Cataclysm Chapter 13: A Skeleton Under Clothing 6; There is Someone Above

Chapter 13: A Skeleton Under Clothing 6; There is Someone Above

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations 

Editor: Addis

 

At around dawn, everyone finally went back to their rooms to rest. As soon as Chen Yang entered the room, he grabbed Du Shuo, who had changed back to his original appearance, “You didn’t notice the ghostly aura in time either?”

In fact, the willows and locust trees could indeed hide ghostly auras from normal Hell servitors. He asked just to be sure, also so that he would have a better idea of the evil spirit’s strength.

Du Shuo picked up Chen Yang’s hand and clasped his fingers, he said, “I don’t intervene in affairs of the human realm.” 

“What?” Chen Yang was stunned for a moment, he was puzzled and asked, “Ghost locusts, and evil spirits are harming people, shouldn’t that be regarded as a matter of the underworld?”

“Evil spirits doing harm to people is a matter of the human realm. It’s only a matter of the underworld when they are dead.” There were clear boundaries between Yin and Yang. ¹ Chen Yang, who was half a resident of the underworld since childhood, naturally knew the rules. Du Shuo was a Hell servitor, if he broke the rules, he would be punished severely. That’s why the underworld was cooperating with human Tianshis in arresting evil spirits and alike, then sending them back to the underworld for registration and trial.

 “According to that logic, if the ghost locust does not count as a matter of the underworld, does it mean that the tumor on the ghost locust tree has… matured?”

When the tumor on the tree matures, it grows into a living being. At this time, the ghost attached to the locust tree was no longer a ghost, but a Jingguai. From a ghost to a Jingguai, it was full of ghostly auras, and was able to wander between the human realm and the underworld, sooner or later it would become a horrible calamity.

“Hmn,” Du Shuo picked Chen Yang up, and put him on the bed, he pressed his neck and commanded, “sleep.”

“I’m not in the mood to sleep.”

Du Shuo paused slightly and stared at him. He turned from pressing to gently caressing his neck, his movements were full of love and hints, “If you get tired, then you can sleep.”

Chen Yang grabbed the hand moving around his neck and said, “I’m thinking about those things, I don’t have the mood to do it with you now. Don’t tease me.”

Du Shuo climbed onto the bed with his hand going across Chen Yang’s shoulder and suppressing his movements, “The sun is coming out soon. If you don’t sleep now, how will you have enough stamina to find the evil spirits during daytime? Go to sleep.”

“It’s a new day now. What’s the second hint?”

Du Shuo looked at him quietly, his face was expressionless, and Chen Yang couldn’t tell his mood from his eyes. But Chen Yang was not afraid of him. He was used to Du Shou’s paper tiger personality. He didn’t feel any fear towards him, “If you tell me the hint, then I can sleep.”

As if. If Du Shuo told him the hint, he would likely get so excited he could sleep even less. 

Du Shuo said, “Recently, I learned a new mantra in the human realm, and I found it very interesting. Do you want to hear it?” 

A Hell servitor learning Tianshi incantations in the human realm? Chen Yang was interested in that, and his face showed an expression of interest. So he asked, “What kind of incantation?”

Du Shuo casually made a hand gesture and said to Chen Yang’s attentive eyes, “Clear pure wisdom, peace of mind.”

Chen Yang paused for a moment. It took him a long time to react. This was a Heart Purifying mantra, which has the effect of calming the mind. For him, it was like him taking a sleeping pill, and his drowsiness rose immediately. He yawned and muttered, “You lied to me.” Then he closed his eyes, hugged Du Shuo’s arm and fell asleep.

Du Shuo leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his forehead, “Peace of mind.” 

A blessing from the great emperor Fengdu was enough to make Chen Yang sleep without pestering dreams.

At 9:30 in the morning, Chen Yang got up and went downstairs after washing up. Everyone else  had already woken up and was downstairs.

Mao Xiaoli had her eyes closed, she was making a strange gesture with her hands, and a brush was in between her two index fingers. In front of her was a dining table with cinnabar and yellow paper on it. Ge Qing sat next to her with her head propped up by her hands, she was watching Mao Xiaoli with curiosity. On the other side were Feng Yuan and Wei Changping, who were lying on the dining table with pale faces and blank eyes.

Chen Yang approached and heard Mao Xiaoli say something, “The upper part protects the body and life, the lower part binds ghosts and subdues evil. All life and death are reduced and life is cut down. Heed my call, as urgently as law.”

As soon as Ge Qing saw Chen Yang, she asked him to sit down for breakfast. Chen Yang said thanks and pulled out a chair to sit down. Looking around, he didn’t see Du Shuo and Kou Xuanling. He surmised that they must have gone out to investigate the case. After all, it was quite late already ².

“Master Chen, why is Mao Xiaoli Tianshi drawing pictorial symbols and making all kinds of gestures and chants?”

Feng Yuan and Wei Changping pricked up their ears and wanted to know as well.

“The rules of drawing talismans. Before drawing, one should cleanse one’s body and mind, cleanse the desk and chair. Before lifting up the brush, one should bless the paper, ink, inkstone, and water. She was blessing the brush just now, now she is chanting the water blessing mantra. Only after you have chanted it sincerely can you begin writing the talisman in one go.”

“Making a talisman is this troublesome?” Ge Qing was shocked, “On TV, I see people picking up cinnabar with the brush and drawing directly.”

“If it’s that easy, anyone could draw a talisman, then why do you still need Tianshi to subdue evil spirits and ghosts?” Chen Yang looked at Mao Xiaoli, the latter opened her eyes, touched the cinnabar, then painted strong strokes, completing it all in one go. “But some people don’t have to do so many steps. As long as the brush is stained with cinnabar, the talisman will come naturally to shape.”

“Why?”

“Talent. There are geniuses in every industry.” Chen Yang pointed at Mao Xiaoli, “She’s the genius in our branch office. She was born to do this. It takes a few days for others to make one talisman, and she can draw a stack in half an hour.”

Ge Qing opened her mouth slightly from shock and looked at Mao Xiaoli with awe. She didn’t have any more animosity towards Mao Xiaoli, but now she was glad that they were sleeping in the same room.

Mao Xiaoli secretly opened one eye and peeked at Chen Yang. The latter was sitting straight, even if he was just eating a piece of toast, he looked like a wise hermit eating wind and drinking morning dew. Elder brother Chen was truly worthy of being their director, the words he said were so convincing, even Mao Xiaoli almost believed him.

After eating breakfast, Chen Yang saw Feng Yuan and Wei Changping and asked, “Have you not recovered from the frightening scene this morning?”

Feng Yuan sat up straight, “Fright is one reason, sadness is another, but there is another important reason…” He tried not to sound like he was complaining, “Kou Tianshi… is especially pious.”

Chen Yang didn’t understand what they meant.

Just at that moment, Du Shuo and Kou Xuanling came in. The former sat directly by Chen Yang’s side, Kou Xuanling stared at Chen Yang with a strange look. It was hard for him to understand the charm of Chen Yang. How was he able to get the director to change his indifferent image? Maybe he was the son of a noble Tianshi family, and he has high morals and talents?

When Chen Yang saw Du Shuo pick up toast and milk, he asked in a low voice, “Can you eat human food?”

“Can.”

“You can eat human food without holding a ceremony? What kind of magic did you use?”

“I’ll teach you later.”

“Mn,” Chen Yang nodded and asked, “the second hint.”

Du Shuo glanced at him, “Fang ³.”

“And then?”

“No more.”

“Just one word?” Chen Yang couldn’t believe it, “How can I guess from just one word?”

“That’s why I said yesterday was a treat.”

“……” Chen Yang put his hand under the table and secretly grabbed Du Shuo by the corner of his coat, “Brother Du, would you please tell me one more word quietly? Brother, Du ge-ge ⁴, please tell me more, pretty please?”

Du Shuo remained unfazed and showed an attitude of not hearing him at all, but, “It’s related to Miyun Ghost House.”

Chen Yang’s eyes lit up, “You’re the best.” 

Yep, he’s a paper tiger.

After breakfast, Feng Yuan and the others were driven out of the house by Kou Xuanling, and they wandered around to attract the attention of the spirits. In particular, Wei Changping who was especially told by Kou Xuanling to contact the beautiful woman he met yesterday.

Wei Changping asked strangely, “Why?”

“You said she was beautiful.”

“Is beauty a problem?” Wei Changping, “Master Kou, are you discriminating against beautiful women?”

“No. She is suspicious, because she is interested in you.”

“……” Is discriminating against me not discrimination now?

Ge Qing was a girl and she really dared not go out after what had happened. Mao Xiaoli told her not to be too scared, as she had just painted dozens of five thunder talismans. Ge Qing was grateful and wanted to have some.

Mao Xiaoli, “One is 200 yuan.”

Ge Qing,“……” Although her wallet was targeted, she still bought about ten. The reason why she didn’t buy too many was because Feng Yuan and Wei Changping were also rushing to buy some.

Mao Xiaoli, “Two hundred yuan for ladies and five hundred yuan for men.”

Wei Changping complained, “You’re sexist.” 

But they couldn’t help it. They still have to buy some.

Chen Yang secretly gave Mao Xiaoli a look of encouragement and appreciation, hinting that she had done a great job. Mao Xiaoli straightened her chest and gave a look back to show that she would continue her efforts.

“By the way,” Chen Yang said, “you guys can come back during the afternoon and take a nap and have a good rest. If you go out at night, you will have a higher probability of luring out the evil spirits.”

Feng Yuan and the others were horrified and refused. Chen Yang sighed, “We will follow you in the distance at night.” Only then did they feel at ease.

After Ge Qing and the others left, Kou Xuanling looked at the pile of yellow paper in front of Mao Xiaoli. They were messy and untidy, but she was already lifting her brush and ink to draw again.

While painting, she kept mumbling happily, “If I had known that these talismans were worth this much money, I would have drawn more.”

“Are you going to paint just like this?” Kou Xuanling opened his mouth in shock.

Mao Xiaoli didn’t understand, “Mn? What’s the matter?” After a pause, she responded and explained, “I already blessed the ink, paper, inkstone, and water.”

“……”

The making of the talisman stressed the correct time, sincerity and unity. There must be no distractions or interruptions. But Mao Xiaoli just sold a bunch of talismans, and immediately she continued drawing them, all while thinking about selling more. It would not be odd if her ancestors sent thunder down to hit this non-pious person.

It’s probably because his expression of disapproval was too obvious. Chen Yang said, “Xiaoli only needs to bless the brush, ink, paper and inkstone. She doesn’t have to choose a good time or purify her body and mind. Before writing, she just has to chant the mantra, and do the general stuff a little.”

Natural talismans!

A light bulb lit up in his mind. The Taoist talismans were divided into natural talismans and forced talismans. To make a forced talisman, a lot of rituals and rules have to be followed before drawing. Even the date and time needed to be calculated carefully, but there was still a high likelihood of failing. Natural talismans, however, were done with the lift of a brush. The success rate was about nine out of ten.

This was the mark of a genius of Tianshi, and only those with a wonderful foundation could manage that. For a genius like that, their names were likely in heaven’s book without requiring a Tianshi blessing.

Kou Xuanling looked at Mao Xiaoli in amazement… As his eyes laid onto the wooden token on her waist, his face suddenly darkened. How lazy must one be to only be a Dugong(6th) Tianshi with such talents? Knowing that such great talents were wasted, he felt heartbroken.

Kou Xuanling couldn’t bear to look at Mao Xiaoli anymore. He turned his head and asked Chen Yang, “So what grade is director Chen?”

“I don’t have a grade.”

“I see, such a talented person, you are still so young and you already don’t have a… don’t have a grade?!” Kou Xuanling was shocked, “Can a Tianshi with no grade be called a Tianshi? How did you become the branch director then?”

“…There is someone above.”

Kou Xuanling, “……” He suddenly remembered, “Wait, didn’t you take up a three star job? I saw the comments by other Tianshis in the app, they said you summoned a Fengdu Hell servitor, was that not you but Mao Xiaoli?”

Mao Xiaoli opened her eyes and said, “That wasn’t me. It was brother Chen.”

“If you didn’t receive a blessing, then your name won’t be listed in heaven’s book. How could you summon a Fengdu Hell servitor?” 

 

The author has something to say:

“If you didn’t receive a blessing, then your name won’t be listed in heaven’s book. How could you summon a Fengdu Hell servitor?” 

“…There’s someone below.”

A little explanation, in the last chapter, the cannon fodder who summoned ghosts was killed. Gong knew it when it was happening, but he didn’t care. The great emperor of Fengdu is a Taoist deity with his own principles and indifference. He doesn’t care about affairs of the human realm, and only deals with matters of the underworld. If it wasn’t for Chen Xiao Yang, he would not have come to the human realm.

 

 

 

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