The moon was high in the sky, and the drum in the bridge tower struck the third watch.
Qinglianzi, holding a lantern, wandered around the courtyard. It was to dispel his pent-up frustration as he couldn't sleep, and also to act as a patrol.
Qinglianzi subconsciously looked towards his senior brother Danhezi's residence. He saw that the room in the courtyard beyond the wall was brightly lit.
Qinglianzi seemed to recall something, his expression instantly darkened, and he walked over.
Meanwhile, in Danhezi's room.
In the dim candlelight, the blood coffin lay quietly on the ground.
Danhezi hung the portrait of Taishang Laojun, burned five sticks of incense, and then quietly waited for the sandalwood incense to burn out.
Three sticks of incense quickly burned out, but the incense on both sides broke halfway.
Danhezi silently looked at the incense burner, which no longer emitted smoke, sighed leisurely, and took out a compass from his懷, placing it on the ground.
As Danhezi rotated the compass, the yin and yang in the room instantly began to change, and the world turned black and white.
Danhezi looked up, staring at the still motionless blood coffin, his clothes already soaked with cold sweat.
He slowly took out the gold-carved Bi An ink measuring line from his waist and pulled out the ink-colored rope.
The rope of this ink measuring line was different from before. The rope was black and more elastic, with a copper coin threaded onto it every seven inches.
This was the item of the old Celestial Master of Qingcheng Mountain. Before the old Celestial Master ascended to immortality, he gave four treasures to his four strongest disciples, and Danhezi received this Bi An ink measuring line.
Danhezi pulled hard, and the ink measuring line danced along the walls, colliding with them. Miraculously, every time it hit the wall, the copper coin would get stuck, and the rope would continue forward.
In a few breaths, the measuring line formed a formation, with several copper coins interspersed on the rope, trembling slightly.
Danhezi clapped his hands, and several talismans flew out, automatically flying towards the copper coins suspended in the air. To his exact count, all the copper coins were perfectly covered with the talismans.
"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zai, Quan, Dou, Xing."
Danhezi's hand movements were swift, and the cinnabar on the talismans flashed, causing the entire measuring line to emit a red glow.
The blood coffin was simultaneously affected, and it began to shake.
Danhezi let out a long sigh, took out a small gourd, unscrewed the lid, and poured blood along the edge of the blood coffin, chanting:
"Sun, moon, and stars open the ghost clouds, melt bones and protect the body, go against heaven..."
As the blood was poured, the blood coffin shook more violently. Just as Danhezi finished pouring the last drop of blood, the槐 wood sword inserted into the top of the coffin made a loud cracking sound and then shattered into pieces, scattering in all directions.
Danhezi had to quickly defend himself, and in his haste, the outer sides of his arms and thighs were pierced by the wooden sword fragments.
Whoosh—
A black smoky gas leaked out from the coffin. Amidst the breaking sound of the ink measuring line, the coffin seemed to slightly lift upwards from within.
All the talismans were contaminated by the smoky gas, and many of the ink measuring lines that formed the formation and locked the coffin snapped.
Danhezi inwardly knew this was bad. Ignoring his injuries, he quickly jumped onto the blood coffin and, at the same time, pulled out a regular ink measuring line, intending to re-bind the blood coffin.
Bang—
With a loud bang, Danhezi was sent flying backward, and the ink measuring line fell to the ground, eight zhang away from him.
Just as the lid of the blood coffin was being lifted again, a beautiful figure jumped onto the coffin lid. Several afterimages flashed across, and the ink measuring line bound the coffin once more.
It was Qinglianzi.
Qinglianzi's phoenix eyes narrowed. She clearly saw the talismans on the coffin accelerating their darkening. Therefore, she gritted her teeth and summoned all her ghost attendants:
"Joy! Resentment! Anger! Sorrow! Happiness! Fear! Love!"
Seven figures arrived in response, suppressing the coffin.
"Senior brother, hurry! I can't hold on for long!"
Seeing that Qinglianzi had suppressed the coffin in a short time, Danhezi immediately got up from the ground, took out four purple talismans from his waist, and then stepped forward, slapping the four corners of the coffin:
"Azure Emperor Wood Essence, White Emperor Thunder Law, Vermilion Emperor True Fire, Black Emperor Heavy Water, Three Pure Ones' Daoist Method, Quickly as the Law Commands, Decree! Seal!"
...
The two returned to reality from the barrier in the compass, while the blood coffin was left behind in the barrier.
"Tell me, Senior Brother, what's going on?" Qinglianzi asked Danhezi calmly, her tone brooking no concealment despite the question.
Danhezi smiled helplessly and said, "I found it at the place where Master passed away. I don't know what's inside yet. I planned to refine it before opening the coffin."
"You are on a mission now!" Qinglianzi frowned and said, "Once something like this is affected by unexpected external factors, what will happen to you if something goes wrong?"
"Heh..." Danhezi scratched the back of his head. Just as he was about to speak again, his throat suddenly felt a surge of sweetness, and he coughed, clutching his chest.
Qinglianzi quickly patted his back. When Danhezi caught his breath, Qinglianzi glimpsed the blood at the corner of his mouth.
But Danhezi hid his blood-stained sleeve and hand behind him. This action made Qinglianzi narrow her eyes.
"What's wrong? Why is Senior Brother's face so pale?" Qinglianzi asked.
"Heh... cough cough... it's an old problem, lung consumption from childhood. It's nothing. You should go back."
Qinglianzi knew that Danhezi had suffered from lung consumption since he was young, but she hadn't expected it to be so severe now.
"Alright, Senior Brother. Get some rest." Qinglianzi bowed and walked away.
After watching Qinglianzi leave, Danhezi wiped the blood from his hand and the corner of his mouth, then turned to look at the compass quietly spinning on the ground.
Meanwhile, on the way back, Qinglianzi's expression darkened. She had smelled a strange odor on Danhezi all along, but she had assumed it was tobacco. Only later did she remember that Danhezi couldn't smoke anymore.
What was that smell?
A faint smell of mint... medicine... oil... fermentation... smoke... blood.
Ash, or corpse oil, then masked by medicinal oil.
Qinglianzi kept trying to convince herself that the smell on her senior brother was from the blood coffin, and that he was not someone who practiced dark arts.
But Qinglianzi couldn't help but ponder the issues with Danhezi.
...
The next day.
After washing up, Mochuan swallowed the breakfast that was delivered and began to meditate and practice in the courtyard.
After all, the meeting was at ten o'clock, and it was only six o'clock. That Japanese female ghost hadn't woken up yet, so Mochuan had plenty of time to practice his basic skills.
"Kid, come here."
Mochuan heard Qinglianzi's voice, opened his eyes, and saw Qinglianzi, dressed in a Taoist robe, standing at the courtyard entrance waving at him.
Mochuan walked over when he heard her and began to stroll with Qinglianzi around the guesthouse, which resembled the Grand View Garden.
The morning air was very fresh. Because it was close to Yan Mountain, Mochuan could even discern a faint scent of grass in the air.
After a while, Qinglianzi spoke: