175: Chapter 173: Is Limp Zhang Dead?
175: Chapter 173: Is Limp Zhang Dead?
Folklore speaks of a warning: if one is walking through desolate lands in the dead of night and hears their name being called from behind, they must never look back.
Under normal circumstances, a person would have a flame hovering over each shoulder and one atop their head.
When you turn your head, the flames on your shoulders would extinguish, and at that time, certain evil spirits could take advantage of the vulnerability and inflict harm.
Of course, some people are born with a dimmer flame, and thus, when they go out at night, they are more susceptible to attracting malevolent beings and encountering sinister events.
The veracity of these claims has long been lost to time.
In any event, Chen Hai himself, while in a state of soul departure, had never seen flames on anyone else!
Upon hearing his name being called, he didn’t hesitate; he not only turned his head but also rushed straight towards the locust tree.
Now, with his boldness and his Tao Cultivation, coupled with being in his Divine Soul Form, he naturally disregarded the warnings of the folklore.
Locust trees, spirits among the trees.
Chen Hai couldn’t determine how many years this particular locust tree with a trunk as thick as a bucket had been growing; after all, he had no expertise in this area.
He merely sized up the tree for a moment and was sure that it had not become sentient.
Thus, if his name was being called, it could only be attributed to some entity residing within the locust tree!
Earlier, while wandering the vicinity, he had brushed past this locust tree several times.
However, the being dwelling inside had been well-hidden, which was why Chen Hai had not noticed anything unusual about the tree.
Now, under his deliberate scrutiny, a small round ball emitting a dismal green glow from a tree hollow the size of a baby’s head near the tree’s roots came into his sight.
“Chen Hai, don’t be rash.
It’s me, Limp Zhang…”
Perhaps, it was because Chen Hai’s Divine Soul Form was quite intimidating, but under the gaze of his row of fierce compound eyes, the small ball shivered tremulously, as if it had encountered a predator.
Listening to the somewhat pitiable pleas coming from the small ball, he gradually and slowly drifted out.
Once he finally emerged from the hollow, the small ball unfolded and transformed into a blurry, thin figure.
This figure hovered near Chen Hai’s leech-like Divine Soul, like a small insect about to be snapped up by a rooster’s beak, utterly disproportionate in comparison.
As to who was stronger and who was weaker?
It was plainly obvious at a glance.
“I thought someone there called me.
It turns out to be Limp Uncle!”
“What, you too are interested in soul departure, enjoying the night tour of the sky?”
Seeing it was Limp Zhang, Chen Hai laughed and teased him.
But his jest was cut short.
Then, with a suspicious look, he scrutinized Limp Zhang carefully again, “Limp Uncle, there’s something very wrong with your condition!”
“Your Divine Soul no longer has the constraints of a Physical Body.
It seems like it could dissipate into nothingness at any moment?”
“Tell me honestly, what on earth is going on?”
Staring at Limp Zhang, the eerie glow flickering in Chen Hai’s row of menacing compound eyes was piercing, as if he was trying to see right through Limp Zhang.
His tone at the start of his questioning was relatively calm, but by the end, he was nearly interrogating.
“Chen Hai, I knew I couldn’t hide it from you with my current state!”
“Seeing your Divine Soul Form pass closely by me, I knew that on the path of Tao Cultivation, you have long since surpassed your master by leaps and bounds, surpassing me by I don’t know how much!”
“If it weren’t for the exorcism I once performed on you, giving me a faint impression of your soul’s aura, I couldn’t have possibly confirmed that this powerful being passing by me was indeed your Divine Soul Avatar, Chen Hai!”
Feeling a complex mix of emotions, Limp Zhang let out a long sigh and continued, “Since we are fellow cultivators, I won’t hide it from you.
In fact, I died more than ten days ago!”
“Ordinary people, after death, their souls drift aimlessly, and typically within about seven days, the soul disperses into nothingness.”
“I mean, I have also stepped onto the path of Tao Cultivation and was just a hair’s breadth away from entering the Night Tour Realm.”
“With a soul much stronger than that of an ordinary person, although my Physical Body has died, I was able to temporarily preserve a trace of spiritual wisdom from extinction.”
“Knowing that a locust tree could preserve a soul, I temporarily took shelter in it, barely resisting the erosion of the yang energy from the world during the daytime.”
“However, I’ve been able to hold on until now, but I’m almost at my limit.
I can probably resist for another two or three days at most, after which my Remnant Soul will certainly vanish into thin air.”
“Chen Hai, given the Taoist Book I lent to you, and on the basis of the favor of starting you on the true path of Cultivation, could you do me a favor?”
Saying this, Limp Zhang paused, his face full of expectation as he glanced at Chen Hai several times.
Remaining silent, Chen Hai didn’t respond.
As for favors?
When he was unconscious that day, Limp Zhang performed the exorcism, and his parents took good care of him, never cheating Limp Zhang out of a penny.
And as for the Nameless Ancient Book that led him onto the path of Tao Cultivation, Limp Zhang had no intention of lending it to him.
The fact that Chen Hai managed to borrow that book, to put it a bit crudely, that was purely a transaction.
And as for the favors he owes Limp Zhang?
Chen Hai doesn’t quite see it that way.
Of course, in light of that small favor, if what Limp Zhang asks of him is relatively simple and something he could quickly resolve, he wouldn’t mind lending a small hand.
“Limp Uncle, can you tell me exactly how you died?” After a moment of silence, Chen Hai finally asked.
He had initially thought Limp Zhang had entered the Night Tour Realm, but now it seemed this man was only in the soul departure phase, weaker than his earlier assumption.
Yet even so, for Limp Zhang to suddenly die a good death and become a Remnant Soul, this made Chen Hai even more curious about the reasons behind it.
“What other reason could there be?
It’s all because of that unreliable Wang Xiuhua, who promised that her husband, Chen Erleng, had gone to the county and wouldn’t return for two days!”
“But as it turned out, in the middle of the night, Chen Erleng came back and caught me red-handed!”
“If it had been just getting my leg broken, I would have accepted it, but the fellow caught me on the scene with two accomplices, and they intended to take my life!”
“That grudge, I simply cannot swallow no matter what!”
As he spoke, Limp Zhang kept glancing at Chen Hai to gauge his reaction, but it seemed that Chen Hai remained unmoved throughout.
Biting his lip, Limp Zhang then said, “Chen Hai, there is another Taoist Book hidden in my home.”
“However, that book is too profound, and I couldn’t cultivate it due to insufficient Realm.”
“As long as you agree to help me take revenge and bring Chen Erleng and his accomplices to justice, I will give you the hidden Taoist Book for free!”
The ancestral teachings of the Zhang Family dictate that the family’s Taoist Books should not be passed on to outsiders.
But with all his own people dead, Limp Zhang at this point wasn’t about to care about any ancestral teachings!
Besides, this wasn’t the first time he had violated the ancestral teachings,
The last time, when Chen Hai had come to him to borrow a book, although he had sent it to Chen Hai through Wang Xiuhua, that act also constituted a violation of his ancestral teachings.