Chapter 305: Chapter 269: Five Ghosts

Lunar calendar, January 16th; Gregorian calendar, February 13th. The Lantern Festival has just passed.

Sang Que originally planned to go home today. The second semester of her sophomore year is about to start, and she wanted to discuss temporarily dropping out with her mom. Compared to what she has to do now, she feels that attending school is no longer important for her.

However, in the afternoon Yao Zhen found her and said they could summon the Five Ghosts tonight, so she postponed her return home.

The night was boundless. Yao Zhen held a compass and directed Sang Que to instant teleport with her. They had already left Bright Moon Mountain and were running further away.

“Why not set up an altar in the mountain?” Sang Que couldn’t help but ask.

Yao Zhen rolled her eyes, “Your mountain doesn’t even have a single Wandering Soul’s shadow; it’s cleaner than my face. You have a Yin Child, a Red Ghost, and a Deceitful Bride. Which ghost dares to trouble you?”

Yao Zhen was already aware of Sang Que’s mastery over the Deceitful Bride; at that time, her mouth was wide open, enough to fit an egg.

This was Yao Zhen’s first time seeing a Yin Walker commanding two ghosts. Although the Yin Walking General in Shengjing had the same skills, Sang Que had also enslaved a ’Red Ghost’.

If they were on the same level, Yao Zhen felt that Sang Que could pin the Yin Walking General of Shengjing to the ground in a fight. The Ghost Slave Seal of Sang Que exerted a stronger suppressive force on ghosts and zombies than those of other four-layered Yin Walkers.

Hearing Yao Zhen’s words, Sang Que smiled, “Makes sense.”

Lately, she has been going to the canyon entrance of Bright Moon Mountain frequently to lay down a Ghost Realm, artificially creating a Death Domain. Not to mention the Wandering Souls and wild ghosts in Bright Moon Mountain, even those passing by outside couldn’t escape the Yin Child’s tiny hands.

The Yansheng coin currently requires double the power than before to refill, so she has to work harder.

Even those small rivers in the mountain have no traces of Water Ghosts, not only because of her frequent ’fishing’, but also because the Yin Child often squats by the river staring into it.

Sang Que didn’t know what the Yin Child was looking at, but after it gazes into the river, no ghost slave of a Water Ghost appeared again, causing rumors to spread that a powerful god protects the mountain, and no evil spirits or ghosts dare approach.

“We’ve arrived, let’s do it here.”

Yao Zhen instructed Sang Que to stop. All around them was a wild plain, stretching infinitely in all directions.

The wastelands in Bright Moon Mountain were almost fully cultivated and ready for planting, but this place, though prime farmland, hadn’t been touched yet.

Sang Que looked towards the southwest, the Ghost Realm they saw from Pu’an County remained in the mountain, thick with ominous clouds.

If that Ghost Realm doesn’t move, it can be ignored for now, but if it moves eastward, it could very well enter Bright Moon Mountain.

“Today is Gui Chou day, suitable for sacrifices!”

As Yao Zhen spoke, she took out the worn-out cloth she used for divination from her bag and spread it open on the ground.

Sang Que withdrew her gaze and opened up the large box they brought, which contained five fresh sheep heads.

Yao Zhen glanced over and nodded in satisfaction. She had prepared five bowls of rice, five cups of wine, an incense burner, candles, yellow paper money, and other items.

She placed the sheep heads and rice wine at five different positions. Before each sheep head, she inserted bamboo sticks, each with a yellow paper figurine attached, and placed the incense burner in the center.

Lighting three sticks of incense, Yao Zhen extinguished the flame with a flick of her wrist and inserted the incense into the incense burner.

Though there was wind around, the smoke from the incense burner rose straight up unaffected.

Yao Zhen looked at the sky, calculated with her fingers, and determined the time was about right.

“Do you still remember the Finger Seal, Step Technique, and spell I taught you?”

Sang Que recalled for a moment, then nodded. She couldn’t remember the textbook content even after copying it three times, but she remembered these useful things after Yao Zhen mentioned them once.

Yao Zhen stepped aside, indicating that the remaining matters were up to Sang Que.

Sang Que went over, pricked her fingertip, and dripped her blood into the five cups of wine, then stood up and executed the Taoist Five Yin Steps, shouting aloud.

“The sky is vast and the earth broad, we beseech the Eastern Ghost, we beseech the Southern Ghost, we beseech the Western Ghost, we beseech the Northern Ghost, and we beseech the Five Ghosts of this realm to gather!”

On the first attempt, the smoke in the incense burner continued to rise straight up, and there was no movement around.

Yao Zhen folded her arms, stood aside, and signaled Sang Que to try again. Summoning the Five Ghosts for the first time requires sincerity.

With no other choice, Sang Que tried again. This time, as she finished the spell, a gust of Yin wind came, briefly skewing the smoke before dissipating.

It came and went, too weak to accept Sang Que’s offerings and was scared away.

“Try once more. If it doesn’t work on the third try, tonight’s attempt is a failure, and you’ll need to summon again after forty-nine days.”

As Yao Zhen spoke, she glanced towards the mountains in the southwest; the wind seemed to be picking up, and the Ghost Realm seemed to be slowly moving.

Sang Que took a deep breath and steadied himself.

“…I beseech the Five Ghosts of this realm to assemble!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a fierce wind suddenly rose, and a streak of red lightning crossed the Ghost Realm in the southwest, blinding the eyes of the two. Sang Que and Yao Zhen both felt an extreme cold force approaching.

Without needing Yao Zhen to remind him, Sang Que immediately braced against the strong wind, taking out five Copper Coins he had prepared earlier and placing them on the heads of five goat heads.

As the last Copper Coin was placed, a red light flashed, and four ghostly figures suddenly appeared around the altar.

Seeing what was in front of him, Sang Que’s heart trembled.

It was a red paper parasol, held by a woman in red who covered her head with it and carried her highly decayed head in her other hand.

The four ghostly figures around her were all male, and headless.

It was clearly the Red Umbrella Ghost from Wangshan City, who Sang Que, Xia Chan, and He Buning had previously dealt with. In the end, this Red Umbrella Ghost and another Soldier Ghost were consumed by Yu Da.

How did the Red Umbrella Ghost appear here?

Could Yu Da be nearby? Was the Red Umbrella Ghost released by him?

The Red Umbrella Ghost seemed to recognize Sang Que and, upon seeing him clearly, the face on her head changed, and both the red parasol and the surrounding four ghostly figures began to rapidly dissipate.

Sang Que hurriedly expanded the Ghost Realm, uprooting the Opera House, and the Yin Child and Deceitful Bride appeared around the Red Umbrella Ghost simultaneously.

The Red Umbrella Ghost was at the fourth layer and, feeling the pressure from two powerful forces, stood frozen in place. The other four were Ghost Slaves enslaved by the Red Umbrella Ghost.

Sang Que immediately stepped forward, pressing down on the paper parasol alongside the Deceitful Bride. The Red Umbrella Ghost, having been previously consumed, had its power greatly reduced and was easily subdued.

Strictly speaking, the Red Umbrella Ghost, together with the four Ghost Slaves, was subdued by the Deceitful Bride and belonged to her. Other than carrying the sedan, they could not do anything else.

But with Yao Zhen’s help, Sang Que cleverly layered trick atop trick.

After the Deceitful Bride’s flower sedan appeared, the Red Umbrella Ghost and the four Headless Ghost Slaves, who should have merged into the sedan, did not head toward it.

In front of the goat heads, five yellow paper figurines on bamboo sticks ignited on their own; one ghost and four slaves merged into the five Copper Coins placed on the heads by Sang Que. The flesh of the goat heads quickly decayed, leaving only white bones in the blink of an eye.

Sang Que threaded the Copper Coins with a red line, hanging them on the sedan. The Red Umbrella Ghost and the four Headless Ghost Slaves were to bear the sedan, and when hung on her, they became the Five Ghosts she could command.

Normally, controlling the Five Ghosts isn’t like a Yin Walker’s constant riding; it’s contractual. When tasks need completion, the Five Ghosts are summoned for help and leave after the task is done.

The Five Ghosts can run errands, transport goods, and, with a hefty price, even take lives.

Similarly, Sang Que didn’t need to pay a price; however, using the Five Ghosts for carrying the sedan or delivering messages could only happen at night.

Sang Que withdrew the Ghost Realm and the Opera House, leaving only the flower sedan of the Deceitful Bride. Yao Zhen yawned beside her, noticing the Ghost Realm in the southwest mysteriously vanished.

Sang Que sat in the flower sedan with the string of Copper Coins. Four Headless Ghost Slaves appeared at either side of the sedan, while the woman holding her head with the red parasol led the way.

With a thought, the Headless Ghost Slaves lifted the flower sedan, moving with speed comparable to a bullet train, yet incredibly stable.

The crucial aspect was that this mode of movement did not consume Sang Que’s own energy, and the Five Ghosts could carry her anywhere before dawn.

If she were to use Instant Teleportation, she could only continue for an hour at most before tiring.

During the Five Ghosts’ rapid journey, the red parasol hovered at the side of the sedan, guiding Sang Que.

Encountering Wandering Souls on the road, Sang Que issued commands, and the red parasol would fly out, taking the Wandering Soul’s head, or simply letting the sedan collide directly.

Crossing through walls, over water, and across cliffs—none posed obstacles, emulating the travel manner of spirits.

After some trial, Sang Que ordered the flower sedan to return to its original spot, where Yao Zhen had tidied everything and was waiting with his bundle.

The sedan had some space, enough to carry one more person.

“Yao Zhen, come on up!”

Sang Que extended an invitation to Yao Zhen, when suddenly a ’ting-a-ling’ sound came from the main road.

“Knives, scissors, rouge jewelry and sundries~~”

Yao Zhen stopped in his tracks, as did Sang Que, stepping out of the sedan; both looked in the direction of the sound. In the dim moonlight, a one-eyed peddler appeared, balancing a pole on his shoulder, shaking a rattle and hawking his wares.

Behind him followed five children wearing different big-headed doll masks, giggling and chattering nonstop.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep