When the horde of ghosts surged towards Zhumen Town, in the southwest corner of Ming Prefecture, Zhang Agu, renowned throughout the region, was carrying a bundle and leading a headless little ghost out of the mountains.
She had originally planned to visit Huma's village first, to meet with Huma, but being poor, she had no livestock to ride. She had to carry her bundle herself, and after two days of walking, she finally emerged from the mountains, intending to inquire about Huma's village.
But as she walked along the country path, gusts of yin wind constantly swirled around her. Out of the corner of her eye, she occasionally glimpsed little ghosts hanging from the nearby trees, kneeling in the roadside fields, or squatting on the graves.
As a Da Zou Gui (Master Ghost Walker), Zhang Agu had encountered such things many times and didn't care. But seeing more and more ghostly shadows and yin winds around her, she couldn't help but stop. She found a high place, set up a ritual altar, and used the candlelight on the altar to look around, her heart suddenly startled.
She saw that before the altar, the mountains and fields were filled with wandering souls and wronged ghosts, all kneeling on the ground, kowtowing towards the altar, and crying, "Great Dharma Master, please save us..."
"The True Doctrine Sect is harming heaven and earth, seizing Ming Prefecture's fortune. Our luck has already been exhausted. We remnant souls don't want to associate with these unlucky people, lest we be implicated and never find peace..."
"But these people possess strange arts and forcibly control us. We are helpless and can only beg the Dharma Master for a way out..."
"..."
"How can such a thing be?"
Zhang Agu had traveled through villages and hamlets, handling countless matters of the living and the dead. It was not uncommon for wronged souls to come seeking help, but she had never seen hundreds or even thousands of Ming Prefecture's restless souls come to her at once.
She was even confused in her heart. Such forced control was a technique favored by those in the profession. What could she do for these wronged souls who didn't want it?
Just as she was thinking, she heard a subtle vibration, and a familiar voice echoed in her ear: "Agu, it's time to act..."
"Little Shopkeeper..."
Zhang Agu was slightly surprised, but immediately understood that these wronged souls had received guidance in the darkness and were coming to her for help for a reason.
So she nodded slowly, took out the token hidden in her bundle, placed it in the most important position on the altar, and then took out a scratched copper mirror, silently chanted a mantra, and carefully looked into the depths of the copper mirror.
The deeper she looked, in the blurred illusion, she saw a strongman wearing tattered armor in Ming Prefecture, countless iron chains transforming in his hands, extending in all directions.
Countless lonely, wronged souls were being dragged away by these iron chains.
Some even extended directly in front of her, dragging away the wronged souls who were complaining to her.
Only at this moment did she understand the meaning of the token that the Zhensui Bureau (Town Suppression Bureau) had given her. She slowly said, "The True Doctrine Sect came from outside, showing disrespect first. You haven't received their offerings and are unwilling to be driven by them, which is understandable..."
"I grant you permission not to obey their orders!"
"..."
As she spoke, she put down the mirror, gently picked up the token, bit her tongue, and lightly touched the token.
The next moment, the token in her hand suddenly trembled, emitting a burst of divine light. The wronged souls before the altar seemed to have something broken from their bodies. For a moment, the sound of ghostly laughter filled the ground, and gusts of yin wind swept in all directions.
...
...
At Zhumen Town, the dozen or so red lanterns floating in the air illuminated all directions, but they were already being engulfed by the resentment rolling in from all directions. Almost visibly, one by one, the vengeful ghosts climbed onto the lanterns, pulling, gnawing, and desperately blowing air.
In an instant, half of the red lanterns floating above the town had fallen to the ground, dim and dull, looking extremely desolate.
Even the night sky, which protected Zhumen Town with this rolling resentment, was being suppressed by the resentment surging in from all directions.
Even Wu Fa Zuohu (Left Protector) Shen Hongzhi and Digua Shao (Sweet Potato Burn) were too nervous to breathe. The magic power displayed by the Red Lantern Goddess was far beyond their imagination, but the ghosts' capture of light was not something at that level and could not be stopped.
But just at this moment, in the wind-swept night sky, a sound of breaking chains suddenly rang out.
At that instant, the vengeful ghosts that had come with the rolling yin wind suddenly stopped their actions, just standing on the roofs, outside the town, in front of the temple doors, blank and bewildered.
Immediately, their faces were filled with joy. They knelt down, kowtowing to the night sky, then cheered loudly, stretching their bodies, and in the next moment, they had turned into yin wind and disappeared into the hazy night.
"What was that?"
Three miles away, the group of True Doctrine Sect members who were casting spells with the Guigui Ling (Ghost Restraining Token) suddenly changed their expressions, looking at the circle of banners in front of them with disbelief.
The six remaining banners had suddenly fallen silent.
Unlike the previous damage to the banners caused by the Red Lantern Goddess's struggle and resistance, these six banners were still intact, but slowly drooping down, as if they had directly become ordinary cloth banners.
"How dare he?"
Before the shock and doubt in their hearts could subside, they suddenly heard an angry exclamation from the sedan chair. They turned their heads and saw the curtain of the sedan chair being lifted violently, and a woman wearing a black dress, slightly plump, and with a rich and noble aura stumbled out.
She had the appearance of someone accustomed to luxury, but the expression on her face now looked panicked and flustered, without the demeanor of a wealthy family. Even her eyes were fixed on the token with the character "Ju (Restrain)".
The altar master of the True Doctrine Sect, who was holding the token, only then suddenly discovered that several cracks had appeared on the token at some point. Panicked, he dropped it on the ground, and the token was immediately shattered.
Her face flushed with extreme anger, she gritted her teeth and looked at the night sky, her voice filled with resentment: "He doesn't even care about our family ties?"
The sudden change left the surrounding people afraid to speak loudly, just staring at her in a daze.
Beside her, Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) did not show any surprise on his face, but slowly pressed down on his saddle: "What happened?"
"It's an official from the Zhensui Bureau's (Town Suppression Bureau) Inquiry Hall!"
The black-skirted woman who came out of the sedan chair bit her lip slightly and said, "The Inquiry Hall official has exempted those yin souls from their corvée."
"Now, not to mention your banners, even other techniques for summoning ghosts will probably not work in this place. The abilities of your True Doctrine Sect have been destroyed for the most part in this Ming Prefecture!"
"..."
"What?"
The surrounding people felt it was bizarre. Losing in a spell duel was not uncommon, but if they said their own magic didn't work, what kind of ghost thing was that?
For a moment, they were even eager to try and see if the magic still worked.
But the person who came out of the sedan chair now had no time to care about the thoughts of these True Doctrine Sect followers. She only looked at the broken token on the ground. The token was made of iron, and even if it was old, it shouldn't have broken when dropped, but it just broke.
She understood the reason for this, and her voice trembled: "First, you said you would reason without favoritism, then you secretly swallowed blood offerings. Now, even the Inquiry Hall has arrived, and you've destroyed our token..."
"Could it be that next, you're even going to send someone to replace us?"
"Could it be that we, the Qingyuan Hu clan, are going to be expelled from the Ghost Walking profession?"
"..."
Her voice was too strange, and it stunned the True Doctrine Sect members around her. They didn't know whether the breaking of the ghost summoning technique was more serious, or the information revealed in the woman's words was more serious.
"Earlier, even just now, didn't you say that you could represent the Zhensu Hu family?"
The Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) on the tall horse next to the sedan chair, hearing the woman's words, showed a faint mockery on his face, and slowly said, "Now, why does it seem that the dignified Ghost Walking family can't even summon a ghost?"
The woman in the sedan chair suddenly raised her head angrily and glanced at him on the horse, but the Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) just smiled coldly and stared at her without retreating.
The woman's eyes flickered, and she turned back first, coldly saying, "This is my family's business, you don't need to interfere."
"It's your family's business."
The Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) sneered and said, "But it also concerns the lives of my True Doctrine Sect's ten thousand followers. Since you don't have the face, you shouldn't have said such confident words and put on such a big show when you invited me to Ming Prefecture."
"Since you want to marry me, you shouldn't put on the airs of a delicate young lady in front of me every day. You should obediently wash yourself clean and wait for me to enter the bridal chamber."
"..."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. The maids and servants who followed the sedan chair were suddenly furious when they heard this. They stepped forward, looking as if they were about to take action because their young lady had been humiliated.
At the same time, the dozens of riders following the Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) also leaned forward slightly, their hands on the weapons at their waists.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold. There were no more vengeful ghosts around, but the cold wind blew incessantly, as if to blow away the last bit of warmth from the people present.
Everyone around was wary, and no one dared to move rashly, fearing that someone would lose their life in the next moment. The Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate), in this oppressive atmosphere, snorted coldly and took the lead in breaking the silence, saying in a deep voice:
"Bring the Baier Fu (Hundred Cauldrons)!"
"..."
"Baier Fu (Hundred Cauldrons)?"
As these three words were spoken, the grim atmosphere that had just been on the verge of erupting suddenly dissipated, replaced by a strange, eccentric expression on everyone's face. Even the woman who came out of the sedan chair exclaimed, "How dare you use such a wicked thing?"
"Wicked thing?"
The Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) gave her a cold look and said, "You use righteous things, but what use are they now?"
The woman in the sedan chair stared at him, hesitant to speak, but in the end, she didn't say anything. Instead, she slowly turned around, sat back in the sedan chair, and even lowered the curtain, whispering, "Then I'll let you do as you please!"
(End of Chapter)