43 The Taste

Transmission Taoist Temple, behind the mountain.

Yu Yuanhai had been seized by a corpse slave, who intended to drink his blood. However, Yu Yuanhai instead spewed out a foul liquid, as if from a cesspit, straight into the corpse slave’s mouth. The corpse slave immediately dropped Yu Yuanhai to the ground, its face contorted in revulsion and nausea, retching as it hurried away.

Bathhouse.

Bai Lingjun’s junior sisters had just clothed themselves and were heading for the door when Fu Meimei, enormously plump, bustled over, exclaiming, “Excuse me, I’m in a real hurry!” She barreled past them, hurriedly pulled down her trousers, and was about to sit on the toilet.

“Ah!” Yu Yuanhai, who had already crawled out from the soap trough, looked up to see a vast, white backside descending right toward him.

“Not on my watch!” Yu Yuanhai braced himself and pushed Fu Meimei up and away.

“Ah!” Fu Meimei shrieked in terror, yanked up her trousers, and fled, shouting, “A monster!” She cast a fearful glance back at the toilet before dashing outside.

“Whew, thank goodness for the Supreme Apex Radiance, or I’d be doomed,” Yu Yuanhai muttered, spitting several times as he clambered out. “Better hide.” Hearing footsteps approaching, he dove back into the toilet, pulling the lid over himself.

“What happened?” Li Xintian, having heard the commotion about a monster, quickly arrived.

“In the toilet! There really is a monster!” Fu Meimei, recognizing Li Xintian, grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the bathhouse, pointing at the toilet.

“A monster?” Li Xintian tensed, inwardly skeptical. What kind of monster would hide in such a filthy place?

Just then, Bai Lingjun arrived as well. Li Xintian, about to act, merely nodded at her.

“Senior Sister, there’s a monster!” Fu Meimei cried out, her face drawn with fear.

Bai Lingjun pinched her fingers in a mystical gesture and declared, “This is the work of Transmission Taoist Temple.”

With that, she raised her sword fingers and, with a flick, sent two long talismans gliding from her sleeve to seal the toilet lid.

“Senior Sister, so it’s Transmission Taoist Temple’s doing! Let’s find their leader and settle the score!” Fu Meimei, so frightened she could hardly relieve herself, picked up the toilet and shook it as she spoke.

Behind the mountain of Transmission Taoist Temple, the middle-aged Qiu Shuguang was walking alone when he spotted Yu Yuanhai lying on the ground.

“Yuanhai!” Qiu Shuguang pulled Yu Yuanhai up, but was instantly assaulted by a stench that nearly made him retch. He immediately let go.

“Ugh, the stink could kill. He must have used the Soul Possession Technique to chase girls in the ancient tomb again,” Qiu Shuguang commented, watching Yu Yuanhai still retching.

Channeling spiritual power into his palm, he slapped Yu Yuanhai’s cheeks, calling, “Yuanhai, come back! Yuanhai, come back!”

“No reason he shouldn’t return. The tomb must be too comfortable for him to want to leave.”

“Looks like I’ll have to use more force.”

Qiu Shuguang proceeded to slap Yu Yuanhai’s face vigorously, shouting, “Yuanhai, come back! Yuanhai, come back!”

At that moment, four lanterns floated up, illuminating Qiu Shuguang and Yu Yuanhai’s location.

“Trouble,” Qiu Shuguang muttered, turning to see a toilet sealed with talismans. He hastily fished out a lump of black clay from his magic pouch, pressed his hands behind his back, and mimed holding a toilet.

“Well, Master Bai, why are you still up so late? Is the long night too lonely? Have you come to visit me on purpose?” Qiu Shuguang addressed Bai Lingjun.

“Qiu Shuguang!” Bai Lingjun called out sternly.

“I’m right here, no need to shout,” Qiu Shuguang replied with a smile, swiftly shaping the black clay in his hands.

“Senior Sister, there’s no point wasting words with them—they’re all in cahoots,” Hu Xiaoqiu said, glaring at Qiu Shuguang and echoing Bai Lingjun.

“Qiu Shuguang, Yu Yuanhai trespassed into the tomb’s forbidden area—the bathhouse. How do you intend to explain this?” Bai Lingjun, after hearing Hu Xiaoqiu, nodded and demanded.

“It’s simple: return the cesspit to me, and we’ll call it even!” Qiu Shuguang replied cheerfully, having almost finished shaping the toilet, only lacking a lid.

“In your dreams! I’m going to keep him locked in the cesspit for six days, let him eat his fill, then send him back to his body to suffer a grave illness!” Fu Meimei fumed.

“For a pervert like him, setting him ablaze would end things cleanly,” Hu Xiaoqiu added, fanning the flames.

Sensing trouble, Li Xintian pulled Hu Qiuyan aside, gesturing for silence. Now was not the time to intervene—when Bai Lingjun and her group were angry, nothing good could come of it.

“Wenyan, what do you say?” Bai Lingjun asked, turning to Yan Wenyan after Hu Xiaoqiu had spoken.

“No need to be so cruel. Just spare his life—why not simply castrate him?” Yan Wenyan suggested, glancing at the toilet.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Qiu Shuguang muttered, seeing their discussion. He hurriedly produced the molded toilet, pulled out a long needle, infused it with spiritual power, and thrust it into the clay toilet.

As the needle pierced the toilet, Fu Meimei, who was clutching the real toilet, suddenly shot up into the air.

Bai Lingjun reacted instantly, channeling spiritual power, and unleashed a crimson sword-light that struck the toilet.

“The cesspit’s going to blow—run!”

Everyone shouted, fleeing in all directions.

With a thunderous bang, the toilet exploded, spraying filth everywhere. Li Xintian, having anticipated trouble, had already led Hu Qiuyan away and escaped unscathed.

The others, however, were not so fortunate, each splattered to varying degrees.

As the toilet burst, Yu Yuanhai’s soul returned to his body. He looked up, only to be showered head-to-toe in filth. The stench was unspeakable; his face was a portrait of misery.

“Good thing we kept our distance—imagine the smell,” Li Xintian whispered to Hu Qiuyan, glancing at Bai Lingjun, who was now reeking. He struggled to keep from laughing.

“How did you know?” Hu Qiuyan blushed, speaking quietly—this was the first time she’d spoken so close to Li Xintian, and she too suppressed a smile.

“It was just a feeling—something bad was about to happen, so I thought we’d better move away,” Li Xintian whispered.

Bai Lingjun overheard it all. She and her junior sisters, mortified, could only return to the bathhouse, scrubbing themselves clean until dawn before finally resting.

Qiu Shuguang made Yu Yuanhai walk at the back, keeping his distance. He found Ye Jiaheng unconscious in the grass, slapped his face until he awoke, crying out about ghosts.

In truth, Qiu Shuguang and Yu Yuanhai had known all along that Ye Jiaheng was hiding nearby to watch the spectacle. He was only pretending.

Qiu Shuguang had no choice but to lead them back to Transmission Taoist Temple.

Transmission Taoist Temple, the following night.

Yu Yuanhai took Ye Jiaheng from behind the mountain to the ancient tomb’s entrance.

“Senior Brother, is it your turn to chase girls again? I’ll stand guard,” Ye Jiaheng said, grabbing Yu Yuanhai.

“We’re both going! Didn’t you want to meet that big-eyed girl from the tomb, Hu Xiaoqiu?” Yu Yuanhai could see right through him.

“I don’t want to pursue her, just to get to know her,” Ye Jiaheng protested, unaware that Hu Xiaoqiu was his yet-to-be-wedded bride.

“What’s the difference? Remember, Yan Wenyan from the tomb is mine, and that Master Bai is our master’s target,” Yu Yuanhai said helplessly—after all, was there really a difference between pursuing and meeting?

“All right, all right.” Ye Jiaheng quickly headed for the tomb’s main gate.

“My, you’re even more eager than me!” Yu Yuanhai grabbed him. “We’ll take that side,” he said, pointing to another section of wall.

“There’s no door there. How do we get in?” Ye Jiaheng asked.

“With this Wall-Passing Talisman,” Yu Yuanhai replied, handing him a talisman.

Meanwhile, in Transmission Taoist Temple, Qiu Shuguang noticed two talismans missing from his collection. “Yu Yuanhai must have stolen them! Those were unfinished!”

“I’ll count to three, and we’ll dash in!” Yu Yuanhai patted Ye Jiaheng on the shoulder. But after shouting “two,” he charged at the wall—only to knock himself out. As he faded, he muttered, “Master, you tricked me!”

Seeing Yu Yuanhai unconscious, Ye Jiaheng could only carry him back to the temple.

Ancient tomb, morning.

“Miss Bai, it’s time for us to take our leave,” Li Xintian said. He had wanted to depart the previous day, but given Bai Lingjun’s ordeal and late rest, he thought it impolite to disturb her.

“Mr. Li, won’t you stay a bit longer?” Bai Lingjun, recalling the night of the toilet explosion, suspected Li Xintian was more capable than he let on, though she couldn’t quite discern his abilities.

“No, thank you for your hospitality!” Li Xintian cupped his hands in farewell and left, with Hu Qiuyan following suit.

After several days in the wilderness around Transmission Taoist Temple and the ancient tomb, Li Xintian finally found the Red-Clad Ghost King, who had just absorbed the soul of a scholar.

“Why do you pursue me so relentlessly? Is it really necessary?” the Red-Clad Ghost King demanded, furious from being wounded daily by righteous energy.

“Surrender,” Li Xintian replied coldly. The Red-Clad Ghost King had killed countless innocents along the way, which filled him with rage.

“Righteous!” With a wave of his brush, Li Xintian wrote a large character in the air, pressing it against the Ghost King.

“Ah!” The Red-Clad Ghost King, already wounded by righteous power, was pinned down; more than a hundred ghostly souls crawled from her mouth.

“I won’t let you have your way! Tonight is the fourteenth of the seventh month—the Ghost Gate will open. When I enter the Underworld, let’s see who can stop me!” With a furious cry, the Red-Clad Ghost King broke free of the righteous suppression by unleashing the yin energy of the innocent souls within her.

She fled, slipping into a coffin. She pasted talismans on it, tore them apart with her yin energy, and disappeared inside. Only three hundred ghostly souls remained in her.

“So difficult—after all that, she escaped again!” Li Xintian watched her vanish, unwilling to give up. Though his righteous energy could suppress her, the multitude of innocent souls within her allowed her to break free.

“Where did she go?” Hu Qiuyan came up to stand by his side.

“I can’t sense her. She’s hiding,” Li Xintian replied, putting away his brush and shaking his head.