"This guy is really something."
Yu Daochen's expression turned grim. He pulled out his phone, ready to call him.
Suddenly, a hand patted Yu Daochen's shoulder, and Su Lai's voice rang out, "Master Yu, are you alright?"
Yu Daochen instinctively turned his head, then realized with a jolt, "Oh no."
The surrounding scenery instantly shifted. Rows of houses appeared on both sides, the ground turned into a stone-paved road, and the snow stopped falling.
Yu Daochen knew he had entered an illusion and cursed inwardly.
Damn it, how could he make such a rookie mistake?
He turned to see that the sky lantern (yang fire) on his shoulder had been extinguished.
Humans have three yang fires. Once all are extinguished, the soul will depart the body.
No matter how powerful a Taoist priest is, once their soul leaves their body, they are no different from a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Yu Daochen gripped his Kanglong Jian tightly, vigilantly surveying his surroundings.
Suddenly, a hand reached from behind and touched Yu Daochen's shoulder.
Yu Daochen reacted with lightning speed. As he turned, the Kanglong Jian had already swung out.
But the evil spirit quickly transformed into a wisp of white smoke, evading the sweeping Kanglong Jian and drifting forward.
"Playing tag with me, huh? Fine, very good." As soon as Yu Daochen finished speaking, he formed a hand seal with one hand, took a deep breath, and spewed flames forward.
The temperature of the flames was so high that even the surrounding illusion was burned away.
Everything around them returned to normal. Yu Daochen reached out and caught a snowflake drifting from the sky. Feeling the biting cold, he knew he had escaped the illusion.
Up ahead, Su Lai, who had already driven quite a distance, saw that Yu Daochen and the others hadn't followed. He said, "Brother, let's slow down. My brother hasn't caught up yet."
The middle-aged man riding the motorcycle replied, "No problem. We'll wait for them at the village."
Su Lai nodded and reached into his pocket, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. He took a long drag and slowly exhaled.
Su Lai put his hands in his pockets, a cigarette dangling from his lips. A cold wind blew, and the cigarette slipped from his mouth, falling onto the motorcycle.
The moment the cigarette tip touched the motorcycle, it was as if a spark had hit gasoline. The motorcycle suddenly burst into flames.
Seeing this, Su Lai immediately cursed, "My god, is this motorcycle made of engine oil or what?"
Just as Su Lai was about to shout for his companion to stop, the flames had already engulfed the entire motorcycle.
The middle-aged man in front reacted quickly. Seizing the moment, he released his grip and, like the legendary Yan Shuangying from television, jumped to the side, followed by a somersault, and disappeared from sight.
Su Lai was dumbfounded, then blurted out an expletive, "Holy shit, are ordinary people this badass now? This is too unfair."
As soon as Su Lai finished speaking, he rolled to the ground in a clumsy tumble.
Although the snow cushioned his fall and he wasn't seriously injured, his posture was rather undignified, and a large hole was torn in his pants, revealing his red underwear.
Watching the motorcycle speed away, Su Lai thought it was about to explode and immediately threw himself flat in the snow.
But after half a minute, there was no explosion. Su Lai curiously raised his head and discovered that the fire had already been extinguished.
Su Lai, still bewildered, walked forward to investigate, and his expression immediately changed.
This wasn't a motorcycle at all; it was clearly the black ash left behind from burning offerings for the dead.
Su Lai turned on his phone's flashlight and scanned the surroundings. Countless paper money offerings were scattered on the ground. White tombstones and half-burned paper figures added to the eerie scene.
This wasn't a village at all; it was a mass grave!
"The vast horizon is my love, the rolling green hills and clear waters bloom with flowers..."
Suddenly, his phone rang. Su Lai looked down at the badly cracked screen, feeling a pang of regret. The caller ID read "Pretty Boy."
Su Lai pressed the answer button and heard Yu Daochen's urgent voice: "Xiao Su, get off the bike quickly! That person on the motorcycle wasn't human!"
Su Lai scanned his surroundings but couldn't see a single ghost. "Master Yu, I realized they weren't human a long time ago."
Hearing that Su Lai was safe, Yu Daochen on the other end of the line let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm coming to find you," Su Lai said and hung up the phone.
Su Lai turned back, the graves becoming more numerous. Coupled with the falling snow and poor visibility, everything looked like a ghost.
Before long, he saw a figure standing directly in front of him, staring intently.
Su Lai instinctively drew the wooden stick from his waist. The figure in front then spoke, "It's me, Yu Daochen."
Su Lai, seeing clearly that it was Yu Daochen, let out another sigh of relief. Just as he was about to approach, he stopped, his eyes fixed on Yu Daochen, "Are you really Master Yu?"
Yu Daochen gave him an annoyed glare. "Nonsense, of course, I am."
Su Lai cautiously asked, "Pretty Boy?"
The Yu Daochen opposite him looked utterly bewildered. "What?"
Su Lai thought his voice was too quiet and repeated, "Pretty Boy?"
"Pretty Boy?" The Yu Daochen opposite him looked completely confused.
Su Lai immediately understood that this was a ghost impersonating him.
If it were the real Yu Daochen, upon hearing the name "Pretty Boy," he would have already drawn his Kanglong Jian and beaten him.
"You bastard, daring to impersonate Master Yu! Take this from your Grandpa Su!" Su Lai didn't say another word, gripping his wooden stick and swinging it down.
The imposter Yu Daochen saw this, turned, and bolted.
At the same time, Yu Daochen was sitting on a nearby rock, smoking a cigarette and waiting.
Before long, he saw Su Lai running towards him, panting, and shouting, "Master Yu, save me!"
Seeing this, Yu Daochen extinguished his cigarette and walked over. He approached the panting Su Lai, who had his head bowed.
"What's wrong?"
Yu Daochen placed his hands on Su Lai's shoulders and immediately felt something was wrong.
The body was ice-cold, not like a human body at all.
Just as Yu Daochen sensed something amiss, the bowed Su Lai suddenly lifted his head. Blood dripped from his mouth, and a long tongue shot out, preparing to wrap around Yu Daochen's neck.
Yu Daochen reacted with lightning speed. He grabbed the ghost's extended tongue with one hand, while with the other, he condensed his Dikun Hand and thrust it directly into the ghost's heart.
*Thwack~*
Yu Daochen's palm pierced straight through the ghost's heart.
With its last ounce of strength, the ghost spat out a puff of black energy that struck the yang fire on Yu Daochen's shoulder. Then, it slowly turned into a wisp of white smoke and dissipated into the air.
Seeing that the yang fires on both his shoulders were extinguished, Yu Daochen took a small pill from his pocket and chewed it.
He couldn't taste anything, but judging by the other guy's expression last time, it must have been quite unpleasant.
Just then, another figure came running, also panting, shouting something different, "Pretty Boy runs pretty fast! Take this from your Grandpa Su!"
Yu Daochen looked at Su Lai running towards him and muttered under his breath, "Can't they at least change the routine?"
However, this ghost looked even more punchable than the previous one.
Seeing that Yu Daochen in front of him was no longer afraid but had turned to face him, Su Lai stood with his hands on his hips, panting heavily, "Run, Pretty Boy, why aren't you running anymore? Go on, run."
Yu Daochen saw that the ghost before him actually dared to call him "Pretty Boy." His mouth twitched a few times as he drew the Kanglong Jian from his lower back.
This ghost was truly asking for a beating!