Chapter 19: Soul Summoning by Name

The light in the stairwell vanished instantly. The narrow window completely lost its function of bringing in light, as the sunlight was utterly rejected by the building.

An impenetrable darkness slowly spread through the corridor. Despite it being noon, the interior of the building was as dark as night, so thick that one could not see their own hand in front of their face. Even the motion-sensor lights were useless.

Sun Danian froze in place due to this sudden anomaly, his obese body trembling uncontrollably.

Everything around him was swallowed by darkness; the only thing visible was the pair of eerie, blood-red eyes before him. Staring into those eyes was like looking directly into the blood pools of purgatory. Sun Danian seemed to see countless desperate souls struggling in a sea of blood. They reached out their hands from the churning crimson water, trying to drag him in… sooner or later, he would become one of the souls consumed by that sea of blood. This was an endgame he could not change.

The terrifying pressure emanating from those blood-red eyes was despair-inducing. It was a crushing weight on a spiritual level, making it impossible to even conceive the idea of resistance. Under its gaze, Sun Danian’s remaining sanity vanished completely, leaving only the instinct for survival. His brain forced his body to bend down and kneel. If he could only escape that horrific gaze, he would gladly grind himself into the dirt and turn into the smallest speck of dust in the world.

“It… it was a Taoist who gave it to me… I don’t know where he is.” Sun Danian told everything he knew, even reciting the tongue-twisting incantations in classical Chinese that he had previously forgotten.

Listening to the incantations he repeated, Xie Sui’s brow furrowed.

Matters were far more complicated than he had imagined. That paper was not just a Ghost-Catching Talisman; someone had also placed a Tracking Curse on it. That Taoist could know Xie Sui’s location at any time.

However, aside from catching ghosts and tracking, the talisman had no other function.

The claim the Taoist made about the talisman being able to eliminate the Blood Calamity on Sun Danian was a lie. The Taoist didn’t care whether Sun Danian lived or died; he was only interested in the Ghost Infant’s aura on him. He wanted to use Sun Danian as a springboard to ambush Xie Sui, a “fellow practitioner.”

Those Evil Cultivators in the Xuanmen could not endure the asceticism of cultivation, nor could they achieve a state of being free from desires. Their cultivation was a process of constant contention – fighting for the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth to cultivate themselves, and stealing the fates of others to strengthen themselves. They viewed everyone as a competitor.

If they could snatch something, they would. If they couldn’t, they would destroy it rather than leave it for anyone else. They did everything to ruin the paths of others, then stepped over their corpses to move forward… they were all extreme egoists.

Seeing that this was the extent of the information Sun Danian possessed, Xie Sui stopped questioning him. He spoke with an exceptionally cold voice, “Go out. Leave the Urban Village. You can wander around any street you like.”

Sun Danian nodded dully and obediently walked down the stairs, leaving the apartment building.

If anyone knowledgeable in metaphysics saw Sun Danian’s current appearance, they would certainly be shocked.

A mass of black mist laced with blood swirled around Sun Danian’s forehead. The thick black fog almost obscured his entire face. His fortune had completely vanished, a textbook sign of a sudden, violent death. It was possible he might trip down the stairs and break his neck in the very next second.

Walking the streets with this state of “black clouds over the head” bad luck, his fate was sealed. He would either be pulled under a car or die from a falling object; he wouldn’t survive an hour.

Xie Sui watched Sun Danian leave the building. The blood-red color in his eyes gradually faded, slowly returning to normal. Along with them, the corridor that had been swallowed by darkness returned to normal as well.

Sunlight shone into the stairwell through the narrow window. Though the light was dim, it was real.

Xie Sui looked at his fingertips with a face as cold as still water. He stood silently at his doorstep for a moment, then left the apartment building as well.

Because Xie Sui had not signed a contract with the child souls on his person, he could no longer contact them once their location exceeded the range of his perception.

Although Xie Sui currently could not sense the location of the three Little Ghosts taken by the Ghost-Catching Talisman, he wasn’t worried at all.

Since that Taoist had left a Tracking Curse on him, he would definitely come looking for him again.

Because he himself was the best bait.

Those Little Ghosts had stayed inside his body for a long time being purified by him; they were rare, pure souls. Given that Taoist’s personality, after seeing such excellent materials for refinement, how could he possibly let the master of these Little Ghosts go?

Whether it was to kill Xie Sui once and for all to avoid future trouble, or to seize the other Little Ghosts on him, both were massive driving forces for that Taoist.

The Xuanmen method of raising Little Ghosts required refining them first, stimulating their ferocity before domesticating them. This entire process took about seven days. Xie Sui wasn’t worried that the three captured Little Ghosts would be harmed immediately.

However, being ambushed still made him very angry.

Xie Sui closed his eyes to calm his emotions.

It had been a very long time since he had seen such an idiot jump directly in front of him.

How much time had passed that these Evil Cultivators dared to act so arrogantly, not even bothering to put up an act anymore… had everyone else in the Xuanmen died out? Before you all retreat into the deep mountains for cultivation and ignore worldly affairs, can’t you manage the disciples of your own sects first?

Xie Sui had no good impression of those who practiced the Dao. Whether they were Evil Cultivators or legitimate practitioners, he loathed every single person in the Xuanmen equally.

He walked to the roadside and hailed a taxi, telling the driver to head out of Anyuan District toward Luhua County.

Luhua County was quite remote, with many abandoned villages. It was adjacent to a forest ecological park and a 5A-rated scenic area. The haunted house where Xie Sui had livestreamed a few days ago was also in this area… simply put, it was a good place for murder and body disposal.

Xie Sui estimated that dealing with the Taoist who schemed against him wouldn’t be as easy as dealing with Sun Danian, so he chose a suitable location in advance and came here to wait for him.

After driving for over half an hour, they arrived near the abandoned village Xie Sui had specified. After getting out at the village entrance, Xie Sui walked into the village alone.

The village looked like it had been abandoned for some time. The narrow dirt roads were occupied by waist-high shrubs, vines covered the walls of the mud-brick and tile houses, and weeds poked out from every corner of the settlement… fresh green sprouts layered over withered yellow. These vigorous wild plants had erased the traces of human existence and become the masters of this village.

There were many small villages like this in Luhua County that hadn’t been demolished yet, most of them left behind because the residents had moved into the county seat.

Xie Sui walked toward the large scholar tree in the center of the village and came to a halt.

As soon as he entered the village, he noticed something surrounding the base of the tree.

Getting closer, he saw a ring of mottled clay fetal god statues standing beneath the branches. Due to long-term exposure to the elements, the facial features of most of the statues had blurred… though even if they were clear, Xie Sui doubted he would recognize them. There were simply too many minor miscellaneous gods in this region.

Although the village was abandoned, these statues showed signs of recent offerings. It was likely that the former residents who had moved away had returned recently to pay their respects, as local tradition dictated that one could not simply discard divine statues during a relocation.

As Xie Sui studied the statues, the blurry faces suddenly began to change.

The half-meter-tall clay figures seemed to melt like ice cream under a scorching sun, their heads collapsing first.

The various colors of the statues’ exteriors mixed into a murky black sludge. As the clay melted away layer by layer, it revealed crimson flesh and stark white bone beneath.

Xie Sui silently took a step back to avoid the spreading black water, crossing his arms and watching the spectacle with composed interest.

Perhaps provoked by Xie Sui’s indifferent attitude, the melting process, which had been slow, suddenly hitched for a moment. Immediately afterward, five blood-red monsters burst out from the clay shells.

The creatures looked like skinned wolves, but they moved with human-like postures, swinging sharp claws as they lunged at Xie Sui with incredible speed.

Xie Sui let out a disdainful scoff. He didn’t bother to dodge, allowing the five monsters to pass right through his body.

The scenery before him distorted for a split second. When he looked again, the statues under the tree were exactly as they had been moments ago, standing quietly in the shade. They hadn’t melted, and no monsters had hatched. Everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

“That’s it? If you really want to inspire fear, you should come up with something more decent than that…” Xie Sui turned his head toward the nearest abandoned house. As if he could see through the brick walls, his gaze fixed directly on the spot where someone was hiding.

“If you want to scare people, watch more horror movies. The tricks ghosts use in films are much more innovative than what you people in the Xuanmen come up with.”

As Xie Sui’s voice fell, a figure dressed in Daoist robes rounded the corner of the crumbling brick wall.

The man appeared to be in his forties, with high cheekbones and a goatee. A pair of small, upward-tilted triangular eyes gleamed with a sharp light as he shamelessly sized Xie Sui up. Because his cheeks were so thin, he had a somewhat shifty, rat-like appearance.

The Daoist did not approach Xie Sui. He stood by the wall, making a show of cupping his hands in greeting while speaking in a sarcastic tone. “I didn’t expect a youth like you to have such deep cultivation. That skill for raising ghosts is quite impressive. You must have killed a lot of children, haven’t you? I truly envy you for finding so many… Heh, my Daoist name is Kunyang, of the Zhengyi Dao’s Shangqing Sect¹. I wonder which master you studied under?”

“The Shangqing Sect? You?” For the first time since the Daoist appeared, Xie Sui’s expression shifted.

“I recall the Shangqing Sect prides itself on being a noble clan of the Xuanmen, a sect that cares most about the appearance and bearing of its disciples. How could someone like you… Ah, sorry, maybe that’s why you defected. Was it appearance anxiety? Did someone attack you for your looks, so you turned to the path of an Evil Cultivator in a fit of rage? My, the Shangqing Sect really was in the wrong there. How could they judge a disciple by their appearance? It’s so hurtful.”

If the Daoist was being sarcastic, Xie Sui was even more so. His words seemed to strike a nerve, as Daoist Kunyang’s face twitched unnaturally.

“Ignorant brat. What ‘Evil Cultivator’? I simply felt the Shangqing Sect had too many restrictions that hindered my cultivation. Thus, I established my own sect and found a path that suits me.”

“Oh, whatever makes you happy,” Xie Sui said with a smile. “You got here quite fast. I thought I’d have to wait for you for a while.”

Daoist Kunyang gave a cold snort and stroked his goatee.

How could he not be fast? The moment he sensed the Tracking Curse on Xie Sui moving toward the outskirts of the city, he had become incredibly anxious. He had used up all the Earth-Shrinking Talismans² he had saved over the years just to barely catch up.

Thinking about those precious wasted talismans made Daoist Kunyang’s heart ache, but as long as he could catch Xie Sui, the sacrifice would be worth it.

Initially, he had thought Xie Sui was an overly cautious person who intended to flee immediately after being targeted.

The Tracking Curse had a time limit. If Xie Sui actually left Zhaoping City, it would be difficult to find him again.

This was the first time in years Daoist Kunyang had encountered a “fat sheep” with so much “meat.” If he let Xie Sui get away, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Having been insulted indirectly by Xie Sui, Daoist Kunyang was in no mood for further pleasantries. He cut straight to the point. “Since you’ve chosen the path of raising ghosts, you should have heard of my name, Kunyangzi. If you are willing to hand over all the Little Ghosts you’ve raised to me, I can grant you a way out.”

It was just rhetoric. There was no way he would let him go. Someone who could neutralize the resentment of Little Ghosts must have a special constitution. Xie Sui’s flesh and blood would surely be excellent materials for drawing talismans, and perhaps his soul could even be used to raise a Ghost King³.

The more Daoist Kunyang looked at Xie Sui, the more satisfied he became. His gaze was like that of a farmer looking at a pig ready for slaughter, itching to skin and debone him on the spot.

He had to swallow this trophy all for himself before his fellow disciples arrived. That ghost-catching talisman with the tracking function had been sold to him by his Senior Brother. Now that the curse had captured three Little Ghosts, his Senior Brother must have received the news as well.

“Mhm, I was just about to talk to you about that,” Xie Sui said with a gentle smile. He looked like a mild-mannered, good-natured person who wouldn’t get angry no matter how much he was offended.

“How do you want to die? I’m a very easygoing person, I can satisfy any of your requests.” Xie Sui’s voice was as gentle as a customer service representative in peak professional mode.

Daoist Kunyang, who had been waiting for Xie Sui to beg for mercy, froze for a moment, doubting his own hearing.

The young man in front of him didn’t look like a reckless fool. Had he not made himself clear enough just now? Did this young man really not recognize him?

“Do you have any idea who I-” Daoist Kunyang’s words cut off as he stared at the scene before him, mouth agape.

The young man standing opposite him had changed at some point. That exquisite, handsome face turned deathly pale, and hideous blue-purple veins crawled across all his exposed skin like eerie talismans. His ink-black eyes were consumed by blood-red, slowly splitting into a pair of Blood-colored Double Pupils.

Those Blood-colored Double Pupils seemed to possess a soul-snatching magic; a single glance was enough to make one’s spirit tremble.

The bone-chilling extreme Yin Qi radiating from Xie Sui’s body crashed toward Daoist Kunyang like a tsunami. Under the wash of this Yin Qi, Daoist Kunyang felt his knees go weak.

“By the Infinite Heavenly Lord!! What on earth are you?!” Daoist Kunyang couldn’t help but scream.

He stared fixedly at Xie Sui’s hands, where the fingernails had turned blue-black and sharp as knives.

He considered himself a well-traveled old Daoist, but this was the first time he had ever seen an Evil Cultivator as sinister as Xie Sui.

What the hell had this guy done to himself?? Was the younger generation of Evil Cultivators really this dedicated? Cultivating evil arts directly with their own physical bodies??

If he hadn’t sensed the Yang Qi on Xie Sui before, Daoist Kunyang would have thought he was facing a Drought Demon or a Flying Zombie.

He had never seen anyone so… underworld! No, could that guy even be considered human anymore?

Ignoring Daoist Kunyang’s reaction, Xie Sui used his nails to slice open the skin on both his wrists.

Blood surged from the wounds instantly, the crimson liquid flowing down his pale skin. The interplay of these two extreme colors, red and white, possessed a macabre beauty.

He flicked his wrists lightly, and the blood droplets defied gravity, suspending themselves in mid-air. In the next second, the droplets rapidly reshaped themselves into profound blood-colored talismans and flew toward Daoist Kunyang.

Just looking at those blood-colored talismans made one’s head spin. Daoist Kunyang hurriedly averted his gaze, frantically pulling Talismans from his robes.

Daoist Kunyang had never seen this kind of Blood Curse before, nor did he know how to break it. But he was an experienced old Daoist; if he didn’t know how to deal with the talisman, he would deal with the person who made it.

Regardless of whether Xie Sui was a zombie or a fierce ghost possessing a human shell, the fact that he could move in the world of the living proved he had Three Souls and Seven Po!

Daoist Kunyang formed a sword finger gesture with his hand, pinching a yellow talisman while quickly performing the Bugang steps, chanting under his breath: “The breath of entry and exit is the soul, the clarity of ear and eye is the po. I invite the Five Ghost Generals, I invite the Yin Gods and Ghost Generals to manifest their power. Five Ghosts and Yin Gods, seize the Three Souls and Seven Po, Soul Summoning by Name, capture upon command!”

With that, he flung the yellow talisman directly at Xie Sui.

The yellow talisman ignited spontaneously upon leaving his hand, and two characters appeared above the burning paper.

Daoist Kunyang’s eyes narrowed on those two words as he shouted sternly: “Xie Sui! Soul, come forth!”

Five hideous, armored fierce ghosts appeared out of thin air. Following the guidance of the yellow talisman, they bypassed the Blood Curse and lunged at Xie Sui.

However, halfway through their charge, the five fierce ghosts stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing their target. Terror instantly filled their faces. Without Xie Sui needing to say a word, the five ghosts rapidly turned around and charged back toward Daoist Kunyang.

Before Daoist Kunyang could react, his soul was hooked right out of his body by the five ghost gods he had summoned himself.

In the next instant, the blood curses Xie Sui had thrown arrived before Daoist Kunyang’s body and attached themselves to it.

The body touched by the Blood Curse was like a block of ice doused in boiling water. A tooth-aching sizzling sound rang out as Daoist Kunyang’s body began to dissolve at high speed. The skin melted away instantly, followed by the crimson flesh. His internal organs, losing their containment, spilled onto the ground before turning into a puddle of indistinguishable liquid along with his bleached white bones.

After Daoist Kunyang’s body was completely dissolved, an equal number of blood curses appeared on his translucent spiritual form.

The abnormalities on Xie Sui’s body gradually faded, slowly returning to his ordinary human appearance. He glanced at the five shivering Ghost Generals, then looked at the bewildered soul of Daoist Kunyang, letting out a slightly disgusted click of his tongue.

“A painless death. You got off easy.”

He had originally intended to let Kunyangzi experience the sensation of being dissolved alive, but he hadn’t expected the Daoist’s soul to be hooked out of his body prematurely by the Five Ghosts.

The soul of a cultivator was much more solid than that of an ordinary person; even after a sudden separation from the body, they wouldn’t fall into a state of confusion.

The translucent Daoist Kunyang stared blankly at Xie Sui, seemingly unable to comprehend how he had ended up like this.

The confusion in his heart even outweighed the pain of death. Daoist Kunyang murmured in a daze, “Why was the Five Ghosts Soul-Hanging Talisman ineffective? Why did the Five Ghosts turn on me? Do you… do you not have a soul?”

Xie Sui scanned the area around Daoist Kunyang but didn’t find the three Little Ghosts that had been taken.

He sighed softly, walked up to Daoist Kunyang’s soul, and pressed his hand against it. “You already know my name, haven’t you guessed what I am yet?”

“Xie Sui, the master of evil spirits.”

Xie Sui’s hand changed once more. Five fingernails turned black and grew rapidly, sinking into Daoist Kunyang’s soul.

“I have no ‘mystery of the womb.’ I was reincarnated as a human with no past life and no afterlife. Even the Ghost Soldiers and soul reapers can’t do anything to me. You really thought five mere Little Ghosts could hook my soul? You’re dreaming.”

“Tsk, you actually have accomplices?”

Xie Sui pulled his hand back.

He had just searched Daoist Kunyang’s memories. This Daoist had no connection to those Xuanmen people who used Life-Swapping Talismans to transfer sins onto the children of the orphanage. He had simply run into Sun Danian by chance and was drawn by the aura of the Ghost Infant on him. Scheming against Xie Sui with talismans was only because he wanted the Little Ghosts in his possession.

What a nuisance.

From the man’s memories, Xie Sui learned that Daoist Kunyang actually had five senior and junior brothers. They lived in a villa on the outskirts of the city, and the three Little Ghosts that had been captured from Xie Sui with a talisman were currently being held in that very villa.

The six brothers usually cultivated in that villa and occasionally engaged in proselytizing. This involved several Daoists going on stage to perform some supernatural feats to trick ordinary people into paying money to join their association. When they were short on cash, they would also drive ghosts to scare wealthy targets and then swindle money from them. Because of these operations, their lives were far more comfortable than those of other Evil Cultivators.

Daoist Kunyang had also come to his senses by now, and he had felt Xie Sui browsing through his memories. Because the previous magical duel had been full of unexpected turns, Daoist Kunyang was far from submitting to Xie Sui. He provoked him sarcastically, saying, “Heh, your three Little Ghosts are being watched by my senior brother. If you have the guts, go ahead and charge right through their front door.” Their villa was outfitted with a massive talisman array; he didn’t believe they couldn’t handle a half-human, half-ghost thing like Xie Sui.

Xie Sui looked at Daoist Kunyang as if he were looking at an idiot, then pulled out his phone right in front of him.

“Hello? Is this the Inspectorate Bureau? I want to make a report under my real name regarding people holding large-scale religious activities without a permit. It’s suspected illegal pyramid selling, and they also seem to be involved in religious fraud… Yes, they are also holding hostages. Please dispatch officers as soon as possible.” Xie Sui recited the villa’s address quickly and accurately.

After hanging up the phone, Xie Sui saw Daoist Kunyang staring at him in disbelief. His soul-body trembled incessantly, and he pointed at Xie Sui for a long time without being able to speak, as if he were having a seizure.

How did he dare to call the police? This guy just killed someone! Didn’t a half-human, half-ghost creature like him fear being noticed by state authorities?

Xie Sui looked at the old Daoist before him and said in a mocking tone, “Daoist, times have changed. Even children know to look for the Law Enforcement Team when they’re in danger. Besides, I’m not stupid. Why would I fight so many of you by myself?”

“I’m different from you crooked paths who have to hide away. I’m a good citizen with a proper undergraduate degree and no criminal record whatsoever.”

Author Note:

Passage is from “Essentials of the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial” (Volume 3) by Wei Liaoweng of the Song Dynasty.

Translator’s Notes