Chapter 424: Chapter 388: The Peddler’s Support
Sang Que took the Demon-Subduing Pestle from the Ghost Vendor, "Is it only effective for me? What about others?"
The Ghost Vendor replied, "It’s the same for anyone, as long as there is a body and a soul, it can seal the soul within the body and hold it in place. This object is used by Buddhist disciples to seal evil ghosts; they generally possess the ghosts themselves, using their flesh as a shell, believing this action can accrue infinite merit. If the Demon-Subduing Pestle strikes, there is still hope within seven days. After seven days, the flesh will turn into a stone shell inscribed with Buddhist Scripture."
"In Tibet, there is a place called the Ten Thousand Buddha Plain, where monks sealing evil ghosts with their bodies turn to stone shells. Afterward, other monks will wrap them in cassocks and place them on the Ten Thousand Buddha Plain, using the collective power of monks to purify the evil ghosts. Enough about this, what else do you need?"
Sang Que sealed off the surroundings with the Ghost Realm, and said to the Ghost Vendor and Qiao Ling, "I snatched a Paper Macher from the martial artist of the Ghost Opera Troupe; he was just one step away from entering the fifth layer. And then there was Qu Tianhe, who had impersonated a Bell Doctor and nurtured a Red-clothed Female Jumping Corpse, now also in my hands and only a step away from the Flying Corpse Realm. Do you have any way to help the Paper Macher and the Jumping Corpse cross this barrier now?"
The Ghost Vendor stared at Sang Que, couldn’t help but ask, "How many people from the Ghost Opera Troupe did you kill?"
Before Sang Que could answer, the Ghost Vendor had his five Little Ghosts transform into black smoke and drill into the ground, pulling out a large sack from who knows where— the same one Sang Que saw before, filled with three hundred Blood-stained Weapons and still not full.
The Ghost Vendor lifted the sack, plunged his whole head inside to rummage, and while doing so, casually asked Qiao Ling, "I remember that fake Bell Doctor used something from the Fish Woman to make those zombies rise quickly, correct?"
Qiao Ling nodded, "Yes, when the Evil Suppression Bureau captured Qu Tianhe, I questioned him with medicine. He truly had exceptional talent in medical arts, but unfortunately, he went astray."
The Ghost Vendor pulled out half of the contents and took out two other items.
One was a rusty pair of scissors, longer than regular scissors, with reddish-brown stains on the blades. Just a glance at the scissors flashed bloody scenes in Sang Que’s eyes.
"Release your Paper Macher."
Upon hearing this, Sang Que released the Paper Macher, and the Ghost Vendor stood up, scissors in hand, walked over to the Paper Macher dressed in costume, sized him up, and suddenly plunged the scissors into the heart of the Paper Macher.
The Paper Macher shuddered, and piles of paper scraps appeared beneath his feet. The paper scraps surged into the sky with a violent wind and, as they swirled in mid-air, they quickly turned red as if stained by blood.
The surrounding yin energy converged frantically. Sang Que felt the Paper Macher’s struggle, but fortunately, her Heart Lamp was stable and strong, and she had long marked the Paper Macher with the Mountain Ghost Seal, so she feared no abnormalities.
The aura of the Paper Macher rapidly rose, the scissors in his chest gradually sinking into his body until they disappeared.
The surrounding paper scraps slowly settled, the Paper Macher stabilized, and the scissors reappeared in his hand.
By now, the Paper Macher had become a fifth-layer ghost, gaining an ability bestowed by the scissors.
The Paper Macher could use the scissors to cut off parts of ghosts wrapped in paper scraps, like dismemberment. However, unlike the dismemberment by Yin Child, it couldn’t produce yin objects, only weaken, requiring prior wrapping with paper scraps.
For humans, the Paper Macher could use paper scraps to imprint a person’s shadow, then cut the paper shadow with scissors, directly harming the person’s body.
The scissors were a very powerful yin object, very compatible with the Paper Macher. With the fortification of the scissors, the Paper Macher, already just a step away, smoothly entered the fifth layer.
The Ghost Vendor stared at the Paper Macher for a long while, gifted as a vendor with the ability to appraise treasures, he could discern what skills the Paper Macher had.
The Mountain Ghost Token in Sang Que’s hand wasn’t fake. As one of the Nine Songs, the Ghost Vendor couldn’t let Sang Que be harmed by Earth Ghost, or else the Nine Songs would fall into leaderless chaos, only growing more disordered.
The Ghost Vendor dared not even tell Qiao Ling that he found traces of an assassin at the storyteller’s disappearance site, suspecting the assassin had been swayed by Zuo Jinye, becoming his ally.
The storyteller was likely captured by the assassin and taken to Zuo Jinye’s place.
With the Witch Lady’s foundation destroyed and the Nine Songs crumbling, it’s a sign of impending chaos in the world.
The Ghost Vendor handed over a box made entirely of Ten Victory Stone to Sang Que, "Inside is a scale from the Fish Woman. Give it to your female jumping corpse, it could help her advance. Return the box to me once it’s used; I will go catch a few stronger ghosts for you to use as paperman substitutes for your Paper Macher."
With these words, the Ghost Vendor packed his belongings, picked up his pole, and walked out of Sang Que’s Ghost Realm.
Sang Que asked Qiao Ling to watch over, then entered the painting to find the Red Ghost.
Sang Que was deeply impressed by the Fish Woman, especially the thread-like insects on her body that could penetrate anything, making one’s scalp tingle.
Sang Que approached the Red Ghost, raised the box, aimed the opening at the Red Ghost’s face, and without looking at what was inside, just opened it.
Inside the box was a scale resembling a fish eye. The moment it was exposed to air, the scale seemed to come alive, the eye pattern moved slightly, gradually unfurling into thread-like insects.
The originally motionless Red Ghost felt the Fish Woman’s presence, slowly turned its head toward the scale, and involuntarily opened its mouth, allowing those thread-like insects to extend upwards until they all entered the Red Ghost’s body.
Sang Que waited for a moment, the Red Ghost seemed unchanged.
Perhaps enough time hadn’t passed. To be safe, Sang Que locked the Red Ghost in a house in Taoyuan Village.
Xia Chan brought many snacks, playing in a pavilion on the mountain. Sang Que had Xia Chan transform into a ball of hair, placed her in a diagonal cloth bag, and handed it to Qiao Ling.
Qiao Ling was quite shocked, unsure how Sang Que got hold of Xia Chan, but dealing with the Earth Ghost was more pressing, so Qiao Ling didn’t question it further and carried the bag containing Xia Chan securely.
Qiao Ling handed a medicine bottle to Sang Que, sighed heavily while looking at her, "Don’t do such risky things again in the future."
Sang Que just smiled; she really couldn’t make that promise.
The two waited outside the Five Spirits Altar until noon, when the Ghost Vendor returned, weary and travel-worn. Yunzhou had many ghosts, but the more formidable ones mostly had large numbers of villagers as followers, making them hard to catch.
The Ghost Vendor only managed to capture two fourth-layer ghosts to bring back for Sang Que to use as paperman substitutes.
The ritual ceremony was scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Hour of the Rooster. At 3 p.m., Cheng Ge led two women dressed in traditional Yunzhou attire out of the altar, relieved to see Sang Que quietly sitting under a tree. He had been truly afraid that, after all his preparations, Sang Que would run away again.
Cheng Ge instructed the two women to take Sang Que to bathe in the Holy Lake near the altar, change into Yunzhou garments, as a sign of respect for the Five Spirits God.
During the ritual, Qiao Ling and the Ghost Vendor couldn’t enter to observe and had to wait outside.
Sang Que complied entirely; the complex preparatory process lasted over an hour until 4:30 p.m., when she changed into a rough-woven black skirt with red patterns resembling Miao Clan attire, adorned with intricate silver ornaments, and followed the two women into the Five Spirits Altar.
