Chapter 1 The Beginning

The Liangjie Mountains stretch for tens of thousands of miles. They can’t be considered the number one mountain in the Northwest, but within You Province, they are quite well-known.

However, this fame doesn't come from abundant resources, but rather from the perilous nature of the mountain range’s overlapping peaks and winding paths, where outlaws often lie in wait.

Being able to travel at night and hide in the deep mountains naturally makes one a formidable figure to ordinary people.

Nevertheless, due to the presence of unique mineral deposits within the Liangjie Mountains, people have naturally built cities here.

Liangjie City, is located on the edge of You Province, the closest city to the Liangjie Mountains, and its name comes from this mountain.

The city has existed for many years, and was once a large city during the previous dynasty. However, as the nearby mines were depleted, the city gradually declined, losing its former prosperity.

Yet, it is still a city of considerable size, and the number of people residing within it is naturally quite large.

Prosperous places have their way of life, and impoverished areas have their own paths to survival.

Liangjie City, outer city.

Creak~

Wang Er pushed open the door and stretched lazily in the scorching sunlight. Although the sun was leaning towards the west, it was still extremely bright, casting a warm glow on his body.

Wang Er had just woken up, and a hint of drowsiness rose again. However, he glanced at the simple mourning hall in the courtyard and closed his mouth, suppressing a yawn.

"All you do all day is get drunk and gamble. It's your mother's seventh day, and there isn't even a stick of incense in the house. If your mother comes back today, she'll tear you apart!"

A sharp voice rang out, causing Wang Er's mustache to tremble. His gaunt face paled instantly.

The one shouting was a woman of about thirty or forty, with her hair disheveled.

At this moment, the woman stood with her hands on her hips, her face full of frustration and anger. Her shout startled Wang Er awake.

"That's my mother! She must be really vicious to tear apart a shrew like you!"

Wang Er shrank his neck.

"That's your mother, not mine!"

The woman's voice was sharp, and she reached out, grabbing her dazed son into her arms: "I'm taking my son back to my mother's house. You can worship that old thing yourself!"

As she spoke, she carried her already packed bags and luggage, leaving in a huff, without leaving behind anything of value.

Except for the rented courtyard.

"Go! Go! Just go!"

Wang Er refused to admit defeat, but glanced at the mourning hall in the courtyard and cursed as he went out.

Not to buy incense or candles, but because he himself had to find something to eat. There was nothing left to eat at home.

Liangjie City can't be considered prosperous, and the outer city is especially dirty. As soon as he stepped outside, the stench of feces and urine hit him, causing Wang Er to curse again:

"Which motherless bastard relieved himself in front of my door! Don't let me find you, or I'll stuff you into the latrine and feed you to the maggots..."

Wang Er cursed and ranted, attracting the attention of many, but no one bothered to pay him any mind.

"This is all the money I have... Should I gamble it? If I win, I can buy a pig's head to eat, which is better than this bland noodles, right?"

Wang Er was bored and walked out of the street on tiptoes. He originally wanted to eat a bowl of noodles, but when he touched the few coins left in his pocket, he turned around and entered the gambling den with his hands clasped together.

"Auntie Wang suffered her whole life, but she's finally free now. It's for the best. To be stuck with a son like that, even living to three hundred years old would be suffering."

"Her daughter-in-law isn't any better. Otherwise, why would she go back to her mother's house on the seventh day? I bet she treated her harshly when she was alive and is afraid now?"

"I really hope there are ghosts in this world, to take care of these beasts..."

"Sigh, don't say anymore. That Wang Er is like a tough piece of meat, once you get stuck with him, you can't shake him off..."

Some people watched this scene, shaking their heads, but no one said anything.

"Thump!"

As dusk approached, several angry curses came from the gambling den, and a figure was thrown out violently.

"Ouch!"

Wang Er cried out miserably and lay on the ground for a long time. Seeing that no one came out to help him, he got up dejectedly.

Pinching his stomach, which was as empty as his money bag, Wang Er was in trouble. He looked around at the vendors packing up and rolled his eyes as he approached them.

After a long period of shameless begging, he finally filled his stomach. Wang Er burped and staggered towards his house.

After stepping in who knows how many piles of excrement, Wang Er, with a look of bad luck, finally arrived in front of his own courtyard.

"That spendthrift woman, lighting an oil lamp?!"

Glancing at the faint light leaking from the crack in the door, Wang Er was immediately furious. He kicked open the courtyard door and cursed when he saw a figure in the courtyard.

"...Wait, didn't you go back to your mother's house? Why haven't you left yet?"

After cursing for a while without getting a response, Wang Er realized something was wrong. He suddenly looked up and saw his shrewish wife in the courtyard, her face pale, looking at him as if she had seen a ghost.

"Crap!"

Wang Er was startled and instinctively turned around. His body trembled as he saw a dark shadow, darker than the surrounding night, standing in front of his courtyard door.

Crack!

Amidst the howling wind, the door slammed shut with a loud crash.

"My mother!"

At this moment, Wang Er felt his legs go weak and almost knelt on the ground: "Mother, I, I'm your son, don't, don't eat me..."

"Ah! Ghost, a ghost!"

The woman was even worse, collapsing to the ground with her son in her arms, the stench of urine spreading from beneath her.

"Son..."

The cold, ghostly voice, like a cold wind blowing from the grave, made Wang Er's whole body stiff.

The shadow turned, revealing the death spots on its pale face. Its eyes, devoid of any emotion, stared fixedly at Wang Er and the woman who was so frightened that she was wetting herself.

"Mother, mother..."

The two were terrified. They never imagined that there really were ghosts in this world, and that their own mother had actually returned as a ghost.

Thinking of their previous behavior, the two wept and cried out repeatedly.

"Son..."

The small old woman, draped in her burial shroud, spoke in a ghostly voice, seeming to be crying, full of resentment: "Mother is so hungry, so hungry..."

"Mother..."

Wang Er was originally flustered, but at this moment, he didn't know where he got the courage. He suddenly jumped up and kicked over the woman who was rolling around in feces and urine. His voice was so shrill it almost tore his throat:

"Aren't you going to cook for our mother?!"

"Ah!"

The woman was nearly kicked to death, but she came back to her senses and crawled towards the kitchen on all fours.

Wang Er was even faster. He ran into the kitchen in a flash. In the blink of an eye, only the foolish son was left standing in the courtyard, staring blankly at the old woman in the burial shroud.

After a long while, he finally cried out: "Grandma, I, I'm hungry too..."

"Hungry, hungry..."

The night wind rose, blowing through the sky, making a sound like ghostly wails. Faintly, the sound of chewing and grinding teeth drifted in the wind.

"Mother, mother, eat slowly..."

Wang Er held the bowl, trembling as he looked at the old woman, who cast no shadow under the oil lamp. His eyes were rolling back, overly frightened.

The old woman in the burial shroud held the bowl, her face gloomy and stiff.

The woman hugged her son, cowering in a corner, not daring to raise her head, trembling even more violently than Wang Er.

"What a heart-warming scene of filial piety, enough to bring tears to one's eyes..."

At some point, a low voice, as if spoken in unison by two people, echoed in the silent courtyard, which was filled only with the sound of chewing.

"Who's there?"

Wang Er suddenly looked up and saw two figures floating in the night sky.

One was dressed in white, his face as white as paper, and the other was in black robes, his face even darker, staring at him with a ghostly aura like two specters.

This, this is...

The look of joy on Wang Er's face immediately froze, and a gray-white color visibly spread from his brow.

It seemed that in the next moment, he would be scared to death!

"Imper-, Impermanence!" (referring to the deities Hei Bai Wu Chang)

The woman screamed and fainted.

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But the one who reacted even more strongly than the two of them was the old woman in the burial shroud, who was chewing on the porcelain bowl.

She let out a sharp cry, like a startled hen, and suddenly stood in front of Wang Er, who was pale and almost scared to death.

"Mother..."

His body trembled, and a foul breath flowed from his mouth and nose. Wang Er's body trembled, his eyes dull and lifeless, as if he didn't know what was happening.

"Ridiculous!" "Laughable!"

"Sad!" "Infuriating!"

In the night sky, the two figures in black and white spoke in unison. The white-robed figure shook his head and sighed, while the black-robed figure was expressionless, but both looked at the trembling old woman in the burial shroud who was still screaming:

"A dignified Earth Deity, fallen to this, truly laughable..."

"Roar~"

The old woman in the burial shroud was like a formidable enemy, roaring incessantly, seemingly ready to pounce at any moment.

The two figures in black and white did not pay attention to her low roar, but carefully examined the old woman, with curiosity in their hearts.

Da Xia, even for them, was extremely mysterious, and there were too many things within it that remained unsolved even now.

For example, in the past, Da Xia had eighty-four thousand 'Guardian Gods of the Land', guarding the Nine Cauldrons, the various continents, mountains, fields, spiritual springs, and secluded pools.

These 'Guardian Gods of the Land' included humans, demons, and different races, but the most numerous were 'ghosts'!

"I really don't know what method the Celestial Master's Mansion used to enlighten the 'Guardian Gods of the Land'. So many years have passed, and Da Xia is gone, their memories are gone, but they can still resist the encroachment of Yin energy and resentment..."

The white-robed figure marveled inwardly.

There is endless spiritual energy hidden between heaven and earth, including Yin energy and resentment. These resentful energies, like a sea of ink, fill the space between heaven and earth.

The souls of any dead person, without heaven-defying secret techniques, will be uncontrollably invaded, distorted, and erased.

But any secret technique requires people to perform it. It was obvious at a glance that this old woman had long lost her mind, but she could still maintain her purity and not be distorted.

This, to them, was also extremely unbelievable.

"Capture her, and we'll know!"

The black-robed figure was extremely decisive. Before the white-robed figure could finish speaking, he had already bent his fingers into a claw, and with just one grab, he caught the roaring old woman in his palm.

"Perhaps we've come to the wrong place..."

After casually suppressing the old woman, the black-robed figure looked at Wang Er, who was frozen in terror, his dark face showing disdain and suspicion:

"He's worthy of opening the Yin-Yang passage sealed by Yu the Great of Da Xia?!"

"The Great Emperor, cannot be mistaken."

The white-robed figure's heart stirred, as if sensing something. He suddenly turned his head and saw a slightly crude donkey cart in the night breeze.

Approaching slowly from a great distance.