Chapter 41: Slasher Cat 1; Moon Worshiping Cat
Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Chen Yang and the rest walked out of the teaching building and saw Du Shuo standing at the door. Chen Yang walked over and said, “Did you get hurt?”
“No.” Du Shuo took Chen Yang’s hand and naturally clasped his fingers.
Chen Yang, “Did you see Bai Pang?”
“He’s a Diannan Gu master.”
Chen Yang nodded, was a bit surprised but not too unexpected. If he could set up the Ghost Gate Array, then he must be a cultivated person. There were so many corpses buried in the open space at the back of the mountain. They could climb out of the soil even in the daytime, so they must be controlled by someone. It also makes sense to use corpses to raise poisonous Gu insects and then use them to manipulate the corpses to move.
The Tianshis and Hell Servitors captured all the ghosts in the whole mountain. The Regional Overseer was very busy and detected the trace of the Great Emperor nearby. He came to pay respects to him in a hurry. He saw the emperor and a man in the human realm clasping fingers from a distance, which made his eyes literally fall out. A Tianshi, who lived nearby and chatted with the Overseer a lot that they were basically old friends, saw this.
The Tianshi patted the Overseer on the shoulder from behind. When he saw the eyeballs on the ground, he jumped up as he was startled, “Old iron, it’s no use to be depressed.” Everyone in the Tianshi world knew that he was so poor that he couldn’t even get disciples. He quickly picked up the two eyeballs of the Overseer and stuffed them back into the empty eye sockets.
The Overseer rubbed his eyes hard, and the two out of orbit eyes immediately returned to their original position. He asked, “Chang Zile, do you think the people in front of you look familiar?”
Chang Zile observed them carefully and replied, “I don’t.”
The Overseer was about to point out the identity of Du Shuo, until the Emperor suddenly turned his head and looked at him with a chill in his eyes. In an instant, the Overseer shut his mouth and explained to himself secretly that there must be a reason for the Emperor to come to the human realm. As for his intimate gestures with the human realm man, he had heard that there was a young man in the human realm who was familiar with Hell Servitors and had connections in Fengdu and the Underworld. Originally, he thought it must be someone from Fengdu looking after a younger generation of Ghost Arts practitioners. Now it seems that the elder who was looking after the younger generation was the great emperor himself… Wait, so why was the emperor holding hands with the youngin he was looking after?
The Overseer fell into deep thinking. Was this the way an elder cared for the younger generation?
Chang Zile invited the Overseer to go say hello to Chen Yang and the rest. The Overseer was surprised and shook his head to escape. Chang Zile didn’t understand. He thought he must be bothered by the huge amounts of ghosts here. So he went to say hello to them on his own, “Hello, my friends. My surname is Chang and I am the religious leader of the Chang family temple.”
Chen Yang and others introduced themselves as well. Chang Zile appreciated Chen Yang and the rest, as they were talented young people. In addition, he wanted to know more about the incident at Jinshui secondary school so he talked to them for a while. Fortunately, Chang Zile was a gentle and honest man with a good sense of propriety. He was also one of the vice presidents of the Taoist Association.
When hearing about the events of Jinshui secondary school and how the job was categorized into the blue section by the Taoist Association, he frowned and said, “This is the negligence of the grading disciples. The Taoist Association lacks talents in that department. Every talented Tianshi is busy practicing or taking jobs to make money. Only the weaker disciples of some small sects would do the rating. Although the disciples could report back to the association if they think an assessment could not be made. The association would send the higher-level Tianshis to assess the situation. The assessment can only be carried out on the periphery, which would be more or less incomplete. During this period, there had been major mistakes in the evaluation by the association. The longer this lasts, the bigger a problem it will become. Since the last loss of Tianshis in the Deserted Village of the South, a new proposal for the grading system on the APP has been submitted to the Taoist Association. I believe that this problem will be solved very soon.”
Chang Zile also said, “The job of Jinshu secondary school should be classified into the three star job in the green section. You can report back to the Taoist Association and apply for compensation as required. By the way, you are from the Dafu branch office. You can also ask the Main Office for compensation. With my guarantee, your application will not be easily brushed off.”
Chen Yang’s eyes lit up and looked at Du Shuo. Du Shuo nodded his head, and Chen Yang was elated. His hand in his pocket and found that Mao Xiaoli’s three-day blessing talisman has lost its effect.
Head teacher Jin and teacher Liu left the group and said to them, “More than a dozen people died tonight so we still need to call the police. We want to stay and deal with the school’s affairs.”
Although they have solved the problems of teacher Bai Yan and the orphans in the school, there were still many problems left in Jinshui secondary school. Money laundering and homicide were involved, so they still needed the police to deal with the case. It’s a pity that such a big event has happened. Especially since the principal and vice principals, directors and teachers of the school are casualties as well. It is estimated that some parents will wake up and dare not send their children into the deep mountains again. Especially when they will not be able to contact them at all for consecutive months.
Chen Yang nodded permission. Head teacher Jin and Mr. Liu stayed at the entrance of the teaching building to wait for the police. When the police arrived, they told them what happened and told the parents as well. However, the supernatural part was concealed, saying only that it was man-made and they could not contact the outside world due to the damage of the signal tower. In fact, teacher Li lied. Most of the students in the school didn’t know about the game of death. Only a few of them participated. The numbers on the card were random, not the number of people participating.
Teacher Li lied in front of Chen Yang and others because he wanted to drag more people into the water. He was afraid that Chen Yang and others would think they deserved death and not save them. In fact, they did want to save them, but they died miserably because of their own selfishness. It’s retribution.
So when most of the students were taken home from school by their parents, they were very confused. Only when the murder that happened in Jinshui secondary school was broadcast on TV, the Internet, and other media did they break out in a cold sweat. The killing machine had been lurking around them and they might have been killed if they didn’t pay attention. No wonder some students and teachers suddenly disappeared overnight. The answer given by the school was to leave early and go home!
The management of the school had ignored students’ livelihoods, which had sparked a lot of outrage from the public. When people heard that the school leaders, directors and some teachers who were involved in the abuse were dead, the netizens applauded and thought that they deserved it. With an in-depth investigation of the case, the truth of teacher Bai Yan had been revealed, and her injustice had been vindicated. The school’s money laundering, taking bribes, campus violence among students, and cold-blooded selfish incidents were all exposed causing a storm.
On the Internet, a round of hot topics such as schools and education methods, high-pressure education, campus violence and other hot topics were raised. At the same time, the other school directors involved in the money laundering scheme received a national investigation and fell down one after another, which led to the discussion of corruption and anti-corruption. Let’s not mention these for the time being and go back to the present.
Du Shuo had always been good at communicating with older people, not like the younger generation pleasing the elders, but as if they were of the same age. Sometimes, he seemed even older than the elderly, and he had similar interests and hobbies with them. Sometimes the older people were more open-minded than Du Shuo was. At this moment, Du Shuo talked with Chang Zile about how to reform the app, the Taoist Association, the Dafu main office, and the Tianshi community as a whole.
Chen Yang yawned and secretly asked Kou Xuanling, “Chang Tianshi is the vice president of the Taoist Association. Do you know him?”
“Yes.” Kou Xuanling gave him some background information, “In the north, there are four big families, Hu, Huang, Ma and Chang. Chang Zile is the leader of the Chang Family Temple. He is very famous among the Chuma faction.1Among all the Chuma Tianshis, he was a first-class one. He was also the least caring of Taoist affairs among the dozens of vice presidents of the Taoist Association. We’re very lucky to have him send a letter of guarantee for us.”
“Xiaoli’s talisman is a new generation of Koi fish.” 3 As he opened and scrolled through the page, he replied to Mao Xiaoli, “Brother Du is here. I don’t need to post questions, I can just ask brother Du.”
Mao Xiaoli looked back and forth between Chen Yang and Du Shuo. When she was in contact with Du Shuo’s cold gaze, she got scared. As if remembering something, she plucked up her courage and said, “Brother Chen, would you like to have some Nine Days Xuannu Marriage charms?”
“No,” Chen Yang refused.
“Your relationship will be better – Ah, Zhang Qiudao, go away!” In the middle of Mao Xiaoli’s words, Zhang Qiudao suddenly pressed the back of her head and interrupted her, “Director Chen, Direc… Du Shuo, you can ignore her. In the past two days, she’s been looking for couples to advertise her Nine Days Xuannu Marriage Charms. Before that, she even asked us to pretend to be a couple and advertise the charms. She is so desperate now that she isn’t even letting Director Chen go.”
Mao Xiaoli pushed Zhang Qiudao aside and said to Chen Yang, “Suddenly, there are competitors selling Peach Blossom charms in the school. They have models and advertisements for theirs. My sales began to decline and I can’t afford Boba tea anymore.” She looked at Du Shuo, who was indifferent, she waved her hand and said, “OK, I’m just kidding.”
It was true that she did not want to go crazy and advertise Chen Yang and Du Shuo. One was that they were special, and the other was that she dared not face Du Shuo. So Mao Xiaoli asked, “Want to be in love?”
“With you?” Kou Xuanling asked.
Mao Xiaoli has fallen very low for money, “Yes.”
“I refuse.” Kou Xuanling added, “I’d rather be with my Zushiye.” 4
Mao Xiaoli said, “Yes. As long as Zushiye agrees, I can accept it too.” Her expression was eager to try.
Kou Xuanling couldn’t react for a moment. But when he realized what she just said, he glared at Mao Xiaoli in disbelief. 5 Turning to Zhang Qiudao, he said, “Has she fallen this much already?”
Zhang Qiudao, “More than that.”
“Why don’t you use me and my wife as advertisements then?” Ma Shanfeng said.
“I refuse.” Mao Xiaoli said, “Young people just want stimulation from love. They think that developing a relationship can bring about a sense of vanity. It’s not really about marriage. Uncle Ma and your wife have been loving each other for many years. They won’t believe it. They would think I’m a liar.”
To put it bluntly, the model image and advertising content should also conform to the market. Chen Yang tilted his head and looked at Du Shuo, “do you have any ideas?”
Du Shuo, “The main relationship governors are the Heaven’s Joy God, the Red Luan Two Stars, 6 the Two Immortals, and the Nine Days Xuannu. Taoist charms include: the Marriage Bridging Relationship Charms, the Peach Blossom Charms, and the Peach Blossom Slashing Charms. Now that you know buyers are looking for stimulation, you should sell Peach Blossom Charms. People will buy them to attract new relationships and popularity. The Peach Blossom Slashing Charms can also be sold. It will be even more popular than the Peach Blossom Charms.”
Chen Yang added, “Moreover, short supply is the truth of long-term business.”
Peach blossom symbol calls for peach blossoms, which may attract rotten relationships. The Peach Blossom Slashing Charms can be used and it can call for the Dutian Three Monkeys God to cut off the rotten relationship. It can also call for Heaven’s Joy God, the Red Luan Two Stars, the Two Immortals, and the Nine Days Xuannu to bring forth genuine relationships.
The more Mao Xiaoli listened, the brighter her eyes were, “That makes sense. I have to look through the Charms Sutra of the Maoshan faction to find out how to draw the Peach Blossom talisman and the Peach Blossom Slashing talisman.”
Mao Xiaoli ran upstairs. After a while, she came back on the stairs and said, “By the way, recently it was reported that some students in our school saw ghost cats worshiping the moon. The school leaders wanted to invite Tianshis. How about I get in touch with them?”
Chen Yang, “Sure.”
At the beginning of starting a business you should never think about the level of a job being too low, also never think that there is too little money.
<em>Shiya: Dying from translating wikipedia.</em>
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Translator Notes:
- According to Baidu, Chuma is a faction that has animals ascended from cultivation, the animals then possess certain humans to further cultivate themselves by doing good deeds in the human realm. The humans that got possessed by those ascended animals are called Chuma disciples.
- Koi fish in Chinese custom is something that’s lucky and can draw wealth.[/efn _note] Chen Yang sighed, and then said, “By the way, Bai Pang is a Diannan Gu master. Although he avenged his sister, he did kill many people. But I don’t think it’s going to be good for him, since he got recoiled by the Gu insects’ curse.”
The experience of the Bai siblings was very sad. They were originally very kind and optimistic. Although Bai Pang was a Gu master, he did not harm people with the poisonous Gu insects. He raised so many Gu insects in the corpses in the open space behind the mountain, but he didn’t really lash out his anger at the innocent. His nature was not bad. It’s a pity that Bai Yan died unjustly and Bai Pang was doomed. Bai Yan had loved her career and students before she died, and it is said that she had helped many students. But what happened was not humane, and it didn’t leave good results.
Chen Yang sighed, “When we go back, we can hold a soul-releasing ceremony for them hoping to help them reincarnate as soon as possible.”
“I have the same idea.” Kou Xuanling agreed.
At this time, Du Shuo turned around to the door of the teacher’s dormitory building and reached out, “Yang Yang, come here quickly.” Chen Yang ran to him, holding his hand and their fingers clasped together. Then he suddenly remembered that Chang Zile was also there, and he quickly looked at him.
Chang Zile looked natural and said with a smile, “You guys should get some rest soon, I will go back first.”
He didn’t show much care, as if he was used to it.
Tianshis in the Tianshi community accepted the relationship between them quite calmly and did not cast a strange look. In particular, the elders such as Ma Shanfeng and Chang Zile have a more natural and friendly attitude towards their relationship. As a matter of fact, Tianshis often deal with ghosts and gods. They often walk on the edge of danger and life and death. Therefore, they are firm in their mind and can accept basically anything.
Chen Yang suddenly thought of something. He called Chang Zile back and introduced Qiu Shengmin to him, “She is born with Yin Yang eyes, she learned to do astral projection without needing a teacher. Her talents should make her suitable to be a Chuma disciple. Is master Chang interested in taking disciples?”
Hearing this, Chang Zile looked at Qiu Shengmin. Qiu Shengmin had been keeping a low profile in the crowd, reducing her sense of presence, so Chang Zile had not noticed her. Now that Chen Yang mentioned it, he looked at Qiu Shengmin, then he was satisfied and asked, “Are you born with Yin Yang eyes? When did you start seeing those things?”
“Since childhood,” Qiu Shengmin replied nervously. After a pause, she said, “I’ve seen them ever since I could remember, I don’t know about the things further back. But when my parents were still alive when I was five years old, my mother said that I often cried when I was an infant. They hired someone, and the person said it was because I saw those things that made me cry.”
Chang Zile nodded, “Would you like to be a Chuma disciple and learn from me?”
“Of course!” Qiu Shengmin was born with Yin-Yang eyes, and was basically born to be a Chuma disciple. She had natural talents and interests in this field. If she had a proper instructor, she would not have abandoned her talents and scammed people for all these years. When she heard Chen Yang’s introduction, she couldn’t believe it at first, then she felt uneasy. At the moment, she was excited to have Chang Zile take her as an apprentice.
But the next second, she froze and was embarrassed. She whispered to Chang Zile about her years of faking her Tianshi identity to scam people. She was sincere and really loved to be a real Tianshi. She didn’t want to deceive Chang Zile, she knew that Tianshis attach great importance to inheritance and personal character.
“Is that so…” Chang Zile pondered for a moment and said, “For ten years, you will donate 60% of the money you get from helping people as a Chuma. Do you agree to this?”
Qiu Shengmin suddenly looked up, she looked into Chang Zile’s kind gaze, and said enthusiastically as she nodded her head, “Yes!”
“That’s good then.” Chang Zile told Qiu Shengmin the address of the Chang family temple, and asked her to pack up her things and go visit to make it official. Then he thanked Chen Yang for introducing a talented disciple to him.
Chen Yang chuckled. “I just think it’s better to learn some real skills than to let her go to waste prison one day or continue to scam people. It’s better to save people and donate part of her income.”
Qiu Shengmin thanked him whole-heartedly.
Several people returned to the dormitory on the fourth floor, planning to rest for one night and leave tomorrow. Qiu Shengming had stayed up all night. He was relieved to see Qiu Shengmin come back safely. He was grateful to Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling for keeping her safe.
Kou Xuanling walked past 404 and reached 401, Qiu Shengmin opened the door of 401 dormitory for him. Chen Yang said, “I remember teacher Li told us not to go into 401.”
“Exactly because of his special instructions, I asked Qiu Shengmin to open room 401. There’s nothing in it. It’s just teacher Bai Yan’s quarters. She used to live in 401 and teacher Li felt that 401 was evil because he felt guilty.” Kou Xuanling waved his hand without turning his head. Before he opened the door and went in, he said, “Besides, I have my Zushiye with me, no evil can invade me.”
Chen Yang was pulled into the other room by Du Shuo and his head was held against the door, his lips sealed. He reached out his hands and hugged Du Shuo’s shoulder to kiss back from the intense lingering to the gentle trickle. Du Shuo picked up Chen Yang, parted his legs to sandwich his waist, then brought him to the bed.
Chen Yang put his arms around Du Shuo and buried his face on his shoulder. He whispered, “I thought you would talk to Chang Tianshi for the whole night. You two looked like you wished to have met earlier.” Chen Yang laughed after he finished.
Du Shuo pulled open Chen Yang’s clothes and reached his hand in. “I saw you yawn.” He had Chen Yang’s ear tip in his mouth, licked it a bit and then kissed him on his neck, “If I talk with him all night, I can’t sleep with you.”
Chen Yang shrunk his shoulders and shuddered. Hearing Du Shuo’s words, he smiled and said, “the person that’s obstructing my rest now is you.”
“Be good Yang Yang. I’m helping you sleep.”
Chen Yang kicked him with his legs that were sandwiching his waist. He said with a smile, “Old rascal.”
Du Shuo sealed his lips so that he couldn’t laugh or say more banter. Only allowing him to pant and beg for mercy in bed.
After that, Du Shuo helped Chen Yang clean up and let him sleep. He kissed his little wife’s forehead and held him in his arms. Du Shuo whispered, “Good night, Yang Yang.”
Chen Yang murmured, “Good night, husband.” He was forced to call him that again and again just now. So he had developed a conditioned reflex at this time and hadn’t recovered yet.
The next day, near noon, Chen Yang and Du Shuo came out of the dormitory with their luggage on their backs. After getting up, Kou Xuanling immediately paid respect to his Zushiye, then he did a sword dance. He had a short chat with the Qiu siblings after breakfast.
Du Shuo whispered a few words to Chen Yang and then left. The Qiu siblings had waited for Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling to say goodbye to them. Seeing Chen Yang come out, they could see the red marks on his neck. They smiled but said nothing. After saying goodbye, they left.
“Where is director Du?”
“He went to buy breakfast.”
The breakfast at Jinshui secondary school was rich and available all morning. Although there was a big event last night, it has not been announced in the school yet this morning, so breakfast was served as usual.
Just as he was talking, Du Shuo came over and handed Chen Yang a steam boiled egg. He took Chen Yang’s backpack and put it on his shoulder. He said, “The porridge is still hot. Wait until it’s cooler.”
Chen Yang took the boiled egg, peeled the shell and put it in Du Shuo’s mouth. Du Shuo took a bite without hesitation before he took the whole thing into his mouth. During this period, they did not stop chatting with Kou Xuanling. The two people’s behaviors were intimate and full of trust.
On the way out as they drove away, they saw many media and parents’ cars driving into Jinshui secondary school. At the foot of the mountain there was a traffic jam, as reporters came to visit. Chen Yang blinked and Du Shuo sat quietly in the back seat, leaving Kou Xuanling to deal with the media alone.
In response to the reporters’ questions, Kou Xuanling misinterpreted all the questions and gave weird and vague answers. He said, “It’s clear that the devil came to take revenge. It’s certainly not man-made.”
The journalist who believes in science, “If it’s really revenge, why are you ok?”
“My Zushiye will protect me.”
Reporter, “Well… Thanks for Mr. Kou’s cooperation, we will continue to interview the next parent.” Originally, the reporter thought he looked handsome and wanted to give him some more shots, but he turned out to be a superstitious person.
“Will my face be covered by mosaics? I want one.”
“Yes.” The reporter smiled, she is not sure whether this can be broadcasted. “According to Mr. Kou, who did not want to be shown…… We need to put an end to superstition and believe in science.”
He stepped on the gas pedal and slowly closed the window glass, meanwhile he heard what the reporter said. Kou Xuanling complained, “Can’t the reporter joke after I have left?”
Chen Yang, “If you hadn’t left then joking is meaningless.”
When the three returned to the Dafu branch office, Ma Shanfeng had made tea and waited for them. Mao Xiaoli heard that they were coming back today and pushed all her school club activities aside. Zhang Qiudao came out of the house with sutras in his hand. He took the lead in welcoming the three back, and only after he had ensured that they were undamaged, he asked them about the case of Jinshu secondary school.
Mao Xiaoli, “You’re famous in the Tianshi world now.”
Chen Yang said, “What’s going on?”
Mao Xiaoli, “The story of Jinshu secondary school spread all over the Tianshi community in the early morning. I was awakened by the Ghostly auras in the sky. To tell you the truth, Tianshis from the Taoist Association judged that the job of Jinshui secondary school was almost a four-star job according to the Ghostly aura there. According to the classification, it should at least be divided into the three-star level in the green section of the APP. With just one third grade Wulei Tianshi and a fourth grade Mengwei Tianshi, you guys managed to deal with the job yourselves. This is equivalent to skipping the level to kill the big boss. The name of brother Chen is very famous in the Tianshi circle now. I see that they have opened many posts to discuss which sect brother Chen is from and who did he learn from?”
Chen Yang was surprised. Unexpectedly, the Tianshi community spread the event of Jinshui secondary school faster than the media. Ma Shanfeng said with a smile, “Once the ghostly aura broke out, all the Tianshis in the imperial capital noticed. Many Tianshis nearby went to check it out and made posts in the special forum of Tianshis so news spread quickly.”
Mao Xiaoli, “Tianshi are very gossipy.” After that, she sent the link of the forum to Chen Yang, “although there are a lot of gossips in the forum, if you post questions, someone will answer them immediately.”
Chen Yang opened the forum link and flipped through it. He found that there were four sections in the forum. There are numerous posts in each section, and the posts about Jinshu secondary school were in the thriller suspense area. It was trending at the top. Behind Jinshu secondary school is the “Deserted Village of the South”. 2This is the author trying to make you remember its existence, because this ‘Deserted Village of the South’ will appear as a whole arc later.
- Shiya: YESSS, go for it.
- Lol, Kou Xuanling: Zushiye is mine, you go away.
- Luan is a bird. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luan_(mythology)
I like the reference to all the issues (apart from supernatural), uncovered at the school, leading to a national investigation into corruption and bullying…. is this a nod at reality needing it? Bullying is awful and has existed alongside education for what must be forever! It starts at nursery, with those using force undisciplined, as though too young. Then progresses. High class to state run schools, it’s in all, worldwide.
Thank you both for the chapter and T/Ns.