Chapter 19

The story of the fried ghost originates from an ancient legend, which tells of a person who was tormented by a ghost day and night. In a fit of rage, he heated a pot of oil and splashed it towards the source of the noise. To his surprise, the ghost appeared. Overjoyed, he grabbed the ghost and threw it into the pot, frying it to ashes—since then, everything has been peaceful.

But that was just a story, not the fried ghost that Baoyue was talking about.

Using glutinous rice wine as the base, add cinnabar, borax, and azurite, and boil them. When the steam rises, put the ghost-catching coins and talismans into the pot, along with realgar and mercury. This will make the ghost appear in the pot, suffering greatly but unable to escape, as if in the ninth level of the boiling oil hell.

Once this is done, the ghost's yin energy will be greatly depleted, and its three souls will be damaged. It cannot remain in the human world and can only return to the underworld to await reincarnation.

A hungry ghost, commonly known as a hungry spirit, is vicious but not very powerful. Its only strength lies in its ability to hide, which ranks it first among the nine evil ghosts. Old Wang originally intended to use the bone-painting technique to find the spot where the ghost was hiding in Feng San's body, but unexpectedly, Zhenbao revealed it in one sentence!

Everyone then realized the logic: to the practitioners, seeing ghosts and demons is like a spice seller watching a chef cook. They can tell how much salt or sugar is needed, but they don't know the actual taste of the dish. To the ghost, it's like a chef watching another chef cook; they can not only tell the amount of ingredients but also predict the final taste of the dish.

Zhenbao, being between yin and yang, is not much different from a ghost.

Old Baoyue had no doubt about Zhenbao's judgment and immediately had Feng San lie flat on the ground. Although he didn't understand what everyone was talking about, he knew it was related to removing the spell from his body, so he immediately complied, as obedient as Old Liu's donkey!

Because, because, because... when they shouted, the donkey in the stable also lay down, in exactly the same position!

Old Baoyue asked Zhenbao to bring a bowl of well water, reached into his bag, and took out a talisman. He waved it in the air, and it immediately caught fire. When it burned out, he immersed the ashes in the water, then made a sword gesture over the bowl, muttering incantations with a solemn expression.

Next, Cheng San, Zhenbao, and Old Baoyue worked together to apply the water to Feng San's armpits. As soon as the water was applied, Feng San suddenly screamed and jumped up!

"Hold him down!" Old Liu shouted, "We've found it!"

Everyone rushed forward and firmly pinned Feng San to the ground, ignoring his desperate struggles. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose was bleeding, his teeth were clattering, and his body was trembling. Greenish fluid was oozing from his seven orifices.

A vague human face gradually appeared under his armpit, becoming clearer and more sinister, like a tattoo.

"Good!" Old Baoyue exclaimed, but his hands didn't stop. He reached into his bag and took out an ancient coin. With his right index and middle fingers bent, he held the coin with his other three fingers, forming a lotus gesture and pressing it onto the face, saying:

"Bind! Return to the Great Void! Five Wheels! Break the Barrier!"

As he spoke, the chest where the coin was pressed began to emit a green smoke, and a strange cry echoed throughout the courtyard:

"Why are you trying to catch me? Who are you? I am not willing..."

Old Baoyue was unaffected by the voice, continuing to chant the incantation. He lifted the coin with his three fingers—when the coin left Feng San's body, a black smoke rose and rushed into the square hole of the coin!

"Is it the will of heaven to maintain yin and yang, or to allow you to disrupt the world?" He took a red thread, threaded it through the square hole, wrapped it in yellow paper, and tied a knot, saying, "You have brought this upon yourself, and we cannot tolerate you!"

He turned to the others, "I'm going to deal with the fried ghost. The rest is up to you—Old Liu, Cui Deyuan, you two must take care of this boy. If anything goes wrong, it will be a big problem!" Without waiting for their response, he pulled Zhenbao, "Let's go, to the fried ghost."

He left the others behind.

Feng San's body was still trembling, and greenish fluid was still oozing from the corners of his mouth, but his breathing and heartbeat had stabilized. They carried him to a pile of hay in the corner of the stable and gave him a bowl of hot tea. After coughing a few times, he finally woke up.

Although he was still fat, he was no longer the annoying person he used to be.

Let's split the story here. While the others were settling Feng San, Old Baoyue was preparing the ingredients for the fried ghost. He put several herbs into a pot filled with glutinous rice wine. When the water started to boil, he took out the coin, tied it with a red string along with a talisman, and dropped it into the pot.

At first, there was no significant change in the water, but when realgar and mercury were added, the coin began to roll violently in the pot, almost pulling Zhenbao, who was holding the other end of the red string, off balance. Old Baoyue took the red string himself, and with his right hand, he made the gestures of the Great Void, the Lotus, and the Void, and chanted:

"Thus it is! Subdue! Release!"

As he spoke, a bubble suddenly formed in the pot!

It was as if a large mass of air was rising from the bottom of the mud, causing the surface of the glutinous rice wine to rise high. However, the wine seemed to have become much thicker, and the bubble, though growing thinner, did not burst!

When the glutinous rice wine was stretched as thin as paper, a terrifying human face could be seen inside, with its mouth open, tongue out, and eyes bulging, struggling fiercely...

"Trying to escape?" He bared his yellow teeth in disdain, "You underestimate us, the yin-yang practitioners—Zhenbao, use the five-element hand seals to sprinkle the rooster's blood as I taught you."

Zhenbao responded, dipped his hands into a jar on the table, and they were covered in red chicken blood. Standing on the right side of the stove, he quickly made the hand seals: the long flow of fire, the firmness of gold, the moisture of water, the thickness of earth, and the growth of wood...

The hand seals were made quickly, and the chicken blood splashed into the pot!

A hissing sound filled the air, and white smoke rose from the pot. The bubble became extremely agitated, but no matter how it moved, it was trapped in the pot. A heart-wrenching cry echoed in the room, but the two of them continued their work without being affected...

After seven hand seals, the room suddenly became silent, as if something had disappeared!

The pot was still boiling, but the contents had vanished.

Lifting the red string, the coin was covered in greenish-blue rust, emitting a foul smell like a dead fish. Old Baoyue laughed, "Done! It's that simple—Zhenbao, did you see clearly? In the future, when you catch such evil ghosts, just fry them, and their yin energy will be released. They will dissipate on their own, a cure for all ills!"

"I understand," Zhenbao said, puzzled, "I've seen you do this many times, but why was it so intense this time? The last few times, the ghosts looked much more vicious, but they just turned around. Why did it end up so messy this time?"

This made Old Baoyue's expression serious. He thought for a moment and said, "There are many ghosts in the human world, but the most vicious are the nine great evils: Hungry Ghost, Blood Strangler, Rotten Corpse, Corpse Guide, Blood Funeral, Undead Stiff, Filthy Feaster, Asura, and Killer..."

He pulled out a book from under the table and threw it to Zhenbao, "Take it, read it well, so you won't be caught off guard if you encounter them."

Zhenbao took the book and saw the title in seal script: "The Register of Gods and Ghosts." The entire book was written in tiny characters, seemingly from a long time ago, and it was unclear if it came from Old Baoyue's master. To think such a valuable book was used to prop up a table leg—using modern terms, it was simply unreliable!

Old Baoyue then went to bury the coin and instructed Zhenbao to inform Old Liu that the matter was resolved and to check on Feng San's condition. As soon as he stepped out, a group of little ghosts surrounded him.

It wasn't a ghost market day, so there were no guests from the underworld. These little ghosts were just wandering spirits from the area. The ghost market often provided offerings and burned paper horses and incense for them, and over time, a friendship had formed.

When Feng San was still struggling up the mountain, the wandering spirits had already informed the ghost market of his movements. From his map and mutterings, the ghost market had guessed his purpose, though not as Feng San had imagined, due to a leak from Wudi's subordinate.

Seeing the little ghosts smiling and surrounding him, Zhenbao remembered he had promised each of them three sticks of incense. He didn't rush, went to the shop, and brought a bundle of incense, lit it, and stuck it in the ground for them to enjoy.

After the matter was resolved, he went to the city god temple. Inside, most people had left, and only Old Liu was talking to Feng San about his purpose and who had invited him. Zhenbao listened for a while, found it boring, and decided to leave...

Just as he was about to leave, the temple door creaked open!

In came the Fox Lady, who had not shown her face earlier. She was still hiding in her thick robe, moving along the shadows, looking more ghostly than a ghost. Her appearance, though familiar, seemed particularly sinister and terrifying today!

She made a few croaking sounds, and a broken saw-like voice echoed, "Old Liu, the bird's eyes are closed."

"What?" Old Liu stood up, exclaiming, "So soon?"

Zhenbao, seeing the fleeting panic in Old Liu's eyes, remembered the words from before:

"...The coffin lid has appeared, the lotus shadow is there, only the bird's eyes closing and the golden pill being swallowed are left..."

Could this really be the beginning of a major event?