little time to prepare, and I'm confident I can shatter that ghostly pact!"

Upon returning to Wang Dali's home, the village chief and others were in the midst of dinner. They bombarded me with questions upon our arrival. Too weary to respond, I excused myself, claiming I needed to treat Wang Lele, and sent them all out.

With some effort, I rose to my feet and snapped off the tip of the peach wood sword that had been used against the old ghost. Wrapped around it was a wisp of a faint black soul, which I had forcibly ripped from him after he was startled by the heavenly lightning.

I placed the sword tip on the copper plate, alongside the rooster. The previously calm rooster crowed, then shifted slightly, looking dejected. The rooster's side of the scale dipped slightly, but thankfully, the balance remained intact, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

"With this, we should be able to last another three days..."

The principle behind using the old ghost's soul to buy time is quite straightforward. The ghostly pact is, in essence, part of the ghost itself, and the golden rooster can only just manage to suspend it. Once the rooster's Yang energy fades, the pact will return to Wang Lele. By placing the soul, which shares an origin with the ghostly pact, on the copper plate, we add weight to the rooster's side, preventing the pact from descending back onto her for a while longer.

"What should we do now?" Wang Dali asked anxiously.

After a moment's thought, I replied, "Would you like to come with me to Old Zhou's former house? There are some items stored there that we'll need to prepare in order to confront the Old Ghost..."

Zhou had arrived in our village over a decade ago, and nowadays, no one remembers his original purpose for coming. All we knew was that he took up residence in a dilapidated Taoist temple on the southern hillside of the village. The place had an ominous feel, so it was seldom visited by the villagers.

Naturally, I was one of the rare few who frequented the temple, as I often needed to drink the black juice. Most of the belongings Zhou left me were still there; I hadn't brought everything home, feeling as though there were memories that couldn't be moved.

"Pfft, why is there so much dust in Wang Xu's place? When was the last time anyone cleaned here?" Wang Dali complained, covering his nose as we stepped inside the temple.

His reaction was understandable; since Zhou's passing, my visits had become infrequent, allowing dust to accumulate everywhere.

Bai Xiaoxiao hesitated at the entrance, too timid to step inside. Despite my coaxing, she refused to enter, so I didn't press the issue, knowing well that there were no traps set for spirits here.

I proceeded into Zhou's bedroom, which doubled as his practice room. The magic tools he used most were kept in a chest on his bed.

Opening the chest, I found everything inside as pristine as I had anticipated, untouched by the dust that blanketed the rest of the temple. I passed the chest to Wang Dali, instructing him, "Dali, take this chest with Xiaoxiao and head back first. Don't open it until I return; just leave it outside the door, and I'll take care of it."

Wang Dali nodded, hoisting the hefty chest onto his shoulder, and trudged off. Before leaving, he looked back at me and asked, "What about you? What will you do after we leave?"

I offered him a reassuring smile and said, "I need to pick up a few more things."

Once Wang Dali had departed, I made my way to the temple's backyard, where the truly valuable items were concealed.

The temple had a vegetable cellar, originally intended for storing winter produce. However, Zhou had transformed it into a secret chamber by boring numerous air holes into it. Descending into the cellar, I switched on the light. The space was barren except for a large canvas draped over the left side, concealing a collection of small, bulging boxes beneath.

In the right corner of the cellar stood an altar table, topped with a tablet inscribed with the words:

The Honorable Position of Master Zhou, the Moralist.

Each visit to this place filled me with melancholy. I sighed as I lit a stick of incense for Master Zhou, yet I couldn't restrain myself from muttering:

"Master my foot, moralist my foot... Setting up such a tablet for himself before passing away, he really had no shame."

Afterward, I pulled back the canvas on the opposite side and selected a small box from the myriad of tiny containers. The box was quite small, about the size of my palm, but surprisingly heavy and icy to the touch, stinging my skin. It was made of lead.

Upon opening the box, I verified its contents: a piece of jerky covered in black hair, so withered it was barely recognizable. The moment I lifted the lid, a foul stench pervaded the entire cellar.

With a heavy sigh, I took the box and departed.

On the box, there was a tag left by Zhou, scrawled with three uneven characters: Zombie Meat.